Of Sky and Snow

Chapters

1. Recruitment
2. Celestial Intervention
3. The Journey
4. New Arrivals
5. Dinner
7. Day One; Private Requests
7. Day One; Revelations
6. Day One; Bumpy Start

1. Recruitment

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter one
Recruitment

Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned…

“GAH! It’s no use! I haven’t learned anything in nearly two months! Where’s a god of chaos when you need him? How about another evil queen trying to take over something? At least it would be something!” Twilight shouted in frustration, crumpling and throwing her latest blank letter to the over-full trash bin sitting next to her desk, only to bounce off the pile of parchment and fly to the floor. It was pointless; nothing interesting had happened for over a month and nothing friendship-report worthy in two! As much as she enjoyed living in the sleepy little town with her friends, and as much as she liked the reprieve from some form of danger or chaos, it left very little to write to Celestia about. And it was starting to show. After a month of nothing, Celestia sent her a letter asking if everything was going alright. It was, Twilight had assured her, just nothing special or noteworthy had happened. Of course, just like before, Celestia had been more then understanding about it, telling her that she should appreciate the break, and she did… for a while. But now? Now she was bored. Nothing happened. EVER. It was starting to wear on her.

She glared coldly at the quill in her magical grasp, spinning it around in a light purple glow, willing it to write a letter. A letter she just couldn’t write herself. Then, as if the universe itself was against her letters, there was a knock on the door. The sudden sound caused her to lose her focus, the quill clattering down onto the desk.

“At least it’s something,” she grumbled under her breath, getting up from her desk and walking through her library to the door, nearly tripping over a purple and green mass. Closer inspection revealed it to be Spike, sleeping half way under the table, an empty box of cookies clutched in his claws. Twilight did nothing but shake her head, making a mental note to scold him later for eating an entire box.

Sighing as another round of knocks sounded, she continued her journey to the door, opening it effortlessly with a flick of her horn. The action revealed nothing special, the same green grass, the same peaceful street, the same quiet town. The only difference was the difference that showed up every week; the mail. And, of course, the delivery system for that mail was there as well.

“Hey Ditzy, how’s work?” Twilight asked, not particularly interested in any mail she might receive.

“Good; I just got a raise, so I can drop my second job at the moving company,” the light grey mare replied happily, brushing a strand of her blond mane out of her face as she reached into her mail bag with a wing, extracting a stack of letters a few moments later.

“Anything interesting today?” Ditzy asked as Twilight took the letters in her magic and began rummaging through them.

“Junk… junk… junk, same as last week.” Twilight frowned slightly, though in reality she wasn’t expecting anything different. It’s not like the Princess would send a letter of emergency through regular mail.

“Oh well, I’ll see you around, Twilight.” Ditzy waved goodbye as she flew up into the air, continuing her route as normal. Just like every other week. There was never anything interesting in the mail, never anything different about anypony in the town. Even Pinkie’s parties were starting to become a routine task every week or so. Nothing new or exciting had happened in far too long. Even the books in her library no longer distracted her, since she had read them all at least twice, and her new orders from Canterlot were put on backorder a week ago. It was like the entire town was stuck in a rut.

Twilight sighed dejectedly, returning inside her home as she read her mail. Junk. That’s all it was; pointless, useless junk. There weren’t even any bills! Just as she was about to discard them to their fate in her trash bin, however, a picture on one of them caught her eye. It was nothing special; just another cheep-but-not-really-that-cheep vacation pamphlet. The picture itself was of a snow-covered log cabin on a background of a snowy mountain. The caption read ‘Snowy Day’s Winter Wonder Resort’.

It had been a long time since she had been on an actual vacation, even longer since she had been skiing. Being raised in Canterlot, quit literally on a mountain, she used to ski every winter. While the side Canterlot was built on was nothing but a sheer rock cliff, the other side was actually relatively smooth; the perfect place for a ski resort. She used to love skiing as a filly, it was one of the very few physical activities she was both good at and enjoyed.

A smile crossed her lips as she thought back to one of her many family vacations to the ski lodge on the mountain. It was her first time going there, and she was terrified. It took the entire family to even get her into the skis in the first place, and she flat out refused to go on the lift. Only after an hour of reassurance and promises from her brother had she agreed to go up, and only on one condition; if she fell, Shining would catch her. It was a deal he agreed to without hesitance, his confidence gave her the last little nudge to actually go up.

Her first run was what you would expect from somepony who had never been skiing before; a lot of falling. Every time she fell though, Shining would catch her and bring her back up to the top of the smallest hill at the resort. It was by no means steep nor was it long, but getting back up with skis on was near impossible. After a few falls and a lot of advice from her brother, she eventually made it to the bottom crash-free, a huge grin on her face.

After that she practically begged her parents to go every year, and they did. It became a regular thing for her family. She had gone down every run on that mountain at least three times by the time she got her cutie mark. After that she was accepted into Celestia’s school, and her family ski trips all but faded from existence. She was lucky to get out one day a year, compared to the week-long vacations they used to take. It saddened her that she hadn’t been out in such a long time, and she knew Shining hadn’t been out since getting into the guard. She missed it.

Then she got an idea; why not go on another vacation? It might be the middle of spring, but the more modern places had magical snow machines that kept them open year-round, and she was positive her friends would enjoy a vacation as much as she would. It would be something different, something to dull the monotony of her life as of late. And who knows, maybe she could get a friendship report out of it. With that settled she set the mail down on her table and trotted out her door, a happy bounce in her step as she went to recruit her friends on the impromptu vacation.

-_-_-_-

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I got a lot of work to do on the farm.” Applejack’s reply was exactly what Twilight thought she would say, so she had the perfect counter for it.

“I can take over for a few days, AJ.”

Excellent, Big Mac played his part perfectly. Good thing he still owed Twilight that favour.

“Are ya sure?” Applejack asked uncertainly, looking between Twilight and her brother.

“Eeyup.”

“But-”

“It isn’t harvest season yet,” Big Mac reminded, earning an approving smile from Twilight. Applejack opened her mouth as if to say something, and then shut it again before thinking.

“But what if-” Applejack began to protest again, only for her brother to interject.

“If something breaks, I can fix it,” he said calmly.

“But what about-”

“I can take care of the stall during the day, and Granny has been feeling better so she can look after Applebloom.”

“But…” Applejack paused, trying to think of another argument or responsibility she couldn’t leave behind. Coming up blank, she turned back to Twilight. “I guess a little R n’ R could be nice.”

“Excellent.” Twilight clapped her hooves together happily before turning to get the next pony on her list, saying “Meet at the library tonight at 5.” over her shoulder before trotting down the dirt path out of the farm.

She had visited Applejack first, knowing full well she would be nearly impossible to convince. Luckily Big Mac owed her a favour, and he was more then capable of taking care of the farm for a few days without Applejack. It was almost too perfect.

Now she just had to get her other four friends, though that shouldn’t be too hard. Pinkie’s always up for some fun, especially the unplanned kind. Rarity always loved winter fashion, and she was closing her shop for a few days anyway for a much needed break. Rainbow Dash was up for any kind of sport, and her weather team could do without her for a few days. The only one that could give some trouble was Fluttershy; Twilight doubted she would be overly happy about doing something that could be viewed as dangerous. Still, there was nothing saying Fluttershy had to ski, at the very least she could lounge around the lodge and the hot tub, and maybe meet a few new animal friends.

After a few minutes of walking she arrived at Sugar Cube Corner. She opened the door and walked in, the chiming of a bell announcing her entry. She scanned the front room of the bakery for a moment before noticing the fact that it was empty.

“Pinkie?” She called out, taking a few more steps into the room. As soon as she got to the centre she felt her hoof hit something. Looking down, she noticed a nearly invisible wire that she had inadvertently stepped on. Following it with her eyes, she eventually found herself staring straight at a catapult, with what looked like batter in the bowl, ready to be flung directly at her.

“Oh no.” She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Then she heard the click of the spring being released, followed by the noise of the catapult firing it’s ammunition of batter. She took a breath and held it, closing her mouth moments before the batter collided with her face, spraying out in all directions. When the metaphorical smoke cleared she opened her eyes. Half of the front room was covered in the thick, sticky batter, along with her face and a good percentage of her body. Her eyes were drawn to a laughing beige batter monster next to the catapult.

“Pinkie…” Twilight growled, glaring at the pile of batter. A second later a pink tongue came out of nowhere and licked pretty much all of it off her body, revealing the bright pink mare behind the prank.

“Hey Twilight, is something… battering, you?” The terrible pun caused Pinkie to fall back onto the floor in laughter.

“Hilarious,” Twilight spat sarcastically, “But I need to talk to you about something.”

“What did you need?” Pinkie asked happily, though still somehow seriously. Despite the chaos around her she still managed to look responsible. She really had matured since the Cake twins.

“I was wondering if you could take a little vacation. I’m gathering up all the girls, and I was thinking about going on a ski trip.” Twilight’s horn lit up from under the batter, the glow spreading from one spot on her forehead to everywhere there was batter on her body. After a second of concentration every last drop was pulled from her coat and gathered in a ball next to her.

“A ski trip? I haven’t been skiing in a long time… sounds like fun, I’m in!” Pinkie nodded excitedly, drawing a smile from Twilight.

“Excellent, meet me back at the library at 5 o’clock. Now I just need three more. But before I go…” Twilight smiled, glancing once to the ball of batter before looking back at Pinkie. The pink pony followed her eyes to the gooey mess before once again meeting Twilight’s. Before she could dive for cover twilight launched the batter at her, landing a direct hit and covering her completely. Satisfied with her revenge Twilight trotted happily out of the bakery, leaving Pinkie to deal with the giant batter mess she had created, which she did with gusto… and her tongue.

-_-_-_-

“Oh darling that sounds wonderful, I would love to accompany you. I’ve been meaning to take a little ‘me’ time for a while now.”

Just as Twilight had expected, Rarity was easy to convince. She didn’t even need to persuade her any. This was going to be easy; even Fluttershy agreed after a little bit of coaxing and the promise that she didn’t actually have to ski. But Rarity accepting left her with one other pony to get on board. That one pony that was always hard to find unless you were a pegasus.

“Great, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find Rainbow Dash, meet me and the rest of the girls at the library at 5 tonight.” Twilight said as she walked back out the door.

“Of course, dear, I’ll be there.” Rarity waved a hoof dismissively; returning to whatever it was she was doing before Twilight had arrived.

As Twilight walked she kept her eyes trained on the sky above Ponyville, looking for any possible places for a certain slacking weather pegasus to take a nap. Namely a cloud. Unfortunately, it looked as if she had actually done her job, as there was not a single cloud within sight. Twilight wandered around the town, eyes focused intently on the light blue sky her pegasus friend called home, searching for the tell tale rainbow trail she normally left in her wake.

She checked everywhere she could possibly think of, Rainbow’s house, the field outside of Ponyville where she normally practised, and Sweet Apple Acres, where she normally took her naps if there weren’t any clouds. Anywhere Rainbow Dash would normally be found was checked and double checked with no clues as to the rainbow maned mare’s current location.

Twilight grunted in frustration as she rounded another corner, finding herself exactly where she had started; her library. Only this time, there was one minor detail that had not been there before; a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane sat in front of her door, hoof half raised as if she was debating whether or not to knock. Twilight just stared curiously at the pegasus. Her wings were twitching, as if begging her to fly away and her one raised hoof was shaking so bad Twilight could see it even at a distance. After a few moments, Rainbow Dash hung her head and lowered her hoof. She turned around and began walking slowly away from the tree, only to spot the owner of said tree. She froze dead in her tracks as their eyes met; Twilight could have sworn she even saw a blush start to form. Deciding she had had enough, Twilight trotted up to mare she had been searching for almost all day.

“Uh… hey, Twilight, I was just… uh… stopping by to say… hi?” She said hopefully, unaware of how much Twilight had actually seen. Her wings were still fully extended; her body obviously wanted her to run.

“Then why were you sitting in front of my house without knocking? Or doing anything, for that matter?” Twilight gave her an expectant look, waiting for an actual answer that could explain the odd behaviour.

“No reason…” Dash rubbed her hooves together nervously; sweat beginning to form on her brow. Twilight just looked at her for a second before sighing and shaking her head, deciding that she wasn’t going to get any new information if Rainbow didn’t want to give it to her.

“Fine, but I need to talk to you.”

Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat at those words. She needed to talk? About what? Did she know? How could she possibly know? Was she that obvious?

“A-about what?” Dash managed to squeak out.

“A little get away.” Twilight answered happily, the words allowing Rainbow to breathe a sigh of relief. She was safe for a while longer.

“Get away? Sure… where too?” She couldn’t help the little bit of disappointment that slipped into her voice. For a moment she regretted that Twilight didn’t know; it would make her life easier, and it could be over with so much faster and with less awkwardness.

“I was thinking a going on a ski trip for a few days, the other girls have already agreed. So what do you say?”

“Sure, I could go for a break.” Dash answered calmly, her normal confidence returning now that she was sure her secret was safe for another day.

“Great, now that all six of us are coming, I need to start making a plan. Meet back at the library at five tonight.” Twilight smiled and trotted up the path to her library happily, though she stopped when another thought returned to her mind.

“Hey Rainbow, why were you-” Twilight turned to look back at the pegasus, only to see an empty space where she used to be. “-here…” She just sighed and walked into the library. There was no point in trying to get Dash to talk about something she obviously didn’t want to talk about. Besides, she still had a lot of planning to do.

Author's Note

Finally it begins, my second contest entry for the third contest. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll be back with updates as soon as I finish them.

2. Celestial Intervention

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter Two
Celestial Intervention

The sound of a quill scratching away on parchment replaced the ordinary silence of the library. Twilight sat hunched over at her desk, surrounded by pamphlets, ink bottles and paper. All the while her horn hummed with energy as she manipulated the quill to form words on the blank pages, scanning the pamphlets with her eyes. Meanwhile, Spike scuttled around the library, scroll in-claw as he checked to make sure they had everything on the list Twilight had made.

“Alright; we have just about every-” Spike began, rolling up the scroll as he walked up behind Twilight. However, he was cut off by a sudden knocking on the door.

Setting the quill down and releasing it from her magic, Twilight glanced up the clock, noting the time as a little before five. With a quirked brow she stood from her desk and walked over to the door, silently pondering who had shown up early.

Her question was answered as she opened the door to reveal a cyan pegasus.

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked, failing to keep the shock out of her voice. Of all her friends, Rainbow Dash was the least likely to be on time, let alone early.

“Hey Twi, hope you don’t mind that I’m a bit early; I finished my weather work and didn’t have much else to do, so I figured I come over now,” Rainbow said with a smile. Twilight continue to gape at her.

“Uh… Twi?” Rainbow asked, waving a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face. “Equestria-to-egghead!” Dash shouted, snapping Twilight out of her shock.

“What? Oh, sorry, Rainbow, I just… you’re never early. Ever. You’re rarely even on time.” Twilight shook her head, stepping to the side to allow the surprise pegasus to enter her tree home.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be early sometimes, does it?” Rainbow retorted, scowling at the lavender mare closing the door.

“No, no of course not! I just mean… you… surprised me, is all,” Twilight explained sheepishly, earning a snort from her friend.

“Hey, I can be on time if I want to. I just don’t normally want to; ever heard of ‘fashionably late’?”

“Since when do you care about fashion?” Twilight mocked jokingly, giggling at the slightly flustered expression on Rainbow’s face.

“Not what I meant, egghead.” Rainbow growled light-heartedly, walking a bit further into the main room and sitting back on her haunches by the desk.

“Well you’re the first to get here and I still have some more planning to do. Speaking of, Spike?” Twilight called, searching the room for her assistant. Her eyes were drawn to her previous location, where Spike stood with the rolled piece of parchment.

“We have pretty much everything, all we need is new skis for you,” he said, placing the rolled scroll on her desk before turning back to Rainbow. “And I’m pretty sure none of the others are going to have skis either.”

“That’s quite alright; we’ll just have to go to a resort with a rental shop,” Twilight chirped happily, adding ‘rental store’ to her list of resort must-haves before turning back to Rainbow.

“Do you ski or snowboard?”

“Uh…” Rainbow paused, unsure of what to say. The only reason she agreed to this was because she had been in a desperate position, and needed to end the conversation. Now that she had time to think about it, she realized her mistake; she had never gone skiing in her life. She hadn’t even seen a snowboard outside of magazines. Thinking fast, Rainbow determined what was probably the more awesome of the two options.

“I snowboard,” she said quickly, hoping to hide her previous blunder. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the delay, but decided to ignore it when the sound of knocking echoed through the library.

“Come in!’” Twilight called, glancing up from her parchment to see who had arrived. The door opened and in walked Applejack, followed by Fluttershy.

“Howdy Twilight,” the farm mare greeted, tipping her hat as she cantered into the main room before noticing Rainbow sitting next to Twilight. “And Rainbow… what are you doing here early?”

“Oh this again? I can be early if I want to, now can we just drop it?” Rainbow answered hastily, giving Applejack a look that insisted she let it go. She looked at the pegasus questioningly for a second before shrugging and walking the rest of the way.

“Oh… hi Twilight, and Rainbow, of course,” Fluttershy said quietly, gently stepping into the tree library and joining the other mares in the centre of the room.

“Excellent, now we’re just waiting for Rarity and-”

“HEY EVERYPONY!” Pinkie shouted, cart-wheeling through the door and brining a rather large amount of confetti with her, which mysteriously disappeared before it hit the floor.

“Pinkie,” Twilight finished, giving a deadpan stare to the pink ball of energy sitting innocently next to Rainbow.

“Yes Twilight?” Pinkie asked, smiling enthusiastically at the pony who had said her name.

“I didn’t… never mind, it’s nothing,” Twilight sighed, already forming a headache.

“Anyway…” Applejack began, eyeing Pinkie cautiously, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to come on this here vacation.”

“What? Why not?” Twilight asked, all ponies present turning their heads to the farmer.

“It’s just that Granny’s come down with something. Normally that wouldn’t be too bad, but with Macintosh taking on my chores, he won’ have time to keep an eye on Applebloom like Granny normally does,” she explained apologetically. “Somepony’s gotta keep an eye on her.”

“Well… we could always-”

“Sorry for being late everypony, but I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news,” Rarity called, walking in through the open door and un-knowingly interrupting an increasingly frustrated Twilight.

“Oh dear, what is it?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“My parents have been called to Manehatten on business and can’t take Sweetie Belle; I’ll be looking after her for the next couple weeks.”

“That’s perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, drawing five confused glances from the ponies around her.

“How’s it perfect that she can’t come?” Rainbow asked, giving an odd glance to the unicorn smiling in front of them.

“Since both Applejack and Rarity have to take care of their sisters, why don’t they come too? I’m sure they’d love skiing, and they wouldn’t cost any extra either, except rentals, but those are pretty cheep,” Twilight clarified, drawing a round of ‘oh’s from the gathering.

“Well… I dunno Twi, those two won’t go anywhere without that pegasus friend ah theirs.”

“Oh that’s easy, I know Scoot’s parents; I’m sure if I asked they’d let her come with us,” Rainbow offered, drawing smiles of and nods approval.

“It’s settled then; we’ll bring them,” Twilight stated firmly, scribbling more notes onto her list just as the sound of Spike belching out a letter echoed through the library.

“Here’s the response you were waiting for Twilight,” Spike said, passing the freshly formed latter to Twilight.

“Response to what?” Rainbow asked as she watched the scroll exchange from Spike’s claws to Twilight’s magic.

“My request for a vacation; I do technically work for the Princess, even if it is just studying,” Twilight answered as she unrolled the scroll, her eyes growing wide.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, noticing Twilight’s slightly panicked expression.

“My Faithful student Twilight Sparkle

I think a vacation for you and your friends would be a lovely idea, you take as much time as you feel you need. As an added bonus, I will cover any expenses, for you and your friends. I know you won’t want to accept it, but consider it a thank you for saving the kingdom more times then most ponies realize. Don’t worry about spending too much; I will send Spike a list of things that I am willing to pay for, so if you’re unsure of anything, simply ask him.” As if summoned by the words, another burp sounded as the list of acceptable expenses materialized.

“However, even with my status, my funds are limited; I can afford no more than four rooms a week at whatever resort you choose. Simply send me the name and dates and I will book them for you. Have a good time, and I expect no reports until your vacation is over.”

“That’s perfect! If we stay two to a room, then the girls and Spike can have their own separate room,” Twilight exclaimed, scribbling more notes down onto her list, missing Spike’s terrified expression at the prospect of staying in the same room as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Spike, if I could see that list of expenses,” Twilight asked, turning to her assistant. The dragon quickly opened the scroll, passing it to Twilight before suddenly stopping and rolling it back up.

“Spike?” Twilight asked again, holding out her hoof expectantly.

“Sorry Twilight, princess’s orders; nopony is to lay eyes on the list except me. Don’t really know why, but I’ll make sure you six don’t by anything without Celestia’s approval.”

“Now why wouldn’t the Princess want me to know?” Twilight pondered with a slight frown on her face.

“I’m sure she has her reasons, but isn’t there another reason you gathered us all here?” Rarity asked, breaking Twilight out of her realm of thoughts.

“Oh, right, well there are a few more things added with this new information, but let’s start with the basics; what resort to go to,” Twilight said, her horn humming with energy as she gathered every pamphlet, advertisement, and flyer that mentioned skiing.

“Now then, I’ve already narrowed it down to five resorts, others were excluded due to location, operation days, and lack of snow machines,” Twilight explained, levitating two flyers, two pamphlets, and a brochure down to the table.

“Now then, this one,” she motioned to the brochure with her hoof, “is more centered around skiing then snowboarding, and has very little to offer outside of the actual sports.”

“Um… if it’s alright with everypony else, I’d like to go somewhere with… um… a little more to do than ski,” Fluttershy requested nervously. Twilight nodded understandingly.

“Of course, that rules out these two,” she said, tossing the brochure and a pamphlet into a waiting garbage can.

“Now then, who here skis and who snowboards?” Twilight asked, turning to tally the numbers.

“I don’t rightly know; haven’t been out around snow since I came back to the farm. But I reckon I’ll give snowboarding a try,” Applejack said. Twilight scribbled something down then looked to Rarity.

“I prefer skiing, personally; so much more elegant, if you ask me.”

After more scribbling Twilight turned to Fluttershy.

“Oh… I don’t really know if I’ll go out, but if I do I’ll probably be skiing.”

“And I know Rainbow snowboards and I ski. So that leaves us with two snowboarders and four skiers. Since we have both, we won’t be going to this one.” With a flick of her horn a flyer was tossed into the bin and the choices were narrowed to two.

“Do either of them have a spa?” Rarity questioned curiously.

“Actually one does. If nopony else has any requests?” Twilight asked, waiting a moment before flicking the final reject aside. “Then it’s decided; Blizzard’s Snowy Kingdom.”

Upon receiving murmurs of approval, Twilight scratched something from her list and turned to the next item they needed to settle tonight.

“Now then, since Celestia can only afford four rooms and one of those is going to be for the girls and Spike, we need to pair up. Who wants to go with whom?”

“I’ll bunk with Fluttershy,” Rarity said quickly, “She won’t disturb my beauty sleep and we get along rather well.”

“Oh… alright, that’s fine with me,” Fluttershy smiled while Twilight jotted down another note.

“I’ll share a room with Rai-”

“Dibs on Applejack!” Pinkie shouted suddenly, wrapping a foreleg around said pony’s shoulders and pulling her close. Pinkie cast a knowing glance towards Rainbow before releasing the farmer, turning and giving Applejack her most innocent grin.

“Uh… I guess, if ya want,” Applejack relented, giving Pinkie a suspicious look. Twilight nodded, turning to Rainbow.

“I guess that leaves you and me,” she said, turning and writing down the room pairings, thankfully missing Rainbow’s scarlet blush.

“Err… yeah, sure. That’s cool I guess,” Rainbow said nervously, suddenly becoming very fidgety. Luckily Twilight drew the attention back to herself before anypony could notice.

“Alright, now that we have that settled, only one more thing for today; when should I have Celestia book the rooms for?”

“I have a big order due in two days so anytime after that will work for me,” Rarity offered. Twilight turned to the calendar, currently hanging on the wall, and brought it over in a glow of magic.

“Today’s Sunday, so that’s Tuesday. Anyone else have a condition?”

“Well, even though Mac’s gonna be handling mah chores, I could use a couple days to give him a head start. I could be done by Wednesday,” Applejack piped up, resulting in more scribbling on the calendar.

“Alright, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, turning to collect her answer.

“I have enough vacation time that anytime’s good for me, as long as I can find somepony to look after Tank.”

“Oh that’s easy, just drop him off at my cottage; my usual animal sitter will be able to handle one more tortoise,” Fluttershy offered quickly. “Of course, I’ have to give her a few day’s notice; I wouldn’t want to seem demanding.”

“Alright, how about we leave on Friday, and come back the following Friday?” Upon receiving a round of nods, the final touches were added to Twilight’s list, and the dates were settled.

“WOO! VACATION!” Pinkie shouted suddenly, jumping up from behind the group, raining confetti and streamers down upon the well-surprised mares.

“Yes, vacation,” Rarity muttered, daintily removing the multi coloured streamers from her mane.

“I’ll book the one o’clock train to Coltensburgh at the base of the mountain. From there we can get a carriage to the resort. Let’s meet back here at eleven AM on Friday before we leave. Sound good?” Twilight said as she rolled up her list, making sure everyone agreed before picking up another piece of parchment and re-inking her quill.

“Excellent, I’ll inform the Princess so she can book the rooms. Rainbow, you go make sure Scootaloo can come. As for the rest of you, pack warm; it might be spring but it’ll still be pretty cold on the mountain.”

With a round of goodbyes and promises to meet again on Friday, they began filing out of the library. Each returned to their respective homes to begin their own preparations for the coming vacation. Twilight bid the final pony goodbye before shutting her door with a sound click, turning and checking the clock.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that to take so long. Though I suppose the Princess’s offer had a little to do with that,” Twilight spoke mostly to herself, magically organizing the multitude of lists and plans on her desk before setting her fresh piece down and picking up her quill. In a matter of minutes her letter to Celestia was done and ready to be sent.

“Spike?” She called, scanning her eyes across the library for her scaly purple assistant. Upon failing to find him with her eyes, her ears picked up the sound of a sleeping dragon; rather loud snores. She followed the sound to a spot just around the corner of a bookshelf, finding Spike lying on the floor. With a chuckle and a roll of her eyes Twilight set the letter on her desk, making a quick note to remind herself to send it the next morning.

A yawn escaped her lips as she once again glanced at the clock, deciding it was late enough for her to go to bed. Picking up her assistant in a magical glow she gently floated him beside her as she climbed the stairs to their shared room. Only now fully appreciating how tired she was as she lifted her hooves up the stairs, each feeling like a lead weight.

Eventually she reached the top, her eyes already drooping now that the excitement of list making had ended. She made quick work of tucking Spike into his bed before clambering into her own, closing her eyes and falling asleep quickly.

Author's Note

bit of a slow start to this fic, I know, but I needed the time for the set up. Next chapter is transportation and Day One, so look forward to that. it will take longer than this chapter did, since this one was half done by time I released the story, but I do have time restraints so it should be out fairly quickly.

Lemme know what ya think so far.

(PS, Apologies if you got two updates about this chapter being posted, there was a bit of a screw up on my part, but it's fixed now)

3. The Journey

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter Three
The Journey

Twilight hummed a merry tune to herself as she triple checked her suitcase for the second time. Methodically reading off each item of the list she checked them against the contents of her rather small lavender bag. Ordinarily, a bag the size of the one she was currently using would never fit all the items she would need, but magic could be a wonderful thing.

She smiled as the final item was checked off for the final time, her bag closing with a swift tug of the zipper. In a glow of magic it was lifted from her bed a placed by the door beside Spike’s even smaller one. Her list was rolled and a ribbon was wrapped around it before being deposited onto a shelf. One never knew when an old list could come in handy.

Taking a final glance around her room, Twilight made sure she had not inadvertently dropped something while organizing. After she had determined everything was back in her bag, she picked both Spike’s and her own bag up and walked down to the main room of the library, setting them gently next to the front door before glancing at the clock. She still had a half hour before any of her friends would be arriving, and Spike was running some last-minute errands before meeting them at the train station, leaving the library all to herself.

On a normal day, the idea of a silent, empty library would thrill her; nopony around to disturb her while she read, studied, or even re-organized. Today though, she had too much energy to sit around and do nothing. After all, this was her last day before a week of skiing down sparkling slopes of snow. It was her final day of boring, monotonous Ponyville before the shimmering white grounds of the resort.

For a time she wandered aimlessly through the tree. Looking for something to occupy her mind until her friends arrived. Eventually she found herself wandering through her room for what felt like the millionth time. With an exasperated huff she trudged back to the main floor and forced herself to sit still on her couch, bringing over a random book from a random shelf. Examining the cover she gave a frustrated grunt; ‘Advanced Magical Field Theory and Manipulation’. While it was one of her more advanced and interesting texts, it was also one of her most-read because of how interesting it was. Everything became routine after enough time, and this book had reached its limit long ago.

She shoved it back onto the shelf a bit harder then was strictly necessary, and was about to pick out another when a knocking sounded on her door. Though her clock confirmed she had barely used up ten minutes of her leftover time, there was no doubt that somepony had arrived. It wouldn’t be Spike; he didn’t need to knock, and none of her friends should have been there that early.

Another couple knocks roused her from the couch, mildly excited at the prospect of something unpredicted happening. Whatever it was would save her at least a few minutes of boredom.

In a flash of magic the door was flung open, and behind it sat Rainbow Dash, saddlebags across her back and an obvious grimace on her face. But what really got to the unicorn was the fact that she was, once again, early. Everything Twilight knew about the pegasus was shattered to pieces then and there.

“Hey Twi, listen, I-’ Rainbow started nervously, eyes glued to the ground at her hooves as she spoke before realizing that Twilight was unnaturally silent. “Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow asked again, quirking her head up at the befuddled unicorn.

“Rainbow? Alright, what’s going on? This is two days in a row,” Twilight asked, concerned and confused at her friend’s sudden change in punctuality.

“What? Something has to be wrong for me to be early?” Rainbow asked defensively, crossing her hooves and giving Twilight and expectant glare.

“Two days in a row? You? Yes, yes there does have to be something wrong,” Twilight said as she stood to the side, allowing the surprise pegasus to enter her home. She did so slowly, shuffling her hooves along the ground and keeping her eyes straight forward. With a quick buck and flap her bags were rocked off her back and fell to the floor beside the door.

“Actually, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something,” Rainbow started nervously as she walked past the unicorn into the main room of the library. Twilight tilted her head as she closed the door and followed the pegasus.

“What about? Did something happen with Scootaloo?”

“No; her parents were fine with her coming since they don’t have to pay.” Rainbow took a brief glance around the room before locating two cushions. Walking over, she took one to herself and motioned for Twilight to join her.

“Well then what’s wrong?” Twilight asked again as she settled down into her seat, concern colouring her voice. Despite the caring look in the lavender mare’s eyes, Rainbow still couldn’t gather the confidence to say what she needed to say, not without a bit of extra precaution.

“We’re friends, right Twi?” She started slowly, earning a rather odd look from Twilight.

“Of course we are, why wouldn’t we be?” Twilight was starting to get worried now. Twilight had noticed for a while that something had been bothering her pegasus friend, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what. But now that she seemed ready to tell somepony, she wanted to make sure they were friends?

“And we’ll always be friends? No matter what?” Rainbow pressed, almost pleading with Twilight.

“No matter what,” Twilight assured confidently, taking a page from Dash’s book and puffing her chest out proudly.

“Right, good. That’s… good…” Rainbow trailed of nervously as the subject came closer and closer to the one she was dreading. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she blew it out slowly as she lifted her head to look directly into Twilight’s eyes. For a moment she held her gaze there. Then another, and then another, until she lost what nerve she had and dropped her head back down.

“Never mind, it’s not important,” Rainbow said quickly, silently cursing her own fears.

“Dash, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Twilight asked, extending a foreleg and placing a comforting hoof on her cyan shoulder. Rainbow fought down a blush as she stood up, Twilight’s hoof falling back to the floor.

“I know, Twi. But it was something silly, just forget about it. How long do we have until the rest of the girls get here?” Rainbow asked quickly, hoping to change the subject before Twilight could press any harder.

“About half an hour still. Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight answered slowly, eyeing the pegasus suspiciously.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Rainbow insisted, giving an unconvincing smile. Twilight kept her gaze for a moment longer before shrugging it off. If Rainbow wanted to talk about something, she would talk when she was ready. Twilight just hoped Dash would trust her enough to tell her.

“Alright. Well, Spike’s out running a few errands, so we’ll be meeting him at the train station before we leave. Have you packed yet?” Twilight asked as she picked herself off the cushion and walked over to a shelf, grabbing a random book to tide her over until the rest of their friend’s arrived.

“I don’t need to pack anything, except what’s in my bags,” Rainbow said breezily, motioning to the pair of light blue saddle bags resting by the door.

“Are you sure? It might get pretty cold, I’d hate for you to catch a cold.”

“I’m a pegasus, Twi, we’re kinda built for cold weather. Being at a high altitude so much, we need to be well insulated,” Rainbow explained. Twilight just shrugged.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Twilight, having found a suitable book to distract herself, walked back over and laid on her cushion, setting the book down in front of her and opening it. Silence fell as Twilight read her book, Rainbow still sitting quietly on her cushion, watching.

“You know, you can always grab something to read,” Twilight offered without glancing up from her own reading material. Rainbow started, caught off guard at the sudden break in silence.

“Uh, sure, what would you recommend?” Rainbow asked, rubbing her hooves together nervously. Twilight, however, seemed unpraised by the motion.

“Wait, you mean you actually want to try something other than Daring Do?” Twilight asked suddenly, more than a little shocked.

“Well yeah, I figured it was pretty good, so why not others like it?”

“Oh Rainbow this is great!” Twilight exclaimed gleefully, leaping off the couch, completely forgetting her book as she began pulling books off her shelf, quickly building a rather impressive pile behind her.

“There are so many other series I think you would like. There’s this one, where a group of ponies finds a ring and are tasked with-” Twilight’s rambling was cut off by a hasty hoof shoved over her mouth.

“Yeah, that’s great, but can we pick just one to try for now?” Rainbow asked, slowly removing her hoof from Twilight’s lips.

“Uh, right.” Twilight smiled sheepishly, returning the books back to the shelf in a magical glow. All except one, which floated its way over to Rainbow.

“Try this, it’s similar in pacing and style to Daring Do, and is written by the same pony,” she said as the pegasus pulled the book from her magic.

“Huh, seems interesting,” Rainbow muttered as she read the summary on the back. Giving the book and approving nod. “I’ll give it a try. Thanks Twi!”

“Of course, Rainbow,” Twilight giggled as Rainbow quickly went about devouring the new book. She herself returned to her own piece of literature, passing the time until their friends arrived.

Approximately twenty minutes later, a round of knocks sounded on the door. Twilight looked up from her book, having gotten a fair way into it. She glanced over to Rainbow, not as far as her, but thoroughly enjoying her own story, totally oblivious to the knocking. Twilight smiled slightly as she stood from the couch and opened her door, Applejack walking in a second later.

“Howdy Twi!” The farm mare called, before stopping and raising an inquisitive eyebrow, “And, uh, Rainbow Dash. What’re y’all doin’ here so early?”

Rainbow finally dug her nose out of the book, taking in her surroundings and seeing Applejack giving her an odd look.

“Shut it, Apple-head, I can be early when and if I want to. Besides, I came to get a new book, right Twi?” Rainbow said, turning to Twilight for an answer.

“Uh, right, for the book…” Twilight trailed off. She may not have known Rainbow’s real reason for coming so early, but she was fairly certain it was not for a book.

“Uh-huh…” Applejack said slowly, glancing between the two ponies, seemingly having a silent conversation with nothing but their eyes.

“Well the rest o’ the girls should be here soon, so I reckon we’ll be leaving for the train in a bit.”

“Yep. You all packed?” Twilight asked, forcefully snapping her gaze away from Rainbow and to Applejack. The farmer nodded, motioning to an average sized suitcase by the door.

“I’m all set.”

“Helloooooo?” Rarity called in a sing-song voice, poking her head into the open library door. Upon seeing her friends, she stepped inside, leaving her own suitcase by the door with the others.

“Well I’ll be darned; I don’t think I’ve ever seen you pack that light,” Applejack commented with a chuckle.

“Oh no, darling, this is just my carry-on. The rest is outside with Sweetie,” Rarity explained, glancing back outside to her sister and the leaning tower of luggage. Rainbow rolled her eyes, returning to her book and shutting out the surrounding world.

“Speaking of, where’s Applebloom? She can make it, right?” Twilight asked, suddenly noticing the absence of a certain filly.

“She said she made arrangements to meet Scootaloo before coming over. They should be here soon,” Applejack explained. Twilight nodded.

Over the next twenty minutes the rest of the group slowly trickled through the doors of the library. Eventually all of them were gathered, sitting around the living room and going over last-minute preparations before the train. Rainbow, meanwhile, continued to read her book, totally absorbed in the pages. So much so she didn’t even hear Twilight calling her name.

“Rainbow?” She tried again, waving a hoof in front of the pegasus’s face. Still she remained intent on reading.

“Rainbow!” Twilight snapped suddenly, giving her a rather hard shove. She got an instant reaction as Dash’s wings flew open, her hooves quickly launching her to a standing position.

“What? Who? Where?” She asked desperately, throwing her gaze all around the room. That was strange, when had the rest of her friends showed up? Why were they all snickering at her?

“I was asking if you wanted to take the book with you,” Twilight explained, still trying to stifle her laughter. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief as she lowered herself back to a sitting position.

“Yeah, it’s actually really good,” Rainbow said, trying to ignore the not-so-quiet snickers of a certain apple farmer.

“Glad to here,” she said, glancing up to the clock, “well, I guess we better get going if we want to make the train.”

-_-_-_-

As promised Spike met them at the train station when they arrived, having already picked up the pre-reserved tickets. The train was due to depart in ten minutes, once they were done offloading all luggage that needed to be unloaded and refueling. The blaring of train whistles fill the relatively busy train station, the ponies milling about paid it no mind, however, as they continued about whatever business they were on.

“Wow,” Twilight commented, glancing around at the fairly impressive crowed, “There are a lot of ponies here. I wonder why…”

“Yearly harvest census,” Applejack explained, “every year a bunch of fancy business-types come down from Canterlot and other cities to gather information on last year’s harvest, and the predictions for this year. Normally I’d be helping Mac get ready, but I got everything ready for him.”

“Huh,” Twilight said casually, watching as a particularly high-class pony in an expensive looking suit cantered past the group, briefcase held aloft in a magical grasp.

“We have kind of the same thing, only with the weather; things like clouds ‘n stuff. Ours isn’t for another couple months, though,” Rainbow mentioned, noticing a particularly snobby looking mare cantered off the train, nose held high as another pony followed with her bags. “And our people are from Cloudsdale; not as snooty,” she added with a sneer.

“I’ll have you know-” Rarity started, only to be cut off by a loud whistle.

“The train to Coltensburgh, Canterlot, and Manehattan is now boarding.”

“That’s us, let’s go,” Twilight said, quickly maneuvering through the crowd of ponies to the train. She flashed her tickets to the conductor as they boarded, the stallion taking their luggage and loading it into the storage compartment. They walked through the car until they found an empty compartment large enough to comfortable seat all ten of them. Though the three fillies quickly got bored and decided to roam around the train.

“Don’t go causing’ trouble, ya hear!?” Applejack shouted down the hall after them, earning nothing more than a faint ‘we won’t’ as a response. Rolling her eyes with a chuckle, she stepped back inside and slid the door closed.

“So how long is this trip gonna be, Twi?” Rainbow asked curiously, already fishing her new book from her saddlebags.

“About two to three hours; not quite as long as Canterlot,” she answered. With an approving nod Rainbow quickly went about finding her page and continuing to read, taking up the window seat as she held the book against the glass while she read. The rest of the group took up their seats; Twilight sat across from Rainbow at the other window seat, Rarity sat next to her and Spike practically dove for the seat next to Rarity. Applejack and Fluttershy took their place next to Rainbow, Pinkie having followed the Crusaders in their train-exploring mission.

“We’re going to be in Coltensburgh at about 4 PM, correct?” Rarity asked, receiving a nod from Twilight as a response.

“And how long will the carriage to the resort take?”

“About an hour, so we’ll be there at five. Check-in closes at six so we should have enough time. We probably won’t get much skiing in today, but I figured we could use day one to take a look around the place and see all that they have to offer,” Twilight explained, watching through the window as ponies continued buzzing about the small station platform. Rarity nodded, satisfied with the explanation, and turned her gaze towards the yellow pegasus sitting opposite from her.

While the others in the small, relatively cramped space chatted idly about this or that, Rainbow kept quiet, instead choosing to focus on her reading. Though, if she was honest with herself, the absolute last the she wanted to be doing right now was reading. Though she couldn’t do what she really wanted; she couldn’t even do it when she and Twilight were alone, never mind when the rest of their friends were all crammed into the same train car. Still, unable to actually talk to the unicorn about her problems, she resigned herself to taking quick, longing glances at the unicorn seemingly focused out the window.

A sharp whistle bellowed thought he station as the outer doors of the train slid shut. Another whistle blast and a puff of smoke from the engine signified the beginning of the train’s journey. Slowly it pulled out of the station, its smoke stack billowing thick black clouds as it struggled to build the momentum to pull the passenger cars away from the station. Eventually they were free, and the train was allowed to go at full speed, barreling down the tracks towards their first stop.

Twilight watched through the window at the shrinking town of Ponyville Eager to be free from the monotony of recent times. Excited to once again be free, out on the pearly slopes and sparkling hills.

Author's Note

Sooo.... this took a very long time to get out. And as a few of you may have noticed, the contest is long over. Unfortunately due to real life issues and a few surprises, I couldn't finish in time. I'm a little disappointed, but this allows me to expand the story much further than I originally planned, so there's something for you to look forward to. Want a hint? "Cutie Mark Crusader Yeti Hunters" may or may not make an appearance.

Anyway, sorry for the wait. Hope to have the next chapter out much faster than this one, and I hope it will have much more content, I know these first few chapters don't seem to be getting much done, but it's all for set up.

I was lazy and didn't take much time editing and my editor has long since gone to bed. Any mistakes I missed? Point them out for me! I'll fix them as soon as I can.

Comments go in the box named after them. You know where to find it.

4. New Arrivals

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter 4
New Arrivals

Rainbow sat, eyes trained on the words in front of her. The black, printed words stood out against the plain white sheet they were printed on and their solid, even lines made them distinguishable from each other. They were large enough to be read easily without causing undue strain, and the paragraphs were indented to stand out. The chapters started with fancy, stylized headings, making sure there was no mistaking when another chapter started. It was a good book. An easy to read, engaging, wonderful book.

And no matter what she did, no matter how easy the book was to read, Rainbow Dash could not read it. It wasn't that she didn't understand the words, or that it couldn't hold her interest. In fact, on any normal day she would've devoured the book in a matter of hours. From what little she had read, she could see the similarities to Daring Do, but also the differences. Of course, the only real way to know would be to read it, if only she could keep focused. But no, no matter how hard she tried, how much she strained and forced her eyes to remain on the pages upon pages of lines upon lines of text, she made little progress.

Maybe it was from the steady clacking as the train made its way over the iron rails beneath it. Maybe it was from the rather cramped space they were all sharing. Or maybe it was the same reason as back at the library; being too absorbed in her thoughts. Even now, the lines grew blurry as her concentration was lost amongst the swirling sea of half formed thoughts. Each on vying for her attention, when all she wanted to do was forget them and read peacefully. But she knew she'd never be able to do that, at least not with Twilight sitting in the same room.

No, that lavender unicorn was the motivating force of her thoughts; the flag raised just before the charge. Every thought she had could somehow be traced back to the mare sitting across from her. She tried time and time again to shove the thoughts from her mind, but everything time they just came back stronger. No two thoughts were the same either; some of them were admonishing herself for chickening out back at the library, some of them were scolding her for not telling Twilight sooner, and some of them made her second guess her decision to come on this trip. They were constantly reminding her she had never even been snowboarding. She hadn't even been to a ski resort before today. If her nerves weren't getting to her enough, being in such close proximity to Twilight was destroying what confidence she had left. Having never so much as seen a snowboard in real life, forced to share a room with the very unicorn that caused her such stress, and the possibility of making a foal of herself in front of her. All in all, she was in for a very stressful week.

With every second that drew her towards the resort, Twilight felt her smile grow just a little larger. It had been 13 years since she'd been skiing, 16 since she'd been with her brother, and she'd never been with her friends. But this week was going to change all that. She might not being going with true family, but her friends were just as close, and in some cases closer. They were her family, blood or not, and that made this trip much like the ones of her youth.

The rolling green hills that ran along the base of the mountain range of Canterlot whizzed by outside the window. Splotches of colour decorated the shiny-green grass, marking the odd tulip or daffodil. Trees were few and far between, allowing for an unobstructed view of the mountain they were getting closer and closer to. In an hour they'd be in Coltensburg, and then a hour carriage ride would bring them to their destination.

With a happy sigh Twilight turned away from the view outside the window and back to the room around them. Spike sat as transfixed with Rarity as ever. The look in his eyes brought a small chuckle to Twilight, but it went unnoticed as Spike continued staring at the unicorn next to him. Rarity payed his usual antics no mind, instead talking to Fluttershy. Nothing particularly interesting, just idle chatter to pass the travel time to the resort. Rainbow sat across from her, eyes glued to the book she was reading, pressed flat against the glass window. As much as she seemed to be enjoying the book in front of her, Twilight could have sworn she should have been farther along in it with how much time she'd been reading. She shrugged it off; it was probably just her imagination or the words were smaller than she remembered.

The three fillies accompanying them were nowhere to be see, nor was Pinkie. Though Twilight wasn't quite sure how a train could be so interesting to explore, she chalked it up to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. For all she new Pinkie had an emergency stash of clown shoes or something on this very train. Applejack sat, half listening to Rarity and Fluttershy's conversation as she looked out passed Rainbow and to the hills passing them by.

With a content smile Twilight extended her magic and reached into her own carry-on saddlebags, taking out a particularly interesting book and laying it in her lap. Magically opening it to her page, she placed the bookmark back into her bags and began to read.

The next time she looked up it was from their door sliding open. The conductor let them know that the next stop was Coltensburg in ten minutes. They elected to send Applejack out to find the self-dubbed 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' and Pinkie. The door shut with a quiet click behind her as the rest of them began preparing to disembark. Books and other carry on nick-knacks were packed away and saddlebags were closed. All except Rainbow, who remained oblivious and lost in her book. Though if Twilight didn't know any better, she would have sworn Rainbow hadn't turned a single page during the entirety of their journey.

“Rainbow?” She called, trying to get the oblivious mare's attention. A single twitch of an ear was all the recognition she got that she had spoken at all.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight repeated, a little louder. Still Rainbow refused to acknowledge the world around her. With a frustrated huff Twilight grabbed the book in her magic and ripped it out of her hooves (making sure it wasn't damaged, of course).

What am I getting myself into? I don't know how to snowboard! I'm gonna make a foal of myself in front of Twilight. I'm gonna- where did my book go?

Rainbow's head snapped up as her book was taken from her. Looking around, she saw that everypony was snickering at her, including Twilight, who had her book floating in a light purple glow.

“Enjoying it?” Twilight teased with a smile, motioning towards the book levitating next to her. Rainbow blushed.

“Uh... yeah... so what did you need?”

“It's our stop in 5 minutes.” Twilight explained, giving Rainbow back her book.

“Right... I knew that,” Rainbow smiled sheepishly, shoving the book in her own bags before closing them, lifting them into her lap as she waited for the train to reach the station. The door opened, and in came a very disgruntled looking Applejack, followed by three fillies and a pink earth pony. Pinkie looked as happy as ever, but the three fillies behind her had their heads hung low to the floor.

“Do we want to kn-”

“No,” Applejack deadpanned, shooting a glare at the lavender unicorn she had cut off, effectively ending that line of enquiry.

“Well,” Rarity clapped her hooves together, a cheerful smile adorning her face as three downtrodden fillies took their seats next to their respective sisters. “I think it's safe to assume you four have had your fill of adventure, hmm? So what do you say we have a nice, quit ride to the resort?”

“Okay,” the three sighed in chorus, bringing a delighted smile from Rarity and a relieved sigh from Applejack.

“I swear, I don't know where you four found that much puddin' but-”

“Oh, I have it stashed all over the train for pudding-related emergencies,” Pinkie piped up happily, interupting and further frustrating the orange farm mare.

“But you're gonna be in for one unenjoyable week if you keep it up,” she growled, daring Pinkie to interrupt her again with a venomous glare.

“Pudding?” Rainbow asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow towards the poofy pink mane of Pinkie Pie.

“You never know,” Pinkie answered ominously, momentarily losing her signature manic grin, though it returned a split second later, as did her happy demeanour.

Before anypony could comment on how useless pudding would be in any emergency, the squealing of breaks filled the train car, desperate to stop the mammoth machine at the station rapidly approaching. The train obeyed the demand, slowing down and coming to a halt just as the station filled the view outside the window. As the train came to a complete stop, they all gathered their bags and filed out the door. Crowding down the hall, they pushed their way out the door and onto the station platform. Their luggage was already offloaded and waiting for them.

Coltensburg, much like Ponyville, was a rather small town, so their station was nothing fancy. As far as the group could tell, they were the only ones who'd gotten off the train aside from a few others who looked to be locals. The mountain range of Canterlot towered over the small community set just a couple kilometres from the base of the mountain. The city itself could be seen clearly, a stark contrast against the flat grey mountainside it was built into.

“So, where do we go from here?” Somepony in the group spoke up, Twilight wasn't sure who with them all following her through the station.

“There should be a carriage service working for the resort just outside the station,” she explained, beginning the short walk to the stairs leading down and away from the train. With perfect timing the train's whistle blew, and the machine once again began the struggle of getting back up to speed, lacking only a small number of it's previous inhabitants. The group of ponies (and one dragon) made their way down the stone steps of the station and onto the cobbled streets. Though none of them had ever actually been to Coltensburg before, it all looked very familiar. It was built by the same settlers that had initially built Ponyville, and was established around the same time. Though it was even smaller then the town they called home, with both Canterlot and Ponyville being so close to it and having more to offer, most ponies moved into the neighbouring areas instead of Coltesnburg. Still, the lack of population did little to down any local's spirits, as the ponies of the town went about their business happily, one or two waving to the newcomers to their quaint little town.

The carriage service for the resort was hard to miss. A large sign proudly displayed who the chariot service was for, along with all the information you'd need to get in contact with them to make a reservation. Five carriages waited underneath the sign, with room for two more. The ski resort must have been very prosperous, as each carriage was a large, expensive-looking contraption. Finely-painted, intricately carved wood blended with shining metal reinforcements. They had more than enough storage space for luggage, both on the roof and a compartment below the enclosed seats.

“I think we found 'em,” Applejack remarked, staring at the fancy mode of transportation. The group nodded, each as curious as the last as to why they had such elegant carts for a ski resort as they trotted up to the unicorn stallion who appeared to be in charge. He smiled kindly at them before speaking in a deep voice.

“Well hello, ladies, do you have a reservation?”

“We do, it should be for Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight smiled as the stallion's eyes widened and his jaw fell.

“You're Twilight Sparkle? Princess Celestia's student, element of magic, most talented unicorn in Equestria?” He asked in amazement. Twilight blushed and nodded.

“T-that means... you're the rest of the elements?” He looked across each of them as they nodded.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle... the world renowned Elements of Harmony... coming to my resort? I knew that a reservation had been made for you but... wow.” He stared at he group before him, nothing short of flabbergasted at the mares before him.

“Wait, you own the resort?” Twilight asked, snapping him out of his daze.

“Uh... y-yes. My name is Blizzard Hoof, owner and creator of Blizzard's Snowy Kingdom. But enough about me; what are world famous heroes doing at my resort?”

“Vacation,” Rainbow deadpanned, obviously growing impatient by the stallion's rambling. She had more pressing matters on her mind. Luckily, he seemed to pick up on her tone, and smiled sheepishly.

“Of course, sorry to hold you up. For a group this large, I'll have to recommend two carriages,” he motioned for two of his drives to step up.

“I'll go with the girls,” Applejack volunteered, keeping a cautious eye on both her sister and Pinkie.

“Sounds good, though that still leaves six of us in this one. Spike? Would you mind going with AJ?” Twilight asked, smiling at the baby dragon standing next to her.

“No way am I going in that carriage. I'm sharing a room with them, I'm not sharing a carriage too,” Spike deadpanned, giving a rather harsh glare towards the three fillies. Twilight gave him an odd look until she saw who he was looking at. Giving a nervous chuckle, she nodded in understanding.

“Rainbow? Would you mind?”

“Uh... sure.” Rainbow said, too distracted to actually register what she'd agreed too.

“Well then, I think we're set.”

“Very well.” Blizzard smiled, picking up their luggage in a magical, white glow and dividing it into the two carriages, followed by the group splitting and boarding. After talking to the drivers for a second, he waved and sent them on there way, grinning as the Elements of Harmony made their way to his resort.

The ride was a short, smooth affair. The carriages rolled over the stone path between the small town of Coltensburg and the resort. Only the slightest and rare bump marred the path they travelled, but it was otherwise a steady ride. In one particular car, it was a very smooth, very quiet ride. Three fillies sat quietly under a stern glare from an orange farmer and the thoughtful gaze of Rainbow Dash, directed out the window she once again found herself sitting beside.

As Rainbow sat, her gut twisted in knots as the resort once again resumed getting closer. Nervous didn't begin to describe it, and every second brought her closer to her doom. Or something very similar, in her eyes.

“You alright there sugarcube?” Applejack asked, giving her friend a concerned look as Rainbow turned away from the window. “You've been awfully quiet the whole trip, somethin' on your mind?”

“It's nothing, Applejack, just thinking,” Rainbow mumbled quietly before returning her gaze to the world beyond the carriage.

“Rainbow Dash thinking? Has Discord broken free again?” Applejack joked with a laugh.

“I can think if I want to!” Rainbow snapped suddenly, making Applejack's humerus smile fall from her lips and thee fillies jump in surprise.

“Hey, it was just a joke. What's going on with you?”

“Nothing,” Rainbow growled, glaring out the window as hills turned to steep cliffs as they approached the mountain the resort was situated on.

“Rainbow?'” Applejack asked gently, more than a little confused and concerned at her friend's behaviour.

“I said I'm fine, AJ, let it drop.”

“Sheesh, sorry I asked,” Applejack grumbled, turning back to the three now equally confused fillies and sighing. It was going to be a long ride.

In a carriage not too far behind them, four mares and a dragon sat, idle, happy chatter filling the air as the scenery changed before their eyes. Grassy green hills turned to golden brown rock cliffs, mixed with red and grey. The cobbled path they rode on staid smooth, however, making the final leg of their journey pass comfortably. The carriages rolled down the path a steady pace, the stallions pulling them having travelled the path hundreds of times before and well accustomed to the weight.

“Hey Spike, is the Princess alright with paying for the rentals?” Twilight asked, suddenly remembering who as paying. Spike rolled his eyes.

“She's fine with it, Twi.”

“How do you know? You didn't even check!” Twilight protested, getting little more than a glare from Spike. He crossed his arms stubbornly. She didn’t question him again. Before long the resort could be seen in the distance; located at the bottom of a tall hill, glistening with fresh snow.

Twilight pressed her face against the window, a gleeful grin on her face as her vacation came closer and closer.

Rainbow Dash pressed her face against the window, watching in horror as the place she dreaded came into view.

-_-_-_-

The carriages came to a gentle stop, the doors being opened moments later as the two groups piled out and onto the road leading up to a large building. From one car came four happy mares and a dragon, from the other came a disgruntled Applejack, three downtrodden fillies, and a distracted Rainbow Dash. Twilight frowned at the sight; apparently their ride hadn't been very enjoyable. She made a mental note to ask about it. But it would have to be saved for later; for now all she could think about was getting their rooms sorted and skis fitted. She was determined to get at least one run in today. An old tradition of her family was to get one run on the first day. It was a tradition she fully intended to keep, whether her friends went with her or not.

“The receptionist can get you your room keys and point you in the right direction,” one of the stallions said, motioning to the large building in front of them. The building itself was rather plane; similar to small towns, but with an added layer of elegance that came with being a resort. Behind the building could be seen a large network of other buildings, each multiple stories high and lined with windows, presumably where the rooms were.

Twilight nodded in thanks before leading the large group down the path and through the revolving doors. Inside was exactly like the outside; rustic but fancy. A mix of Canterlot and Coltensburg. It made sense, since the resort was situated in the middle, but that thought never once entered Twilight's mind as she enjoyed the splendour around her. She may have grown up in Canterlot, but she always appreciated the look of resorts like these. The lobby was a large, carpeted room with a seating area on either side where a few ponies sat, dressed in full ski gear and sipping from mugs. A family sat to the left, laughing and smiling after a long day of skiing down pearly slopes.

“Reservations?” The mare behind the desk asked, not even glancing up from the paperwork in front of her. Twilight frowned at her obviously grouchy demeanour.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said plainly. The mare glanced up once for just a second before turning back down to her books.

“I see somepony's taking advantage of royal connections,” the receptionist snarled, tossing four keys onto the counter. Twilight glared holes through the top of her head while the rest of the group scowled. “You got the best rooms on the bottom floor. It's the building closest to the hill. Follow the hall over there, go out the door, and look for “white wolf lodge”, that's your building. Room numbers are on the keys. Oh, and take this, show it to anypony and they'll put any charge you get onto your account, to be paid on your last reserved day,” she added, tossing a small plastic card onto the counter.

“Well she was pleasant,” Rainbow growled as they walked away, room keys and card held in a magical aura in front of them. Twilight sighed and shook her head, determined not to let a single mare in a bad mood ruin her vacation. Going out the door at he end of the hall, it was relatively easy to find their building.

“Here's our rooms,” Twilight said, pointing down a lone hall. It branched out from the main hall and had only four doors along its relatively long path. Passing one of the keys to Spike, Twilight motioned to the first on the left.

“Why don't you and the girls stay in there? Rainbow and I will stay across the hall.” Spike sighed as he grabbed the key out of Twilight's magical grasp, thankful he wouldn't have to be in the room or with the CMC all hours of the day.

“You four can decide who goes where of the other two rooms, I need to unpack and get ready,” Twilight said, giving two more keys to Rarity and Applejack before unlocking and slipping into her own room quickly. Rainbow followed along with their luggage.

“Why are you in such a rush?” Rainbow asked as she looked around the room. It was large, but not too much. It had a small kitchen with only the essentials to the right of the door. Opposite it was a length of wall with a closet and a bathroom. In front of her was an average sized living space, on the far right wall was another door, presumably leading to a bedroom.

“It's a family tradition to get at least one run done on the first day. From what I saw this place isn't too busy this time of year, so the lines should be short. If I hurry I can get one in,” Twilight called from the bedroom, digging through her suitcase.

“Right. Well have fun, I'm gonna hang around the room for today,” Rainbow sighed as she walked into the front room and flopped down on the couch. On the wall opposite the door was a window, facing out to he hill she knew she'd have to go down tomorrow.

“You sure you don't want to at least get your snowboard today? It'll be faster then doing it tomorrow.”

“Well...”

“Come on, Rainbow, at least rent the equipment today,” Twilight insisted, coming out of the room ready for skiing. She wore a light purple ski jacket, clearly warm, but still thin and flexible so it wouldn't impede movement. Around her neck hung a pair of goggles, tinted yellow and dangling by a thick, elastic strap.

“I guess,” Rainbow sighed, standing from the couch and following Twilight back to the door.

“Come on, I saw a sign for rentals down the hall.”

Twilight wasn't lying; she had seen the sign just a little ways back down the hall. What the sign failed to mention was that they were on the opposite side of the building from the rental shop. The sign led to another sign, which in turn led to yet another sign. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime of navigating halls, they found the rental shop. It was connected to the building they were in, but only on the outside. To get to it they had to leave the building and walk along the outside.

It was just another step in the long, drawn out process of Rainbow's grand failure. She could see it coming on the horizon now, a horizon blocked by a large white mountain covering a large portion of the sky. The mountain in question was covered in trees, chairlifts, small buildings, and the odd spec of pony going down it. The resort was nowhere near capacity, but there were a fair number of ponies milling about by the various shops and cafes littering the side facing the ski hill.

Twilight led Rainbow at a giddy canter into the rental shop, quickly pulling two sheets of paper from a counter along with a pen, passing one sheet to Rainbow before furiously filling out her own form. Rainbow held the sheet with a wing, looking at it oddly. The things it wanted to know were... weird to say the least. Hoof size made sense, but weight? Height? Right or left hoofed? Experience? What did any of this matter to a board being strapped to her hooves?

“Having problems?” Twilight asked, glancing up from her own form curiously.

“Uh, no,” Rainbow smiled nervously, setting her paper down on the desk and picking up a pen in her mouth. She started filling in what she knew; height, weight, the easy things. But stopped at experience. Why did they need that? Was it some kind of test? Would they not give her a board if she wasn't good enough? Would she have to prove how good she was? What if she failed the test?

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked again, having filled out her own sheet and handed it to one of the ponies running the shop.

“Uh,” Rainbow stuttered, quickly checking the 'experienced' box and handing it to the same pony. Twilight smiled as they followed the pony with their forms back behind the counter. Around them sat large racks of boots, skis, poles, and snowboards. Each of various sizes colours and styles. They were led to a set of benches and a pair of boots were tossed in front of each of them.

“Make sure those fit,” the stallion said before disappearing among the seemingly endless racks of gear.

Rainbow glanced nervously over at the unicorn sitting next to her, unsure of what to do. Twilight already had one of her boots on and was doing up the straps. She glanced up, almost feeling Rainbow's gaze on her, and smiled gleefully, too excited to notice Rainbow's nerves.

With a quiet, nervous gulp, Rainbow turned to the boots laid in front of her. They were nothing like any boot she'd ever seen before; large, thick, primarily made of plastic. They were taller then most boots and looked heavy and uncomfortable. Covered in straps and buckles and laces with thick soles.

Unsure of what she was doing, she slipped one of her hind hooves into the boot and began fastening it to her leg. It went halfway up her shin and dug into her skin uncomfortably if she tried to bend her ankle. She glanced up and over at Twilight, who had both of her boots on and was balancing on her hind legs, seemingly making sure they were comfortable. As Rainbow adjusted the final strap on her first boot, she lifted it off the ground. It was heavier then she thought it would be, her leg feeling a strain from just lifting it. She couldn't imagine walking in it. It restricted most of her leg's movement and it was nearly impossible to bend her ankle.

A large, flat plank of wood, tapered at both ends, was dropped in front of her. She looked up, seeing two skinny sticks in front of Twilight, along with two metal poles. Twilight smiled, picking up her gear in a magical aura and looking to Rainbow patiently.

“You sure you don't want to come with me?” Twilight asked as Rainbow quickly went about attaching the other boot to her leg. It went on with some difficulty, but she managed.

“Sorry, Twi, but I'm pretty tired after the train ride. I think I'm gonna have a nap back in the room.” Rainbow smiled ruefully as Twilight smiled in understanding. Carefully, Rainbow pushed herself off the bench and balanced on her hind hooves, taking a couple steps to make sure the boots weren't too uncomfortable. After approving they weren't too bad, she sat back on the bench.

“Okay. Why don't you tell the girls I'll be back in about half an hour? I only want one short run, and I doubt any of them will be too keen on getting started today. We'll meet back at our rooms then go for dinner, okay?” Twilight asked, handing their card the the stallion. He took it in his hoof and copied some information on a sheet before tucking it away in hid desk and giving the card back to Twilight.

Rainbow nodded, taking off her boots and picking them up along with her board under her wing. Waving, Twilight quickly went out the door and towards the chairlift that would take her up to the mountain she yearned for. Rainbow, carrying her boots in her teeth by a length of cord, trudged back into the building and down the never-ending hall. Eventually finding herself back at her room. She dumped her gear into the closet before going out and systematically knocking on each of her friend's doors.

As Twilight predicted, none of them wanted to get started, instead too focused on unpacking and getting ready for tomorrow. She relaid Twilight's message to each of them before once again returning to her room and closing the door. She wandered into the bedroom with her saddlebags. When she turned on the light, her jaw dropped. It looked like Twilight had been keeping a hurricane in her suitcase and had released it in the room. All her luggage was spread across the room, the two beds and then dressers. The epicentre being the suitcase in the middle of the floor.

There were very few things Twilight Sparkle would leave a mess for. One of those things was saving Equestria.

Apparently another one was skiing.

With nothing better to do, and needing something to keep her mind off tomorrow, Rainbow started picking up the various objects tossed around the room.

Author's Note

I'm back with another update. I made a blog post about this, but I'll let you know here too. This is officially on a bi-weakly update schedule. It will be updated on either Monday or Tuesday twice a month until complete.

Now that that's over, here's the chapter! Yay development! I told you guys things would happen soon. More interesting things will happen next chapter, though.

This story is actually based of real events. When this idea was originally conceived I myself was on a ski vacation with my family, and I was very much in Rainbow's position. Only, instead of snowboarding I ski, and instead of having never gone I'd gone once 5 years before. I wasn't very good.

AS for the rest of the story... well, that'll be spoilers for this, since it's where most of this plot is coming from. Of course, my experience was stressful for very different reasons, but it stemmed from the same desire to not make a fool of myself in front of people. Although instead of a secret crush it was my family.

And for those people curious, the reason those forms asked how good a skier/snowboarder they were is because it tells them how easy/hard it should be to trigger the release mechanism. If you're a new skier, they make it easy so if you crash (and you WILL crash if you're new) the skis come off easier, so you have less of a chance of breaking your leg. If you're an experienced skier, they make it harder so you can do jumps and tricks without your skis falling off, but if you do crash they're less likely to come off and you're more likely to break your leg. Works the same for snowboards (I think. I ski, not snowboard. If it's different for snowboards please let me know)

This mechanic may or may not come into play in the story.

5. Dinner

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter 5
Dinner

Twilight's grin threatened to split her face in two. Her eyes were closed in relaxation as she breathed in the crisp, cool air. She felt the snow through her boots below her, heard the gentle sound of wind blowing over the mountain, and could taste the thinner air at her altitude. Opening her eyes slowly, she was greeted to a sight she hadn't seen in far too long; a ski slope. It was one of the resort's shortest runs, less then a quarter of the way up, but it was something. From her vantage point she could see the buildings at the base of the mountain, tinted slightly yellow through her goggles. Her two poles were stuck into the snow on either side of her, ready to go whenever she was. She knew she had to make the run quick; she was already getting hungry, having not eaten during the train ride, and her friends were most likely in the same boat.

So, as she took in one final, deep breath, she stood back on her hind hooves, grasped the poles in her front hooves, and pushed off. The ground seemed to drop away in front of her, disappearing into a slope that looked much steeper than it was. She knew it was far from the steepest slope she'd been on. She knew it was nothing compared to what she was used to. But as the very tips of her skis eased over the edge, her heart pounded in her chest as her body released a shot of adrenalin. Double checking the grip on her poles and making sure her hooves were through the fabric straps, she looked down at the buildings below one last time.

Then she fell.

In a lavender flash she was gone; rocketing down the hill as fast as she could. The snow was as close to perfect as could be expected at the end of the day, but she didn't let the minor disturbances and bumps or icy patches or exposed rocks or anything bother her. Bending her knees she tucked her body in on itself, reducing drag and gaining speed rapidly, going as fast as gravity could pull her down the steep hill. Once she was happy with her velocity, she stood up a little straighter, spread her front legs for balance, and put pressure on her right ski. She turned left almost instantly, flying down the mountain at an angle. Once she was close to the line of trees outlining the slope, she put pressure on her left ski, twisting her torso with her momentum and keeping a stable velocity along with control as she began slaloming down the mountain.

Unzipped jacket flapping in the wind behind her, mane blown back and crisp air biting at her face, she grinned through it all. She let lose a laugh of pure joy as she turned again, whizzing by another skier going slightly slower then her. Another turn; she could feel the snow as her skis carved through the top layer, fine white powder flying up behind her. Despite the freezing cold wind blasting against her fur she felt sweat begin to form as her body heated up from the physical exertion.

She was nearly half way down the run now, but that's not what she focused on. Instead she focused on the exhilaration of the insane speeds, the adrenalin that coursed through every vein in her body, the simple idea of skiing again. She blocked out the ponies around her, flying by in a blur as she shot down the hill, mind focused solely on the feeling and where she was going. Keeping just enough concentration to remain in control, she allowed the rest of her mind to wander; to enjoy and revel in the feeling of skiing once again, the feeling of freedom as she flew down the run.

She could see the yellowish buildings approaching rapidly, the second half of the slope at a much gentler angle then the first. She started turning less to make up for the decreased angle, keeping her speed at a steady break-neck pace. She could already feel the burn in her legs; muscles she hadn't used in years suddenly thrown back into use to keep her balanced on her hind hooves and keep control. It was all muscle memory by now; put pressure on her right leg, lean up the hill to stay balanced, keep a stable speed for control, turn left on a dime, then repeat on left leg to turn right. He muscles burned from the sudden increase in use, her ankles ached from being forced to remain stationary, her muzzle was numb from the freezing winds. It was perfect.

She could see the end of the trail now as the slope started to level off. She felt herself losing speed, and wished that it wasn't over yet.

But it was, she realized sadly as the ground flattened completely. Swinging her skis in front of her, she leaned into them, snow flying up as the friction slowed her to a complete stop at the base of the mountain. Around her were other ponies who'd just finished there own runs, the base being a central hub for most of the slopes at the resort. A few ponies were lined up at the chairlift, waiting to get yet another run down the mountain. For a moment she debated getting in line, doing just one more quick run. But she knew all too well the cycle of “Just one more run” and pulled herself away from the lift, albeit with with some difficulty. She pushed herself along with the aid of her poles, gliding smoothly over the snow towards the building where her friends were waiting.

With a clacking she slid off the snow and onto a stone path, linking the building to the ski hill. She popped the skis free of her boots and took them off, carrying them next to her in a magical glow along with her poles as she fell back down onto all four hooves. Her boots remained on her as she approached the doors. Pushing through the glass doors she entered into the back hallway of White Wolf Lodge, taking a right turn down a long, narrow hall. Taking special care not to hit her equipment against the walls, she got a good look around the place for the first time since she'd arrived. While before she was so focused on going out and getting a run in, now she had her run and could appreciate the decor.

The hallway walls around her were bare and normal, a light shade of yellow, so light it was almost white, with various scuffs and dents where less careful patrons had hit them with their skis or snowboards. The carpet was short and rough, but perfect for absorbing any water from the snow that would inevitably be tracked in. The doors passing by on either side were plane, egg-shell white, set a little ways in the wall. The hall was lit by a number of enchanted gems, lining the walls in a perfectly symmetrical pattern.

Turning a corner she came to the hall where her room was located. She opened the door to her own room and stepped in. Only instead of opening, the door refused to budge, and instead of walking in she walked right into the door. Shaking her head from the impact and rubbing her freshly-injured muzzle, she gave an annoyed huff and knocked on the door, regretting not bringing her key.

“Coming!” Came the scratchy voice from inside the room. A few seconds later and the door was opened by a cyan pegasus. “Hey Twi, didn't expect you back so early!”

“Apparently not,” Twilight grumbled under her breath, removing her hoof from her nose and stepping into the room. Luckily Rainbow either didn't hear her or didn't say anything. “I only got the one run in; I figured everypony would be pretty hungry after the trip here.”

“Well, I don't know about the rest of the girls, but I'm starving,” Rainbow exclaimed, closing the door and walking into the living area as Twilight stored her gear in the closet next to Rainbow's. She took a seat on the couch next to the pegasus, beginning to unstrap her boots with her magic.

“How was the run?” Rainbow asked, watching as Twilight pulled her hoof free of the boot before levitating it over to the closet and beginning work on the second.

“Good, but I can't wait for tomorrow when I can go all the way to the top; it was pretty short. I'll also have company tomorrow, which always makes it better,” Twilight explained as she finally freed her other hoof, holding both off the floor and bending her ankles.

“You think any of the girls will be going to the top on the first day? I don't think any of them have done much skiing before,” Rainbow asked wearily.

“They probably won't, no,” Twilight agreed with a shake of her head before turning to look at Rainbow, lowering her hooves back to the floor. “But you'll be going up, right? I mean, you are an experienced snowboarder; not much point in hanging around the easy runs.”

“Yeah... well I was thinking... you know, since Applejack is the only one snowboarding other then me, and she's never done it before, I figured I would hang around and give her some tips,” Rainbow chuckled nervously and gave an unconvincing smile. Luckily for her, Twilight was too distracted putting her second boot away to notice the terrible poker face.

“That actually sounds like a great idea! I guess I could hang around too, in case Rarity or Pinkie need any advice. From the sounds of it the two of them haven't been out since they were fillies. I don't even know of Fluttershy's going to come out at all, and who knows what the fillies will be getting up to.”

“Yeah, knowing Scootaloo she'll probably want to give snowboarding a try at some point during the week,” Rainbow laughed, remembering all the times that filly had tried to be more like her idol.

“I suppose. But that will only take a day for the girls to get good enough to be on their own on the easier runs; after that we have to go all the way to the top! It's been absolutely forever since I've had a good, long run.”

Rainbow's laughter died in her throat; what she hoped had been a save from doing anything insane on a snowboard she had no idea how to use had turned into a day-long excuse not to go up to the top of the mountain. Swallowing down a nervous chuckle, she resigned herself to thinking of another way to delay snowboarding later. “Can't wait...”

“Neither can I! Oh, I suppose I should go clean the room; I kind of left a mess looking for my gear,” Twilight smiled sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at the prospect of leaving such a mess, and stood from the couch.

“No need; while you were out I figured I'd tidy the room a bit and unpack for you while I was at it. I hope you don't mind,” Rainbow added quickly, suddenly very aware of the awkward stare Twilight was giving her.

“Uh... no; I don't mind at all. I'm just... surprised, is all. I didn't expect you to unpack what you brought with you, let alone clean up my stuff and unpack for me.” Twilight kept her suspicious eyes trained on Rainbow, attempting to figure out what had been going on with her recently. Showing up early, showing up super early, lying to their friends, making sure they were friends, and now cleaning for somepony else? Something had to be going on.

“Yeah, otherwise I was gonna get bored around here with nothing to do,” Rainbow explained nonchalantly, leaning back in the recently vacated couch and spreading over it.

“I thought you said you were going to nap after the train ride?” Twilight asked suspiciously, growing more and more curious at her friend's increasingly odd behaviour.

“Uh, I was, but then I got back to the room and saw the mess you left, so I figured I should clean up before doing that, and by the time I was done I wasn't tired anymore, so I unpacked. Then you came back, so I didn't have time for that nap. I was actually just about to take it when you walked in the door. But now that you're back, I guess it's time for dinner, huh?” Rainbow asked, quickly changing the subject and motioning to the clock hanging on the wall, indicating the time was 6:30.

“If you're sure... I guess it's about time for dinner anyway. Oh well,” Twilight shrugged, grabbing the room key and credit card from the t kitchen counter on her way to the door. Rainbow flicked her wings and flew off the couch, floating swiftly over behind landing behind Twilight in the narrow hall leading to the door between the wall and the kitchen. “Let's gather the girls. I saw a nice looking place at the base of the hill we can eat at, and it's warm enough that we can sit outside.”

Rainbow nodded in affirmation, following as Twilight opened and stepped out the door, closing and locking it behind her. One by one they went around to the other three doors in their hall. Unsurprisingly, Spike wasn't with the Crusaders, and was instead hiding with Rarity and Fluttershy, the fashionista having just finished unpacking her luggage. Applejack was more then ready to get away from the pink menace she had somehow ended up rooming with, and the fillies were just happy to be eating something.

“Did the Princess say anything about food in her list?” Twilight asked as she lead the group down the hall, looking to the dragon riding on her back.

“Yes, she's fine with it,” Spike sighed in response, rolling his eyes.

“You haven't even checked the list! Actually... where is the list?” Twilight asked suddenly, coking her head to the side as they rounded a corner.

“In Rarity's room. I would have left it in my room but...” he trailed off, motioning toward the fillies arguing about something or other in the back of the group. “And trust me, Twilight. I've had to memorize the entire organizational system of the library; a single list is nothing.”

“I guess...” Twilight nodded slowly, still unsure about spending money that wasn't technically hers, and curious as to why she couldn't see the list for herself.

“Look, Twilight, I promise food is on the list. But if it would make you fell better I'll start taking the list with me after tonight, okay?”

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight smiled in relief, craning her neck back and gently nuzzling him.

“Yeah yeah, you can thank me by getting to the food faster; I'm starving,” the dragon muttered as they passed through a set of glass doors, crossing through the threshold between inside and out.

“It's just around the corner,” Twilight assured, nodding her head towards the edge of the building before following the path towards it.

“So Rainbow,” Applejack started slowly, walking beside the pegasus as Twilight continued leading them with the promise of food. “What was up with you during the carriage ride?”

Rainbow's lips, previously curled into an idle smile as she watched Twilight's swaying flanks in front of her, twisted into a slight scowl. “I said it was nothing and it was nothing,” she said plainly.

“It sure as hay didn't sound like nothing,” Applejack pressed, “In fact, it sounded like you were pretty worried about somethin'.”

“AJ, I know you're just trying to be a good friend, and I get that you're concerned, but just... leave me alone, alright? Forget about the carriage ride, just enjoy the vacation, and let me do the same. I just have some things I have to deal with on my own,” Rainbow sighed in frustration as she finished, her mind forcefully bringing back memories of her multiple failures at solving one of her problems.

“Alright, I get ya; I'll leave it alone. But just remember that I'm here for ya; we all are,” Applejack assured with a concerned frown before falling silent, the pegasus next to her having no intention to pick up another conversation.

Luckily she didn't have to; as they rounded a final corner they found the restaurant they had been promised. It was situated in the back of one of the buildings, the entire was area paved with stones and had tables spread across it and shops around it. On the opposite side of the building was the mountain, and between them was one of many chair lifts.

The shop itself was a simple looking place, more akin to a cafe then a restaurant, but if the smell was any indication, they had some pretty good food to offer. Speed increasing as the source of the wonderful smell came in to view, the group hurriedly trotted down the remainder of the path to the quaint establishment.

It wasn't a very busy place, so they were quickly seated in the area outside the restaurant. They had to pull three tables together to accommodate the size of the group, but the lack of patrons made it easy enough to find the tables and extra chairs. Once they were situated in their table, menus were passed around the table and idle chatter filled the air around them.

“The pomegranate daisy salad sounds wonderful.”

“Bleh; I hate pineapples. Whoever though it'd be a good idea to make them into a sandwich?”

“Aw man; not a single gem dish...”

“Daisies or roses? Hmm...”

The constant buzz of chatter was a peaceful, relaxing backdrop for Rainbow as she slouched back in her chair. Her mind was in the same state it had been for days, having made no progress on either of her problems. She still dint' know how she was going to get out of doing any real snowboarding, but she knew she'd need to think of a way soon. The excuse of 'coaching ' Applejack would keep the suspicious gazes off her for a day, but after that? She couldn't risk making a fool of herself, especially after she'd already told everypony that she was a good snowboarder. She couldn't get caught in a lie like that; what would her friends think of her? What would Twilight think of her?

Rainbow shook her head forcefully, banishing the thoughts to the back of her mind as she felt an elbow jab into her ribs. She looked to her left, where Twilight was sitting and looking at her expectantly, elbow still pressed against Rainbow's side. The pegasus looked up and out at the rest of her friends; all of them looking at her patiently, including a water standing at the other side of the table, paper and pencil poised in a magical grasp, waiting for her order.

“Oh, right. Grilled mango with a side of hayfries,” Rainbow said quickly, folding her menu and passing it around the table to the the waiter scribbling down her order.

“Very well, your food will be here as soon as it is ready,” he said curtly, before turning and trotting swiftly away with their menus. Though he was gone, a few odd looks remained focused on the cyan pegasus sitting awkwardly in the middle of the table. She felt a particularly piercing gaze coming from the lavender unicorn sitting next to her.

Rainbow shrunk down in her chair, eyes focused down and into her lap. Slowly, the chatter picked up once again, though this time it was no longer a peaceful backdrop for Rainbow's thoughts. No, this time it was awkward and judging, forced in a way. And all the while she could still feel Twilight's gaze on her, drilling holes into her very soul.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked quietly once conversation around the table had picked up enough that nopony was paying attention to what she was saying.

“Peachy,” Rainbow muttered, refusing to lift her eyes from her lap.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the obvious sarcasm. “I'm serious; you've been acting off since I first mention taking this vacation. Did you not want to come?”

“No! No, I wanted to...” Rainbow trailed off, fidgeting uncomfortably in her chair.

Twilight's muzzle twisted to a concerned frown as she watched the pegasus. “Then what's wrong?”

“Nothing, just... it's nothing,” Rainbow said, finally looking up and giving the unicorn the most believable smile she could muster. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but luckily for Rainbow the waiter arrived at that exact moment with some of the dishes that were easier to make. One of those just so happened to be Rainbow's.

Thankful for the well-timed excuse, she brushed off whatever Twilight was about to say. “Oh finally; I'm starving!” And with those words dove into the food set in front of her. She heard Twilight sigh next to her, and saw her slouch deeper into the chair.

For the rest of the dinner Rainbow remained silent, making herself as small as possible and speaking up only when she was specifically asked a question. Luckily, the group seamed to have forgotten about her odd behaviour, too adsorbed in the excitement of the vacation to really take notice of her. Unfortunately, there was one pony from the group who seemed to be paying extra attentnion to her, and that pony was the absolute last one she wanted noticing anything strange about her. Throughout the entire dinner she could feel Twilight’s eyes on her.

Even when the unicorn's own food arrived, Twilight kept a watchful eye over her pegasus friend. There was something very wrong to her about the way Rainbow had been acting. A complete 180 in her personality had occurred over the short span of a week. While she didn't mind the lack of bragging, the sudden reversal had her worried. Time and time again the pegasus had brushed her concern away, but hadn't changed her demeanour. The normally loud, boastful pegasus was actively avoiding conversation, even when asked about something she wouldn't launch into some kind of tangent about how awesome she was like she normally did. It was unnerving, to say the least, and Twilight was determined to get to the bottom of it before the week was over.

When dinner was over and all the food had been eaten the table lit up with conversation. Some of them about the food – which had been wonderful – some about the impending day of skiing or snowboarding. Twilight kept up with the conversation she was having with Applejack and Rarity, but continued to keep Rainbow in the corner of her eye. Just like before, the pegasus remained silent, seemingly lost in thought like she had been for most of the vacation.

The waiter came and went with empty dishes and the bill, to which Twilight promptly displayed the card given to her by the less-than-friendly receptionist. After copying some information from the card he walked away, tending to the few other patrons around the area.

Eventually the chatter died down along with the setting sun, falling below the horizon on the other side of the building from the mountain. An agreement was struck that they should all head back tot heir rooms; a big day ahead of them. Once again navigating the endless maze of halls and corners, they quickly found themselves back at their rooms, a communal “Good night” was sounded as the pairs split off and went back into their rooms to pass the time before eventually heading to bed for a long night of sleep.

The clock struck 8:30 as Twilight closed the door with a click. Rainbow was already lounging on the couch with her book, not a page further then she had been on the train. Twilight noted this with a frown, walking over and sitting in in a chair against the dining table, set against the left wall of the living room.

“You gonna tell me what's been going on now?” Twilight asked quietly, sitting and listening patiently at the table. Rainbow lowered her book slowly.

“I told you nothing was going on,” she muttered in response, just as quiet as Twilight's question had been.

Twilight sighed. “Look, Rainbow, I can tell something's wrong. You've been weird all week, you barely said a word during dinner, and you haven't even made it a age further into that book since we got on the train here. What's going on?”

It was Rainbow's turn to sigh, which she did as she lowered the book into her lap. “Nothing's wrong, Twilight, I'm just... thinking... about stuff...” she said awkwardly, praying that Twilight would accept it. She knew the unicorn would never let it drop, but she could always hope.

“Rainbow, is this about what you wanted to tell me back at the library?” Twilight asked slowly, beginning to connect the dots. Rainbow's behaviour had really started changing right around then.

“No... well... yes... maybe?” Rainbow rubbed her hooves together nervously. She was really hoping Twilight wouldn't bring that failed attempt up again.

“You know you can tell me anything,” Twilight assured with a gentle smile.

“I wish I could,” Rainbow muttered under her breath, then quickly realized she'd said it out loud. Luckily, Twilight didn't seam to have heard it. “I know, but... it's nothing, really. I can handle it.”

“If you're sure,” Twilight relented after some hesitation.

“I am, Twi. I just need some time is all,” Rainbow smiled unconvincingly, which did nothing to asssauge Twilight's worries. Ignroing the desire to press further and get tot he bottom of it, Twilgith stood and walked into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards, smiling as she found what she was looking for.

“How about some hot chocolate?” she asked as she pulled down the powder and a teapot.

“Sounds good,” Rainbow nodded, picking her book up and turning to her page.

She didn't read a single word all night. Even when Twilight picked up her own book to read, sitting on the couch next to her. Rainbow never made it a single line further into her book. Eventually the sun was all the way down, the only light in the room coming from the multiple lanterns hanging outside the large window.

Standing up and stretching Twilight let out a yawn, placing a bookmark in her place – nearly at the end of the book – and walking over to the bedroom door.

“I'm gonna head to bed,” she called as she walked in. Rainbow mumbled a 'good night' from behind her book. Twilight sighed as she closed the door the the dark room, fumbling her way through the darkness to the bed at the far end of the room. Rainbow's was next to the door, so it would be easy for the pegasus to find her way when she decided to go to sleep.

With a relaxed sigh she fell back into her bed, the soft mattress and blanket welcoming her tired form. She found sleep quickly, drifting off with excitement for tomorrow still fresh in her mind.

Rainbow Dash remained in the living area for another hour or so. Her book was abandoned in her lap as she stared out the window towards the dark silhouette of the mountain. Eventually she gave a frustrated huff and resigned herself to sleep, trudging into the dark room. As her eyes adjusted she could see Twilight in the bed farthest from the door, sleeping peacefully under the blankets of her bed. She watched her sleep silently for a few seconds before sighing and climbing into her own bed.

It was a long, restless night for Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

Apologies for being a day late, but I was thrown off last weeks so it was unavoidable. Hope you ejoy this installment.

And you guys have no idea how fun it was to type that beginning scene. To describe the feeling of skiing... it's just awesome. Skiing is unlike anything I've ever done before.

Comments and complaints can be found below; I read them all and respond to most.

Any mistakes you find can be put down there as well.

7. Day One; Private Requests

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter 7
Day One; Private Requests

Rainbow Dash groaned as she pulled the boot from her hoof painfully slowly, cringing as her ankle twisted. “Twi, I think your spell wore off. Think I could get another dose to get these stupid things off?” She called, looking to the bedroom door, through which Twilight had disappeared shortly after they'd arrived back at the hotel.

“Sorry, Rainbow, but it's best this way. If you don't feel the pain you won't know when to stop and you could end up doing some serious damage. Just be careful and you'll be able to get them off,” Twilight replied.

With a sigh crossed with a grunt of pain, Rainbow gave one more tug and slid her hoof free from the boot holding it captive. “Finally... what are you doing in there anyway?”

“I'm looking for.... ah-hah!” Twilight came out of the room with a smile on her face and a book in her magical grasp. “This.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

“Something I knew I would need this week; a medical book detailing spells to fix things like sprains. I figured somepony would end up hurting themselves,” she said, flipping the book open and turning a couple pages until she got to the desired spell.

“So you can fix it?”

Twilight nodded. “I should be able to. Lay on your back and I'll see what I can do,” she instructed, sitting at the end of the couch as Rainbow shifted into the requested position. “Alright, now I can't numb your ankle for this one, but it shouldn't hurt too much; it's just a diagnostic spell.”

“I've dealt with broken wings, Twi; I think I can handle- ow! What the hay Twi? My ankle doesn't bend like that normally!” Rainbow shouted, looking down to see that the unicorn wasn't even touching her hoof.

“Sorry, the spell has to mess around with your nerves, muscles and bones, so it's gonna feel pretty weird, and it'll sting a bit,” she explained, watching carefully as Rainbow's ankle glowed gently under the influence of the spell.

Rainbow huffed, letting her head fall back against the armrest. “That spell of yours felt like it was trying to break my hoof off,” she grumbled, staring at the ceiling as the magic continued to work its way through her muscles and bone. She could feel it soaking into her leg and moving around beneath her skin, inside her very flesh. It was by far the strangest thing she'd ever felt. After a few more seconds the magic seemed to withdraw, and Rainbow looked up to see it flowing in a translucent purple line back to Twilight's horn.

“Alright...” the unicorn mumbled, flipping through her book briefly before tossing it onto the coffee table and turning to look at Rainbow. “This one will hurt quite a bit, so... sorry in advance.”

“Wait wait wait,” Rainbow said quickly, waving her hooves back and forth. “How much is this gonna hurt? Like, should I be knocked out for this or something?”

Shaking her head, Twilight smiled gently. “No, nothing that bad. Normally if you sprain an ankle you just stretch your ligaments, which is what causes the pain and swelling. You've actually done some serious damage, and almost torn them. Luckily you didn't, and all I have to do is repair the damage.”

Rainbow nodded slowly. “All I understood from that was that it could be worse so... well, fix me up, doc.” With those words a not-unwanted image of Twilight in a nurse outfit flitted across Rainbow's mind.

“You know I don't even understand how you did this.” Twilight noted, preparing the spell as she ran her hooves over Rainbow's ankle to feel for any swelling.

“I tried snowboarding and crashed,” Rainbow deadpanned, shooing the previous image from her mind, though not before it managed to ignite her cheeks a deep scarlet. Luckily for her Twilight was too busy with her leg to notice.

“But that's just it!” Twilight cried, motioning to the injured limb. “Because both your legs are strapped to the snowboard, you're not even at risk of twisting your ankle. With skiing you tend to injure your knees, but with snowboarding most injuries are in your front hooves from the force of the crash. You... I don't understand how you managed to twist your ankle in those boots.”

“I'm just that awesome I guess,” the pegasus responded with a shrug. “Even when I'm crashing I'm doing something impossible.”

Twilight looked up briefly, giving a chuckle. “I suppose so. Anyway, here goes nothing. Let me know if anything feels like it's growing wrong.”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow asked, “The hay does something growing wrong feel like?”

“According to the books, you'll know it if you feel it. Ready?”

Rainbow nodded.

“Alright. Three, two-”

“OW! Jeez Twi, I thought the point of counting down was – Ow ow ow – to wait till you got to one! Arg!” Rainbow groaned out through her gasps as a painful stretching sensation enveloped her leg. A constant pricking covered her ankle, as though she were being stabbed by thousands of needles that were a little bit too big.

Twilight kept her eyes closed in concentration as she cast the spell, but managed to respond, “Yeah, and that's why when it's something like this you do it on two. Hasn't anypony ever done that to you before?”

“No! I – ow! - normally have to wait till one!”

With a final flourish of magic the light faded from Twilight's horn, and the spell was complete. “Well it's normally a lot easier if you go on two. Anyway, it's done; how's it feel?”

Rainbow slowly pushed herself up on her forelegs, examining her ankle as she slowly rotated her hoof. “Stiff... and still a bit sore, but it's not actually hurting. I can bend it now, at the very least.”

“No problems bending it or anything? You can't feel anything strange about it?”

“Nope; good as new,” Rainbow affirmed with a smile. “Thanks a ton, Twi.”

Twilight returned the smile. “Good. You'll have to keep off it for the rest of the day so it can finish healing, but by tomorrow morning even the stiffness should fade. Now, you're going to tell me all about why you told me you can snowboard.”

Rainbow's face fell. “Oh... right; that.”

“Come on, Rainbow,” Twilight said, levitating the book off the table and back into the bedroom as she stood up and motioned for Rainbow to move her legs. When she complied, Twilight sat down on the other half of the couch. “You did promise.”

“Yeah I... I guess I did.” Rainbow sighed, shifting around until she was sitting properly on the couch. “Well I guess I...” she paused. She had claimed she could snowboard to impress Twilight! How could she say that without then explaining it? It certainly wasn't something she wanted to explain now, of all times, but she had to tell her something.

“You what?” Twilight asked slowly, motioning for Rainbow to continue.

“I just... I wanted to impress you... girls!” Rainbow added quickly. “I wanted to impress you girls. I mean me; the ultimate athlete, having no idea how to snowboard? How not-awesome is that? So I just figured... ya know... I could figure it out easy enough. Guess I was wrong about that...”

Twilight sighed heavily. “Rainbow, when are you going to learn that you don't need to try and impress us? We love you for who you are and what you can already do; you don't need to improve that or show us anything more than what we already see in you.”

Rainbow's heart skipped a beat at the word 'love', but she quickly brushed it aside, reminding herself Twilight was just using it in the platonic sense. Still, she couldn't stop the blood rushing to her face. “Guess I just needed to sprain my ankle trying to snowboard to learn that one, huh?”

“Well at least you didn't have to break anything,” Twilight joked, earning a chuckle from her pegasus friend. “Seriously though, there's no shame in not knowing how to do something; it just means you need to learn.”

Sighing, Rainbow relented with a small nod. “Guess so...” Suddenly, her eyes lit up as an idea slithered into her head, and idea that rapidly formed itself into a plan. “Hey... think you could teach me? You know, give me some lessons or something?”

“That's a great idea, Rainbow!” Twilight beamed, before her face fell. “Except I don't know the first thing about snowboarding. Shining was the snowboarder of the family, not me.”

“Then I'll ski!” Rainbow offered quickly, desperately holding on to her plan.

Twilight rubbed her hoof against her chin. “Well... I suppose I could give you an the girls some lessons. We'll have to go and exchange your snowboard for a pair of skis though.”

“No!” Rainbow blushed at her sudden outburst under the scrutinous gaze of Twilight. “I mean... uh... what I meant to say was... uh.... do you think you could me... err.... separate from the girls?”

Tilting her head, Twilight asked; “You mean private lessons?”

“Yeah!”

“I don't know, Rainbow,” Twilight started uneasily. “It's not exactly fair to the rest of the girls, not to mention it'd be a lot easier to teach all of you at once.”

Rainbow put on her biggest eyes and best pout. “C'mon, Twi,” she pleaded. “Please? I don't want the girls to find out I lies to all of them when I said I knew what I was doing.”

“Rainbow....”

“Please Twi?”

“Oh... fine,” Twilight relented with a deflating sigh. “I guess I can give you some lessons without the girls knowing. I'll teach them as much as I can today, and tomorrow I'll tell them to practice while I teach you somewhere else. I'll just tell them we're going to do some longer runs.”

Rainbow grinned widely, leaning over and wrapping the unicorn in a hug. “Thanks Twilight! This means a lot to me.”

“Yeah well... that means I need to go teach them, and you need to keep off that hoof for the rest of the day.... Rainbow?” Twilight frowned, shifting slightly. “Rainbow? Can... you let go now?”

Eyes snapping wide and cheeks flaring red, Rainbow pulled back, scooting to the farthest edge of the couch she could without actually falling off. “S-sorry...” she muttered, eyes glued to the floor.

Twilight chuckled, shaking her head. “Don't worry about it. I'm serious though; keep off that hoof. I'm gonna go find the girls and get them in the best shape I can. I'll come pick you up later, to exchange your stuff, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Alright. I'll see you later, Rainbow,” Twilight called, once again gathering her stuff and heading to the door. “Read your book or something.”

Rainbow didn't so much as move her eyes from her hooves until she heard the door click shut. Letting out a long, so breath, she flopped onto her break and spread out across the couch, staring at the ceiling. “What did I just get myself in to? Oh right, I just got caught red-hoofed lying to all my friends.”

She sighed, flipping onto her stomach. “On the other hoof, Twi's gonna cover for me, and I even get some along time with her out of the deal!”

Groaning, Rainbow sat up, rubbing her hooves through her mane. “But alone time with Twi hasn't exactly worked out in my favour so far... is this time going to be any different?”

“Probably not,” she admitted, falling onto her back again. Rainbow cursed under her breath as she folded her forelegs over her eyes, welcoming the darkness. “Just take it one step at a time; get alone with Twi, then take it from there. It'll all be fine, right?”

Pictures of her planned encounter going horridly wrong filled her mind, the worst of which involved an avalanche caused by a shouting match brought on by Rainbow's confession. She sighed, the familiar feeling of anxiousness once again balling up deep in her gut.

“I'm never gonna tell her the truth, am I?”

“Heh, you girls coming or what!?” Applejack shouted, looking back over her shoulder to the top of the ski hill, where two other ponies on skis wavered unsteadily as they slalomed down the slope.

Rarity huffed indignantly as she came to an unsteady halt a few feet ahead. “Not all of us can be naturals, Applejack. Besides, I have no doubt you'll make a mistake sooner or later; even Rainbow Dash hurt herself, and she actually knows what she's doing. Unlike some ponies.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “I ain't fell yet. This snowboarding thing is a piece a cake.”

“Wee!” Pinkie giggled as she reached the bottom, not even bothering to stop as she continued sliding for several more yards.

“Hey girls!”

All three turned, smiling as a purple unicorn crossed over the snow, skis held in her magical grasp as she dodged a few other ponies mulling about the base of the slopes. “How's it going so far?”

“Well, there were a couple tumbles-”

“Speak fer yourself,” Applejack said with a smirk directed at Rarity.

“A-hem... well, aside from Applejack, there were a few tumbles, but we've managed. How's Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “She's alright, but she'll need to stay off her hooves for most of the day to make sure everything heals properly. Luckily she didn't do all that much damage and should be back out tomorrow.”

Smiling, Rarity motioned to the hill behind them. “Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think we may be ready to tackle something a bit longer. Or at the very least Applejack is.”

“Hmm... well, let's do one more run on this slope; I wanna see how good you girls are. The next slope is a lot steeper than this one so proper control is very important.”

Pinkie pushed herself past the group, moving towards the chairlift. “Last one to reach the bottom's a lazy cupcake!”

“Lazy... cupcake?” Twilight asked, blinking and turning to her friends for an explanation. Rarity and Applejack just shrugged.

“Well, she might have a point,” Applejack said slyly, a challenging smirk upon her lips. “Race to the bottom, anypony?”

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she clicked her boots into her skis. “You've been at this one day, AJ; do you really think you can beat me?”

“Only one way to find out!” Applejack took off towards the lift, dragging her snowboard behind her. Twilight reared up and grabbed her poles, sliding herself easily across the snow and falling into line at the chairlift before Applejack made it even half way.

“What's the matter, Applejack?” Twilight called over her shoulder as she was scooped up into the chair lift. “Can't handle a little race?”

Applejack growled, hurrying across the snow and finding her own seat on the chairlift, Rarity managing to fall in with her. “This don't count, ya hear!?”

Chuckling, Twilight waved a hoof over her head, shouting back; “I know. We'll start from the top. I warn you, though; you won't stand a chance.”

“Well, somepony's been spending a little too much time with Rainbow Dash,” Rarity tutted with a smirk, elbowing the farmer next to her. “If this keeps up we may have two daredevils on our hooves.”

With a relatively short ride the chairlift dropped them off at the top of the hill, Twilight and Pinkie already lined up at the top of the slope. Applejack quickly fell in next to them, strapping her other hoof into her snowboard and lining herself up. Only two other ponies were on this hill, and they were still on the lift as Rarity unsteadily joined the other three.

“On three?” Twilight offered, rearing up onto her hind hooves and grabbing her poles.

“On three.” Applejack affirmed.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!” Pinkie shouted, shooting down the hill in a fluffy pink blur. Twilight was off almost instantly, digging her poles into the snow and propelling herself over the edge, vanishing in a haze of purple. Applejack couldn't help but let her jaw drop as Twilight shot down the hill at speeds she'd only ever seen from Rainbow Dash. A dainty chuckle drew her attention.

“Well, it seems you have some competition,” Rarity snickered before pushing herself off and flying down the hill with gravity;s aid.

Applejack leaped into action, rearing up and throwing herself off the edge of the hill. Her board carved into the snow as she held a steady balance, not even bothering to slalom as she struggled to regain the time she's lost. It worked a little as she passed Pinkie and Rarity, but Twilight was little more than a dream. The unicorn hit the bottom of the hill and skidded to a stop in a flurry of kicked up snow while Applejack was barely half way down.

Removing her goggles, Twilight turned and looked back up the hill with a victorious smirk; even at her top speed Applejack failed to even keep up. Smile shifting to a frown, Twilight noted the slight wobble of Applejack's board as she shot down the slope in a straight line. She waved her hooves, hoping to gain the mare's attention. “AJ! Applejack! Slow down!”

“Slow down?” Applejack asked herself, tilting her head. “Why would I- whoa!” Her snowboard gave a violent shudder and she was sent reeling off balance. Struggling to regain control she tried to turn and bleed of some speed, but instead the leading edge of her board caught in the snow and she was flung forward, somersaulting through the snow until coming to a stop at the base of the hill.

Twilight held a hoof to her mouth, stiffing a giggle. “You okay?”

“I... uh...” the world around her was spinning violently, but most of it cleared with a violent shake of her head. “Yeah... I'm fine.”

Offering a hoof, Twilight helped her up as Pinkie and Rarity slid to a rough stop at the bottom of the hill. “Honestly, you did a lot better than I thought, especially since you haven't had a teacher.”

“Guess I'm just a natural. Still can't compare to you though.”

“Well you really shouldn't try; I have been skiing most of my life. That being said, I think you were right when you said you were ready for the bigger hill. As long as you aren't trying to race,” she added with a pointed look.

Applejack chuckled. “Fine fine; point taken. Still, I wish Rainbow Dash could give me a few pointers or somethin'. I'll have to talk to her next time I see her.”

Twilight stiffened slightly, but before anypony else could notice four calls rang out.

“Hey girls!”

“Hey sis!”

“Howdy!”

“Hey!”

Fluttershy, joined by three small fillies, trudged through the snow towards the group, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders a few steps ahead of their caretaker. Scootaloo was the first to reach them, looking around expectantly. “Where Rainbow Dash? Is she still on a run somewhere?”

“Actually she's back in our room,” Twilight explained slowly, shifting awkwardly. “She managed to crash and hurt herself on her first run.”

Scootaloo looked befuddles. “Rainbow Dash.... crashed?”

Applejack snickered. “It ain't exactly somethin' new.”

“But she's too awesome to crash!” The filly protested. “She's alright, right? Nothing can keep her down for long!”

“Just a sprained ankle, but she needs to stay off her hooves the rest of the day,” Twilight said, earning a slight pout from the filly.

Fluttershy caught up to the group at her own pace as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom ran up tot heir respective sisters to start badgering them with questions about their skiing or snowboarding. “You said Rainbow fell?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, guess she was a little rustier than she thought. Little too much speed and not enough balance. She'll be fine tomorrow.”

“Y-yeah... rusty...” Fluttershy shifted awkwardly, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the unicorn.

Suddenly, Pinkie slid past them on her skies, Scootaloo sat atop her back. “Come, Scootaloo!” She announced, bringing her voice as deep as it would go. “To Dashie's room!”

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “Well, I think it's about lunch time anyway.”

“Oh yes! That's why we came to find you; the girls and I found a nice little cafe that we thought you would all enjoy, and it's almost noon.”

Nodding, Twilight turned to rarity and Applejack. “What do you thin, girls? Go gather some stuff and have some lunch before tackling the bigger hills?”

“Sounds good to me,” Applejack agreed.

Rarity, stepping out of her skis, looked up. “Well, it seems I myself have worked up quite an appetite, so a little lunch sounds wonderful.”

“Then it's agreed. Let's drop our stuff off at our room and go get something to eat. We'll pick up Rainbow and Pinkie while we're there.”

“Oh, Twilight,”Fluttershy called quietly as the group set off. Twilight turned her head, the call going unnoticed by the other mares. “Can I talk to you a moment? If you don't mind?”

Author's Note

It's baaaaack! From the dead... again... it's a zombie of a zombie.

I am really sorry about the delay, guys. I could give a million excuses but really the point is it's updating again and I hope to keep it that way for a little while.

Anyway, fun fact; like I said before, this story largely parallels my own ski vacation experience with me in rainbow's position. Luckily, I didn't break or sprain anything. What I did do was break my ski pole. Snapped in half like a twig. Didn't go out again that day... kinda scared me. Those things are metal. Also, time really goes by fast when you're skiing, which is why it seems this day was so short so far. Runs take a long time even if they don't feel like it.

Aside from that, private lessons! Yeah... let the Twidash begin, shall we?

As always, mistakes can be put in the box below; like last chapter I just really want this out so i didn't edit much. Also the first half of this chapter was written many months ago so there's a little bit of a transition between my old writing and my new writing. Sorry about that.

7. Day One; Revelations

Of Sky and Snow

Chapter 8

Day One; Revelations

Fluttershy shifted awkwardly, glancing around at anything except the unicorn trotting next to her. They lagged behind their friends, just far enough away to have a quiet discussion with being overheard.

“Something wrong, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, keeping her eyes trained on the butter yellow mare. She had a hunch, but felt it best to avoid making any assumptions.

Sigh, Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know if I should be telling you this; Rainbow would probably be mad at me. But… she’s already gotten hurt.” Chewing her lip a moment, she hardened her eyes as a decision was reached. “Rainbow’s never been snowboarding before.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I know.”

“You know?”

“It was pretty obvious when I saw how she crashed. She looked like she’d never even seen a snowboard before.,” Twilight explained, “She’s just lucky the other girls didn’t notice. I asked her about it when I took her back to our room, and she said she wanted to impress them.”

Fluttershy finally met Twilight’s thoughtful gaze. “Them?” She echoed.

The unicorn nodded with a grunt. “I know; something doesn’t add up to me either. I mean… I guess it makes sense for her to brag about something like that, but she must have known we’d find out. I don’t know, something about it feels off.” She looked up thoughtfully, as though the clouds would answer her questions.

“I… um…I don’t know,” the pegasus shrunk behind mer mane slightly as they rounded the final corner to the corrisor with their rooms, most of the girls having finished inside with the exception of Scootaloo waiting in the hall.

“Twilight!” The filly cried, hopping up as her wings buzzed excitedly. “There you are! Do you have the key? I tried knocking but Rainbow won’t answer.”

Twilight smirked, pulling her room key out of a zipped pocket in her magic. “Napping, if I know her.” As soon as the door was unlocked Scootaloo rushed in, calling for the no-doubt snoozing pegasus to wake up.

“Listen, Twilight,” Fluttershy called the attention back to herself. “I probably shouldn’t be the one telling you this, but I hate seeing her like this. She wasn’t trying to impress the girls; she was trying to impress you.”

“Me?” Twilight echoed curiously.

“I know she’s difficult to deal with sometimes, but give her time. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.” Before Twilight could ask about the somewhat cryptic message the pegasus disappeared into the door of her own room, leaving the unicorn to wonder as she did the same.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo was all but shouting now, stood next to the couch where Twilight had left the cyan pegasus that morning. Telltale snores emanating from behind the armrest. She rolled her eyes, using her magic and lifting Scootaloo in a magenta glow. The filly gave her a confused look, but it soon morphed to an eager grin as she was levitated above the sleeping mare.

Sharing a nod, Twilight shared Scootaloo’s mischievous grin as her magic released and the orang filly was dropped on top of Rainbow, accompanied by her loudest shout yet.

“Oof!” Rainbow gasped as the air was pushed out of her lungs, eyes flying open and coming face to familiar face. “Scoots?” She wheezed, blinking blearily.

Twilight finished depositing her gear in the closet, coming and standing next to the couch. “Time for lunch, sleepyhead,” she deadpanned as Scootaloo jumped down and stood next to her. “How’s the ankle?”

The pegasus groaned, rolling her hoof. “Stiff, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“How’d you crash?” Scootaloo asked, almost eagerly. “I bet it was doing something awesome. Like.. like.. A triple front flip or… or a-”

“Just trying a new trick,” Rainbow was quick to cut off the filly’s wild speculation before she asked to actually see the trick. “Didn’t work out.”

Twilight smiled lightly. “Scootaloo, why don’t you go make sure everypony’s ready to go? I need to check and make sure her leg is healing properly.”

The filly pouted, but when Rainbow motioned for her to go she didn’t argue. When the door clicked shut a moment later the pegasus sat up a little straighter. “Alright Twi; do what you gotta do.”

“Hmm? Oh, no; I just wanted to talk to you alone. You’re ankle’s fine.”

Rainbow could already feel her anxiety building. Twilight wanting to talk, alone, was never a good sign, as far as she was concerned. “O-oh? What about?”

“Something Fluttershy told me.” Twilight sat back on her haunches, carefully studying the panicked expression that grew on the mare’s face. “She told me you didn’t know how to snowboard, which we already figured out. But… she also said I was the one you were trying to impress, not the girls, and that you’d talk to me when you were ready. Do you know what she meant?”

That traitor! Rainbow hissed in her head, glaring daggers at the wall in front of her - very pointedly not looking to the unicorn growing worryingly close to her secret. “I uh… don’t have a clue… heh heh… heh…”

Twilight sighed. “So she was right,” she shook her head, frowning to herself. “Look; I’m not going to force you to tell me anything you don’t want to. But I will remind you; you can tell me anything. Just like I told you before we left the library; we will always be friends, no matter what.”

“I…” Rainbow found herself without the words to express herself, meating Twilight’s look for the first time since she’d came back to the room. Those purple eyes held no lies, and she could almost feel the last barrier she had breaking down.

She looked away forcefully, biting her lip. “O-okay Twi. I… I’ll tell you when I’m ready, okay?”

“That’s all I ask, Rainbow,” Twilight said, giving a small smile. There was a moment of silence that was broken by knocking at their door.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo’s voice called. “Everypony’s ready to go to lunch!”

Rainbow twisted her head and shouted to the door, “We’ll be out in a minute squirt!” She looked back to Twilight, nodding towards her legs. “I’ll be okay to walk around?”

“Should be,” she nodded, offering a hoof to help Rainbow up. “If it starts to hurt let me know, but if I cast that spell right we won’t have any problems.

Accepting the offered hoof Rainbow grinned. “Oh, well then I have nothing to worry about. I trust you when it comes to that stuff.”

Twilight blushed at the compliment. “C-come on; we shouldn’t keep the girls waiting.”

They left the room to find the rest of the girls waiting in the hall, Cutie Mark Crusaders included. Scootaloo was on Rainbow Dash in an instant, flitting about with a barrage of questions about her crash and the trick that caused it, the filly’s mental image of it already far beyond the realms of possibility. And physics, Twilight noted. She also noted the venomous glare Rainbow adopted when she and Fluttershy locked eyes, the shy mare shrinking back only slightly.

“Come along, darlings,” Rarity announced, noticing that their group was complete. “Our dear Fluttershy has found us a wonderful little cafe.”

Taking the hint, Fluttershy slunk to the froward of the group and started leading them to the promise of food, Rarity trotting alongside her with Spike and Sweetie Belle trailing her. Applejack fell in behind them with Applebloom next to her, gushing about how awesome snowboarding must be. Twilight, meanwhile, grabbed Rainbow by the shoulder before she could follow the group.

“Hey, go easy on Fluttershy; I may not know what’s going on but she only told me anything because she’s worried about you,” she chided lightly.

Rainbow huffed. “She promised she wouldn’t say anything.”

“She wanted to stop you from hurting yourself any worse than you already have,” Twilight pointed out, noticing the slight limp in the pegasus’s walk as they moved to catch up with the rest.

“I shoulda’ made her Pinkie Promise,” Rainbow muttered, straightening her gait.

Twilight frowned at the back of her head, but apparently the conversation was officially over, as Rainbow kept walking. She sighed, shaking her head. The mare was as stubborn as always, it seemed.

It turned out the cafe wasn’t that far from their rooms; only a few buildings over. It had both indoor and outdoor seating, with the outside tables sitting on a patio from which there was an unobstructed view up the slopes and the surrounding mountain range. The sun had finally moved out from behind the peak, marching slowly across the sky and warming the air from ‘chilled’ to ‘comfortable’, though most ponies still wore coats.

The group was lucky enough to happen upon a fairly empty establishment, allowing the staff to assemble them a table large enough for everypony to sit at. Conversation was constantly buzzing around them, mostly about their experiences on the slopes. Three fillies in particular seemed eager to try it out for themselves, and even Rainbow seemed a little more relaxed, embellishing her crash to make it seem like she was trying something difficult.

“I’m gonna try snowboarding!” Scootaloo announced excitedly, practically hanging off her idol’s every word.

“Me too!” Applebloom agreed, doing much the same to her sister.

Applejack chuckled. “We’ll see about getting you girls set up tomorrow; me an’ the girls are still learning ourselves, you know.”

Twilight perked up. “You know, if you filles want to learn there’s a class we could sign you up for; it’d only be half a day, but it’d get you three to a point where you could at least make it down the smaller hills.”

“That ain’t a bad idea, Twi,” Applejack agreed thoughtfully. “What do ya think, Applebloom?” The smaller filly nodded eagerly, as did her friends.

“Alright, I’ll make sure to sign you girls up for a class tomorrow.”

Applejack grinned mischievously. “Maybe you should sign Rainbow up for one of them too, while you’re at it.”

Rainbow jolted slightly in her seat, but Twilight surreptitiously placed a hoof on her thigh under the table, holding her back. “She’s not the only one who crashed today,” Twilight quipped, feeling the tension slowly leave the pegasus’s body and removing her hoof only when she was sure Rainbow wouldn’t lash out in an attempt to cover up her blunder. “Also, last I checked, I won our little race.”

The farm mare snorted, crossing her fore legs and leaning back in her chair. “Ain’t my fault the dang board couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to.”

Twilight chuckled. “It’s not the board’s fault you couldn’t keep balanced.”

“My my, it seems we have another Rainbow Dash on our hooves after all,” Rarity tutted, sipping on a steaming cup of tea. “Who knew Twilight had a competitive side?”

The lavender unicorn blushed slightly, shrinking back in her seat. “I can’t help it; my brother and I used to race all the time. It’s… habit, I guess.”

Rarity chuckled. “It’s fine, dear; just a bit of teasing, is all. Though I have to admit I’m quite curious now: Who was faster?”

Twilight blushed even more. “I was, usually,” she admitted, her voice growing small as she struggled to avoid sounding boastful. “But Shiny was always better at the jumps. I once saw him do a double backflip.”

Applejack spit out the drinks he was sipping on. “Two backflips!? On that flimsy hunk of wood!?”

“I know; I could only ever do one,” Twilight admitted, though by the looks on her friend's faces they were equally impressed with that accomplishment.

“No way, Twi can do a backflip?” Rainbow asked eagerly, sitting up in her chair. “Are you secretly awesome and you’ve just been hiding it from us?”

“Hey!” She frowned, unable to keep the slight offence out of her tone. “I’m plenty awesome without my skiing, thank you very much!”

Rainbow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… nah. Cool? Maybe. Awesome? I dunno, Twi; you’ve got some cool things going for ya, with the magic and everything. But the skiing is about your only point in the awesome category. You do have some amazing points to make up for it, though.”

“Those are all synonymous!” Twilight shouted, gesticulating at the pegasus wildly.

“Syno-what?”

She sighed, slapping a hoof to her forehead as a chorus of giggles rose up from their table. “They all mean the same thing, Dash.”

“What? No they don’t,” Rainbow defended, as though it was common knowledge. “Awesomeness, amazingness and coolness are different things. That’s why they’re different words.”

“That… never mind,” Twilight sighed, giving up the point.

Applejack chuckled. “Well, you’ll definitely have to show us those skills o’ yours some time. I don’t think I’m the only one curious.” She received a round of nods from the table, and Twilight once again felt all eyes focus on her.

“I uhh… well,” she faltered, stumbling over her words. “I guess?” she squeaked out. Clearing her throat after hearing herself, Twilight channeled the competitive spirit her brother had given her. “After we get you girls good enough to come down the bigger runs with me I could show you my… uh, what did you call it? Awesomeness?”

“You should show us what you can do too, darling,” Rarity added, looking to Rainbow. “I bet Scootaloo would love to see some tricks, hmm?” The filly lit up instantly, grinning widely.

Rainbow Dash froze for an imperceptible moment, before chuckling awkwardly. “I uh…”

Once again, Twilight saved her as the unicorn piped up; “Actually, Rainbow decided she was going to give skiing a try. She might know how to snowboard but I wouldn’t recommend anything like that her first time on skis.”

Though the news was taken with no small amount of surprise, Rainbow’s lie had been protected. She smiled nervously, nodding along with Twilight’s cover story. “Heh… yeah. I dunno; I guess snowboarding wasn’t all I remember it being. I uh… figured I’d try something new?”

“Awww! But I wanted to see something awesome!” Scootaloo pouted, though it lasted only a moment before she realized what she’d implied. “I-I mean, I bet you’ll be just as awesome on skis!”

Applejack didn’t seem as convinced. “Really? Y’all are telling me you’re going to give up on snowboarding just like that? What, that crash scare ya?”

Rainbow bristled at the perceived insult. “I’m not scared,” she growled lowly.

The air around them quickly thickened with tension, the small, side conversations died off quickly as everypony focused on the farm mare and the pegasus. Rainbow was glaring daggers at her, but Applejack didn’t let her suspicious look fall. “Then why the sudden change of pace? I thought you loved to show off.”

“Appleja-” Twilight tried to cut in a defuse the situation, but was cut off.

“Applejack!” Fluttershy called suddenly, her voice not loud but still demanding attention. “Rainbow can do whatever she wants; stop trying to rile her up just because you think it’s strange. Shame on you,” she admonished, her glare gradually softening as Applejack hung her head slightly.

“I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, I just-”

“You could use some more tact, darling,” Rarity agreed as Fluttershy relaxed back in her chair, seemingly becoming a different pony as her shy nature returned.

The farm mare sighed. “Fine. Sorry,” she muttered, pointedly looking away from the table as she dipper her stetson to hide her eyes.

Rainbow opened her mouth venom on her tongue, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. She looked over to see Twilight simply shake her head, and felt herself deflate. “It’s fine.”

Silence hung around them for a few tense moments, before Rarity, ever composed, cleared her throat, “Well then, if we’re all done eating?” She glanced around at the series of empty plates. “I must admit, I’m rather eager to get back out on the hills. There’s something strangely… alluring, to this skiing thing.”

Twilight glanced to the sun, nodding. “I have been craving a good, long run all day. FLuttershy? Could you make sure Rainbow gets back to our room okay?”

“I’m not a foal, Twi,” Rainbow muttered, already climbing out of her seat. “I have the key; I’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy stood as well. “If it’s okay with everypony, I’m going to take the girls to get their equipment and see about those classes?”

The crusaders all eagerly shouted their approval, quickly gathering around the butter yellow pegasus. Twilight nodded. “If you’re sure, Rainbow. Alright, Fluttershy; if you need anything we’ll be on the hill; just wait around by the lift for us to come down.”

With that the bill was paid and they left the cafe as a group, stopping in shortly at their rooms to gather their gear before heading back out to the slopes. Rainbow was seen off with fond waves and smiles, wishing her a swift recovery.

Some time later - hours, days, years? She couldn’t tell - Rainbow found herself glaring daggers at an unassuming white ceiling. Sleep had eluded her for the most part, her new book was already finished, and she’d preened her wings three times since her crash, with every feather in perfect working order.

“Stupid Applejack,” she grumbled, fidgeting as half a day of laying around doing nothing caught up with her. “I can ski if I want!”

Somewhat predictably, the room didn’t answer, but that hardly stopped her. “And you, Fluttershy! How could you tell her!?” She felt… betrayed. By one of her closest friends, no less! And why shouldn’t she? Fluttershy had promised to keep her secret. So what if Rainbow had been hurt trying to keep it? So what if she was probably going to do it again if Twilight hadn’t seen through her ruse?

“Okay… maybe Fluttershy has a point,” she muttered, rolling her hoof and feeling the tell-tale stiffness lingering from the spell. “But still!”

Finally getting fed up with stagnating, Rainbow rolled off the couch and, to her own surprise, started pacing. “Why does this have to be so hard? I mean… it’s Twilight, for Celestia’s sake! Nerdy, bookworm Twilight… who is apparently awesome at skiing?” She shook her head forcefully, continuing to walk circles around the room. Which probably wasn’t all that good an idea; she could feel a slight soreness bleeding into her ankle.

“Why can’t I just tell her how I feel? Just walk up to her and say; ‘hey, Twi, I know we’re really great friends and you probably don’t think about me that way at all, but do you wanna, like, date?’”

Rainbow laughed almost bitterly, shaking her head sadly. “Yeah right; I can’t even admit to not knowing how to snowboard.”

She could practically hear Applejack’s voice in her head, taunting her. You scared?

“Yes!” She shouted, stomping her hooves as she came to a stop. “I’m scared! I can’t even tell the mare of my dreams how I feel about her, and instead of doing anything about it I’m sitting here feeling sorry for myself! I’m so sick of this!”

Rainbow slumped to her haunches, hanging her head. “Just once, I’d like to be able to tell Twilight how I feel. I don’t care if she never wants to talk to me again. I don’t care if she’s not comfortable being friends anymore. I just need to get this off my chest, but I can’t. I can’t take risking what we already have like that. Celestia, I’m such a coward.”

“You’re not a coward, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. She knew that voice, better than any other. Slowly, fearfully, her head turned. Standing there in the doorway, a small, gentle smile on her lips, stood a purple unicorn. “T-Twilight… I-”

Author's Note

Dun-dun-duuuuhhhhh.

Howdy guys. Long time no see. Well... unless you follow me and not just this story.

If you follow this story, I gotta start this off my saying I'm so sorry. About everything. I know me releasing one chapter won't fix anything, just like I know telling you I'm already working on the next won't, but that's all I can do. For now, anyway. I'm gonna take the next little while and edit this story up, I know it's really bad, especially the previous two chapters. I wanted to do that before I released this chapter but... then I finished this one and really didn't feel like editing. Yeesh, maybe I'll have to find someone willing to do that for me, now that I'm working in google docs and it's so much easier there.

Anyway, enjoy this, thank Incredible Blunderbolt, just like last chapter, and I hope to see you much more frequently from here on out.

6. Day One; Bumpy Start

Of Sky and Snow
Chapter 6
Day One: Bumpy Start

“Rainbow! Wake up wake up wake up!” Twilight shouted excitedly, shaking the sleeping pegasus forcefully as she leaned over the bed.

“Twi, it's like seven in the morning; give it a rest,” Rainbow mumbled, burying her head further into her pillows, shutting out the light streaming through the bedroom's window. While the living room window faced towards the mountain in the east, the one in the bedroom faced west, away from the rising sun. Although it didn't face the sun directly, the light managed to reflect off a sheet of snow and directly through the window. The bedroom window may have been a great deal smaller than the one in the main room, the bright rays were still annoying. Almost as annoying as the unicorn that was shaking her. Almost.

“But the ski lifts open in twenty minutes and the others still have to get their gear; the rental shop opened an hour ago,” Twilight nearly whined, doubling her efforts to rouse the pegasus from her comfy blankets and mattress.

“Then why can't they get their stuff and then wake me when the lifts are actually open?” The pegasus groaned, finding it increasingly difficult to ignore the lavender hoof continuously poking at her.

“Because I have the payment card, and we need to get in on the first runs; there's nothing quite like the fresh new snow on the first run of the day, even if we're just sticking to the short runs for the girls today. But you should know that by now,” Twilight added as an afterthought, her statement jolting the pegasus awake faster than any alarm could hope to.

“Right, I knew that. Let's gather the girls!” Rainbow stated swiftly, leaping out of bed and to the door. Twilight gave her an odd look at the sudden change, but shrugged it off as her mind finally waking up and followed out to the main room, collecting their gear from the closet in a magical glow and placing their boots in front of them.

“I'll go get the others, you get ready,” Twilight called as she walked to the door, bringing their payment card as she went to wake the others and give them instructions.

Once Twilight vanished around the corner of the door, Rainbow swallowed nervously, eyeing her boots wearily. Come on Rainbow, she told herself, if you can fly, you can snowboard... right? She gave a confidence-boosting grin, which did practically nothing, and collected her boots. Sitting on the semi-soft couch she began the ever-laborious process of attaching the the hunks of plastic to her hooves. By some stroke of luck she managed to get them secured to her hooves before Twilight got back, but she couldn't help but notice they felt tighter than they had yesterday.

“Alright, they'll meet us at the ski lift once they get their gear, so we can... Rainbow? Why are you wearing my boots?” Twilight asked when she came back into the room, cocking her head from the doorway as she looked at the boots that were clearly built for skiing.

Rainbow's cheeks lit up crimson as she realized why the boots were tighter than she remembered. hastily undoing the straps, she stopped when they were undone and pulled off her hooves for her courtesy of Twilight's magic. “I... uh... ah-heh... well...” Rainbow fumbled with her words, trying to think of a viable reason. Twilight just rolled her eyes.

“Really, did you think I wouldn't notice? I have to say Rainbow, I think your pranks are slipping,” Twilight admonished lightly, slipping her hooves into her boots and tossing Rainbow her own.

“Right... prank,” Rainbow chuckled nervously, silently thanking Celestia Twilight had provided her with an excuse. “You caught me. Anyway, what were you saying?”

“The girls are going to meet us at the lift after they get their gear, so we can head down whenever we're ready,” Twilight explained, throwing her jacket on and pulling her goggles over her head, letting them dangle from her neck.

Rainbow nodded as she finished strapping the last boot to her hoof, holding in a groan as she reflexively tried to bend her ankle. Twilight was already standing anxiously by the door with her skis and poles. With more effort than it should normally take, Rainbow pushed herself off the couch and stood, grabbing her board under her wing and following Twilight out the door.

“I can't wait,” Twilight started happily, practically dancing down the hall. “It's only the small runs until the girls get the hang of it, but it's going to be so much fun! Then, tomorrow, you and I can go-”

Rainbow tuned the rest of it out, struggling not to think too much about what she was about to do. She was out of avoidance tactics, and she'd be lucky to get through the day without Twilight constantly reminding her about what she would have to do tomorrow. Nervous was an understatement; she was petrified. But it was this or risk exposing her lie. As they walked, Rainbow purposefully lagged behind a few paces, stretching out the walk for as long as possible while she examined the board under her wing. There must have been some way to make it look like she knew what she was doing, right?

The piece of sports equipment was completely unfamiliar to her, however. Rainbow couldn't make heads or tails of the contraption she was carrying, and to make it worse she knew that she was expected to teach Applejack how to do it.

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked, her voice slightly concerned.

Hearing her name snapped Rainbow out of her thoughts, turning to face the unicorn that had called her.

“Seriously, what's been going on? You've been zoning out like that nonstop since we got here,” Twilight said, stopping in the middle of the hall. Rainbow came to a stop in front of her.

Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, but promptly shut it. What could she say? From the look on her face, Twilight wasn't going to let it drop this time. Taking a breath, she looked up and down the hall, making sure they were alone. “Twilight, I...” she trailed off, unsure of what she should say.

“Rainbow?” Twilight repeated worriedly.

The pegasus shook her head firmly and grinned cockily. “It's nothing. Just been a while since I was snowboarding, but I'll get back into it in no time.”

“If you're sure...” Twilight said slowly. Upon the eager smile Rainbow gave her, Twilight nodded and once again started walking down the hall.

Rainbow didn't know if she should be thrilled Twilight bought it, or dreading that she would actually have to snowboard.

Not long later, Rainbow found herself at the place she hoped she'd never have to see; the chairlift leading up the mountain. The massive metal machine hummed quietly, the various bits and bobs clanking noisily against each other. With every metallic thud making Rainbow cringe inside as she gazed upon the contraption. Twilight had stopped as soon as the sidewalks ended and the snow began, laying her skis out beneath her and snapping them onto her boots. Rainbow had laid out her board, but was still unsure what to do with it.

“C'mon Dash,” She scolded herself. “You practically taught yourself most of your stunts, surely you can teach yourself how to attach a hunk of wood to you hooves!” With a deep breath she stepped her right hoof into what looked like a cage for her boot. It slid in smoothly, and she leaned down to do up the straps. She was about to strap her other free hoof in when she started thinking about how hard that would make it to move, let along walk.

“How the hay...” Rainbow muttered, ultimately deciding to strap the other hoof in when she was at the top of the mountain. She smiled when she saw another snowboarded walk past her, snowboard attached to only one hoof as they dragged it across the snow towards the lift. She'd guessed right.

“Alright, now we just need to wait for the girls,” Twilight announced as she reared up on her hind legs and grabbed her poles, using them to push herself along the snow towards a set of large racks. “I said we'd meet them out here.”

“Right...” Rainbow sighed, awkwardly dragging herself across the snow behind her friend. A gentle breeze blew through the space, ruffling Rainbow's feathers and making Twilight's light purple jacket billow slightly.

“Hurry up,” Twilight grumbled, stabbing her poles roughly into the snow and falling back onto her front legs, her hoof tapping impatiently against the ground.

Rainbow wanted them to take as long as possible.

“So what's really been going on with you?” Twilight asked, making Rainbow wish their friends would show up.

“N-nothing,” Rainbow stuttered out.

“No, I'm sick and tired of that answer, Rainbow,” Twilight barked suddenly. “Ever since we decided on this vacation something's been up with you, and every time I ask about it you give me that same answer or an excuse just as weak. I want to know what's really going on, right now.”

Rainbow sighed heavily, glancing around nervously. As far as she could see they were alone, most of the other ponies at the resort either already on the mountain or still asleep. Twilight wouldn't let her off easy this time, and their friends were still getting their equipment. “I... promise me you won't say anything to the girls, alright?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “If you don't want me to, I won't.”

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow nodded in appreciation. “Well... I... uh... I've never-”

“Hey girls!” Pinkie chirped excitedly, bouncing over to them. The tips of her skis could be seen just poking out of her poofy pink mane. Her poles were nowhere in sight.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow cried happily, more thankful she didn't have to tell Twilight the truth than she was happy to see her friend. She caught the glare Twilight was giving her, and knew full well the unicorn wouldn't let it drop just because their friends showed up.

“So, we gonna do this or what?” Applejack asked as she slid herself across the snow, her snowboard strapped onto one of her hooves.

Twilight, still glaring over at Rainbow Dash, simply nodded. “As soon as Rarity-”

“I'm here!” Came the sing-song voice of the fashionista, as though summoned by her name. The unicorn trotted over quickly, her skis and poles secured in her light blue magic grasp.

“Alright, first things first, Pinkie, Rarity, put your skis on, AJ and Rainbow, go wait over by the lift,” Twilight started, motioning to the shortest lift on the mountain.

Complying, Applejack followed Rainbow away from the skiers as Twilight showed them how to attach their skis. Suppressing a nervous shudder at the large machine now looming over them, Rainbow swallowed nervously.

“Y'all 'right there sugarcube? You're lookin' a mite bit pale,” Applejack noted quietly.

“Fine...” Rainbow responded through clenched teeth,

Applejack sighed. “Same as before then. Fine, changing the subject; how the hay am I supposed to stay standing on two legs with this hunk of wood strapped to mah hooves?”

“Heck if I know,” the pegasus answered shortly, keeping here eyes pointed resolutely away from the mountain.

“What do ya mean? I thought you've done this before.”

Rainbow's eyes grew wide as she realized what she'd just let slip. “No, I uh, I mean uh-”

“There you go, Pinkie!” Twilight called ecstatically, leading Pinkie and Rarity to the lift on their skis. Rarity held the most proper posture possible in ski boots, while Pinkie looked as though she would fall over at any minute.

“Whoa... how do – ahh – do I stop -weeee! - wobbling?” Pinkie asked, swaying unsteadily back and forth, though still grinning like she was having the most fun she'd ever had.

“Think of it.... think of like skating!” Twilight said suddenly, grinning as she came up with an idea. “It's just like that, only instead of four blades you have two.”

As soon as the words registered in Pinkie's mind her legs straightened out slight, her poles lodged firmly in the ground as she regained her balance. A moment later she pulled them out and pushed herself forward with them, sliding smoothly across the snow. “Ooohhh, that makes so much more sense than pretending I'm standing on two Gummy's!”

“Hmmph, the least they could do is make these thing look a little better. Maybe a ruby or two...” Rarity grumbled as she joined the group, staying perfectly balanced even without the help of her poles.

“Wow! Rarity, you learn fast!” Twilight commented with a mild tone of surprise, getting an indignant huff from the designer.

“When one wears high heels on a regular basis, one develops perfect balance,” she explained. “Now if I can keep that balance going down a hill, well, we'll just have to see, won't we?”

Twilight returned Rarity's smile before addressing the group. “Well, everypony seems to be able to stand up now, so any last questions before we go up?”

Rainbow sucked in a breath, racking her brain for something that would let her stall just a little longer. “H-hey! Where's... um... where's Fluttershy?”

“Back at the room looking after the girls and Spike. I think they were going to take a look around the resort today,” Rarity explained, glancing back to the buildings. “I hope they aren't being too much of a hoof full.”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Twilight said suddenly, digging around inside her coat. Giving a cry of success she pulled out five sets of identical goggles. “I bought these from the store yesterday after I did my run. It's going to get really bright when the sun comes up above the mountains,” she explained, passing the tinted eye-wear around.

When everypony had put the goggles on, Twilight turned to the lift with a grin. “Up we go.”

Rainbow swallowed thickly.

“Alright, everypony know what we're doing?” Twilight asked, standing next to Rainbow Dash, the others lines up in front of them. She received a round of nods. “Excellent. This one's not too steep and it's pretty short, so I don't think anypony should have problems. But if you have to choose between falling and going off the slope into the trees, fall. You'll find that snow is a lot more forgiving than wood.”

“Speaking from experience, I presume?” Rarity asked with a smirk, eliciting snickers from the group.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Everypony who's ever gone skiing knows what it's like to hit a tree. I'm sure by the end of this week all of you will too. Now then, one more time: Rainbow and I are going to go about half way down. Watch what we do, and when we stop, you go. Don't bother stopping with us; we'll come down behind you when you pass us. Remember to control your speed. If you go too fast to control, then fall; it's a lot safer to fall than to lose control. Nopony else is on this hill yet, and probably won't be for another hour or two, so we have plenty of time to practice control. Ready?”

Giving a grin at her friends' confirmations, Twilight reared up on her hind legs, grabbed her poles, and swung herself around to face the hill. “Let's go, Rainbow!” She called, pushing herself down the hill. In a flash she was gone, turning into a rapidly shrinking purple dot as she raced down the slope, slaloming back and forth across the snow, bordered on either side by trees.

Rainbow watched her go for a few moments before turning back to her friends, all watching her with expectant eyes. “Heh.. right...” she said nervously, glancing over her shoulder at the hill. Twilight was already stopped half way down, looking up at them. “Here I go...”

Uttering a silent prayer, Rainbow dragged her board over to the edge of the slope, swinging it around and strapping her other hoof into it. She looked at her friends. “If I die, it's Twilight's fault.”

With those final words, Rainbow Dash stood up on her hind legs and threw her weight forward, moving just enough to go over the edge and let gravity do the rest. She disappeared down the hill, leaving the rest of the group in confusion at what she'd said.

“AAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh!” Rainbow failed to suppress her shriek as she flew over the snow at a seemingly impossibly speed. In an instant she was going faster than she could fly in the same amount of time from a stop, and she was still picking up speed.

“Think think think! How do I slow down!?” She screamed at herself in her head, watching as trees flew by on either side of her. The purple dot half way down the hill was coming at her faster and faster. “Alright, Twi was going back and forth, that makes sense... how do I turn!?”

Doing the only thing she could think of, Rainbow did what she did when she was flying and leaned. Leaning backward she pressing the edge of the snowboard deeper into the snow. Through some miracle, she started turning left, her speed decreasing slightly as she started going sideways instead of straight down.

“Alright... alright; that wasn't so bad...” she told herself, shifting her weight so she started leaning forward, the board beneath her hooves turning to the right instead. For a brief, terrifying moment, she gained a little speed as she went down, but quickly lost it as she turned all the way and once again moved to the other side of the slope.

Rainbow gave a hesitant, getting into a rhythm of leaning back and forth. She slalomed back and forth across the slope, going much slower than Twilight had, but at the moment she wasn't thinking of speed. To her, she was already going faster than she wanted to. Suddenly her eyes widened; Twilight was getting closer and closer, and she had to figure out how to stop before she reached the unicorn.

“Deep breath, Rainbow; how did Twilight stop? Wait, I wasn't watching her!” The purple speck half way down the slope was now a clearly defined unicorn mare.

“Stop stop stop stop stop please for the love of Celestia stop!” Rainbow pressed down into the board, leaning towards the bottom of the hill and bending her knees, getting as low as possible. To her horror, she started gaining speed, the wind buffeting against her face harshly. Just as she was about to shoot past Twilight, her board gave a violent shudder, and Rainbow was thrown forward, tumbling end over end in the air.

With a spectacular spray of snow she hit the ground, continuing to roll a couple more meters down the hill before coming to a stop lying spread-eagle across the slope, facing the bright blue sky, tinted yellow through her goggles. “Well, I stopped,” she said to herself, groaning as she pushed herself to sit upright. She winced as her back left hoof wriggled in its boot, a telltale shot of pain racing up her leg.

The sound of skis skidding across snow filled her ears as a blast of white powder was thrown over the back of her head. “Nice one, Rainbow!” Twilight quipped from behind her, giggling as the pegasus brushed the snow from her mane.

“Was that really necessary?” Rainbow grumbled, tossing a glare over her shoulder.

“All things considered? Yes. Now, how about you tell me why you said you knew how to snowboard when you clearly don't.”

Rainbow's pupils shrank as she gasped. “W-what?

Rolling her eyes, Twilight came up beside Rainbow, looking down at her for a moment before looking back up to the top of the hill. “You can go now!” She shouted through cupped hooves, waving her friends to come down the slope. When she was sure they got the message, Twilight turned back to the pegasus and fell back onto her flank, kicking her skis out from under her and laying on her side facing Rainbow.

“Dash, it's clear as day you don't know the first thing about snowboarding,” she explained, watching as her friends slowly but surely made their way down the hill. “You're as new to this as them, so I want to know why you lied to me.”

“I...” Rainbow trailed off nervously, fiddling idle with the snow under her hooves. She glanced up at Twilight briefly before quickly averting her eyes. “I dunno...”

Twilight sighed, her head drooping a little. “Come on, Rainbow; I told you that you can tell me anything. You obviously had a reason for doing this, and I promise I won't laugh or think any less of you because of this,” she assured gently.

“I... I don't want to talk about it... not...” Rainbow stopped herself again as Pinkie skid past them, grinning madly at the pair. She was followed closely by Rarity, Applejack coming down behind her, wobbling slight as she tried to keep her balance. “Not around the other girls.”

Frowning, Twilight nodded slowly. “Fine, but promise me you'll tell me later, okay?”

Rainbow swallowed, unsure if it was a promise she should make. Upon seeing the look on Twilight's face, she gave in and nodded. “I promise.”

“Good. Now come on; you're going to catch a cold if you keep laying in the snow without a coat,” Twilight announced cheerfully, doing a manoeuvre Rainbow could only dream of and standing up with her skis. She offered a hoof. “Come on; take it slow and you should be able to make it to the bottom.”

Taking the hoof, Rainbow was pulled up onto her hooves, wincing as weight was put on her hind leg again. “Oh, Twi, I think I sprained something...”

“Do you think you can make it to the bottom?” Twilight asked concernedly, watching as Rainbow shifted her weight around a bit, resulting in a grunt of pain. “Probably not."

"Can you fly?

Giving a cursory glance at her wings, Rainbow cringed. The feathers were caked with snow from her fall, and any semblance of alignment they had was lost in a flurry of disorganized chaos. "Maybe after a half hour of preening... that's gonna take forever."

Twilight frowned again, the offending hoof Rainbow was clearly trying to keep weight off. “Okay, hold still,” she said, lighting her horn and wrapping the leg in a lavender glow. The magic seemed to soak into the appendage, and as the glow disappeared Rainbow was shocked to find she could put her full weight on her hoof without any pain.

“You healed it?” She asked in awe.

“No, I just numbed the pain. You'll be able to make it to the bottom, but be careful; we don't want you doing anymore damage to it. If it's not too bad I'll be able to heal it once we get back to the room,” Twilight explained, grabbing her poles. “Now come on; the sooner we get you off that hoof the better. You go first, and I'll stay with you, okay?”

Rainbow gave a nervous glance down the hill, recalling how she'd managed to control herself before and slowly angling her snowboard down the hill until she gained just the barest hint of speed. Her body tensed and a shiver ran down her spine as she turned a little more towards the top of the hill, what little speed she had draining away.

“It's okay, Rainbow; as long as you keep moving you won't fall,” Twilight assured from behind.

“I was moving last time I fell!” Rainbow shot back, turning so she picked up a little more speed before once again bleeding it off.

“If you fall I'll catch you. We're more than half way down, just a little further to go.”

Rainbow swallowed the nervous pall in her throat. “Right... a little further.”

-_-_-_-

“Good work on your first run, girls,” Twilight announced, once again standing in front of their group. This time Rainbow was off to the side, sitting on a bench with her board resting next to her.

“What happened to her?” Applejack asked, motioning to the pegasus, her head turned down to the snow. “Ah thought you two weren't ever gonna make it down with how slow she was goin'.”

Twilight sighed, coming up with the best half-truth she could to keep Rainbow's secret. “When she fell she injured her hoof. I numbed the pain for her, but to prevent making it worse she had to go slow, and I figured I'd go with her. I'm going to take her back to our room and see if I can't give her some proper medical attention. It's just a sprain so I should be able to heal it today, but she won't be able to go out again until at least tomorrow.

“In the meantime, you girls can keep doing runs on this hill until you're comfortable or go meet up with Fluttershy and have some food. I'll come find you later.” Twilight turned and walked over to Rainbow, her skis carried next to her in a magical glow. “Come on,” she said, motioning for the pegasus to follow as she grabbed the snowboard and bunched it with her skis. “The sooner we treat that sprain the better.”

“Thanks, Twi,” Rainbow mumbled, pushing herself from the bench and limping towards the lodge, keeping weight off her bad hoof.

“And the sooner we get to the room the sooner you tell me why you lied.”

“Oh...”

Author's Note

Hey, look what's updating again!

You can ~~blame~~ thank Incredible Blunderbolt for nagging me about this until I actually wrote it. I had a base for this chapter started, but I added another three thousand words in the last... three hours. This is not the original plan for the chapter, but that's mostly because at this point I actually can't remember what the original plan was.

Anyway, editing is sparse because I really wanted to upload this, so let me know if you find any of the countless errors there are sure to be in here.