Learning To Let Go

Chapters

Part 1: Cracking The Surface
Part 2: The Strength To Go On
Part 3: This Is Letting Go

Part 1: Cracking The Surface

Rainbow Dash gazed at the parchment paper in front of her, suspended by the mulberry glow of Twilight’s magic. She gritted her teeth against the quill she still held in her mouth, and glanced down to see her friends, two of whom were still donned in their Mare Do Well façade and she strained her smile even more. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she raked her mind for something to write to the Princess for her “friendship report” under the expectant watch of her friends.

Try as she might she could not think of a single thing to write. She tried to force thoughts of her friends tricking her, going behind her back and lying to her, out of her mind.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight tentatively ventured, breaking the silence.

Rainbow didn’t respond, still stuck in her thoughts, trying to clear her head. She was confused, and still emotionally raw from the entire ordeal, and now she was trying to sort out exactly what she felt while expected to write a letter to Princess Celestia all at the same time.

“Hello? Rainbow Dash?”

This time Twilight’s voice was able to shake Dash out of her reverie, and she responded with a carefully articulated “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, removing the hat from her ensemble, “You’ve been hovering there for a couple minutes now and haven’t said, written, or done anything.”

“Oh...uh, yeah, sure, of course I’m fine! You guys may have pulled a fast one on me with Mare Do Well, but I’m still the most awesome pony in Ponyville!” Rainbow adds with emphasis, trying to pull off some of her trademarked cocky air, floating back down to the ground. “I’m just a little tired from chasing you guys is all. I’ll write this baby up in ten seconds flat once I get my energy back.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Twilight said unconvinced.

“Eheh, ‘course I’m sure Twi’! Why wouldn’t I be? Ahem, umm, hey guys, what’re we going to do with these Mare Do Well costumes now? I mean, the whole town’s kinda waiting for us back there to start this parade thing, and they’ll be expecting to see Mare Do Well there too.”

“Well, after you left to chase after Pinkie in her Mare Do Well costume, the townsfolk started to disperse, looking for the two of you. The rest of us slipped away as soon as we could, but I do recall overhearing some of the ponies, especially little Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, mention that they hoped you would catch Mare Do Well so they could find out who their hero really was,” Rarity explained, looking around the alleyway they were currently occupying, “and now that I think about it, darlings, I’m quite honestly surprised we haven’t been seen by anypony.”

At the mention of Mare Do Well as everypony’s hero, especially Scootaloo’s, Rainbow visibly winced, but said nothing as she forced the feelings down. She knew that, no matter how much she wanted to, now was not the time to explode in everypony’s face, so she remained quiet.

“W-well, nopony knows about Mare Do Well besides us and Spike,” Fluttershy said, pawing the ground with a hoof. “I, uhm, would rather not tell everypony that is was us though, the crowds just frighten me. Unless you think that we should, of course,” near-whispering meekly at the end.

“No, you’re right Fluttershy,” Twilight continued, “I think it’s best that ‘The Mysterious Mare Do Well’ remain just that, a mystery,” waving her forelegs in the air for faux-dramatic effect, “but we will need a cover story to explain what happened here.”

“Well, if ya have any brilliant ideas, now would be a good time to share ‘em, sugarcube,” Applejack agreed, sliding off her own costume.

Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin in thought, “Rarity, how many Mare Do Well outfits did you make exactly?”

“I only made five. There’s the original prototype model that’s kept hidden at my store, away from the prying hooves and eyes of Sweetie Belle and her Crusader friends. Then there’s Applejack’s and Pinkie’s, as well as the one you’re wearing darling, and the pegasi-specific one that I made for Fluttershy, which is also back at my shop under lock and key,” she listed off.

“OH! I know what we should do!” Pinkie shouted as she popped back into existence from a nearby flower pot. “We should throw a party!”

“Uhh, Pinkie, I hate to burst your bubble, but why?” Applejack deadpanned, dirt from the flower pot covering her face.

“Well, duh silly filly!” she replied while patting Applejack on the shoulder, “to celebrate the unmasking of Mare Do Well and for Rainbow learning this week’s lesson!”

Again Rainbow visibly winced, and she prayed nopony noticed.

“Okay, well if we’re going to have a party, we should pick a good place to have it,” Twilight added, removing her costume now as well. “Everypony is still out looking for Rainbow Dash and Mare Do Well, and we need to get these costumes out of sight, not to mention plan and bring supplies.”

“If yer all so insistent on having a party, we could always have it at Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack suggested.

“OH! A camping-sleepover-party-bananza!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping several feet into the air. “I’ll need marshmallows, and chocolate, and graham crackers, and a harmonica, and a party tent, and-UMPH!” Her listing of materials was cut off by Applejack inserting her hoof into her mouth.

“Okay, we get it, you’re excited, now are we doing this or not?” Applejack exasperated, rolling her eyes.

“That’s not a bad idea! Sweet Apple Acres is close enough to Ponyville so that we can always come back if we need something, and distant enough to be out of everypony’s way. We can meet up there in the southern fields in a couple of hours. In the meantime, we can go back home, hide our costumes, and get our supplies ready,” Twilight suggested, a smile forming on her face. “Although we’ll need to distract everypony with something so we won’t get noticed with our outfits...Rainbow, do you think you can create a diversion for us?”

Rainbow, who had only been partially paying attention to the conversation, jerked at the mention of her name, “Huh? What kind of diversion?”

“Hmm, oh! I know! Do you think you could come up with a story explaining how you caught up to Mare Do Well, but she got away and isn’t ever planning on coming back? That way, we can get home unnoticed and it’ll clear up this Mare Do Well issue for good!” Twilight explained, clapping her forehooves together.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe her ears. She gaped slack jawed at the group in front of her, acting as if nothing had happened, like they were just hanging out at the market. After all she had gone through today, she was now being asked to come up with some story to explain why Ponyville’s “best hero” suddenly disappeared, how was that fair?

Do they really expect me to make that much of a fool out of myself?

Relenting, she sighed, “Fine. Yeah, whatever, I’ll get everypony’s attention. I’ll meet you all at the southern fields, alright?”

Twilight looked as if she was going to ask Rainbow if she was okay, but Rainbow never gave her the chance. Without a single warning, she took off into the skies of Ponyville and flew back to the town square where she could address the entire town. She blinked away the tears forming in her eyes as she flew at at breakneck speeds, still too confused and angry to talk to anypony right now, but she had to.

Sighing again, she flew down to the stage where Mayor Mare was waving her down. Head hanging low, Rainbow landed gracefully onto the stage, and almost didn’t hear the Mayor ask her what happened. She shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts that plagued her mind. It wouldn’t do herself any good if she kept on getting lost in her own thoughts.

Ugh, I gotta get outta my head...This isn’t like me. I don’t think about things like this, I’m a pony of action!

“Miss Dash? Are you listening to me? What happened? Where’s Mare Do Well?” she asked again, a little more enthusiastically.

“Yeah, well, see...the thing is,” Rainbow scratched the back of her head with a hoof as she thought up a convincing story, “Actually, this might be easier if I just addressed everypony at once, is that alright?”

Mayor Mare nodded emphatically and gestured for her to begin.

“Yeah, thanks,” Rainbow said simply, turning to the group of ponies. Clearing her throat, she began. “Can I get everypony’s attention please?!” she shouted out to the crowd of ponies still waiting to begin the parade. After waiting a moment for the crowd to settle down, she started to tell her story.

“I did catch up to Mare Do Well. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I almost got her mask off, but before I could, she escaped. I chased her down the alleyways and eventually cornered her. Before I could make my move, she asked me to wait. I was kind of shocked and all. I mean, it’s not like she had ever said anything to anypony before. Anyways, she told me that she was leaving Ponyville and that she wouldn’t be coming back. I tried to go after her, but she teleported away and I lost track of her.” As Rainbow told her story she gauged the audience’s reaction. Many of the ponies looked sad at the news of their hero leaving them, especially the foals.

Guilt and anger conflicting inside of her, Rainbow almost exploded in emotional turmoil then and there. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed her pride and continue on with the story, “But she did mention that she left because this town didn’t need her anymore. She...she asked me to tell everypony that she’s seen the kindness, the courage, and the strength of every single pony in Ponyville, and that nopony should be sad that she’s leaving. Instead, she asked that we continue on with our celebrations today.”

“Rainbow Dash is right!” the Mayor proclaimed. “We should not let this news dishearten us from our celebrations! Now come on everypony, we have a parade to begin!”

The crowd erupted into cheers and began to organize themselves. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, turned away and took off once more without another word. She gritted her teeth as she flew towards her cloudhouse, not believing what she’d just said.

Ugh, what’s wrong with me?! Did I seriously just glorify the same pony that’s been showing me up for days in front of the entire town?!

Even more confused and angry than ever, Rainbow alighted down on her cloud house and stormed up to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Being made of cloud though, the door shut with a barely audible thump, and didn’t sate her anger in any way.

She stopped in front of her mirror and watched as her reflection looked at her with a look of barely restrained fury. Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her temples with her hooves to try and sort out her feelings.

Rainbow opened her eyes and went over the day’s events again. She was angry that the whole town had forgotten about all of the awesome things she had done for them as soon as Mare Do Well showed up.

Rainbow felt her heart rate increase and her brow furrow.

How could they?! After everything I did for everypony they all completely forgot about me! I went from hero to zero in no time flat! Since Mare Do Well showed up, I went from being Ponyville’s biggest hero to some pegasus that nopony needed anymore.

Even though she told herself that she was still as amazing as ever, she was still all alone. It wasn’t being bested by Mare Do Well that got her down or the fact that maybe there was a better hero out there than her, but being abandoned by all of Ponyville, by all of her friends… When she needed them the most, her friends flat-out laughed at her and went on and on about the how “fantastic” and “amazing” Mare Do Well was. They were all so smug about how they managed to show her up without her even knowing it was them.

...

Her friends.

The realization hit Rainbow Dash so hard that she needed to place a hoof on her bedside table to keep her balance. Beginning to hyperventilate, Rainbow looked again in the mirror as she finally came to terms with reality.

Her friends, her closest and dearest friends in the world, had gone behind her back and showed her up in front of the whole town. They made her look like a total idiot in front of everypony! How could her friends humiliate her like that?! Sure, she went overboard with the boasting and bragging, but was all of that really necessary? For Rarity to go and make specialized costumes for each of them? To brag about how great Mare Do Well was to her face when she was obviously upset about it? Rainbow knew that she made it clear she was hurting from this whole scenario, but no, they kept up their little charade and toyed with her!

Before she even knew she was crying, she felt the tears stream down her cheeks.

No, Rainbow Dash does not cry.

She bit back a sob as she buried her face in her bed.

But why? The question burned in her mind, pushing away all other thoughts. Why would her friends go behind her back like that just to show her up?

She could kind of understand why Applejack might do something like that, she guessed. She was always competing with her, but she could not understand why she would do it in such an underhoofed way. Was she still sore over her tilting the odds in her favour during the Iron Pony Competition?

Pinkie could have just seen it as some kind of elaborate prank, not taking any of what they were doing really seriously. But did she honestly expect this to not phase Rainbow in any way?

It would have been a chance for Rarity to show off her sewing skills again, something she never hesitated to do. And even though she never technically put on the getup, she still knew what they were doing and only helped to humiliate Rainbow even more.

But Fluttershy and Twilight? Why would those two ever do something like this? She’d known Fluttershy since flight school, and she never would have guessed her capable of something like this. She even laughed at her earlier.

And why Twilight? She trusted Twilight more than any of the others. She had always been the kind of pony that would put anything aside to help a friend, she would always listen to her problems and help out in any way that she could. In a lot of ways, Twilight was just as loyal as Rainbow Dash was, and she was pretty sure she even heard Twilight say that she was awesome earlier on. So why would she stab her in the back like that? Why would she let the others do the same?!

She felt as if she was drownin;, her head swam with so many conflicting emotions that she needed to do something, sitting here was just going to drive her insane. Struggling to breathe, she nearly jumped out of her skin when her clock chimed from her nightstand. Calming her rapidly beating heart, she looked out the window to see that it was getting late in the afternoon, and she still had to go help set up the campsite with her “friends.”

She sighed and slowly made her way back to her hooves. Glumly, she decided to not bring up the Mare Do Well issue with the others. Rainbow rationalized that if she went off on her friends for going behind her back, they would all take offense and leave her alone again.

Rainbow Dash hated to be alone.

She thought back to earlier that day when everypony ignored her to go to see Mare Do well and shuddered at the memory. Not even her biggest fan would give her the time of day. The thought of it made it feel as if there was a pit in her stomach. If it meant acting like everything was fine on the outside just to avoid that horror, then so be it. Maybe she could just move on and pretend that it never happened in the first place.

Rainbow gathered a sleeping bag and a few other necessary supplies, doing her best to mentally prepare herself for what was going to inevitably be a long, sleepless night.

Out in the southern fields of Sweet Apple Acres, a campfire that once burned and roared gloriously now smoldered as a few small embers, the orange glow softly illuminating the group’s makeshift campsite. The six had enjoyed a night of partying, singing, and eating s’mores until the moon was high in the night sky, stars twinkling brightly overhead, and decided it was time to retire for the evening.

Rarity already had her extravagant tent set up and was resting peacefully within. She offered to share her tent with Fluttershy, as she found her tent riddled with holes after a few of her more mischievous animal friends found it. Pinkie and Applejack were sound asleep in their own tents, softly snoring into the night.

Twilight had elected to sleep outside under the blanket of the night sky. Even in Ponyville, free from the light pollution of the metropolis that is Canterlot, Twilight had rarely seen a night as clear as it was tonight. She thought she could do some stargazing, eyes filled with wonder as she took in every piece of Luna’s masterpiece. Though, try as she might, sleep would not come for the unicorn this night.

Her conscience would constantly repeat the images of Rainbow’s look of shock at her friends earlier that day when they were all unmasked. Just when she was about to drift off into the welcoming embrace of sleep, she would see Rainbow cringe and the hurt on her face that she tried to hide so well whenever the incident was mentioned. Twilight could not shake the grip of guilt that held her. She understood that Rainbow had been outright ridiculous with her bragging, but she couldn’t help but worry that perhaps they had gone too far in trying to teach her a lesson.

She told herself over and over again that if something was bugging Rainbow Dash, she would trust her friends enough to confide in them. But would she? Twilight’s head ached as she couldn’t help but go through the same circular argument for the umpteenth time. If Rainbow was hurting because of something she did, would she really feel comfortable approaching the very ponies that were the cause of her hurt?

She replayed the night in her mind’s eye. Rainbow had been distant all evening, and though she did her best to hide it, Twilight had been paying enough attention to her to notice that something was definitely bugging the normally abrasive and confident pegasus. She had tried all evening to find a good time her about the whole Mare Do Well situation... and maybe that other thing, but one never came up.

The others did not seem to notice anything amiss with Rainbow. Though Twilight had been paying special attention lately due to a crush she had been harbouring on the pegasus for the past several weeks.

Ever since Discord’s escape and after he had brainwashed all of her friends, Twilight came to the realization as she freed them from his spell as to how important each of her friends were to her.

She loved all of her friends dearly, but somehow, Rainbow Dash had managed to worm her way into her heart a little further than the rest. It made no logical sense, and Twilight had spent many a sleepless night, much like this one, thinking about the beautiful rainbow-maned mare. No matter what rationale she used or what argument she was able to come up with, she somehow ended up at the same conclusion: she had strong, romantic, feelings for one of her best friends; a mare no less. Not a day went by where she didn’t think of her, or steal a longing glance when she wasn’t looking.

It had been hard enough to keep her blush in check in close proximity to Rainbow Dash, but she had been able to keep her feelings unknown from the others. It was only a matter of time before Rarity or, even worse, Rainbow Dash caught on. She had just come to terms with her feelings for Rainbow, and she had never really had thought of another pony that way before. Twilight didn’t think she could handle the rejection, but keeping this to herself was just eating her up on the inside. A day didn’t go by where she would look to Rainbow Dash and feel her heart ache.

But how would she tell her?

Twilight quietly groaned and, defeated, rolled over onto her side, tired of staring up at the night sky she had grown accustomed to seeing. It never provided any solace for her before, so why should it now? Not only was guilt gnawing on her, but she was still torn up about her feelings for Rainbow.

She hugged her pillow close to her, a poor substitute for another pony, and saw that the sleeping bag formerly occupied by the cause of Twilight’s mental unrest was now empty. It lay sprawled about on the ground, its owner nowhere in sight.

Suddenly alert, Twilight, as slowly and quietly as she could, removed her own blankets and stood up, careful not to make any noise that would wake her still slumbering friends. Twilight’s head turned to and fro, eyes scanning for any sign of Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow?...Are you there?” she whispered into the night air. Silence was her response, and she mentally chided herself. Of course she wouldn’t hear something so quiet if she wasn’t in the immediate area.

Moving carefully between her friends’ tents, Twilight walked the perimeter of their campsite looking for her missing friend, her concern and worry building rapidly, all the while flummoxed by her disappearance in the first place.

Where would she have run off to? Why did she run off in the first place? How did she slip away without Twilight noticing? She began to panic as there was still no sign of Rainbow Dash, and her blood froze as a thought popped into her head: Oh Celestia, was this their fault? Did they all drive her away with the Mare Do Well stunt? Never before had Twilight hoped that she was wrong.

A small part of her still hoped that Rainbow had just gone out for some night flying to ease some tension in her wings and that this had nothing to do with Mare Do Well. A much larger part of her screamed back that of course she was not okay with this and that this had everything to do with Mare Do Well. She asked herself if she really would be okay if somepony showed up out of nowhere and upstaged her at every turn, only to be revealed to be her friends playing a trick on her.

Now searching a little more frantically, Twilight left the safety of the campsite and ventured further into the wooded domain of Sweet Apple Acres. In most other cases, she would be more cautious about walking alone at night, but she had been to Applejack’s farm enough times to know that there was a simple layout to the seeding and planting of trees.

Though it was a cloudless and clear night, the tops of the trees darkened the area around Twilight. She channeled some of her magic into her horn to softly illuminate her surroundings. Her horn glowing, she walked through the farm, keeping a sharp eye out for her friend. She was about to return to the camp and wake the others when a shadow passed by overhead. Twilight raised her head to see Rainbow gliding through the night, nearly invisible in the shadows of the trees.

From the ground, Twilight followed the fleeting form of her friend, staying out of sight as she alighted in a small clearing. So far unnoticed, Twilight stood by and watched as Rainbow paced back and forth across the clearing, grumbling to herself. Straining her ears, Twilight slowly approached the clearing, trying in vain to hear what Rainbow was saying. Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth across the ground, planning out her next course of action. She decided that spying on her best friend and secret crush was probably not the best idea, and opted to make her presence known.

Twilight walked slowly into the clearing, Rainbow’s back still facing her, and stopped a few feet away from the pegasus.

She cleared her throat, and tentatively stuttered out, “R-rainbow?”

Rainbow visibly jumped, turning to face Twilight in midair. Clearly she was not expecting to see anypony up at this late hour besides herself.

“Jeez, Twilight! Aren’t you always telling Spike not to sneak up on anypony?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Rainbow yelled, placing a hoof over her heart as if to try and force it to slow down. “What are you doing up so late anyways? I thought you were sleeping.”

Twilight looked down at her hooves, thankful that the darkness of the night hid her blush so well. “I was staying up late to do some stargazing after the others went to sleep, but I couldn’t get any sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about... things,” she finished lamely.

“Oh yeah? What kinds of ‘things’?”

Twilight looked away from Rainbow, suddenly very interested in a tree off to her right, “Oh, umm, you know, nothing really important. Just some egghead stuff that you wouldn’t really be interested in hearing about, yeah.”

“Oh really?” Rainbow asked, not convinced in the slightest.

Twilight’s face was near beat red and almost let something slip before she remembered the reason she was out here. “Yeah, uhm, and when I rolled over I noticed that you weren’t in your sleeping bag. I got worried and decided to go look for you, and here I am. What are you doing up so late? And why are you so far away from the campsite?” she asked, redirecting the question over to Rainbow.

Twilight saw Rainbow’s confident demeanor shatter, her eyes darting back and forth as she grasped for an excuse, “I-I, uhh, I couldn’t sleep either, so I thought some night flying might help me relax.”

Twilight could tell there was some truth to that, but by the way Rainbow was acting, not making direct eye contact, and wings twitching as if she’s getting prepared to fly away at a moment’s notice, she could tell that there was something more to all of this.

She swallowed a ball at the back of her throat, and closed the distance between the two, her concern for her friend overriding her romantic inclinations towards her. Twilight placed a comforting hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, and while the pegasus froze at the contact, she didn’t pull away.

“Rainbow... Please, just tell me what’s wrong,” Twilight pleaded. “I can tell something’s been on your mind all day, ever since the Mare Do Well incident this afternoon. I tried to bring it up earlier, but I could never get you alone. So please, let me help...” she whispered.

Rainbow looked in Twilight’s eyes, and Twilight saw fear and confusion and... Was that anger in Rainbow’s eyes?

She looked as if she was about to say something, but stopped herself and hung her lead low, shrugging off Twilight’s hoof.

“I...it’s nothing, really Twi’. Let’s just head back to camp and get some sleep before the others notice we’re gone,” Rainbow mumbled, her bangs hiding her eyes from view.

She turned to leave, her face still obscured by her mane. At a momentary loss for words, Twilight watched, a pit forming in her stomach as her best friend blocked her out. Twilight was determined to get through to her though, and steeling her resolve, she ran ahead to cut Rainbow off.

“Twi’...what are you doing?”

“Not letting you go like this,” came the response. She lifted Rainbow’s chin with a hoof so she would look her in the eyes. She was met with a look of sadness and despair that she had never seen in the eyes of the confident pegasus.

“Please Rainbow, I’m your friend, you can tell me anything, no matter what,” Twilight pleaded. “I promise that whatever it is I’ll be here for you, I won’t be mad or anything. You can trust me...”

“Trust you?! That’s a sick joke Twi’!” Rainbow snapped, the despair that flooded her eyes seconds ago replaced with a blinding rage. She slapped Twilight’s hoof away, making her cringe and stumble back, “You really think you can just waltz on over and say that sorta stuff, how ‘I can trust you’ and how ‘I can tell you anything’ after the stunt you pulled?!”

“B-but Rainbow, what are you-” Twilight started, still nursing her hoof. It didn’t really hurt, but the fact that Rainbow had just pushed her away and was now yelling at her that had really stung.

“BUT NOTHING!” she shouted into the night, silencing Twilight. “You really wanna know what’s wrong? I thought a pony as smart as you, oh ‘Faithful Student of Princess Celestia,’ would have been able to figure it out. But no, you’ve never really been good with other ponies, have you?!”

Shocked into submission at the rapid change in her friend’s demeanor, Twilight stood as Rainbow lashed out at her. Before she knew what was happening, she could feel herself crying openly as Rainbow paced in front of her, her onslaught ongoing.

“Well fine! I’ll tell you what’s wrong! It’s that my closest friends, those that I would never leave hanging and that I would HOPE would do the same for me went behind my back and betrayed me!”

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat at the accusation.

“Not only did you make up some ‘hero’ to upstage me at every turn, but you were all in on it! All of you! And when I needed a friend throughout this whole thing, you all just sat there and rubbed it in my face how amazing ‘The Mysterious Mare Do Well’ was. When I needed you, you pointed and laughed to my face!” Rainbow screamed, her voice breaking. “Sure, maybe I went overboard with the bragging, but was that all really necessary?! My ‘best friends’ humiliated me in front of the entire town! And when I needed you the most, you abandoned me!”

Twilight had sunk to her haunches by now, cringing as Rainbow continued her tirade. She was tempted to snap back, but she held her tongue. She could only think that this was all her fault...if she had just stopped everypony from going on with the plan, if she had just told Rainbow Dash sooner...

Rainbow’s rant ended, and she stood facing Twilight, panting as she caught her breath. Her wings were outstretched in typical pegasus fashion to make oneself look bigger and more threatening. Twilight could hear the tears as they dripped down to the ground from her chin.

“I...just, I don’t understand why,” Rainbow whispered faintly. “Why would you all do that to me? Why would you do that to me, Twi’? I can kinda guess why Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity might be in on it. Fluttershy was in on it too, but she never really did anything except fly overhead, and it still hurt...but why Twilight? How could you? I...I thought we were friends...”

Rainbow’s sniffles filled the night as she barely held herself together, “After that jerk Trixie came to town last year, I never thought you of all ponies would go to such lengths to show me up. I trusted you all... I trusted you, Twilight... and when I needed you most you abandoned me.”

Her voice was strained at the end of her tirade as the pegasus bit back a sob. Twilight watched for a moment as Rainbow began to cry silently, bangs obscuring her face from view, before she gently reached forward and pulled her into a hug. After struggling weakly against her, Rainbow collapsed into the purple unicorn, sobbing into her coat as her emotional barriers came tearing down. Twilight was likewise crying into Rainbow’s shoulder, rubbing the pegasus’ back in small circles, trying to comfort her.

“We hurt you... oh my Celestia we hurt you Rainbow,” Twilight whispered in-between strained sobs, “I’m so sorry. I-I never should have put on that stupid costume. I’m such an idiot. I should have realized what we were doing was going to hurt you. I’m so, so sorry. I should have stopped the others instead of just standing by, but when the dam burst, I put the outfit on and just went along with it...”

Rainbow continued to cry into Twilight’s lavender coat as she let out all of her frustration, all of her anger, and all of her despair in the darkness.

“Oh my gosh Rainbow, you must hate me,” Twilight ended, tears unnoticed as her guilt tore her up on the inside.

“N-no, I don’t hate you,” came the muffled response from Twilight’s shoulder. Emotionally drained, Rainbow felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest. She broke the embrace and sat mere inches away from Twilight, who thanked Luna for the darkness that hid her blush. “I don’t think I could ever hate you... and look, I’m sorry I bit your head off back there... I just really needed to get that off my chest... It was eating me up, and I guess you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Twilight raised a hoof to wipe away the tears from Rainbow’s cheek, and smiled when the normally brash pegasus didn’t pull away.

“No Rainbow, you don’t have to apologize for anything,” Twilight said with a caring tone. “It was all of us that made the mistake. What we did was not justified by your boasting at all, and I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive us?” she finished with a hopeful tone, tears beginning to well up in her eyes yet again.

Rainbow inhaled deeply, visibly calming down and relaxing, “Of course I can,” she said as she leaned in to hug Twilight again. “You know, I feel a lot better now. Thanks Twilight.”

Twilight, now blushing such a bright red that it would put all of the apples in the orchard to shame, was eventually able to mumble out, “N-no problem, Rainbow. But thanks for what? I didn’t do anything.”

“Sure you did,” Rainbow smiled. “You were there for me. Even if you weren’t before, you are now, and you let me vent and get all of this off of my chest.”

Rainbow sniffled and nuzzled into Twilight’s neck affectionately, “Really, thanks for listening. I think I’m gonna be okay now.”

Twilight, struck speechless for the second time that night, could only think to return the hug, her heart fluttering about in her chest. She couldn’t help but smile ear-to-ear as she shared this moment with Rainbow Dash. Giddily, she saw a spark of hope for her and Rainbow. Maybe they could make something work. Maybe, just maybe, she could one day tell her how she feels.

But not tonight, there had already been enough emotional trauma for one night, so she settled to revel in the moment, returning the nuzzle. Begrudgingly though, she knew this had to end at some point, and it was very late.

“Come on, let’s get back to the camp and get some sleep,” Twilight suggested, ending the hug that lasted an eternity yet was still too short at the same time.

“Yeah, okay,” Rainbow yawned. “I haven’t felt this tired in a long time.”

“Umm, I know that it’s still soon, but do you think you should tell the girls about this too? About the whole Mare Do Well thing?” Twilight ventured.

Rainbow stopped cold in her tracks, “I... really don’t know if I can Twi’. I mean, it was hard enough to come out to you about it... and that kinda ended with me shouting in your face. I didn’t talk to you guys about it... well, it’s actually a dumb reason.”

“You can tell me, I’m here for you and I won’t ever abandon you again, I promise,” Twilight said reassuringly.

Rainbow looked back into Twilight’s eyes, and Twilight saw hints of the same fear and confusion that she had seen earlier that evening.

“...okay. Well, I thought that if I told you about how upset I was, you would all leave me again, and I don’t think I could handle it if everypony left me...”

“Oh, Rainbow, we really hurt you, didn’t we?” Twilight asked, knowing the answer. “Listen, I know you’re scared, but I promise you everything will turn out okay.”

“How can you be so sure?” Rainbow asked, scared at the prospect of losing her friends.

“I just know. The girls will understand,” Twilight consoled. “I know we hurt you, but that wasn’t our intention, and once you tell them how what we did scarred you, they’ll all see. And I’ll be with you every step of the way. If you need help, I’ll be right there.”

“Okay Twi’, I trust you,” Rainbow smiled. “Now let’s get some sleep.”

Twilight giggled softly, “Okay Rainbow.”

The two made their way back to the welcoming warmth of their sleeping bags under the pale light of the crescent moon and stars above, walking a little closer together than normal, though neither noticed it at the time.

Author's Note

And here it is! After weeks of planning, writing, editing, procrastinating, and crying I give you the first of 3 parts to my Mare Do Well contest entry!

Expect Part 2 to show up Friday/Saturday this week, and hopefully Part 3 Sunday/Monday once it is finished.

Comments and feedback are always appreciated.

Part 2: The Strength To Go On

Rainbow Dash sat up on a small cloud, hovering high up above Ponyville with her head resting in her hooves, deep in thought. She rubbed her forehead with a hoof and her brow was furrowed as she raked her mind.

It had been two weeks since the Mare Do Well incident, and as Twilight suggested, she approached the others about the entire ordeal. She struggled to work up the courage to start, but with some encouragement from Twilight and a box of tissues from Pinkie Pie, Rainbow was able to tell the group everything she told Twilight the previous night.

It had been a long breakfast, and though many tears were shed, Rainbow couldn’t have been happier with how things turned out. Despite Twilight’s assurances, Rainbow still feared that the others would shun her and abandon her again. Even though the rest of her friends might leave her, Twilight would always stick with her. This was enough to get her to swallow her pride and do the most uncool thing she had ever done; share her feelings. Rainbow Dash was the coolest, most awesome pony in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria, so dropping the barriers and masks of ambivalence she had spent so many years building was no easy task.

Instead of scolding her, her friends were all incredibly supportive, much to Rainbow’s surprise and gratitude. As soon as she finished, Pinkie enveloped her in a spine-crushing hug, wailing all the while. It wasn’t long before all of the others joined in, each apologizing in their own way. Fluttershy sniffled the whole way home. Rarity said that she wished she had never even created the outfits in the first place, and Applejack couldn’t find anything to say.

As they cleaned up after breakfast, Pinkie pulled her Mare Do Well costume seemingly out of nowhere and tossed it onto the flames of the campfire. The bad memory for all of them burned and smoldered in the pale morning light as the six packed up their gear.

Rainbow didn’t hate her friends for what they did, but it would take some time for her to forgive them. The road to recovery was going to be a long one, but now that she admitted her troubles in the first place, she already felt as if she could move on, especially since Twilight was determined to stay by her side through the whole ordeal. Ever since that night, Twilight had been acting differently, and Rainbow couldn’t put her hoof on what it was, she noticed it all the same.

Speaking of Twilight... Ever since that night when Rainbow opened up to her, she found herself hanging around the library with Twilight more and more. Rainbow cared about all of her friends deeply, and would spend time with them whenever she could, but she had never really spent time with just Twilight. Normally when she was with Twilight, one of the other girls would be there too and they would go on an adventure or something.

When she wanted to hang out with somepony, normally Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were her go-to ponies, and if Twilight happened to be there too, then awesome, but she had never set aside time just for Twilight. She still cared about her as a friend, but now though, she felt as if she owed Twilight a chance after she exploded at her. Through it all, Twilight was there to comfort her. She was the one who dragged Rainbow out of her shell and made her better. Twilight helped her heal, and simply spending more time with Twilight was the least she could do.

Still, the thought of spending all day in a dusty library with nothing to do but read books sounded boring beyond all belief and incredibly uncool, which now that she thought about it was probably the main reason why she never made any real effort to hang out with Twilight. All the unicorn did was sit in the library and study.

Yet, after spending a day with her, Rainbow discovered that Twilight was a lot more fun to be around then she gave her credit for. She found that she could literally spend hours there talking with Twilight, and though she never would admit it to anypony, some of the stuff in her books was actually kind of interesting. Not that she’d ever be caught dead reading in a library with Equestria’s biggest egghead.

But all the same, Twilight told her what some of the books were about, some in more detail than Rainbow would have preferred. A good deal were typical egghead stuff, involving things like magical theory, advanced physics, and other boring things that left Rainbow drooling on Twilight’s couch. Which reminded her, ever since she started hanging out at the library, she’d been doing a great job of catching up on her sleep. Some of her other books seemed pretty interesting, especially this one series Twilight had that was about some pegasus named ‘Daring Do’ or something like that. They sounded almost... Cool.

She even agreed to let Twilight read her some of her favourite books. Rainbow had never noticed it before, but Twilight had a really soothing voice. She felt all strange and peaceful whenever Twilight read to her. Her mind and body relaxed, and she never wanted Twilight to stop. Rainbow didn’t understand the feeling, but she liked it. A lot.

Rainbow snapped out of her reverie and shook her head violently to get back on track.

In three days time it would be Twilight’s birthday, and Rainbow was determined to get her something awesome. But what exactly she should get her, however, left Rainbow there, sitting isolated above the whole town trying to come up with the perfect gift.

She went over what Twilight liked to do. The first thing that came to mind was reading, and instantly she thought of getting her a book.

Wait, how would that be special? She lives in a library, so she has books everywhere! Besides, how would I even know which books she has or which ones she doesn’t? I’d probably just end up getting her something she’s already read.

Rainbow groaned into the cloud, “Why do eggheads have to be so hard to shop for?”

A cool wind made the pegasus shiver and tuck her wings in closer for warmth, wishing she brought a scarf with her or something. Winter was coming soon, and the weather was starting to take a colder trend.

“Wait... A scarf! That’s it!” Rainbow whooped, leaping into the air and somersaulting. “Rainbow Dash, you are a genius!”

Rainbow remembered that the other day Twilight had to throw out her old scarf after Spike hiccupped and engulfed the whole thing in flame. She remembered the two scrambling about the library trying to put the small fire out before Twilight doused it with her magic. She seemed pretty irritated about it too.

If Rainbow was going to pull this off it would have to be the most awesome scarf in all of Ponyville, and made just for Twilight. It would have to be unique. There was only one pony that could help her make this just right.

With a strong flap from her wings, Rainbow Dash bolted into the sky, giggling as the wind tore through her mane.

“Hehehehe, a scarf designed by Rarity just for Twilight! It’s perfect!” Rainbow yelled into the wind, catching a thermal and riding it higher above the town. “It’ll be stylish, and totally practical since she needs one anyways!” Rainbow gave herself a mental pat on the back, alighting down as Carousel Boutique came into view.

She contemplated flying in through one of the windows, but settled on knocking on the front door to avoid any ‘unpleasant’ surprises for either party. Rainbow remembered the last time she flew in unannounced. She vaguely remembered something involving a pair of scissors, several sewing needles, and an uncanny ability to be pinned to the wall without being impaled.

Clearing her throat, she knocked on the door.

“Cooooming!” came the sing-song voice of her fashionista friend.

The clip-clop of hoofsteps could be heard approaching, and the door opened to reveal the styled purple mane of Rarity, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is... Rainbow Dash?”

“Ehehe, hi Rarity.”

“Oh, where are my manners? Please do come in,” Rarity gestured with her hoof, opening the door wider to allow Rainbow in. “Forgive my surprise, but it is not very often that you happen to drop by unless we have something planned beforehoof.”

“Yeah, sorry about that Rares. I should really stop by more often to hang out and stuff,” Rainbow said meekly, scratching the back of her head with a hoof.

“Think nothing of it, darling. Now, what can I do for you? I assume there has to be some reason for you to come by at this hour.”

“Well, actually I was hoping I could place an order-”

“Oh wonderful Rainbow Dash! I’ve been dying to get a chance to make you a dress! It will have to be something splendorous to go with that unique mane of yours, and not to mention your coat and eyes!” she interrupted, grasping one of Rainbow’s wings in her hooves in inspection, “It will most certainly be a challenge, but I promise you something so spectacular that it will put your gala dress to shame!”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow huffed and pulled her wing away from her friend’s grasp, “Actually Rarity, it isn’t for me.”

“Oh?” responded a confused Rarity, slightly stung from Rainbow’s bluntness. “Then who is it for, if I may ask?”

“It’s for Twilight.”

“Ahh, I see,” Rarity responded with a suggestive tone. “Feeling like getting something special for our little librarian, are we?”

Rainbow could feel her ears burn at the implying tone of the unicorn’s words, “W-what? No no no, nothing like that!”

“Mmhm,” grinned an unconvinced Rarity.

“Really!” sputtered out a now visibly blushing Rainbow Dash. “It’s just a gift for her birthday! You know, the one that’s coming up in a couple days?”

“Do calm down, darling,” laughed Rarity, “I was simply having a little fun with you. Had I known you’d be so easy to tease, I would have tried a little harder. Of course I know you aren’t planning on asking Twilight out. The idea is utterly preposterous, is it not?”

“...yeah, totally ridiculous,” came the slow reply. Though she didn’t know quite why, she felt as if she was lying when she said that to Rarity. She wasn’t interested in Twilight that way… was she?

No way, I’m way past too cool for an egghead like her.
Then... Why doesn’t that sound very convincing? You have been spending an awful lot of time with her, and admit it, you have fun hanging around her.

Rarity coughed to get Rainbow’s attention, “Now then darling, what did you have in mind for Twilight?”

“Huh? Oh yeah! I had this great idea on the way over! I was thinking I could get her a scarf since her old one was wrecked! And, well, I’m kinda horrible at the whole sewing thing, and was hoping you could help out!” Rainbow said quickly, grateful for the change in subject.

“Hmm,” Rarity closed her eyes in thought before she smiled. “Yes, I think it sounds like a wonderful idea for our Twilight. I have had this idea for a new rollout of winter fashion, and this is the perfect time to field test it. It will be new, it will be stylish, and I can tell you that it will be one-of-a-kind. In fact, inspiration is beginning to strike, so off with you now! Let me work, and it should be done sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

“Awesome! Thanks Rares! I’ll get outta your mane,” Rainbow said as she prepared to take off.

“Hang on a second Rainbow,” Rarity called just before Rainbow left, “I do have one question for you before I begin.”

“Shoot.”

“It’s just that I’m a little curious,” Rarity started, looking for the right words. “Why are you going through all this trouble to get Twilight a birthday present? No offense darling, but I’ve known you for quite some time now, and I can’t recall you doing something like this for anypony else.”

“Really?” shrugged Rainbow Dash. “Well, I guess it’s because of how awesome she’s been lately. I mean, she really helped get me through the whole Mare Do Well thing, y’know? She’s helped me start to move on, and I really want to do something special for her in return. This is my chance to do that, and I’m not going to blow it.”

“Is that the only reason?” Rarity inquired further, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah...”

Rainbow paused. There it was again, that feeling in her chest like she was somehow lying. Her eyes glazed over as she tried to figure out what was going on with her.

“Well, if you’re sure, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Later Rares,” Rainbow called as she left the shop.

Stepping out into the now cool night air, Rainbow inhaled deeply before she took to the skies, stuck deep in thought. The sky had always been her own haven from the rest of the world. Up there, nopony could match her. It was a place where she could go and think. And now, her mind was stuck on a certain lavender unicorn.

She didn’t, she couldn’t really feel that way about Twilight, could she?
Nah, Rarity’s just messing with me.
Then why does it feel like I’m lying to myself?
Because... well, because...

Rainbow’s eyes drifted closed and she pictured Twilight in her mind’s eye. She could see her large purple eyes, filled with kindness and caring, her silky violet mane with the pink highlights running down the length of her neck. She could picture Twilight smiling warmly at her and a small shiver went down her spine.

She could almost smell the faint traces of lilac that clung to Twilight’s coat, and instantly she could feel the blood rush to her cheeks. She imagined Twilight reading to her from one of her books, allowing the ghost of her voice to wash over her. She hummed in contentment, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

She opened her eyes and found that she had instinctively flown over to the library. Rainbow opted to lay on a nearby cloud for a quick nap to refresh her mind. She stared wistfully down at the home of the purple unicorn below, and could just make out through the window the silhouette of a pony curled up reading. She rested her head on her hooves and slowly her eyelids drooped down.

Because... maybe I am.

“Snnrrrk, wha-whosat, where in the...” mumbled a frantic and bleary Rainbow Dash, startled out of her sleep by the sound of something shattering nearby. She turned her head wildly before she remembered where she fell asleep.

“Oh, right. Cloud above the library,” Rainbow half-laughed bashfully to herself. “But what was that noise? It kinda sounded like glass shattering...”

Stretching the kinks out of her neck, Rainbow noticed that it was now officially nighttime in Ponyville. She shifted her gaze to the panorama before her. The streets were empty, all residents of the town fast asleep in the warm and comfort of their beds, and a few orange lights twinkled in the windows of the few still awake. She sat there puzzled, all seemed quiet and peaceful. Thoughts and images of what could have caused such a noise danced through Rainbow’s mind, none of them pleasant.

Shivering, Rainbow spread and flapped her wings lightly to release some pent up nervous energy. “M-maybe I’ll just go down and check to make sure Twi’s alright...”

As Rainbow alighted down to the ground, she looked up to find that there was an abnormally large amount of cloud cover that night, obscuring the moon and stars from view and only adding to the sinister feel of the night. Rainbow touched down, ears rotating to catch any sounds. It was strangely quiet. Normally there were crickets chirping somewhere, but tonight it was deathly quiet.

Softly, she raised her hoof and knocked four times on the oaken door. In the still of the night it sounded more like a battering ram was being used in the door, and the disturbance of the silence made her cringe.

When there was no response, Rainbow raised her hoof again and knocked another four times a little louder. Soon enough she heard the scratching of feet against the hardwood floor of the library and the door was opened by a bleary and incredibly tired Spike.

“Rainbow Dash?” the baby dragon yawned. His favourite blankie was draped over his shoulder and he rubbed his half-lidded eyes. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have any idea what time of night it is?”

With a sheepish smile, Rainbow scratched the back of her head with a hoof. “Yeah, sorry about that Spike. I was just doing some, uhh, night flying when I heard something smash over around here. It sounded like somepony breaking a window or something, and I just wanted to make sure Twilight was okay.”

“Oh, well that’s really nice of you Rainbow...hey wait” Spike said, a little more alert, “what about me?!”

“Hey, c’mon Spike, that goes without saying,” Rainbow smiled, trying to save face. “Like I’d leave my favourite dragon hanging!”

“Riiiight,” deadpanned an unconvinced Spike, his arms folded in front of his chest. “Thanks for your ‘concern,’ but everything’s fine here. I just came down from upstairs and didn’t see anything, and Twilight’s not even here.”

“Wait, she’s not?” asked a very confused Rainbow Dash. “Then where is she?”

“I dunno,” shrugged Spike. “When she told me she was going out for the night and wouldn’t be back until morning, she was being all elusive and secretive about it. I didn’t push it though, knowing her. Why, do you think she’s in trouble?!”

Rainbow forced a smile, she could tell that Spike was just going to start freaking out on her if she didn’t calm him down. “No no no, this is Twi’ we’re talking about, remember? I’m sure she’s fine, wherever she is. I’ll keep my eye out though on the way home for anything suspicious.”

“Okay,” Spike breathed, calming himself down. “Thanks for stopping by, I’m going back to bed.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow Spike,” Rainbow waved as Spike closed the door to the library. She could hear from her side a few extra locks than normal being used. Rainbow felt a little guilty, she didn’t mean to scare the poor little guy, but she also needed to make sure that they were okay.

But where would Twilight have gone? It’s not like her to run off in the middle of the night without having it planned in advance.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a figure dart through an alley down the road.

“What the…? Who would be running around town this late at night?” Rainbow said to nopony in particular. “Except for maybe whoever’s responsible for the crashing noise! Hey you! Hold up!” she shouted after the quickly retreating figure.

“Oh no you don’t!” she yelled, taking to the sky with a powerful flap from her wings, bolting in the direction of Ponyville proper. Despite her speed, Rainbow quickly lost sight of the pony in the inky darkness. She landed on a rooftop, eyes scanning the area and ears strained to pick up on any movement.

A cloud drifted away, revealing the waning moon above. The pale light of the moon shed some illumination in the area around Rainbow Dash, and in the corner of her eye, she could see the faintest traces of movement as a cloak turned a corner.

“Gotcha!” she shouted as she pursued her target. She didn’t know why she was so determined to catch this pony, but the thought of Twilight in danger in her home alone just made Rainbow Dash angry and more scared for her friend’s safety than ever.

Whoever this was, they were good at evading Rainbow Dash. Every time Rainbow thought she had the mysterious figure cornered, it would duck down another small alley and out of sight, forcing Rainbow back high into the air to find the pony again. But Rainbow Dash would not be beaten by this pony, no matter how clever they thought they were.

She huffed, feeling the strain of the continuous takeoffs in her wing muscles as they began to groan in protest. This wasn’t going to last forever, sooner or later one of them would tire and it would all be over, but Rainbow couldn’t wait that long. She needed a plan.

She glanced down at the alleyway the figure was currently running down. The path it was going down right now led to a dead end, but there was a small pathway that would take her back into the maze of the town’s alley system. There was a stack of crates precariously stacked next to said alleyway, and Rainbow grinned devilishly as she put her plan into action.

Swooping down, Rainbow turned in midair to kick the stack of crates with her hind legs. The force of the impact was enough to topple the large boxes, effectively blocking off the still running pony’s only escape route. The figure kept on running down the alleyway, unknowingly heading right for a dead end and into Rainbow’s trap. Just as she expected, the figure stopped as soon as it realized that there was no way out. It turned its head back and forth, searching for another avenue to evade the pursuing pegasus.

Rainbow landed behind the figure, panting but smiling in her victory. “Hehehe, nice try pal, but nopony outruns Rainbow Dash! Now who the hay are you and what are you doing out here anyways! Why are you running?!”

The figure remained silent with its back turned to the rainbow-maned mare. Now that it stood still, Rainbow had a better look at her target. Much of the pony was still obscured by the darkness, but she could make out that it wore a cloak covering most of its frame and donned a very familiar hat on its head. Rainbow knew she had seen that hat somewhere before, and her eyes narrowed as she began to suspect the impossible.

“No way...”

Before she could approach the mysterious pony, it dived behind a nearby dumpster.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow shouted as she dove after the pony. She jumped behind the dumpster only to find nopony there. She whipped her head around, trying to find where her quarry had escaped to.

She hovered in midair and found the alleyway empty. A resounding popping noise echoed through the streets, originating from near town square.

Rainbow blinked in confusion before the dots connected in her head. “A unicorn huh?!” she shouted into the darkness. “Not bad, but you’ll have to do better than teleporting away to lose me!”

Taking to the skies once more, she scanned the area around her for the figure, back to square one. She strained her ears to listen for any movement or the telltale sounds of teleportation, having been around Twilight enough to recognize it. Quietly, she landed on a nearby rooftop, shrouded in the shadow of the chimney to keep herself hidden from her prey. Refusing to give up the chase, Rainbow prowled across the rooftops in search of her quarry.

Down a few streets Rainbow saw another flash of light, the clear sign of a teleportation spell. She held her breath and made not a sound as she waited for the return of the unicorn. Just down a street to her right she saw the flash, and without a moment’s hesitation pounced on the unsuspecting mare.

She tackled the figure to ground, pinning the pony underneath her by the shoulders. With a snarl, Rainbow looked upon the figure’s face for the first time and her blood ran cold. Pinned underneath her she was met with the expressionless stare of the Mysterious Mare Do Well. Rainbow’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank to pinpricks.

“Wh-what?” she gaped.

In her surprise, Rainbow’s grip on the mare below her loosened enough for Mare Do Well to squirm free, kicking Rainbow in the chest and sending her sprawling on the street.

Rainbow slowly stood back on her hooves, mind reeling from the return of Mare Do Well. She didn’t know what to think, her mind went blank as she gazed on the pony that had caused her so much pain, so much strife, standing tall above her. Mare Do Well’s cloak fell around her form, her mask covering all of her face, and she watched Rainbow Dash with a look of superiority.

Rainbow could feel red hot tears beginning to build up in her eyes.

No, Rainbow Dash would not cry here! She would not show this pony any weakness.

Gritting her teeth, Rainbow lowered herself into a crouching position, ready to attack. “You. Just who are you!?” she screamed, launching herself at Mare Do Well.

Mare Do Well sidestepped, and attempted to jump away from the attacking pegasus. As she tried to evade, Rainbow grabbed onto the hem of Mare Do Well’s cape with her teeth and tugged. All she succeeded in doing, however, was ripping off part of the cape, the rest of Mare Do Well already fleeing into the town square.

“Get back here!” Rainbow yelled after the retreating Mare Do Well, the piece of the cape still in her mouth. She began to run after the costumed mare, but failed to see a nearby tarp surrounded in a magical glow being thrown at her.

Her hoof caught, and she tripped and tumbled in a crumpled heap in the middle of town square, tangled in the rough fabric. After some struggling, she freed herself only to find that her quarry had escaped, disappearing without a trace.

“Darn it...” she mumbled to herself. She looked at the piece of the cape she ripped off of Mare Do Well’s costume. “Mare Do Well is back,” Rainbow cringed, “and there’s only one of her this time. She’s a unicorn, has a pretty good idea of the layout of Ponyville, and can teleport.”

Her breath caught. “She can teleport...”

There was only one unicorn that Rainbow knew of that could teleport. This unicorn was also one of the few ponies in Ponyville that had access to a unicorn-specific Mare Do Well costume.

She wouldn’t...would she?

She couldn’t believe that Twilight would do something like this. She wouldn’t believe it. But at the same time...

She sighed and rubbed her head with her hooves. Her mind was still racing and she tried to calm herself. Mixed feelings of anger, despair, surprise, confusion, and hatred filled her mind, and not knowing what to do next drove her to the edge of desperation.

“Okay, gotta calm down. It’s late, and it’s been a long night,” she steadied herself with a deep breath. “Twilight. Tomorrow I’ll go see Twilight. I’ll figure this out tomorrow.”

Twilight yawned widely, completely drained from the previous night’s activities. She nursed a cup of coffee between her hooves as she sat at the breakfast table, taking a few small sips every now and then to wake herself up. A tired but satisfied smile graced her lips. Last night had been exhausting, but as far as she was concerned, it was entirely worth it just to see the look on Rainbow’s face. She could almost picture the pegasus rendered speechless as soon as she...

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by loud knocking on her door. She glanced at her clock mounted on the kitchen wall and groaned. It was barely nine o’clock and she was still far too tired to deal with anypony this early in the morning.

“Spike?! Could you get that?”

When there was no response she groaned again and her head became acquainted with the breakfast table. She had already forgotten that Spike had left extra early this morning to go on a gem hunt with Rarity, leaving her alone in the library for a good part of the day.

The knocking returned, this time a little more frantic.

“Coming! Just hold on a second!”

With a heavy sigh, Twilight forced herself to stand up from her seat at the breakfast table, coffee suspended in the glow of her magic. As she dragged herself through the kitchen she shivered as she felt a cool morning breeze waft by her. None of the windows should have been left open last night. Stopping, she gently placed the coffee on her desk as she tried to locate the source of the draft.

It only took a few seconds to find a small pile of shattered glass scattered across the hardwood floor. One of the windows at the far end of the hall had been broken last night.

“What the...?”

Before she could investigate further the knocking on her front door resumed, increasingly frantic and loud. Fixing up the window could wait, whoever was at the door was getting really impatient.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

Still trying to clear her thoughts from the fog of sleep depravity, Twilight walked through the main sitting area of her library towards the door. She noticed that the Mare Do Well costume Rarity had made for her was draped over the sofa.

She paused a moment to examine the costume and a frown of confusion tugged at the corners of her mouth. She couldn’t recall taking the costume out of its cardboard box in the closet ever since the Mare Do Well incident two weeks ago.

She looked around the rest of the room and found that there were a few other items out of place. Books weren’t in the proper places, and few chairs and cushions had been moved. She then noticed a pile of cleaning materials sitting next to a mop and bucket over in the corner of the room.

“Spike must have been getting a head start on his chores today before heading out to meet Rarity, I guess,” Twilight shrugged. Spike really did a lot for Twilight, she would have to reward him with something later.

She double checked to make sure that the book she had been reading with Rainbow was still in its proper place on the desk by the fireplace. She smiled when she found that it had not been touched, cyan feather bookmark still saving their place. Lately she had been able to convince Rainbow Dash to at least let Twilight read to her from some of her favourite books in the library. Rainbow seemed to be having fun with it, and Twilight would often catch her smiling as she read to her. That, and any excuse to spend more time with Rainbow Dash made Twilight feel all giddy and warm inside.

The knocking returned more fervently than before. She groaned, whoever was at the door was really starting to get on her nerves. Grumpily, Twilight opened the door mid-knock to find a half-surprised Rainbow Dash as her hoof swung through empty air.

Twilight’s foul mood disappeared almost instantly. “Oh! Rainbow! Good morning! Sorry for the wait, I’m not entirely awake yet. I was out all night last night, and things took an interesting turn. Long story short I didn’t get much sleep.”

Righting herself, Rainbow made her best effort at putting on a convincing smile, “Yeah, morning Twi’.”

Twilight could tell something was wrong. Ever since the campout two weeks ago, Rainbow was getting back to her usual self, but now she seemed...unsure, confused, and even a little hurt, just like she was the night after their unmasking.

“Rainbow, are you okay?” Twilight asked, suddenly at her friend’s side, resting a hoof on her shoulder.

“Yeah, of course I am...” Rainbow started, turning her head away, suddenly interested in a flower patch underneath the windowsill. Twilight placed a hoof under her chin, turning her head so she would look her in the eyes and saw the same fear and confusion that she saw two weeks ago when she confronted Rainbow.

“Rainbow...you know you can tell me anything, right? I promised I’d always be here for you, remember?”

Rainbow’s expression softened and she put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Yeah, I remember.”

Twilight smiled. “Good, now what’s wrong? Something has to be bugging you if you’re up this early in the morning.”

“Yeah, about that...” Rainbow pawed the ground with a hoof, “last night...something happened. I-i don’t know how or why, but...I saw Mare Do Well.”

Twilight stopped, her eyes widening and her heart beating wildly in her chest. “M-mare Do Well? But how? The only ponies that have the costumes are myself and the others! That, and Pinkie burned hers, Rarity has hers under lock-and-key, and I’m pretty sure Applejack threw hers out as soon as she got home! Are you sure?”

“Very. Look, Twi’, can we talk about this inside please?” Rainbow asked, looking around nervously.

“Oh, right,” Twilight smiled sheepishly, “come on in. Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee? Maybe some tea?”

“Some coffee would be nice. I haven’t exactly had anything to eat or drink yet. After seeing Mare Do Well last night, I decided to come here first thing. I trust you with all of this Twi’, and I really needed to talk to you.”

Twilight felt her ears burn and the blood rush to her cheeks, but kept her head turned away from Rainbow as she led her back into the library. “Oh...well, I’m honoured Rainbow. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable while I get you some coffee.”

With a silent nod of thanks, Rainbow moved over into the sitting area of the library while Twilight made a beeline for the kitchen and set about preparing another cup of coffee.

“So Rainbow, what exactly happened last night? Where did you see somepony dressed up as Mare Do Well?”

“I was, uhm, out doing some flying late afternoon yesterday. I stopped by on a cloud to take a nap and by the time I woke up it was already really late at night. Like, really late,” Rainbow began to explain. “I heard the sound of something smashing and thought I’d investigate. At first I didn’t really see anything, but after a bit I saw somepony running down through an alley. I followed, and after some chasing I foun-”

Twilight had been paying careful attention as Rainbow spoke, trying to piece together what happened, and lifted her head at the sudden silence in the library. Levitating the cup of coffee in her magical glow, she returned to the library proper.

“Rainbow? Is everything okay?”

Rainbow had stopped in front of the sofa, staring wide-eyed at the Mare Do Well costume draped over the back. She held part of the cape in her hoof, and in the other held a small piece of fabric that matched the cape’s colour. As Twilight entered the room, Rainbow’s head slowly turned to her, eyes narrowing and wings outstretching to their fullest, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Rainbow?” Twilight ventured slowly. She glanced at the incriminating costume on the sofa and picked it up in her mulberry glow. “Sorry about that, Spike must have started some cleaning up around the library before he left to go help Rarity for the day. He must have been looking for something in the closet over there and moved the outfit out of the way. I’m really sorry that you had to see it out in the open, I know you don’t exactly have the best memories of-”

“Twilight. Stop,” Rainbow said, silencing Twilight with a strained tone, as if to keep her temper in check. “What is this?”

“W-what do you mean?” Twilight stuttered. She had never seen Rainbow like this before. If she was angry or confused like she was before, Twilight could understand and would know what to do. But this was different. It was almost like Rainbow was restraining herself mentally and emotionally.

“What is this Twilight?” Rainbow barked, taking a few steps forward. For every step Rainbow advanced, Twilight took another one back, retreating from the advancing pegasus.

“I-i told you, Spike must have been doing some cleaning and just left it out-”

“Come on! After I chase Mare Do Well around Ponyville all night last night I come here first thing in the morning and find you incredibly tired from a ‘mysterious’ night out and your costume sitting out here in the open!” Rainbow accused. “You’re telling me this is all just one giant coincidence?!”

“Wait, are you accusing me of putting on the Mare Do Well costume and then leading you around Ponyville last night?” Twilight asked, halting in her retreat, a look of hurt appearing on her face. “Rainbow, I would never do anything like that to hurt you. You’re my friend, and I really care about you, I wouldn’t ever intentionally try and hurt you, especially since I know how much of an issue Mare Do Well is with you.”

Rainbow stopped her advance and Twilight watched as a myriad of emotions danced in the pegasus’ eyes. Anger, confusion, sadness, guilt, and hope all shone in her eyes and Twilight could feel a pit form in her stomach. She did not look entirely convinced, more like she wanted to believe Twilight, but for some reason couldn’t.

“Rainbow, why do you-”

“Mare Do Well was a unicorn, Twilight,” Rainbow whispered, her eyes red and puffy as she fought back the tears. “After I cornered her, she teleported away. Rarity told us that there was only one unicorn-version of the Mare Do Well costume that was made, and you’re holding it.”

“B-but I didn’t...I wouldn’t...” Twilight pleaded, searching for anyway to prove to Rainbow that she was innocent.

“I...I really want to believe you Twilight. I...I didn’t think that you would do something like this, but if not you, then who? What other unicorn would be able to get the same costume and teleport like that?” Rainbow said, her bangs hiding her face from view.

“But it wasn’t me!” Twilight screamed in desperation, the tears beginning to flow. “I wouldn’t ever! And what if somepony made a copy of the Mare Do Well costume? I don’t know who or why, but we can figure that out! Just...please...”

Twilight needed to breathe. This whole situation was getting out of hoof, and Rainbow didn’t seem to be in the calmest and most rational state of mind. She needed to be careful, or she might just make things worse.

“...Let me see the costume.”

“W-what?”

“The costume, let me see it,” Rainbow said with a tone of finality.

“Why?”

“Last night when I was chasing Mare Do Well into town square, I ripped this piece off of her cape,” she gestured to the small square of dark blue fabric she had placed coffee table a few moments ago. “I was hoping that you could help me figure out who might be running around as Mare Do Well from this. If it really wasn’t you out there last night, then this shouldn’t match your outfit.”

“R-right...” Twilight stuttered. She was nervous and scared. Even though she knew that she had not put on that costume ever since the Mare Do Well incident, all of the evidence pointed to the contrary. She prayed to Celestia that the fabric didn’t match...it might be the only thing to convince Rainbow otherwise.

Slowly, Twilight levitated the folded costume over to Rainbow Dash’s waiting hooves. Twilight gulped audibly as Rainbow began to unfold the costume. She watched as the pegasus found the cape and began to examine it. In a moment of absolute horror, Twilight could only stare as Rainbow held the small piece of fabric up to a tear in the hem of the cape...and it fit perfectly.

“No,” Twilight gasped, backpedalling against the library wall. She couldn’t believe her eyes and buried her head in her hooves. “No, no, no, this can’t be happening.”

“How could you!?” Rainbow snapped, tossing the costume across the library. She had no problem expressing her feeling this time, tears flowing down her cheeks, eyes red and puffy with barely controlled rage.

“R-rainbow, I didn’t, I swear,” Twilight begged.

“Then where the buck were you last night!? I came down here to check up on you and Spike told me you went out for the night without even telling him where you were going!” Rainbow demanded, advancing on the cornered unicorn.

Twilight froze again. Rainbow knew that Twilight was out all night last night, and the Mare Do Well outfit in her living room was the same one worn by somepony masquerading as her. Her mind raced as she tried to think up something, anything. She couldn’t possibly tell her where she really was, this was not the time nor the place, and it would only confuse her more. Doing so would require her to tell the truth about how she feels about Rainbow Dash, and given the situation, she didn’t think she would be receptive to the idea.

“Uhm, well, I was, uh, out doing something,” Twilight summed up lamely. “But I-”

“Save it! If you’re not even gonna come clean about all this, then I’m done Twi’!” Rainbow yelled, turning and heading for the library door.

“No! Rainbow wait please!” Twilight shouted after her, teleporting between Rainbow Dash and the door to cut her off. “Just give me a chance to explain! You have to trust me!”

“I did! I opened up to you Twilight!” Rainbow cried. “I don’t know about you or the girls, but that’s really hard for me to do! And now, I find you home after a night doing Celestia-knows-what with the same Mare Do Well costume that was worn by somepony last night. You honestly expect me to believe that it wasn’t you!? How can I trust you when you won’t even tell me where you were last night!”

The rage that littered Rainbow’s normally carefree and beautiful face was more menacing than any monster or demon she could have imagined. The spark of anger that lit up her pink eyes bore into her soul, shredding any confidence she had.

“B-but-”

“No! I’m done!” she shouted, silencing Twilight’s plea. “First you go behind my back with Mare Do Well to show me up. That stung, Twi’, but then you and the girls asked me to cover up for you. And, after I open up to you, you go ahead and stab me in the back all over again! Just...just leave me alone Twilight! I can’t talk to you right now!”

Twilight’s heart shattered in her chest as Rainbow pushed past her. She fell to her haunches, silently crying as Rainbow’s words hit home.

She didn’t even register Rainbow walking to the front door, still numb from the verbal lashing until she heard the front door slam shut. Snapping back into reality, Twilight ran to the door and swung it open with her magic. She realized that lying to her about anything wasn’t going to get her to stay. Twilight needed to tell the truth before it was too late.

“Rainbow! Wait!” she shouted, running out the door, eyes searching for the cyan pegasus. She turned her gaze to the sky, her hope extinguished as the only signs that remained of her friend was an already fading rainbow trail leading far away from her home.

“I need to tell you something...” she finished quietly, her words falling uselessly to the ground. She was too late, and the weight of what was said and what wasn’t said between the two pulled Twilight down. Shoulders sagged, she slumped to the dirt, trying to pick up the fragments of her broken heart.

Eventually she picked herself up from the cold, unforgiving ground and returned to the library to wallow in her self-pity. The coffee she had made for Rainbow Dash sat on the table nearby, completely forgotten, and the Mare Do Well costume lay in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room.

It felt as if the room drifted by her as she walked over to her desk, opening it to reveal a small package wrapped in cyan blue paper, perfectly matching Rainbow’s coat, with a multi-hued bow placed nicely on top. It had taken her all night to finish, but with Rarity’s help, she managed to somehow make Rainbow her very own personal flight suit. It was one-of-a-kind, and made specifically for Rainbow Dash. Twilight had thought on giving it to her tomorrow after her birthday party that she knew Pinkie was planning...and then telling Rainbow how she really felt towards her.

But that isn’t going to happen now...She hates me...I’ve ruined everything!

She gingerly picked up the parcel in her hooves, holding it against her chest as she began to break down, her sobs filling the empty library.

She couldn’t stay here, not after what just happened. Twilight felt more hurt and heartbroken than she had ever before, and she needed comfort. She didn’t feel comfortable going to her friends, and she couldn’t take something so trivial as her lovelife to the princess.

Sniffling all the while, Twilight walked up to her bedroom and, with her magic, packed a bag with a few of her essentials. She needed to go somewhere where she’s always been safe. Grabbing the bag in her magic, Twilight left a hastily written note on the dinner table as she walked out of the library and began the long walk to the train station. She needed to go home to Canterlot.

For the first time in a long time, Twilight needed her mother.

Author's Note

Well look at that, I actually got this out on time.

Again, another big thanks to DarqFox and The Abyss for taking the time to edit this to make it presentable. I hope you all are enjoying this so far, and questions/comments/feedback is always appreciated!

See you for the final part coming out on Monday!

Part 3: This Is Letting Go

Rainbow groaned into her pillow as the first fingers of dawn crawled their way over the horizon and through her open window, blinding the pegasus. It mattered little though; it wasn’t as if she had gotten much sleep in the first place.

She dragged herself out of bed and blearily stumbled into the bathroom. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. Her windswept mane was matted down and sticking out at odd angles from her restless night, the fur on her face was stained dark blue from the amount of crying she’d been doing since her argument with Twilight yesterday, her feathers were ruffled and in poor flying condition, and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Even by her standards, Rainbow Dash looked horrible.

With a downcast gaze, Rainbow soundlessly walked into her shower and bucked the clouds to get the water flowing. She practically jumped out of her skin as the cold water poured over her. If she wasn’t fully awake before, she certainly was now. Shivering, she sighed in relief as the water warmed considerably. Clouds may have been the most comfortable substance to lie on, but they were horrible with retaining heat and always started running on cold.

Rainbow could feel her muscles relax as the water cascaded down her face and mane. She let out an involuntary sigh as her body relished in the warmth of the water. Her mind forcefully replayed the events of the previous day, and any pleasure she had felt from the shower dissipated. Her body tensed as she recalled falling out with Twilight.

After she left Twilight’s house, Rainbow had spent the remainder of the day trying to vent. She flew longer and further than she had ever done before, ignoring the groaning protests made by her wings. She flew and shouted into the sky until her wings could no longer support her, forcing her to land back at her cloud house.

She stomped into her home, barely remembering to throw a few lettuce leaves Tank’s way, before she returned to her bedroom and emptied all of her tears into her pillow until it could take no more.

Shutting the water off, Rainbow stepped out of her shower, still stuck in thought. She grabbed a towel and began drying her coat, all the while wondering what was wrong with her.

I never cry like that. Even right after the whole Mare Do Well thing a couple weeks ago I didn’t bawl like some newborn foal. What’s so different this time?

Chewing on that question, Rainbow wandered downstairs into the kitchen where Tank was waiting expectantly for his breakfast. She grabbed a few lettuce leaves and plopped them down in front of him and a few pieces of toast for herself before taking a seat. She rested her head in her hooves and regarded Tank with an expressionless stare. Tank turned his head away from his food to return the stare.

Maybe it’s because it was Twilight that did it...
Since when do you care about her so much? Wouldn’t it have hurt as much if it was Rarity or Applejack or any of the other girls?
No... I don’t think so. Sure I would have gotten mad, but I don’t think I would have cried all night like that. I put my trust in Twilight, and I thought it was safe to share my feelings... my heart with her. Guess I was wrong.

Sighing again, she stopped her inner debate when she noticed that Tank had yet to touch his food and was still staring at her.

“What’s your problem?” she grumbled to her new pet.

Tank blinked.

“Is this about the whole Mare Do Well thing and Twi’? Look, I’m done with it! I tried being all feely and emotional and stuff with Twilight, and then she went and stabbed me in the back! She won’t even admit that she did it!” Rainbow shouted to the tortoise.

Tank blinked again, expression unchanging.

“Why should I feel guilty?!” she screeched, voice cracking. “Yeah, I kinda bit her head off, and sure she was crying, but what about me? How is it fair that I get to be used like some emotional ragdoll for everypony to toss around?! She got what she deserved, as far as I’m concerned,” Rainbow huffed, crossing her forelegs in front of her chest.

If anything, Tank’s blank stare became even more neutral as he stood stoic in front of his food, unflinching as his master continued her tirade. Though he couldn’t speak, Rainbow got the message loud and clear: Do you really believe that?

Finally, Rainbow broke, “Yeah... I guess she did seem pretty honest when she said that she didn’t do it. But everything points to Twilight dressing up as Mare Do Well to mess with me. She’s like the only unicorn I know who can teleport and an egghead like her would have a perfect map of Ponyville in her head. It was the same costume, and she wouldn’t tell me where she was the same night. How can I believe her? ”

Rainbow slumped forward against the table, head laying on its side, “I just don’t know what to do... I feel so lost...”

At a snail’s pace, Tank trudged across the table to Rainbow Dash. Her eyes were shut tight as conflicting emotions duelled inside of her, not noticing Tank’s approach until he leaned down to nuzzle her on the cheek.

Lifting her head, Rainbow gave him a small smile, “Thanks Tank. You eat up, I’m gonna go see if I can find Twilight and talk this out. I guess... it just doesn’t feel right leaving things as they are.”

She chomped down a piece of toast and prepared herself mentally as best she could. She had no idea what she would say or what she would do when she would get there, but she knew she had to talk to Twilight. As hurt as she was, Rainbow couldn’t leave things in shambles between herself and Twilight.

She silently cursed her own Element of Loyalty. Even when she felt that she was the one being wronged, she couldn’t bear to leave a friend hanging. She didn’t know if things could be repaired between the two, but she had to try something. Hopefully Twilight would just tell her the truth, apologise, and they could move past this. Though, Rainbow doubted she could ever trust her unicorn friend the same way ever again.

Their friendship would be strained, but they would still have it, or at least some semblance of it to hang onto. For now, that would be enough for her.

The tortoise smiled as he watched his master fly out the open window and into the blue sky, rainbow trail already beginning to fade behind her and returned to his breakfast, his work complete.

Rainbow took the longest possible route to Twilight's library without actually leaving Ponyville, dreading the encounter. When the building came into view, she slowed her flight, landing softly on the cobblestone path leading to the oak door, careful to make as little noise as possible. Though she was here to talk to Twilight, she didn’t want to alert the unicorn to her presence before she was ready.

She inhaled deeply, calming her nerves as she would before a big race. She dreaded this encounter, but knew she needed to say something to Twilight.

She raised her hoof and held it in front of the door, willing herself to knock. One minute passed, then two, then three, and Rainbow had moved an inch, her stare boring into the door. It was a surreal feeling staring at the library with such apprehension. Not three days ago she found herself spending more time here than anywhere else: reading with Twilight, talking with Twilight, laughing with Twilight, simply being with Twilight...

Rainbow shook her head violently, dispelling the memories. She wasn’t here to reminisce. She was here to set things straight. Mare Do Well came back. Everything pointed to Twilight being Mare Do Well. Rainbow exploded at her yesterday, and now she needed to see her again. It didn’t feel right to leave things as they were.

Well why not? If it wasn’t bad enough the first time, she turned around and stabbed me in the back after everything I’ve gone through!
She helped me though. That night we went camping she pulled all of that emotional stuff outta me and helped me move on. I owe her that much at least.

With a determined nod, she knocked three times on the door before she could second-guess herself. Each knock was slow and forceful, reverberating throughout the library and breaking the quiet calm that had fallen over it. She resumed her resolute stance, waiting for either the bookish unicorn or her assistant to answer the door.

After a minute when nopony had shown up, she tried again, this time a little louder. Again, she was met with silence. Not a sound could be heard coming from inside the library. She looked up at the position of the sun and judged that it was around ten o’clock in the morning. Normally at this time Spike was busy running around helping Twilight sort and organize the library while Twilight sat at her desk already immersed in a book.

That’s weird... Where is everypony?

She cleared her throat and tried again, “Hey, Twilight! Open up!”

Once more there was no answer to her call.

“Look Twi’, I just want to talk about yesterday, alright? Now just open the door and let’s get this over with,” she grumbled, waiting for the unicorn to appear. Another minute passed and Rainbow’s limited patience was wearing thin. “If you’re not gonna open the door for me Twi’, then I’m just gonna let myself in.”

When there was no response, Rainbow raised her hoof to the doorknob and tried to turn it, only to find the library locked. Rainbow stared flummoxed at the doorknob and tried again. Locked. This was a public library and was always open at this hour. Rainbow was just knocking in an effort to be polite.

Rainbow flew into the sky, up to Twilight’s balcony window where she could normally see the lavender pony reading in the library. She pressed her face to the window, cupping her hooves around her eyes to block out the sun, and saw that the library was dark and empty. It didn’t look as if anypony was home.

Rainbow wasn’t convinced.

She flew around the library, checking for any open windows or places she could slip in without breaking anything. Behind the building she found that one of the windows had been broken, and there were a few light hooftracks leading away down to the park. The opening the shattered window created was just large enough for her to squeeze through without cutting herself on the jagged edges.

Rainbow shrugged, “Must have been some foals playing ball or something.”

Backing up, Rainbow ran at the window. She jumped, tucking her wings and legs in close as she soared in through the opening, landing on her back in the hall of the library.

With a groan, she got to her hoofs, dusting herself off. After checking to make sure she didn’t injure anything on her entry, she looked around the library. Many of the curtains were drawn, making the library seem darker than normal. It was eerily quiet, the only sounds being Rainbow’s hoofsteps as she slowly walked through the library.

The first thing she noticed was the Mare Do Well costume laying in a crumpled heap in the corner of the room from her tirade the other day. Nothing had been touched since she left yesterday. After checking her bedroom and the basement, she walked into the kitchen and came to the conclusion that there was indeed nopony home.

A glance at the calendar on the wall reminded her that tomorrow was Twilight’s birthday. She groaned and facehoofed. After what happened with Twilight, she had completely forgotten to see Rarity about Twilight’s gift yesterday.

She sighed and left the library, unlocking and leaving through the front door, “Maybe Rarity knows where I can find Twilight...”

Rainbow alighted down in front of Carousel Boutique. After checking to make sure nopony was in the street, she tried the door only to find it locked.

“What the…? Where is everypony today?” she grumbled as she tried knocking.

A minute passed and she was about to try again before the door swung open and Rainbow was met with the sight of Spike wearing his chef’s apron with some gem dust coating his scales and a surprised look on his face.

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?”

“Spike? Sheesh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you and Twilight all morning,” she started. She poked her head through the door, looking around nervously for a certain lavender unicorn. “Hey look, Twilight doesn’t happen to be around, does she? I kinda need to talk to her about something important... alone, if you get me.”

Before Spike could answer she pushed her way through the doorway and into the store. Seeing no sign of Twilight anywhere, Rainbow visibly relaxed. Even though she knew she had to talk to her, it didn’t make the concept any more enthralling, especially after yesterday morning.

“Oh, I guess I’m also looking for Rarity. I said I’d stop by yesterday to pick something up and I totally forgot,” she said after a moment of silence. She just needed to play it cool as if nothing was wrong, figure out where Twilight was, and then go find her.

Another moment passed and the baby dragon had not uttered a single word.

“Spike what’s up with the silent treatment?” she asked, turning around to find the dragon standing resolutely in the open doorway, little arms folded across his chest with his brow furrowed and a pout upon his face.

Rainbow stood still and the uncomfortable silence dragged on before he huffed and closed the door behind him. “Rarity’s in Canterlot for the next couple of days doing some business with the hoity-toity ponies up there. She asked me to stop by Carousel Boutique to do a little cleaning up after one of her projects and to keep Sweetie Belle company until her parents come to pick her up later today.”

While he was talking, Rainbow couldn’t help but notice that he refused to make eye contact with her, preferring to go about his busy work. He sounded annoyed, tired, and frustrated.

As she watched him work, searching for any sign of what might be troubling him, she failed to noticed Sweetie Belle yawning as she blearily stumbled her way down the stairs.

“Oh... Well... I guess I’ll just have to pick up my order later,” Rainbow said, scratching the back of her neck with a hoof. The awkwardness of the conversation was almost unbearable, but she needed to know where to find Twilight and she’d bet her bottom bit that Spike knew where she was.

“I guess so,” Spike uttered simply.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Do you know where I can find Twilight?”

“Yeah,” he said, finally turning to face her and brushing his claws off on his apron. “But first I want to know what the hay’s going on between you two.”

Drat...

Rainbow had been hoping to avoid talking about this to anypony else. Her wings fluttered nervously and she backpedalled further into the clothing store.

“Eh heh, what? There isn’t anything going on between me and Twi’, Spike. I just wanted to talk to her about... something important,” she finished lamely, rubbing her foreleg with the other.

“Oh really?” Spike huffed, exasperated. “Come on Rainbow Dash, I’m not an idiot and you’re a really bad liar. I can tell something has happened between you and Twilight lately.”

Rainbow said nothing as her eyes wandered around the boutique, looking at everything but the dragon who had started walking towards her. Sweetie Belle had stopped at the base of the stairs, watching the scene unfold with avid interest.

He pointed an accusatory clawed finger at the pegasus in front of him. “Look, will you just tell me what’s going on? Twilight hasn’t said anything and I’m really getting worried about her. I mean, first you and Twi’ have been hanging out a whole bunch lately, which is great. She seemed really happy about that,” Spike began to list off on his clawed hand. Rainbow’s ears perked up. Even though she was still incredibly angry with the unicorn, she was still her friend and she cared about her and wanted to know what had happened to her.

“Second, she disappears two nights ago without telling me where she’s going and that she’d be back in the morning,” he continued to count off on his claws. Rainbow put on her best innocent grin, but it did nothing to deter the frustrated baby dragon.

“Third, that same night you come knocking, looking for her,” he listed as he continued to approach the pegasus.

“Four, I wake up yesterday morning and find her totally zonked out on the sofa next to her old Mare Do Well costume clutching a box wrapped in sky blue paper with a rainbow bow on it.”

Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening and her heart sinking. As far as she was concerned, Spike had just confirmed her suspicions, and she could feel that pit of anger and despair form at her core again.

I knew it... but... What’s up with the box?

“And five, when I finish with helping Rarity on a gem hunt before her Canterlot trip I come back to an empty library and a note saying that Twilight went back home to Canterlot and that she didn’t know when she’d be back!” Spike finished, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration.

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe her ears.

“Twilight went where?!” she shouted in disbelief, her voice cracking as she grabbed Spike by the shoulders with her hooves.

Annoyed by the sudden invasion of his personal space, Spike squirmed out of the pegasus’ grip and brushed himself off once he was free, “She went back to her parents’ place in Canterlot, there were tear drops all of the parchment and I know that you were also looking for her yesterday morning too.”

Rainbow didn’t register a thing Spike had just said, she was still processing the fact that Twilight left Ponyville for Celestia knows how long because of what happened between the two of them.

She couldn’t help but ask herself, Is she really that upset over it?

The thought made her feel a small pang of guilt.

As Rainbow worked through the information, a dawning of realization graced Spike. He gasped silently as the dots connected in his mind, “Hang on a second... Does this have anything to do with Mare Do Well?”

Caught off-guard by the question, Rainbow managed to keep up the cool façade and articulated a well-executed, “Huh?”

“It does, doesn’t it!” Spike trumpeted victoriously. Rainbow’s silence was all the confirmation he needed. He jumped in the air and hoorahed at his genius before scratching his head in confusion. “Wait, but I thought you guys had all moved past the Mare Do Well thing after that camp out a couple weeks ago?”

“Well...yeah, but-”

“Then what’s the big deal?” Spike asked earnestly, interrupting Rainbow. “And what happened with Twilight yesterday morning?”

Rainbow sighed. She had been found out, and there wasn’t any point in trying to lie to Spike anymore. What’s done is done. “Uhh, I guess you could say, long story short, Twilight and I got into a fight yesterday after I saw her running around the night before in her Mare Do Well costume.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “And... Well I kinda bit her head off.”

“THAT’S what this is all about?” Spike facepalmed. “How is that enough to make you yell at Twilight badly enough to make her want to leave Ponyville?”

Rainbow, put on the defensive by Spike’s clear lack of understanding of the importance of the situation, prodded a hoof at the baby dragon, “Hey! You don’t get it at all Spike, when Twilight put on the Mare Do Well get-up, it did more than just hurt me! When I talked to her yesterday, she wouldn’t even admit that she did it!”

Spike and Rainbow were glaring daggers at each other, neither giving any ground. Spike stood resolute, staring up at Rainbow Dash, defending his honorary sister. Spike was about to counter before a small, tired voice interrupted the two.

“Of course she wouldn’t say she did it,” Sweetie Belle said from the base of the stairs, finally making her presence known to the pegasus and dragon.

Rainbow stared flabbergasted at the foal, “What?”

Sweetie Belle yawned and rubbed her tired eyes with a hoof. “She wouldn’t say it because she didn’t do it. She couldn’t have, unless she can be in two places at once.”

Rainbow regarded Sweetie with a look of confusion and frustration at the lack of explanation behind the unicorn’s words. The foal stood oblivious to Rainbow’s obvious restraint while Spike just looked at her with wonder, waiting for her to continue.

Finally, Rainbow relented, “What do you mean?”

“Twilight couldn’t have been Mare Do Well because she was here all night,” she answered simply, still not entirely coherent and awake.

Rainbow’s mind stopped and her blood ran cold as the implications of what Sweetie Belle was saying sunk in. She gaped, trying to find something to say in her defence.

Spike, who was far less impacted by what had just been said, spoke up, “Twilight was here? What was she doing?”

Sweetie put a hoof to her chin and chewed her bottom lip in thought, “Rarity said that she would be up really late with Twilight working on some project together. They were pretty noisy too. I think Twilight was getting all frustrated with how things were going, but she must have finished at some point, though I don’t think was until early in the morning.”

Sweetie hopped over to a nearby table where there were plans spread out and held down by various paperweights, “I think this is what they were working on.”

Dumbstruck, Rainbow half-walked, half-stumbled over to the table to examine the design. She gasped. It was a flight suit, specifically tailored to her own measurements and specifications. The design and patterns were unique, and the quality of the fabric would have allowed Rainbow to fly at even faster speeds with less drag and wind resistance. Next to the parchment was a white box with a lavender ribbon tied neatly on it with a small note on it that read ‘For Rainbow: I hope Twilight likes it.’

It was... Awesome.

She tentatively placed a hoof on the drawing of the flight suit. She didn’t know what to think, nor what to say.

“Twilight... stayed up all night... to make this for me?” she whispered, barely audible to the foal and baby dragon.

The two exchanged confused looks. Spike stepped forward, “Yeah, I guess that explains a lot. Hey, are you okay Rainbow?”

Rainbow didn’t hear him. Her mind was reeling, and it felt as if the room was spinning. She steadied herself against the table as it all began to make sense. The broken window in Twilight’s house... the confusion on Twilight’s face... the innocence in her voice... Twilight...

“No... no. No no no no!” Rainbow cried as she grabbed her head between her hooves, blinking away tears.

She had made the biggest mistake of her life, and she may have just pushed Twilight away for good.

Why couldn’t I just believe her?! Of course Twilight would never do something like that to me! What was I thinking?!

And now, she pushed Twilight away. A pony that she truly, deeply cared about that felt the same towards her. She was happy when she was around Twilight. She felt safe when she was there. And she let her own paranoia ruin that.

“Rainbow Dash?” Spike asked as he prodded her in the side with a claw. He looked down at the trembling pony and shared a glance of concern with Sweetie Belle who was still confused as to what was going on.

The poke snapped Rainbow out of her reverie, “Spike! Where’s Twilight’s parents’ house?! I need to see her right away before it’s too late!”

Spike fell backwards at the sudden change in disposition of the pegasus. Trembling, he reached into his apron and pulled out the note that Twilight had left for him at the library.

“H-here, the address is written down on this note in case I forgot it and needed to send Twilight something,” he stuttered out, getting back to his feet. “But Rainbow, what’s going on?”

Grabbing the note in her mouth and taking the box in her forehooves, she flew out the window, her muffled yell fading as she faded away in the distance.

“No time to explain, but I gotta go!”

Her sights set on Canterlot, Rainbow’s mind was focused on one thing.

She was going to find Twilight, and she was going to fix this.

Rainbow paced in front of a small house in the residential area of Canterlot, checking for the umpteenth time that she had the right address. She had walked around the entire neighbourhood twice before she forced herself to stop. She looked at the hastily scrawled note left by Twilight, then up to the building in front of her. There was no doubting it; this was where Twilight grew up before she went to live in the palace as Celestia’s star pupil.

A white picket fence surrounded a carefully mowed and well-tended lawn. A little garden bloomed around the house, clearly well-cared for by a pony with a green hoof. The house itself was two stories tall, painted white and purple, as were most buildings in Canterlot. A cobblestone path wound its way from the gate, through the lawn and garden, to the front door. A mailbox at the end of the pathway read “Residence of Mr. & Mrs. Sparkle.” It was a humble house in a city full of nobles.

Tentatively, Rainbow reached out towards the gate as if it were electrified. She undid the latch, and treaded the cobblestone path as one would a minefield. After an eternity, she reached the front door. She raised a hoof to knock, her hoof halting in mid-knock.

If Twilight had come home in tears because of her, she would be the last pony Twilight would want to see right now, and that went double for her parents. She considered leaving. She could wait for a few days until Twilight calmed down some.

No. I need to fix this now. After everything I’ve done, I owe her the chance to not accept my apology.

Rainbow glanced at her reflection in the window nearby, and quickly set to straightening out her mane with a hoof as much as possible. She took a deep breath, stood squarely on her hooves, forced her wings to fold in neatly at her sides, and before she had the chance to lose her nerve, Rainbow rapidly knocked four times on the door.

The door was answered by a unicorn mare with a pale grey coat and a purple and white-striped mane styled in a way similar to Twilight’s. She regarded Rainbow with a knowing stare behind cool blue eyes. Her cutie mark was three purple stars that matched her daughter’s coat perfectly.

It didn’t take a pony of Twilight’s calibre to figure out who this mare was.

Nervously, Rainbow cleared her throat and did her best to maintain a calm disposition as she introduced herself, “Um, hi. You must be Twilight’s mom, I’m-”

“I know who you are,” the unicorn interrupted coolly, her brow furrowing as she looked down on Rainbow.

Rainbow shrunk under the intense gaze of a parent who was defending her child. “Eheh, you do?” she asked in a small voice, though she knew the answer.

Mrs. Sparkle snorted, “Yes. You must be Rainbow Dash, the weather coordinator from Ponyville that I’ve heard so much about.” She leaned down to eye-level with Rainbow Dash. Her gaze bored into Rainbow’s soul, shredding any confidence she managed to muster. “You broke my daughter’s heart. Now, leave. You’ve done enough damage already, don’t you think?”

Rainbow cringed as she spoke, desperately wanting to just take off and leave this place in the distance as she rocketed back to the safety of her cloud house.

She couldn’t though. She wouldn’t go home until she at least had a chance to see Twilight.

Just as Twilight’s mother was about to slam the door shut, Rainbow stopped it with a hoof. She flinched in pain as her hoof was trapped between the door and its frame, but she stood her ground. “Wait a sec, Mrs. Sparkle! Please, just let me see Twilight!”

Mrs. Sparkle’s eyes narrowed and gave Rainbow another heated glare, “Why should I? You hurt my daughter more than anypony has, and you expect me to let you waltz in and make things worse?”

Rainbow, at a loss for words, gaped as her eyes darted left and right, grasping for anything to say that might make her change her mind. “P-please, I’m sorry for what happened with Twilight. But I’m begging you here, let me try and fix it.”

Mrs. Sparkle stopped and looked into Rainbow’s eyes that shone with determination and desperation. She examined the pegasus before her carefully, and Rainbow could almost hear the gears turning in her head.

“Why should I give you a second chance?” she scrutinized, watching every movement Rainbow made.

“Because... because...” Rainbow thought to herself why she should be given another chance after messing up so badly, “...because I screwed up. I couldn’t let go of the past, even after everything Twilight did for me, and because of it I ended up hurting one of the most important ponies... No, the most important pony, in my life.”

Rainbow’s confidence and determination grew with every word she spoke up to the point where she stood tall before Twilight’s mother, hoof still holding the door open.

“Please, I need to make things right. If Twilight hates me, then she hates me, but I need to at least try. I’m not leaving until I see her, and there’s nothing you can do about that,” Rainbow finished, puffing her wings out and planting her haunches firmly on the ground.

Twilight’s mother scrutinized her, neither pony flinching or willing to give any ground. Rainbow simply stared back defiantly; convinced that she could work things out if she could at least get Twilight to listen to her.

A minute passed, then another, and then another.

Eventually Mrs. Sparkle’s gaze softened, and she shook her head lightly, chuckling to herself all the while. Rainbow blinked at her, confused by the sudden change in her cool demeanor.

“By all rights as her mother, I should personally be throwing you back on the train to Ponyville,” she started. Rainbow gulped, waiting for a lecture on why she should leave and never return. Twilight’s mother smiled sadly at her, “I can see why she fell for you now. Words can never truly do justice to what the heart feels.”

Rainbow’s cheeks and ears burned and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks, “Wait, what did you say?”

Turning her back to the pegasus, Twilight’s mother retreated back into the house. “I’m afraid you won’t find her here. Though, you may want to try your luck at the Royal Gardens of the Canterlot Palace. I’ve heard the lilacs are in bloom, and quite a sight to see. You may just see her there if you hurry,” she called out over her shoulder.

The door shut behind her, but by the time it closed, all that could be seen of Rainbow Dash was a prismatic blur racing off in the direction of the palace.

Twilight Sparkle sat in the Royal Gardens of the Canterlot Palace, surrounded by flora of all varieties. White petunias and golden dandelions swayed delicately in the afternoon breeze. Dark blue nightshades and bright red poppies shimmered in the light. Orchids of all kinds gracefully flowered in the splendor of Celestia’s sun.

It was Twilight’s favourite spot in all of Canterlot, save for the library. Whenever she felt depressed or stressed, she would come out here and bask in the warmth of the afternoon sun and inhale the fragrance of more flowers than she could count and her worries would melt away.

The lilacs were in bloom. They were Twilight’s favourite flower, and this was her favourite time of the year. Normally, she’d find herself dozing with a slight grin on her face as she lay in the gardens.

This was not a normal situation for her.

Her head hung low, she sighed wistfully as she idly stroked a lilac gently, her mind forcefully replaying her confrontation with Rainbow from yesterday. Her stomach churned. On the one hoof, she was entirely heartbroken by Rainbow’s tirade, and the thought of her face contorted in anger made Twilight whimper.

She had never been so devastated in her life.

On the other hoof, she hated herself for not being able to say where she was. She didn’t even need to tell Rainbow the whole story, just that she was over at Rarity’s all night. But no, she was too scared to even do that. Her own cowardice drove the mare she cared about more than anypony else away.

She had never been so disappointed with herself.

And now she sat alone, heartbroken and wallowing in her grief. If she was capable, she would have most likely been crying, yet she had not a single tear left to shed. Her parents had welcomed her home with open hoofs, as any good parent would, but they could do little to comfort her.

What Twilight needed now was time... Time, and maybe one last chance to apologize to Rainbow Dash. Though while the very thought of seeing that gorgeous filly with the rainbow wind-swept mane used to excite her and make her heart swell, it now made her feel empty and confused.

Rainbow had effectively stomped on Twilight’s heart, shattering it into tiny fragments. Yet, through it all Twilight still cared for her, still wanted to be with her, though now it would never happen. If her chances were slim before, now they were non-existent.

Emotional exhaustion overtaking her, Twilight lay down on her stomach on the cool grass. With a blank stare she nudged the lilac in front of her with a hoof.

Maybe it would be best to leave Ponyville for good and come back to Canterlot...
How can you say that? The Princess sent you to Ponyville to study friendship! Speaking of, how can you just abandon your friends?
I wouldn’t be abandoning them, I’d just be moving away. I’d still write to them and see them every now and then. This happens all the time...
You’re happiest when you’re there with you friends, with Rainbow Dash.
But I can’t go back now! Not after what happened with Rainbow... How can I?
Why don’t you just go and talk to her about it?
Like she’d even give me the time of day now...

Twilight’s inner quarrel was interrupted by a disturbance in the wind and soft flapping of wings, alerting her to another pony’s presence. She sighed, but didn’t budge. The last thing Twilight wanted to do was to talk with anypony. She just wanted to be left alone to wallow in her misery.

Twilight’s ears twitched as she heard the pony that had just arrived take a step forwards, towards her. Then another, and another, and another. Whoever had just arrived was heading right for her. She stayed still, hoping that whoever it was would ignore her and move along.

The hoofsteps stopped a mere few feet from Twilight’s current position.

“...Twilight?” a familiar raspy voice softly called.

Twilight froze, she would recognize that voice anywhere. Panic began to overtake her as her mind raced through what she could possibly be doing here... or for that matter how she found her. She held her breath as she heard the pony shuffle on her hooves, her back still facing her.

“I... I know you probably don’t want to talk to me, I wouldn’t want to either,” the voice sputtered, giving a forced chuckle at her vain attempt at humor. She cleared her throat and continued. “So... Let me do the talking then, alright? You can just listen, because... because there’s something I need to say. And... and after I’ve said it, if you want, I’ll leave and never come back. I just really need to tell you this.”

Twilight lifted her head and nodded silently, still not entirely believing who was talking to her.

“I just-” she paused as she searched for the right words, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry... for everything.”

She’s sorry?

Twilight turned her head to look at the pegasus for the first time, eyes widened in shock. She was met with the sight of Rainbow Dash, her gaze turned down to the right and rubbing her leg with a hoof. She looked as nervous as she did the day of the Best Young Flyer’s Competition.

Rainbow glanced up at her, then immediately away, as if she were ashamed of something. After a moment passed she continued, voice steadily getting stronger.

“After what happened with Mare Do Well two weeks ago, you dragged me out of my shell, something nopony else has ever really been able to do. You made me better,” she said with a small smile. “And I guess that’s why I exploded the way I did when I thought you were Mare Do Well the other night.”

Twilight was hanging off of the pegasus’ every word, careful not to miss a single thing that she said.

“But... but I should have known that you, especially you, wouldn’t do something like that,” Rainbow continued, eyes downcast. Twilight could feel her heart beginning to swell and the ghost of a smile threatened to tug at the corners of her lips.

“I should have believed you... but I didn’t, and I don’t even know why, or what was going through my head. It’s just... ugh!” Rainbow cried. “I’m so bad at this... This is all a huge mess and it’s all my fault. I’m so, so sorry Twilight.”

Twilight made to stand up, “Rainbow, I-”

Rainbow cut her off with a pleading look, “Wait a second Twi’, I’m not done yet, and I really need to say this next part. I know I’m already asking a lot... but... please?”

Twilight lay back down and gestured for Rainbow to continue. As she looked into her eyes she could see the gleam of remorse, and a spark of... hope?

“It wasn’t until this morning, when I found out that you left Ponyville without so much as a goodbye, that I realized... that I realized...” Rainbow fumbled for the words, a small blush colouring her cheeks. “That I realized how important you are... to me, and how much of an idiot I’ve been.”

Quietly, Twilight stood up, her heart soaring, and crept towards Rainbow Dash as the pegasus hid her face with her bangs, oblivious to Twilight’s approach.

“I talked to Sweetie Belle and Spike today too, and they told me where you really were last night. Twilight, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. Can you forgive m-” Rainbow’s apology was cut short by a purple hoof gently placed over her lips. She followed the hoof to its owner and saw nothing but care in Twilight’s watering eyes.

Twilight gingerly moved her hoof away from Rainbow’s mouth, the latter’s heart beating wildly in her chest, and placed it over Rainbow’s hoof.

“It’s okay, I should have told you where I was instead of trying to hide behind some lie,” Twilight consoled. “I-I was too scared to even tell you where I was. I know you heard from Sweetie Belle, but I want you to hear it from me.”

She could feel her heartbeat accelerating and a blush form on her cheeks. “Rainbow, I...” she paused, caught in the hypnotic gaze of the pegasus right in front of her who was listening intently to what she had to say. “Rainbow I couldn’t have been... you-know-who... because I spent the night at Rarity’s working on something for you. I should have told you earlier... but I couldn’t put it into words exactly.”

Twilight paused to gauge Rainbow’s reaction. She had been hanging off of every word she said the same way Twilight had mere moments ago. Twilight took a deep breath to steady herself and her horn hummed with magical power as she levitated a rectangular box wrapped in sky blue paper. The box hovered over to Rainbow and was delicately placed in front of her.

Rainbow took this as her cue, and carefully removed the wrapping paper, lifting the lid of the box delicately to peer inside.

She gasped.

Though she had seen the designs before, no drawing could do the flight suit justice. The fabric was light and strong, able to resist wear and tear at Rainbow’s top speeds yet wouldn’t weigh her down. It was light blue, slightly paler than her coat, and sported her cutie mark on either side.

“Rarity helped, obviously, but I wanted to do most of the work myself so I could try and show you... how important you are to me, how much you mean to me.”

Rainbow, staring in wonder at the gift, slowly replaced the lid on the box, before looking up to Twilight at a loss for words.

Twilight smiled sadly, “I should have just told you right away.”

Rainbow shook her head, “No, it’s not okay. I hurt you Twi’, more than you and the girls ever hurt me with the Mare Do Well thing. And because I couldn’t let go of it, I almost pushed you away for good.”

“Rainbow...”

Rainbow looked up to Twilight, a look of desperation in her eyes. She reached forward and rubbed Twilight’s cheek with a hoof. Twilight saw something spark in her eye, and a smile tugged at the corner of Rainbow’s mouth.

“Can I at least make it up to you?” she asked hopefully.

Twilight could feel her brow furrow as she regarded Rainbow with a quizzical look. After a few seconds, she could feel herself relax and giggled softly for the first time in what felt like ages.

“Okay, what did you have in mind, Rainbow?”

Rainbow smiled widely and earnestly, and placed her other hoof over Twilight’s, “How about... How about you let me take you out... You know, like a date?”

Twilight’s blush peaked. “A-a date? As in, just the two of us? Alone? Together? Doing something?”

Rainbow’s smile never faltered as she nodded slowly, her own blush returning. “Yeah, just you and me. How does tomorrow night sound?”

“Really?” Twilight deadpanned, trying to hold back an amused grin. “You ask me out on a date on my birthday and you take me bowling?” She asked as Rainbow led her to their own lane she reserved for the two at the Ponyville Bowlarama. A few other ponies flitted about, getting food or taking turns at the lane, but it was largely empty.

Rainbow turned around to face Twilight, a nervous look on her face. “Umm, yes?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, I thought about what we could do, and this seemed, ya know, different. Something extraordinary for an extraordinary mare. Plus, I booked out most of the whole bowlarama just for us!” she added with a wide smile, hoping that she hadn’t already screwed up.

Twilight stifled a giggle behind a hoof. “It’s okay Rainbow, I love it. I haven’t been bowling in years,” she said as she passed the pegasus, lifting a ball with her magic. She looked over her shoulder to see the pegasus visibly relax and let out a breath of relief, her wings dropping to her sides. Twilight let out another short giggle.

“Now come on Rainbow, let’s bowl. I’ll take the first go?”

Rainbow smiled and stood behind Twilight. “Sure, it is your birthday after all. I’ll let you have the first go so you don’t give up right away,” she added with a cocky smile.

Twilight loved that smile, though she wasn’t about to give up that easily. She stuck her tongue out at Rainbow, who only chuckled at the childish action. Twilight turned back to the bowling lane, and focused her aim. She held the ball aloft in front of her as she lined up the ball with the pins. She ran forwards, stopping just before the foul line, and let the ball loose from her magical grip. The ball rolled down the lane with practiced aim, hitting the center pin just off-center resulting in a perfect strike.

Rainbow stared slack-jawed as the white pins toppled one after the other, Twilight turning back to her with a smug grin. She didn’t move as Twilight walked back towards her, and only reacted when Twilight flicked her playfully on the nose with her tail. “Looks like you’re up Rainbow.”

Rainbow shook her head, sneezing after being flicked on the snout, and smiled challengingly at the unicorn. “Oh, is that how it is? I’m so gonna kick your butt Sparkle, birthday or not.”

The two bowled late into the night, matching each other strike for strike, spare for spare, laughing all the while and simply enjoying being in each other’s presence. It was nonsensical; bowling shouldn’t have been romantic or appropriate for a first date at all according to the books Twilight had read, but she didn’t care. Twilight couldn’t have been happier. After everything that had happened, here she was, on a date with the mare of her dreams, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Rainbow so carefree. It was as if a weight that had been holding her down had finally been lifted.

After Rainbow paid, the two left to bask in a moonlit walk back to the library, both tired beyond belief but still giggling and laughing with each other. Despite their mutual exhaustion, they were giddy to still be with each other for even just a little longer.

A cool night wind blew past, making Twilight shiver as her body tried to warm itself. A lightbulb went off in Rainbow’s head as she saw her date shake in the cold.

“Oh! I almost forgot! I got you something for your birthday Twi’! Hang on a sec,” Rainbow said as she began rummaging through her saddlebags. “You’re gonna love it!”

Twilight watched her dig through her bags, teeth chattering in the cool night air. “O-o-oh R-Rainbow, you d-didn’t have to g-g-get me anything. The b-bowling was more than enough.”

Rainbow lifted her head from her saddlebags, a look of disbelief decorating her face. “What? Are you kidding me? Of course I’m gonna get something for the prettiest mare I know on her birthday!”

Twilight blushed, and her ears flattened against her head. “You... you think I’m pretty?”

Rainbow fished a small white box with a single purple ribbon from her bag, placing it down in front of Twilight. “No, I don’t think you’re just ‘pretty,’ I think that you’re the prettiest mare in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria.” She placed her hoof over Twilight’s, causing her to lift her head, her eyes sparkling with joy and affection. Twilight watched as Rainbow smiled and led her hoof to her present. “Now go on and open it, will ya?”

Giggling, Twilight slowly undid the ribbon with her magic, levitating out of the box a pure white scarf decorated with purple stripes and pink highlights, her cutie mark embroidered on the end. In the moonlight it glittered as if several tiny stars were interwoven into the fabric.

“Wow... Rainbow... it’s beautiful. I don’t know what to say,” Twilight said softly as she wrapped the scarf around her neck.

“Not as beautiful as it looks on you,” Rainbow said earnestly as she put the empty box back in her saddlebags.

Twilight blushed again. “Stop it Rainbow, you’re making me blush,” she said playfully bumping Rainbow’s side.

“How do you know that isn’t my plan?” Rainbow chuckled as another cool night breeze made Twilight shiver. “Still cold?”

“Maybe just a little,” Twilight laughed, a sheepish smile on her face.

“Here,” Rainbow whispered as she draped a wing over Twilight’s back, pulling her close, “allow me.”

Twilight snuggled into the pegasus, revelling in the warmth she provided as the two walked back to the library. When the two finally reached their destination, Rainbow begrudgingly lifted her wing from Twilight’s back, already missing the presence of the unicorn next to her.

“Well...” Rainbow started, “here we are.”

“Yeah...” Twilight smiled, still on a high from her night with Rainbow. “Thank you for a wonderful night Rainbow, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.” She moved to unlock the door, only to find that it opened when she placed her hoof on it.

“That’s strange... I could have sworn I locked up behind me,” Twilight said, cautiously opening the door wider, Rainbow standing right behind her, ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.

As she opened the door, Twilight gasped. “Rainbow... the Mare Do Well costume... It’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’?”

“I mean it’s gone. I left it folded up on the table so you and I could get rid of it together and move past this. But now... It’s gone.”

Twilight and Rainbow shared a confused and concerned glance, before they turned to look for any signs of whoever may have taken the outfit.

“Rainbow! Over there!” Twilight shouted as she pointed to a nearby rooftop with a hoof. Rainbow followed the hoof to see Mare Do Well watching them both quietly from above, the same expressionless mask staring down at them. Mare Do Well reigned up on her hind legs, kicking her front legs forward before she turned and galloped, leaping from rooftop to rooftop into the distance.

“Should we go after her?” Twilight asked from Rainbow’s side, watching her date’s expression for any indication. She saw surprise, disbelief, and even a small flash of anger, before Rainbow’s face settled into an expression of calm acceptance.

She turned to face Twilight, “Nah, I’ve already almost lost you once because of her. I think... I think I’ve finally let it go, Twilight. I’m done with Mare Do Well, she won’t be haunting me anymore.”

Twilight smiled proudly at her, leaning in to nuzzle her, “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks Twi’. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Rainbow asked, returning the nuzzle.

“Of course,” Twilight smiled. As Rainbow began to turn away she called out to her, “Rainbow? Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Rainbow turned to look at Twilight, brow furrowed in confusion. She saw that Twilight was blushing and pawing the ground with a hoof. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Twilight stepped forward, levitating her scarf off of her neck and wrapping it around both her and Rainbow, entwining the two. Her blush only grew as she saw a blush beginning to colour Rainbow’s cheeks, “You forgot to kiss me goodnight.”

“Oh, right,” Rainbow chuckled as she leaned in to peck Twilight on the cheek, her own blush staining her cheeks a bright red visible even in the night.

Twilight giggled, the intensity of her own blush matching Rainbow’s, “Nice try Dashie, but you missed.”

“Huh?”

Any questions Rainbow might have had were lost as Twilight leaned in to kiss Rainbow, sending a jolt of electricity traveling down the length of her spine to her wingtips. Rainbow melted into the kiss, running a hoof through Twilight’s mane and pulling her closer.

Only one thought was present in Twilight’s mind amongst the bliss she was experiencing:

Best birthday ever.

From the glimmering rooftops of Canterlot, a single pony darted between the ramparts and towering heights of the royal palace. Mare Do Well, melded into the darkness, effortlessly jumped, leaped, and teleported her way up the castle, sights set on a single balcony above. The guards passed by her unaware as she stalked her way through the night.

Checking to make sure there was nopony in sight, Mare Do Well made the final teleport to her destination. The balcony was empty save for a large violet cushion and telescope.

She surrounded her hat in a navy blue glow and slowly levitated it off of her head, soon followed by the rest of her ensemble. As the last of the garment left her body, the pony’s entire form was enveloped by the same magical aura. Her legs, torso, and horn grew and two large dark blue wings sprouted from her sides, fully outstretched.

As her navy blue mane was swept up in an unseen ethereal wind, Princess Luna moaned as her muscles stretched in relief, finally free of the restricting shape-altering spell. She sighed in bliss as she collapsed onto her waiting pillow, eyelids drooping closed as exhaustion seeped into her body and mind.

“Busy night, Lulu?” A voice called from within her personal chambers.

Luna jumped from her comfortable spot on her cushion and whirled around midair to find Celestia calmly striding out of Luna’s bedchambers, a knowing smile visible underneath the light of the full moon.

“Oh, sister, it is you,” Luna gasped out, relieved. “Erm, yes. I have had a very... eventful evening thus far patrolling my night, and was hoping to get some much needed rest. Do you mind?” she asked, gesturing for Celestia to take her leave.

“Do not take me for a foal, Luna,” Celestia warned. “I know very well your activities as of late.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about ‘Tia,” Luna said innocently.

Nodding her head, Celestia calmly walked to the edge of the balcony and pointed to the Mare Do Well costume still lying in a heap from when Luna returned with a smile, “If you intend on fooling me, dear sister, then next time I recommend not leaving any incriminating evidence out in the open.”

Luna’s mouth opened in a silent ‘o’ and she silently cursed her own naivety. “Very well, you have caught me in the act,” Luna sighed and raised her foorhooves in an act of submission. “I admit it, I was the Mysterious Mare Do Well that appeared to both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. But what does it matter? They have both moved on, as they should.”

Celestia paused a moment as she regarded the costume before her, “It matters, Lulu. By playing the role of Mare Do Well, you almost drove the two apart for good.”

“But I didn’t!” Luna protested, pointing a hoof at her sister. “Because of Mare Do Well, the two are together now, their bond stronger than ever, and they couldn’t be happier!”

“My point still stands, little sister,” Celestia countered, turning to face Luna directly. “The ends do not always justify the means. Yes, young Twilight and Rainbow may have had a happy ending this time, but they nearly lost a friendship that they both cherished dearly in the meantime. And all because of your interference.”

“It is because of my interference that young Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are together now.”

“And you think that they would not have eventually come to realize their feelings for each other on their own?”

Luna sighed, and looked to her older sister with a look mixed with guilt and defiance, “No... I do not believe they would have. I see all that happens in my night, sister, and peer into the dreams of our little ponies. Twilight Sparkle dreamed of being with Rainbow Dash, but would not have been able to gather the strength needed to ask.’”

Celestia stood stoic, listening to every word Luna spoke carefully, her practiced mask of neutrality holding strong.

“And Rainbow Dash had yet to realize her own feelings for your student, and she had not yet moved passed the Mare Do Well incident. They both needed a little... ‘push’ as it were.”

“I understand, but your ‘push’ almost pushed them apart entirely. Never before have I seen my student so heartbroken, Lulu. I have watched Twilight grow up from a young age, and have become very close to her. You can sympathize with why this is of importance to me.”

Luna sat quietly for a moment, not a word passing between the two, “Yes, what I did was... risky, but you must admit that everything did work out in the end. I even broke the window and left hooftracks to make it easy for them to see that somepony else must have broken in and taken the costume.”

Celestia maintained her mask of indifference, staring down at her sister expectantly as a teacher would a child.

Luna sighed, she hated it when Celestia looked at her like that. “Be reasonable, ‘Tia. I took every precaution to ensure that it would have been blindingly obvious that Twilight was not Mare Do Well. And you must admit that your student has never been happier. But very well, I will not pull another stunt such as this again.”

Celestia smiled and leaned down to nuzzle her sister. “Thank you Luna,” she said with a small laugh.

Luna was dumbstruck. “So you are not...angry with me, Celestia?”

“Of course not, dearest sister. I simply wanted to hear the truth from you, face to face. I have watched Twilight for nearly all of her life, and I have never seen her so happy as she is right now,” she answered, her horn charging with power and illuminating a mirror in the adjacent room. In the mirror, Luna could see the images of Twilight and Rainbow locked in a loving embrace under the light of the moon.

Luna could only smile at the sight.

“I shall leave you to retire for the night now. Pleasant dreams, dear sister. I shall see you in the morning,” Celestia finished, enveloping the discarded costume in her golden magic. “Though I will be taking this to be sealed away. It has served its purpose and I see no reason for it to ever see the light of day again.”

“Yes, good night, dearest sister. I expect that you shall receive some interesting friendship reports from Twilight and Rainbow Dash tomorrow.”

As Celestia walked past the mirror, she stole one last glance at the two and smiled at the display of young love.

“Yes... I expect I shall.”

Author's Note

It...is done. After two weeks of grueling planning, writing, and editing my entry is finished with little over 2 hours to spare. A major round of applause to The Abyss and DarqFox for editing this.

I apologize if anything seemed a little rushed/awkward, due to time constraints this was written in the span of 2.5 days.

Good luck to everyone in the contest! Until next time!