A Life of Love

A Life of Love

Vertigo

Twilight sat, eyes wide and mouth agape, at her reading table, the very same one she'd awoken at early in the morning. Here eyes, frozen in shock, stared down at the most recent book that had been selected to explain her own feelings to her. What surprised her was not the fact that it gave her an answer; books had always given her the answers she needed. No, what truly shocked her was what the answer was, and how well it fit. It matched every symptom she had experience, right down to the fact that they were stronger around one particular pony. But what the words said, what she was struggling to fully comprehend, was something she had never expected from her books, nor from herself. The more she read, the more she was positive the book was right, and the more she wished she'd never found this book.

For, if what this book said was correct, she had a romantic interest in Rainbow Dash. It was either that, or she'd discovered a new illness that she had to study. As much as the latter would be nice, being published in world-renowned medical journals and the like, the former made much more sense. Especially after what she'd felt when the pegasus in question had asked her out earlier that morning.

Her mind was spinning as she tried to sort out how she felt. It felt almost like she was falling, tumbling through the air with no way of stopping or slowing down. With no ground below her and no sky above her. Nothing for miles upon miles but empty void. And she was trapped, falling eternally. She felt herself start to hyperventilate as she thought of the ramifications of this romantic interest. If it didn't work out it could destroy her friendship with Rainbow. It could cause a divide as they forced their friends to pick sides after a nasty breakup.

Faster and faster she fell, spinning round and round as blankness consumed her.

The elements would be useless, their bearers divided over something so seemingly silly. Equestria would be, essentially, defenceless if they were attacked. Discord could use it to his advantage and reclaim his throne. The changelings could launch another full-scale attack, this time they could make sure Shining and Cadence didn't stop them. Once they were out of the picture, the only defence Equestria would have would be the elements, sitting useless in the castle because they were still squabbling over who was right.

Falling, falling, falling, spinning faster and faster. The blackness was thicker than water, entering and filling her lungs as she struggled to breathe.

“Twilight?”

Then they'd all be forced into slavery under the Changeling Queen, farm animals for the love they thrived on. All the while she and Rainbow Dash would hate each other, and because of some foalish crush they'd have doomed Equestria.

Black was everything. She couldn't even see her own hoof in front of her face. Couldn't feel the wind rushing past her as she fell. Breathing faster and faster without getting any air. Faster, spinning, falling, breathing, black, falling, spinning, faster, faster, faster.

“TWILIGHT!”

Twilight shook her head forcefully, bringing herself out of the void she had been falling through. A brief feeling of dizziness washed over her as she struggled to focus on the purple-green blob in front of her. Slowly, she blinked her eyes into focus, recognizing her draconian assistant standing next to her, looking up with worry as she stumbled up onto her legs.

“Spike?” She asked, immediately regretting standing as a wave of nausea crashed down upon her body. “I'm... gonna go lay down,” she said slowly, forcing her shaking legs to take her up to her room. However, she stopped when she saw the daunting flight of stairs before her. After her leg gave another twitch she turned away from the stairs. “On the couch...”

“Twilight?” Spike called again, following the unicorn into the living room and watching with concern as she laid herself out on the couch. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, Spike,” Twilight sighed in response, closing her eyes as she once again tackled the problem in her head.

“You're starting to worry me, Twilight. What's going on?” Spike asked again, more forcefully this time as he walked up to the side of the couch and peered down at the mare lying across the cushions.

Twilight stayed silent, bringing her front hooves up and covering her eyes. “I can't go...” she trailed off has her stomach gave another nauseating twist. “But I want to...”

“Go where? Twilight?” Spike prodded her side with a claw, trying to get some form of answer out of the clearly troubled mare.

“It's nothing to worry yourself over, Spike. I just need to think about a few things.”

Spike opened his mouth to respond when a knocking came at the door. He was about to go answer it when Twilight snapper her eyes wide open, the hooves that had previously been covering them were quickly wrapped around Spike's scaled shoulders. “I'm sick. I don't care who it is; I'm sick and can't come to the door. Sudden onset of flue or something. I don't care; I'm sick!” Twilight pleaded, almost frantically, as Spike just watched with a concerned look on his face.

“Whatever you say,” he muttered, slipping out of Twilight's grip and walking out into the entry way and the front door.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the guilt as she heard the door open. Her breathing all but stopped as she heard Spike say “Oh hey, Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here?”

Her body froze, not even a single muscle moved for fear of the pegasus somehow hearing it and forcing her way in. If her couch were the same shade of purple as her fur she'd have blended in perfectly with the fabric. Not even her light, fast breathing moved her chest to a noticeable degree. And then came the words she never expected, and never wanted, to hear.

“She's pretending to be sick, isn't she?”

Twilight's breathing actually stopped.

After a long, drawn out silence, Spike finally replied in a hushed voice. “Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with her; ever since I found her this morning, just standing at the door, I've been worried. She hasn't pulled herself out of her books all day, and just now she looked like she was going to collapse. I'm really worried about her, Dash.” He didn't know he was talking just loud enough for Twilight to hear him.

“Traitor” Twilight thought bitterly. She heard Rainbow sigh heavily.

“I think I know what's wrong. You mind if I try talking to her? And... uh... in private, if you wouldn't mind? I think it'd be easier for her.”

“If you really think you can help, then go for it. I'll be cleaning up some of the old files in the basement if you need me. She's on the couch.”

Twilight heard the quiet sound of Spike walking across the hard wood floor of the library, followed by the basement door opening and closing. Shortly after she heard the front door close and the hooves of the last pony in Equestria she wanted to see coming closer. Maybe, just maybe, if she was still enough, if she pressed herself hard enough into the cushions, Rainbow wouldn't see her.

“It's not working; I can see you.” She heard the pegasus say, sounding almost as if she was right behind the arm of the sofa.

Still Twilight tried, clenching her eyes shut and pressing herself down, halting her breathing and wrapping her tail close around herself as she forced her back as hard as she could into the cushions.

“Try again.” Once again came the light, playful voice of the pegasus in the room. It was right above her now, bearing down, reading to tear her friendships apart at any moment. Twilight hesitantly opened her eyes, just a crack, to see where Rainbow was. Her eyes snapped open in surprise when she came face to smiling face with the mare in question, her head leaning out over the arm of the sofa.

“Boo,” Rainbow whispered.

“AHH!” Twilight shrieked, instinctively lighting her horn and teleporting herself across the room, and accidentally a few metres up in the air. The familiar sensation of falling once again captivated her mind, only this time she actually was falling.

“Gotcha!” Rainbow cheered as the feeling of falling suddenly halted in its tracks. Twilight opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash, holding her a few feet from the ground. Twilight blushed heavily as Rainbow slowly lowered them both to the ground, letting the unicorn out of her arms and back onto the couch she'd tried to hide in. “Now, how about we sit down and talk about why you're hiding from me?”

Twilight fiddled with her hooves nervously. “I'm... uh... not; I really am sick... achoo?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Right. Twilight, what's up? You seemed perfectly happy to go out with me this morning. I get being nervous, but seriously?”

“I made a mistake this morning,” Twilight answered forcefully, silencing her own thoughts contrary to the statement, “I was surprised; that's all. And because of it I made a mistake.”

“And I suppose all the times in the last week that you've been tripping over your sentences around me never happened? Or all the times you tried to hide your obvious blush when we were alone together? Twilight, you're as easy to read as these books,” Rainbow explained with a sigh. In truth, she had noticed it, but hadn't thought anything of it. Not even when the dare had come up did she even consider this possibility, that Twilight had a crush on her. However now, seeing Twilight actively hiding and avoiding her, all the pieces fell into place perfectly, especially with her personality.

“How could you have known!? I've been trying to figure it out all week, and you say it was obvious!? If it was so obvious why didn't you tell me sooner!?” Twilight screeched, annoyance taking the place of fear or nerves as she glared harshly at the pegasus.

“Well I... wait, did you say you were trying to figure this out?” Rainbow asked incredulously as Twilight nodded slowly. “That's what you were studying last night, wasn't it?”

“Yeah... so?” Twilight asked defensively. Rainbow just broke out laughing hysterically.

“O-only you, egghead!” Rainbow laughed, clutching her sides as she fell over onto the floor. Twilight's harsh glare never once faltered.

Eventually, Rainbow regained control of her breathing, letting only the occasional chuckle slip through as she sat upright. “S-sorry,” she started, “But that's funny. Now that that's over with and the cat's out of the bag, shall we go?”

Twilight's glare finally fell as she once again regained her look of nervousness. “N-no.. we can't...”

Rainbow had to do a double take as Twilight once again denied her. “Wait, what? After all that? Why not?”

The unicorn fidgeted nervously on the couch as she started awkwardly. “Well... what if... what if we end up breaking up? We'll hate each other and we'll force the girls to pick sides and the elements won't work anymore and then Equestria will be enslaved by changelings!” As awkward as she started, she had no problems hastening her speech as her mind once again began to spiral into the worst possible outcome.

Rainbow Dash stared blankly at her, the pegasus's mind trying to connect them going on a date with being enslaved by Changelings. When the only answer she could come up with was that Twilight had somehow unlocked the secrets of how Pinkie Pie's mind worked, she giggled.

“What's so funny? Do you want to be a farm animal for a bunch of insects?” Twilight spat.

“Twilight, even if this doesn't work and we break up, it's not like it'll be messy or anything. Even if it were, I can't hate you. I can't even stay mad at you for long, and I know you're not one to hold a grudge. And besides all that, do you really think the girls would let us force them into picking sides?” Rainbow asked calmly, sitting down on the couch next to Twilight and placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“I... suppose you're right,” Twilight relented after a moment of silence. Once she actually thought about it, she realized how crazy she must have sounded. She looked up with a smile. “Where are we going?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Rainbow started, but stopped herself. For the first time since she got there, she actually observed the mare next to her. More accurately, her dishevelled state. It was clear she hadn't showered in at least two days, her mane was a mess – no doubt from panicking – and her coat was matted. She had planned to take Twilight to some fancy restaurant that had opened recently in Town Square, but if she showed up with her date looking like, well, Twilight after a studying session, they'd be kicked out. Instead, she settled on something much simpler, something Twilight probably needed, too.

“Let's go out for some milkshakes. There's a great place just a few blocks away.”

“Milkshakes?” Twilight asked, quirking her head to the side. “Alright... as long as this place has coffee too; I haven't slept properly in a couple days...”

-_-_-_-

The date had gone about as well as anypony present had expected; awkward at the beginning before smoothing out to idle chatter. Though the local was a bit... odd to Twilight, she'd enjoyed herself, and discovered the amazing invention of Iced Latte's. How she didn't know about the milkshake-coffee treats sooner she had no idea, but she was sure she'd be going back for more.

Now, however, the date was at its end as she walked back to her library with Rainbow Dash next to her, idle smiles on both their faces as they walked through the pale glow of the half-full moon. The odd light spilled out from a house onto the street, but for the most part it was dark, and it was always quiet, nothing but the sound of their hooves on the cobble path in the still night air. Within seemingly seconds of seeing it in the distance they had arrived at the place where Twilight would part ways with her pegasus date.

They exchanged farewells at the door to the library and, in a brief moment of boldness, Twilight had reached up and kissed Rainbow on the cheek before blushing madly and running back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash stood on the other side of the closed door, smiling idly as he remembered the feeling of the unicorn's lips against her cheek.

“For a dare,” she muttered, turning and taking off into the air. “That was pretty awesome...”

She waited until she was high into the night sky, far away from the library, before turning and looking at the tiny tree in the distance. “Aw who am I kidding? BEST DARE EVER!” she shouted excitedly, flying quickly back to her home.