Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare
Chapter Two

You’re just finishing helping out a deep blue male unicorn with a bright orange mane and tail when the tinkling of the bell attracts your attention.

“The book is due back in three weeks,” you tell the male pony.

“Thanks,” he says with a grin and nod, levitating the book and putting it in his saddlebag. As he leaves, you address the newcomer, who, to your surprise, turns out to be Rainbow Dash.

“Dash, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Twilight’s party?” you ask.

She shrugs. “I just came by to thank you again for doing this for us. You know that sometimes we gotta drag Twilight away from the library once in a while to have some fun, and…”

You raise a hoof. “Say no more. I’m glad to be of help.” You tilt your head questioningly. “How’s the party?”

A wide smile lights up her face. “It’s going great! You should have seen the look on her face when we arrived at Sugar Cube Corner! Her jaw pretty much hit the floor!” She breaks out into laughter, and the mental image you see gets you laughing too.

“I hope somepony got a photograph,” you say.

“Somepony did, I’m sure,” she says. She glances out the window then turns back to you. “Listen, I gotta head back before anypony notices I’m gone. Promise me you won’t tell anypony I came by?”

You knit your brows in confusion. “Um, well…sure.”

“Thanks!” She suddenly wraps her forelegs around your neck in a hug. “You’re the best!” She trots out the door. “See ya!” In a flash of color, she’s gone. You’re left standing in the middle of the library, completely confused and mouth hanging open, wondering why, all of a sudden, Rainbow Dash hugged you, the first time she’s shown any sign of affection other than playful nudges or a competitive but friendly shove. Regaining your composure, you levitate the book that the blue unicorn returned and walk towards the proper section to reshelf it.

As soon as you put the book away, a knock on the door pushes away your thoughts.

“Library’s open!” you call out, wondering who would knock on the library door in the middle of the day.

The door opens and a gray pegasus with blonde hair and wearing saddlebags opens the door, the bell tinkling once again.

“Mfff cfff!” she says, her voice muffled by the package in her mouth.

“Oh!” You trot over to the mailpony and take the package in your teeth, placing it on the main desk. “Saw the note on my door, then, Ditzy?”

The walleyed pegasus nods. You trot over to your saddlebags and levitate a sealed envelope and a few bits. “If you have a sec, can you send this to Vinyl Scratch? It’s a thank-you note for the package.”

You make the letter and money float over to her and tuck it into one of her saddlebags. “Thanks for using Ponyville Postal!” she says and leaves the library.

Excitedly, you trot over to the main desk and look at the flat package. It’s wrapped in brown paper and has Vinyl Scratch’s styled scrawl:

Found Daft Pony’s ‘Dischoofery’ for ya. Ya owe me one.

You chuckle, wondering what kind of a favor Vinyl Scratch would have in mind as you use your magic to neatly unwrap the package, putting the wrapping paper in your saddlebag for recycling later on. You use your magic to open the case and lift the disc from it, glancing around expectantly for a player of some kind. Seeing none, you remember that Twilight never owned one and Spike never got around to buying one.

“Damn things are on special order from Manehattan,” you mutter under your breath. You have one at home, but you did promise not to close the library, even for a minute…

The bell by the door tinkles again and you put the CD back into its case and levitate the case into your saddlebag. You turn to address the newcomer, surprised that it’s Rarity.

“Rarity! What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at Twilight’s party.”

You see her eyes darting back and forth, trying to find a reason. “Well…” she stammers. “I saw Ditzy flying by Sugar Cube Corner, heading in this direction, and, well, I wanted to see if the new fashion magazine from Canterlot was going to show an article on my designs. Hoity Toity did contact me recently saying he was impressed with my designs so much, and, well, I expected him to say something in a public piece.”

You look at her with an eyebrow raised, wondering if she knew that the monthly magazine deliveries wouldn’t arrive until next week. “You couldn’t wait until tomorrow for that? It’s Twilight’s birthday, you know?”

She looks slightly affronted and raises her head snobbishly, putting a hoof to her chest. “Well, I have to be prepared in case I get a sudden influx of orders for my designs.” A sheepish expression appears in her eyes. “Speaking of which, if I do get bombarded with new orders, you will help me gather the proper materials and help with deliveries, won’t you?”

You sigh with a small grin and shake your head. “If I have a bit of time, you know I’ll be more than happy to help.”

With a wondrous and thankful glimmer in her eyes, she hugs you tightly. “Oh, you are just the most reliable pony that anypony could ask for!” She raises her head and hurriedly kisses your nose. Immediately, she turns around. “I must get back to the party! I…I just wanted to check on those magazines.” She looks over her shoulder at you. “…Just promise you won’t tell the others?”

You give her a confused expression. “I guess…”

“Excellent!” She opens the door and gallops out. “Ta ta, darling!”

Your expression mirrors that of somepony’s after they’ve been slapped in the face with a cold fish. A kiss on your nose? Being called ‘darling’? And before that, Rainbow Dash giving you a genuine hug? It’s not even three o’clock and already your afternoon is turning out downright odd, to say the least.

*-----*-----*-----*-----*

It’s been almost an hour since Rarity showed up, and it’s been quiet ever since. You blink your eyes a couple of times as you let the book you were reading fall flat on the desk. You crane your neck, hearing a couple of small satisfying cricks, when you suddenly hear the small growling of your stomach. You look at the clock and realize you haven’t eaten since before you got to the library, and you feel a small pang of guilt.

“I suppose I could raid her fridge,” you say to yourself hesitantly, “I did promise I wouldn’t close…”

As you get up and move towards her living quarters within the library, the bell by the door tinkles. You let out a slightly aggravated groan, wondering who could possibly think to come in as you were about to look for some food.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” a timid little voice says. “I’ll just…go…now…”

You whirl around in surprise. “Fluttershy?” You see her looking away, just about ready to high-tail it out of the library. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, um…well…” She sets her wing down, a picnic basket falling gently to the floor. “You see, I heard that you were watching over the library today for Twilight, and, um…I wasn’t sure if you’d had a chance to eat, and well…”

You smile. “Thanks, Fluttershy. I was actually about to head to Twilight’s room to see if she had any leftovers lying around.” You walk back to the main desk, all traces of annoyance replaced by relief and eagerness at the prospect of food. “What did you bring?”

Her face lights up and she seems to come out of her shy shell. “Oh! I brought you some salad, because I know you like salad, and I thought you might like some hay fries. And I managed to take a bottle of sarsaparilla for you while Pinkie Pie wasn’t looking.” She pauses as she picks up the picnic basket by the handle with her teeth and places it upon the main desk. You use your magic to move the cloth over the promised lunch, and levitate the food onto the table in front of you, using your magic one last time to uncork the bottle of the fizzy sarsaparilla.

You lick your lips. “Mmm! This looks amazing!”

“Oh, it was nothing, really,” she says shyly.

You help yourself to a good mouthful of salad, enjoying the taste of the cool, leafy vegetables. “Is the party going well?” you ask after a second mouthful.

She nods eagerly. “Oh, yes! There’s a lot of music and streamers and food! Everyone’s really enjoying themselves, and…” Your gaze meets with hers, and she visibly shrinks away. “I’m so sorry, talking about the party when you couldn’t be there…”

You shake your head. “Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. I agreed to look after the library so Twilight could have fun.”

She smiles brightly. “It’s so good and kind of you to help,” she says quietly. A confused expression crosses her features. “I have to go back. Just…just don’t tell anyone I came by, please?”

You fight the urge to shake your head and roll your eyes. Instead, you just swallow another mouthful of salad and nod. “All right, Fluttershy.”

As she trots out of the library and flies off, you can’t help but shake your head. This is getting ridiculous, you think. Next thing I know, Twilight’s going to drop by as soon as I finish my lunch, claiming to check up on things here, and then she’s also going to ask me not to tell anyone. You munch absently on a few hay fries and chuckle to yourself. Better be careful what I wish for...