Part 3 - It's not a competition. Oh wait, apparently it is
Oh buck...what have I done...?
Rainbow Dash stared down into Twilight Sparkle's eyes in horror. Having tackled the unicorn to the ground before her magic could stop her, she had the lavender mare pinned by the forelegs and was sitting on her stomach. Her back was arched and her head craned down, having engaged the unicorn in a kiss before she could react.
Twilight's own eyes stared back up into Rainbow's, completely lost, confused, and shocked. She had so little grasp of the situation she wasn't even fighting back, it hadn't even registered yet that she was pinned down under the pegasus, her mind was completely and hopelessly scattered by the fact she was kissing her.
Any second now...I'm going to be a newt...or stuck in a tree...or launched at Canterlot...
Dash's wings stuck out rigidly behind her to the sides and her grip was strong, but her whole body shook in a mixture of adrenaline and fear. She knew this was going to end badly, she knew it was a mistake, she knew she should be trying to fly away as fast as possible right now, but something inside her refused to let her stop. Something restrained, suppressed, held down too long finally getting its chance to come out.
Our friendship is screwed...the girls wont let me live this down any time soon...I'll have to tell Trixie...she'll have to tell Derpy...I've ruined everything...
The adrenaline was dying out against the guilt and remorse that was already starting to overcome the cyan mare. Her wings fell limply down her sides, her hooves slipped out of their pinning positions onto the grass instead. She felt the unicorn's forelegs start to move and she immediately closes her eyes and braces herself. A shove, a punch, a slap, she didn't know what was going to knock her off but she knew it was going to hurt.
Twilight's horn ignited with an intense purple glow trailing small sparks of magic, and Dash knew this wasn't going to end well...
Elsewhere in Ponyville, Pinkie intently passed a cloth in one hoof along a section of her party cannon's barrel, and then passed over the same area with a second cloth in her other hoof. The bandana tied around her head was patterned with silhouettes of cupcakes and sweets, and she wore a peculiarly serious look.
The small room was lined with spare parts for the unfathomable mechanisms that drove the ponderous device, and what appeared to be the shells into which party paraphernalia were packed into, to make the ammunition. They were organized on shelves, marked with simple descriptions like “regular”, “special”, and “birthday”.
The light was provided by a single bulb in a wire hanging from the ceiling, which swayed slightly in an impossible breeze.
This is my party cannon. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My party cannon is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as a I master my life. Without me, my party cannon is useless. Without my party cannon, I am useless. I must fire my party cannon true. I must-
Her inner monologue is shattered by the smell of freshly baked cookies from downstairs. The residual Pinkie-shaped pink silhouette just shrugs as the pink one herself vanishes in a blur, then continues wiping the barrel down as the door to the decidedly bizarre closet in Pinkie's bedroom closes on its own.
Rainbow Dash's world was a mass of white, fluffy moisture. It was familiar and soothing, almost comfortable, except that the sensation of gravity seemed all wrong. She felt like she'd been here before, though it was quite an unusual place. She could feel the bite of cool night air on her flank, and there was a slight ringing in her ears.
The pegasus was stuck halfway through a small cloud somewhere over downtown Ponyville, having inherently been launched into it backwards. Her flank stuck out high in the air above, her upper half somewhere inside below. With a huff of effort, she plants her rear hooves against the puffy mass and pulls herself out, immediately falling over backward into a daze upon it.
Well that wasn't quite as bad as I expected...at least I'm not a newt...
Dash muses to herself as she gazes distantly at the stars above. Stargazing wasn't something she'd ever been interested in, until Twilight came along. She'd never call herself an astronomer, amateur or otherwise, but just laying back watching the stars was relaxing. She'd never thanked the unicorn for getting her to try it.
I wonder if Twi understood any of that? I mean, she only launched me into a cloud...that's a good sign...right?
There was nothing to answer her thoughts but the dull wisp of the breeze carrying the cold night air. A sideways glance off her cloud indicated she was somewhere over western Ponyville now, toward one edge of the large park there. Twilight had launched her quite a distance, granted she was much lighter than one of the library's bookshelves. She couldn't help but wonder if her friend had aimed at the cloud deliberately, out of some underlying care for her friend despite her anger. It could just as easily have been pure coincidence, though. Maybe she was meant to hit a tree? There was no shortage of them nearby.
How in Equestria am I going to apologize for this one? Dash wonders to herself, covering her eyes with the back of a hoof as she relaxes into the cloud beneath her. ”Sorry for tackling you to the ground and trying to make out with you, and dissing your great idea for a surprise for me”? Seems pretty weak...
The pegasus couldn't help but groan in protest at the hole she'd dug for herself, as the reality of it began to really sink in. This wasn't like messing up the library by crashing through the window or damaging one of the unicorn's books. She knew she'd hurt the lavender mare, and probably put a pretty bad dent in their friendship. Twilight was the forgiving kind, especially with her friends, but even Dash had to admit this one was pretty bad.
I'll have to ask the girls how to deal with this one...if I go at it on my own, I'll just make it worse. I know it...but then I have to deal with the lectures and disappointed looks...ugh...
“Dash?”
The familiar voice jostles the cyan mare out of her chain of thought, prompting her to roll over and peer down over the edge of her cloud. Trixie stood below, wearing a scarf and a concerned, but also slightly upset look.
“How long have you been up there...?” the unicorn continues to query.
“Uh...I'm...not really sure, actually” Dash admits awkwardly. “Something wrong?”
The blue mare seemed to grow a little more hurt, though she looks away and tries to hide it. “Trixie...thought you said you were coming back, after lunch...that's all. Trixie must have misheard you...”
I wish. I totally forgot...and that's not the best part, I kissed Twilight Sparkle. You remember her, right?
The pegasus rubs the back of her neck with a hoof, finding herself having to look away. “Sorry Trix, I kind of forgot. You know, a pegasus as awesome as me is under high demand”.
Where the hay did that come from? Am I trying to impress her or dig the hole deeper? Just how many holes am I planning to dig today?
A vein appeared on Trixie's forehead, but she tries to remain demure and slightly down-trodden. “Trixie...understands. Have you had dinner yet? Trixie is running a bit late with it, herself”. Actually, Trixie had deliberately put off having dinner on the off-chance Dash turned up for it, as an interpretation of “being back after lunch”. The pegasus didn't need to know that, though.
“Uh...actually, no” Dash submitted sheepishly, secretly moving her other hoof to rub her stomach as she suddenly realized she was actually pretty damn hungry by this point. She'd forgotten lunch entirely. “If...you're offering...”
...seriously? What does Trixie need to do, beat you in the head with a sign? Honestly..., the unicorn shakes off the thought, presenting a slightly forced, but ultimately sincere smile, “Trixie would like that”.
The walk from the park to Trixie's house took notably longer than the flight that first night, presumably in no small part to the awkward silence that gripped it. Rainbow Dash could think of little to excuse her behavior that day in general, let alone specifically, and Trixie, for her part, was preserving her patience and self-control, in adherence with a strict mental budget.
The cyan mare was tempted to try the old put a wing over the girl as you walk trick to try and win back some points, but she wasn't convinced she wouldn't get beaten with the wing in return. There was something decidedly different about the unicorn's mentality tonight...or perhaps it was leftover anxiety from her encounter with Twilight.
In any event, by the time they reached the blue mare's house, Trixie now had control of the inner-monologue and was in no mood to share it. Dash, for her part, was surprised to discover the bookshelf had been removed from outside, and the roof had been seamlessly repaired, undoubtedly with magic, though she could only wonder by whom. Trixie didn't seem to have that kind of power herself.
“Trixie's cooking is not gourmet, she must admit” the unicorn reports as they enter the house, with the door closing magically behind them. “But she thinks she does well enough”. The blue mare continues strait on into the kitchen, where she had inherently already prepared dinner and simply had to heat it back up a bit, using her magic to shorten the process.
As the unicorn returned from the kitchen with a soup pot and some bowels and spoons levitating in her magic grasp, the pegasus takes the prompt to move to the small dining table, sitting at one end while Trixie sat herself down at the other and went about dishing out the dinner. A simple vegetable soup with herbs, nothing fancy, but it smelled good.
Truth told of course Dash was so hungry at this point it could taste like sawdust and she'd still eat it. She expends no ceremony rubbing her forehooves together and licking her lips, promptly tasting the soup. This proved to serve as another point of difference between Trixie and Twilight – Trixie could actually cook, the soup was modest, but delicious. But Rainbow resisted the urge to pick up the bowel and consume it like a madmare.
As Trixie set to eating her soup in a normal, reserved manner, Rainbow Dash escalated to virtually devouring hers rather quickly.
“So...do you do everything so quickly?” Trixie queried with an almost challenging smirk.
The pegasus doesn't even stop to think about it, replying proudly through a mouthful of soup. “Yep!”
Trixie very nearly spat out the soup in her mouth at this. That wasn't...Trixie isn't being that subtle, surely...
“No, Dash...I mean...everything?” Trixie reiterate, with an exaggerated wink this time.
“Yep, everything. Rainbow Dash does everything fast, that's just how I roll” the pegasus reports proudly.
One could swear a small puff of smoke came out of Trixie's ear as her head reverberated with countless unspeakable words of curse. Somewhere in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was surely blushing right now, and probably had no idea why. Rainbow, for her part, was oblivious to the cause of the bemused look on Trixie's face.
“Uh...somethin' wrong, Trix?”
“Wrong!?” Trixie blurts out in exasperation, rising from the table to throw her forelegs out in the air, “how much more obvious must Trixie be!?”.
“W-...wha?” the cyan mare recoils slightly in surprise and confusion, “obvious? About what?”.
Trixie cocks her head back with a perfect, but presumably unintentional imitation of Twilight's frustrated “ugh!” gesture, right down to the facial expression. “Does Trixie need to draw a diagram!?”
“Woah now” Dash retorts awkwardly, leaning back on her chair a bit, “I thought you'd changed, anyway? When did you get so pushy?”.
“Of course Trixie changed!” Trixie returns in bemused frustration, waving her forehooves about, “that doesn't mean Trixie turned into another pony entirely! Honestly if Trixie had known you were this dense she would never have tried the shy route!”.
“Hey!” Dash shoots back, slamming her forehooves down on the table as she leans forward across it now, frowning, “I am not dense! And what do you mean shy route? You were just acting all hopeless?”.
Trixie rolls her eyes, “well of course! Honestly now, you can't really believe Trixie could ever be that vulnerable and weak! Trixie thought you would only like her if she was sensitive. She had no idea the only thing Rainbow Dash was slow in was the head!”.
A long few moments of tense silence descends as the two ponies lean across the table and glare at each other. They each wore a mask of defiance and aggression, and bared their teeth.
“Trixie likes you. Is that clear enough?” Trixie snorts at the pegasus.
“Hay yes. And I like you too” Dash snorts right back.
It was difficult to tell which of them flipped the table, but within an instant, they had collided in the middle where it used to be and crashed off to the side somewhere onto the living room floor. They were already making out passionately and, it must be said, rather aggressively, snorting and growling at each other through their nostrils before they even came to rest. The pegasus was on top, at first – but Trixie was having none of it, within moments, she'd rolled them over so she was on top instead, and when Dash tried to reverse it, she pinned her down to stop her.
The excited growl confirmed Dash approved.
One could only presume the constant waiting for causes to party to come to fruition was weighing heavily on Pinkie's already flimsy sanity. That, at least, would explain why she was gallivanting around Ponyville so late, wearing night-vision goggles. The pink one was presently stalking along the winding path between Ponyville proper and the south-western outlying areas that led to Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy's cottage, despite there being nopony around to see her anyway.
Or at least, there shouldn't have been. The earth pony's attention is drawn by the presence of another, prompting her to dart up the nearest tree and hide amongst the branches, spying out.
The solitary figure of a pegasus mare was visible, as she curiously walked along the top rail of the particularly long fence bordering the field alongside the path. It was actually kind of impressive to watch – the fence rail was no more than an inch and a half across, yet the pegasus walked along it hoof before hoof in a fluid, continuous motion, just as steady as one walked on the ground, without even the balance-assistance of her wings.
The night-vision goggles robbed Pinkie of any perception of color, but she could tell, at the very least, it was no pegasus she knew. Her first thought, of course, was a welcoming party. Her second thought was about cake. Her third thought, that jumping out and announcing she was going to throw a party for the pegasus right now, in the dark of night, while she's prowling around wearing night-vision goggles, might not go down so well.
Through the still silence of the night, even as the pegasus gradually moved farther and father away, Pinkie could hear the familiar dub dub dub of the music coming from the headphones the pegasus was wearing. At least, Pinkie assumed they were headphones – they didn't look like the big ear-cup type she was used to, they were small and slender, and attached to her ears using rubberized hoops to hold them in place. The cable from them hung with some movement slack, leading to a small music player attached to her left upper-foreleg by a sweat-band.
Pinkie carefully slipped out of the tree onto the grass and sunk low on her legs, cat-crawling her way along cautiously to follow the pegasus from a distance. As she continued to observe, the pegasus suddenly swung her flank up into the air as she rose into a hoof-stand...and continued walking along the fence-rail in that manner, with startling little effort.
“Oooh...”
Pinkie quickly clamps her hoofsies over her mouth, but it was quickly apparent the pegasus hadn't heard her through her music, so she continued to follow. This pegasus was proving to be rather interesting, and the pink one's impression only grew as the pegasus performed a hoof-swap to turn around and dropped her flank back down, continuing to walk along the fence-rail on all four hooves, but backwards now.
This, however, came with the unfortunate consequence of her very quickly noticing the two glowing green lenses of Pinkie's night-vision goggles. The earth pony quickly snapped her hooves up to cover them, while sliding them up off her eyes, but it was too late. By the time her eyes had even begun to adjust to the sudden lack of clarity, all she could see was the pegasus literally running at full tilt along the fence rail, quickly disappearing into the night.
“Fooey” Pinkie protests, crossing her hooves and sitting on her flank where she was, “she seemed fun. I wonder who that was?”.
The dining table was the wrong way up, the chairs that had been set aside it cast away in opposing directions, the residual contents of either bowel and the soup pot that had been sitting on it was splattered across a large section of the floor nearby. The couch had been turned over, the dining table was resting on its side, the living room rug was scrunched up and displaced.
Trixie and Rainbow Dash lay in the middle of the living room floor in opposite, horizontal positions with their heads side by side, breathing heavily. Dash's mane was always fairly messy, but now it was much more so – Trixie's wasn't much better, though she was currently brushing it back partway to normal with a hoof. You were left entirely to your own decision how far things had gone while your attention was directed elsewhere. Hah.
“Trixie believes she won that one” Trixie announces with tired bravado and a content smirk.
The pegausus tried to chuckle in response, but quickly holds her ribs with a foreleg and gives an amused groan of protest, “aw man, don't make me laugh. Besides, I totally won that”.
Trixie's smirk only grows wider at this, reaching her other hoof back past her head to find the pegasus', which she turns inward and upward toward herself and presses into a passionate, but decidedly softer kiss than before.
The cyan mare returned it equally, and licked her lips after it broke. “That soup was pretty good” she jibes challengingly.
Trixie gives a fake scoff of indignation, “oh please. Trixie's cooking is good, but she tastes far better than it herself”.
“No argument there” Dash returns with a smug smirk.
“Still...” Trixie begins, idly lifting her hoof and pretending to check her fetlocks, “Trixie really should make you clean up this mess you caused”.
Dash gives a pft right back, but after a moment she shifts to a more thoughtful mood. “So...are we a thing now?”
Trixie closes her eyes and tries to raise her nose...which was easier said than done when laying on your back, “Trixie supposes so...”
“Cool” Dash returns, playing it off casually, though she could do little to hide the content smile that spread across her features.
Nor could Trixie her own. “You're still going to clean up the mess, though”
The morning came, and it was not subtle. There was no mercy in the rays of sunlight that pierced the thin veil of the curtains. Twilight groaned at them in protest, willing them to go away. It was futile of course, but a quick adjustment of her blankets to cover her head and she could at least pretend for a while. The library was especially quiet this morning. Spike would normally be carrying out his morning chores and routine, but he was nowhere to be found, nor did his bed look like it had been slept in last night.
There was a good reason, of course. The young dragon had developed a case of shell-shock, and began having a small nervous breakdown every time Twilight used her magic to move something, so she'd sent him on to spend a few days at Sweet Apple Acres. She could have perhaps warned him why the farm was her first thought, rather than Canterlot, but she figured it was best to leave these things to play out on their own. Or so she'd recently learned, anyway.
Still, Spike not being around came with two distinct disadvantages, first thing in the morning. Firstly, he wasn't around to make breakfast, and even Twilight had to admit her own cooking was … lacking. Second, it meant the coffee wasn't pre-prepared and waiting for her. Another, much louder groan of protest emits from under the blankets at this thought.
Several moments of nonsensical cursing later, the lavender mare descended the stairs and headed toward the kitchen, still wearing her blanket as a sort of impromptu cloak. Twilight's mighty “anti bad morning armor”, or so she liked to think of it, was an “ingenious” way to retain some of the comfort of her bad while she moved around.
A dim collective of purple magic reached out, like a small army of sanity-preserving pixies, setting up the coffee maker and breaking a law or two of nature to make the water boil immediately, drastically expediting the process. Within a few moments, Twilight had a fresh cup of the dark sanity-preserving liquid ambrosia simpler ponies called “coffee” held in her magic, and drank from it as she wandered back into the library proper.
Breakfast, and indeed just about everything else, could wait until the first cup of the day was sunk. Still, the unicorn couldn't help but wonder what today would consist of. Yesterday had been an...unusual day, to say the least – the early portion of the day was an unmitigated disaster, the middle portion of the day was like some fantastical dream, and the latter portion of the day would have been better if Rainbow Dash hadn't attempted to molest her.
Rainbow Dash. Twilight still hadn't decided if she was persistently angry or just plain confused over what the pegasus had done the previous afternoon. Pushy, over-confident, prone to making bad decisions, Dash was all of these things – but to tackle her to the ground and kiss her? Setting aside logic, as the unicorn had only recently discovered she actually could...temporarily, it still made little sense.
It was hardly anything you could consider a prank, poorly conceived or otherwise. A horrifically badly thought out attempt to derail the conversation? It seemed unlikely, and awfully drastic. A deliberate attempt to sabotage her new relationship? Unthinkable, Dash was many things, and the strongest of them was loyal; she simply wouldn't do that. Perhaps some unresolved feelings reaching critical mass due to the news...?
Twilight chuckled to herself. That was preposterous. Clearly, she hadn't consumed enough coffee yet.
A continual dull roar of metal on metal friction under great pressure, and the accompanying off-rhythm of clackity-clack with the occasional clop of wheel over rail. The sound of a train in motion was a kind of natural, unintentional music; a soundtrack Octavia appreciated even if the average pony didn't understand.
She stared distantly out the window of her private cabin at the landscape whizzing by; trees and grass, nothing unfamiliar, nothing especially interesting, broken up by the occasional remnants of an old stone structure. This was an old part of Equestria between Fillydelphia and the Canterlot/Ponyville area, one that had gone largely untouched save for the construction of the linking railroad, in hundreds of years. Eventually, settlement would find this place again, as it had long ago, but for now, it was left in the care of nature and time.
A poetic thought, but it did nothing to alleviate the musician's boredom. One of the few things the gray mare disliked about her career was the travel and the endless tedium that came with it. The train was fast, but it still took several hours to get from Ponyville to Fillydelphia or Manehatten, hours spent in a little cabin with little to do. She could hear a commotion elsewhere in the carriage and knew the voices well – two of the other band members locked in a pointless argument, just to pass the time. It worked for them, but it was not to Octavia's tastes.
Actually, as she paid attention, she realized one of the voices in the argument was not familiar. Aggressive and speaking in a dialect more appropriate for a school yard from a decade ago than should be used by any adult pony, which the musician found decidedly distasteful. It almost reminded her of that insufferable DJ she was so often grouped with as famous Equestrian musical talents. She couldn't entirely follow the argument, but it sounded childish enough – something about knocking over someone's instrument case, and counter-blaming the owner for leaving it in the aisle.
Octavia sighed and leaned her elbow on the window-frame, her chin onto the hoof of that foreleg, and allowed herself to slump for once. This was going to be a particularly long train ride.
Pinkie resumed her observations early today. Sure, she probably should have been working, and Sugarcube Corner was awfully busy when she ran out that morning, but the Cakes understood. Being prepared for parties took a lot of time and effort, planning, coordination, spying, energy drinks, and the occasional bail-out from the local lock-up. It was all par for the course. If only trees weren't quite so uncomfortable. How does Rainbow Dash sleep in these things anyway?
Speaking of Rainbow Dash, the pink one observed as she emerged from Trixie's house, from her vantage point in a nearby tree, armed with binoculars, a notepad, an energy drink, and some popcorn...just in case. But she wasn't spying. Oooh, this one's coming along nicely! Hm...but they'll probably insist on Trixie being reintroduced to the group before having a party...and I think I like strawberry cake more than chocolate, or is that just pink bias?.
Pinkie raised a hoof to her chin and slanted an eyebrow in thought. Then again, do I like pink icing more than chocolate because it's pink, or because it's naturally sweeter? Narcissism or taste? I suppose in theory chocolate strawberries would solve the issue. I should make a cake using both strawberry and chocolate icing. Perfect!
Meanwhile, Trixie and Dash sat on their haunches face to face, slowly leaning in toward each other. Their expressions were equal; affection and challenge with a little deviance, evident there was some kind of game involved. Without warning, the cyan mare moved forward and swept Trixie off her hooves, dipping her and kissing her passionately. Trixie in turn threw her forelegs around the back of the pegasus' neck and returned it with equal fever.
It was only as the kiss broke Trixie realized what Dash had done, largely by observing the affectionately satisfied, but undeniably smug smirk on her face.
“Hmph, sneaky pegasus. It appears you have beaten Trixie this time” Trixie murmurs contently.
The cyan mare was about to say something in return, but both mares are distracted by an explosion of confetti and streamers from a nearby tree, and then stunned as both of them suddenly are being crushed together in a large pink hug.
“OhmygoshI'msohappyforyouguysIknowyouprobablydontwantapartyyetbutletmeknowwhenyou'rereadyandyoushouldreallyreintroduceTrixietoeveryoneDashiean-”
The pink pony took an especially large breath.
“And by the way, I wasn't spying. I just happened to be nearby”, she finishes with a big smile.
“You're wearing binoculars” Dash observes with a deadpan.
“And you were in a tree again” Trixie adds, with an equal deadpan.
“Oh, look at the time!” Pinkie announces, looking at her bare right foreleg and holding her head with the other hoof, “I can't stand around talking with you silly fillies all day! I have observations to make! I mean pies to spy! I mean...bye!”.
And with that, a pink blur rocketed off down the street, leaving the two mares slowly shaking their heads.
“She has a point though”, Dash finally submits with a sideways glance, “we really should reintroduce you the girls now that we're...you know, a thing”.
Trixie nods slowly in turn, “Trixie agrees, though she wonders how best to go about it”.
“Oh...I think I know how” Dash returns confidently.
It was just as well Octavia's special talent wasn't predicting the future. The earth pony is roused from her bored daze by a violent shudder running through the train, a moment before the scenery began going by at a noticeably slower and continually decreasing rate, until the train had come to a complete stop.
Exclamations of confusion, protest, and frustration quickly emerged from the rest of the carriage, mostly from the same overtly loud voice, as Octavia simply leaned out her window a small ways to look along the length of the train herself. The engine was billowing steam in a decidedly unnatural way – excessively, and through one side of its shell, evident the engineers had only just managed to avert a blow-out.
Being the level-headed pony that she was, and having absolutely no intention of being trapped on this train for the hours it would take to safely patch the breach, Octavia simply slung her cello-case onto her back and made for the nearest exit to the carriage. There was already a small crowd forming outside of other passengers, and they looked apt to beset the engineering doing his best to explain the situation like hungry wolves.
“You're not seriously going to walk back to Ponyville are you?” Bluenote remarks with concern, from the window of the band's carriage.
“It would seem the pertinent thing to do” Octavia returns idly, “what about you?”.
“We're staying right here, thank you” Harpo interjects, appearing beside Bluenote. “Imagine, traipsing about the wilderness for miles”.
Octavia rolls her eyes, but turns her head first to obscure the gesture. None of the other passengers seemed inclined to make their own way either, at least, none of the other ponies. One especially distinct figure emerges from the crowd, largely by product of being somewhat larger in stature to begin with. A griffin, who seemed to have just as little intention to remain trapped in the train with the quibbling as Octavia did.
That said, and even as rare as they were, the griffin was no friend of the musician's, and she was of no mind to approach them and suggest a shared journey. It was somewhat awkward, then, that they both set off at the same time, in the same direction, and walking at the same pace, one two feet ahead of the other, though they paid mind to keep to opposing sides of the road as they went.
The first hour of the journey consisted of walking, and silence. Neither traveler seemed inclined to so much as introduce themselves to the other, or strike up any sort of conversation. Octavia felt, at some level, this was a bit rude, but had also determined from the start the griffin was the owner of the immature, arrogant voice she had heard earlier on the train, and was disinclined to deal with any of it herself.
Gilda, on the other hand, could apparently only go so long in the presence of ponies without talking trash.
“I'm not carrying you or that thing on your back when you get tired, just so you know” the griffin reports suddenly.
“I don't expect you to” Octavia returns calmly, without so much as a sideways glance. “And it's called a cello, for future reference”.
The griffin gave a pft and rolled her eyes dismissively. “Whatever dude. I give it another ten minutes tops and you'll be flat under that thing”.
“I'm a mare, you realize” Octavia returns without rise, “and you needn't concern yourself with my cello. I have no trouble carrying it”.
“Yeah right” Gilda almost snorts in amusement, “you're like half the size of the thing and it probably ways three times what you do. You can try an act tough, but we both know you can't keep it up for long”.
“One of us seems to, anyway” Octavia returns once more, and still without rise.
Fifteen minutes pass in silence, and Gilda raises a brow as the earth pony's pace remains unbroken, and she showed no sign of fatigue. Fifteen minutes becomes half an hour, and still the musician appeared completely unaffected by the effort of carrying her cello. The griffin's face, by this point, had become an unamused scowl.
“Alright, go on, rub my beak in it” she snorts resentfully.
“In what?” Octavia returns idly with a sideways glance.
The griffin rolls her eyes, “you're still going, I get it, you're tougher than I thought, good for you”.
“Whatever are you talking about?” the earth pony returns with a raised brow of puzzlement.
Gilda could feel the blood boiling in her veins. It wasn't bad enough this pony was a lot tougher than she believed possible, or that she was apparently immune to provocation, she actually didn't even remember it.
“You know you're really getting on my nerves” the griffin snorts disdainfully.
Octavia cast another sideways glance with a raised brow, “I don't see how. I wouldn't even be talking if not to respond to what you say”.
The griffin's eye twitched, but she didn't say anything. And sure enough, as long as she didn't say anything, the pony didn't. As though not fully grasping the reality of it, Gilda deliberately goes another half an hour without saying a word. And soundly driving the point home, without even being aware she was making one, Octavia said nothing either.
Finally, the griffin caves in with a defeated sigh, and looks off to the side somewhere, away from the pony.
“So why didn't you stay with the train like the others?”
“Because I have four legs and common sense” Octavia replied idly.
“You know it's like an eight hour walk, not including the two we've already walked, right?” Gilda returns, allowing herself to peer across to see the defeat the knowledge brings.
“Actually, it's about ten hours, not including the two we've already walked, and any rest breaks along the way” the musician returns calmly. She turns her head to glance around at the surroundings momentarily, then returns her gaze to the road ahead. “Nine, actually. We're a little further ahead than I initially thought. I haven't made this walk for a while”.
“You've done this before!?” Gilda blurts out in rather obvious shock.
Octavia cast a sideways glance with a raised brow, once again. “I made journeys like this on a monthly basis for several years, when I was still a wandering musician”.
“Wandering musician? Aren't you in a fancy band or something?” the griffin returns in confusion.
“I am now” the earth pony replies simply, “I was not always”.
Checking back in at Ponyville, and the morning was coming along nicely. Ponies went about their daily business as they did, the weather was fair, if a little overcast today, forestalling a light shower the area would see before the day was out, and a familiar pink earth pony watched an equally familiar library through high powered binoculars from a vantage point in a tree. Which was also becoming familiar. Even though it shouldn't.
Pinkie Pie turning into a deranged stalker of friends in blossoming relationships aside, Twilight's ritualistic morning study was interrupted by a thump at the library door not unlike somepony running into it, followed briefly by the actual knock at the door one would expect. The excited smile the unicorn wore implied she had a good idea who it was, even before she cantered to answer it.
And she certainly wasn't disappointed to find Derpy waiting on the other side of the door.
“Morning, Twilight” the mailmare greets warmly, leaning in to give the unicorn a soft nuzzle of affection, “I can't stay long, this morning's a doozie for deliveries. But I couldn't pass by without...”, she blushes awkwardly, crossing her forelegs, “that is to say, I missed you last ni-...I mean...oh Celestia what am I trying to say again?”.
The lavender mare giggles softly and presents a thoughtful look, “it's okay, Derpy. I know we only saw each other yesterday afternoon, but I missed you too”.
The pegasus took a renewed, warm smile. “If you're not busy today, I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch together again? I was thinking maybe...more privately this time. Say...here?”.
Somewhere deep in the Twilight Sparkle Department of Thoughts, little Twilight Sparkles were running around screaming in panic at the idea of Derpy discovering just how tragic her every effort at cooking what ponies could rightfully call food was, and at least one was going through a mental breakdown, Twilight Sparkle style. Outwardly, she just presents an awkward laugh.
“Uh, actually...” Twilight brought up a hoof to rub the side of her neck what are you doing? Don't say no! For the love of Celestia just drop by AJ's to pick something up!. The unicorn blinked two or three times, “actually I'd like that very much”.
The grey mare seemed to breathe an inward sigh of relief, though she remained a bit nervous. She leaned in a little, but then paused, “I'll see you then, Twilight...”
A painfully long, awkward moment passed. This had seemed so much easier yesterday. Was it because there were no other ponies around? She was taking too long to do anything, the lavender mare seemed to be hiding mild disappointment behind her smile. And then she seemed to contemplate something, and come to a realization?
Twilight suddenly leaned forward herself and connected with the blonde mare in a kiss. Whatever flimsy nerves had stalled the pegasus immediately perished, and she drew the unicorn against herself in her forelegs, returning the kiss with fervor. The unicorn breathed through her nose this time, and they were able to hold it longer without fear of her passing out as a consequence. Derpy couldn't quite say the same, ironically, as she felt a powerful hot-flush run over her body and a surge of something she thought she'd lost.
It was at this point the blonde mare hesitantly decided to break the kiss, lest she might never. The lavender mare wore an affectionate, satisfied look that Derpy knew she was returning.
It was only as the blonde mare took flight and left, as she regretfully had to, that Twilight's gaze eventually fell from the air to the ground beyond the door of her library, and she realized Fluttershy had been standing not far behind Derpy the entire time. She could tell this by the yellow one's jaw currently resting by her front hooves, and the blush she wore that you could probably see from the moon.
“Uh...hey...Fluttershy” the unicorn stammers awkwardly in mild shell-shock. She had intended to tell the rest of her friends about her and Derpy, but this...wasn't quite what she had in mind. Especially for this friend, in particular.
The yellow mare responded by fainting.
Then a shower of confetti and streamers erupted from a nearby tree.
And finally, Twilight facehoofed.
“Your timing was a bit off there, Pinkie”.
“Your highness? Is everything alright?”
Celestia is stirred by the voice from beyond her chamber doors, a white hoof jutting out of her bed covers beneath with the rest of her hid...ironically from her own sun.
“I'm fine, thank you” she calls back.
The dismissal evidently works as nothing further comes from beyond the door. Still, the alicorn knew she couldn't laze about in bed all day. She wasn't really sure what had possessed her to return to bed after raising the sun in the first place. She didn't even need to sleep, it was merely an activity she used to pass time and relax, yet some overwhelming force had compelled her to go back to bed for a few hours today.
Luna had reported a similar curiosity herself after her return, but Celestia failed to see a connection. She finally relents and climbs out from under her bed-covers, wandering over to the now cold tea on the small table in the room not far away. Returning it to drinkable state took a split second and an immeasurably small amount of effort, before she magically lifted and sipped from the cup. She found it ironic that the tea still, somehow, didn't taste right, but knew it was psychological.
Finally, and for no particular reason, she takes a moment to wander over to the body-length mirror in the room. Perhaps the cause of her this morning's curiosity had some visible sign? It was dreadfully unlikely, but the phenomena was foreign as it was to Celestia. She sat on her haunches before the reflective window in momentary, idle observance of herself.
...oh, there was the connection.
She had to blink three or four times to be sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. The alicorn that stared back from the mirror was one she only remembered distantly, from some time long passed. Solid pink mane and tail, and no greater than the height of any other regular pony. Celestia blinks two or three more times for good measure, but the image persists.
“...what the buck?”
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Tavi/Gilda.
I mean ... what ... do you really... YES.
Ooo, Gilda x Octavia. I'm curious, who's Celestia gonna get shipped with, and why is she a filly again?
115752
THIS. ALL OF THIS.
115799
Celestia isn't a filly so much as just de-aged to the point of looking like a regular pony...but still an alicorn. There's method in my madness.
There is. Really.
ehh.... I....... nevermind
119293
What a bizarre comment. I'm intrigued, what am I neverminding?
120117 to tell you the truth.... I forgot what it was... had something to do with the third chapter though...
123063 You are quite welcome good sir.
I can see why you would call it white it's hard to tell at a glance, but technically it's two different colors making it up. I feel like Rarity pointing out such small details
Yarg once again I find an awesome fic by chance, catch up with it, and am forced to wait for updates. There are sooooo many fics that I want/need to update. I should probably do something productive like schoolwork. Or the art I'm too lazy to finish. Or the fic I'm too lazy to write. But Ih well I'm going on a tangent. Great story can't wait for it to update. I really like these crazy pairs haha. I actually fond it to see if pinkie/Trixie ship fics exist or if mine would be rare and I found this and got joked immediately. Good job.
Interesting. Not sure who it was that Pinkie saw, thought it might have been Surprise but didn't seem like it. I want to see the awkwardness that would be Twilight meeting Dinky. Well keep up the good work.
Bueno
love twiderp. my fave pony shipped with fave background pony. the age difference between them is kinda a neat aspect that most people don't bring up in these ship fics with derpy. i mean she's a mother after all. i'm diggin it. keep up the good work.
Waiting for more!