Possesd by the spirit of inquiry!
It was dark, and there were no stars to be seen. Black, monolithic clouds had blown in from the Everfree, bringing a foreboding chill with them. Usually so at home in her domain, Dash flew on, ragged breath and wide eyes, with her bleeding leg clutched close to her chest.
She hated looking at it, seeing the tatters of her blue coat, the way it was speckled with droplets that shone in the night. She hated looking at it and feeling the fear, the panic, and hated looking at it because, even with the barest glimpse, it meant she wasn’t watching out.
Whatever had struck, it had done so quickly and ruthlessly. The small, suppressed bit of Rainbow Dash’s mind that was rational and reasonable chided her; what did she expect, landing inside the Forest at night? And what did she expect now, that whatever it had been could chase her into the air? Her? Fastest thing in the air? Hardly.
The rest of her mind told that part to sit down and shut up, which it, being so vastly outmatched, begrudgingly did.
“Damnit damnit damnit,” she cursed, feeling only marginally better for doing so. The lights of Ponyville were her beacon in the distance, and Dash pushed herself ever faster to return to that sanctuary.
She only slowed, panting, when hesitation struck. Ponyville, yes, but where? Home? She didn’t trust it—not hurt, not alone. Particularly alone. Dash’s eyes flicked back and forth again, then up and down and side to side. More so than the injury, she didn’t want to be on her own, succumbing to sleep, in the dark, knowing something had gotten so close and was still out there.
Half thinking, half impulsiveness, she angled towards the brightest lights of all: Golden Oaks library, the veritable heart of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle filled the pegasus’ addled thoughts. Twilight Sparkle would know what to do, Twilight Sparkle would have the answers...
The shortest distance between two points is through the adjacent window.
Glass exploded in a cacophony of shards and Rainbow’s babbling.
“Twilight, Twilight help me!”
Twilight’s bed, with it’s fluffy, night sky–patterned blanket, erupted in a flurry of limbs and confusion. “Rainbow Dash? What’s going on? You’re hurt!”
Dash leapt to the bed, asking for assistance by rambling loudly and shaking Twilight. The unicorn, given a moment to think, captured and held Dash in an envelope of magic. “Dash!” she yelled. “Calm down!” She pried the trembling limb away from the struggling pegasus.
It was, in all, a sharp crescent of little punctures, just above Rainbow’s knee. There was no tearing to be seen, and while there was a healthy spattering of blood—something Twilight never liked dealing with—nothing looked damaged or torn.
“Are you going to be calm now?”
Dash struggled vainly against the magic, then exhaled roughly. “Yeah, fine, okay. Okay! Just let me out.” She dropped to her hooves, groaning and squinting.
Twilight fetched a towel, soaking it under her bathroom’s tap. “It’s really not so bad. What happened?”
“What happened? What happened?! Everfree Forest happened! I...I! I was messing around and, and...something leapt out at me! It bit me! Totally not cool!”
Twilight scrubbed at the wound with her magic, keeping the towel a good few steps away from herself when she was satisfied with her work. “Ya figure?”
Twilight’s complete lack of panic and excitement seemed, to Dash’s primal self, a betrayal of some inexplicable nature. She was the cool and in-charge pony. Anything that rocked her boat should have, by simple logic, rocked everypony else’s even more. It didn’t help that she felt hot and cold, fuzzy and buzzing, all at once.
“Did you see what it was? You might need a shot if—”
“What?” said Rainbow, not asking the question but repeating the word. She felt tingly, and strange, and her breathing had become more like panting—not less—since landing “What? Twilight, I don’t want to know what! I want to know why! Why did whatever it was bite me? Why did I think it was a good idea to...”
The look in Twilight’s eyes bid her stop. The unicorn stared at her, a lip parting, wide eyed, slightly trembling expression of amazement and awe. And fear.
“Dash...did you just ask ‘why’?”
The pegasus blinked, then blinked again, though it didn’t make the buzzing or the dizziness go away. “Yeah...I guess so. Why?” Whyyyy. It rang like a clear, crystalline note in the growing noisiness of her mind. “Why?” she asked again, and it made her feel good.
A mix of emotions warred across Twilight. Regret, and unbridled joy stood out as the oddest two. “Why?” she repeated, much as Dash had done. “Oh, Dashie!” she said, taking the pegasus in a hug. “I think I know what it was that bit you! I think it was a whywolf!”
She sounded way too happy about that. “Why’s that?” Dash stammered.
Twilight broke from the hug, and Dash caught herself wondering if Twilight had been wearing those horn-rimmed glasses the whole time. She didn’t think so, but... “A creature possessed of the spirit of inquiry!” Twilight declared with a chest-swelling pose. “And bloodlust...”
Dash cocked her head, her brow furrowed and jaw hanging slack. “Wait, what?”
“Doesn’t matter!” Twilight jittered, her whole body shaking as if she’d just passed every test ever. “For you see, Dash, I am a whywolf also! Yay!”
A strange moment of lucid clarity bubbled up to Rainbow’s thoughts, and she tapped her chin, pondering. “Well, crazy as that sounds, it does explain why you’re so big into books...” There it was again...Whyyyy... With the realization came a certain panic.
Dash pushed away from Twilight, flaring her wings as she did so. “Wait, wait! Does...I mean, yeah, Daring Doo is fine, but I don’t wanna—”
Twilight didn’t seem to hear, and she pranced and wiggled with unrestrained delight. “Finally, a study buddy! Dash, do you see?” The unicorn’s eyes went glassy and distant. “So much studying...” she intoned reverently.
Rainbow Dash stumbled away. “No! No, I don’t want to be—” Dash spasmed, and suddenly there were reading glasses on her nose. “No! Why, Twilight, why? Why?!
“—WHY?!” Dash screamed, flinging herself upright. Panting hard, strange sensations registered with her. Her bed, and her pillows. Her house. Her leg, injury free. Her pet, curled up at the foot of the bed.
The pet in question raised its head. Its lavender head.
“Rainbow, what’s wrong? Another nightmare?” softly inquired Twilight Sparkle, the pet.
Dash groaned, wiping her hooves over her face. “Yeah,” she admitted. Twilight Sparkle clambered up onto the bed, wriggling her way to her master. The pegasus gently but firmly pushed her away. “Twilight, I think we need to end this.”
Twilight pouted, and her lip trembled. “What do you mean?”
Dash stared to the cloud-roof, closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. “When I said you’d never be a good pet for me, I totally get that you took that as a challenge. I can respect that, even if it’s a really weird and slightly creepy challenge, and one I never actually meant to make.”
Twilight lowered her chin right to the floor. “But don’t you like me? Look, I even learned to waggle my butt properly!” She demonstrated, swishing her tail back and forth.
Dash groaned. “I like you as a friend. Seriously, can we end this now? Please?”
Twilight’s eyes widened, her lips quivered...then she sighed, and both ponies relaxed. “I suppose you’re right. If you’re not happy, then I’m not happy. Let’s end this.”
Dash, still sitting upright in her bed, patted Twilight on the shoulder. “Hey, thanks. It’s the right decision. You’re just not cut out to be a pet. But you’re a pretty awesome friend, you know.”
Twilight smiled. She hugged Rainbow Dash, and felt warm wings wrap around her in the false light before morning. “You’re right,” she said, and turned to leave. “Can I keep the collar? And the leash?”
Dash, blushing, looked everywhere except her friend. “Yeah, sure, of course,” she said hastily. “I’ll see you later today, ok? As friends.”
Twilight nodded, still smiling. “As friends.” She disappeared with a flash and crackle of magic.
Groaning, Dash fell with a whoomph back into her pillows, whence upon she immediately dreamed of having as a pet—of all things—a turtle.
That was even more ridiculous than having Twilight Sparkle as a pet.
And, somewhere across the realms of sleep, the voice of a dreaming Fluttershy whispered, somewhat indignantly, “It’s a tortoise...”
Author's Note
The first ever en dash of my life occurs in this story.
-this is its claim to fame-
