"....Are you sure AJ can't come?"
"Yeah.... AJ is out with family in Appleloosa"
"What about Pinkie?"
"Pinkie....well, she'd like to....but you know she's about to become a mom in a couple of weeks now. The Doctor said she shouldn't be up and about too much so close to her due date....Especially with twins. It's cool though, it'll still be fun with just you and me."
"Well..."
".....Is something wrong?"
"I've got a summit up in Manehattan. We're meeting with delegates from Saddle Arabia, I have to be there"
"....But I thought you said you'd have a month in Ponyville before you'd have to leave on business again."
"I know, I know! Celestia sprang it on me, I didn't know until yesterday...I'm really sorry"
"It's fine"
"Dash...."
"It's fine, Twi. Really."
Four hooves landed on the floor with a delicate click. Lavender wings spread slightly to keep balance. Unruly strands of navy and pink hair bobbed in tangled bedhead curls.
Princess Twilight walked to the hotel bathroom.
It was extravagant, of course. No miniature amenities or sub-par showers in sight. She washed her face and rubbed it clean with a down soft towel, recalling how impressed she had been the first time she had stepped inside a hotel on Princess travel. The picture of the foyer arose in her mind, the memory having been firmly planted in her brain by her sheer astonishment. There had been a diamond chandelier, she remembered. A little impractical for a hotel maybe, but the way it had shone in the light like a mobile of captured stars made it seem worth it. It had all been so unreal, like something taken out of a filly-hood fantasy. Every little pony wanted to be a princess after all.
Now, though they hadn't yet managed to leave lines on her face, the years had eroded away all the allure and magic from the luxury she was bathed in. Twilight's horn glowed as she applied a combing spell to her mane, watching as all the little strands smoothed out obediently under her magic. The opulence just fell a little flat now.
She took her crown in her magical aura, nestling it upon her now pristine mane before stepping into the little hooflets that were so terribly uncomfortable. Twilight wondered why they were so glamorized. Back when she had been in school, every little filly wanting to look like a mare wished they had a set, and even today, they were a symbol of high fashion and luxury and wealth. Nowhere near as durable or practical as horseshoes...but beautiful. Impossible to gallop in...but glamorous.
Twilight's crown felt very heavy as she lifted her head high like she had been taught.
That was the hardest part of course, of getting ready. The hooflets, the crown, the gleaming fur, the hair, they were all trivial compared to it. You had to have the right expression. Head high, proud but not arrogant, smiling, but not too wide. Calm, cool, collected. Never flustered, certainly never panicked. Just calm, and warm, and smiling a perfect smile. Her smile had always been too wide when she had first started, too excited, too eager, too naive.
Now she had to push it the other way, struggling to lift the corners of her lips into a warmer expression.
Normal smiles were so much easier. They just were, no adjustments, no careful masks, normal smiles were never too wide...But Twilight thought about the things that made her smile, her friends, her library, Spike and the rest of her family, the little things, and realized that she probably wouldn't be able to smile a normal smile where she was anyways. So she let the practiced smile fall onto her face, and lifted her head, gazing into the mirror. She looked serene, wise, beautiful...but it wasn't quite perfect. Maybe after she had a thousand's years practice, like Celestia, she would be better at it.
As Twilight looked critically over herself to see if she had missed any details, she went over her set activities for the day in her head.
Leave the hotel room. Smile at the cameras. Meet with the delegates. Smile at the delegates. Listen to the other Princesses talk to the delegates. Nod and agree whenever Celestia looks at you. Think of a useful suggestion to make in the negotiation. Do not say that suggestion because Celestia hasn't looked at you so it's not even your turn to nod and agree, much less talk. Don't forget to never look flustered. Don't drum you hooves on the table. Smile.
Twilight sighed through her not quite perfect imitation of serenity, then lifted her head a bit higher, and walked towards the door, taking careful measures not to look out the window, through which one could see a little town off in the distance, if you peered hard enough.
She opened the door, and smiled at the blinding camera flashes. Making sure to keep her head high, and fight the mounting pressure to hunch her shoulders and duck her head against the tide of media. Never flustered. Always calm.
She successfully navigated the gauntlet of her hotel hall, making it to the hotel entrance. There were Celestia and Luna and Cadence each looking varying degrees of comfortable.
Cadence was doing quite well, her smile even a touch too wide. She always been a people pony, calmly interacting with every pony so gracefully that Twilight couldn't help feel a little pang of jealousy sometimes. While not exactly completely at ease, she looked more comfortable than Twilight could ever hope to be.
Luna was not faring quite as well. The darker alicorn ducked her head slightly to the wave of media, looking desperately awkward in front of the question-vomiting news-mare. What she lacked in front of the paparazzi though, she made up tenfold in the conference room. Luna had a knack for negotiations that even Celestia did not quite posses, always knowing the right thing to say.
Then there was the Solar Princess herself, as relaxed and calm as if she were taking a hot bath. She soaked up the media's attention like a sponge, responding politely and warmly to any inquisition posed at her. Her smile was never too wide or too small, and her always had the look of a loving mother. You wanted to please her and respect her and listen to her.
Twilight felt her knees lock and care fully relaxed them. Never frazzled. Smile. It was a lot harder to smile today. The normally challenging task becoming neigh impossible as her face refused to cooperate.
"Is something wrong, Princess?"
At the simple question, panic flooded through Twilight like a stab from a needle. She had let her serenity slip. She had failed.
The purple alicorn felt herself involuntarily backing up, wings spreading fearfully. As she looked up in agitation, she was met with everypony's eyes resting on her. She opened her mouth, only to find that her brain had seized up ......Her cheeks were wet.... how long had she been crying?
"I..." Twilight's voice shook as she finally forced her throat to make words, her eyes darting from side to side until the fell upon a window. A window through which, if you peered hard enough, you could see a little town, way off into the distance "I have to go."
Her wings didn't need telling twice, propelling her out of the building and up, away from everything.
Princess Twilight flew towards Ponyville.
It was sunset when Twilight's hooves touched down on cloud, wings hanging loosely at her sides from exhaustion. She walked up to the house rising up of the clouds before her, and rapped firmly on the door. As it opened, Twilight felt her eyes prickle with tears. She smiled much, much too wide.
"Twilight?" Dash said in surprise "But I thought you were-"
She was off with with a hug "Happy Birthday, Rainbow Dash"
Somewhere inside the house, Twilight heard the radio talking about her.
She didn't give a flying feather.
As usual, Rainbow Dash awoke with the sun, magenta eyes cracking upon as the first rays of light dappled her fur. With a sideways roll, the flopped straight from her bed onto the cushioned floor, untangled herself from her blankets, and stretched like a cat. A couple of years ago, she never would have dreamed of getting up this early, but her time in the Wonderbolts had beat it out of her. From what she could tell by looking outside it was about six...definitely sleeping in by Wonderbolt training standards, when morning practice sessions started at four.
Instead of walking all the way through her house, Rainbow opted for the quickest way into the open air, straight through the window.Her wings beat steadily as she rose into the air, relishing the cool breeze on her face. She reached up a hoof to push away the strands of chromatic hair flapping about her face. She supposed she could just go back to sleep if she really wanted too, seeing as the weather team had nothing scheduled for the day, but she opted for a fly-over of Ponyville instead.
...It was beautiful in the morning. Though, unfortunately, most of her friends would rather sleep through it. She laughed, remembering the all times she had exuberantly dragged an unwilling Twilight out of bed so she would have somepony to fly with as the dawn rose over Sweet Apple acres and made it's round through the cobbled streets of their little town. The princess always put up a good fight, clinging stubbornly to her blankets while trying to fend off her sleep-depriving assailant with a pillow, but Rainbow always secretly suspected she didn't mind all that much.
After all...it wasn't like Twilight ever put a shield around her windows, or anything else to really keep her out.
Rainbow chuckled, then sighed softly, giving her wings a powerful flap as she soared just above the treetops of the apple orchard, the sun sparkling on the bright green leaves.
Flying past the fence and along the little dirt road that led to Ponyville, she watched as she citizens began their day. There were definitely some early risers like herself among the town, and already she could see several ponies, walking out their front door's, still slightly sleepy eyed, to go water the roses, or read the paper out on the porch with coffee, or head over to Sugarcube Corner to see the morning special.
Rainbow rolled lazily onto her back, keeping herself aloft with slow, relaxed wing beats. Blowing a slow stream of air through pursed lips as she thought. She didn't exactly know what she was going to do that day...on her birthday of all days too. Through what seemed like some nasty joke of the universe, every single one of her friends was off doing something important, whether it be premiering a fashion line in Maris, Prance, or meeting diplomats, or organizing the shipping of this season's apple harvest with the board directors or traveling to Canterlot to see the obstetrician....they had a little party before hoof of course, a couple of days earlier when everyone had managed to work a bit more than an hour of free time from their busy schedules, their hour and a half all together (an hour and ten minutes if you counted that Rarity spent the last twenty on an unexpected phone call from a very important client) giving rainbow dash her presents.
Seeing as none of them could be there the actual day, all her friends had gone all out on them.... A beautiful multicolored dress sewn for her to wear when she went out to important parries and get-togethers as a member of the Wonderbolts. A homemade cake, Vanilla, with food coloring to make it the same cyan as the sky and topped with all seven colors of the rainbow spiraling up to make a perfect, chromatic swirl. A scrapbook, lovingly made and full of pictures. A gigantic jug of the finest aged apple cider around. Twi's present might have been her favorite though,simply because it had been a prank truly on par with the best of Dash's and Pinkie's back in the old days. The Alicorn had managed to get her hooves on box seats at the next World Flyers Championship in Tokyoat, where the best speed and stunt flyers from around the world got together to compete and had hidden tickets in between the pages of a mammoth dictionary. Rainbow Dash was sure the look on her face had been priceless when Twilight had pulled the gigantic book out from her saddlebags, adorned with a little bow, and set it on the table with a resounding thud.
Despite all the wonderful gifts though, Rainbow couldn't help but think that she would have liked a full day of them just talking, goofing off, being friends, just a bit more. She supposed she should take what she could get though, as far as time together with them went. She was just glad Pinkie had been able to attend at all, considering...but she had showed up, cheerful as ever and very, very pregnant. Twins were pretty uncommon in earth ponies, and often made for difficulties during the carrying, but Pinkamena Diane Pie was anything if not a trooper.... though, it also helped that she had one of the best obstetricians in Equestria...
Nopony said being an element bearer didn't come with it's perks.
Today though, was just, well, a little lonely....it was if her birthday had decided to skip a year. She guessed it fit, it wasn't as if she felt Twenty eight years old....Hay., she still like she was late eighteen, going off on adventures with her friends.The fact that most of her friends were married or engaged now still seemed out of left field now and again. Sure Rainbow had dated a few ponies, even kind of seriously...but settling down for real just seemed so foreign to her. She just couldn't see herself there...not yet...maybe not ever.
At least she had one friend who was flying solo with her, but, well...Twilight was single for some very different reasons. She remembered when Celestia had finally spilled the truth about the whole thing, how...well, Rainbow didn't enjoy thinking about it too much. Needless to say, Twilight ever falling in love with somepony would just end painfully for both of them, but especially to her, in the long run. She had no idea how Cadence was going to cope, when the time came...
But that was all in the future, a long, long time in the future, so Rainbow pushed it out of her mind.
Best not to dwell on that sort of thing.
She pulled her thoughts to a happier subject, her trip this summer with Twi. The princess had planned a whole week and a half out for the trip, which, considering the numerous diplomatic missions, settling disputes between ponies during weekly court session, and hair raisingly boring, not to mention unfortunately frequent with get-togethers with Canterlot nobity she had to contend with as part of being princess, was no an easy feat. Then, if anyone could do it, it was Twilight...Dash always secretly suspected she had been trained high atop a mountain by some ancient monk in the mystic art of extreme scheduling. That pony wielded her day planner like a deadly weapon.
Sometimes a bit to literally, Rainbow through wryly, rubbing a small scar of her head when said day planner had accidentally been flung at high velocity towards her head. That had been at Twilight's after coronation party, if Rainbow remembered correctly, when they had even had Celestia and Luna over. Rainbow chuckled, shaking her head, her friends were kind of lightweights when it came to drinking, but by Celestia could the princesses throw em down. Luna in particular was quite the party animal...and poor Twilight had kind of gotten dragged in, leading to said drunken day planner chucking.
Celestia that had been a great party...
A slightly rueful expression crossed Rainbow's face as she sighed lightly...now occasions like that were few and far between. Everypony had such busy lives, Rarity was premiering her newest fashion line, Sweet Apple Acres was more popular than ever, supplying cider and apples all over Equestria, Fluttershy was preparing for her wedding, as well as the opening of her new animal Clinic in Canterlot, Twilight was always withers-deep in royal duties, she herself was gone half of the year with the Wonderbolts, Pinkie was going to be a mom for Celestia's sake!
She ran a hoof down her face, sighing. She missed the old days sometimes, even though it felt so selfish. These were her friends dreams! These were the most important things to them...but sometimes, sometimes she wished that Sweet Apple Acres was still a small time farm, and Rarity was still a little known designer, dreaming of recognition, Fluttershy was just a passionate animal lover who worked from her small cottage, and Pinkie Pie was still only a live-in assistant at a bake shop instead of being the owner of her own independent Party planning company, and Twi....Twi had never gotten her wings.
...And the most important thing that had ever happened to any of them was their friendship.
She couldn't think like that for long. Her friends were happy! They had accomplished what they had always longed for! What they had worked so hard to achieve! She had to stop clawing hopelessly for the past, because she could never go back. Never.
Maybe it was because she was the element of loyalty, but she couldn't bring herself to let go.
Flipping around so she was no longer coasting on her back, she gave her wings a powerful flap, soaring up high above their little town. The sun was fully up now, spilling over the forest and fields and colorful buildings. From this height, Rainbow could see the line of direct sunlight slowly marching west, shadows fleeing in it's wake. It really was beautiful in the mornings...
And lonely.
Then she dove, wind whipping past her face as she spread her wings at the last minute, soaring inches above the housetops. She shuddered at the thought of growing old, the notion years sapping away her athleticism, slowly eating at her strength, brittling her bones, trapping her in her own body just as she was reaching her peak, robbing her of the ability to out fly her rampant thoughts....it was more terrifying to her than any monster she could imagine.
She flew to escape, leaving her thoughts in her wake as she cut through the air, faster than any doubts and uncertainties that could hope to chase her.
The worst part, is that age would rob her, not of the ability to fly, but of everything that flying meant to her, the speed, the liberation, her ability to loose herself in the air. The air did not cloy and trap like her thoughts, the air was cool, clear, pure.
The air was her friend as she blazed through it, soaring, sweeping, spinning, looping. A lone pegasus dancing through the wind, a one pony aerial show for anyone who cared to watch, mane and tail billowing behind her like trailing streamers. She was unfettered by gravity or worry, completely free.
How long she flew, Rainbow didn't know, but finally fatigue forced her to land on a cloud, wings shaking slightly from at least hours of continuous, vigorous use. She knew it must have been a long while, for even the Wonderbolt training sessions usually didn't tire her to that extent.She squinted at the sun, trying to judge the time...five?...six?. Finally, she gave up, and reluctantly beating her much weaker wings, flew to her house. She didn't really know what else to do.
Flying through a window into her living room, she felt her hooves gently touch the cloud floor and took a breath, looking down. Then she let herself sink to the ground, pulling her hooves over her eyes, her pursuing thoughts catching up to her.
What was more important, their dreams, or their friendship?
She didn't know.
She didn't know. She didn't know. She didn't know.
Was she being foolish, stubbornly hanging on to something that was fading, dying. Refusing to leave a sinking ship, just letting herself being dragged down with it?
Nopony was there to answer her.
Rainbow Dash never cried, never, but here, alone, she buried her face in her hooves, eyes prickling with tears, with absolutely no idea what to do. The radio was on, in some other room, but she ignored it. Letting the fuzzy, out of focus words lull her into an uncertain sleep.
She was jolted awake by a doorbell, and slowly got to her hooves. It was probably a package from her family, or maybe one of her friends from the Wonderbolts. Shaking her mane and getting up, she opened the door-
And there was Twilight, looking like tartarus, eyes red and puffy, mane disheveled, wings feathers crooked and fluffed, crown crooked on her head and looking like a stiff breeze would send it toppling off...grinning wider than Rainbow had seen in a long time.
She barely had enough time to sputter some confused words before the alicorn threw her arms around her. They stood there for a while, two best friends. Not a Princess, not a Wonderbolt, just friends.
Rainbow Dash never cried, but there, not alone anymore, she buried her face against Twilight's shoulder, eyes prickling with tears, with hope.
Some things would always be more important than other things.
