Life in Technicolor

by ThePwnzorMuffin

Lost!

Rainbow Dash kept quiet, her mouth remaining closed in a long crease as Pinkie Pie prattled on about how her oven had exploded that very morning. Her fork poked the outer leaves of her salad erratically, punctuated by the occasional sigh that she blew out of her nose. The constant, rhythmic flicking of her ears, however, were both a contrast to the erratic poking of her salad and the only indication that she was paying any attention to what her friends were saying.

It was the same thing every time. They’d sit down, they’d talk, and they’d go their separate ways. The first and last things on that short list happened without a second thought. And so did the third event, the one in the middle of the other two.

That was exactly why it rested on her mind now. Today’s lunch would go in exactly the same direction as it always had: nowhere. No thrilling tales of action, no heartbreaking and heartwarming happenstances, no terrifying brushes with death (Pinkie’s oven exploding didn’t quite qualify), nothing.

She knew it was partially her own fault. With a slight twinge of guilt, she tried to recall exactly how many hours, of the past week or so, she had spent napping, putting off her work, and just being lazy in general. The answer she found caused her mouth to pull briefly into a grimace, and she snatched up her fork, shoving a particularly thick clump of salad into her mouth to drive away the sudden surge of regret.

Unfortunately, she had left her order to soak in its vinaigrette dressing for too long, a direct consequence of her internal dissatisfaction. The result overpowered her taste buds, and her eyes widened as the unexpected rush of flavor sent her into a fit of coughing. Conversation at the table stopped as all heads turned to the unintentional interruption, mild concern on their faces. Dash caught her breath quickly, though, and returned her friends’ gazes curiously.

“What? I’m not choking on my salad, if that’s what you guys are thinking.” A hint of self-consciousness crept into her voice.

They didn’t seem convinced. “Just makin’ sure you’re okay, that’s all.” It was Applejack who spoke first, as if she had already anticipated Rainbow’s somewhat defensive response.

The pegasus shrugged, hoping that alone would dismiss their concern, and more importantly, their attention. It seemed to work, and gradually, the air of mundane conversation returned. Likewise, Rainbow returned to poking her salad.

------------------

Their time spent together at the lake was not without its fair share of comfortable silences, and it was something that both mares had gotten quite used to.

A silence hung between them now, and it was anything but comfortable.

Twilight found herself not knowing where to look. Ponyville’s everyday life drifted by them as they walked, but she couldn’t find anything to focus on. It didn’t help that when she looked to her right, her friend’s brow was furrowed, her mouth a frown. They had been that way ever since their lunchtime, and Twilight feared that staring at those unfamiliar features on her face would break her out of whatever thoughts that permeated her mind.

Yet at the same time, that’s exactly what Twilight wanted to do. More accurately, it’s what she had wanted to do for the past few days. Rainbow was coming off as uncharacteristically thoughtful; Twilight would almost diagnose her furrowed brow, tight frown, and indifference to conversation as symptoms of deep thought. She knew all too well her own mannerisms during one of her focused study sessions.

That decided it. She’d ask today. Maybe Rainbow would open up to her after all.

-----------------

Rainbow took the last step past the line of trees, seeing a calm wind ripple softy across the surface of the lake. Looking around, she noticed that, for the first time since she had came here, the lake had a third visitor.

Fluttershy leaned over the edge of the water, her back turned to the two newcomers. Two small fish poked their heads out of the water, their mouths moving soundlessly. The animal caretaker, however, seemed to understand them, and responded in her usual quiet, soothing tone. Other fish leapt out of the water here and there, brief flashes of orange, black, and yellow, before splashing back into the water.

“Fluttershy?” It was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence between the three of them. The pegasus in question turned around, surprised at the mention of her name.

“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash.” Her surprise melted into a warm smile upon recognizing her friends. “What brings you two here?”

Rainbow shrugged, craning her neck to get a better look at the fish floating in the pond. “Ah, nothing really. We’re just here to hang out. Actually,” she returned her attention to Fluttershy, settling on the most obvious question, “we could ask you the same thing.”

The yellow pegasus seemed to ignore the question. Something else had her attention. “Wait,” she whipped her head to the waiting fish in the lake, then back to Rainbow and Twilight. “have you two been here before in the last two weeks?”

“Yeah, you could say that. Wh-” Unfortunately, Twilight chose this time to speak up, because upon hearing her affirmation, Fluttershy was nose to nose with her in a second, her eyes wide.

“Oh! Have you two seen anyone throwing rocks into the lake?” Her voice was the epitome of worry, and her friends were taken aback at the sudden change in her demeanor.

“Um, actually, we- Ow!” Twilight’s incriminating confession was cut off by a sudden hoof in her side. She turned to its source to be met by a glaring Rainbow Dash, who vigorously shook her head.

Fortunately, Fluttershy did not notice their suspicious behavior. “I was checking on the fish here, and they told me that two ponies have been throwing rocks into the lake for a while now, and I just wanted to tell them to please stop because the fish don’t like it, and one of them almost got hurt and I would never be able to forgive myself if that happened!” The panicked pegasus had taken to pacing, her wings flitting in distress, but she now breached Twilight’s bubble again, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her gently.

“Don’t worry, ‘Shy!” Rainbow Dash grinned, laying a hoof across her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “We haven’t seen anyone yet, but when we do, we’ll be sure to teach ‘em a lesson!” She removed her foreleg from Fluttershy to pound her hooves together, driving her point home.

Twilight stared, her eyes slightly worried. She got a sly wink in return.

“I’m glad I can count on you, Rainbow Dash.” Her words had calmed Fluttershy down significantly, her smile a sign of her full confidence in her friends’ capabilities. “Oh, but, please don’t be too hard on them…” she cast her eyes down. “I’m sure they have their reasons.”

“We’ll see about that.” Rainbow shrugged. “Either way, we’ll keep an eye out.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you.” She looked up, then to the line of trees that Rainbow and Twilight had entered from. “Now that you two are here, I need to go home before Angel gets too hungry again.” She shook her head with a smile, then stepped away from Twilight, ready to head home.

As soon as she was among the trees, Rainbow’s grin vanished, and she let out a groan. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the emotional one-eighty, letting out an “Um…” when Rainbow flopped onto her back. Fortunately, the grass they had been standing on was not close enough to the lake to give way to the shoreline, so Rainbow’s landing was accentuated with a dull thump rather than a rocky clatter.

As the pegasus closed her eyes and folded her hooves behind her head, Twilight took a few steps to peer over her. An eye cracked open when the path of sunlight was suddenly obstructed, and their gazes locked, purple meeting magenta.

“You know, Rainbow, it worries me to see you lie that easily.”

Rainbow was suddenly aware that her personal space was being disregarded again. Unlike with Pinkie Pie, though, she chose not to push Twilight away. It would take too much effort to bring her hoof out from behind her head, after all. Choosing instead to close her eyes again, she responded. “What, do you think it would’ve been better to tell Fluttershy that we’re the culprits she’s looking for?”

The sunlight hit her eyelids again, forcing her to open them. Again. Annoyed at the constant open-and-close that Twilight was causing, she decided that her attempts at eye-resting wouldn’t go anywhere. She snapped them open with a sigh, to the sight of Twilight putting a hoof to her chin.

“Well, maybe…” she finally responded. Their eyes met again. “From the sound of it, she probably would have just told us to stop.”

“Yeah, and I bet it would’ve taken her a twenty-minute lecture to do that. Did you see how worried she was?”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Twilight watched her friend’s mouth curl into a half-smile, her eyelids falling slightly.

“Do you really think that’s worth the time?” Dash didn’t get a response. She continued, “Besides, we learned our lesson.”

The unicorn sighed, shaking her head slightly at her friends’ thought process. She had to agree with it, however dishonest it was. “I guess you’re right…” She turned away from Rainbow, looking out over the lake. Her eyes made contact with the fish that Fluttershy had been talking to. Their expressions were blank as usual, but if Twilight didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that she saw a hint of wariness in their vacant gazes. She felt a twinge of guilt, and it manifested in an apologetic smile and a nervous giggle. The fish stared for a moment, then sunk slowly beneath the lake’s surface.

“It sucks, though.”

The blunt, sudden voice shook Twilight out of her thoughts, which had been wandering away from Rainbow Dash. The unicorn turned, curious at her friend’s vague comment. “What does?”

“Ya know, the bigger problem here.” Rainbow waved her hoof absently, gesturing at nothing. Sparing Twilight from any possible confusion, she continued. “We probably can’t skip stones now. Fluttershy would never forgive us, especially if she realizes we lied.”

If Twilight hadn’t been convinced that she and Rainbow should stop skipping stones already, she was fully convinced now. “So, what are we going to do instead?” She looked to her friend, whose eyes were fully closed, oblivious to the warning Twilight had just received. She hoped that Rainbow could find a new outlet to their developing pastime.

But Rainbow only shrugged. “Give up. What else?”

That certainly wasn’t what Twilight was expecting. “Huh?”

A smirk. “I told you, it’s not worth it. Unless,” she cracked open an eye, fixating on Twilight intensely. “there’s some darker side to you that I don’t know about.” An image flashed in her mind: Twilight chucking rocks into the lake with dangerous force, her mouth twisted into the nastiest smile imaginable. She shuddered. “I guess that would be worth it just to see.”

Twilight only sighed. “I don’t know how that idea managed to get into your head.” She regarded Rainbow for a second. Her eyes had since closed once again. “Even if I was, you probably would have figured that out a long time ago.”

After a moment, Rainbow heard the grass beside her rustle. When it continued for longer than she expected, her eyes opened in time to see Twilight mimicking her position on the ground, as she was just starting to fold her hooves behind her head.

“Wait, you’re not leaving?” It came as a surprise to her. Their main method of passing the time had just been taken away from them, and Rainbow herself had shown no interest in finding an alternative.

Twilight shrugged, letting her eyelids fall before responding. “I spend plenty of time at the library as things are. Besides, Spike doesn’t expect me back for a couple hours.” She winked playfully. “I can’t disappoint him like that.”

“Hehe…” Dash grinned back. “That’s a pretty good excuse for wanting to spend more time with me, Twi.”

Another eye roll. It was almost becoming a reflex. “Oh, so you’d prefer it if I left you here? I have some bookshelf sorting that I’ve been meaning to get around to for a while-”

Dash shook her head vigorously, but the grin didn’t leave her face. “Nah, it’s just cool when my friends confirm my awesomeness every once in a while, ya know?” She shifted her position, looking back up at the clouds. “You don’t have to make up excuses, just tell me straight up next time.”

She got no response, so it was safe to assume that Twilight had either shaken her head, rolled her eyes, or a combination of both, and left it at that.

---------------------------

Lying on their backs as they were, the only direction left to look was up. Twilight struggled to keep track of the time. Watching the clouds drift by wasn’t the best method of doing so, after all.

A quick glance told Twilight that Rainbow was either sleeping or trying to sleep, and a double take told her that it was most likely the latter. She could overlook Rainbow’s frown, but most ponies didn’t sleep with their eyebrows furrowed.

Her transition into deep-thought-mode wasn’t exactly subtle. This was the perfect opportunity for her to finally express her worry for her friend. Of course, she had let so many other “perfect” opportunities come and go without uttering a single word of concern, but she definitely wouldn’t let this one slip by!

“...Hey, Rainbow, what does that cloud look like to you?”

Perfect.

“A cloud.”

“...” Now what?

“...how about that one?”

“A bigger cloud.”

“Wrongg. I pointed to the same cloud.”

Rainbow cracked one eye open. Twilight tried to return the stare, but found it difficult not to wither under the intense judgment of that unwavering eye. After a few agonizing seconds, Rainbow finally gave her a response.

“C’mon, Twi, can’t you see I’m trying to sleep here?”

Twilight saw her opportunity, and leapt on it. “It seems to me like you’re trying to think, actually.”

Rainbow scoffed, but only after a moment of hesitation that did not go unnoticed by either mare. “Think? About what?”

“You tell me.” The counter had been held at the ready, and its delivery was swift.

Dash tried to shake it off, but the impact of Twilight’s response forced her to close her eyes again, turning her face up to the sky and away from Twilight. She tried to skirt around it further, but no words came to her aid. Twilight had her cornered.

Now all she had to do was deliver the finishing blow. “Rainbow… Is there something on your mind?”

Rainbow sighed, stalling, not wanting to admit defeat just yet. Then, she threw her hooves up in the air abruptly, almost catching Twilight’s face in the process and causing the unicorn to flinch. “You got me.”

Twilight hesitated. The pegasus was usually so stubborn, so unwilling to admit weakness, that Twilight hadn’t even considered what she would do if she actually got through to her. Now that she had opened up so easily, Twilight found herself at a loss.

Fortunately, Rainbow was now more than willing to lend her help. “It’s not anything, like, really bad. Something that would really make you worry about me, I mean. Actually…” she opened her eyes. They had lost the all-consuming concentration that Twilight had grown familiar with. “It’s kinda stupid.”

Twilight wasn’t as quick to wave it off. “It can’t be that stupid if it’s been weighing on your mind for as long as it has.”

“Huh?” The extent of the unicorn’s perception caught Rainbow off-guard. “How long have you noticed that something was up?”

“Well…” Twilight put a hoof to her chin, looking up but not at anything in particular. “How long have you been like that?”

“Really?” Rainbow cast a sideways glance, which Twilight noticed but didn’t return. “You caught on right away?” The unicorn nodded, and Rainbow let loose a light whistle. “You’re good.”

Twilight looked away, but that wasn’t enough to hide the faint redness that appeared on her cheeks. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Rainbow.”

Dash cocked an eyebrow. “Credit? For what?” The confusion in her voice was genuine. The earnest question put Twilight at a loss for where to look, and she ended up rubbing her forehooves together, shifting her eyes every which way.

“Well… I thought it was kind of obvious. In other words…” she trailed off, taking a deep breath. “...you’re not very good at hiding it.”

She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the flurry of defensiveness that was sure to follow her accusation. Instead, she only heard a quiet, yet prolonged sigh. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see a guilty grin on the pegasus’ face.

“You’re probably right, as always.”

The slight redness on Twilight’s cheeks spread, and she met Rainbow’s curious stare with slightly widened eyes. The pegasus smirked upon seeing Twilight’s suddenly flustered state. “What? It’s true. You’re always right.”

Twilight rubbed her cheek, shamelessly trying to determine the degree of her blush. “You’re just the last pony I thought I’d hear that from.” Rainbow’s eyebrow went up, but she didn’t respond, which Twilight took as an indication to continue. “I can’t remember the last time you complimented me on something.”

“Hey.” The pegasus’ eyebrows narrowed. “I call you an egghead like, at least a few times a day.”

Twilight failed to stifle the sudden burst of laughter. “You consider that a compliment?”

Dash stuck out her lip in a mock pout. “Wow, I’m hurt that you don’t think I’m complimenting you whenever I say that.” She huffed, breaking the gaze that they held and turning up her chin. “Guess that’s the last time I’m ever gonna call you smart.”

The unicorn smiled, giving her seemingly satisfied friend a long look before returning her gaze to the vast, broken expanse of blue above them. A light breeze blew across the grass, tickling her coat and causing her to shift slightly. She lifted a hoof absently, narrowing her eyes as it blocked her view from a cloud that drifted lazily by.

Silence reigned for a few more moments, and then Twilight realized that her plan of attack had been completely derailed. She grimaced. Hopefully, her window of opportunity hadn’t closed yet.

“You still haven’t answered my question yet, Rainbow.” Twilight shot her an expectant look, which was wasted since its target still had her eyes closed.

A few more seconds of silence, and then: “...Oh yeah, that’s what we were talking about.” She opened her eyes to Twilight’s stare. “Do you really want to know? I told you, it’s really nothing that important.” An immediate nod, and Rainbow sighed. “Alright, alright, here’s my big secret.” She kept her eyes on Twilight for a moment longer, and then looked away.

“I dunno, it’s just like…” She faltered, like she was looking for the right words. “...don’t you ever feel like you want more?”

Twilight bit her lip when Rainbow didn’t continue. She mulled over a possible response. “More of what?”

The pegasus huffed, giving away her frustration at her own unimpressive vocabulary. “Like… it seems like we do the same thing every day. The six of us, I mean.” She gestured with both hooves, and Twilight figured that it was probably supposed to clarify who she was talking about. “We do our own thing, we eat lunch together, maybe we hang out, and that’s it.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Twilight’s question wasn’t accusatory, just curious.

“That’s the thing.” Rainbow sighed again, rubbing her hooves together. “There’s nothing wrong with it. I like the time I spend with you girls, ya know?”

The clouds above flitted across the sky. One waited while the other gathered her thoughts.

“It’s more like it could be better than it is now. Like there’s something missing.”

Twilight pursed her lips, taking in her friend’s words. “What’s missing, then?” It was the best question out of the many possible ones, she decided.

Rainbow only shrugged. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be telling you about it.” Her own lips pursed, unconsciously mimicking Twilight’s action moments before. “Something different.”

“What?” The blunt delivery of the statement prompted Twilight’s instinctive reaction.

“That’s what I’m missing.” Dash turned, and just like they had so many times before, their eyes met. “Something different.”

It was a simple action, but it was accompanied with the vague, meaningful undertones of those equally simple words. Somehow, to Twilight, they seemed a lot less simple when they were combined.

Twilight looked away. “Do you mean something adventurous? Something action-packed? Fast-paced?”

She didn’t get a response for a few moments. She looked at Rainbow in time to see her shrug again. “I dunno. Just different, I guess.”

Twilight could only nod slowly as it sunk in. Something different… What did Rainbow mean, exactly? How could she want more than what they had? Twilight had never used the word “dissatisfaction” to describe her own life; if anything, she couldn’t imagine herself being any happier with how things were. She had the best friends in Equestria, the best teacher in Equestria, the best family - the list went on and on.

Yet that word was precisely the one that Twilight would use to describe the pegasus that lay next to her on the grass. It was something that Twilight herself had no experience in, so how could she relate? Was she even qualified to help her friend?

Then again, did it even matter if she was? Most importantly, what could she do to try to help?

“Does that make any sense at all?” Rainbow spoke up, jolting Twilight out of her thoughts.

“Uh…” They watched a lone cloud drift by. “I think so?”

The pegasus snickered, but it lacked her usual cockiness. “Yeah, I knew it was stupid. I didn’t expect you to get it, really…”

“No!” Now Twilight was the one to leap to her own defense. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but the unicorn didn’t hesitate upon seeing her curious stare. “That’s not it! I mean, I’m sure everypony feels like that at some point, right?”

“Have you, Twi’?” Rainbow’s stare switched from curious to deadpan in a moment.

Twilight cringed inwardly. “Not the point. Point is, all we need to do is find that something, right? Whatever it is that will make you happy again.”

Dash scratched her head. “Well, it’s not like I’m unhappy right now…”

“Right, but it’ll make you more happy.” Twilight nodded, pleased with herself that she was able to simplify and assess the problem.

The head-scratching continued. “You make it sound super easy. It can’t be that easy, can it?”

“Only one way to find out!” Twilight sat up, patting Rainbow on the head. The pegasus stared at the offending object, apparently at a loss over how to react to it. “Don’t worry, Dash! I think I already have a good idea of where to start!”

Dash bit her lip, but she couldn’t suppress her smile completely. Twilight wondered why she didn’t come to her for help earlier. “Really, it’s no big deal. Don’t put too much thought into it.”

Twilight blinked as she felt a slight shudder run through her friend. She shrugged it off. It was probably the wind. “When do I ever?”

She only got a slight snicker as a response, and before she had time to question it, Dash was up on her hooves. Twilight felt herself being pulled into a hug.

“Thanks, Twi’. For listening, I mean.”

Then it was over, and Twilight was left wondering what happened. Rainbow wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of hugs, as far as she knew. “Y-yeah. No problem.”

------------------------

Dash alighted on the cloud porch to her cloud home. What could Twilight possibly have in mind for her? She didn’t even have a lot of time to think about the problem she was presented, and Rainbow wasn’t even sure if Twilight even understood -

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice that anything on her porch was out of place until she almost tripped over something that lay on her doormat.

“What the -?” Her eyes locked onto the guilty party. It lay there, wrapped in paper and finished off with a ribbon, trying to give her its best innocent look. Rainbow wasn’t having any of it.

She snatched it up, shaking it in her hooves. It was light, rectangular, and smelled like old paper. Come to think of it, it looked a lot like a -

“Seriously, Twilight?!”

Author's Note:

I hate homework and college applications.

Comments

[Tatsurou]

Now curious about what book - yes, I'm certain it's a book - Twilight thought would get rid of Rainbow's dissatisfaction.

[OddDreams]

Twilight no. Don't leave your Complete Volume of Daring Do Fanfiction (First Edition, My Eyes Only, THAT MEANS YOU RAINBOW!) out for anypony to see....

[Backlash91]

okay ya got me with that chapter. I'll click track. ^^ i await the next chapter.

[dragonjek]

I-I-I didn't favorite this?!?
*corrects*
My god, how did that happen? No wonder I haven't seen more chapters of it.

[Thyrai]

I'm so glad this hasn't been abandoned

[MadMan]

cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute

[Star Singer]

5353608 50 Shades of Hay, obviously.

[Daring Cammie Do]

A smirk. “I told you, it’s not worth it. Unless,” she cracked open an eye, fixating on Twilight intensely. “there’s some darker side to you that I don’t know about.” An image flashed in her mind:

Twilight standing over her bound, prone body with a riding crop floating next to her. "You've been a naughty filly haven't you, Dashie."

She shuddered. “I guess that would be worth it just to see.”