Destinies Intertwined

Twilight returned to the library and was reorganizing the library. She placed one of the dragon books she had gotten out last night and put it with the rest of the dragon books. She looked back to the diminishing pile of books and sighed, she still didn’t feel one-hundred percent, but these books weren’t going to stack themselves. It had crossed her mind to let Spike do it, but she knew it’d be hard for him to recover, so she didn’t follow through on that idea.

She was about to get a few more books, but she heard the phone ring. She rushed over to the phone and picked it up, “Ponyville Library, Twilight Sparkle speaking.”

“Hey, Twilight.”

Twilight’s eyes grew big, “MINTY?!”

“Yup… Hope you don’t mind I called you at work.”

“It’s fine, this is also kinda my home, so don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“Oh, okay. So how is my big sis doing?”

“Could be better, I guess.”

“Oh...did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, I’m glad you called, we haven’t talked since Shining’s wedding.”

“Yeah...it has been a while, and...five years before that?”

“I guess...I think it was one of your birthday parties?”

“Oh yeah! It was my thirteenth birthday!”

“Yeah...wow, are you really eighteen?”

“Two months. I’m kinda nervous about it, though.”

“How come?”

“Well...I’ll have school done in the summer, and...I have no idea what I want to do with my life…”

“I see, do you think you might want to go to school?”

“Maybe, but still, what should I get my degree in? I really enjoy cooking, but I kinda wanna be a writer like mom, and don’t even get me started on what Dad does, that’d be EPIC!”

“I thought you said at your party you wanted to be a race car driver.”

“Oh yeah...that would be cool, but I’d also kinda like to be an airplane pilot. Ooh! Or maybe a royal gu….ugh!”

Twilight giggled, “Well, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“Maybe...it’s just...eh...maybe I’ll tell you some other time.”

“What is it?”

“I-I’d just rather not tell you while Mom and Dad are around.”

“Uh...okay… Is there a reason?”

“Um...I’m a little worried they’ll worry about me…”

“Okay…”

“Yeah, I don’t want them to worry about me.”

“Alright. Oh, and how’s your sock collection?”

“Oh, it’s great! Taking up a lot of room, though, and kinda gets stinky if I don’t wash them, heh.”

“I would imagine,” Twilight giggled.

“So how’s Spike doing?”

“You’ll never guess what just happened.”

“What?”

“Well two things. One, his wings are growing!”

“Really?! Spike’s gonna be able to fly?!”

“Yes he will, well once he learns.”

“Awesome! Is your friend gonna teach him? The tomboy?”

“Rainbow Dash? Of course she will.”

“Yeah, her. Doubt the shy one would.”

“Fluttershy? Yeah…”

“Yeah, doubt it...So what was the other thing that happened with Spike?”

“Oh… That. Well… He…” She sighed. “A changeling tried to rape him.”

“WHAT?!?!” That exclamation was followed by the sound of a phone falling onto the floor.

“Minty? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I just dropped the phone.”

“Oh...Well, fortunately nothing happened between them, but the changeling was disguised as his crush.”

“Oh, that white unicorn girl? With the pink and purple hair?”

“Pink and purple? Where did you get pink?”

“That was what she looked like, saw them dancing together. Though...kinda seemed young…”

“Oh, wrong pony. There was one that was older and had a solid purple mane. That was Rarity.”

“Oh! Wait, wasn't she one of your friends?”

“Yes…”

“Wow...that sounds like all kinds of awkward.”

“More than you’d know, but after the incident, Spike doesn’t want to go out with her anymore, even though the changeling was to blame.”

“Well...I can certainly understand…”

“But… that’s not to say he won’t find someone else…”

“Oh...hope he does.”

“Yeah. Hey, weren’t you dating someone?”

“Um...yeah...we broke up a couple months ago…”

“Why? You were so cute together.”

“Well...he just...it was nothing.”

“Minty…”

Minty sighed, “It was kinda because I’m an earth pony…”

Blood began to boil in Twilight’s veins. “He broke up with you, just because you’re an Earth pony?”

“That plus… I don’t live up to you or Shining.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...Shining’s the captain of the guard AND a prince, and you’ve saved Equestria several times and are the personal student of Princess Celestia, and I’m just...Minty… The pony who’s obsessed with socks and anything green.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing you broke up; if he only cares about your status, then he’s not the one for you.”

“Thanks...it’s just...we’d been dating for eight months and...well, part of me wonders if it wasn’t really him that wanted to break up with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I later found out that his dad was part of the Unicorn Supremacy group.”

“WHAT?!?!” Now it was Twilight’s turn to drop the phone. She fumbled to pick it up. “Sorry about that. I just dropped the phone.”

"Heh, guess its a family thing."

"I guess... But is his dad REALLY a member of the USG?"

“Yeah…”

Twilight rubbed her temples, "Now I'm really glad you aren't seeing him anymore."

"That makes one of us..."

“What do you mean?”

"I still really miss him..."

“Why? He broke up with you because of your race.”

“I know, but he was my first boyfriend.”

"There are other guys out there, guys who don't have relations to the USG."

“I know, but still…”

"Minty, if he truly cared about you, then he wouldn't follow his dad's bad example."

“I know, but I’m just not ready to let go, not yet.”

"I understand...but don't get your hopes up."

"Ok. Just let me grieve for a bit.”

"Okay... But remember, Minty, I love you."

"Love you too, Twi...but...do you think I could come to your place and stay over for the weekend?"

"You don't have to ask, of course you can."

“Okay. It’s been too long since I’ve last seen you.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t mind if you came right now. I’m not really planning anything. You might even get to meet Comet Tail.”

“Who?”

“Oh… Um… Just someone I really like…”

"Whoa! YOU have a boyfriend?!"

“Well… not exactly. I just have a crush on him, but we did watch the meteor shower together.”

"Wow! How does he feel about you?"

"I THINK he likes me back...but I'm not sure..."

“How would you be able to tell?”

"I can't...but Spike said he does, and he was super helpful yesterday."

"Hmm...guess that's something, is he cute?"

“Very. But it was pretty embarrassing when Spike got revenge on us for doing something that led up to the discovery of his wings.”

“Uh oh. What was it?”

"Um...our horns kinda changed colors…”

Minty tried to resist a laugh, but her efforts failed. “A little too soon, isn’t it?”

“We didn’t mean for that to happen.”

"Yeah...sure..."

“Really!”

“Barks the guilty dog.”

"It was just a reaction, okay?"

"So is barking..."

Twilight didn’t even bother. “Nevermind…”

"So...mind if I come over tonight? Since tomorrows a holiday before the weekend."

“Sure.”

"Neat, I wanna see you two shoot fireworks again."

“Um… That’s not going to happen if you mean what I think you mean.”

"Huh? Oh! No, I just meant you two flirting and stuff, not THAT deep."

“Oh, I thought you were talking about the horns lighting up.”

“Hm…”

Realizing what she just did, Twilight quickly hung up before Minty could say another word.

*****

Gilda set Garuda down on the couch in a sitting position next to her. “Doin’ okay, sweetie,” Gilda asked in a babyish tone.

“Abuga!” Garuda answered excitedly.

Gilda grinned and pulled the baby into a hug, “Your mama loves you!”

“Bwama!”

“Okay, Garuda, momma’s gotta put ya down, it’s our nap time.”

Upon hearing "nap," Garuda frowned.

"Now don't give me that look. You want to grow up big and strong, don't you?"

Garuda blew a raspberry.

Rainbow Dash tried to hold back a laugh.

“Oh...so we’re gonna play THAT game…” Gilda approached Garuda slowly, and before he could react, Gilda tickled Garuda’s belly. The baby burst into a fit of giggles.

In a swift motion Gilda scooped Garuda up. “Say ‘bye-bye’ to Rainbow.”

“Bwye Bwye.”

Rainbow grinned, 'Wow, he's ADORABLE.'

Just as Gilda walked into Rainbow’s room, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll be there in a second.” She turned to Gilda. “You two enjoy your n-a-p. I got this.”

"Okay, thanks, Dash."

“No problem.” She walked to the door and opened the door. “Oh, hey there Fluttershy.”

"Hello Rainbow Dash. May I come in?"

"Sure, Flutters."

Fluttershy entered and Dash closed the door behind her. “I just wanted to apologise for what I said last night.”

"What do you mean?"

“I know what I said made you feel a little uncomfortable. I probably shouldn’t have asked.”

“Oh, you meant… Yeah… That was a little unexpected.”

"Yeah...I'm sorry."

"Well...you were concerned about me, and you're my friend, so don't worry about it. Just don't tell the other girls..."

“Oh, I won’t. Oh, and I heard that Gilda’s in town.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“And that she has a baby.”

“Yes, that too. How did you find out about that?”

"Pinkie Pie."

“Oh. I see…”

"She was warning everyone."

“Well, she’s not a concern right now, but you should have been here a minute ago.”

"How come?"

“She was so CUTE playing with that baby.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, "She was?"

“She was. I’d show you, but they’re taking a nap.”

"Oh... What's the baby's name?"

“His name’s Garuda.”

"Awwww..."

“I know, right? She figured that he would need a strong name after what she’s been through.”

"What has she been through?"

“Long story short, she’s been living on the streets.”

"Goodness, does she know who Garuda's father is?"

“Yeah… A griffon version of Prince Blueblood.”

"Oh…  Does he know?”

“Oh he knows, but he won’t let Gilda in.”

“Oh… Poor thing…”

“Yeah...she had to deliver Garuda in the street.”

“Oh my…”

“Yeah… So I figured I should take her in.”

“Oh...that’s real nice of you, Rainbow.”

“Well, after that story, King Sombra couldn’t turn her down.”

“I see… ”

“Yeah...so did you just come over here to apologize or was there something else?”

“I think you need to talk with Spike. Um… if that’s okay I mean.”

“Maybe sometime...but he wasn’t ACTUALLY raped, someone just threatened him.”

“But maybe you could help each other.”

“How? My experience was MUCH worse.”

Another voice commented, “You’re still hung up on that, huh Dash?”

Both ponies looked at the source of the voice. It was Gilda.

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“I was on the streets and jailed for three months. Nothing can top what happened to me.”

“Being forced to have sex by someone you thought you loved? Being thrown out into the street is nothing.”

“My parents could have helped me, but they moved without telling me when I needed help the most. THAT was a real stab to the back.”

“He showed pictures to the entire football team.”

“At least he was arrested.”

“I wish! The little mule’s parents bailed him out after three minutes.”

“Oh…”

“Yup! The ONLY good thing out of that was it was the last year of school and I left Cloudsdale for here.”

“Still, it was only one guy. The next one could be different.”

“Yeah...well the only guy I like really wouldn't work, cuz he likes someone else, so I might as well forget about it!”

“Who is that, Rainbow?”

Rainbow sighed, “I need to go for a walk.”

She walked over to the door and opened it, but before she could, Gilda said, “Dash, we’re your friends, you can tell-”

“Spike! Okay?! I have a stinkin crush on a teenage dragon!”