Experiments

Chapters

The Hypothesis
The Experiment
The Conclusion

The Hypothesis

Experiments
Chapter 1: The Hypothesis

“No!” Dr. Negative cried, scrambling backwards on the ground as his own groaning servants began to swarm him. He managed to get a short distance across the courtyard before he backed into a wall. “What have you done? Wha-what have you done?” He fumbled through his satchel and seized a small vial with his hoof. His triumphant cheer was cut short though, as the vial was knocked out of his grasp and crushed beneath the hoard of drugged ponies. Frantically, he reached for his bag again, only to find it trampled beneath the hooves of a large red stallion; multicolored fluids coated the ground around it.

“No!”

“It's no use, Doctor,” Daring Do called out as she watched the physician's struggle from her perch on the balcony above. “You did this to yourself.” She hopped off the railing and started for the door, walking past a fedora-wearing Earth pony.

“You're just going to leave him?” he asked, following her back into the manor. “Seems a little cold for you, Do...”

Daring paused as the door shut, canceling out the screams of agony now echoing about the place. Her gaze fell to the floor with her wings.“It's not like he doesn't deserve whatever happens to him down there.” She shuddered. “Brainwashing ponies like that... It's... It's just wrong.”

When no response came, Daring's eyes shot up. She could handle danger; give her a crazed doctor with way too many drugs or an ancient temple filled with traps and she couldn't care any less—but him? She needed him. If she upset him—scared him off or ignited his righteous fury—she'd never forgive herself. A quivering desperation seeping into her tone, Daring asked, “You... You don't think I'm a horrible pony for this, do you?”

A brown hoof settled on her shoulder as Manehatten Silver looked her straight in her watery eyes. “No,” he said softly, pulling her into his embrace. “Negative's the monster here, not you.”

Daring choked back a sob as she nuzzled deeper into Silver's chest. “Wh-when he had you—back at the lab... You... a-and the syringe... When you... When you...” Her words failed her and turned into incomprehensible sobs. Gently, a hoof patted her back. Soft words were whispered into her ears, causing her to only hold on tighter to the stallion she'd so nearly lost.

“I was so scared,” she whimpered. Her whole body trembled in his forelegs, but he only held her tighter. “I wanted to kill him—I wanted to rip his throat out and stomp it into the dirt! I-I—”

“Shh,” Silver whispered, running a hoof down the pegasus's gray-scaled mane. “It's over now,” he said. “It's all over.”

“All I could think about was that night in Fillydelphia,” Daring continued, “And how stupid I was for walking out and... I'm so sorry...”

Biting his lip, Silver shifted his weight and looked away from his long-time friend and rival adventurer. “Look, Dare, you don't have to—“ A tan hoof interrupted him and jarred his face down towards Daring Do's. Her eyes shone like rubies in the dim light of the hall.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” she whispered, pulling him closer. Her wings flared as their lips furiously collided in a passionate—

“What?” Rainbow Dash cried indignantly, raising her hooves in the air. She glared at the book before her with furious distaste. “That's... that's...”

“So sweet,” Twilight sighed dreamily. She closed her eyes and smiled, her tail lightly sweeping across the wooden floor of the library. “Don't you think so, Rainbow?”

“So stupid!” the pegasus finished, batting the novel aside. It flew across the room and smacked the wall with a ruffled thud. Paying no mind to Twilight's irritated stare, Rainbow began pacing around the room. “What about Rosetta?” she growled, flapping her wings furiously. She glared out the window at the sunset.

“What about her?” Twilight asked as she picked up her new copy of Daring Do and the Devious Doctor Negative and carefully placed it back on her personal bookshelf. “She's still back at the college, right?”

Dash huffed and blew a stray bit of her mane out of her face. “So?”

“So...” Twilight rolled her hoof in the air, gesturing for her friend to explain further. When Rainbow didn't turn around, she sighed and continued: “What's the problem?”

“Everything!” Rainbow roared, spinning around. Twilight stumbled back in surprise as Dash's hooves slammed into the floor and shook the picture frames on the walls. Nostrils flared, she began prowling around the room, circling Twilight like a hungry lioness. “How can Daring just... Why would she...”

Twilight's brow furrowed. “Rainbow?” she said slowly, watching Rainbow curse and kick another book into a wall. “Are you okay?”

“No!” the pegasus ejaculated, bringing her hoof to her forehead. “Yes!” She growled at the floor as Twilight stood up and stepped closer. “Ugh! I don't know! I don't get it!”

“What don't you understand?”

“She kissed him!” Dash spat; just saying the words left a bad taste in her mouth. “I can't believe it!”

Frowning, Twilight gave her friend a curious look. “What's wrong with that? I think it's a very sweet conclusion to the story.”

“But what about Rosetta?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her head and rubbed her temple. “I don't think I understand where you're going with this, Rainbow,” she groaned. “What do you mean?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “I mean that Daring totally belongs with Rosetta—not stinkin' Silver!”

Jerking her head back, Twilight's curious expression quickly switched from bemused to amused. An eyebrow raised as Twilight shook her head. “What?” she snorted. “You're joking, right?”

Rainbow's face hardened. Her wings ruffled. “No,” she said. “I'm not.”

“But there's been no evidence that Rosetta and Daring feel anything more than platonic friendship at all, Rainbow,” Twilight giggled despite Rainbow's steadily growing scowl. “Not a single scrap in the whole series.”

Dash's eyes drifted down to the floor and cursed silently. Without thinking, her gaze shot back to her friend and she protested, “They got milkshakes in the beginning of the book!”

“Oh,” she said, smirking, “Then it must be true love!”

“It was a date!” Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “And that's way better than some stupid kiss!”

“It was not a date!” Twilight countered, “Daring Do has never gone to her for more than advice or to hang out!”

“That's not dating?” Dash huffed, glaring at Twilight. “Daring's totally crazy for her!”

“Just because somepony gets a milkshake with somepony else doesn't mean that they're romantically involved, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, a hint of annoyance seeping into her tone. “How many times have we gotten milkshakes on reading days?”

Dash's wings flared and her ears slicked back behind her head as she turned to the side; the setting sun peered through the window and lit her face, coloring it red. Her cheeks felt warm. “I-it wasn't about the milkshakes, Twi...” she mumbled to the floor. “I mean, I could totally see that... that they were happy together...”

Twilight shook her head. “Rainbow, I'm sorry. I don't know how you got the idea that Rosetta and Daring love each other—let alone the fact that they are both homosexual—but it just isn't there.”

Rainbow's eyes never rose from the floor. There was a crack traversing the length of one of the boards on the far side of the room, she followed it across the floor to Twilight's hooves. “But... but it has to be...” she whispered so low that Twilight didn't manage to catch it. “Daring... Daring totally loves her...”

“Besides,” the unicorn added, tapping her chin with her hoof. “Daring and Rosetta would make for a very strange couple—don't you think so, Rainbow Dash? I mean, Rosetta's a professor at Canterlot University—it'd be awful hard for somepony as adventurous and free-spirited as Daring Do to stick around and be in a real relationship with her.”

Dash jumped to her hooves, her hackles raised. “She could do it if she wanted to!”

Twilight raised her hooves. “I didn’t say it wasn’t possible, but if you read the book, it surely isn’t implied anywhere specifically.”

“… But they expressions they had when they had the milkshakes, they were genuine! Anypony could totally see the passion in their eyes which they had for one another,” Rainbow exclaimed, getting somewhat annoyed at the stubbornness of the unicorn to agree with her.

Twilight groaned and facehoofed, not what else to say on the manner presented at hand. Rainbow was never going to fully accept the outcome given in the book, as much as Twilight wanted to convince her that Rosetta and Daring were merely friends.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I don’t see the possible relationship between them like you did. In my eyes, the two are just friends, nothing more, nothing less.” Twilight spoke in a soft voice, as she tried to get across the message to a stubborn Rainbow Dash without causing her to lash out again.

Rainbow rose up off the floor and began following the same floorboard crack back to the unicorn’s front door, her head slumped down in defeat as she realized her argument really didn’t have much of a backbone to it.

Earlier on when she was reading the novel, she had secretly wished that the relationship between Rosetta and Daring worked out like she fantasized it would. The brash and adventurous Daring Do falling in love with an intelligent studious mare like Rosetta would be the unexpected, yet perfect finish for the book, and if it happened, Dash would easily place it among her favorites of the series.

There was also other more personal and specific reasons Rainbow wanted to believe the pair held something special.
“Rainbow… are you alright?”

She turned around to meet the violet eyes of a concerned Twilight Sparkle, who definitely knew that something was up. Twilight was no slouch when it came to the well-being of her friends, although she could be narrow-minded and oblivious at times, especially when it came to her studies. Dash inwardly cursed to herself, not for Twilight’s concern, but for how she let a book turn her into a whirlwind of emotion.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Rainbow lied, hoping it was enough to deter Twilight for the time being. “I got worked up so much over that part where it kinda gave me a headache.” Rainbow grinned a bit and rubbed part of her temple. She had actually gotten a bit of a headache thinking about the matter at hand, so that itself wasn’t a total crock.

Twilight cocked her head slightly, sensing something weird was up but deciding to leave the pegasus be. Her instincts told her that her friend had a problem, but Twilight had learned that sometimes ponies need their space and would rather deal with them alone. Of all the ponies she knew, Rainbow Dash was one to fit this mold extremely well.

“I’ll see ya later Twi,” Rainbow said, turning to her once as walked out, leaving Twilight standing there in her wake.

My alarm clock read 9 pm and here I was, all snuggled in bed, comfy as can be. The cloud bed I happily called my own seemed to be as soft as ever, as were the pillows my head was currently rested on. Surely this must mean I’d be fast asleep like always right? Well tonight apparently wasn’t one of those nights.

I assumed that the quicker I left Twilight’s, the better my head would feel as put that embarrassing emotional outburst behind me. It annoyed me to no end that I let a book, a book of all things rile me up and cause me to turn into a near emotional wreck. If I would expect that to happen to anypony, it would be Twilight or Rarity, but not me.

As much as a tried however, I knew that this wasn’t the issue at hand. The embarrassment I made of myself at the library was due to my own inner conflicts and feelings, all of them centered around the egghead herself. To figure out just when I decided I had a crush on Twilight is difficult, because I really have no idea. All I can recall is that one day when the six of us were all hanging out, Twilight just seemed to stand out more than usual to me. I can actually slightly remember the moment; it might have been one of the occasions when we all came together with the elements. The way Twilight handled herself was incredible, she looked so calm yet ready for action; she looked absolutely fearless… exactly like me.

To compare the Twilight who first arrived to Ponyville to the Twilight we all love now would show just how much she has changed overall. I remember when I first met the mare. She seemed extremely uneasy, and how she carried herself gave off a feeling of not wanting to really meet anypony. All the unicorn wanted to do was study and keep to herself, Spike really being her only company. Now she seemed to help everypony if they needed her, and showed her care for all of us, putting her friends ahead of her knowledge and books. Heck, the mare seemed to enjoy hanging with us just as much as she does reading about astrology or biology, or one of those egghead related topics.

My feelings for her seemed to increase pretty much on every occasion I spent time with her, whether it be with everypony else, or just the two of us. Following that day, I had asked her about having reading days, and now I go over and read Daring Do with her every week. With every new novel of the series, the two of us would read sections of it, and then just talk about what happened. Surprisingly, I even learned a ton about writing itself from these chats, and I even know a bunch of literary elements now thanks to her. I still have a long way to becoming an egghead like her though.

It was probably those occasions where I think I fell head over hoofs for the quirky egghead. It firmly established for me that when Twilight read and studied her books, it didn’t mean stare at them endlessly and memorize things. Instead, she seemed to make fun out of reading, anything from Daring Do, to even a book on pegasi aerodynamics which we decided to look at once or twice. I kid you not, that was probably the only time in my life I found physics and math to be really interesting. But Twilight seemed to be so enthralled with talking about that where it was the cutest thing in the world. Even where she went on tangents where I had no idea what she was talking about, I couldn’t help but smile and listen to her voice, full of excitement and life. I finally knew how it felt to hear myself obsessively talk about the Wonderbolts.

But as much as I wanted to let her know how much I cared for her, and my overall feelings for her, I had a nagging uneasiness about it all. I mean sure, I could go up and ask her out and tell her that I love her. She could even say yes, which would make me the happiest pony in all of Equestria.

There was the chance she could also say no, and flat out refuse me. I know she would try her best to appreciate the gesture, but my fear wasn’t about approaching her about it. Instead, I’d be afraid that things would never feel right between us. All these things we shared, and the time we spent hanging out would be filled with awkwardness and hard feelings. And I don’t know how I could manage hanging out all the time with a pony who I loved so much, who I was so close to, yet at the same time, be so far away.

I rolled over and looked at the small cage which Tank called his home. The tortoise seemed at peace, its head was nowhere in sight, and probably was tucked inside his shell. His head rolling away or falling off probably wasn’t very likely, although Pinkie would think something of the sort. I wish I could be as carefree as Tank right now, not a thought in the world other than food and shelter, both which was in great supply.

Knock knock

My wings flared out and I hopped fully out of my bed as I heard the knocking on my front door. It isn’t that I was scared or something, but normally I didn’t get any visitors at night. Because my home was in the clouds, I expected to see Fluttershy standing shyly on my doorstep.

Instead, I was surprised to see a violet unicorn who wore an expression of concern and uneasiness.

My first instinct was to pretend like I’m sleeping and leave the door be. Twilight would wait a bit at the door, and eventually assume that I’m asleep, and then would go home. But my element got the better of me, and I know it must be pretty important if Twilight had come at night. So I took a huge breath of air down into my lungs, and hoped that I wouldn’t embarrass myself any further today.

“Oh! Hey Twi, what are you doing up here at this hour?” I smiled at her warmly, and motioned for her to come inside. She nodded and walked in, slowly taking a seat in one of places on my couch as I did myself. Both of us ended up sitting on each end of the couch, leaving an uncomfortably empty gap between the two of us.

“First off, sorry if I came unexpected at such a late hour. This was really bugging me all day,” she began, a touch of guilt in her face and voice. I hated to see her feel guilty, as most of the time it wasn’t her fault in the start. “…Well… to be honest I was here to talk about you,” she finished.

Of course, the first thing I did was cough, as my body decided to completely forget how to breathe.

I didn’t expect that to be the first thing to come out of her mouth, and now was a bit curious onto what she seemed concerned about.

“You wanted to talk about me?” Confusion was also something I was experiencing right now. “What do you mean Twi?”

“Well earlier at the library when you suddenly had an outburst while reading the new Daring Do novel, your emotions seemed to be all over the place. That, and you looked really upset when you left. I just came over to see if you were alright, that’s all.”

There were three things I felt right now. The first one was relief, in that Twilight’s question wasn’t directed towards anything about my secret crush I had for her. Anytime she got anywhere near the subject, my mind would fail miserably at covering the fact up. To be fair, I’m quite surprised that she hasn’t figured it out yet. I guess Twilight can be slightly oblivious at times, but it’s harmless.

The second one was appreciation. I was taken aback for a second that Twilight would bother to come all the way up to my home, at night nonetheless, just to check to see if I was alright. It showed her overall caring nature, and just how much she valued me as a friend. Even though I’m normally not a sappy kind of person, the gesture was really sweet, and I’m thankful to have a friend like her.

Third, was skepticism… I think that’s what she called it anyway. Basically, I just had this doubt that she only had come up to visit just to see if I was alright.

But I had to smile and hug one of my best friends at such a concern over my well-being. And this is exactly what I did. I was told that hugs are a great way to show satisfaction and gratitude of a situation, at least that’s what Pinkie mentioned once. She seemed rather level headed when telling me that too, so in that case it must be true.

“Honest, I’m alright, the whole thing was just an overreaction on my part,” I replied, giving myself a jab, hopefully taking some of her guilt away. She smiled in response, but didn’t seem convinced.

“Are you sure? Dash, if you’re hiding something you can tell me. I pinkie promise I won’t ever tell anypony anything.”

At this point, there was a 75 percent chance I was beginning to sweat as she neared closer and closer to be giving up my secret.

“Really, I’m okay. Remember, I’m the awesome Rainbow Dash! Besides, something as little as an overreaction is nothing to be concerned about.” I continued to build the façade my secret was hidden behind, and it seemed to be working.

“Well, I guess if you say so. Good to see you’re in good spirits then,” Twilight replied in a more cheery tone, “which brings me to my other question, although it might be more like an offer.”

Remember when I mentioned doubt?

“An offer? Do explain.” I gestured to her to begin

“Well, so I was thinking after you left about the whole notion about Daring Do and Rosetta embarking on a possible relationship. Now, obviously my romantic experience and relationship experience is basically, well, zero,” she rolled her eyes after she said that, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. “And from what you say about being too busy to bother with relationships, I’m going to assume you don’t know much on the subject matter yourself.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” I admitted.

“So here is my idea for a little experiment. Fluttershy and Rarity seem to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to these topics as far as I can see. Fluttershy reads romance novels like there is no tomorrow, and actually has helped other ponies into relationships. Rarity also reads a ton, and has been with a couple stallions on occasion…”

“Where exactly are you going with this?”

“Patience Rainbow,” she said, again rolling her eyes. “My idea is that we take the idea of having a Rosetta and Daring Do relationship to them and see what they think. Even though they don’t read the series, both of us can explain the characters enough to the point where they could establish a conclusion on the matter.”

To my own surprise, the idea seemed logical and pretty straightforward. Not only would this allow me to spend some time with Fluttershy, which I haven’t done enough of, it would also perhaps give some kind of insight into if a relationship between two ponies like Twilight and myself would work.

“So I’m assuming since I know Fluttershy much better, I would go talk with her then?”

“Correct. And I would talk with Rarity, since we do get along well, much better than you do. I don’t think you’d like to get a fashion makeover if I’m right?” I could only groan at the potential outcome, which got a laugh from Twilight.

“Sounds like a good idea to me. So we can both do this tomorrow, and meet the following day about it I guess? This way, we can both combine our conclusions to help prove if the, um, hypothesis is valid?”

Twilight immediately beamed and clapped her hoofs together, pleased in how I used one of her confusing scientific terms. “Well, you seem to be listening to my explanations more, because you used hypothesis correctly.” I couldn’t help but grin a bit myself in how impressed she seemed.

“So tomorrow is going to be an interesting day huh?” Twilight had gotten up and I followed her over to the door and opened it for her.

“Indeed it will, but it will be a day of research! See Rainbow, research can be interesting.” She looked at me with a face that basically said “admit it Rainbow.” I couldn’t deny it though, the idea did sound interesting, and I would be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn’t anxious onto the answers we might get.

“Oh, don’t forget to take notes. We need a bunch of information to compare later on, it’s critical to the task at hand,” she explained.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to bring some paper and a pen with me Twi. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight Dash!” With that, the unicorn hopped into her hot air balloon, which I had just taken notice of now. To think, I was the one who said she was oblivious when I couldn’t notice a massive air balloon nearly half the size of my entire home.

As I scaled the steps back to my bedroom, I couldn’t help but feel the heaviness of my eyelids increase. Looking at one of my clocks, I could see the time reading 9:30 pm, still very early for my own standards, but I guess my mind was excited for the day tomorrow.

And tomorrow would be an interesting day indeed.

Author's Note

So this is my entry into the Twidash group's abandoned fiction contest.

If there are errors in grammar or spelling, please let me know in the comments, as I did a quick read over on my own, but didn't get a proofreader. And to be fair, I'm not a good proofreader anywho.

So hope you enjoyed, please leave me feedback :)

Chapter 2 is on its way!

The Experiment

Experiments
Chapter 2: The Experiment

The day was as perfect as could possibly be. Temperatures were at a comfortable level for middle springtime, as at this time of the year it wasn’t drastically hot or cold unlike middle summer or winter. Instead, the air was warm yet light and bouncy, aided by soft breezes that cascaded down the mountains and through Ponyville and vicinity. A couple of white puffy clouds in the formation of huge popcorn pieces dotted the sky, helping to block out the sun for a fraction of time here and there.

On the outskirts of town, a yellow pegasus couldn’t help but marvel at the near perfect weather she was given.

Springtime was easily Fluttershy’s favorite season, although she could say she loved them all. But spring was a time of new life, and the time of the year where all her animal friends would come out of their long slumbers and grace the world with their presence.

Today was one of those simpler days for the mare. She only had one goal for the day, and that was to spend time with all her animal friends, and make sure they had all of the things they need.

She knew that some of her birds needed some extra twigs for their nests, as the recent windy day had taken its toll on them. Her friendly bear that lived near Everfree Forest had also requested assistance, as its paw had taken a nasty bite from a rather anger-filled salmon. And Angel would request something out of the blue here or there, so she had to keep this in the back of her mind.

Currently she was helping one of her squirrel friends collect some extra acorns, when she heard a familiar noise of sweeping air in the form of an airborne pegasus approaching where she was.

Fluttershy wasn’t expecting any visitors on this day, so she was a bit surprised and curious for that matter when she saw one of her best friends flying high above the treetops, nearing her cottage home. She watched as Rainbow Dash came clearer and clearer into view, and then descended to a perfect landing right next to her mailbox. Thankfully it was closed, or the few letters she had put out for pickup would have been whisked away.

“Fluttershy, are you home!?” Rainbow called out loudly, hoping that her friend was around.

“Rainbow I’m right here,” She answered, a mere 4 feet or so from where Rainbow was shouting.

“Oh, sorry about that Shy.”

Fluttershy waved off Rainbow’s apology easily. “It’s okay, sometimes I blend in with the color of my cottage.”

Rainbow cocked her head in confusion, “But your hair is pink, which stands out pretty easily compared to your house.”
Fluttershy simply shrugged in a fashion which clearly said “I don’t know.” Both ponies just began to laugh and chuckle at themselves before making their way inside the cottage.

“So Rainbow, what bring you here?” She asked politely while offering Dash some tea, which she in turn politely refused. She did however oblige herself in a couple of homemade chocolate chip cookies which were also offered.

“Well, I have question to ask you, but won’t exactly make sense unless I tell you about what happened yesterday,” she began. “Do you have some time for a little story?”

“Of course Rainbow! What kind of friend would I be to say no to a friend in need?”

Dash smiled at the kindness her friend always presented her. She twirled the last cookie in her hoof before popping it into her mouth, chomping off a sizable bite of the rather large cookie. “Well to begin, it was one of the reading days Twilight and I have every week…”

She continued to give a rather lengthy summary over the events that took place at the library, being especially detailed on the emotional roller-coaster her mind. She also was very detailed in describing the personalities of Daring Do and Rosetta to Fluttershy, telling her about how she envisioned the pair as being the perfect couple, with qualities that could easily complement one another.

Fluttershy on her end listened rather intently, as she had a hunch that most of what Rainbow was telling her was rather significant to the question she would be asking later on.

Rainbow also mentioned the meeting she had with Twilight last night, and mentioned how Twilight had actually bothered to come visit at night to check on her well-being. She also explained briefly the idea of the experiment which the unicorn had come up with, and how it would involve Fluttershy and Rarity.

“So, I’m the part of some sort of experiment?” Fluttershy was curious, but also a bit afraid of what the word “experiment” entailed.

Rainbow could sense the tone of fear in her friend’s voice, and chuckled a bit in response, but in a way where Fluttershy would know she wasn't being mean. “Don’t worry Shy, the experiment doesn't involve machines, chemistry, magic, or anything unknown to you or me. But if any of the former is involved, don’t worry, I would say no myself.”

Fluttershy let out a breath in relief, content to know that the experiment didn’t involve any weird things. The last time she had volunteered in an experiment which involved Twilight, she had turned into a miniature version of herself. There wasn’t any pain, and she knew Twilight was as trustworthy a pony as any, but the notion of something going wrong wasn’t something Fluttershy would handle lightly.

“So, what is the question you keep mentioning?”

“That my friend is the experiment!” Rainbow leaped up so that she was standing on the couch. She noticed that Fluttershy looked a bit annoyed at how she was standing on her good furniture, and muttered an apology before sitting back down in a normal position.

“So, I’m pretty sure that you know enough about romance to answer a question based on it right,” Rainbow questioned.

At the mention of romance, Fluttershy squeed and clapped her front hooves together in excitement, rising off the armchair she had been seated in. “Oh Rainbow, is this about a crush you might have on somepony?” Her voice was filled to the brim with excitement for her friend, as she knew Rainbow had never embarked on a romantic relationship with anypony before.

Rainbow has nearly choked on the air she was breathing on the mention of a crush. “How could she know about it already? I never even told her,” she thought, afraid and annoyed at the possible leakage of a secret so huge. She would have told one of her friends already, but Rainbow had a nagging feeling that if she told one pony, word would spread quick, and Twilight would end up finding out. “Um… no, not exactly,” she responded, blanking out for a second.

“Oh, so then what is the question?”

“Well..,” Rainbow began,” Remember the idea I had of Daring and Rosetta becoming a couple? Well, I was curious if you think that a relationship between the two would work.”

Fluttershy pondered the question for a little while, her hoof slowly rubbing her temple as she considered all of the qualities of the two Rainbow had mentioned to her.

“I would say sure, why not?”

This got a rather animated response from Rainbow Dash, who again leaped up in the air, only her wings were making her hover in the air. She rocketed towards Fluttershy, who squeaked out an “EEP,” before picking up the yellow pegasus and twirling her around the air in celebration. On her part, Fluttershy was extremely confused onto why her friend was so happy about the answer to a question about fictional characters. Although, she did have a hunch something more was behind this.

“Um… Rainbow. Could you put me down?” Fluttershy was uncomfortable in her current position, but was thoroughly pleased for her friend.

Rainbow blushed in embarrassment only realizing on how off guard her actions were to her friend. Gently, she placed Fluttershy back on the ground, before going back to take her seat on the couch, her cheeks flushed a tad.

“Sorry,” she said, scratching the back of her neck with her hoof. “…I’m guessing you had more to add to that?” Fluttershy merely nodded in response before explaining her answer.

“Most of the relationships in my stories always seem to end up with a mare and a stallion coming together and turning out to be a perfect match. I know that in reality, this doesn’t usually happen. But from just walking around town and seeing couples and how they act, I don’t think things like hobbies, activities, or even a pony’s profession can truly dictate if the relationship will work or not.”

For one of the few times in her life, Rainbow Dash listened and paid a hundred percent attention to what the pony before her was saying.

“The reason I said yes, is because it very well is possible for Rosetta and Daring Do to have a relationship in which they love one another. It doesn’t matter if Daring is the kind of pony who always wants to go on adventures and never sit still, while Rosetta prefers to sit down and read a book under a tree. While maybe having common likes help a relationship, there is also the idea of opposites attract.”

“Oh I’ve heard of that one before,” Rainbow said, remembering how many times she dreamed a scenario in which Twilight and she came together for a similar reason. “Is it common for opposites to attract?”

“Well I know from other ponies that it has happened. Cheerilee and Big Mac have been a couple for a while now, and they are pretty opposite from one another. Big Mac is pretty shy and prefers to do work involving outdoors, while Cheerilee is a very intelligent schoolteacher who is pretty outgoing from the times I’ve seen her. Yet, their relationship is really doing well since I met Cheerilee for some coffee a few weeks ago.”

Rainbow was getting a bit confused on where Fluttershy’s explanation was going. She was also intrigued by just how much of an explanation she was giving, and couldn’t remember for the life of her the last time Fluttershy talked this much in a single sitting. “So, what exactly are you getting at?”

“My point is that as long as both ponies in the relationship love one another, like spending time together, and will care for one another, it all sounds like a recipe for success. And as long as these qualities are in place, I don’t think there is any reason a relationship couldn’t work.”

Rainbow replayed the three things Fluttershy had just said. “Love, time, and care… I would do all of those for Twi.” She was still in awe over the explanation Fluttershy had just finished giving her, not expecting something so detailed out of the mare. Not that Rainbow was calling her dumb or anything, but there was a ton of substance there from somepony who usually kept her thoughts to herself. Rainbow knew that Fluttershy was very comfortable in talking about anything to her, after all, they have known one another for years now.

“So, you think that they could be a couple then?”

Fluttershy simply nodded with a smile plastered on her face.

“I knew you would agree with me!” Rainbow beamed, but then thought in the back of her mind about the whole reason onto why she was talking about this. “Oh and thanks for the help, Twilight and I really appreciate it.”

“Oh I was happy to help Rainbow,” Fluttershy replied, getting up to get another cup of tea. She gestured towards the kettle to see if Rainbow wanted a cup again, but got a polite refusal as the pegasus got up off the couch and was heading to the door. However, she stopped halfway through the front doorway before turning back around to face Fluttershy again, who was busy putting away some of her plates and utensils.

“Hey Shy… I actually have another question to ask of you?”

Fluttershy turned around and met eye to eye with her friend, and noticed the more serious, determined, yet uneasy look which Rainbow wore on her face. Fluttershy motioned for her to sit back down, which they both did. Rainbow let out a long sigh while scratching at the top of her forehead where her hairline was, unsure of how to ask what she wanted to, while not giving away her secret.

“Going back to the Daring and Rosetta question, let’s say that I was in the position of Daring Do, and I wanted to ask Rosetta out.” She watched as Fluttershy’s eyes widened in realization before a smile formed on her face. “Now I’m not saying that I do have a crush like you mentioned… but I might have a pony I’ve had my eye on for a little while. And her personality is very similar to that of Rosetta, which I mean as being egghead like. But at the same time she is really cool, and is a natural leader, while also caring for everypony she meets.”

“Rainbow, this sounds very similar like somepony we know,” Fluttershy added, all of what Rainbow said swirling around in her head as she tried to think of a pony she knew who fit this description.

“You might know her, I’m not sure,” Rainbow said half a second after Fluttershy, trying to keep the pegasus from discovering the secret. She decided to somewhat tell Fluttershy about her secret, however, she kept the identity of Twilight to herself, and rather just described the unicorn as best she could while keeping it anonymous. Fluttershy might be able to give her an interesting idea onto how to ask Twilight out, and if it sounded interesting enough, she might just go ahead and throw all her chips on the board.

“So anyway, what would be an interesting way to ask her out without it coming across as a straight date?” Dash laughed internally at the words “straight date,” as the irony of the words came alight.

“Hmmm… well do you want to do it in person?”

This was an interesting option in Rainbow’s case. Normally, with any problem she would confront it head on and in person, but on the topic of romance, maybe going with a style unlike her would come as a bit unexpected, in a good way. “Actually, I’d rather not.”

Fluttershy nodded and thought for a second. She closed her eyes and began to think of all the various romance novels in which she had read, and all the quirky ways the stallions had asked out the mares.

About a minute later, a hypothetical light bulb appeared over the pegasus’ head as her eyes snapped open.

“How about you write her a love letter, and place it in her mailbox? You know, like a secret admirer would! Oh it would be so cute!” Fluttershy was holding her hooves together in her lap and imagining said mare’s reaction when she would open the letter.

It was there it clicked, and Fluttershy’s eyes widened in realization of who the lucky mare was to warrant Rainbow’s heart.
“Wait, egghead like, natural leader, caring, a pony I might know… Twilight!?!” Fluttershy inwardly screamed in her own mind out of pure excitement over the prospect of her two best friends becoming a couple. She also imagined how they would be perhaps the cutest couple she had ever seen.

“… So like a letter where I don’t sign my name?”

“Exactly! Besides, a pony who loves egghead sorts of things would love a hoof written letter.” Fluttershy thought about asking if Twilight was the pony Rainbow was referring to, but decided to keep it to herself.

As she had watched Dash ask the question about her crush, she could see the rather high level of nervousness which presented itself. Normally she only nervous on very few occasions, and most of the time if she was, it was due to something very significant to her. Fluttershy could tell that Rainbow was nervous enough to not even give a name, and that she was worried to give too much information in case the secret was leaked.

“Hmm, you make a good point. I like the idea Shy,” Rainbow responded, jerking the pegasus before her out of deep thought.

“Oh I’m glad to help Rainbow. Oh by the way, you should put on the letter someplace you could meet her, maybe a nice scenic location, and then you can ask her out there.”

Rainbow nodded to herself over the idea, and began thinking about what she would write on the letter. For a unicorn like Twilight, maybe more sophisticated writing would be appreciated. The only problem with this, was that Rainbow wasn’t exactly the most sophisticated pony, and her vocabulary wasn’t even in the same league as Twilight’. She settled on doing a short, yet sweet letter.

As for the place where they could meet, Rainbow knew exactly the place where she would take a pony like Twilight.

“Awesome! Well I gotta go, time is awastin’, and the sooner I get to the letter, the better,” Rainbow exclaimed, hopping up and quickly heading out the door. “Thanks Shy!” Rainbow had shouted as she unfurled her wings and began to fly into the now clear sky.

Fluttershy had stood on her doorstep and waved, her attitude as cheerful as could be with the news she now had. She decided to keep it a secret to herself, as Rainbow Dash wouldn’t appreciate it if she used her crush as gossip talk, and it would be a violation of friendship to blatantly give out secrets. Besides, Rainbow had kept secrets she had told her years ago, and had never told anypony anything.

However, she began to wonder if Twilight felt the same way.

The normal scene at carousel boutique would consist of a friendly marshmallow colored unicorn working hard on her designs. Her work room would be pieces of fabrics of all different sizes placed around the room, followed by a wide array of colored string, and topped with a boatload of accessories.

Today was not a day of work for Rarity, as she felt that after working 16 hour days on 4 consecutive occasions a day to herself was in order. The order she had just finished was a massive project, as a bride in a town not too far from Ponyville had requested specific dresses for all 11 of her bridesmaids. Normally, if they were all the same design, Rarity wouldn’t have as much of a problem completing them. However, this bride was very insistent that each design be catered a certain way. In the end, each dress was different in their own unique way, yet together they all combined in a certain manner. Rarity was extremely proud once she completed them, as the bride was delighted with her work. But she was also extremely exhausted.

That could go behind her now, as the unicorn sat in a tub of bubbly warm water, a glass of wine in one hoof while her head stay atop a baby soft waterproof pillow. Rarity could feel the blisters on her hooves begin to disappear as she relaxed in her bubble bath, the stress of a hard weeks work melting away with every passing minute.

And at that very minute, she could hear a knocking on her front door.

“Hello, Rarity?! Are you in there?”

“Can’t a pony take a day off without disturbance?” She thought to herself, not moving in the slightest.

“It’s Twilight, are you there?!”

Rarity sighed to herself, and reluctantly got out of the tub and quickly dried herself off. As bad as she wanted to remain in the bath, she knew that her friend would come first, especially Twilight. Twilight normally didn’t disturb a pony unless it was really important, and Rarity knew that her friend always came first. She also knew that Twilight’s door was always open to herself or anypony else, no matter what the mare was up to. The least she could do was return the favor.

“Be right out dear,” she called out from her bathroom window, knowing Twilight would hear her. Once sufficiently dry, the unicorn quickly brushed her hair back into its normal flowing manner before making her way downstairs.

Rarity opened her front door to see Twilight standing on the doorstep, pen and paper in hoof, and a smile gracing her face. What the paper and pen were for she hadn’t the slightest clue.

“Twilight, how are you! What brings you here? An emergency clothing repair, or did you want to sneak an order in? Something of that sort?”

“Actually,” Twilight began shyly, “Could I come in? I just wanted to talk for a bit?”

Rarity didn’t expect this, but happily invited her guest inside to have a seat on her royal purpled colored couch. She made her way over to the kitchen while asking Twilight if she had wanted a beverage of any sort, to which she got the reply of “just a glass of water.” She brought out two identical glasses of ice cold water, a lemon wedge placed in each.

“So Twilight, what did you want to talk about?” Rarity took a sip from her water, squeezing some of the lemon juice and swirling it around in the water before doing so.

“Well, I actually have a question I’d like your thoughts on. But before I ask, it would probably make more sense to properly explain some of the backstory the question has.” Twilight started to bring back into her mind all of the memories from yesterday.

“Alright, sounds reasonable. I’m listening whenever you’re ready,” Rarity replied, crossing a leg and getting herself into a more comfortable position. She assumed the story would be on the long side, as she didn’t know Twilight to be a pony to leave out details.

Twilight began to tell the same story Rainbow Dash did to Fluttershy, starting with how Rainbow experienced some sort of emotional breakdown over the romance in the new Daring Do novel. Unlike Rainbow’s version, Twilight better explained the feelings Rainbow seemed to be experiencing, and also recalled more of the little details in which Rainbow has forgotten.
Rarity listened fixedly just as Fluttershy did, taking in all of what Twilight was telling her. By all, she had meant only the main ideas and related details, as Twilight decided to go overboard in complexity.

Twilight next made mention of how she just thought something was off about Dash, and it had bothered her to no end after Dash had went home. So later in the evening she had cast the cloudwalking spell on herself and made her way up to Rainbow’s cloud home to check up on her.

“Wait…” Rarity interrupted, “How did you see where you were going at night? Hot air balloons have no headlight.”
Twilight gestured to her horn which started to emit a red glow which was actually quite bright.

“So you were like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?” Rarity was giggling with her hoof covering her mouth at the comment she had made. Twilight merely groaned and rolled her eyes. “I was just joking dear, please continue.”

And so Twilight continued her story, and began to talk about the events that unfolded that night, and the simple research experiment that she had conjured up. Rarity seemed surprised that Rainbow Dash would agree to research work of any kind, as it seemed really unlike her normal self.

Twilight then explained the personalities of two characters in the Daring Do series Rainbow had mentioned in belonging together, which were Rosetta and the main character of the series, Daring Do herself. She described them both in great detail, to which Rarity seemed to be taking mental notes on, as Twilight mentioned this as being critical to the question she would ask.

“And that’s basically all of it. Sorry it was such a long story, I didn’t think it would take that long to explain it all,” Twilight apologized, a sheepish look on her face as she smiled lightly.

“Not a problem darling. Now what was the question you were getting at?”

“Well, I made an assumption that you’re a better pony to answer a romance related question than Rainbow or myself, considering neither of us have ever been in a relationship.” Rarity knew that Twilight was referring to the stallion she had a relationship with for a few months. He was a nice stallion by the name of Baritone, however he turned out to be a real sleazeball, and she wouldn’t stand for a pony like that.

“So, basically the question is that do you think Daring Do and Rosetta could have a working loving relationship despite their seemingly opposite personalities and interests?”

Rarity took seemingly no more than a few seconds to think about it. “Yes, I think so.”

Twilight’s jaw hung open for a second as she tried to figure out how Rarity could possibly think about the question and form an opinion in a matter of seconds. “What the hay? How did you answer so quickly?”

“Well, to be fair it wasn’t the hardest question to answer,” she explained, chuckling to herself at the expression of annoyance and confusion which Twilight currently wore. “Hang on, I’m going to get a snack, would you like anything?” Twilight merely refused, still trying to make logical sense on how Rarity was able to think that quickly.

The alabaster unicorn returned with a plate of various cheeses and some crackers, and set them down on the table before them. She grabbed a small slice of cheddar and paired it with a triangle shaped cracker, popping the duo into her mouth and following it with a swig of water.

“So I’m guessing you’d like more of an explanation onto how I made that quick an answer?” Twilight merely nodded in response.

“From what you’ve mentioned, the only reasons that the relationship between the two wouldn’t work is due to their lack of similar interests. And let me say this, if you love somepony enough, what their profession or interests may be is merely a trivial matter.” Rarity’s voice was beginning to increase in volume as she began to take a talking style similar to that of a preacher.

“So you’re saying that even if two ponies are polar opposites in their likes and dislikes, as well as their personalities, they can still be a successful couple?” Twilight was now thoroughly confused, as the few books she had read on relationships and romance said similar interests usually led to better overall relationships.

“Darling have you ever heard the phrase opposites attract? Twilight made an “oh” face in realizing that she had forgotten that one of the romance books made mention of this. “Sometimes ponies have qualities which may be completely on opposite ends of the spectrum, like introversion and extraversion for example. But when you put opposites together, there are times where they simply are a perfect fit like puzzle pieces.”

Twilight had begun taking notes from when Rarity had begun to answer her question, and had now started on her 2nd page, as the first with chock full of notes and bullet points. She could only hope Rainbow Dash would have as much information as she did.

“So what exactly makes a relationship work?” Twilight knew the question was rather broad, but she was curious onto what Rarity’s response would be. Meanwhile, Rarity sat there and contemplated the simple yet complex question presented to her.

“If I were looking for the perfect relationship, there are a couple of things I’d need for it to work. First obviously is that both ponies need to love one another unconditionally. Second, each pony should accept the other for who they are. It’s quite alright to try and change a habit, for example a pony who drinks too often, but there shouldn’t be a desire to change who a pony is. There needs to be acceptance.” She had stopped to take another drink of water from her glass, which at this point was nearly empty.

“The one thing I’d desire in any relationship is to have a stallion who would care and be there for me no matter the circumstance. And of course, I would return the favor and do the same. Everything else for me has varying importance, but nothing which comes close to these three aspects.”

Twilight was impressed at how dedicated Rarity seemed to be about this. “Wow… you seem to really to know what you want in a relationship,” she responded, as Rarity ate another cheese and cracker combo.

“Indeed I do, but it’s simply a shame I haven’t found somepony who fills all these requirements yet,” Rarity replied, her mood becoming a bit downcast at the thought.

Twilight started to look over all the notes and such she had complied. “There is a lot here, but I think I’m missing something,” She thought, skimming at the 2nd page of notes. Rarity had done a good job giving her a ton of information about if a relationship between the pair worked.

But at the same time, Rarity was one pony’s opinion out of thousands. Twilight knew there was no plausible way to ask hundreds of ponies the same question, that would take months and for such a question, wasn’t really worth it.

“Unless… I go for the firsthoof experience at this.”

“If you were to ask out a pony in a romantic way, how would you do it?”

The question had surprised Rarity, and she had to think about it for a little while. “Romantic… well I remember talking to Fluttershy a week or so ago about something like this, as we were both reading the same book. In it, a stallion had asked out a mare by writing an anonymous letter to meet him somewhere at a certain time. They had met on a beach and watched the sunset, it was a fabulous idea!”

“So, writing a letter huh? That sure fits with something I’m good at,” Twilight chuckled to herself.

“Speaking of which, why did you ask? Do you have your eye on somepony?!” Rarity started to smile at the lavender unicorn, who started to blush a bit.

“Actually, since I wanted to get more research on the question, why not go on a date with somepony who fits the description of Daring Do. After all, Rosetta seems awfully a lot like myself, just without the whole magic ordeal.”

Rarity’s expression changed to one of doubt, as she didn’t seem too keen on Twilight’s idea. “Darling you can’t just go on a date solely for research purposes. It just doesn’t work like that.”

Twilight seemed too engrossed with her idea to consider the consequences that Rarity was hinting at. “I could write a letter to Rainbow Dash! She seems to have all the similar qualities which Daring Do has.”

With that, Twilight gathered up her notes and clipped her pen back to the paper in the same fashion as she entered. The unicorn made her way quickly out the door, determined to stick to her idea and hopeful that her friend would be up for it, considering that it was the question she wanted to answer herself.

“Thanks for all the help Rarity!” And with that, Twilight was out the door and quickly making her way back to the library. Rarity had attempted to stop her, but to no avail, and stood at the doorstep as the lavender dot shrank in size until she was no longer visible.

Rarity closed the door and made her way back up to where her bubble bath was calling her name. She couldn’t help but think about the idea Twilight had just set out on trying out, but was conflicted on whether or not she should stop the unicorn.
Then again, perhaps there was more to this Twilight wasn’t telling her?

Rarity made a mental note to head and see Fluttershy as soon as she finished her bath. Perhaps she would know if there is something deeper to what Twilight had said.

All she knew was right now everything could wait as she sank back down into the bubbly tub.

Author's Note

I promised last night, till my phone and internet went off and stayed that way all night.

There will be a final chapter after this one, so look out for that!

Hope you liked, and again like always I highly encourage comments and likes! If you comment, I'm most likely going to reply, so that is some incentive right? =P

See you next chapter!

The Conclusion

Experiments
Chapter 3: The Conclusion

Rainbow Dash was always known to be a pony of adventure, somepony who seemed to always thrive on the here and now. All her friends saw somepony who didn’t like to sit still, and who never backed down from a challenge.

Which is why what the pegasus was currently doing seemed rather odd to those who thought they knew her well. She was seated on a large boulder which sat lonely in an empty field, no trees within football lengths of her. The fields were beautiful grasslands with occasional patches of wildflowers, with colors ranging from blues to oranges. And the fields themselves weren’t flat and dull, instead, they consisted of gentle rolling slopes which seemed to give the area character.

Rainbow took naps in this area once in awhile, and sometimes even came down to the area to just sit and watch the sky, whether it be day or night.

The pegasus had been residing in these fields for the good part of the day, Daring Do book in one hoof, the very one which had sparked the whole ordeal she was currently in. She had forgotten her copy that day, and now kinda felt guilty about throwing it against the wall. After all, that book had been Twilight’s property, not hers.

But as the day unfolded, her nervousness had begun to simmer deep within her, and now had reached near boiling levels as she realized the time of day it currently was. The sun was starting to fade into the horizon before her, sunset following not too long after. And once sunset rolled around, Rainbow knew Twilight wouldn’t be far behind.

It had taken her a long time to craft a letter she deemed worthy to gift Twilight, and the result was a mess of paper which littered her wastebasket, as well as a screaming headache. After countless attempts, the pegasus settled on something simplistic and to the point.

Twilight Sparkle,

I’m writing you this with a purpose, a purpose stronger than you could ever imagine. For a long time now I’ve been spell blinded by your very presence. Every time I’m with you, my heart can’t help but feel like it’s going to explode, and I’d like to do something about this.

Meet me in Strawberry Fields at sunset. I’ll be near the lone boulder you see.

I hope to see you there.

Rainbow decided not to sign the letter, as she did wish to keep it a secret for as long as possible. However, there was nothing she could do if Twilight had recognized her hoofwriting, which she had tried to make neat. Too bad penmanship wasn’t one of her strong points.

The night that followed was as restless as could be, as countless scenarios for the following day had filled her head to the brink of exploding. The phrase “what if” had come up on way too many occasions for her to keep tract of.

She had tried just about every measure to try and fall asleep. She had tried warm milk, counting sheep, going for a nighttime flying session, reading, but nothing seemed to have any luck. Rainbow ended up falling asleep due to pure exhaustion, but thankfully ended up with around 4 hours of sleep, far less than she usually was accustomed to.

Her morning routine was the same as any other day, including checking the mail, which Derpy had brought in earlier than normal.

“Special delivery for Miss Rainbow Dash,” Derpy called out in her usual enthusiastic voice, which had surprised Rainbow initially, as it was early.

Rainbow had went outside to greet her mailpony friend, to find that she was holding but one lone envelope, and a signature lavender one at that. Derpy had given her the mail and went on her merry way, leaving the pegasus before her standing at her mailbox in curiosity at the envelope she held in her hoof. From all the times she had been in Twilight’s home, she knew that the lavender envelope was hers, and was a hundred percent sure when she noticed Twilight’s cutie mark gracing the back, the envelope’s back devoid of anything else. The front was addressed to Rainbow Dash, written in Twilight’s beautiful hoofwriting instead of Spike’s.

Cautiously Rainbow had opened it, and inside was a simple letter not written on Twilight’s parchment for which all her letters to Celestia were addressed. Instead, it was a regular ordinary piece of paper. Rainbow unfolded it and began to read…

Rainbow Dash,

Now before I begin, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, as initially I envisioned this as part of our research we had been doing. The idea had come up at Rarity’s, in which perhaps I could get better research if I participated in a date with a pony similar to that of Daring Do’s personality. I thought it was a good idea, as I am very similar to Rosetta in personality and likes.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to find a pony who matched Daring Do’s taste for adventure and courage. That’s right, you fit the mold of her pretty well.

Basically, I’m asking if you’d like to meet up sometime, maybe for a date of some sort. We could go out to eat, or even just hang out together for a night, I’ll leave it up to you.

Also, I’ve never really been on a proper date before, and the more I think about it, the more I actually would like to go on a date with you. It’s not only for research anymore, as the idea of possibly embarking on a relationship with you seems increasingly favorable.

Meet me at Strawberry Fields at sunset, by the boulder. I’m sure you know exactly where I mean.

Twilight.

Dash was more than shocked into incoherent thought, as the letter she had in her hoof was basically a request of a date by Twilight. This also happened to be the same Twilight Sparkle which she had a crush on for a long time now. It was as if everything was starting to come together in her favor, as the opportunity of a lifetime was now presented to her on a silver platter.

This had led to her current residing, as she sat on the boulder and waited patiently, the Daring Do book beside her. She had decided to finish the book which she had thrown across Twilight’s living room in so much haste earlier on, and actually had come to terms with the ending, even if it wasn’t how she envisioned.

The pegasus laid sideways on the rock, hoof propping up her head as she observed mother nature’s beautiful world at work. The sunset was filled with warm colors, golds and oranges, and it almost looked like Celestia had taken a paintbrush to the sky.

“Hey.”

She turned over to where the familiar voice had come from, and wasn’t surprised to see Twilight standing at the foot of the boulder, a smile etched out of nervousness on her face.

Rainbow tried to think of something clever to respond, but instead her mind blanked out on her.

“Hey Twi.”

Rainbow had gotten up and offered a hoof down to Twilight, who gladly accepted it. The pegasus pulled her up in one steady motion, getting a little squeak out of Twilight at the unexpected strength of her friend.

Now up on the boulder, Rainbow went back to sitting in the same position as before. Twilight mirrored her pose, only in the opposite way, their elbows touching as their heads were near one another.

They sat in silence as the sun began its slow descent into darkness, saying goodbye in grand fashion by gifting the sky with a multitude of colors. Sunsets were one of the few things Twilight and Rainbow shared a love for, as they both were mesmerized by the sight before them. It made a good distraction for the time being, as each pony continued to stall from the matter at hand.

“So..,” Rainbow started, flicking around a small pebble which was atop the boulder, “I’m going to guess that you got the letter that I sent?”

Twilight had re-positioned herself so that she could see the pegasus’ face, as well as still view the amazing sunset. “Indeed I did. And I’m going to hazard a guess here, but there seems like there is something you’d like to tell me?”

Rainbow was as hesitant as ever before, and figured that Twilight was a smart enough pony to know where this was headed. She let out a long sigh before beginning.

“That whole incident two days ago when we were reading the Daring Do book, well there was a reason for that. See I…”

“… You saw Daring and Rosetta as a couple similar to me and you. When they didn’t succeed or go into a relationship in the book, it sparked deep emotion within you because of how closely it resembled real life.”

You could hear the pebble on the boulder gently fall off and land with the smallest of plops into the grass below. Rainbow felt the air completely leave her lungs as she stared with widened pupils at the pony sitting before her. She tried to formulate some kind of response, but any time she opened her mouth, all she heard is not the sound of her own voice, but merely a squeak.

“I didn’t realize it at first, but I did pay attention to how you were behaving. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you freak out like that before, it isn’t your style, even if Daring Do is your favorite book series. I didn’t really have much of an idea until I got a letter in the mail.” Twilight had pulled out the very letter in which Rainbow had wrote, causing the pegasus’ face to turn a deep crimson In embarrassment. “I’ve seen your hoofwriting before Dash, it didn’t take me long to figure out who it was. My question is… did you really mean everything you said?"

Rainbow simply nodded a yes to the question, but put her hoof up once Twilight was about to begin talking again. The unicorn understood, and patiently waited in anticipation for what Rainbow was going to say in response.

Twilight herself was quite taken aback when she had opened her mail that morning. It had been an interesting thing to occur on her normal routine, as her mail had contained the usual stuff like a catalog and a couple of spam pieces, but down at the very bottom was a simple white envelope, Twilight’s own full name etched in script on the front. The script itself wasn’t very impressive, and Twilight was quite curious to see what it was.

Once she had opened and read the letter, her mind became a smorgasbord of shock, glee, worry, guilt, and many more emotions and feelings she couldn’t keep track of. She began to wonder not only how strongly Rainbow feelings towards her were, but also just how long this had gone on. Twilight was also quite impressed in Rainbow’s ability to keep this crush completely unknown, as Twilight had no idea it even existed.

What the unicorn was feeling more of than anything else was worry. She had written a letter to the pegasus basically asking her on a date, and while Rainbow had done the same, Twilight was nowhere as serious about the whole ordeal as Rainbow was. Sure, she was excited about the prospect of going on a date with her best friend, but that was just it, they were going to go as friends. Rainbow looked at her as a love interest, as a pony she wanted to ask to be her marefriend. Their expectations were completely on different paths, and now Twilight was faced with a tough decision.

On one hoof, she could go ahead and make the date with Rainbow, and see how it played out. “Maybe there is something between us I neglected to see all this time,” She thought. The possible outcome could be extremely rewarding, but however, what things didn’t click between them like that. The last thing Twilight wanted to do is shatter her friend’s heart.
On the flip side, Twilight could play off the date she offered as purely research, and just be completely honest with the pegasus. She could tell her that she just didn’t feel the same way, and hopefully Rainbow would understand. But the outcome of a shattered heart seemed nearly unavoidable in this context.

Twilight sat with a war in her mind as Rainbow looked at her, finally ready to speak.

“It’s been a long time since I was taken over by Discord’s dark magic. The moment where you used your magic to save me from myself, this was the moment I first felt something more towards you, something I couldn’t exactly explain.” Rainbow started, her memories flashing back to that chaos filled day.

“And yes, that was nearly a year and a half ago. All this time my feelings have felt, sort of like a shaken bottle of soda pop, to put it like Pinkie had told me once. Each day, the pressure grew, and sometimes I would be so close to coming right to your door and kissing you, thinking it would be the perfect opportunity. But instead, I chose to wait.”

Twilight merely stared into Rainbow’s violet eyes, the only color of the Rainbow not present in her multicolored mane. She watched as a stronger breeze pushed a lock of Rainbow’s mane onto her face, so that it was partially over her left eye. It didn’t seem to bother her at the slightest.

“And so I waited. Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, which turned into a full year. The anniversary of that day we defeated Discord was probably one of the most difficult days I had ever experienced. I felt like two different ponies that day. One side of me as screaming at me for waiting an entire year with this feeling for you, and by now it had become a raging wildfire. The other side wanted to celebrate the victory we had a year ago to that date.”

Twilight had remembered how odd Rainbow had seemed at the huge party Pinkie had thrown that evening. At times, it seemed she was truly enjoying herself, but at other times Twilight thought Rainbow would rather be anywhere else in Equestria.

“Now here we are, sitting atop this boulder, all due to a bunch of unforeseen circumstances that came together out of the blue,” Twilight responded, looking to the remaining slivers of sunset which streaked over the horizon. “I just realized now that we both picked the same place to meet one another, without either of us knowing the other’s place. Irony…” Both of them smiled at that fact.

“That afternoon in the library,” Rainbow continued, “the pressure never had gotten as high as it was then. The little relationship between Daring and Rosetta, the one I thought I saw, was a fantasy and possible reality. As I started to read it, I used the potential relationship between them as a way to calm the pressure, but once Daring kissed Silver, it enraged me because I saw it as something that would happen to me. I’m not saying you were going to run off with some stallion or anything.” Rainbow gave the glimpse of a smile at Twilight, who returned the favor.

“When I exploded like that, I was sure you finally realized my secret and the situation at hand. Truthfully, I agreed to the whole research idea you came up with because I thought it would be a way to maybe finally admit my secret to you. I guess I planned that right in a sense huh?” Twilight giggled a bit at Rainbow’s self-jab.

“But everything I wrote in that letter, I meant every single word of it. You don’t know how much paper I used in writing that. Twilight, you’re awesome… and I don’t really know what else to say really. I consider you more awesome than myself, and that’s saying something coming from the now 2nd most awesome pony in Equestria. I mean where could I begin? You’re funny, intelligent, cute…” Rainbow was hushed by Twilight as she put her hoof gently over her mouth, signaling her to stop talking.

“Now, here is another experiment for you. The hypothesis is if you like how you feel after this action.”

Twilight closed the gap between both ponies quick as her lips met Rainbow’s, the pegasus seemingly shocked and surprised at the sudden display of affection. Rainbow savored the moment, as it was everything she had hoped it would be, and then some. Her arms wrapped around Twilight’s neck as she pulled the unicorn closer to her body so that Twilight was on top of her. Sparks flew in both of their bodies as Rainbow extended the kiss as long as possible. The sunset seemed to last just an extra minute longer it seemed, almost as if to prolong the moment.

The two broke away, each of them gasping for air as they had used all their oxygen in their disposal. Twilight’s face was that of a tomato as she realized what she did, but couldn’t deny just how much enjoyment she had gotten from it. Rainbow was like a love drunk puppy at this point, still basking in the afterglow.

“So..,” Twilight began to ask, still breathing a bit heavier than before, “What is your conclusion for this experiment?”

“Well other than you being a damn good kisser, I sure as heck liked, no, loved that! I never knew a kiss could be that powerful,” Rainbow exclaimed, now giddy for the first time in days. “Wait… this was your first kiss too right?” Twilight responded with a slight nod of her head.

“So, what is your conclusion then Miss Sparkle?” Rainbow asked in a teasing sort of manner.

“I’ll admit… it was really enjoyable. I didn’t expect it to turn into a make out session though.” Both of them laughed at this fact.

Rainbow was spell blinded at this point by Twilight, who was sitting at such an angle where the last of the sunset created a silhouette of the unicorn, the remaining light around her acting as if Twilight was glowing like some godly figure.

As she sat there, out of the blue Rainbow remembered the whole research ordeal they had just went through, and was curious at the answer Rarity had given Twilight.

“Say Twi, what did you end up getting from Rarity about the whole Daring and Rosetta thing.”

“Well, Rarity said yes,” Twilight answered. “She mentioned something about opposites attracting, while also giving a couple of ways any relationship would work. They were unconditional love, acceptance for who a pony is, and endless care.”

“Hmmm… Fluttershy mentioned the whole idea of opposites attracting too,” Rainbow replied. “She was also the one who gave me the idea of writing you a letter.”

Twilight’s cocked her head slightly at the mention of the letter idea. “Wait… Rarity gave me the idea of a letter as well.”

“You don’t think…”

…

“Nah.”

“So Twilight, I guess that leaves me with one last question.” Twilight had been watching the moon which was now rising behind Rainbow, illuminating her in its soft glow.

“I think I know this one.”

“Twilight Sparkle, would you like to go on a date with the most awesome Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight brought her hoof up and began to stroke her chin if in deep thought, and continued to do so for a little while. She watched as Rainbow got increasingly impatient, and giggled internally.

“I’d be delighted to.”

Rainbow hopped up and flew into the air like a lit firework, only this one didn’t explode into thousands of pretty little lights. She flew directly at Twilight, picking her up off the ground and hugging her close. Twilight in the meantime tried to stay as calm as possible, even if she was afraid to be dropped from high up in the air. But for some reason she felt save in the pegasus’ arms.

Eventually, Rainbow placed Twilight back down on the boulder, sensing that the unicorn was a bit uneasy about flying at the speeds Rainbow was used to. She watched as Twilight took a minute or so to recollect herself, her heart melting at just how cute she looked right now.

“There is one thing I need to ask of you though,” Twilight started, her tone taking on a seemingly more serious nature. Rainbow listened intently.

“If this doesn’t work, I don’t want you to become heartbroken in any way. I don’t want to see a friend so close to me in pain, when I know it can be avoided. Just know, that if the relationship doesn’t work out, you’ll still be one of my best friends for eternity.” A single tear escaped from Rainbow’s eyes as she made a mental note of Twilight’s request.

“You have my word.”

The pair embraced silently as the moonlight bathed them in a cool yellowish glow.

Hundreds of feet away stood a lone tree, a couple of yards removed from the rest of the forest which was next to Strawberry Fields. It was a rather sizeable tree, big enough for two ponies to hide behind, as it had a little patch of bushes which aided in this fact.

At the present time, there were two ponies hiding here, one being an alabaster unicorn, the other being a yellow pegasus. Both of them held binoculars in their hooves as they stay still and in stealth mode, making sure nopony knew they were there.

The pair waited for the inevitable to happen, and eventually it did as they observed two ponies kissing on the boulder a couple of hundred feet out.

The two ponies both dropped their binoculars and embraced, jumping up and down while celebrating in silent glee.

“Mission accomplished,” they both whispered to each other.

Author's Note

And that's all folks! I decided to add the little Rarity and Fluttershy part right after I finished the actual chapter itself. I thought it would be a nice touch.

Wish me luck in how the judges for that contest view my story.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Oh, remember to leave me a comment. Comments are like cookies! And I love cookies!