Chapter 3 - Under the tree's shadow Part 1
Maybe Caramel? Nah... he’s a bit too chipper, I think. Lucky? Oh, right. He’s taken by Daisy. Rainbow Dash sighed and directed her gaze to the clear sky above her, watching a few lazy clouds floating about without any pegasi to guide them. Or as much of the sky as she could see through the branches of the tree in the hills outside of Ponyville, whose shade she was currently dozing in, enjoying the feel of a calm spring breeze blowing through the branches above her and the feathers of her wings in the late afternoon.
Since the day before, shortly after Twilight had visited her, she had been mulling over the fact that she had never actually been in a relationship before. She had never been approached by anypony nor had she approached others. It was as if Twilight’s question had started a small chain reaction that ended up with her realising that she’d never been in love before, never felt butterflies in her stomach other than when she was free falling.
“I wonder... what about that Time Turner guy?” She mused quietly while idly playing with a few stray hairs of her mane, twirling them around her hoof again and again. “I don’t think I’ve seen him with any mare, or stallion, in more than a friendly manner. Though I did see Cloud Chaser eyeing him a little a few days ago, but she’s with Blossom so that’s not really possible.” The pegasus groaned and banged the back of her head against the tree’s trunk. “Stupid love, stupid emotions, stupid thoughts making me want romance.”
“You? Wanting romance, of all the ponies in Equestria you actually want romance?” A mirthful voice said from a few metres behind Rainbow. It was light and familiar, holding a tone of mild mischievousness.
Upon turning around with a little, startled yelp, the ruby eyes fell upon a lilac pony that was as familiar as the voice with which she spoke. If her lilac coat and dark blue mane with purple and pink highlights didn’t give her away, the star speckled flank did.
“Hey Twilight!” Dash said with a smile and motioned for her unicorn friend to come closer. “And just for the record, you didn’t hear anything. We clear on that?” Her tone had gone from casual to half serious half nervous as if fearing that someone might have heard her musing about which stallions were available for the romance-craving mare to pick.
“Don’t worry, Dash, my lips are sealed. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my ey-Argh!” Twilight Sparkle had, yet again, poked herself in the eye with her hoof while trying to perform the Pinkie Promise, eliciting a bout of raucous laughter from her cyan friend.
“Oh-haha-oh Twilight, I-I know I shouldn’t be l-laughing but- haha- that’s far too hilarious.” She had one leg wrapped around her barrel to try and keep her sites from hurting, whereas the other was busy trying to quell her laughter by filling her mouth with her own hoof. It took almost half a minute, but she finally managed to get a hold of herself enough to speak normally. “So why are you here, Twi? Got bored of the dusty books and came to seek out the town’s most awesome pegasus?” The trademark grin spread across her muzzle, her previous embarrassment completely forgotten.
Twilight chuckled and blushed herself, the lilac fur on her cheeks gaining a small bit of pink as blood flushed to her face in a traitorous plot of giving away a tidbit of what she was thinking of, or hinting at what she had been through.
“Well... Both yes and no. I’ve been meaning to talk to you today, but I’ve visited the rest of the girls as well. You could say it’s tied to what I came to talk to you about yesterday.”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow, her attention fully on the unicorn. “Oh?” she said. “What’s this about? And what happened?”
“You sure you wanna know?” Twilight asked hesitantly, fidgeting a little with her hooves. A few things happened that were a just a little embarrassing.
Rainbow nodded with a smile on her face. Judging by Twi’s face there would be some entertaining stories from what had happened today, and she was not one to pass up a nice story to tease her friends with.
“Yeah, Twi, I wanna know. So tell me, what’ve you been up to?” Her hooves found their way to the back of her head and she leaned back against the trunk of the tree with her head turned to Twilight, awaiting her story.
“Well, alright... here goes nothing,” she mumbled and plumped down besides the pegasus and started talking.
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes were running across the length of paper held in her magical aura in front of her, scanning, by her standards, the small checklist of items she needed to do before the end of the day. She was looking for anything she may have missed, any small detail that she had overseen.
She turned her head and looked at another list, this one placed on the pedestal in the Library’s main room, trying to find anything on that one that wasn’t on the magically airborne paper. Finding nothing wrong, she rolled the parchment together, and with a ‘poof’ it disappeared.
“Everything seems to be in order... Spike, you sure you can look after the library until I come home?”
Spike looked down at her from his position atop a slightly wobbly ladder and smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Twi, I can take care of it. I’ve done it before, remember?”
Twilight smiled and nodded, glad to know that she could trust her number one assistant to looking after their home. “I know you can, Spike, I just wanted to be sure is all. Remember to eat something other than gems while I’m away. I know you think they taste good, but they’re not much more than candy to you.” Spike grunted in confirmation, showing that he had heard her. “Alright, I’ll head out then. See you later!”
“See ya, Twi!” He waved, only to lose his balance and fall down on the floor with an ‘oomph’. “Ugh, thick scales is a win.” He mumbled.
Outside, Twilight was making her way towards Carousel Boutique for her first stop of the day; Rarity. She was going to spend some time with her to see if she could achieve the same thing between them that Rainbow and Fluttershy had.
“So you went to Rarity’s? Big deal, get on with it!”
“I’m trying to tell a story here, Rainbow. Be quiet please.”
Ten minutes later and the large and colourful building known as Carousel Boutique was within sight, only a few hundred metres away from the humming unicorn trotting away towards her destination.
I hope this works out. I really need that report for the princess done within the next 3-oh my Celestia! I only have three days left! Oooh, whatdoIdowhatdoIdo!?
“Twilight darling, what are you doing just standing out here?” Rarity was standing in the entrance to her home, facing Twilight, whose mane was sporting a few hairs sticking out in every which way. The fashionista gave her friend’s coiffure a wary look. Her right eye gave a slight twitch at the sight of the untidy state of Twilight’s mane.
“Oh, hi Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed, her mane returning to ‘normal’, causing the other unicorn’s eye twitching to cease. “Yeah, sorry, spaced out... anyway! I just wanted to see how you’re doing so... if you have time for a chat?” A hopeful smile spread across her features as she spoke.
“Why of course, Twilight! Come in, come in! I’ll have some tea brewing in just a moment.” The prim unicorn turned around and made for the kitchen, her horn glowing to absentmindedly ironing out the cringles on what looked to be a new dress for a customer of some sort.
The unicorn outside nodded and stepped forward, closing the door with a small pulse of telekinesis once she was inside. The boutique looked much as it always did; rackets of dresses on each side of the door, and mirrors with cushions in front of them in the left side of the room for when somepony needed their mane and tail done. In the right side of the room was the small podium that Rarity so often used to have ponies stand on when modelling or when having a dress custom-made. On the far end of the room were a few ponyquins, as well as the small area cut off by curtains they had used for the fashion show with Hoity Toity back in the days.
Finally, there was the small open arc that lead out towards a small kitchen and ‘back area’, as well as a staircase leading to the upper levels of the boutique as well as Rarity’s living area.
Twilight made for the small back area where she had seen Rarity go through. Inside it was a quaint little kitchenette with a single table, two chairs, and a kitchen table with only the absolute necessities for somepony who had to entertain a guest for a short amount of time, or for taking a small break. This included a small refrigerator and a cupboard or two filled with a few ingredients for a snack or two, as well as tea and tea sets.
“So Twilight dear, what did you want to talk about?” the fashionista asked as she was filling a kettle with water and a few dried tea leaves. “It’s not a common occurrence for you to pay me a visit.” She turned around and looked at Twilight with a smile playing at her lips, albeit a curious glint in her eyes.
“It’s nothing, really,” Twilight said, waving her hoof to dismiss any strange theories the other unicorn might have, “I just wanted to spend time with a friend is all.” Her brows creased in a frown. “That’s not a problem is it? I’m not interrupting anything?”
Rarity chuckled lightly and shook her head. “Do not fret, Twilight. You didn’t interrupt me in the least. I was only working on an order for a client in Canterlot, I think her name was Melodia, a beautiful mare and a fantastic violinist if I must say.” She stood up and trotted back in the main room, a few mutterings could be heard as she apparently looked for something.
Within a minute, a quiet piece of violin music had started playing and Rarity came back into the kitchenette with a smile on her face, the music sailing through the air from the main room. The piece was slow in the beginning, building up gradually while seemingly shifting between high and low notes constantly. It was strange harmonious despite the lack of such in the first few seconds.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” She asked with a smile and grasped the can of tea in her magic, pouring a cup for the both of them. Her crystal blue aura then brought the cups and saucers down on the table for them. “So, back on topic, what did you want to talk about?”
“As I said, it’s nothing really... actually it is something.” She then set about explaining how she had spoken with Rainbow Dash and had been told about how she and Fluttershy had become such good friends by just hanging out with each other, and that Twilight herself was now trying the very same thing; hanging out with Rarity for the express purpose of gaining a friendship as strong as the one the two pegasi in their group shared.
Rarity’s eyes trailed towards the ceiling as her hoof found its way to her chin, scratching it in a thoughtful manner. Her mind was running top speed trying to find a way to help Twilight. After a minute of contemplation she perked up, eyes going wide and with a loud ‘~IDEA~’, and moved so fast that Twilight could have sworn she teleported the both of them into the main room again, their tea forgotten.
Twilight found herself standing on the podium in the right side of the room. She had no idea how she’d gotten there so quickly, it was either teleportation, or Rarity being Pinkie Pie’s secret sister.
Please let it be the former... We don’t need another Pinkie Pie. One is enough
“So Twilight.” Rarity said, her voice drawing the unicorn’s attention forward. “Are you ready to spend some quality time with your friend Rarity Belle?”
The look on her face was nothing short of predatory; a wide grin and dilated pupils. Suddenly, Twilight knew what she had set herself up to, and it didn’t bode well. At least she wasn’t Rainbow Dash in terms of being girly.
She’d just agreed to modelling.
“Oh this is great! Don’t stop Twi, I wanna hear the rest!”
“I’m getting to it.”
Twilight found herself surrounded by several measure tapes, a dozen pincushions, a scissor or two, and several different types of cloth floating around her. Upon further inspection, she saw both silk and some sort of veil-like cloth. It was partly transparent, easily revealing what was on the other side of it. All of it was held in the white unicorn’s blue aura. It was an impressive show of control.
As the mare on the podium watched the numerous items float, she was assaulted by measuring tapes and pieces of cloth held up against her to see how the colour matched, or clashed, with her coat and mane.
“No, no, no. This colour won’t do at all.” The pink pieces of cloth that had previously been compared to the lilac coat was floated away and replaced by a dark purple piece of fabric. A thoughtful ‘hmm’ came from Rarity as yet another piece of fabric, this one almost white with a hue of lavender, made its way beside the purple fabric, both of them being held in comparison to Twilight’s coat.
“You okay there, Rarity?” Twilight turned her head behind her to see her friend studying the colour combination that she had currently set up.
“I am quite alright, Twilight, I just-” She gasped and her eyes widened. With a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud, she dashed to where her desk was and found a piece of paper and some coal to draw with. Every single one of the fabric rolls, as well as measuring tapes and so on, were dropped on the floor.
The mess it created caused the librarian’s eye to twitch ever so slightly. She did not like when things were messy, even despite the fact that she routinely caused a mess in her own library. At the very least that was quickly taken care of by her or Spike. “Rarity?” she asked, redirecting her attention to the pony currently drawing furiously on the paper while constantly shooting glances at Twilight.
“I am perfectly alright, Darling. I just had an absolutely fantastic idea!” Rarity exclaimed jubilantly, though quickly regaining her composure, finishing the sketch.
“Come’n Twilight! I wanna hear the rest!” Rainbow Dash whined.
Twilight chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, Rainbow, but a few things happened that I don’t feel comfortable sharing. I don’t really like sharing how and where I was touched, even if they were only accidents during the measurements.”
Rainbow smirked, this was a goldmine of things she could tease her with. “So Rarity ‘touched’ you, huh?” She poked Twilight in the ribs with an elbow, eliciting a small squeak.
“N-No! Not like that! It was pure accident, she Pinkie swore that it was only accidents, and we both know that nopony breaks a Pinkie promise. It's just that... I'm ticklish, especially around my cutie mark. I just don't like ponies knowing where I'm ticklish, least of all you.”
Rainbow nodded with some reluctance, she had just hoped that she’d be able to tease Twilight with being touched by Rarity like that. But alas, a Pinkie Pie swear was not something you got around without dire consequences. She still held some fear for their pink friend from back when Pinkie Pie thought AJ had broken a Pinkie promise in Appleloosa. Still, she may be able to tease Twilight later, now that she knew she was ticklish.
“So,” Dash said after some time, “by the sounds of it, she made you model for a dress, how did it look?”
“You really wanna see?” Twilight muttered, having found her hooves surprisingly interesting. “I have it with me if you really want to.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, the corner of her lips tugging slightly upwards in a smile. She may not be one for dresses, but she was curious as to what Twilight had been through.
“Well, here goes.” Her horn ignited and after a few seconds, and a small burst of light, Twilight wore a dress cosisting of a semi-transparent piece of fabric covering from her neck, barrel and her legs. The fabric was covered in small glittery points, given the illusion of the night sky covering her body, the edges of it being held together by several black beads. A sort of shawl was attached to the lower part of her back, flowing down her sides and over her tail and haunches. Its hue was a light amethyst. Over it, attached to the rest of the dress with a star-shaped clasp, was a flowing piece of fabric in a beautiful, deep purple with a lighter purple at the edges. It was truly a dress worthy of the gala
“Wow...”
So!
Here we are again, Chapter Three of my horrid attempt at writing something worth reading 
Though, on a more serious note, I'm quite proud of this chapter, and the story as a whole. This chapter because I had originally planned to fill this chapter with five times the stuff I actually did!
Aaaanyway, I got 3 chapters done before my birthday, so I'm happy 
Again, I'd like to thank Switches for his help with editing and proof reading. It looks like Zervziel, the other guy I had helping me, decided he didn't wanna help anymore. [Insert sadface] He was an okay guy.
My mistake! Zervziel never left us! He was simply busy and I took his complete silence as the "silent treatment"
12/05 2013 - A few changes have been made (primarily additions to the descriptive part), as per Zervziel's suggestion (and keen eyes :3) I think a "thank you Zerv" is in order 
Regardless, please like if you like, and leave a comment with any opinion you may have, including critique, and please point out if you spot any mistakes.
Edit: I found this Rainbow Dash thing to put in between the breaks! I don't hope I use them too much... 
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Another great chapter! I didn't see any mistakes in this one, however after a reread I noticed one in the first chapter. You referred to the series as Daring Doo. It's only one 'o'. Daring Do.
But if that's the only mistake, you're doing pretty great!
Two thumbs-up!
Good chapter, I already give you a thumb up, but here is another
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120305171426/mlp/images/thumb/d/db/Iron_Will_thumbs-up_S2E19.png/250px-Iron_Will_thumbs-up_S2E19.png
I think you mean gala.
Apart from this, I look forward to more.
The syndrome's still there, but seems much less jarring. Since I've already mentioned it before, this will be the last time I talk about it. Instead I'll focus on other things in the story.
Rainbow thinking Cloud Chaser hitting on Time Turner isn't possible because she's with Blossom shows she's not really world wise. Or, at least, that she doesn't read many fanfictions. Rainbow being amused by Rarity 'touching' Twilight on purpose was slightly creepy. In character, but creepy.
Here are the lines and tidbits I liked;
'lazy clouds floating about,'
'never felt butterflies in her stomach other than when she was free falling,'
'The trademark grin spread across her muzzle,'
'Twilight chuckled and blushed herself, the lilac fur on her cheeks gaining a small bit of pink as blood flushed to her face in a traitorous plot of giving away a tidbit of what she was thinking of, or hinting at what she had been through,'
'oh my Celestia! I only have three days left! Oooh, whatdoIdowhatdoIdo!?'
'a smile playing at her lips,'
'the music sailing through the air'
and
'Please let it be the former... We don’t need another Pinkie Pie. One is enough,' where you forgot the period at the end.
I do have some criticism;
'A mirthful voice said from a few metres behind Rainbow. It was light and familiar, holding a tone of mild mischievousness,' I feel that 'mirthful' is unnecessay since the voice is then specified to hold mischievousness,
'Her right eye gave a slight twitch at the sight of the untidy state of Twilight’s mane,' I feel it'd flow better as 'at the sight of Twilight's untidy mane'
and
I think 'ironing out' should be 'iron out' in 'her horn glowing to absentmindedly ironing out.'
2557164
A lot more positive points that I expected. I'm glad I managed to get that many things in that you liked
As for the "Syndrom", I've been trying to cut down on it, so I'm glad to see that I've at least succeeded to some extent.
And I'll do the edits when I have time. Especially with the last one, as I suspect that was a typo, freudian slip or similar.
And I suspect you did catch the reference to the Winning Verse :p
Please update?
2782464
*Points at my newest blog*
I know I'm a bit late for this but.
Great going twilight, you just narrowed the search area
Now of to the next chapter.