We’ll Keep In Touch
By soundslikeponies
Twilight stood opposite Rainbow Dash on the train platform with a pink wool scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and a pair of saddlebags strung over her back. Dash had her own scarf, the navy blue one Twilight had given her for Hearth’s Warming Eve. Rainbow Dash’s lips trembled as she looked at her friend’s face.
“Well...” Twilight said, kicking at the thin layer of snow on the ground. “I guess this is goodbye again. At least for a little while.”
“Yeah...” Dash tried not to be too choked up. She didn’t want her sniffling to be Twilight’s last memory of her before leaving. “It’s, uh, going to be a while until you get another chance to visit, huh?”
Twilight cast her eyes towards the station floor, her smile fading slightly with a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah. It was nice spending time with you girls again. It sort of reminded me of the good days.”
“Yeah, me too. The group’s not the same without you.” Dash scratched the back of her head and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. “Um, st-study hard, you hear? Canterlot’s a big town, and it isn’t going to be easy proving you’re the best unicorn around.”
“Yeah,” Twilight said, giggling, her smile returning. “I’ll do my best.”
“And, uh... And, uh...” Dash bit her lip, staring down at her hooves and the snow and the red brick platform where she’d scraped the snow away. “I, uh...”
“And?” Twilight tilted her head, her smile just as bright as usual.
Dash looked up, and her eyes met Twilight’s. At that moment, Dash choked. She wished she hadn’t, but she had. “Oh, nothing.” She waved a hoof dismissively, chuckling nervously. “Lost my train of thought!”
Twilight looked to her side, where the train was pulled into the station and waiting. Its seats and quarters empty on such a late run on a cold night. “Speaking of trains, I should probably...” She gave a meaningful glance between Dash and the train as she trailed off.
“Oh, right.” Dash’s ears drooped, pressing flat against her head as a cold breeze passed through the station.
“Hey,” Twilight said, reaching out and rubbing Dash’s shoulder. “It’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. I’m sure I’ll be able to visit again when I get some time off in the summer.”
Summer. It sounded like an eternity away for Dash. “Yeah...”
Twilight chewed her lip. She reached back into one of her saddlebags and pulled out a long, thin rectangular case, its silver cover filled with detailed etchings. “I got you a second present. I saw it in a shop in Canterlot and thought you might like it.”
Twilight gave it to Dash. Dash looked down at the casing, struggling to read the cursive etched onto it under the dim platform lights—though she recognized the patterns around it to be feathers. She opened the case. Inside was a gold-painted quill sitting on a red velvet bed along with a few small cartridges of ink sitting in the top-left corner.
A small piece of parchment fell from the lid of the case. Dash picked it up, a puzzled look crossing her face as she read it. “What’s this?”
“It’s where I’m staying in Canterlot. This way we can write to each other until I come back. I thought it might help to bridge the gap between visits.”
Dash stood, silently admiring the small silver case she’d been handed. Sitting down, she ran a hoof along the quill; it felt even softer than her own feathers.
Across from her, Twilight’s smile faded. “Don’t you like it?”
Her voice snapped Dash out of her thoughts. She glanced between Twilight and the quill. “No, no, I absolutely love it.”
Twilight let out a small sigh of relief, reaching back and closing the cover of her saddlebag. “Good,” she said, giving Dash a nod and a smile. She turned and walked on the train, stopping at the top of its steps to face Dash. “We’ll keep in touch.”
Dash smiled weakly and gave her a nod. “Yeah.”
The train’s whistle blew, signalling a minute until departure. For a while, neither of them spoke, neither quite knowing what to say. Dash shivered from the frigid air. Biting her scarf, she wrapped it tighter around her neck, refusing to let the cold get to her. She saw Twilight catch the action and smile.
“It’s a lot colder up in Canterlot,” Twilight said, glancing into the window of the passenger car to her side.
Dash grinned and shook her head. “Yeah, I don’t know how you ponies survive up atop that mountain. Just make sure you don’t freeze your tail off while you’re there...” Her smile disappeared, her eyes lowering to the wheels and chassis of the cars. “And I’ll be sure to write often, so you make sure you reply, okay?”
“Promise,” Twilight said, crossing her heart.
The train’s engine slowly began to chug, a billow of smoke pouring out of the chimney of the front car as it started to move. Twilight gave Rainbow Dash one last wave goodbye and stepped into a passenger car. Dash helplessly watched it go. And long after the train had peeled away from the station, its cars and lights just a distant line in the night, she stood on the platform, staring after it.
She tore her gaze away from the distant darkness, glaring down at the snow with a frown upon her face, kicking at it angrily and mumbling to herself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” She stared at the snow she had kicked and sighed, a light snowfall beginning to dance to the ground around her.
A week passed. Rainbow Dash couldn’t bring herself to write anything after Twilight left. She just sat in her room each night, staring at the silver case with the quill Twilight had given her. But after spending that first week staring at the silver case, her desire to talk to Twilight again outweighed her anxiety. The golden quill Twilight had given her was amazing—at least as far as Dash knew—and she almost felt bad for using it to scrawl her messy writing down on parchment.
She botched the first three letters: the first two because her words kept coming out wrong and the third because she spilled a cartridge of ink across the paper. She wrote painfully slow, trying to make sure everything was as neat as she could. After two weeks, and on the fourth letter, she mailed her, writing the address that Twilight had given her that was on the small piece of paper in her quill case. She made sure to commit it to memory.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
It’s been forever since I’ve written a letter. My writing is probably messier than you’re used to, so sorry about that. Maybe I’ll see if Rarity can give me some writing lessons. Her writing is always impeccably neat.
The girls are doing fine. We all had lunch over at Fluttershy’s the other day. She accidentally put out six placemats and chairs instead of five. Would you believe it? It’s like she thought you were still here or something. She turned all red at first, but then everyone sort of grew quiet. We already miss you again, Twilight.
Sometimes I even forget you’re gone. I went by the library the other day to return a Daring Do book, and when I opened the door, I half expected to see you there, sorting books or reading something old and dusty yourself. I can’t tell you how disappointing it was to see Ms. Featherduster’s old wrinkly face there instead of yours.
I’m really, really sorry about taking this long to write. I wanted to send something sooner, but every time I sat down to try and write something my mind would just suddenly draw a blank, even if I knew what I was going to write before.
Anyways, everyone here’s doing fine. I hope you are too.
After dropping her letter off at the post office, Rainbow Dash woke up early each morning and waited by her mailbox, hoping a letter would arrive. And each morning Twilight’s letter didn’t arrive, she would simply go back inside, wrap the navy blue scarf Twilight gave her around her neck, and doze off in bed until she had to go to work. But on the fifth day, a letter arrived.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
I’ve been doing well in Canterlot. Winter’s in full swing here now, so I’m mostly just staying indoors and reading things by the fire. But your letter was the best thing I’ve read since getting here (even if the writing was a little bit messy).
It’s actually nice in a way to hear that the other girls miss me. I miss them a lot, too, and I was slightly afraid that I’d leave and no one would even be able to tell the difference. I guess it’s nice to know that I had a place in Ponyville. I’m still trying to figure out what my place is here in Canterlot.
I wish I had more to talk about, but I haven’t gotten much studying done. The library isn’t all that close to where I’m staying, and we’re buried in knee-high snow over here.
I’ve missed each of you every bit as much as you’ve missed me.
The day Rainbow Dash received the letter, she read it exactly a dozen times. Once right after bringing it inside, three times over breakfast, six times after work but before dinner, and twice more while she lay in bed as she drifted off to sleep. Reading the letter filled her with a sort of energy, a sort she had been severely lacking since Twilight left.
The next morning, Dash visited Rarity. She knocked on her door and upon Rarity answering it, she asked politely if she could come in.
They talked over brunch: a combination of danishes, croissants, and warm butter, during which Rainbow showed her the letter Twilight wrote. Rarity stayed quiet as she read, a smile slowly spreading across her face as she finished each sentence. And when she was done, she read it once more.
Dash showed Rarity the earlier copies of her letter and she explained that she wanted writing lessons. Rarity in turn explained how busy her schedule was, and how little time she had. Still, she agreed to teach her. Because no matter how busy she was, she couldn’t bring herself to say no after reading Twilight’s letter.
Rainbow Dash spent a couple of hours before work each morning at Rarity’s, learning not only proper calligraphy, but also how to write a good letter. Rarity was as strict and impatient a teacher as Rainbow had ever had. Only the thought of her next letter to Twilight kept her from giving up at the end of each long and boring lesson.
With a bit of the fire returning beneath her hooves, Rainbow began practicing her flight routines again, having not done them for nearly a month upon hearing that Twilight was leaving.
After a week of practices and lessons, Rarity deemed her writing to be “somewhat acceptable”, and Dash immediately got to writing her next letter to Twilight, a week’s worth of built up thoughts and things to say stuck in her head. The words flowed from the tip of her pen almost effortlessly.
And so it was a week and one day from receiving Twilight’s letter that she sent off a reply.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
It’s been a little over a week since I got your letter. I must have read it a hundred times by now, and I can picture every word and every sentence being said by you.
I was thinking I might start training and flying again. I’ll be honest, I was sort of down in the dumps for a while after you left. Who would’ve thought I’d miss having somepony to talk about books to, right? I haven’t even touched the next Daring Do book. Between writing practice with Rarity, working at the weather center, and training, the book’s managed to slip my mind. I mean, it’s just not the same reading it without you to talk to. A lot of the fun I had with those books was dropping by the library and hanging out with you after I'd read a chapter or two.
Fluttershy has been pretty busy spending this week checking on all the hibernating animals, making sure their dens and burrows haven’t caved in or anything. Pinkie Pie’s mercilessly thrown herself into her baking. She’s gotten it in her head that she’s going to cook an entire batch of cookies for everypony in Ponyville. She says she feels bad that only her friends got to try her Hearth’s Warming Eve cookies, so she’s baking them for everyone. Applejack’s... well, I don’t know actually. I haven’t heard from her in a while. I should probably go check up on her. Make sure the snow didn’t collapse her barn or something.
Rarity’s the only one who I really see any of. And it’s not because she isn’t busy—it’s the complete opposite, actually. She’s probably the busiest out of all of us here in Ponyville. But she’s been teaching me how to write cursive and how to write letters, despite being really busy.
Actually, I don’t think I’ve visited any of the others except her in a couple weeks. I guess without you here we’re slowly drifting apart. You’re the one who brought us all together in the first place. I guess without you we’re slowly drifting back to where we were.
I kinda forgot how boring Ponyville was before you showed up.
Rainbow Dash passed the letter off at the post office. And then, she waited.
Writing the letter made Dash realize just how long it had been since she’d talked to the others. Weather duty was always busy this time of year with all the snow clouds, but she’d managed to get a day off. So, she immediately went to see Applejack and found her walking out in the snow around Sweet Apple Acres with a couple of tool bags over her back.
After not hearing from her for a while, it was understandable the way Applejack looked pleasantly surprised to see her at the farm, especially considering Rainbow didn’t typically visit her there, but when Rainbow Dash asked if she could hang out and talk for a bit, Applejack’s face fell and she shook her head.
Apparently a barn had in fact collapsed under the weight of the snow. No animals had been inside when it did, thankfully, but with a group of sheep without shelter for the winter, it was up to Applejack and Macintosh to build a new shelter for them before another snowfall hit. Applejack even pointed to where they’d been working on it. The foundation had just been barely made.
Rainbow Dash immediately offered to help, which Applejack tried to politely refuse at first. But with a bit of persistence on Dash's part, she eventually allowed it, and handed Rainbow Dash one of the tool bags she’d been bringing back to the work site. Dash hadn’t expected to wind up working on her day off—and not in the cold without her weather suit, but just like Rarity, she couldn’t ignore a friend that needed help.
They took a break every hour to go inside and warm themselves by the fire, getting only ten minutes of warm relief before trudging back out into the snow to work. By the end of doing that four times, even with an extra long break in the middle, Dash’s nose was running and her sneezes could have started avalanches—had there been any mountains nearby.
It was mid afternoon when it was time for her to leave, so with the shortened days it was already dark. The Apples had thanked her profusely for her hard work, while Applejack apologized repeatedly for having dragged her into their problems. Dash had to reassure her several more times in between sneezes that it wasn’t a big deal.
After a shaky flight home, Rainbow collapsed in her bed, falling asleep the second she hit the mattress.
The next morning, she woke with a terrible fever. Her face had grown red and puffy and her forehead hot and sweaty. She tried going into work despite it all, but the other ponies had insisted that she go back home and take the day off to rest.
As it turned out, the fever knocked her off her hooves for a full week. The unread Daring Do book sat on her nightstand all the while, begging to be read. But as bored as she was, and as sick as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to read it without Twilight.
By the end of that week, she had actually become excited to work again. It was only after that day of work that she realized it was the first day she had forgotten to check her mail. As luck would have it, it was the day that Twilight’s letter arrived.
In her haste to open it by the mailbox, Dash very nearly tore the letter in half. She had a small panic attack after hearing the paper tear, and scrambled inside to look for some glue or tape to hold it back together. Eventually, she calmed down and set the damaged letter on her kitchen table. She held the two halves together and read.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow Dash,
It’s good to hear you’re doing well. I had gotten a little worried from the tone in your first letter, but in the second it seemed like things are going better now. I’m glad you’re flying and feeling better. If you ever want to talk about the Daring Do book in our letters, I wouldn’t mind discussing them.
But it upsets me to hear that you girls are drifting apart. What happened to the bond of friendship that we all had? You can’t tell me that was only because of me. I know you girls were each just as much a part of it as me, and I don’t see why that should stop just because I’ve moved away for a little bit.
To be honest, I’m still a little frightened of all the change going on around me in Canterlot. My role here now is nothing like it was before. It’s been a very confusing time for me, and nothing’s how I remembered.
I guess what I’m asking is, please don’t let things change in Ponyville, too. I’m not sure if I could take it.
The letter made Rainbow Dash pause and stop searching for tape. Unlike Twilight’s first letter, reading it didn’t bring a smile to her face, and she couldn’t bring herself to read it twice. She sat down at the kitchen table and buried her head in her hooves.
It felt as though a tight ball was caught in her chest. So not knowing what else to do, she grabbed a candle, a parchment, and her quill, and began to write a reply.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
I don’t know what I can do, Twilight.
I went to visit Applejack last week. I helped her rebuild a barn that the snow had blown over. Went and caught a cold while doing it, too. It was great talking to her and seeing her again, but in a way it felt like she was a whole different pony, you know? She just wasn’t quite who I remembered. With the way she acted around me, it almost felt as though I was a stranger. Maybe I am at this point.
Since I recovered from my cold, I should probably stop by Rarity’s to tell her I’m good to go for more writing lessons. Maybe I’ll stop by Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie’s after. Honestly though, I’m not sure if I want to. I’m kinda scared they might be the same way. It might be easier not knowing.
Way back during flight camp, I thought my friendship with Gilda would last forever, but even that came to an end. Maybe now’s just a natural time for that to happen to us.
Rainbow stared long and hard at the letter, trying to decide whether or not she should send it. When the time came the next morning though, she dropped it off at the post office and went to Rarity’s.
Rarity looked surprised to see her after she’d been gone for a whole week. She invited Dash inside. She told her that, in all honesty, she had thought Dash had given up on their lessons, and that she thought they were finished, to which Dash replied that she intended to see them all the way through.
Rainbow Dash then slid Twilight’s latest letter across the kitchen table. Rarity read it in silence, the smile she wore fading as she did so. Setting the letter down upon the table, she admitted she couldn’t remember the last time she had spoken to Pinkie Pie or Applejack, and the only time she had spoken to Fluttershy in the past month was brief. She said that, after Twilight had left, it felt as though they all had.
That morning’s lesson was quiet. Rather than Rarity fussing over Dash’s mistakes, and Dash complaining that Rarity was being too picky, Dash simply wrote in silence and corrected things when Rarity occasionally pointed something out. Right after, Dash headed to work.
The next ten days were a repeat of one another: writing lesson, work, flight practice, sleep. Each time she walked home from work, she took a small detour through town, hoping to run into one of her friends. It was on the tenth day that she ran into Pinkie Pie as the mare was carrying bags of flour back from the market, but the baker did little more than say hello and then hurry off in a rush while shouting something over her shoulder about ginger snaps. Pinkie, in her haste, missed the way Dash had hung her head as she left, and the way her ears drooped as she disappeared.
Rainbow couldn’t help but think about how Pinkie Pie used to immediately know if something was making one of her friends unhappy, and wonder when that had changed. She skipped flight practice that day, too disheartened to put forth her best effort for it, and instead had an early night.
When she woke up early the next morning, a new letter from Twilight had arrived. She took it and sat down at the kitchen table with it, opening it and reading it.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
I’m... I’m really sorry to hear that. I had no idea you had all drifted so far apart.
I’ve been really busy lately, and I feel awful knowing that my leaving left this kind of void in the group’s friendship. The time I spent with you girls in Ponyville will always be the best time of my life, and nothing will ever manage to change that.
I remember that one of the earliest things I learned in Ponyville was that friendships can be a lot of work. I completely understand that sometimes, if somepony’s busy, that the work that friendship brings can just be too much to have on their plate. I wouldn’t begrudge anypony for acting this way.
Listen, Rainbow Dash, I know you’re just as busy as everyone else, but please do me a favor. Don’t let them drift away. Put in the extra work to keep everyone’s friendship strong. I know that what we had wasn’t all because of me, and I know you girls will be able to find that same magic again without me. You just need to try.
Please, Rainbow.
After reading it, Rainbow Dash sat down for a while and stared blankly at the paper. She didn’t reread it a dozen times like she had the first letter, she just stared without reading a word, thinking about the message it held.
When Rainbow Dash showed up at Rarity’s, they sat down and talked instead of having practice as usual. Rainbow didn’t show her the letter, rather she shared a plan on how to get the girls back together, how they would all visit each other once a week on the same day of the week, and each time the pony whose house they met at would change. Dash even volunteered to go first, and take them all out to lunch, since she didn’t have much of a home for her flightless friends to go to.
She struggled for an hour to convince Rarity to help with her plan, the seamstress constantly repeating how busy her schedule was and how many clients and orders she had. She told Rainbow that she loved the idea, but explained that it simply wouldn’t fit into her schedule.
Please, Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash sighed, recalling a request Rarity had made of her long ago and the only thing that would get Rarity to agree to go along with her plan. She agreed to model for a line of dresses.
Rarity’s eyes lit up when she offered. Dash knew her friend had an odd desire to play dress-up with all her friends, and she had done so with all of them but her. She had even gotten Applejack to pose for a western line up somehow. Dash still recalled the day after she had, when she had snickered at Applejack for walking around town with her hair done up. Part of the deal had been that she didn’t wear her hat for the whole day, too. Otherwise she would have spoiled Rarity’s hard work.
The others all took a while to convince, too. For the next week, Rainbow sacrificed almost all of her free flying time helping her friends. She fetched ingredients for Pinkie Pie, moved firewood for Applejack, and helped Fluttershy collect honey from her bees, the last of which ended in painful, swollen disaster. But after helping each of them, she had gotten them all to agree to a meetup once a week, rain or shine, and she had volunteered to go first.
There was a cafe restaurant on the ground just below Dash’s house named “Brie’s Buns” that served hot drinks and soups. Because of its convenience, and the fact that she sometimes got special deals for being a regular, she decided to take her friends out to eat there.
The place was empty. Rainbow Dash was the second one to show up, after Fluttershy, but was followed shortly by Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and then finally Rarity.
The five of them sat at a table by the window. No words came at first, and everyone ordered in near silence. None of them really seemed to want to admit why they were there, despite knowing why Dash had invited them. Every once in a while their eyes would meet and they’d give one another a weak smile before going back to staring at their drinks.
Sick of the silence, Dash suddenly said, “You know, I actually found this place by crashing into its window. The owners were really nice about it though. They helped me up, and the guy who owns the place handed me a coupon and said, ‘Next time, come back in through the door.’”
Everyone stared at her for a moment. Then, Pinkie Pie started laughing. Applejack looked around at all of them and slowly let out a chuckle, and eventually even Fluttershy and Rarity had to cover their muzzles to stifle their giggling.
Dash’s story made Pinkie Pie launch into a similar story about something that had happened over the winter at Sugarcube Corner, and that story in turn made Rarity tell another. Pretty soon, everyone was talking and laughing with each other. Dash felt a smile split her cheeks as she took a sip of her warm lemonade, watching her friends catch up with one another.
Though as Dash looked around, it still felt like something important was missing. All of it had been for one of their friends and yet she wasn’t there with them.
Dash’s still smiled throughout the rest of the lunch. She threw in the odd comment here and there, and told another story, but otherwise didn’t speak much. And when they had all finished their food, Dash took the largest split of the bill, waved goodbye to her friends, and flew home.
That night she lay awake in bed and stared at the ceiling. She had begun to realize that no matter what she did, there felt as though something was missing. And whenever she felt like that, she thought of Twilight. It just didn’t feel as though they were back together without her.
Tired but unable to sleep, Rainbow got out of bed, sat down at her desk, and began to write.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
It was a lot of work, but I did what you asked. We’re all going to meetup once a week at one of our houses, changing whose house we meet at each week. We had our first one today, and I went first and took the girls out to that one bakery we visited just before you left. Remember? The one where we sat and watched the snow fall outside the window on Hearth’s Warming Day?
Everyone was quiet when we first got there, but then I told them the same story I told you about how I met the owner. It got everyone laughing, and afterwards everyone just sorta fell right into talking like old times. It was great. I had to agree to let Rarity put me in some dumb dress to get her to go, but I don’t even regret it a bit.
I think we all felt pretty stupid after lunch. Most of us were wondering why we hadn’t done something together like that sooner. I think this is the happiest I’ve been since Hearth’s Warming Eve.
But... it still wasn’t the same without you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and it’s awesome getting to spend time with each other again, but I still miss you.
I want to know how you’re doing.
The next day Rainbow Dash dropped her letter off at the post office. After that, the days between letters seemed to blur together.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
I miss you a lot, too. More than the other girls, if I had to admit it. I miss your excitement and enthusiasm—they’re rare commodities in my life right now, and the only times I really feel them is when I read your letters.
I don’t want to bore you with the details of what I’ve been doing in Canterlot. I don’t even know what there is to tell; most of my day is spent reading books or attending boring political functions at the castle. Even Spike’s been bored to tears since we got back. And he doesn’t do half the running around I have to do.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Then don’t tell me about the details, just tell me about you.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
Alright.
I don’t know where to begin. I feel as though I’ve hit a brick wall. I’m spending all my day studying history and relics of the past, while going over long theses of magic written by modern unicorns whom I don’t know that were written to impress their colleagues whom I’ve never even met. I feel like I’m running on the spot, and ever since leaving Ponyville again, I’ve fallen into a slump. I just don’t know why I’m even doing this anymore. I’m butting heads with an iron wall, hoping it’ll budge an inch, and all the while my skull is cracked and I’m missing the steadily growing lightheadedness I get for even trying.
Your letters and my duty to the Princess are the only things keeping me going. But I don’t know how long those will last.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
I’ll try to write more often. I think I’m still a bit obtuse around words. Did I use obtuse right? I heard Rarity use it once during a lesson when I was being stubborn over something.
Anyways, your letter about being stuck in place made me remember my dream about being in the Wonderbolts—I can hardly believe I almost forgot about it. I’ve started scheduling my training more and asking some of the other pegasi to cover some of my shifts at work. I’ll probably have to learn how to cook cheap food. Er, cheaper food, that is.
The other girls are doing good. After that lunch, we made a point of always putting our friendship above our work, and so far no one’s missed a meetup yet. There was that one at Fluttershy’s that Rarity was an hour late to—but nevermind that.
Rarity and I both agreed that my writing lessons were done, and I’ve stopped going to her place each morning, though she asked me to start coming by again next week, saying she would have some dresses for me to try on by then. It’s mostly self improvement for my writing from here on out. I definitely think I’ve gotten a lot better since I started. Can you tell the difference?
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
If I hadn’t seen the steady progress in each letter, I would never believe someone if they told me that last letter had been written by you. It looks even neater than Fluttershy’s writing. (But don’t tell her I said that!)
It makes me really happy to hear you’re pursuing your dream eagerly again. Having personally seen your flying save Equestria more than once, I just know you’ll get into the Wonderbolts; I’ve never seen a better flier than you.
In fact, what’s stopping you from applying right now? Have you tried sending Spitfire a letter asking to be tried out yet?
Rainbow Dash sat at her kitchen table staring at Twilight’s last letter for over an hour, going over its last paragraph over and over again, the words staring back at her from the paper. But after a while, Twilight’s earlier letter caught her eye.
I just don’t know why I’m even doing this anymore. I’m butting heads with an iron wall, hoping it’ll budge an inch, and all the while my skull is cracked and I’m missing the steadily growing light-headedness I get for even trying.
Dash set the letter beside one another and looked at them together. They begged a question Dash herself knew she had been avoiding all this time: just what was she doing?
Knotting her brow, she took out a fresh piece of paper and got her quill.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Spitfire
Dear Spitfire,
It’s been a while since we last met. I hope you still remember me.
I’ve been practicing a lot lately and I think I’m ready to give it a shot. I was wondering if you guys could hold a tryout for me sometime.
She fiddled with the edge of the paper for a while, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few months. As she went to practice that day, she stopped by the post office, stuck her letter in an envelope, and mailed the envelope off. She spent the rest of the day practicing her flying, but didn’t get as much done as she normally would, having to struggle to keep the thought of Spitfire’s reply out of her head while she did her maneuvers.
The next day, she wrote a letter to Twilight.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
I did it. I sent a letter requesting a tryout to Spitfire yesterday.
Practice today sucked. I had gotten the whole day off to do some flying, but I couldn’t even enjoy any of it because I’ve been too busy biting my hooves over the response I’ll get from my letter.
What if they reject me? What if they agree to a tryout but I wind up completely blowing it? What if they accept me and I do well in the tryout? I know the last one shouldn’t frighten me, but it does for some reason and I don’t know why.
I think I need something to take my mind off that letter. Could you tell me what it’s like living in Canterlot? Not the boring stuff that you mentioned before, just what it’s like in the city. I’ve heard it’s beautiful up there around around this time.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
The sun rises early and sets late from the slope of the mountain, and the sunrises and sunsets here are beautiful. The cold air causes the clouds and sky to bounce light from the sun differently. I won’t get into the science of it, but just know that the hues of pink and purple that spread across the sky blend together in a way that you always hear about, but never really get to see.
The city itself is a center for scholars, magical and otherwise. There are three libraries, none of which are near where I live, but still, three libraries. And each one of them holds books found no place else. The bookworm in me couldn’t be happier.
The rest of me is another story. I miss having friends—and I miss you. I never had any friends when I lived in Canterlot before, and now it’s practically impossible to make any with how I’ve been thrown into my studies. The only pony I really have to confide in here is the Princess, but there’s some things you just don’t waste a Princess’ time talking about.
I miss Ponyville’s community. That, to me, is the biggest difference moving back here.
After that, whenever Rainbow was tempted to bite her hoof, or whenever she began feeling anxious about her letter to Spitfire again, she would instead read Twilight’s letter about Canterlot. She carried it with her for a week, and by the time she was halfway through that week, she could recite the letter from memory. Each time she read it she could close her eyes and almost picture the sunsets, the stiff and regal ponies at the castle, and the libraries as big as gymnasiums that were filled with bookshelves so high, a ladder was needed to reach anything but the bottom shelves. She could picture Twilight sitting in a library like that, reading all the books in it, and the thought of that made her smile.
Her practices began to flow smoothly again, the motions coming naturally to her to the point that she could almost drift somewhere else altogether while flying, usually drifting to the pink and purple skies that Twilight described in her letter.
Then one night after practice, she sat down and wrote Twilight a reply:
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
You’ve never stopped being a part of the community here. We still talk about you all the time. Applejack told us a funny story about you at the last meetup. I don’t even remember what it was about, but it was the best story I’ve heard in years.
I’ve been reading your letter constantly. For some reason I’m not all that worried about the reply from Spitfire anymore. I’ve sort of entered a zen (is that what you call it?) state about the whole matter, figuring that whatever happens, happens, and that there’s absolutely no use thinking about it.
Everyone hasn’t been as busy as they were the past few months. I helped Applejack paint that barn I helped her build this winter. It was cool getting a chance to hang out with her again. I should see what Pinkie Pie’s doing and see if I can do something with her, too. She finally finished her baking and she went door to door, handing out three tins full of cookies to everypony in Ponyville. I asked her how many she baked, but she told me she had lost count of how many she had made within the first couple days of making them.
Oh, speaking of the other girls, we started to call our weekly dates “Sparkle Meetups”. Totally lame, right? Well you’d probably be surprised to find out that I came up with the idea, then. It sounds horribly cheesy every time I say it, but I can’t help the smile I get every time I say it, too.
It was only a few days after sending that letter that Dash received a reply from Spitfire in the mail. Like ritual, she sat down at her kitchen table and read it, all the other letters she had received in a small pile in the center of the table. And as she read the reply, her heart leapt with joy.
From: Spitfire
To Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow Dash,
I’m glad you contacted me. It’s been a while since we last met, and while we haven’t met often, you’ve managed to really impress me every single time that we have. I’ve seen you fly, and I can say with the utmost confidence that you are one of the best and most talented fliers Equestria has to offer.
Unfortunately, the Wonderbolts’ roster is locked in contracts for a full year and a half. Our main roster, and substitute roster will remain full until that time, or until a breach of contract (which isn’t very likely).
I’m sorry. This must be difficult to hear, but the soonest we can try you out will be in one year, when we begin considerations for roster changes. Know that if you do decide to try out in a year, you’ll have my vote of confidence.
- Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire
It was the strangest thing. By the end of the letter, Rainbow Dash had a full-blown smile on her face. She felt bad for feeling such joy at hearing the bad news, but it was overwhelmed by the immense relief she felt at not having to worry about the Wonderbolts for an entire year.
But this troubled her. And so she spent the next three days with her brow furrowed and a frown on her face, thinking about why she’d been so happy whilst reading the letter. Some of her friends even tried to figure out what was wrong with her; the Rainbow Dash they knew wasn’t one to be lost deep in thought for so long. And indeed, somewhere in her puzzling, Dash even puzzled about why she was spending so much time puzzling over this.
It was on that third night, while lying in bed, that she had a realization.
Forgoing sleep, she hopped out of bed and grabbed the letter Twilight had written her about Canterlot out from her writing desk drawer. The paper in front of her was just a formality with how many times she had read it. Instead of looking at the letter, she closed her eyes and listened to the words being said in Twilight’s voice, taking what she knew of Canterlot and picturing it as Twilight had described in her letter.
She saw Twilight standing by a railing overlooking the plains surrounding Canterlot mountain with the sun rising in the distance. She had a peaceful smile as her hair blew softly in the breeze. Dash could still clearly picture that smile. Even after all the months that had passed, she still remembered their parting in vivid detail, from Twilight’s eyes to the chill of the winter wind and the snow beneath her hooves.
With all that in mind, Dash wrote a letter.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
I got a reply from Spitfire a few days ago. She told me I wouldn’t be able to tryout for the Wonderbolts for at least another year. Something about contracts.
But here’s the thing: I’m not really sad or discouraged about it. I’m actually kind of relieved. I grew up dreaming about becoming a Wonderbolt, but now that I’m here, I don’t really want to be one anymore. I don’t want you to be disappointed, or think that my dream has died. I’ve spent the last couple days since I got that reply thinking, and I realized I’m a lot happier just flying for fun. I don’t want it to ever be anything other than that. And just now as I was lying in bed, I realized that I have a new dream.
I need to see you. That day when we said goodbye on the train platform, there was something I desperately wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know what it was.
Well, I do now.
From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Rainbow Dash
Dear Rainbow,
I’ve been really busy with an ongoing study here, I don’t think I’ll be able to get away from the work I have to do here and visit again, not until summer, at least.
Can it wait?
-Twilight Sparkle
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
No.
-Rainbow Dash
On her next day off, without telling anypony, Rainbow Dash caught a train to Canterlot.
Dash sat on a seat in one of the passenger cars, her eyes fixed on the small silver case in her hooves, tracing its etchings. She only brought two items: that, and the scarf Twilight had also given her during her visit on Hearth’s Warming Eve.
She popped the quill case open and stared at the golden quill inside. It looked so different now, having seen use. But in a way, its nicks and damages made it even more beautiful to Rainbow than when she had first seen it. It had character and personality, and it was hers. Plucking it out of its case, she traced the vane of the feather with her hoof, the feel of its ridges and barbs a familiar comfort from all the night’s she had spent staring at her ceiling.
The train’s whistle blew, and Dash snapped her head up and looked around. The train was riding on a hill, steadily climbing higher, and all around it were mountains and open plains. Rainbow pressed her face up against the window and looked ahead, spotting the train station coming up ahead. Sure enough, the chugging of the train’s wheels began to slow. Dash snapped her quill case shut and tucked it back in the saddlebag she had brought along, making her way to the front of the passenger car.
The sound of the train became deafening as she stepped outside. Even with it slowing down, the rattling of the wheels on the track and the steady metal banging made her wince, though it lessened as the train pulled into the station. Impatient, Dash hopped off the train as it was still moving, spreading her wings and landing at a trot on the platform, immediately searching for a map somewhere amidst the crowd.
She spotted one on the side of a pillar just a short distance away and walked up it. She stared up at it, her eyes lost in all the small addresses written on it.
A passerby bumped into her, breaking her gaze away from the map. She turned around to see a stallion walking past. “Hey! Excuse me!” Dash said, grabbing his attention. She reached back into her bag and took the quill case out, popping it open and showing him the small piece of paper inside. “Can you show me where this is on the map?”
The stallion looked down at the paper for a moment. He walked up to the map and ran a hoof down one of the streets, stopping at a spot near the top of the map. “It’s here, right outside the castle grounds.”
Dash stared at the spot he was pointing at for a few seconds, committing it to memory, before turning back to him. “Awesome! Thanks.”
He gave her a stiff nod and walked off.
Rainbow Dash walked to the nearest exit out of the station, a nervous excitement filling up her chest as she took off and flew towards the place on the map.
“She’s not here.”
“Huh? What do you mean she’s not here?” Rainbow Dash asked, staring down at Spike. “When’s she going to be back?”
Spike shrugged. “Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow?”
“Maybe?”
“She pulls all-nighters studying at the castle library all the time. I pretty much just look after the place so that when she gets back she can go right to bed.”
Rainbow Dash fidgeted, glancing back over her shoulder at the view of the castle she had from the top of the tower’s steps. “Do you know if there’s some way I can see her before then?”
Spike motioned for her to come inside, walking over to a desk up against the wall. Opening a drawer, he took out a piece of paper, then opened the two drawers below it, a frown marring his face. “Hey, do you have a pen or quill?”
Dash smirked, reaching back into her saddlebag and taking out her case. “Mind if I write it?”
“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Spike walked over to a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room, returning to a pile of books he’d been sorting there. “Just remember to address it to the Princess.”
Dash sat down at the desk, popping open her case, and began to write.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Princess Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia,
I need to talk to Twilight. It’s important. Please give her my letter and tell her to meet me in the castle garden.
Rainbow Dash set her quill down, staring at the brief message for a moment in thought. Reaching into the drawer, she pulled out another piece of paper and placed it on the desk, moving her original letter to the side. Spike stopped sorting his books to look at her, watching her quickly jot down a few lines. She put her quill back in its case and snapped the case shut, rolling up the two letters and handing them to Spike.
Spike took them and sent them both off in a puff of green flame, before turning to Rainbow Dash. “What’s the second one for?”
Rainbow left her saddlebag by the desk and stood to leave, stopping in front of the door. “For Twilight,” she said, and stepped outside.
Rainbow Dash sat on a bench in the middle of Canterlot gardens, inside the visitors’ grounds of the castle. Short, wiry trees, just getting their first buds of the season, lay scattered around her. White lights dangled from the trees’ branches and lined the cement walkways through the garden. It was getting late. The sky had changed to a golden yellow, the sun floating just off the horizon.
Dash sighed, her heart sinking. She’d been waiting for hours. She gladly would have waited longer if it meant she got to see her. But the reality that Twilight wasn’t coming was beginning to sink in, and her nose and ears were quickly reddening as it grew colder.
Standing, Dash was ready to leave. But then the sound of hoofsteps came from behind her. She froze, slowly turning around.
Standing on the walkway just a short distance away was Twilight. For a while, both of them simply stared, a thick silence caught between them.
Twilight broke it first. “I got your letter,” she said, a red hue creeping up onto her cheeks. “I got here as soon as I could.”
“Oh...” Rainbow Dash said lamely, staring down at her hooves. “Did you read it?”
Twilight swallowed and slowly nodded. “Why tell me that through a letter, though?”
Dash looked away, pawing the ground with her hooves and flattening her ears against her head. “Last time I wanted to say it was when I last saw you, at the station.” She took a shaky breath, the cold air filling her lungs. “I was afraid I might not be able to say it again, so I wrote it down.”
Twilight covered her mouth and shook her head. She paced back and forth across the narrow walkway, blinking constantly and giving Rainbow Dash a nervous glance every few seconds. Eventually she stopped and she hung her head, her mane falling over her eyes.
“Did... did you mean it?” she asked, the words escaping her like a last breath.
Wordlessly, Dash walked over to her. She stopped in front of her, lifting a hoof and tilting her chin up.
Their eyes met. Twilight’s eyes were the same shade of violet Rainbow Dash remembered. And they stared up at her with uncertainty, searching her own eyes for reassurance. Dash’s heart began to pound, and she imagined her own eyes to hold just as much uncertainty as Twilight’s.
Before either of them knew what they were doing, their lips met in a kiss.
The cold vanished instantly, replaced by a warmth that spread from Rainbow’s lips throughout the rest of her body. Twilight’s hooves wrapped around her neck and pulled her closer, pulled her down into the kiss, and she felt Twilight’s warm, soft chest press up against hers, the fine hairs on the unicorn’s coat sliding against her own. All her pent-up feelings, all her frustrations, all her need for Twilight was channeled into her lips, and she could feel the same from Twilight.
They broke the kiss and looked at each other, their noses just barely touching. Twilight’s eyes seemed different than before. They seemed happy. And Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh as she couldn’t help the gigantic smile that spread across her face.
“What will we do now?” Twilight asked, still searching Dash’s eyes.
“Ponyville, Canterlot,” Rainbow Dash said, “it doesn’t matter. I’ll go wherever you are.”
A warm smile spread across Twilight’s face. Suddenly, she looked up.
Dash followed her eyes and saw the sky had become painted bright pink, spotted with clouds of a deeper purple. “It’s just like your letter,” Dash said, staring up at it.
Twilight nodded, quietly staring up at it.
Rainbow Dash wrapped a wing around Twilight. And the two of them lingered in the garden until dark, watching the sky, caught between winter and spring, as it changed with the setting sun.
From: Rainbow Dash
To: Twilight Sparkle
Dear Twilight,
I’ve fallen in love with you.
