There were many situations Twilight had found herself in over the years that she considered disturbing and uncomfortable. Getting worked up over an upcoming magical test by Celestia? Uncomfortable. Having to flee from dangerous creatures of the Everfree Forest? Uncomfortable. Facing down eldritch horrors bent on world domination? Most definitely uncomfortable. And yet, somehow, having one of her closest friends standing and smiling at her eagerly, as Rainbow Dash was currently doing, managed to trump every single one of those experiences. Twilight had, until la few moments ago, been quietly minding her own business, just reading a good book on one of the many park benches in the middle of Ponyville. But suddenly, out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash had arrived and started looking at her with a look of excitement that Twilight instinctively knew wasn't going to mean anything good. A great deal of time passed with nothing but silence between the two mares, until Twilight finally let out a sigh and closed her book, speaking up.
"Can I help you with something, Rainbow?"
Rainbow's smile widened even further before she answered.
"Oh, I'll say! Guess what I've just done?"
Twilight thought that question over for a while, figuring that Rainbow was probably here to brag about something to her, and so tried to figure out what she might have accomplished that would warrant disturbing her like this.
"You...beat a new flying speed record?"
Rainbow shook her head.
"Nope!"
"You...got invited to a party by the Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked again.
"That would be awesome...but no," Rainbow answered.
Twilight let out a groan before finally giving up.
"Okay, Rainbow, what is it?"
Rainbow was practically bouncing with excitement in a manner that was rather reminiscent of Pinkie Pie, before reaching behind her and pulling out what Twilight now saw was a few sheets of paper. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that but was somewhat startled as Rainbow pushed them into her hooves.
"I just finished my first fanfic!"
Needless to say, Twilight was rather taken aback by that.
"Wow, Rainbow. I'll be honest, I never took you for the type to write your own stories."
Rainbow shrugged her shoulders at that.
"Time was I’d agree with you. But I figured I once said the same thing about reading books, and look how that ended. So I figured, why not?"
Twilight had to admit, she'd heard worse reasons to get into writing. However, as she looked from Rainbow, to the papers in her hooves and then back to Rainbow, she couldn’t help but feel confused about it all. But, with the way Rainbow was watching her eagerly, it soon dawned on her what this was all about.
"Ah...you want me to read it, don't you?"
Rainbow, still having an image to maintain, tried her best to strike an "I'm cool and I don’t care pose", complete with leaning against Twilight's bench.
"Well...ya know...if you don't have anything better to do."
Twilight chuckled at her friend’s behaviour, but nevertheless gave her a short nod and a smile, letting her know that she was willing to do this for her. Rainbow, despite her earlier attempts at seeming aloof at the whole thing, struggled to resist smiling over her friend's agreement. Twilight, still smiling, looked down to the papers she had. Well, you never know, she thought to herself, it's always nice to see more ponies getting into literature. And with that mind-set, Twilight reasoned that this might actually be a fun read, and so began taking up a more comfortable position on the bench before starting to read her friend's story.
.............................
It was an awesome day, and Dash Rainbows was...
............................
Twilight hadn't even reached the end of the first line, and already she felt the need to plant a hoof into her forehead. Seeing this reaction, Rainbow watched with confusion as Twilight turned to look at her.
"Rainbow, if your intent was to have a self-insert character as the lead, that's fine. But...Dash Rainbows? Seriously?"
The cyan pegasus shrugged her shoulders at that.
"What? I’m no good at names, alright?"
Twilight couldn’t fault her for that, given her own history with coming up with decent titles to her own writing in the past, and so decided to give her the benefit of the doubt in this matter. With that settled, she got back to reading.
............................
...and Dash Rainbows was flying through the sky, being awesome. After coming to the ground, she...
...........................
Twilight let out another sigh after reading that.
"Rainbow..."
"What now?" Rainbow replied.
Twilight looked at her with some worry in her face. She didn't want to dash her friend's desire to continue writing this, but at the same time she had a responsibility to let her know the truth of the matter.
"I'm sorry...it's just...you just said she was awesome, but then didn't do anything afterwards."
Rainbow tilted her head in confusion, prompting Twilight to explain herself.
"Look, you want your character to come off as impressive and capable, right? Okay, fine. But you can't just say something like "she's awesome" and move on. You have to show why she's awesome. Have her do some stunts or perform an act of heroism, something like that. It's an old saying; show, don't tell."
Rainbow raised a hoof and scratched her head a little before replying to that.
"But...wouldn't readers just take our word for it?"
Twilight shook her head with a serious look on her face, giving Rainbow her answer.
"If somepony told you that they had great flying skills, would you believe them? Or would you ask that they prove it?"
Rainbow considered that and very quickly saw Twilight's point, looking down at the ground rather sheepishly. Twilight, not wanting her to feel disheartened at this, gave her a quick nudge with a hoof and a reassuring smile, which Rainbow then returned. Turning back to the story, Twilight carried on reading.
................................
When she reached the ground, Dash Rainbows suddenly found herself surrounded by a huge and dangerous-looking pack of Timberwolves. But she wasn't scared in the slightest, instead smirking at them and laughing.
"Ha! If oyu htink this is gonna scare me, htink again!"
..............................
Twilight narrowed her eyes a little, re-reading that passage a few times before looking up at Rainbow. She saw then that her friend had been peering over her shoulder, reading the same section she'd been looking at, and thus knew exactly what Twilight was going to comment on next.
"I...okay, maybe I need to check my spellings a bit better next time."
At least she recognised the issue this time, Twilight thought to herself.
............................
The Timberwolves struck, but Dash leapt up into the air before coming crashing down, smashing several of her foes at once.
.........................
After having read that, Twilight suddenly considered something, as shown by the raised eyebrow she now bore.
"Wait...why doesn't Dash just try and escape from them?"
Rainbow let out a laugh before answering her.
"Duh! She's surrounded!"
Twilight stared at her in silence for a moment before speaking up again.
"But she can fly."
Rainbow opened her mouth to give a response, but then gained a look that showed that she'd only now realised what her character could do. She gave Twilight a brief glance, wherein he saw that her friend was clearly waiting for an answer, and soon. However, Rainbow simply tightened her mouth shut even more and turned her head away, not wishing to look Twilight in the eye on this. Letting out a brief chuckle at this reaction, Twilight resumed reading.
............................
It was a fierce fight, but soon enough, it was over. Dash Rainbows stood triumphant over the now-shattered bodies of the fallen Timberwolves. Feeling proud at this, Dash smiled widely for a while before hearing the flapping of wings above her. Looking up, she saw, to her amazement, that somepony new had arrived. And who else could it be but the legendary Daring Do! The famous adventurer looked up at Dash before speaking.
"Yo Dash! You were awesome in that fight! Wanna go on an adventure?"
Dash considered that for a moment before proudly nodding.
"Yes. Yes I do!"
..........................
That reading earned Twilight another self-inflicted hoof to her face as she let out a groan. Rainbow watched her, knowing that yet another criticism was coming her way, causing her just the slightest bit of annoyance. But she nevertheless remained silent as Twilight turned to her and spoke.
"Rainbow, I know you're a die-hard Daring Do fan and all...but is there any real reason for her to be in here, aside from the fact that you'd love to just have her in her story?"
Rainbow considered that for a while, giving Twilight the distinct impression that this had been Rainbow's reasoning from the start. Eventually though, Rainbow gained a look that wouldn't have gone amiss with a lightbulb glowing above her head, just before giving Twilight an answer.
"Well...ponies love Daring Do, right? So it makes sense that they'd love anything she's in, right?"
Twilight chuckled a bit at that.
"You'd be surprised how often that way of thinking doesn't turn out as well as ponies would like it to. People like Daring Do because her stories are well-written and because she's always portrayed as an interesting and adventurous character with understandable reasons for doing what she does. Your interpretation just has her arrive out of nowhere, for no reason, and just flat-out says she wasn't to go on an adventure with a mare she's only just met."
Rainbow listened to her friend's words and thought them over carefully. After dwelling on them for a bit longer, her ears began to drop down a bit.
"You don't like the story, do you?"
Twilight had been worrying about this potential reaction in her friend, but was nevertheless prepared for it as she let out a sigh.
"Look, Rainbow. It's good that you're going out there and trying new things. Don't feel down just because your first try didn’t turn out perfect. Nopony ever starts out great at what they do. It takes time and experience. Great writers have to go through a lot of duds before they make something ponies like."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that, prompting Twilight to think over what she'd just said.
"Okay...that probably sounded more encouraging in my head."
But, rather than be upset by any of that, Rainbow just let out a laugh, which eventually led to Twilight doing the same, albeit not as heartily as Rainbow. After a while of this, the two calmed down and Rainbow gave her friend a quick pat on her shoulder with her hoof, nodding to her and silently letting her know that she appreciated what she did for her. Twilight returned the smile before reaching over and passing Rainbow's story back to her. Rainbow gave another nod after having taken her work back from Twilight, before stretching out her wings and flying off, allowing Twilight to finally get back to her book. Rainbow, in the meantime, flew through the skies of Ponyville with her fanfic in hoof, before finally seeing a suitable place to drop back down on the other side of town. There, waiting for her, was none other than Rainbow's self-appointed number one fan, Scootaloo, who was watching her eagerly.
"So? Did she like it?"
Rainbow looked down at the papers in her hoof before smiling nervously at the young filly.
"Er...yeah! She loved it!"
Scootaloo bounced up and down with joy over that.
"Awesome! I knew you'd write a good one! So...does this mean we can try her out with volumes two to thirty-four?"
Rainbow stared at her young fan with that same look of nervousness before eventually forcing a more confident look.
"Nah! There's only so much awesome a pony can take in one day!"
