II

by adcoon

II.19 - Love Story

A lonely bird chirped somewhere among the brickwork of the ancient castle. Dash walked up to the edge of the balcony and sat down, gazing up at the sky and the towering peaks of the castle. The door to Princess Luna's room was open and a light breeze made the curtains move slightly, but the room beyond was shrouded in darkness. As far as Dash could tell from the past few days in Gloaming, the princess always slept with the door of her balcony open.

Two guards were stationed there, just like on Dash and Twilight's own balcony. Dash had learned not to pay the guards any attention. They were everywhere now and they never moved or said anything except to verify the identity of anyone arriving. Dash couldn't imagine standing around like a statue for hours, no matter how good the pay or great the honor.

One of the guards on Luna's balcony turned his head and looked at her briefly.

Dash sighed and leaned over the balcony, staring down over the village and the sprawling tree tops of the forest. The bird gave an occasional little trill, and the breeze whispered among the old towers, but otherwise it was quiet. Dash closed her eyes and just let herself soar through the deep blue sky in her imagination. Her breathing slowed and she quickly felt at ease as the tenseness washed away.

She was going to do this. Sure, Twilight would understand if she said no, and then they would try something else … and what if they couldn't find another way? And that was why she would do it, because she would do anything for her friends and for Equestria.

Also … because she trusted Twilight and wanted to tell her everything, even the things that she couldn't tell anypony else. The thought of laying her self and her soul bare before Twilight, letting her see her every thought and secret frightened and thrilled her at the same time. A part of her wanted to open herself up and give herself over to Twilight unconditionally.

She had probably been standing for half an hour, just feeling her breath and letting the silence around her flow through her. She felt calm, and she needed that now. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Nothing had changed. The forest looked like itself, the castle still stood, and the curtains still drifted about the open door to where the princess was resting.

Dash turned around, and lowered her gaze as she opened the door and stepped back inside.

***

Twilight turned a page quietly. She was smiling peacefully to herself as her eyes moved down the page, lost in the book and unaware that Dash had walked back in.

Dash closed the door quietly and stopped as a brief flash of tension returned. Of course Twilight had found the flowers and the book lying on the bed. Dash had completely forgotten about that for a moment. She closed her eyes to calm herself back down. “Twilight?”

The unicorn looked up, still smiling. “Are these for me?” she asked, stroking the flowers with a hoof as she lowered the book. “They are lovely.”

Dash nodded and took a few steps towards the bed and Twilight, keeping her gaze low as she sat down next to her friend. “I-I wanted to tell you that I've been thinking a lot about you, Twilight.”

Twilight blushed and cradled the flowers in her hooves, the smile never leaving her lips as she too looked down. But she didn't look entirely surprised. “You have?”

Dash cursed herself for this nervousness and forced herself to look up at Twilight. “Yeah,” she said, willing herself to stop being such a weakling. “I have been dreaming of you. I, uh … Some of those dreams are a bit, you know …”

“Like the one I stumbled into?” Twilight said and gave her a coy smile.

“You knew, didn't you?”

Twilight fumbled a bit with the flowers. “I wasn't sure.”

Dash sighed. “I think I love you, Twilight, I really do, but I'm also so confused.” She looked into Twilight's eyes and felt the calm from before return and fill her up. “These few days with you have been the most amazing, despite everything we've been through. I never thought I would spend hours with you studying or … or just watching your read. You know you're cute when you're reading, right?”

The blush on Twilight's face brightened and her smile grew a bit. She said nothing.

“Yeah,” Dash said, feeling how Twilight's response so far was lifting her up and giving her the courage to continue. “So what I'm trying to say, Twilight, is that I really like you, and I don't know if I just hit my head really hard or something,” she said and scratched her head, grinning a little awkwardly, “but, well … you tell me, right?”

A chuckle slipped from Twilight's lips as she looked up at Dash. “Let's find out together.” She gave Dash a little dash on the nose with the flowers. “Your taste in gifts makes me think there's hope for you after all. I love them,” she said and gave Dash a peck on the cheek.

Dash grinned. “Oh? I have no idea what the book is. For all I know it's something awful, but it looked all dusty and old, so I figured it was perfect for you.” She stuck out her tongue.

“You're such a charmer,” Twilight said and hit her on the head with a pillow. “I expect the long words threw you off.” Twilight stuck out her own tongue. “There are three whole syllables in some of these words, I can see how those would be a challenge.”

Dash gave a fake laugh and hit back at Twilight with the pillow. “So what is it then? Is it an ancient grimoire with dark secrets on how to open portals to eldritch dimensions that ponykind was never meant to know? I read about that in a Daring Do book,” she said proudly.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Twilight teased and held the book away from Dash.

“Yeah, I would. What is it?” Dash reached out for the book, leaning very close to Twilight as she did.

Twilight smirked and, with surprising strength and suddenness, pushed Dash down on the bed, forcing her hooves down against the mattress and dangling the book just out of her reach. “I'll tell you, if you tell me who's the most beautiful pony here.”

Dash smiled and wrested a hoof free to rest it on Twilight's shoulder as she looked up into the unicorn's deep violet eyes. “You are, Twilight. You are the most beautiful pony I know.”

“Tell me how beautiful I am.” Twilight looked back at her, biting her lip expectantly. She looked so damn adorable when she did that.

“Oh gee, um …” Dash panicked slightly. She wasn't exactly known for her brilliance with words and would certainly never win any awards for love poetry, but Twilight was waiting for her to say something. “It's in your smile—yeah, like that right there—and … you're smart, and that's, you know, pretty hot actually.” Dash scratched her head. “I never really realized how smart you are before. I guess I look at you and see somepony almost as awesome as myself, and I've never really known anypony else like that.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow teasingly. “Almost?”

Dash squirmed a bit. “Well, you're pretty awesome and all, but you can't be the impossible, Twilight. You have to be realistic here,” she grinned.

“Is that so?” Twilight smiled at her. She leaned down and whispered in her ear, “So I guess you don't want to hear about the book, or find out what else I might give you.” She touched her muzzle against Dash's ear. “That's too bad, you know.”

Dash bit her lip and looked around as if checking that no one else was in the room. “Okay okay … you win, but … if you tell anypony, I'm totally gonna deny it!”

Twilight flashed her a mischievous grin. “Deny what?”

Dash groaned and looked away. “You're the most awesome pony I know,” she muttered.

“Say that again, I want to hear it again. I don't think anypony could hear you.”

Dash sighed and looked Twilight in the eyes. “I think you're the most awesome pony I know, Twilight. You're intelligent and beautiful, and you could kick any pony's tail … and you really are cute when you're reading, you know.”

Twilight giggled and lowered the book, resting it on the bed next to Dash. “Not as cute as you when you're squirming like that. And that was a big admission.” She licked Dash on the nose and smiled at her. “I think I might like you too.”

Dash blushed and returned the lick. “So are you going to tell me about the book now, or what? It's all gobbledygook to me, with all those old runes and stuff. It's not even written properly.” She turned a little and flipped to a random page, tapping the book with a hoof. “I mean look at this …”

Twilight smiled and lay down next to her with the book between them. “It's because it's partially written in verse. It's a really old love story about a princess who falls in love with one of her guards, and when he is sent off to war, she dresses up in armor and runs off to follow him. It's very sweet, but also quite dark. They go through a lot to be together. Did you find it in the shop here in town?”

“Yeah, I almost missed it at first. It doesn't even have a title.”

Twilight turned to the first page where a short line was written in small script. “ 'The Kiss of Polaris',” she translated. “I wonder how it ended up here.”

“What's that?”

“What's what?”

Dash flipped the pages with her wing, to somewhere near the back of the book where a piece of paper was sticking out slightly between the pages. “There's a note or something here,” she said.

Twilight smiled and picked it up. “Oh? It wouldn't be from you, would it?”

“What? No,” Dash shook her head and leaned over to see. “I just bought the book, nothing else.”

Twilight turned the paper around and stared at it for a moment. “It's a drawing,” she said and put it down for Dash to see, then flipped through each page of the book.

“Looks like a map or something,” Dash said. “Can't say where it is, though. There are some marks, but it doesn't say what they are. Oh, and it says 'L' here on the back.'”

“There's another one here,” Twilight said and picked up a smaller piece of paper, turning it around in her magic. “Just says WH … or,” she turned it around again, “could be HM.”

Dash scratched her head. “Her Majesty?”

Twilight took another look at the first note, then carefully put both of them back in the book where they had been found. “Could be. Someone must have left it for someone else to find.”

“Maybe it was the princess,” Dash grinned. “A note with a meeting place for her secret lover? 'L' could be 'Luna', and isn't that what the story is about? A princess who falls in love with one of her guard?”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“What?” Dash chuckled. “Come on, Twi, you're the one who told me she was a mother. Don't tell me now that she doesn't have her fun from time to time.”

Twilight blushed a little and picked up the book. “Yes, but … okay, look, I'll ask the princess when she wakes up if she knows about it.”

***

“So what exactly will I have to do?” Dash settled down on the bed and watched Twilight as the unicorn went through her notes and books a last time to make sure she had got everything.

“Try to relax and don't think,” Twilight said and ducked under the desk in search of a wayward note. She emerged a moment later with a piece of paper. “Just let the thoughts flow on their own, I'll be trying to dig up the right ones, and the more you think of other things the harder that will be.”

“Oh,” Dash muttered, hoping things wouldn't be too … distracting, knowing some of the things on her mind recently. “Will this be like a dream? Do I need to sleep?” Dash sat up slightly, leaning her head on a hoof.

“No, you shouldn't sleep.” She looked up from her notes at Dash. “I need you to be awake, otherwise your dreams may distract me. And if ever you want me to stop, simply say it and I will break the spell.” She looked very serious. “I mean that. Don't hesitate if you feel uncomfortable or that I'm going too far.”

Dash nodded. She understood that, and it was good to know that whatever happened, she could always trust Twilight. “Have you tried this before or is it, um, I mean, are you sure it's safe?”

“Princess Luna let me do a few tests on her, so I'm fairly confident in the basics, and we'll start slow. The magic is safe, but I can not guarantee that I won't dig up something unpleasant.” Twilight trotted over beside Dash. “But you can stop it anytime.”

“Wait wait wait—” Dash blinked. “You've read the mind of the princess?”

Twilight sat down. “Only what little she let me see. She has much more practice at this magic than me, and all I could read were the words of a song she was thinking about. It was just for practice.” Twilight smiled and lay a hoof on Dash's leg. “Are you ready? I will see if I can find your recent dreams first.”

“Oh … um,” Dash winced and felt her face turn red. “I'm ready. I'm … an open book, you know.”

Twilight smiled and rubbed her hoof. “Try not to think, just let it flow and let me do the work.”

Twilight's horn brightened and a lavender haze surrounded them as she lowered her head, touching her horn briefly against Dash's forehead. Dash watched the horn as Twilight straightened back up, a faint glow now connecting them. It pulsed slightly now and then, and Dash found it hard not to focus on it. She wasn't sure what she had expected. There was a gentle feeling of warmth and a comforting touch, but not much beyond that.

Twilight rubbed her hoof again. Dash settled down a little more, feeling safe with Twilight. She closed her eyes and tried not to think. A dream sprang back into life in her mind, all the details slowly returning to her. It was just a short memory and she had almost forgotten about it entirely. It was a strange sensation as the memory took on a life of its own, showing her a brief glimpse of blackened skies over Canterlot, something she had dreamed the other day. She felt like spreading her wings, but resisted the urge.

Another memory imposed itself before the previous one was over. Dash blushed and bit her lip. So this was it then, the dream Twilight had inadvertently stumbled into earlier, and now she got to see it in full. Twilight squeezed her hoof as the memory flashed through Dash's mind. Dash opened an eye and watched Twilight. The unicorn was blushing in the flickering light of her magic. In her mind, their lips met and Twilight rolled over on top of her.

In the real world, Twilight gave a blushing smile. “Don't think, it's … distracting,” she said quietly, still holding Dash's hoof. “Just relax.”

Dash certainly found it distracting too, but tried her best not to think. She found that watching Twilight made her feel better as dreams followed one by one, rarely staying long. Some of them were dark and stormy, and they were rarely long, but others left her feeling warm and wondering … just once, what it would be like for it to not be a dream.

“I never would have thought of you like this,” Twilight said quietly.

Dash struggled not to freak out a little, but this was … it was …

“Relax.” Twilight smirked. “I like it.”

It was pretty cool. She knew Twilight was aware of everything she was thinking and feeling right now. The princess might have been able to protect herself effortlessly against Twilight, should the unicorn have been tempted to look where she wasn't invited, but Dash was completely open and left in the hooves of the other mare. It was so hard not to think about how wild that made her.

Could Twilight even—

“Yes.” The answer came before she was even aware she had thought the question. The tone of that one word was playful but made it absolutely clear that Twilight' wouldn't.

But it was possible.

Dash grinned. She was starting to feel more confident and relaxed. Twilight was going over some of the dreams more closely. Dash just relaxed and let her do it, let Twilight control the flow as Dash let her eyes settle upon the unicorn.

Twilight had her eyes closed throughout. Most of the time she was concentrated on the task, looking thoughtful and completely focused, but occasionally she smiled with playful surprise.

“You really think my horn is pretty?”

Dash hadn't been aware that she was staring at Twilight's horn, which was also the center of attention in her dream now. The horn was unassuming by some standards, certainly compared with the royal sisters, but a tremendous power hid behind that spiraled tip, a power as mysterious as it was alluring to Dash. She simply smiled in reply.

Twilight opened one eye to wink at her, then turned back to work with renewed focus. The seriousness returned to her face as a dream returned to focus. Dash winced as she recalled the storm and her sense of despair as she dived to save the tiny lavender dot just before the lightning shattered the remains of her hastily conjured shield. It had been the first dream since her crash in the forest, and it had haunted her ever since waking from it in the Canterlot Archive. Twilight was bringing it back now and letting her relieve it again and again, trying to push beyond that last wall of light or find some clue hidden in the memory.

Luna's scream echoed in her mind, followed by the hopeless blackness and her despairing dive, too far and too late to ever make it. Blinding light and a terrible pain drove through her body and heart. It was the moment of her death, it had to be. Dash closed her eyes tightly and whimpered slightly. “Twi … stop …”

The glow around Twilight died suddenly and she reached out to hug Dash. The memory stopped replaying, but a shadow still remained, haunting her with its images of death and despair. “I'm so sorry, Dash. Are you okay? I shouldn't have pushed so hard—”

“No, it's okay,” Dash said and let herself slip into Twilight's embrace, feeling the warmth wash away the bad dream. “I can handle it. You have to do whatever it takes. But Twi—” She sank a bit. “Twi, that was my death, wasn't it? I was trying to get to you in time, but I couldn't. There was no way I could possibly save you. Why do I remember our deaths?”

Twilight was silent for several minutes. Dash could feel that she was thinking hard about everything she had seen. It wasn't the only dream that seemed to offer a glimpse of a dark future. “I don't know,” she said. “Maybe the Elements are warning you.” She held on to Dash for a little longer, then let go with a determined look. “I need a short rest, and I should tell Luna about that book while I remember, but then we're going to get to the bottom of this. I promise!”

Dash nodded and sat up. “Yeah, a refuel would be nice. I'm starved.”

***

Two moons peeked out from behind the clouds, casting their pale silvery glow through the window of the room. Candles burned on the desk and lit up Twilight's exhausted face as she went through the notes she had been scribbling about their discoveries, or lack thereof.

They had been working all day and it was well into the night now. The princess claimed not to recognize the book or be able to shed any light on the notes, but had duly taken copies of the two notes in case they turned up any clues. Twilight and Dash returned to their room and their own research after a late lunch together in the castle's kitchen.

Despite doing nothing but just lying there on the bed with Twilight next to her, Dash had found it a trying and deeply exhausting experience. Twilight wasn't doing any better, but she kept going in the hope of finding the right piece of the puzzle among the tangled threads of Dash's memories and dreams.

The dreams had provided only more questions, so Twilight had looked for memories of the day of the crash in the forest, and found none. Dash remembered running away from Fluttershy's cottage, going into the woods, and getting strangled by the roots. All of that was perfectly clear in her head. She remembered no crash, and only a flickering moment of being found by Twilight. She also remembered nothing about the Elements. Twilight had searched through her memories for it, and found nothing anywhere she looked.

Twilight's eyes closed and her head sank a bit as she nodded off to sleep by the desk. Dash didn't have the heart to wake her. Instead she picked up a blanket and wrapped it around the shoulders of the unicorn. After a moment's hesitation, she kissed her cheek and sat down, snuggling up against Twilight.

Dash had almost drifted off to sleep herself, when there was a light knock on the door. She looked up as Princess Luna stepped inside. “A blessed night to you two,” she said and closed the door behind her. “I see that you are still hard at work. How is your research going?”

“Nowhere,” Dash said and rubbed her eyes. “I don't remember a thing about crashing into the forest or the Elements. Not a damn thing. I do remember my own death quite clearly, however. Twilight's and … um, and yours too, I suspect.”

Luna raised an eyebrow as she lay down on a couch and made herself comfortable. “Really? My first one, or is this one I have yet to experience the pleasure of?”

It took a moment for Dash to remember the tale of Luna's entrapment in the moon. “Oh … um, yeah, something that might happen, I think. I've been reliving that dive over and over today. But it's way too far, no pony could fly that fast!”

“I think you lost me,” Luna said and smiled. “Why don't you start from the beginning?”

Dash rubbed her temples hard. “Yeah, alright,” she sighed and went over the dream again. Not that she was happy to relive the memory, even without Twilight's magic focusing on every detail for her. “And that's it,” she finished. “I dive, but it's too far and too late. And then I die.”

“Fascinating,” Luna said and tapped her leg with a hoof as she looked up at the moons outside. “Seems to me you do remember a crash, then, do you not? It is just not where—or when—you have been looking for it. Perhaps it is not the only thing not where or when it should be.”

Dash looked blankly at the princess. “What—”

“THAT'S IT!” Twilight burst to life and nearly flew over the surprised form of Dash to hug the princess. “Oh thank you thank you thank you Princess!”

Before the princess could say anything, Twilight was back at the desk, going through her notes. “Glad to be of assistance,” Luna said with a gentle laugh.

“We will need a few more sessions, Dash, but by Starswirl's beard, I think I've got it!” Twilight said excitedly, then stopped suddenly and stared at nothing, her lips moving as she went through some complex thought to herself. Her brow furrowed in concentration, then she picked up a piece of paper and turned around. “Princess, I need access to the Starswirl the Bearded wing!”

“Why, of course, Twilight. You know the guards will be happy to let you in at any time.” Luna stood up and smiled. “I have arranged for a carriage to bring you to Canterlot at sunrise. Now if you will excuse me, I am awaiting an important visit tonight and—”

“At sunrise!?” Twilight interrupted. “There is simply no time to waste. I have to—”

Luna held up a hoof. “I am sure these things can wait a single night. Not to mention you look like you could both use a good night's sleep. I strongly recommend you take the chance.” The words weren't exactly an order, but they had much the same effect.

Twilight deflated a little, but quickly recovered. “Yes, yes of course, princess.”

“The carriage will arrive before dawn,” Luna said and turned to leave. Twilight had lost herself in her notes again, muttering about the beards of ancient unicorns.

Dash blinked. “Wait, you already arranged that?”

Luna stopped in the door and looked back around. “It will not do to have you here tomorrow.”

Comments

[Lostzilla]

ohmmmmm......cuteee

....i'm a little sad because i know the shitstorm will come next chapter

[adcoon]

2058995

Something is going to happen, that's certain. It could be awesome, though

[Froglover06]

Lovin' it!

[Mister Morden]

That last line is not oddly foreboding at all!

Good chapter. Liking the TwiDash. It is cute.

[adcoon]

2060351

Foreboding? I can't imagine why you'd think that

Glad you liked it

[Rainbow_Flash]

OMC! Just post the next chapter! POST THE NEXT CHAPTER!

[adcoon]

2064434

I like to torture people with suspense, but don't worry, I'm on it

[Rainbow_Flash]

Yessss! Yesssss! I shall be the second to read the new chapterrrrr!