Chapter 13:
Jealousy, Destinies, And Trusting A Master
Meanwhile, blissfully unaware of Tai Lung and Luna's strife, Twilight stood at the stove of the dining hall, reading carefully from a cookbook as she prepared soup. The Furious Five and their sisters lounged at the table, watching Twilight with intrigue. Except for Rainbow Dash, who stood further away from Twilight, preparing her own food.
"I must say Twilight. I'm surprised you know how to cook," Rarity commented.
"Considering ya almost killed her with the acupuncture?" Applejack teased, despite Rarity puffing her cheeks in agitation, Sweetie Belle and even Twilight managed to do soft chuckles. They knew Rarity had only been trying to help.
"That really isn't funny, darlings," Rarity muttered.
"Don't worry Rarity. I lent her a few of my cookbooks. She said she was aching to read scrolls again, so…" Pinkie chirped, leaning over the table.
"Thank you, by the way, Pinkie. Now, this was pretty much the only recipe that didn't involve baking. I did my best with it – followed the instructions, but… let's see how it worked," Twilight said gratefully, shutting the book and blowing out the flame before levitating eight bowls and using a ladle to pour soup into each one.
Continuing to use her magic, Twilight levitated the eight bowls over to the others.
"Oh! Did you read one of the other cookbooks I gave you?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I want to. But it's dinnertime. I only had the time to read this one," Twilight admitted as she propped the book up next to her, pat it like it was an old friend, and dug in along with the others.
Though Twilight's eyes still darted around with worry, she perked up as gasps of delight emanated all around as the others tried her soup.
"Twilight! This is really good!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, practically slurping her soup in joy.
"Don't slurp, Sweetie Belle," Rarity chastised.
"But slurping means 'delicious. And this is beyond delicious!" Pinkie noted, proving her point by slurping her own soup as well.
Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie's antics but did adopt a softer tone, "They are right darling. This soup is divine. Even Pinkie can't get this soup this good," She admitted.
Rarity immediately realized what she said and turned to her pink friend for an apology, only to find her missing. Rarity then saw Pinkie standing before the stove pouring herself another bowl of soup. She wasn't offended in the slightest. She thought it was better too.
"It's nothing. I just followed the recipe. I did think about going a little overboard – using some onions or herbs – but, I didn't know if it would…Besides, you should've tried my big brother's recipe from his Secret Dragon Book, only he knows the secret…" Twilight insisted as she gave the soup a doubtful look.
"Twilight, relax. This is amazing." Fluttershy insisted with a smile.
Twilight looked around with a slowly developing smile as the others enjoyed her cooking. And she also started to feel like, at least with these 7 ponies, she was starting to fit in. But mentioning her brother had her wondering, did he miss her? Was he upset she didn't return home right away? And most importantly, was he upset she had dreams and interest other than books and the library? Her thoughts were interrupted by the comments of her new friends.
"Fantastic!" Pinkie agreed.
"Ah wish my mouth was bigger!" Apple Bloom agreed.
Even Scootaloo nodded in approval, "Rainbow Dash. You gotta try this," She commented, sliding her bowl over to her older sister.
But Rainbow Dash just stuck to her daisy sandwich, "You know, I heard it said that the Celestial Warrior can survive for months at a time on nothing but the dew of a single ginkgo leaf, and the energy of the universe," She commented darkly.
Twilight's grin faded as Pinkie rolled her eyes at her friend.
"Rainbow Dash, don't be like that. You're only saying that because you're just jelly," Pinkie chastised.
"Jelly?!" Twilight and Rainbow exclaimed in unison.
Rarity and Applejack choked, trying to stop Pinkie, but with their mouths full, they were too late.
"Peanut butter and Jelly. Just because Twilight's the Celestial Warrior and not you doesn't mean that…" Pinkie continued as the others motioned for her to stop.
"Pinkie!" Apple Bloom barked, on the desperate motioning from her sister, but the damage had been done.
Twilight stared at Rainbow as she glared down at her food.
"All this time… you've been… jealous?" Twilight asked, putting a hand to her heart. She couldn't believe that the strongest member of the Furious Five was jealous of her a simple unicorn from the Village.
Rainbow Dash just huffed in reply and looked away.
"Rainbow Dash, what do you have to be jealous of? You're the leader of the Furious Five; one of the greatest groups of warriors in Equestria! Have you read any of the books that have been written about you?!" Twilight said with a small chuckle.
Rainbow glanced at her curiously.
"Master Luna doesn't give us much time to read. Unless it's related in some way to training," Fluttershy admitted quietly.
Twilight briefly stared at Fluttershy in horror before shaking out of it.
"M-My point is the scrolls and books depict you guys as the greatest heroes since Spitfire's Wonder Bolts!" Twilight continued, before the others could comment, Twilight went on a roll.
"I mean, the Battle of Weeping River? Outnumbered a thousand to five, and you all didn't stop! You just..." She went on as she jumped up and mimed several kung fu moves.
Rainbow Dash chuckled, "We were awesome there, weren't we? What else have they written about us?" She admitted, glancing up with eagerness and intrigue in her eyes.
"The time when you went up against the Diamonds of Death? How does someone manage to turn their enemies into sequined dresses?!" Twilight practically squeaked in awe.
"To be fair, I aided a lot in that. But I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't worn them down," Rarity said with a sweep of her mane before she gave a worried look to Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah...Yeah, you're right," Rainbow admitted.
Then Pinkie shot up, "Oh, what other adventures did they write about? Did they write about the time Rainbow and I managed to eat five all-you-can-eat buffets out of business?!" Pinkie asked with an excited smile.
Twilight gave her a long, confused stare, "No. But they did talk about the time you went up against Discord with the aid of Master Luna!" She admitted.
"No way!" Rainbow Dash breathed.
"I thought Discord destroyed the library!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Turned all the books into birds," Fluttershy said next in disbelief.
"Nope. A.K. Yearling got every word you guys spoke that day," Twilight replied.
To prove her point, Twilight stood up from the table and growled out a perfect impersonation of Rainbow's voice, "Your reign of terror ends here, Discord," She said.
Twilight then switched to Luna's voice and said, "Surrender now, foul beast, or face the consequences of your actions!".
Hearing Twilight mimic their Master the five couldn't help but laugh, while Rainbow Dash just smiled. But it was the closest Twilight had come to seeing Rainbow be happy around her. Emboldened by their positive reaction, Twilight pushed forth into a mockery of Discord's voice.
"Oh, you truly are a treat, Lulu. 'Oh, look at me, I'm Master Luna!'" Twilight said in her Discord impersonation.
Pinkie howled with laughter, "He sounded exactly like that!" She gasped through tears of laughter.
"What is that sound you make? Laughter? I've never heard of such a thing!" Twilight continued to growl in the mock Discord-Luna voice.
Rainbow Dash bit back a chuckle. Encouraged to try and make the cyan mare laugh, Twilight cast an illusion spell to mimic Luna's hair.
"Work hard, my little ponies. And maybe someday… you will have hair like mine!" Twilight mimicked.
But just as an impression of Luna's night-colored hair cascaded down Twilight's head, the five's laughter turned to dead silence.
"Did I go too far? Is it not working for you? I mean… I'm pretty sure Discord said that in the book," Twilight asked, staring at them in dismay, failing to notice Luna glaring at her from outside the room.
"No, darling. It's Luna," Rarity hissed.
"Of course, it's Luna who else would it be?…" Twilight started to say before realizing where everyone's eyes were darting to and turned around to look behind her.
"Oh, dear Celestia…Master Luna, I was, uh…," Twilight whimpered as she beheld Luna's angry visage and desperately tried to dispel the illusion magic. But in her panic, she only ended up turning her fake mane a bright pink.
Luna grimaced, privately remembering a time when Celestia's mane had looked like that. The muffled chuckles of her students brought her back to attention.
"You all think this is funny?! Tai Lung has escaped from prison and you're acting like children!" Luna demanded as she stepped into the light showing everyone her dried tear trails.
In her words, the little bit of humor struggled to remain faded. Pinkie's mane deflated like a balloon, and Rainbow Dash started to stand.
"Wait… what? What was that part about Tai Lung?" Filtered through the students, including Twilight.
"He's after the Celestial Scroll! And you are the only one who can stop him!" Luna said, grimly turning to Twilight.
Twilight stared at her in terror. At that moment, Twilight's illusion spell wore off and faded away with a small explosion of pink sparkles. Her eyes turned right to Pinkie, laughing nervously.
"Pinkie, I thought Master Luna didn't have a sense of humor," Twilight whimpered with a nervous smile.
"She doesn't," Pinkie whispered, the implication hit Twilight like a deer in a road.
"B-But… I…W-What about Master Celestia?! She stopped him before…she'll do it again," Twilight said, turning back to Luna.
"Celestia cannot …Not anymore…" Luna said darkly, her expression faltering as she gazed at the staff in her hands.
Dread settled over the table as everyone processed what Luna was saying. Pinkie's mane deflated even further. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom snuggled close to their sisters, almost fearing that they'd leave them. And Fluttershy put both hands to her mouth, struggling to hold back tears as Rarity tried to comfort her.
"B-But that ain't possible. Master Celestia's immortal. Just like ya!" Applejack burst out.
Luna didn't look up at her student and said, "She gave it up to save me from Nightmare Moon,".
Applejack slowly sat back down, disbelief etched across her face. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared a scared look.
"What do we do?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash, who could only look up to Luna for confirmation.
"Nothing. Our only hope… is the Celestial Warrior," Luna replied.
"You mean Twilight?! The unicorn?!" Rainbow Dash demanded as her face went beet red.
"Yes, the unicorn!" Luna snapped back, prompting Rainbow Dash to stand up and kick her chair back.
"Master Luna, please! Let us stop Tai Lung! This is what you trained us for!" Rainbow Dash argued.
"No! It is not your destiny to defeat Tai Lung! It is hers!..." Luna protested, pointing the staff towards Twilight… and only finding herself pointing at empty air.
The group looked around in shock.
"Where'd she go?" Luna asked… before her head whirled to the window.
Outside, Twilight was flat-out sprinting for the stairs that led down to Ponyville, screaming. Though her training had given her a little more stamina, she still huffed and puffed as she raced for her life… and when Luna landed in front of her, Twilight's scream was clogged by exhaustion.
"You cannot leave! A real warrior never quits!" Luna barked at Twilight.
"Well, good thing I'm not a warrior!" Twilight said with a strained smile as she flared up her horn, preparing a teleportation spell.
"Bye-aw…" Twilight yelped as her squeak turned to a whimper as Luna surged forward and seized her horn, cutting off her spell.
"Come on, Luna! How am I supposed to beat Tai Lung?! I can't even beat you to the stairs, even with my magic!" Twilight protested.
"You will beat him because you are the Celestial Warrior!" Luna said, prodding Twilight's chest with the staff.
But Twilight had enough of Luna's abuse, and when she spoke, her voice was equal parts to scared and angry.
"You don't believe that! You've never believed that, Luna! Ever since I got here, all you've been doing is nothing but trying to get rid of me!" Twilight snapped, shoving the staff away and pulling at Luna's grip on her horn.
Twilight struggled against Luna's grip, but Luna let her horn go, reeling her back and allowing her to trip Twilight up with her staff, sending Twilight to her back.
"Yes! I was! But now, I ask you to trust in your master. As I have come trust in mine," Luna admitted, pointing her staff in Twilight's face.
But Twilight glared up at her with everything but trust.
"You're not my master, Luna! And I'm not like the Furious Five or the Celestial Warrior!" Twilight snapped, shoving the staff from her face.
"Then why didn't you quit?! You knew I was trying to get rid of you! Yet you stayed!" Luna demanded, wanting to know why Twilight stayed and didn't quit when she had a chance.
"Yes. I stayed. I stayed because every time you threw one of the Furious Five at me, o-or said I was weak… yeah, it hurt!" Twilight said darkly.
Then her head lowered, "But it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being…Just being me," Twilight struggled for the words, before sighing.
Luna's glare faltered as Twilight looked up at her.
"I stayed. Because I thought… if anyone could change me. Could make me into something better, it was you! The greatest Kung-Fu teacher in all of Equestria!" Twilight continued.
"And I can change you. I can turn you into the Celestial Warrior! And I will!" Luna insisted.
Twilight laughed bitterly, "Come on! Open your eyes, Luna! You said it yourself, Tai Lung is on his way here right now! And even if it takes him a hundred years to get here, how are you going to turn a weak, pathetic, scrawny little bookworm into the Celestial Warrior?! Tell me, how?!" Twilight demanded.
Luna stepped back at the hurt in Twilight's eyes as she said it. It may have just been part of the training, but Luna had really underestimated just how badly Twilight had taken her words and actions. She looked away, seeking an answer to Twilight's question.
"How?" Twilight asked again.
Luna shut her eyes. Truth was, she didn't know. Part of her still believed Tai Lung had been destined for the role of Celestial Warrior. Indeed, how was she supposed to train someone that she didn't believe deserved it?
"HOW?!" Twilight screamed.
"I don't know!" Luna finally snapped before her head lowered in defeat, "I don't know…" She repeated softly.
Twilight didn't even look at her, "That's what I thought." She whispered in despair.
As Luna walked away from the depressed unicorn, neither of them was aware of a pair of rose-colored eyes watching them.
Perched on the roof of the Celestial Palace, Rainbow Dash shook her head in sorrow at the two's despair. They needed her and Rainbow Dash knew it. Luna was her master; though she had never gotten over Tai Lung, she was still the closest thing Rainbow Dash had to a mother.
And Twilight… Rainbow Dash couldn't kid herself. Twilight may have taken what was hers, but right now, Rainbow Dash couldn't see some thunder-stealing wannabe. She saw a frightened and scared civilian.
A civilian she had to protect.
So turning away from the two, Rainbow Dash stared up at the stars. Then, her wings flared, and she surged into the air, dive-bombing towards Ponyville. The wind rushed pasted Rainbow Dash as Ponyville drew closer, at the last moment the master flared her wings and landed on one of the houses. She looked back towards the palace.
"This is what you trained me for!" Rainbow Dash insisted, to herself, and even to her master – never mind that her master couldn't hear her.
Turning her gaze forward, Rainbow Dash launched off the rooftop and flew for the outskirts of town. But as she neared the borders of Ponyville, she failed to pick up the shadows of four ponies pursuing her.
"Rainbow!" a voice yelled as Rainbow turned and saw right behind her, Fluttershy was keeping a steady pace, while Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack ran in formation just below her.
"Don't try and stop me!" Rainbow Dash barked, trying to pull ahead.
But Pinkie made a massive bound, briefly putting herself at Rainbow Dash's side before gravity pulled her back down. Undeterred, Pinkie gave another massive jump.
"Don't… be… silly… Rainbow! We… aren't… stopping… you..." Pinkie said, getting a word out with each bound.
"Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash asked as she slowed down a little.
"We're coming with you!" Fluttershy said, floating to her side.
"No one should party alone," Pinkie agreed.
And as Applejack and Rarity gave nods of confirmation, Rainbow Dash felt the hostile look slip from her gaze, replaced with relief and gratitude.
"Thanks, girls…" Rainbow Dash said. Letting Fluttershy take her spot at her side, Rainbow Dash turned her gaze back to the horizon.
And together, the Furious Five set out to stop Tai Lung.