Old Habits

by Wr1tingN3rd

Chapter 2: Giving It A Shot

Rainbow flew as fast as her wings could take her. The wind blew in her mane, slowing her down. Especially because there was a guitar case strapped on her back. It was fine, though. She had made sure to leave specifically at night time so that she wouldn't be spotted by normal town residents. A few seconds later, she saw the outline of a familiar tree library. When she got closer, she could see that the lights were off.

Her hooves touched down on the soft welcome mat at the front door. She rapped on the door, causing a groan of discomfort to sound inside of the dark library. Soon, the door opened and Spike stood at the entrance.

"Huh-wa? Wa do ya want?" he asked tiredly, before realizing who was standing at the door. "Oh- Rainbow? What are you doing here at this hour?" Spike eyed the case on her back. "What's that for?"

Rainbow shuffled her wings. "I, uh... can I stay the night? I want to talk to Twilight and I know she's sleeping right now, but I didn't want to attract too much attention in the morning, so I'm here now!" she smiled sheepishly at Spike, who raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. Alright, you can come in," Spike gestured her to come inside before sleepily slugging his way back to his bed upstairs. "You can sleep on the couch."

Rainbow gave a grateful nod. "Thanks, Spike. It means a lot," she smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't wake me up again, or I'm booting you out of here," he yawned before slumping down onto the soft confinements of his bed.

Rainbow also yawned, before shortly following Spike by laying down on the main couch in the living room.

Soon it was day, and Spike was awoken from the sounds of plucking downstairs. Curious, he stifled a yawn and headed downstairs quietly, where his eyes widened at the sight. There sat Rainbow Dash, the Rainbow Dash, playing a guitar. He rubbed his eye sockets to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but it seemed his vision was working perfectly fine.

"Rainbow? Why do you have a guitar?" he spoke, making the cyan pegasus yelp.

"Jeez, Spike, don't do that!" she growled, before setting the guitar by her side. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. But that still doesn't answer the question. Since when did you play guitar?" Spike asked, before taking a seat at a chair nearby.

"Oh, uh, that thing," she rubbed the back of her neck. "That's a good question," she said before looking at the instrument laying besides her.

"Still doesn't tell me anything."

"Well, I've actually been playing for a while before stopping. I only recently picked it up again," she answered, stroking the guitar neck with her hoof. Dust built up on it before she quickly gave a puff of air to get rid of it.

"Is that what you're going to do with Twilight? Play her something?" Spike asked, walking over to the wooden instrument. "Yeesh, this thing's pretty beat up," he said when he saw the condition it was in. "How long did you stop?"

"A few years. I still got it, though," she responded while she reached over to the guitar, picking it up and playing a chord to show that she still indeed, 'got it'. "I'm hoping this'll cheer Twi up. It always worked for me, so I'm hoping it'll work for her," she sighed, looking down at the floor. "I just can't stand seeing her like this."

"You and me both," Spike said, also sighing heavily. "Well, if you think it'll work, go ahead and give it a shot. Anything helps." He sat down besides Rainbow. "It's been hard without her helping out around the library."

She scoffed. "Don't you basically do everything around here?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "It's been hard mentally, okay? She's like a sister to me. It hurts me to see her stuck in her room all day, crying her eyes out. She doesn't even get out to eat," he sniffed.

"I feel ya. Well, hopefully this turns out alright," she looked at Spike. "Also, if you tell anyone about this, I will personally strangle you," she stared daggers into him.

"Alright! Your secret's safe with me," he chuckled. "Go do what you have to do."

"Okay," Rainbow said. She grabbed her guitar and walked upstairs. She approached the door with a six-pointed star on it, surrounded by five smaller stars. Slowly, she reached her hoof out to the door, but hesitated. Will she even care? She asked herself before shaking her head. No, don't even think like that. Everything will work out. It has to. She knocked on the door.

No response came through. "Hey, Twi. You in there?"

"Mmf. What do you want?" Twilight said groggily.

"You alright?" she asked, pressing her ear into the door.

"What do you think?!" she responded angrily.

Rainbow slouched down besides the wooden barrier. "We're worried about you, Twi." Nothing. Still silence filled the air. She sighed. She rested her guitar on her lap and put her hoof on the guitar neck. Are you sure? Her mind asked her. Yes, I'm sure. She responded. She probably won't care, you know. Rainbow groaned to herself. Buck off! She sat there for a little bit, debating what to do next and after a bit, she could hear Twilight's soft cries in the room. Determination filled her eyes and she began to strum.

---

Losing My Religion - R.E.M.

---

It was a simple melody. The sounds of guitar strings echoed through the library. Twilight rolled over on her bed to see what the noise was. She was even more surprised when she heard Rainbow sing.

Life, it's bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes

Rainbow leaned into the door, as if trying to tell Twilight something.

Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

She turned to look up, like she was looking back at a past memory, before continuing with the song.

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it

Her head hung low. The lyrics matching her current emotion. She thought of giving up.

Oh no, I've said too much.
I haven't said enough.

Then, she remembered why she was there and a flood of emotion coursed through her body.

I thought that I heard you laughing.
I thought that I heard you sing.

She gathered her resolve, pouring her heart into the next line.

I think I thought I saw you try.

It was filled with sadness and hope. She sung the line louder than the others, making a tear form, before it was quickly wiped away. Twilight, all the while, sat up in bed and listened, her tears slowly coming to a stop.

Every whisper
of every waking hour
I'm choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

Rainbow sighed.

Consider this.
Consider this, the hint of the century.
Consider this, the slip.
That brought me to my knees, failed
What if all these fantasies come flailing around

Doubt crossed her mind once more. She wondered if this was worth it. If Twilight would even care. What if she would make fun of her?

Now I've said too much

It was too late now. However, another thought crossed her mind. Another possibility. A possibility that Twilight would come out of her room. Accept her. Smile. And that thought made it all worth while.

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

She started the bridge part of the song, putting her heart and soul into it, playing the strings with more power, strumming with more force.

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough

Twilight got off her bed, slowly approaching the door, before sitting along the wall, the opposite side of Rainbow.

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Rainbow was starting to lose hope. Maybe Twilight wouldn't come out after all. Maybe all of this was one big effort, put into an impossible problem.

But that was just a dream
Try, cry, why try?
That was just a dream
Just a dream
Just a dream, dream

She began to play the final part of the song. As the music began to falter, getting closer to the end, so did Rainbow's hope. Her playing getting softer and softer, until the end, where the last note was played with extra power, her last bit of determination, put into the last string. The note rang out softly. Rainbow waited. And as the note finally died out, she cried softly to herself. It didn't work. Of course it didn't work. All she was, was a failure.

Then, suddenly, the door besides her opened, revealing a beat-up Twilight. She was a mess. But when she looked down at Rainbow, she was in a similar state of sorrow. They locked eyes for a moment. "T-Twi?" Rainbow asked softly. Why was she there? Did her efforts work out in the end? She was about to say something, but then the unexpected happened.

Twilight dashed towards her and gave her a bone-crushing hug. The pegasus gave out an eep of surprise, before returning the hug. Twilight cried into her shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

Author's Note:

I know this chapter was short, but I feel like I wrote it ever so slightly better than my previous chapter, even thought it has 900 more words in it. Size doesn't matter, guys.