2. Celestial Intervention
Of Sky and Snow
Chapter Two
Celestial Intervention
The sound of a quill scratching away on parchment replaced the ordinary silence of the library. Twilight sat hunched over at her desk, surrounded by pamphlets, ink bottles and paper. All the while her horn hummed with energy as she manipulated the quill to form words on the blank pages, scanning the pamphlets with her eyes. Meanwhile, Spike scuttled around the library, scroll in-claw as he checked to make sure they had everything on the list Twilight had made.
“Alright; we have just about every-” Spike began, rolling up the scroll as he walked up behind Twilight. However, he was cut off by a sudden knocking on the door.
Setting the quill down and releasing it from her magic, Twilight glanced up the clock, noting the time as a little before five. With a quirked brow she stood from her desk and walked over to the door, silently pondering who had shown up early.
Her question was answered as she opened the door to reveal a cyan pegasus.
“Rainbow?” Twilight asked, failing to keep the shock out of her voice. Of all her friends, Rainbow Dash was the least likely to be on time, let alone early.
“Hey Twi, hope you don’t mind that I’m a bit early; I finished my weather work and didn’t have much else to do, so I figured I come over now,” Rainbow said with a smile. Twilight continue to gape at her.
“Uh… Twi?” Rainbow asked, waving a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face. “Equestria-to-egghead!” Dash shouted, snapping Twilight out of her shock.
“What? Oh, sorry, Rainbow, I just… you’re never early. Ever. You’re rarely even on time.” Twilight shook her head, stepping to the side to allow the surprise pegasus to enter her tree home.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t be early sometimes, does it?” Rainbow retorted, scowling at the lavender mare closing the door.
“No, no of course not! I just mean… you… surprised me, is all,” Twilight explained sheepishly, earning a snort from her friend.
“Hey, I can be on time if I want to. I just don’t normally want to; ever heard of ‘fashionably late’?”
“Since when do you care about fashion?” Twilight mocked jokingly, giggling at the slightly flustered expression on Rainbow’s face.
“Not what I meant, egghead.” Rainbow growled light-heartedly, walking a bit further into the main room and sitting back on her haunches by the desk.
“Well you’re the first to get here and I still have some more planning to do. Speaking of, Spike?” Twilight called, searching the room for her assistant. Her eyes were drawn to her previous location, where Spike stood with the rolled piece of parchment.
“We have pretty much everything, all we need is new skis for you,” he said, placing the rolled scroll on her desk before turning back to Rainbow. “And I’m pretty sure none of the others are going to have skis either.”
“That’s quite alright; we’ll just have to go to a resort with a rental shop,” Twilight chirped happily, adding ‘rental store’ to her list of resort must-haves before turning back to Rainbow.
“Do you ski or snowboard?”
“Uh…” Rainbow paused, unsure of what to say. The only reason she agreed to this was because she had been in a desperate position, and needed to end the conversation. Now that she had time to think about it, she realized her mistake; she had never gone skiing in her life. She hadn’t even seen a snowboard outside of magazines. Thinking fast, Rainbow determined what was probably the more awesome of the two options.
“I snowboard,” she said quickly, hoping to hide her previous blunder. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the delay, but decided to ignore it when the sound of knocking echoed through the library.
“Come in!’” Twilight called, glancing up from her parchment to see who had arrived. The door opened and in walked Applejack, followed by Fluttershy.
“Howdy Twilight,” the farm mare greeted, tipping her hat as she cantered into the main room before noticing Rainbow sitting next to Twilight. “And Rainbow… what are you doing here early?”
“Oh this again? I can be early if I want to, now can we just drop it?” Rainbow answered hastily, giving Applejack a look that insisted she let it go. She looked at the pegasus questioningly for a second before shrugging and walking the rest of the way.
“Oh… hi Twilight, and Rainbow, of course,” Fluttershy said quietly, gently stepping into the tree library and joining the other mares in the centre of the room.
“Excellent, now we’re just waiting for Rarity and-”
“HEY EVERYPONY!” Pinkie shouted, cart-wheeling through the door and brining a rather large amount of confetti with her, which mysteriously disappeared before it hit the floor.
“Pinkie,” Twilight finished, giving a deadpan stare to the pink ball of energy sitting innocently next to Rainbow.
“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie asked, smiling enthusiastically at the pony who had said her name.
“I didn’t… never mind, it’s nothing,” Twilight sighed, already forming a headache.
“Anyway…” Applejack began, eyeing Pinkie cautiously, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to come on this here vacation.”
“What? Why not?” Twilight asked, all ponies present turning their heads to the farmer.
“It’s just that Granny’s come down with something. Normally that wouldn’t be too bad, but with Macintosh taking on my chores, he won’ have time to keep an eye on Applebloom like Granny normally does,” she explained apologetically. “Somepony’s gotta keep an eye on her.”
“Well… we could always-”
“Sorry for being late everypony, but I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news,” Rarity called, walking in through the open door and un-knowingly interrupting an increasingly frustrated Twilight.
“Oh dear, what is it?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“My parents have been called to Manehatten on business and can’t take Sweetie Belle; I’ll be looking after her for the next couple weeks.”
“That’s perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, drawing five confused glances from the ponies around her.
“How’s it perfect that she can’t come?” Rainbow asked, giving an odd glance to the unicorn smiling in front of them.
“Since both Applejack and Rarity have to take care of their sisters, why don’t they come too? I’m sure they’d love skiing, and they wouldn’t cost any extra either, except rentals, but those are pretty cheep,” Twilight clarified, drawing a round of ‘oh’s from the gathering.
“Well… I dunno Twi, those two won’t go anywhere without that pegasus friend ah theirs.”
“Oh that’s easy, I know Scoot’s parents; I’m sure if I asked they’d let her come with us,” Rainbow offered, drawing smiles of and nods approval.
“It’s settled then; we’ll bring them,” Twilight stated firmly, scribbling more notes onto her list just as the sound of Spike belching out a letter echoed through the library.
“Here’s the response you were waiting for Twilight,” Spike said, passing the freshly formed latter to Twilight.
“Response to what?” Rainbow asked as she watched the scroll exchange from Spike’s claws to Twilight’s magic.
“My request for a vacation; I do technically work for the Princess, even if it is just studying,” Twilight answered as she unrolled the scroll, her eyes growing wide.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, noticing Twilight’s slightly panicked expression.
“My Faithful student Twilight Sparkle
I think a vacation for you and your friends would be a lovely idea, you take as much time as you feel you need. As an added bonus, I will cover any expenses, for you and your friends. I know you won’t want to accept it, but consider it a thank you for saving the kingdom more times then most ponies realize. Don’t worry about spending too much; I will send Spike a list of things that I am willing to pay for, so if you’re unsure of anything, simply ask him.” As if summoned by the words, another burp sounded as the list of acceptable expenses materialized.
“However, even with my status, my funds are limited; I can afford no more than four rooms a week at whatever resort you choose. Simply send me the name and dates and I will book them for you. Have a good time, and I expect no reports until your vacation is over.”
“That’s perfect! If we stay two to a room, then the girls and Spike can have their own separate room,” Twilight exclaimed, scribbling more notes down onto her list, missing Spike’s terrified expression at the prospect of staying in the same room as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Spike, if I could see that list of expenses,” Twilight asked, turning to her assistant. The dragon quickly opened the scroll, passing it to Twilight before suddenly stopping and rolling it back up.
“Spike?” Twilight asked again, holding out her hoof expectantly.
“Sorry Twilight, princess’s orders; nopony is to lay eyes on the list except me. Don’t really know why, but I’ll make sure you six don’t by anything without Celestia’s approval.”
“Now why wouldn’t the Princess want me to know?” Twilight pondered with a slight frown on her face.
“I’m sure she has her reasons, but isn’t there another reason you gathered us all here?” Rarity asked, breaking Twilight out of her realm of thoughts.
“Oh, right, well there are a few more things added with this new information, but let’s start with the basics; what resort to go to,” Twilight said, her horn humming with energy as she gathered every pamphlet, advertisement, and flyer that mentioned skiing.
“Now then, I’ve already narrowed it down to five resorts, others were excluded due to location, operation days, and lack of snow machines,” Twilight explained, levitating two flyers, two pamphlets, and a brochure down to the table.
“Now then, this one,” she motioned to the brochure with her hoof, “is more centered around skiing then snowboarding, and has very little to offer outside of the actual sports.”
“Um… if it’s alright with everypony else, I’d like to go somewhere with… um… a little more to do than ski,” Fluttershy requested nervously. Twilight nodded understandingly.
“Of course, that rules out these two,” she said, tossing the brochure and a pamphlet into a waiting garbage can.
“Now then, who here skis and who snowboards?” Twilight asked, turning to tally the numbers.
“I don’t rightly know; haven’t been out around snow since I came back to the farm. But I reckon I’ll give snowboarding a try,” Applejack said. Twilight scribbled something down then looked to Rarity.
“I prefer skiing, personally; so much more elegant, if you ask me.”
After more scribbling Twilight turned to Fluttershy.
“Oh… I don’t really know if I’ll go out, but if I do I’ll probably be skiing.”
“And I know Rainbow snowboards and I ski. So that leaves us with two snowboarders and four skiers. Since we have both, we won’t be going to this one.” With a flick of her horn a flyer was tossed into the bin and the choices were narrowed to two.
“Do either of them have a spa?” Rarity questioned curiously.
“Actually one does. If nopony else has any requests?” Twilight asked, waiting a moment before flicking the final reject aside. “Then it’s decided; Blizzard’s Snowy Kingdom.”
Upon receiving murmurs of approval, Twilight scratched something from her list and turned to the next item they needed to settle tonight.
“Now then, since Celestia can only afford four rooms and one of those is going to be for the girls and Spike, we need to pair up. Who wants to go with whom?”
“I’ll bunk with Fluttershy,” Rarity said quickly, “She won’t disturb my beauty sleep and we get along rather well.”
“Oh… alright, that’s fine with me,” Fluttershy smiled while Twilight jotted down another note.
“I’ll share a room with Rai-”
“Dibs on Applejack!” Pinkie shouted suddenly, wrapping a foreleg around said pony’s shoulders and pulling her close. Pinkie cast a knowing glance towards Rainbow before releasing the farmer, turning and giving Applejack her most innocent grin.
“Uh… I guess, if ya want,” Applejack relented, giving Pinkie a suspicious look. Twilight nodded, turning to Rainbow.
“I guess that leaves you and me,” she said, turning and writing down the room pairings, thankfully missing Rainbow’s scarlet blush.
“Err… yeah, sure. That’s cool I guess,” Rainbow said nervously, suddenly becoming very fidgety. Luckily Twilight drew the attention back to herself before anypony could notice.
“Alright, now that we have that settled, only one more thing for today; when should I have Celestia book the rooms for?”
“I have a big order due in two days so anytime after that will work for me,” Rarity offered. Twilight turned to the calendar, currently hanging on the wall, and brought it over in a glow of magic.
“Today’s Sunday, so that’s Tuesday. Anyone else have a condition?”
“Well, even though Mac’s gonna be handling mah chores, I could use a couple days to give him a head start. I could be done by Wednesday,” Applejack piped up, resulting in more scribbling on the calendar.
“Alright, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, turning to collect her answer.
“I have enough vacation time that anytime’s good for me, as long as I can find somepony to look after Tank.”
“Oh that’s easy, just drop him off at my cottage; my usual animal sitter will be able to handle one more tortoise,” Fluttershy offered quickly. “Of course, I’ have to give her a few day’s notice; I wouldn’t want to seem demanding.”
“Alright, how about we leave on Friday, and come back the following Friday?” Upon receiving a round of nods, the final touches were added to Twilight’s list, and the dates were settled.
“WOO! VACATION!” Pinkie shouted suddenly, jumping up from behind the group, raining confetti and streamers down upon the well-surprised mares.
“Yes, vacation,” Rarity muttered, daintily removing the multi coloured streamers from her mane.
“I’ll book the one o’clock train to Coltensburgh at the base of the mountain. From there we can get a carriage to the resort. Let’s meet back here at eleven AM on Friday before we leave. Sound good?” Twilight said as she rolled up her list, making sure everyone agreed before picking up another piece of parchment and re-inking her quill.
“Excellent, I’ll inform the Princess so she can book the rooms. Rainbow, you go make sure Scootaloo can come. As for the rest of you, pack warm; it might be spring but it’ll still be pretty cold on the mountain.”
With a round of goodbyes and promises to meet again on Friday, they began filing out of the library. Each returned to their respective homes to begin their own preparations for the coming vacation. Twilight bid the final pony goodbye before shutting her door with a sound click, turning and checking the clock.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that to take so long. Though I suppose the Princess’s offer had a little to do with that,” Twilight spoke mostly to herself, magically organizing the multitude of lists and plans on her desk before setting her fresh piece down and picking up her quill. In a matter of minutes her letter to Celestia was done and ready to be sent.
“Spike?” She called, scanning her eyes across the library for her scaly purple assistant. Upon failing to find him with her eyes, her ears picked up the sound of a sleeping dragon; rather loud snores. She followed the sound to a spot just around the corner of a bookshelf, finding Spike lying on the floor. With a chuckle and a roll of her eyes Twilight set the letter on her desk, making a quick note to remind herself to send it the next morning.
A yawn escaped her lips as she once again glanced at the clock, deciding it was late enough for her to go to bed. Picking up her assistant in a magical glow she gently floated him beside her as she climbed the stairs to their shared room. Only now fully appreciating how tired she was as she lifted her hooves up the stairs, each feeling like a lead weight.
Eventually she reached the top, her eyes already drooping now that the excitement of list making had ended. She made quick work of tucking Spike into his bed before clambering into her own, closing her eyes and falling asleep quickly.
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Bad luck for Rainbow Dash, just wantet to confess her feelings but Twilight ruined her plan.
I'm looking forward for the next chapters.
Two things, you need a cover :P
and what means R&R?
3159075
R&R generally refers to Rest and Relaxation, basically a vacation.
3159595
Ah thanks!
'Bit of a slow start'? But those are the best kinds, gives us more story.
That, "all six of us" line in the first chapter was pretty annoying. Did Twilight just suddenly forget she has six friends, not five?
Anyway, I sure hope Spike is gonna be able to share this vacation with all his friends instead of getting stuck with a bunch of obnoxious kids.
YAY, MOAR
Match maker Pinkie is best Pinkie.
I do enjoy the "Rainbow makes a fool of herself because she doesn't want to make a fool of herself" with the snowboarding thing, but I do hope Rainbow isn't characterised as 'stupid' in later chapters or just randomly does dumb stuff