Camping, Brony style

‘Twilight, you’re so beautiful.’

Twilight blinked. “Huh?”

She and Dusk Shine had been sitting in a luscious field talking about their teachers and expectations for hours. They rambled about physics and fantasy books, lessons and gossip, anything and everything. They laid on their backs watching the sky, as it gradually grew from a brilliant blue to a regal gold. Their bellies filled with sweets and goodies they had brought

along when they had snuck away from the group.

Snuck away.

Ditching their friend to spend time with each other.

With her. The mere thought of it sent her heart a-flutter.

"W-what?" Twilight stuttered, turning red with blush. Dusk Shine smirked cheekily as he rolled his head to look at her. "Hehe, you

really didn't hear me?" he smiled.

Twilight's blush darkened. "I-I heard you, but… I-I didn’t think… I  thought…” she stammered, avoiding his steadfast gaze. Dusk Shine chuckled at her timid demeanor.

“I’ve never known you to be so shy, Twilight.” He chortled. He rolled over to his sided and watched her calmly. She fidgeted uncomfortably under his calm gaze, finding his new cool demeanor unsettling. He smiled mischievously as he snaked a hoof around her waist, causing her to flinch violently.

"W-w-what are you doing?” she shrieked as she wiggled of his reach. A smirk worked its way across his face.

"It's starting to get cold and," he resumed pulling in the blushing librarian into his embrace. His mouth barley grazed passed her ear. "I wouldn't want you to get a chill."

“TWILIGHT, WAKE UP!”

Twilight jumped. She sat up, rubbing her head, feeling quite groggy. She was back in her tent, laying in her sleeping bag with her legs flailed out. There was no meadow. There was no sunset. There was no picnic. There was only a dream of something that was to good to be true.

She let out an exasperated sigh as she rubbed her temples. “What is it, Pinkie?”

Pinkie had been bouncing around the dark green tent, shouting Twilight’s name. She was enjoying the act itself so much, she hadn't noticed that Twilight had already awoken. She continued to bounce about, shouting wildly.

“IT’S RAINING! IT"S RAINING!”

Courtesy of Twilight’s magic, the girls trotted excitedly into their newly made three-tent fort. Together, they gathered their sleeping bags, opened them up, and made a floor. In the center of their fort, a tray of apple and orange slices. Outside, the rain poured on the roof to the tent, making it sag noticeably. The girls were so engrossed in their conversation; they had

hardly noticed Twilight’s absence as she snuggled deeper into her blanket, thinking about her recent dream.

“It’s such a shame you and Blitz couldn’t get rid of those rain clouds.” Rarity sighed, rolling over, belly up. “I was really looking forward to what the boys were planning…”

“Well, we already told you guys the weather here has a mind of it’s own. We couldn't even touch the clouds.” Rainbow Dash said with dismay, rubbing a hoof on her forehead. “It was like it was made out of some kind of… vapor.”

Applejack waved the notion off. “Aw, don’t you worry ‘bout it none. We know you tried.”

Pinkie snickered into her hooves. “Yeah and besides, it was pretty funny how you two kept crashing into each other.”

The girls shared a giggled as Dash propped her head on her forehoof and let out a snort of hot air.

Applejack wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh come on Dash, we were just teasin’.” She chuckled, resting a hoof on her shoulder. Dash immediately shrugged her off, leaving Applejack rather dumbfounded.

“Dash, Ah was just fooling around.” Applejack snorted. Dash shot her a dark look before turning away. Applejack shot a look of confusion to the others, who merely shrugged.

Rarity spoke up wearily. “Rainbow Dash, are you…alright?”

Dash remained silent.

“Dash…?” Rarity repeated.

The rainbow mare snorted hotly before picking herself up and heading for the exit.

“Dash, where are you goin’?!” Applejack exclaimed. “It’s raining outside!”

The rainbow daredevil remained silent as she exited the tent in a huff, leaving her friends genuinely confused.

“What’s her problem?” Pinkie asked, stuffing an orange slice in her mouth.

Applejack shook her head. “Ah have no idea.”

“But where is she going? It’s raining.” Fluttershy whispered. “Shouldn’t we go after her?”

Applejack scoffed. “Ah don’t know and honesty, ah don’t care. Ah’m gettin’ pretty sick and tired off Dash’s attitude. If she wants to act like a little filly, then that’s her problem.”

Rarity gave Applejack a concerned look. Pinkie and Fluttershy blinked.

Applejack sighed deeply, rubbing the back of her head “Ah’m sorry you guys. Ah’m just tired, is all.”

“Tired? Did you not get enough sleep last night?” Pinkie asked.

“Naw, Ah slept fine. It’s just…. Rainbow Dash just got to me. All 'mornin' Ah've had to deal with her stank attitude. Like Ah did something to her... ”

“Well hopefully, she will have cooled down by the time she gets back.” Rarity spoke, dusting herself off as she sat up in a more dignified position. “Besides,” she whispered behind her hoof. She pointed to the lavender alicorn in the back of the tent. She curled in a tight ball under her covers, appearing to be asleep. She hadn’t spoken to them all morning.

“I think Twilight might appreciate it if we kept quiet this morning.” Rarity whispered. “She seemed a bit out of it.”

To this, Pinkie let out a snort of laughter. “Aw, don’t worry about Twilight. She had a pretty rough night. She kept tossing and turning…”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked meekly. "Poor thing..."

Pinkie nodded sympathetically.

The cold, refreshing rain ran through Rainbow Dash’s mane and tail, sending a shiver down her spine. She paced in the middle of the empty, silent camp. Her tail swayed restlessly between her legs as she stared into the sky, silently cursing the rain under her breath. In an instant, her wings snapped open and she shot to the sky. She zipped through a cloud heavy with rain. But instead of ramming into a soft but durable object, she experienced a heavy damp vapor as she ripped through.

She targeted another cloud, dark and damp. She rear up onto it and landed a solid kick, feeling nothing but a rush of moister and air. She targeted another and another and another.

Finally after a time, she landed again. Panting, drenched in sweat and water, she shook her body to rid herself of the moister. She settled in the gravel, grateful for the cold shiver crawling up her sore hindquarters. But despite her best efforts, the rain still continued. And all the while, she felt a tinge of satisfaction. If she had failed, it was while knowing she gave it her all that made her failure that much more acceptable. That she wasn’t being held back by some jocked up airhead made it

completely acceptable. She let out a relieved sigh as she stretched out her wings. She always felt

better when she was exhausted. It made her feel as if she had accomplished something, even though that wasn’t true. She hadn’t cleared any of the clouds, she was still angry at Applejack for reason she couldn’t explain, and thoughts of A.J and Blitz still plagued her mind. She slid down to the ground and ran a hoof through her hair.

“What am I going to do?” she mumbled hopelessly.

“Well, how ‘bout you start getting out of the rain!”

Dash swiveled her head toward the voice that rang out over the rain. A.J.

appeared from inside an orange tent, covering his head with his hooves,

despite the fact he was wearing his hat.

"What on Earth are you doing out there?"

Twilight rolled over in her purple blanket lazily and curled into a little ball, shivering as the cold nipped at her coat. Her eyes were closed but she was still aware to her surroundings, to her friends, to the pouring rain. She hadn't interacted with her friends ever since she set up the over sized tent, doing her best to be ignored during their commotion. There was too much going on this morning, too much for her to get into. She pushed further and further away from reality as she tried to lose herself in her subconscious. She wasn't in the mood to deal with their drama. For once, she didn't want to be the responsible one. So in another attempt, she buried her face under her hooves and tried to get back to her picnic.

"Oww! Not so rough!" Dash grunted as another towel rubbed her mane dry vigorously.

"It's the only way you're gonna get dry fast enough that you don't get a cold, so quit complainin'." A.J. said sternly. A damp towel, covered by a blue aura, lifted itself off of her back and was replaced with a fresh, dry one.

"What I don't understand is why were you prancing around outside like a deranged lunatic?" Elusive asked flatly from a distance, sipping his tea. "I wasn't 'prancing', Elusive. I was just thinking about stuff."

Elusive raised an eyebrow. "In the pouring rain?"

"Don't even start with me, Elusive." she snorted. "I'm not in the mood today."

Elusive set his cup down on a waiting saucer. "My, someone is rather grumpy today, aren't they?"

"Alright, I'm outta here." Dash huffed, standing up and making her way for the door. "I'm not gonna deal with this."

But she felt a tugging at her tail and in one swift movement, her feet were lost from under her and she slid back on her stomach. She looked back to find her tail behind A.J.'s closed teeth. "Rour not gowing anywere!"  He said sternly around a mouth full of tail. He spat out the clump with a wipe of the mouth. "You're soaking wet as it is. You're gonna stay here until ya dry properly."

Rainbow Dash sat up, snatched her tail, and smoothed out its hair angrily. "Don't do that!" she snapped, stroking and untangling her tail. A.J. pulled the damp towel from her head and handed her a dry one. Dash eyed it

skeptically before taking it and rubbing her own mane. A.J. eyed Dash skeptically, rubbing the back of his head. "So, uh, what WERE ya doin' outside?"

Dash let out a exasperated sighed. "I don't want to talk about it..." A.J. opened his mouth then closed it, reconsidering what he was going to say. "Whatever you say..."

He returned to his towel on her back and worked it into her coat. Dash worked on her mane as everypony sat there in silence. A.J. began to hum to fill the silence, throwing in a few lyrics when he knew

the words.

"Home on the range, hm hm hmm and the antelope play." he sung. Elusive wagged a hoof along with the tempo.

"Hm hm hmmm hm hmmm, by a forgivin' word and the sky-"

A.J. was cut short by a tightening around his waist. He found himself being hugged by a quaking cyan pegasus. She sobbed into his chest uncontrollably. A.J. and Elusive shared a confused look.

"Dash, what's wrong? Did ah hurt you?"

Rainbow Dash didn't answer, instead she nuzzled deeper into his chest. Elusive pulled back in disgust as A.J.'s chest was now wet and slightly goo-y. But A.J. remained undeterred as his hooves wrapped around the sobbing mare and pulled her closer.

When the rain had finally ceased falling, the sun had set. Everything was damp, soggy, dripping wet, or all three. The girls emerged from their tent, stiff from the cold. They snapped, cracked, and popped as they loosened

their bodies under the golden rays of the setting sun.

"Aww ponyfeathers, a whole day wasted." Applejack sighed. "Such a shame... Well, there isn't much we can do about it, now can we?" she shrugged as she make her way to the campfire pit. "Come on girls, lets get set up for dinner. Go and get the fellas. And Rainbow Dash if y’all can find her." she added flatly.

The girls set off for the separate tents for their stallion of choice. Twilight followed behind a bouncing pink mane to a dark purple tent, feeling a tad drowsy.

"I can't wait to see Berry again! It's been like, forever since I last saw him!" Pinkie fizzed.

"It's only been a day..." Twilight yawned.

"I know! I don't think we've ever spent that much time away from each other! I wonder what he's been doing all day. I know how much he hates sitting around all day." she giggled. Twilight merely rolled her eyes as they entered the green tent.

To their surprise, both colts were both soundly asleep in their tent, one sprawled out on his dark pink sleeping bag, snoring loudly. The other, from the opposite side of the tent, curled into his lavender blanket, mumbling theories softly. Pinkie boldly trotted up to the pink colt and stood over him, smiling widely. She leaned over him and gently nuzzled his nose. The colt began stirred, but to no avail.

"Berry," she sang playfully. "Berry, time to get up." The colt let out a small moan as he woke. "Umm...Oh, hey Pinkie. What's up?" he said drowsily.

"The rain stopped. We can go outside again!" Pinkie replied happily.

"Oh, cool." The colt sat up, making Pinkie step back. "It would have really stunk if we lost a day of camping."

"I know, right." Pinkie whirled around and trotted for the exit, but not before flicking her tail up slightly, grazing the bottom of his chin. Berry's chin dropped slightly.

"I'll be waiting outside. We've got a lot of stuff to do before dark!" she smiled as she pushed passed the tent flaps. But as soon as she disappeared, Berry scrambled to his hooves and shot out the door. Twilight smirked after watch the stallion race after the pink mare, wondering if Pinkie knew she had this kind of affect on Berry. But her smile soon faded as Twilight turned back to the snoozing stallion sleep on his side. She couldn't help but ask herself if she might ever get Dusk Shine to chase after her.

She thought of Rarity and Elusive. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Rarity had her handsome prince, chasing after her everywhere she went, catering to her every need. Elusive found his princess and whisked her off her hooves. She showered him with all the love and affection he could ever want, and acted with such poise and grace. Both turned heads everywhere they went and were the envy of all. Twilight sighed. She wasn't a princess and Dusk Shine sure wasn't a prince. In a figurative sense, anyway. She wasn't something to be admired, to be adored. And she doubted Dusk Shine even thought of these sort of things. Twilight walked over to the lavender alicorn settled down beside him,

careful not to wake him. She laid her head down and watched the fireflies in the jar beside her.

"Why are you so hard to read?" she asked. She received no answer.

"Are my signs to hard for you to read?" No answer.

"Are you just not interested?" No answer.

"I guess the real question is if I'll ever be able to tell you how I feel, huh?" Dusk Shine gave no answer. Of course he wouldn't give an answer, he was sleep. Twilight sighed again for the umpteenth time this morning. It hurt to keep this secret to herself and to be unable to do something about it. It made her want to cry.

"You know, I was planning on telling you during this camping trip, but even with 5 days to spend with you, I-" She couldn't finish. She buried her head behind her hooves and began to sob silently. She knew Dusk Shine wouldn't wake, he was a heavy sleeper. Not that it would make a difference, he probably wouldn't care.

"Twilight?"

Twilight raised her head to see Rarity standing in front of her.