Afternoon Rush
Guardian Angel
Chapter Fifteen: Afternoon Rush
Try as hard as she could, Twilight Sparkle could not finish her book. It wasn't the plot or anything about the book. The few chapters had been exhilarating, the story solid. The problem was Rainbow Dash, who currently lay on a nearby rock, engrossed in a book. 'Not problem... distraction. No that doesn't sound right either.' she thought. Recently all of her thoughts seemed to point to the pegasus. Sometimes she swore she could spot Rainbow out of the corner of her eye, turning around expecting her to stand there grinning, only to find out she was mistaken. Anything colorful reminded her of Dash, and she couldn't get the pegasus out of her head! Even in her book, she found herself replacing the main character with Rainbow; surprisingly the two were very much alike.
When faced with a difficult situation, she'd ask herself, "what would Rainbow Dash do?" Most of the time she'd immediately discard the thought, especially when handling chemicals. But now... what would Rainbow do when faced with romantic feelings with a close friend?
Would she just come out and say it? Or would she bottle those feelings up, and save it for an opportune moment?
With a huff of frustration she set her book down. "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back in a bit," she called out to the pegasus, who was engrossed in her book. This brought a smile to Twilight's face. Even the mighty Rainbow Dash liked reading! Too bad she was too engrossed to hear the unicorn's notification, so Twilight tried again, "Rainbow? Equestria to Rainbow Dash!"
The pegasus jerked, realizing Twilight had been talking to her. Sheepishly she apologized, "Sorry Twi, I was just at a good part. Big battle with a dragon and stuff. Anyways did you need something?"
"Just letting you know I'm taking a walk, I need to stretch my legs a bit. Just thought I'd let you know, just in case."
"Oh, alright Twi. Have fun?" Rainbow responded, a bit of dejection detectable in her voice. Thankfully Twilight hadn't picked up on it, and the unicorn trotted away.
Rainbow Dash quite enjoyed reading even more when the librarian was around. Of course she wished she could be doing other things with the librarian besides reading. Like snuggling close to that warm lavender filly, in front of a crackling fireplace.
Who was to say she didn't desire a bit of romance? Rainbow's goal in life was to join the Wonderbolts, a target she was well on her way to achieving, but there was also the urge to find that special somepony. Somepony to share your deepest secrets, to help you up when you were down, to give your heart out to. Somedays she wished she could just say what she felt, but Rainbow had never been good with words, another reason she picked up reading. She wanted help in voicing what she felt. Sure she could have just grabbed a dictionary, but that was boring. Rainbow Dash didn't do boring.
With a sigh, she returned to her tale. She'd think about what to do with her feelings for Twilight later... right now she wanted to see what would happen to the heroine of the story.
Twilight trotted along, moving through the brush almost like a predator. She observed the various fauna, her mind rattling off the names of most of the plants and organisms. She watched a butterfly flutter about through the air, without a care in the world.
'Was this what Rainbow felt like when she was flying?' Flight had always intrigued the studious unicorn. The brief taste she'd gotten with Rainbow had been both exhilarating and terrifying. Exhilarating because she really could see everything, from the setting sun, to the small town of Ponyville, to Canterlot perched on the mountain like a miniature castle in a diorama. The Everfree Forest stretching out for miles and miles over the countryside.
Terrifying, because, well there was always the chance of falling, and from heights like which Rainbow performed her tricks from it was all the more dangerous. She gained a larger respect for the daring mare, flight wasn't as easy as she imagined. While it came naturally to pegasi, like magic to unicorns, formal instruction was still needed. You couldn't just "wing it" and hope to fly. With a groan Twilight facehoofed at her unintentional pun, 'Thank Celestia Rainbow isn't around, she'd never let me live it down.'
She soon found herself making her way back to their spot, finding it very much the same as when she left. Once again Twilight found herself staring at the prismatic mare, entrapped by the sight of her stretched out on the rock. A grumble from her stomach broke Twilight out of her staring and she shifted her attention to the issue at hoof. She made her way over to the bag, and started rummaging for something.
Rainbow's sensitive ears picked up the not so quiet rustle of Twilight's bag, and she turned her head to greet the unicorn. What she hadn't expected to see is Twilight's rump in the air as she looked through the bag. She knew it was rude to stare, but she just couldn't pull herself away. The way those lavender flanks shifted as the unicorn rummaged about in her bag was hypnotizing.
Twilight cursed, she'd forgotten about their dinner reservation. In her excitement of finally having another reading night, or Daring Do Night as Rainbow preferred to call it, she'd completely skipped over making a reminder for herself or bringing a clock. 'Should've made a list.'
With a huff of annoyance she straightened out, letting out a quiet moan as the strain on her back lessened. Bending over like that was not comfortable. She turned around to deliver the bad news, but stopped. Rainbow seemed to be flustered for some reason, her cheeks tinted a adorable shade of pink. 'Probably just a 'saucy' passage in her book. She's been reading a lot more non-Daring Do and she was bound to run into that kind of fiction.'
"Rainbow what time is it?" she asked, awaiting the pegasus' reply. Twilight couldn't tell the time as accurately as a pegasus. Pegasi had a natural connection to the weather and as such developed an accurate sense of time telling. Rainbow simply gave her the answer... "We're going to be late for our reservation!" she cried out.
"Not good Twilight! Where is it?" she asked, eager to change focus from the fact she'd been staring at Twilight's flanks. Thank Celestia she hadn't been caught. That would have been embarrassing to explain. 'Oh I was just oogling your backside, don't mind me. Truth is it was a nice backside. Damn it Rainbow! Get your head out of the gutter, this is no time to be thinking about that!'
"That's the problem, I forgot to prepare any reminders for myself!" Twilight continued to mumble. This was one of the worst times to forget something! "I guess we'll have to cancel then. We can always eat at the library..." she finished dejectedly.
In a few minutes they were packed up once more, and Twilight slipped on the once more full saddlebags. Rainbow quickly realized that she'd need to carry Twilight once more, and an idea quickly formed in her mind. Putting her plan into action, she beckoned to Twilight, "Hop on and hold on tight. I'll get us to Ponyville in ten seconds flat." They both knew that the feat was impossible, but the meaning was the same. Walking over, Twilight gingerly crawled on top of Rainbow Dash, taking care to avoid disturbing the extended wings. From what she'd read pegasus wings were very sensitive. Her hooves wrapped around the cyan mare's neck, and with a gulp she confirmed her readiness, hopefully Rainbow wouldn't do any stunts like last time.
Rainbow tensed, adjusting to the feel of having Twilight as a passenger. She gave a few experimental flaps, not used to carrying a pony on her back. Most of the time the passenger was underneath her.
"Just no stunts Rainbow. Please." Twilight beckoned. After what happened immediately after landing, Rainbow was content to agree. She preferred not being covered in vomit.
"Alright, just hold on tight Twi. I promise I won't do anything too crazy." She shouted out, already getting a running start. The cliff's edge rapidly approached, and Rainbow Dash leapt into the air, wings extended to their full width.
Flying with a passenger on her back was a bit strange at first, but she quickly found herself picking up speed. Then an idea struck her. She couldn't perform a Sonic Rainboom within town limits, the results being that the shockwave would shatter almost every window in town. Oh and the fine. While not short on bits by any means, Rainbow did not want to pay the 5000+ bits for damaging town property, or in this case every piece of town property.
But out here in the wilderness, there were no windows to shatter. Sure some animals may get a scare, but Fluttershy would take care of it. Even though she was no good with animals, Rainbow would still offer to help, it was only fair. With her thoughts in order, Rainbow flapped her wings harder, a mach cone starting to form. Twilight quickly deduced what was going to happen, and instead of wasting her breath, she simply clutched on tighter. It was already too late to stop anyways, unless they wanted to be tossed back like ragdolls, they'd have to continue on.
It was also very interesting to see for Twilight, she'd always wondered what the Rainboom looked like from Rainbow's perspective. This was her opportunity. Perhaps Rainbow would be willing to make a quick stop at the library afterwards so she could make some notes on the experience. A spark flew across her vision, burning a bright red and blue. The amount of sparks slowly increased. They were close.
Just like that, it happened. They broke the sonic barrier, and somehow the visible light spectrum.
A sense of weightlessness enveloped the two, and then they shot forward, even faster than before. Twilight felt the wave of energy pass over her, tingling every one of her senses. Her eyes took in the range of colors, but quickly closed to prevent damage to her retinas. Twilight's ears rung, and she could smell the slightest hint of burnt ozone in the air. How she wished she'd had some recording equipment on her!
Rainbow gave a cocky grin and an ecstatic whoop, her third Rainboom was a success, and on the first try too. It was also the first time she'd done it while carrying another pony. She couldn't wait to tell the rest of their friends!
The rainbow colored ring continued to expand, slowly disappating into nothingness. The rainbow trail she was known for was present and burning bright. While unnoticeable to her, the trail seemed to have a bit more purple than usual, as noted by the denizens of Ponyville, who had flocked outside to investigate the sudden noise.
Pulling into some wide banks, Rainbow gradually slowed herself down, and eventually landed in the town market. The few ponies still present looked on in interest. They'd heard of the Rainboom, whether through Fluttershy's unusually loud cheering upon the ponies' return or from the performer herself, but most ponies hadn't seen the phenomenon. A tentative clap sounded out, followed quickly by the rest of the ponies joining in.
Twilight climbed off of Rainbow's back, the clapping intensifying once the crowd realized that there had been a passenger! Rainbow basked in the attention, imagining if this is what the Wonderbolts felt like after a show. As the claps died down, Rainbow gave a bow to the crowd, and called out a simple thanks. "Thanks everypony. I'll be here all week." she added, a bit of lighthearted sarcasm in her voice. The crowd chuckled and dispersed, returning to their previous tasks.
"21.65," Twilight gasped out, still shaky on her hooves.
"Huh?" Rainbow asked, perplexed by the number Twilight had said.
"21.65 seconds to get to Ponyville town limits." she repeated.
Rainbow started to snicker, soon enough erupting into full blown laughter. Twilight had also started laughing, and gave a small gasp of surprise as Rainbow pulled her into a hug. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead hugging in public, but right now Rainbow didn't care.
"Never change egghead. Never."
"Only if you won't... featherbrain."
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There might have been a scene missing in there. It just seemed a little too sudden that Rainbow was in the library, reading, then she was out on a rock, exactly where Twilight would be walking to, in the very next scene with little to no explanation. It may just be that it's 5am, but does anyone else think the pacing in this was a bit off?
Loving the fic so far, but this chapter just doesn't have the... coherence, I guess the word would be, that the others do.
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2239758
Could you explain this a bit more?
Essentially this chapter picks up right after the previous one. They're at the nearby valley(near the end of chapter fourteen they arrive at the valley and now are reading at the same point in time).
2239804 I think what they meant was this scene.
You seemed to bring it through where Rainbow was in the library, but then came to be in the spot just staring at her. Perhaps you made it so that would be but, I think they meant that you could have added Rainbows scene into it as she flew to the spot.
Now onto what I have to say hahaha.
This chapter is awesome, you are definately keeping my attention and making me want more and more. You have the characterization on fairly well, and the pacing is great. As before the scenes could be changed a bit to make more sense, but thats about all. I can't wait for the update and hopefully they find SOME clue that they like eachother hahaha.
2240086
Hmm. I see what you guys are mentioning now. I'll on rewording it to sound better and for clarity.
What I meant was that at the end of chapter fourteen they set off away from the library to read outdoors(in the valley) and essentially "set up camp". This chapter is a direct continuation of the last one.
Brief summary of chapter fifteen, spoiler tagged just in case.
Summarizing the chapter, they're at the valley, reading. Twilight goes to stretch her legs for a bit and returns, then panics as she forgot about their planned meal/celebratory dinner. Cue the Sonic Rainboom express!
Once again, thanks for reading and pointing out things like these.
~Nuuk
Anytime
Found the troublesome section:
The bolded sentence is the one that throws me off the most. What I meant to say there was that Twilight sometimes mistaked other ponies, or similar colors to Rainbow Dash, when in reality it wasn't. She just can't get Rainbow out of her mind.
Nice chapter update as always
2240500
That there is indeed a tricky part, the change you made is better but it's still a bit odd.
Perhaps something more like this:
Sometimes she swore she could spot Rainbow out of the corner of her eye, turning around expecting her to stand there grinning, only to find out she was mistaken.
Hopefully I did not just kill the English language.
Other than that, a great addition to a great story
Oh, and I love the picture darkho made, he's just plain awesome that one.
2241891
Couldn't have killed it worse than me.
Thanks for that though.
~Nuuk.
Actually, you're right. Most of my problem with it was me being an idiot, I forgot that the last chapter left them at some place other than the library. I've reread it now and it's fine.
I'll try to avoid reading at 5am in the future.
2243622
No harm, no foul. In the end, the chapter was still improved.
Great story,
, waiting for more 