The Dragon Princess

After that disaster of a meeting, Rainbow was actually looking forward to chaperoning Twilight’s planned lunch with Spike. She didn’t mind being a buffer for Twilight if it helped her feel better. Plus she was paying for lunch, so win-win.

They met at the outdoor cafe. Rainbow always wondered why (and how) their tables and seats were giant mushrooms, but she felt like she didn’t want to learn the answer while waiting on food. Twilight was waiting for them, probably armed with a set of note cards more extensive than the library’s entire card catalog. Still, if she did she at least had the good sense to put them out of sight.

Rainbow waved to her as they approached. “Hey Twi! You order yet?”

Twilight looked over, waving back a little too energetically and smiling a bit too widely for it to be natural. “No, I only just got here.”

That sounded like a whopping lie that would’ve knocked Applejack’s hat off. Like Twilight hadn’t come thirty minutes early to examine the café to choose the most optimal table or whatever… But she wasn’t going to call her out on it. “Cool. We got back from talking to Ember and we sure built up an appetite.”

“How did it go?”

“We aren’t on fire right now,” Rainbow answered judiciously, wanting to leave it at that. She looked at Spike as he clambered onto his seat opposite to Twilight with Rainbow in the middle. She’d gotten used to being in that place today.

“Yeah, it could’ve gone better.” Spike looked at the menu briefly. “Aww, why is it that no place serves food encrusted with gems?”

“Because most ponies can’t eat gems and you’re the…” Twilight winced and fell silent.

Spike shrugged. “The only dragon in Equestria? Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t dream, can I?” He played it off like a joke, but Twilight’s laughter was brittle.

“So, what was it like for you in Canterlot?” Rainbow asked, trying to give Twilight time to recover.

Spike drummed his claws against the table. “It was pretty interesting, I think. I was a bit of a minor celebrity, the dragon who worked at the castle and Queen Celestia’s School. I mean, I wasn’t famous-famous or anything, but ponies knew who I was!” He paused. “I mean, except when ponies from out of town came in and saw me. Sometimes one of them would scream or run the other way. One time I got sprayed with a fire extinguisher.”

Twilight sank lower in her seat. Rainbow grimaced.

Spike must’ve noticed, since he quickly waved his claw dismissively. “It wasn’t a big deal. Sure my feelings sometimes got hurt, or ponies would make assumptions that I’d like things just because ponies do, or do the opposite and not take my needs as a dragon into account–”

Twilight sank lower and lower, her spine having apparently liquified at some point in the last few minutes. Rainbow gestured to Spike, rolling her hoof and urging him to get to the point.

“--but I loved Canterlot! It’s so big and pretty and I had friends there.”

“Really?” Twilight sat up, looking a bit relieved. “That’s wonderful! I wasn’t sure that you even–I mean, I had every confidence that you’d be able to make friends, I just–” she coughed and looked down for a brief moment before looking back up and trying again. “You’re very strong and resilient.”

“Yeah!” Spike nodded. “Have you ever been to Donut Joe’s? I’m practically an icon there!”

“You too?” Rainbow grinned. “I loved going there. Did you ever try his jelly challenge of eating twelve jelly donuts each with a different jelly in under an hour?”

Spike snorted. “Only four times! But some of those jellies are just impossible! Grape jelly and mustard flavor? That’s cheating!”

Twilight shuddered, barely repressing a gag reflex.

“I know right?’ Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Still, for free donuts for a year…”

“Living the dream,” Spike sighed wistfully. “You ever heard of the Tasty Treat? This awesome little restaurant run by some nice ponies from Hayderabay?”

“Uh, duh! It’s the only place to get decent Manipuri food after Zesty Gourmond apparently declared war on good taste.” Rainbow looked to Twilight to see if she’d offer her own two bits. But Twilight seemed content to let the two of them talk about the best food places in Canterlot.

The conversation soon turned to other matters that drew Rainbow’s attention: herself. “That prank was legendary!” Spike kicked his feet under the table. “Students were talking about it for weeks! Nopony could figure out how you made that collage out of Blueblood’s silverware that spelled out ‘Bluebutt!’”

Rainbow shrugged but was grinning wickedly. “What can I say? I have an artistic streak that sometimes comes out. I’m still more proud of how I magnetized an entire platoon’s armor so they kept sticking together. That took a lot of practice and just the right application of lightning—not that Shining Armor really appreciated it, right Twilight?”

Twilight gave a little jolt and Rainbow realized she hadn’t said anything for nearly ten minutes. She frowned, realizing that Twilight was trying to step back and let her carry most of the conversation. Clearing her throat, she decided to switch topics. “Speaking of the school, I saw you carry books around a lot. Was that your thing, Spike?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah!” He pounded a claw against his chest. “I worked in the school library, brought textbooks and things to classes, and generally helped out wherever I could.”

Rainbow nodded. “Cool, cool. Twilight here actually lives in the Golden Oak Library. We ought to get the two of you together to trade notes and see who’s the biggest bookworm of all.” She thought about some more, then nickered. “Heh, bookwyrm.” She was met by two blank faces. “Come on, it’s funny because … ah forget it.” She crossed her hooves in a sulk. If they could see it spelled out instead of being spoken they totally would’ve gotten it.

Despite the utter lack of appreciation for her finely honed wit–that was her story and she was sticking with it–her ploy succeeded. Spike looked over to Twilight and was now talking to her directly. “A library, huh? Sounds like a dream job for you.”

“Um,” Twilight’s eyes flashed downwards quickly. “Yes, I’m very happy with where I am now.”

“I bet it’s not as big as the one in Canterlot though. Oh! Do you have Grand Poobah's Great Publication of Practical Pony Potions and Phylacteries?”

Twilight’s eyes briefly lit up. “I put in a pre-order for that months ago! It just came last week!”

“Nice!” Spike’s eyes widened. “I know the library at the School of Magic is still waiting on theirs. Jealous!”

Shyly tracing a hoof on the table, Twilight ducked her head. “Well, I could always loan it to them. I already read it and it isn’t exactly a title that’s in high demand out here in Ponyville.”

“How about you set up an interlibrary loan arrangement with them? That way ponies in Ponyville could request books from Canterlot that you don’t have here and Canterlot can do the same for any books from Ponyville they don’t have.” Spike beamed, smacking his claws together. “Everypony wins!”

“That’d be a wonderful idea!” Twilight exclaimed. “Do you think the librarian in Canterlot will agree to it? It’s hard to imagine there are all that many books that Canterlot doesn’t get first. Also,” slight warble entered her tone. “I, um, might have gotten a book or two a little dinged up in my time when I was being home-schooled. I hope she didn’t get in trouble on my account.”

Spike shrugged, waving it off. “Come on, no librarian is gonna get fired or hold a grudge because a book gets lost or damaged. That’s just crazy. And anyway, I think you’d be surprised. There’s lots of small publishers whose stuff ends up in local libraries before making their way to Canterlot. I’m sure they’d be glad to set something up with you.”

Rainbow somehow felt more lost during this discussion than she had during the duel between Ember and Sludge. But hey, at least Twilight was finally smiling. Real smiling, not fake smiling. Progress!

They kept talking about book stuff until their waiter came to take their orders and drop off water. The interruption caused a brief lull in conversation. Rainbow was hoping Twilight could fill it on her own, but as the silence began to drag out she leaped in to keep it from becoming awkward. “Sooooo, Spike, you’ve met Twilight’s family, right?”

“Of course!” Spike nodded. “Shining Armor’s really cool. He used to let me see his comic collection when I came over for visits. We had some guy time. You know just, uh, the two of us…”

Twilight fidgeted in her seat.

Smooth, Rainbow. She rubbed her face. “Yeah, Shiny’s pretty cool. But hey, so’s Twilight! You hear about everything that happened when Nightmare Moon returned?”

Spike scoffed. “Duh! But Twilight’s mom made sure to tell me all about it when I stopped by. They always make me a treat on my birthday.”

Which also happened to be the anniversary of Twilight’s entrance exam, Rainbow rued. Yeah, no wonder Twilight would be a no-show at those. “That’s really great. Maybe the two of you could do something on your own while you’re here.” Her eyes flickered over to Twilight, hoping she’d take the hint. If she was any less subtle she’d have to start cloud writing in the sky over Spike’s head.

“I’d be up for that, once the negotiations with Dragon Lord Ember are settled.” Spike’s eye twitched in a way that reminded Rainbow far too much of Twilight. “I’m … sure that’ll all work itself out.”

Rainbow forced herself to grin. “Why don’t I come with you next time too? I mean, Celestia’s always on me to learn more diplomatic stuff anyway. Might as well take notes from an expert, right?”

She was worried she’d laid it on a bit thick there, but on the other hoof, Spike could use a bit of building up. That was probably the way to go, judging by how he straightened himself up and smiled up at her. “Yeah, no problem! Hey, what do you think about–”

Rainbow was starting to worry she’d monopolize the entire conversation. It’d been known to happen, she was a big deal after all. Still, the point was to get Twilight comfortable with talking and she didn’t want to cut her out. “That’s a great question. What do you think, Twilight?”

Twilight gave a sudden jolt, as if she only just remembered she was still here and supposed to be in this discussion. “Oh, well it’s actually–what was the question?”

Good question. Rainbow looked to Spike.

“I was going to ask if I could get some flying pointers?” Spike asked. “You know, for when I get my wings?”

“Oh.” Rainbow coughed. “Right.”

Spike rubbed his neck. “If Twilight has any ideas, I mean, she doesn’t have wings or anything but I bet she’s read something really interesting about dragon flight, if I know her. Which, I mean, I kinda do…”

“Well, it’s not like we ever sat and had a long conversation!” Twilight blurted out. “Not because I was trying to avoid that or anything, but how well somepony, er, someone says they can know another pony probably does depend on actually talking to them at one point or other like we’re doing right now but–” She paused, eyes shifting around suddenly. “I need to use the little fillies’ room!” With that, her horn twinkled and she vanished in a burst of magic.

Spike sighed and drummed his claws, looking idly at the clock on town hall. “Fifteen minutes. She beat her old time by five minutes.”

“Say what now?”

“Whenever Twilight wants to get out of talking to me or anyone else, she shouts that she needs to use the bathroom and teleports away. She doesn’t come back after that. But hey, she lasted longer than she usually did. Progress?”

Spike offered an awkward smile, one Rainbow just as awkwardly returned. “Er, right. Progress…” She slumped back in her seat right as the waiter came with their order. And the check–that Twilight was supposed to pay.

Rainbow facedhooved. It was shaping up to be one of those days…

After taking her time to eat her meal (she paid for it, she was darn well going to enjoy it), Rainbow set about tracking down Twilight. She readied herself to search high and low to think about all the places Twilight might have sequestered herself in–then decided ‘Screw that’ and checked out the library first.

Sure enough, that’s where she was. Who said the direct approach wasn’t the best one?

She thought about knocking, but as the old saying goes, when life closes a door, it leaves a window open so pegasi can fly through to check up on their friends.

Or something like that.

Entering through the window, she found Twilight laying face down on her own bed. She winced, knowing that was never a good sign. She landed next to the bed, letting her hooves hit the floor with just enough noise to let her know she was here. “Um … hey.”

“Hmm whh.” It was a good thing Rainbow was fluent in pillow talk–and an even better thing Cloud Kicker couldn’t hear that thought and make the obvious comment.

Shoving that awkwardness aside, she sat down on the corner of the bed. “The service there wasn’t half bad. If only the food was half good, know what I’m saying?”

There was a long silence. Rainbow had the unsettling sensation of someone glaring daggers at her while face down in a pillow. That took skill.

“At least the company was good!” Rainbow valiantly held her smile in place. “I mean, compared to some of the spoiled brats I knew from my Canterlot days? You and Spike weren’t the worst conversationalists I’ve had to deal with.”

Twilight mumbled something that Rainbow translated as being in the spirit of ‘Go feather yourself.’

Somepony was sure in a mood. Okay, so it looked like time to cut to the chase. “Look, I get that he’s a reminder of a bad day–”

Twilight abruptly sat up and pinned Rainbow in place with a look. “That’s not it at all!” she exclaimed, stamping her hoof on the bed. “You don’t get it!”

Rainbow felt her own patience fraying. “Then pretend we’re in class and explain it to me!” She flapped her wings in irritation. This wasn’t tornado duty, so she hated flying around in circles.

Twilight let out a martyred groan but pulled herself together with a deep breath. “Okay, listen: that day, at my entrance exam? I lost control of my magic. Except when it was over and the effects of my magic were reversed, I didn’t get control of my life back. Suddenly I’m ‘too dangerous’ to attend school myself and have to be taught at home. But it doesn’t even end there!” She swished her tail, hugging a pillow to herself. “I know my family was just trying to help and retreating into my studying wasn’t healthy. I know that now.”

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming, so you might as well pretend one of Pinkie’s songs started up and shake it out.”

“However,” Twilight said, likely just to spite her, “between Shining Armor pushing for me to go out and meet ponies like you and my parents wanting to do right by Spike…” She sighed. “I-I felt like I wasn’t being given any choice in who I interacted with or how. It seemed like I didn’t have control over anything. Not just my magic, but my whole life. Everything was being decided for me: by the school, by Shining Armor, by my parents … I just–I just wanted to have something I could decide for myself. I know it sounds petty and awful, but choosing not to meet with Spike? It felt like the only thing I had a choice about and I didn’t want to give that up. Now I feel bad about it, but at the same time…”

Rainbow picked up what Twilight left unsaid. “It’d be like giving up the one thing you decided for yourself in that whole messed up time of your life. I can get that. Sometimes when Canterlot got to be too much or I didn’t feel like I had enough of a say in what was going on with me, I’d blow off lessons and do my own thing: prank the guards, check out a Wonderbolt show, take a cloud nap—whatever made me feel like I was the one in charge of things.”

Twilight looked up at her gratefully. “Yes, that’s it exactly! I know that isn’t the case anymore and I don’t want to be mean.” She winced. “But I spent so long trying to keep him at hooves’ distance that now it feels really awkward trying to act like that didn’t happen.

“So why do it?” Rainbow asked. “If it’s gonna feel weird because you’re not addressing it, why not just do it and get it over with?”

“How am I supposed to do that and not make it worse?!” Twilight demanded. “How do you think that will go? ‘Sorry we didn’t have lunch sooner Spike, but the day I accidentally hatched you was traumatic for me and you’re a constant reminder of that so I could never look at you without thinking about the power I had inside me and the potential I had for hurting ponies. My bad, oh and could you pass the croutons?’”

“Well…” Rainbow said after a long, strained silence. “You don’t have to get croutons?”

The sound of grinding teeth was not a promising reply. Better try again. “I mean, you don’t have to blurt out everything you’ve ever felt, no need to pull an Applejack here. But you can explain that it was a hard time for you and not that you hated him or anything. There’s got to be something in between ‘Stomping all over his feelings’ and ‘Keep avoiding him forever while also stomping on his feelings,’ you know?”

Twilight hugged her pillow to her a little tighter. “I know that, it’s just … finding a way to do it that’s hard.”

“If it helps … I can be there with you, whenever you’re ready for that chat. Maybe that’d make it easier? I hope it does, anyway.”

“I-I appreciate that Rainbow, I really do. But you saw what just happened.” Twilight sighed. “I’d either hide behind you and avoid addressing it or panic and run. It’s not like I planned to do that I … I just can’t. My brain simply shuts down at the thought of it.”

Rainbow Dash struggled with what to say. “Maybe you should chill for a little bit. If you can’t think about doing it now, then don’t. Take a while to relax, regroup, and we’ll see how you feel later. Sound good?”

Twilight nodded. “I guess so. And thanks, Rainbow. For everything.”

“Heh, it was nothing,” Rainbow said breezily while feeling like that was all she had accomplished so far: nothing.