Don't Panic
She was staring out across the lake, stone in hoof. Something in her should have registered that the stone was for throwing, not for holding. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to, even if she tried, her foreleg stuck fast to her side, unable to bring itself up.
She groaned suddenly, throwing a defeated yet exasperated hoof in the air. How long had she been sitting here? She’d been skipping stones for so long, but now she didn’t even know where to start? Hadn’t she been taught by Twilight, and hadn’t she perfected.... well, not exactly perfected, but gotten it down, just like that?
Twilight... The name drifted aimlessly through her mind, somehow compelling her to look around. To her surprise, Twilight sat to her right, her tail flicking side to side. No stone rested in her hoof, and her eyes wandered this way and that. She must have heard Rainbow turn around... was that possible? Dash didn’t have time to think about it, though, as a warm smile immediately replaced Twilight’s absent expression, with a light giggle following. “Need help, Dash? Didn’t I teach you this already?” she teased.
Rainbow found herself shrinking back, her brows creasing in a frown. “Of course not! You know I can do this perfectly fine by myself!”
Twilight only tilted her head, and the two mares just sat there, each waiting for something to happen. Twilight’s smile only grew as Dash felt her face redden.
Twilight rolled her eyes, and, standing up, she took a few steps over, the smile never leaving her face. “Yes, you do. I don’t know if you’re being silly on purpose, but...” She didn’t finish her sentence as, just like the first time, she wrapped one hoof around Dash’s neck, her breath breezing across her rainbow mane. The pegasus opened her mouth to warn her friend, but it was lost to surprise as Twilight effortlessly lifted her stone-wielding foreleg, bringing it out to the starting position.
“You do remember this, right?”
“Uh...” She certainly remembered the way Twilight had held her that first time.
An exasperated sigh sounded from behind her, and she glanced behind, already preparing an indignant response, but seeing Twilight’s half-smile, any defensiveness immediately left her.
“Of course you do! Then why are you just sitting there, Dashie?”
“Well, I, um-” The sudden need to stutter vanished when the use of her nickname registered. When was the last time Twilight called her that? “What?” was all she could manage.
“Dashie?!”
“What?!”
-------------------------------------
“Dashie!”
“Gah!” She bolted upright, too much and too fast, and only as she felt herself falling to the floor did she realize that she had been sitting down, on a stool, which conveniently lacked a backrest. She inevitably crashed to the floor with a *THUMP*, her hooves flailing uselessly.
With a groan that was backed by more frustration than pain, she creaked one eye open. A familiar pink pony stood over her, her eyes curious, worried, and much too close. “There you are! Are you okay?”
Rainbow craned her neck slightly, if only to get away from her eager, yet pressing friend. “What do you mean, ‘there I am?’ Haven’t I been here this whole time?” she asked, as she started to realize that her daydream had been just that: a daydream.
“Yeah, you’ve been here, but you haven’t been here.” Rainbow’s subtle retreat flew right over her head, and she narrowed her eyes. Scooting even closer, she pointed a hoof at Rainbow’s forehead.
“Wha-” Pinkie’s flagrant disregard for personal space caused Rainbow to grimace and back up an inch further. Her head bumped up against the wall, though, and with a groan, she pushed Pinkie off of her and sat up, dusting herself off. Blowing the air out of her cheeks, she continued. “Yeah, so what?”
“So what? Well...” in a flash, she was sitting at what was previously Rainbow’s stool, seemingly determined to make a point. “You were sitting all like this” -she immediately slumped over, one hoof propped upright being the only effort to keep her head off the table, so that her cheek rested against her foreleg- “and your face was all like this” -at that, her expression immediately softened, a lazy, maybe even dreamy smile slowly making its way across her features. Rainbow almost had to cringe, heat building in her face. That would definitely help her maintain her cool, composed reputation... “-and you were sitting like that for at least ten minutes! Aaaand,” she reached for a nearby cupcake that lay on its side, some of the frosting already smeared onto the table, “you knocked your cupcake over and you didn’t even notice! And that,” she sat up again and grinned, the corners of her smile almost stretching past her face, “is when I knew I had to do something.” Dash took a step back as Pinkie zipped in front of her, puffing her chest out and throwing a hoof in the air. “Captain Pinkie! Saviour of sweets! Protector of pastries! Master of-”
Any more clever, baked-good-related alliterations were muffled by Rainbow’s hoof shoved into her mouth. Dash rolled her eyes as Pinkie continued to mumble past the sudden intrusion. After a few moments, Rainbow took a sideways glance at the pink pony. She raised an eyebrow. “You done?”
Pinkie nodded, and after a moment’s contemplation, Rainbow withdrew, muttering a reluctant and rather late “thanks, I guess” as she inspected her hoof.
Pinkie bounced in place, as if nothing had happened. “No problemo!” Suddenly, she raised an eyebrow, putting a hoof to her chin, though her bouncing kept going of its own accord. “Say... aren’t you supposed to be somewhere by now?”
Dash looked up, cocking a skeptical eyebrow. “Really? I’m not supposed to be anywhere until noon.” For reassurance, she casually glanced at the clock. “See, it’s not even...” Her glance, though, turned from uncaring to caring in an instant. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized that the minute hand was leisurely making its way past the quarter-hour mark, the hour hand already past the “12” at the top.
In another instant, a rainbow trail was the only indicator left that she had ever been there, and her voice was already halfway out the door, saying: “OhmigoshI’mlateforlunchgottago!”
Pinkie stared at the swinging door, her head tilted. “I’m supposed to go, too, you know...” She shrugged after a moment, and resuming her smile, she bounced after Rainbow.
--------------------------
The spoon clinked against the glass as it swirled this way and that. It was promptly surrounded in a magical glow, and lifted off the table. On the way to its destination, though, it stopped halfway.
Rarity paused as she glanced to her right at her fellow unicorn. Sighing, she looked around for a moment before turning back to Twilight. It had been at least ten minutes since they got here, and no word, not even a sound, had come from her.
And Rainbow Dash was late too, but that wasn’t really anything special. Twilight, though... She had her eyes closed, yet not screwed shut, only relaxed in a way. Her hooves supported her head, though “supported” would be stretching it, as Rarity was sure that her hooves had been slipping, inching herself forward every second, and still no reaction came from her.
And that silly, carefree smile. She wasn’t used to seeing Twilight like this, as usually, she attributed this kind of expression to Pinkie Pie.
She decided that fifteen minutes was long enough. “Twilight?” She raised an eyebrow. No response.
“Twilight?” Still, nothing.
She sighed, and contemplated her still-full glass of tea for a moment. Glancing at Twilight again, and deciding that it wouldn’t be too bad, she tilted the glass towards the unicorn and flicked it, catching the cup in her magic where it would have gone flying. The tea, though, had the intended effect of splashing Twilight in the face. Rarity’s mouth pulled into a grimace as some drops splashed near her, and at the inevitable reaction.
Sure enough, Twilight recoiled immediately, and with a “Waugh!” she shot up, her hooves scrabbling on the table. Somehow finding purchase, but her eyes still wide, she managed to splutter out, “What’sgoingon!” Her eyes darted around frantically, though Rarity wasn’t sure what she was looking for. “Who splashed me?”
Her gaze rested on Rarity, who was now concentrated on her mostly-emptied glass, absently stirring the tea left inside. “Did you see who splashed me, Rarity?”
The white unicorn looked up, but didn’t move otherwise. “Sorry about that, dear, but you have been in that same position, with that same expression, ever since we got here! It’s not everyday that I see you daydream, which I’m sure is what you were doing. And if I see you doing that, then, well...” She smiled as she trailed off, returning her gaze to her cup of tea.
“I.... what?! It was you?!” Twilight spluttered, eyes wide and disbelieving.
Rarity only nodded. She regretted nothing.
“I... but... huh?” Twilight was more shocked than angry, and still staring at her friend, she reached over with a hoof, grasping a napkin. She slowly brought it across her face and mane, though her eyes never left Rarity. Realizing she wouldn’t get any further explanation, she slumped back in her chair and sighed. The sudden tea attack had its intended effect, though: she sat up just a little straighter in her chair, and her eyes went to Rarity’s cup of tea every so often.
“Hey!” The sudden, unexpected voice broke her focus. She looked up, a smile immediately crossing her face at the sight of Rainbow and Pinkie, trotting up to their table.
“Hi, girls!” She greeted back, running a hoof through her mane. She couldn’t get all the tea out that way, but it only now struck her as important. “You’re late,” she teased, nudging Rainbow as she took a seat next to her.
The pegasus brushed the comment off with a wave of her hoof. “Ah, whatever. You didn’t seem like you’re in a rush. At least we’re not as late as AJ and ‘Shy.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t even count! They couldn’t make it, so you can’t hide the fact that you showed up last... like last time. And most other times.”
“What?!” Dash almost leapt out of her seat, choosing at the last second to plant her hooves on the table, leaning in closer to Twilight. “I’m not late to lunch all the time! The last time I was late was... at least three months ago! The...” she started tapping her hoof on the table, looking up for a moment “-last Tuesday of that month! Yeah!”
“Uh-huh.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, grinning and causing Dash to smirk herself. “I’m sure you actually keep track of these things...” Her horn glowed, and a well-worn parchment materialized, which the unicorn immediately turned to. “Let’s see, my agenda for three months ago says...” as she trailed off, eyes scanning the paper to determine the validity of her friend’s claim, Dash’s jaw fell and her eyes narrowed.
“Ugh! You’re such an egghead! I know I’m right and you should too!” She threw an accusing hoof at Twilight.
“Oh, come on, Dash. Resorting to insults already, are we?” Her eyes gleamed, her smile twisting into something slightly darker.
“‘Already?!’ Why, I oughta-”
Rarity sighed, burying her face in her hooves. After a sufficient amount of time facehoofing, she turned to the one other pony at the table that wasn’t caught up in a petty argument. “Pinkie, are we the only sane mares at this table?”
She got no response, because Pinkie was munching on a bag of popcorn, which she definitely didn’t have moments ago, and completely absorbed in Rainbow and Twilight’s... debate. As if just hearing her, Pinkie turned to face Rarity mid-chew. “Huh?” she asked with a mouthful of popcorn.
Rarity groaned, returning her face to her hooves. “Correction, then: Am I the only sane mare at this table?” At this point, though, the question was pretty much rhetorical.
Luckily for Rarity, and for the rest of the restaurant’s patrons, the argument cooled down with the appearance of some much-needed lunch. Conversations in general took a backseat to the more pressing matter of eating, although snippets of the girls’ daily lives did pop up in between mouthfuls of food.
Rainbow Dash, however, opted to give her attention to her sandwich. She gave the plate it had come on a few spins, yet her stomach didn’t give off a single grumble. After another moment, she shrugged and took a bite anyway, but frowned mid-chew when it didn’t renew her appetite. Putting down the sandwich again, she slid the plate a few inches away from her. Must have been the cupcake she had eaten before taking her unplanned nap.
From the seat next to her, Twilight had paused to watch Rainbow’s curious lack of enthusiasm towards her food. Her eyebrow rose after seeing Dash finally give up and push her sandwich away, but remained silent. With her eyes locked on her friend and her mouth half-open in response to the sandwich that still hovered in Twilight’s magical grasp, most anypony would have been able to glance over and guess that the bookworm was trying to analyze the pegasus that sat next to her. Naturally, when Rainbow’s half-lidded eyes casually turned their gaze in her direction, it was without a single trace of this awareness in them.
Finally, Twilight took a bite of her sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. Most ponies had their bad days, their lazy days, their apathetic days. Rainbow had those days more than most ponies; specifically, her lazy days in proportion to her good days were off the charts.
Despite the high chances of today being yet another one of her lazy days, Twilight had to consider the only other possibility. If there really was something weighing on Rainbow’s mind, the chances of getting her to actually admit it were close to zero… and even that was only if they were alone. Getting Rainbow to speak her mind in a group? She’d see at as an admission of weakness.
Twilight smiled to herself and shook her head. What an absurd thought.
--------------------------
“Yo, Twilight.”
They turned to face each other, as the only two left at the table. Rarity and Pinkie had already left a few minutes ago, each citing some work-related commitment as the reason for their quickly-emptied bowls and hastily uttered see-you-laters. Twilight had, for some reason, taken her sweet time polishing off her sandwich, although Rainbow didn’t give it any thought.
“Are you free after lunch? I was thinking we could go to the lake again today.” The hesitation in her voice was much more apparent than she would have liked. Twilight had been unusually free as of late, so it was only a matter of time before some sort of commitment came up and clashed with Dash’s plans…
“...sorry, Rainbow, I promised Spike that today I’d help him clean the library.” Twilight looked down guilty, yet Rainbow could spot faint traces of a smile trying to form on her lips. “I kind of feel bad for constantly leaving my books all over the place, and then put all the grunt work on him to put it back. I mean,” she cast her eyes to the side in pseudo-thoughtfulness, “he is my assistant and I have to make him do something, but still…”
Rainbow snickered at her friend’s unnecessary guilt, which successfully hid her own slight disappointment. “So you’ve been leaving your messes for him this whole time, but you never felt bad about it?”
Twilight grimaced, her cheeks suddenly tinged with red. “No, that’s not it! Well, I mean, I didn’t feel bad at first, but…” Rainbow’s growing grin was the essence of victory, and Twilight narrowed her eyes at the sudden indignation that rose in her. “...but I started feeling bad pretty quickly, and I think now the least I can do is ease his load a little bit, you know!” She sighed and closed her eyes, sinking down in her chair. After a moment, she opened one eye and her mouth again. “Is that alright? I’ve had this on my schedule for a while, and I’m betting that he’ll be pleasantly surprised by it.”
Rainbow quickly waved a hoof, dismissing Twilight’s words with the motion. “Nah, it’s cool. You can’t always take time out of your schedule to spend time with me, right?” She leaned closer, her bent foreleg nudging Twilight’s side. “Even though anypony would totally leap at the opportunity.” She punctuated her remark with a playful wink.
Twilight responded with an unamused stare. She had long since gotten used to Rainbow’s jabs, and this stare was a proven effective counter. Just as she predicted, Rainbow’s cocky grin disappeared, and she withered under Twilight’s piercing eyes, whipping her head in the other direction and lamenting over the uselessness of her “irresistible charm.”
Now it was Twilight’s turn to grin. “Really, though, I’ll let you know as soon as possible the next time I’m free.”
Rainbow returned those words with a smile, but she was already getting off of her chair and turning to leave. “Cool. I’ll see you later, then.” Not waiting for a response, she set off for the lake, this time alone.
Twilight watched her leave, her mouth still open. The words lingered on her lips.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash.”
She turned around. “Yeah?”
“Is there something wrong?”
She was already gone.
----------------------------------------
When Twilight had guessed that Rainbow was having one of those days, she wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t exactly one of her lazy days.
The pegasus scraped at the rocks below her hooves absently. She sat down, taking in the indescribable scent of the lake and the forest before adjusting her seat and making herself comfortable.
It was as if she had suddenly forgotten Twilight’s lessons in physics and form. Her frown deepened as her stones met failure again and again. Position adjustments, throwing path adjustments, power adjustments, nothing seemed to work.
She was having an off day. Resigning herself to this fact, she blew a long sigh out of her cheeks. One botched throw later and she was up on all fours, turning her back on the lake and all of her failed attempts.
It wasn’t like she had any point in coming here anyway. Twilight had other plans, and the only other time she had recently skipped stones by herself was that first time, when she had no idea what she was doing. Recalling that day, she shook her head. What was she expecting, coming here like this, after that discouraging first time?
She turned, first to the darkening sky above her, then to the correspondingly darkening line of trees a short distance away from the lake, foregoing the opportunity to see the first stars making themselves known. Seeing nothing, she promptly flared her wings and took off for home.
It was silly for her to want Twilight to show up, anyway.
-----------------------
“...yeah, I’ll have the salad.”
She looked over at Fluttershy, who gave her order without hesitation. She had probably done some recital beforehand in order to prevent her usual pauses and stammering. Her gaze next wandered over to Applejack, who acknowledged her stare briefly before continuing her surprisingly civil conversation with Rarity.
Ignoring Pinkie Pie’s attempts to get her napkin to stand up on its own, her attention fell on Twilight. Just like Applejack, she noticed Rainbow looking at her, and she responded with a smile. Hopefully, that meant that she was free today, and that they could go to the lake together. Rainbow returned the smile, thinking to herself that she’d get her groove back today for sure.
The food came. So did the daily updates on the girls’ daily lives. So did Rainbow’s fall into inattention and disinterest.
---------------------------
“Not hungry today, huh?”
It was an honest question, but the very innocence with which it was asked made Dash pause mid-throw. Slowly, deliberately, she turned her attention away from the lake and towards the curious unicorn.
“Not really… I woke up late and had a late breakfast, since today was my day off. Might as well take advantage of it, you know?” She chose her words carefully, making sure to not confuse today’s day off and yesterday’s off day. A simple inversion, yet the implications and effects were drastically different.
Twilight shook her head. “That’s not good, Dash. As a self-proclaimed athlete, don’t you need to monitor your eating habits more carefully than that?” A smile gave away her mock admonition.
“Oh, like you’re one to talk!” Rainbow countered. “Tell me, Twilight, is there any sort of exercise in that oh-so organized schedule of yours? Do you work out once a month? Or, maybe that’s too much for you.” Her mouth twisted into a smirk as she felt her confidence rising. “It’s once every two months, isn’t it?”
Twilight’s eyes widened, and she brought her hooves up to shield her from the pegasus’ attack, but the smile never left her face. “Well, I’m sorry that we can’t all be athletic freaks like you, Miss Future Wonderbolt Captain!”
At this, Rainbow puffed out her chest, proudly putting a hoof over it. “Glad you see it too, thank you very much.” An exaggerated bow completed her grand gesture, causing Twilight’s smile to break wide open into a fit of laughter.
Dash’s mouth tightened into a frown as she watched Twilight fall over, unable to control herself. “What?” She sat herself down, crossing her forelegs together in a pout. “What’s so funny? I’m totally serious.”
Twilight tried to contain herself. “Oh, gosh…” she managed in between giggles, “I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that at the expense of another pony.” She sat up, her body sporadically spasming with the last traces of laughter. “You really must be rubbing off on me, Dash…”
The mare in question tilted her head. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She opened her mouth to ask, but the question died on her lips as Twilight’s eyes widened, in seriousness this time.
“Shoot! How long have we been here?” The unicorn was up on all four hooves in a flash. She whipped her head around to face Rainbow.
“Uh…” She put a hoof up to her chin in thought, ignoring the sudden sense of urgency that had been forced onto them. “Dunno, probably like… a few hours?”
If Twilight’s eyes could get any wider, they just did. “Oh, no! I left some books out to dry this morning, and, and…”
Wait, what? Just… just, why?
“...and the pages might shrivel up and brown if they’re left out in the sun too long!” She had taken to pacing frantically, her circle small but her steps quick.
Dash opened her mouth again, but after deciding against asking and most likely receiving a long-winded, slightly unrelated, and ultimately unsatisfactory explanation, she opted for a different question. “So… that means I should get going too, then?”
Twilight stopped for a moment, her eyes softening. “Yes, if I was the only thing keeping you here…” She sighed with guilt. “Sorry, Rainbow, I should’ve told you this earlier, so you’d see it coming instead of being surprised by it.” She dragged a hoof across the ground, making her guilt even more apparent.
For the second time in two days, Rainbow waved her friend’s worries away with her hoof. “Hey, it’s cool. Sounds pretty urgent, so of course you gotta take care of it. But, like,” she brought her raised hoof to the back her neck, scratching her mane with it, “drying books? Seriously?” She grinned, her curiosity getting the best of her.
Her friend sighed, lowering her head again. “Long story. I’ll tell you some other time.” Dash watched as she took the first step towards the treeline, and away from her. “See you tomorrow, okay?” Without waiting for a response, she sped up to a brisk trot, and Dash lost her among the trees.
“Well, there go my plans for the rest of the day…”
---------------------
The pages had been preserved, the crisis averted. Twilight should have been satisfied at a job well done, but in her rush to get home, something equally important had slipped her mind.
She found herself looking up towards the sky periodically, which broke her concentration on her studies every time. And every time, she would look back down with a sigh, a vain attempt to regain her focus.
Yesterday’s question towards Rainbow still lingered on her lips, unspoken.
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Well, this certainly looks like it'll be interesting.
5061547
This.
I stopped watching after season 3. I just don't find interest in the show anymore. I'm here for the stories.
WAT!
Are you serious?
You didn't die?
Yay! It's back!
It's back from the grave!
and twilight's still as oblivious as ever.
I'm so glad I found this story now, and not a year and a half ago.
Yaaay its alive !=))
Oh, hello, what's this? An old TwiDash story rising from the dead? It's been a long time since I've read this, time to reread.
*rereads*
I can see why I favourited this fic when it first came out. At first, the idea of a story centered around skipping stones sounds kind of dull, but you wrote it in a way that kept me engaged and entertained for the most part. This is a good read and I hope you keep on updating it
this story! it lives!
And another zombie story rises from its grave!
It's been so long I had to re-read the first two chapters, but I'm glad that it has risen from the grave.
I certainly hope this trend continues. It's good to see this story come back. I'm always kind of skeptical when an author comes back to say they'll continue, since a lot of the time, they don't deliver. I'm very glad that you (and particularly this story), were an exception.
There's been a depressing lack of good twidash fluff lately.
But then this updated.
Problem solved.