Day Dreams of Rainbows

by TheShadou

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Other, Romance
Length: 17379

A TwiDash fan fic. This is the story of Twilight Sparkle's struggle with her own emotions. The struggle of right and wrong when it comes to her feelings of love, her love for another mare, and just how much her friends and family really care for

Twilight Sparkle's life was always somewhat hectic. She had dealt with the many problems that her home town had faced. She also dealt with many of the problems that the whole of Equestria had faced. Twilight's life faced many changes, from moving to a new town, to adopting a filly as her daughter, to becoming an alicorn princess. The challenges of her ever-changing life were often very difficult to face, however, she was never alone.

Now Twilight faces a new problem, Romance. Her feelings for one of her friends evolves beyond just friendship. As she confronts this new challenge, she begins to wonder if she is right to feel this way for another mare and she doubts that her friends and family will be able to accept her and her secret feelings. Can Twilight brave her latest challenge? Is she truly alone? Will she ever be happy again, or will her secret desires doom her to misery.

Nyx is a Character created by Pen Stroke in the story "Past Sins"

I own nothing from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Hasbro, or the characters created by other artists.

I only made most of the cover art. The Twilight Sparkle's Cutie Mark was made by someone else, and i only imported and edited that element.

Published 2014-10-26 06:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-26 06:30:02 UTC

Day Dreams of Rainbows

In a peaceful town known as Ponyville, six friends live happily along with all of the town’s other residents. One of these friends was an alicorn princess named Twilight Sparkle. After the defeat of Tirek, she lived in her grand crystal tree castle with her pet Owlowiscious, her oldest friend and number one assistant Spike and her adopted daughter, the young alicorn filly and former Nightmare Moon, Nyx.

Twilight led a happy life, however she was often very busy. Her schedule, which was even more hectic since she became a princess and had her own “Kingdom,” usually prevented her from having a lot of time to her own thoughts. However, a few months after Tirek, things had been slowing down in Equestria. With no summons from Princess Celestia, not much to do in her own “Kingdom,” and no threats to peace and harmony in Equestria, the days had grown plain.

It was also that stretch in the year when there weren’t any celebrations or holidays to plan for. Even Pinkie Pie didn’t have any random, unheard of celebration to throw a party for. This gave Twilight some time to relax and take a break. That meant that she had time to think and remember and reminisce.

When Twilight had the time to think of idle thoughts, her mind almost always focused on one particular subject. It was a favorite topic in her mind, the topic of a certain Pegasus with a colorful mane. Twilight was very fond of thinking about one of her best friends, Rainbow Dash.

Twilight’s were not only fond thoughts of a good friend however. No, her thoughts and memories were of the special feelings that she felt when she let Rainbow Dash drift into her head. Over the time she had spent with her friends, Twilight slowly realized that she loved Rainbow in a different way than her other friends. Twilight had grown to love Rainbow Dash in a romantic way.

~

The first time Twilight Sparkle met Rainbow Dash was during her first day in Ponyville. Twilight had just gotten away from Applejack’s farm after eating too much pie. As she was walking and wondering about the pony who was supposed to be clearing the sky, somepony plowed right into her knocking them both into a mud puddle. The prismatic pony chuckled out loud and then, through the giggles, offered to help the now muddy unicorn up. She then apologized and “helped” Twilight by rinsing the mud off and then drying her with a patented “Rainblow Dry.”

Rainbow Dash then saw that Twilight’s mane was now very messy, and she and Spike could not help their hysterical laughter at the expense of Twilight’s “new mane style.” Twilight was a little ticked, but she kept up her niceties until Rainbow Dash claimed that she would clear the clouds after she was done practicing for the Wonder Bolts. Twilight then challenged Rainbow’s idea that she was Wonder Bolt material by claiming that they wouldn’t allow in a Pegasus who couldn’t ever keep the sky clear for a single day. Rainbow Dash claimed that she could clear the sky in ten seconds flat. Twilight challenged Rainbow Dash to prove it, and Rainbow accepted that challenge.

Twilight stood there with wide eyes and mouth agape. She thought the boastful pony was just arrogant and lazy, but she was so wrong! In a flash, or rather in ten seconds flat, Rainbow had cleared the skies above Ponyville, just like she said she could.

Under Twilight’s surprise and amazement, something was born in her heart.

~

It may have taken some time, as Twilight only thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend for a long time, but the affections that she was feeling for her friend now were definitely feelings of infatuation, and Twilight enjoyed these emotions.

Twilight was lying on her big new bed in her bedroom, holding a pillow in a hug while smiling and looking dreamily into space while her head and her heart were filled with memories of Rainbow Dash. Twilight was so blissfully unaware that she didn’t notice her daughter come into the room to fetch her for breakfast.

Nyx had called to her mother from outside the door, but she didn’t get a response. Nyx then decided to knock on the door and call for her mother, but still no response. So Nyx let herself into Twilight’s room to see if she was even inside.

“Mom? Are you in here?” Nyx asked as she pushed open the door and poked her head in the large room.

Nyx saw Twilight lying on her bed facing away from the door. At first she thought that her mother was still sleeping, so she snuck into the room quietly so as not to startle her mother awake and give Twilight a bad morning. But then she heard Twilight sigh blissfully. So Nyx walked over to the bed and up to her mother.

“Mom? Are you awake yet?”

“Hhhmm” was the response she got from the violet alicorn lying down on the bed.

Nyx proceeded to jump up on to the bed. She was wondering now why her mother wasn’t giving her any clear, understandable answers. Nyx took a few steps across the bed until she was standing over Twilight. Well as “Over” a fully grown mare as a young filly could manage.

Nyx noticed the almost sleepy looking expression on Twilight’s face as she lay there hugging a pillow and sighing quietly to herself. She then put her hoof on Twilight’s side and started to gently shake her while calling out “Mom?”

Twilight was thinking about some of her recent flying lessons she had received from Rainbow Dash when she started to become aware that somepony was gently shaking her and saying something.

“…om? Mom? Mooom?” Nyx’s little voice was calling out for Twilight’s attention.

“Oh! Nyx.” Twilight said as she woke up from her love drunk day dreams. She blushed when she took notice of her somewhat silly behavior she was displaying in front of her daughter.

“I didn’t notice you come in. What do you need?” She asked as she sat up and stretched.

“Spike and I made breakfast for you. It’s all ready for you downstairs.” Nyx said with a smile.

Twilight took a second to look into her daughter’s unique dragon like eyes. She was so sweet and Twilight just loved the little filly to death. She scooped Nyx up with her forelegs into a loving hug. She rubbed her cheek against Nyx’s, and Nyx hugged and snuggled back.

“Oh, thank you, Nyx. You’re so sweet.” Twilight said lovingly.

The two got up and headed down to where breakfast was waiting. The smell of freshly cooked pancakes drifted throughout the castle. The gentle rays of the sun poured in through every window and lit up every room with their soft glow. Twilight had slept well, and now the morning was warm and beautiful. She thought to herself, 'This is going to be a good day.'

~

The next few days were very good to everypony in Ponyville. The days were calm and warm. The nights were peaceful and beautiful, and everypony was enjoying life to the fullest.

However, nothing lasts forever…

Twilight enjoyed a pleasant week of bliss and relaxation. One day, she stayed at home and read some entertaining books. On another day, she enjoyed a fun day out with her household family, and on several occasions, she enjoyed some time spent with her friends. She had fun with the whole group, and she enjoyed time spent with only a few members of her group of best friends at a time. Sometimes, she would spend some time with just one of her friends at a time.

There was one member of the group that Twilight didn’t have the chance to spend some one on one time with however. Was it just coincidence that Twilight didn’t get to spend some alone time with Rainbow Dash? Or maybe one was avoiding the other on purpose?

Twilight was very good at hiding her true feelings from Rainbow Dash. She never let show any physical signs that she was hiding something from the others, though, the major distractions helped a lot. However, this recent peace spell, so to speak, was bringing out something that Twilight was so careful to hide.

Normally, Twilight was able to calm her shaky voice when Rainbow Dash brushed up against her, or hide her blush when Dash touched her, and on the rare occasion when Rainbow would hug Twilight, she was always able to stop her legs from turning to jelly. Recently however, Twilight was finding it more difficult than ever to contain herself around her secret crush.

She was so embarrassed when Rainbow Dash boasted about her “Star Pupil” and placed her wing around Twilight’s neck, and Twilight squeaked! She was going to say something about having a pretty good teacher, but all she managed was a somewhat loud and just a little bit pitiful squeak. All eyes were on her and Twilight felt like hiding under a rock and never coming back out again. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash made a joke about the squeak that seemed to successfully break the awkward tension, though, it did make Twilight feel embarrassed now that she had done something so silly in front of her crush and all of her friends.

Twilight was finding that her self-control was slipping rather quickly. However, that wasn’t the only change that was affecting her. Twilight also began to notice that the warm fuzzy feelings she got from thinking about Rainbow Dash were starting to feel different.

The thought of Rainbow Dash now caused Twilight to feel, not blissful, but instead, painful. The warm fuzzy feelings were beginning to change into painful cravings. Her heart would ache after every memory of Rainbow. Her chest would become tight and her heart would start to feel as if it were empty, and it gnawed at her like it was starving to death.

~

After a few days into the second week of peace, Spike, Nyx and Owlowiscious began to notice a significant change in Twilight’s behavior. At first, Twilight was just being slightly messier and she wouldn’t finish all of her food. But soon Twilight was even worse than they had cared to see her. She was hardly eating anything at all, she almost never slept, and she spent all of her time shut up in her new library.

The three small ones sat outside of the main library, in the small waiting room like area adjacent to the library, listening to the occasional sound of a book dropping to the ground or hearing Twilight shout “No!” every once in a while. All three of them had expressions of concern with a slightly noticeable hint of helplessness on their faces. Why wouldn’t they feel that way? They had tried to help Twilight, but she either brushed it off or just completely ignored them. The latter becoming more frequent.

“What’s wrong with her, Spike?” Nyx asked with a somewhat shaky voice, as if she were fighting back the urge to cry. She was more than a little afraid for her mother.

“I don’t know… I’ve seen her get crazy about research before, but this time it’s pretty bad.” Spike said, sounding like he was struggling with a major defeat.

“Is she working on something that Princess Celestia sent her?” Nyx inquired.

“I don’t think so. I haven’t gotten any letters for a while.” Spike responded.

“Hmm…” Spike and Nyx sighed, feeling even worse about the situation than before.

They all sat in silence for a while longer before they heard Twilight shout “No, no, no, no, NO!”

~

Twilight was beginning to break down.

It hurt to think of Rainbow Dash lately. At first Twilight tried to just push Rainbow out of her head, but she wouldn’t leave her mind. This was getting bad, and Twilight began to contemplate her options. The first thing to come to mind was the obvious, “Maybe I should confess to Rainbow?” but as she thought about confessing, she began to consider the possible consequences of this course of action.

Twilight began her thoughts out loud with, “If I confess I might feel better, but if Rainbow Dash doesn’t feel the same way, it could ruin our friendship! I just couldn’t live with myself if I lost Rainbow Dash’s friendship as well!”

As she continued down this path, her mind went to a darker place.

“What if confessing to Rainbow Dash, not only ruins my friendship with her, but also my friendship with all of my other friends! They would think that I was some kind of weirdo and they would totally hate me. But it wouldn’t only alienate them, all of Ponyville would hate me! Soon, they would drive me away! And where would I go! My parents would think I was some kind of freak! They would never even want to be seen with me again. Shining Armor and Cadence would definitely banish me from the Crystal Empire. They wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence! Oh! And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would never associate with me again! They would probably say that I am a shame to the title of Princess! Hmm… even Discord wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”

She sat and brooded for a minute, and then one thought hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Nyx… What would Nyx think of me? Would she hate me too? Would she cry, knowing that her mother was a freak? Would she be taken away from me?”

Those last thoughts had pushed Twilight over the edge, and she began to cry. She cried for a while as her mind went blank. This was just too much for her mind and her heart. But she couldn’t just lie here and wallow in self-pity. She needed to calm down now.

Soon, Twilight was calm enough to try and think of a new solution. Her next option was to just keep it all inside.

“That might work. Ooh! But that’s what got me where I am now.” Twilight said progressively getting quieter in that statement.

After that, she ran out of options, and she got angry.

“Ooohh! Why am I like this?! Why am I in love with one of my friends? Why am I in love with another mare?!” Twilight shouted as she magically threw a random book.

That book flew across the library and hit a pile of donated books that hadn’t been put away in any shelves yet. The force of the flying book caused the pile of books to scatter into a localized mess. Twilight sighed as she realized that shouting and throwing things wasn’t going to give her the answer.

Or was it?

Twilight stood up and slowly walked over to the small mess of scattered books ready to start cleaning them up. She magically picked up the book nearest to her and brought it up close to read the title and decide where it should go. But she stopped right there.

Twilight was suddenly interested in the book she had just picked up. It was a book of average size, it probably wasn’t thicker than 150 pages or so, and it was just a plain, faded, light orange. It was slightly worn and seemed somewhat old. But it was the title that caught Twilight’s interest. The book was titled A Psychological Analysis of Same Sex Couples. Twilight looked at the cover for a few seconds and then decided to flip open the book. She skimmed through the book to see what it was like.

Twilight had determined that the title pretty much described the book. She just had to check anyway, as she had learned her lesson about judging a book by its cover shortly after moving to Ponyville. She quickly flashed back to the incident with the poison joke and Zecora. But back to the book she had now, she had indeed guessed right about it. She sighed and almost put the book away when she flipped through a few pages and saw the name of the last chapter in the book.

Twilight stared at the chapter name for a few seconds, considering what the bold letters were saying. Twilight thought for a minute, then she closed the book with a new sense of determination. Twilight set the book she was holding down on the central table, and she quickly got to work.

“If I’m going to figure this out, I’m going to have to do what I do best. Research!” Twilight exclaimed with stern determination and a serious look.

~

Now Twilight was running around the library flipping through several books and mumbling to herself as she wrote down notes. At this time, her three little family members
were outside looking concerned and feeling worried.

“I want to know what she’s studying in there.” Spike said as he looked on at the door that led to the library where Twilight was running around like a mad pony.

“Who.” Owlowiscious hooted.

Spike looked at Owlowiscious, confused, and said, “Twilight, that’s who.”

“Who.” Owlowiscious repeated

“Come on, quit playing around, you know who.”

“Who.”

“Twilight! I want to know what Twilight is doing in there.”

“Who.”

“Rrgh!” Spike grunted as he realized with whom he was arguing.

Though she didn’t mean to, Nyx smiled and let out a little giggle at Spike’s and Owlowiscious’s usual back and forth. The scene helped to brighten her spirits and calm her nerves.

Owlowiscious seemed happy that he had helped to lighten Nyx’s mood a little. He then looked over at the library door and took flight. He landed on the handle of the door and flapped his wings to pull it open a little. Then the owl disappeared into the room for about a minute or two.

Soon Owlowiscious returned with two books, one in each foot. He dropped them down in front of Spike and Nyx, and then flew back into the library. Spike and Nyx watched as Owlowiscious disappeared and then reappeared with two more books. This process was repeated until he had collected eight books in total. And Owlowiscious arranged them together by genre.

Spike picked up the first book brought by Owlowiscious and looked at it with confusion.

“This is a romance novel.” Spike stated as he made a face at the book like he was disgusted by it.

“Are you sure this is what Twilight is reading?” Spike asked as he looked at the other two romance novels that Owlowiscious brought.

Owlowiscious nodded to Spike to let him know that he was sure.

“Well, these two are chemistry books.” Nyx said as she pointed a hoof at two more of the borrowed books.

“Now that makes more sense!” Spike said, with some gusto. “And those two are biology books.”

“Yeah, biology books about ponies.” Nyx pointed out.

“Huh.” Spike looked back at the chemistry books and noticed that they both seemed to be about biological chemistry in the brain.

“Ok. So we have two brain chemistry books, and two biology book on ponies.” Spike listed while he stuck out his fingers to count his progress.

“And three Romance novels.” Nyx added.

“Yeah, so what does romance, brain chemistry, and pony biology have in common?

“Who!” Owlowiscious hooted while standing next to the eighth book and pointing at it with his right wing.

“Oh yeah, Owlowiscious brought eight books with him.” Nyx chirped as she hoped over to stand next to Owlowiscious. She was getting a little excited at the idea of being like a detective trying to solve an ago old mystery.

“That’s right. I wonder what this one could be.” Spike said as he reached out for the slightly worn and faded orange book that had happened to fall cover face down.

But just before he could grab it, they all heard a knocking at the front door. They looked at each other wondering who it could be. They each got up to go and answer the door. It took a few seconds for Nyx and Spike to get to the door even at a well-paced trot, and jog for Spike. But Owlowiscious got to the door first and was the one to pull one of the double doors open for their guests.

For such large doors, they sure were light.

“Well howdy y’all.”

“Hi”

Spike and Nyx immediately recognized their visitors.

“Hey Applejack and Fluttershy, what brings you two around?” Spike said with a slight cheer in his voice. It was somewhat easy to be cheerful when two good friends came for a visit.

“Hey you two...”

“Who” Owlowiscious hooted as he poked his head around the door.

“…oh, Ah mean, you three. How er y’all doin?” Applejack asked after correcting herself.

“Oh… well…” Spike said as he and Nyx looked at each other while quickly going from excited back to concerned. “I guess we are doing fine.”

“Oh… Yeah? Um…” Applejack said feeling just slightly uncomfortable after that response. She looked over to Fluttershy and raised her shoulder and her hoof in the ‘I don’t know’ fashion.

Fluttershy looked from Applejack to the three standing at the door and asked,

“Um… is Twilight home?”

Nyx, Spike and Owlowiscious looked at each other again and then Nyx said,

“She’s in the library. Would you like to come in?”

Fluttershy exchanged a slightly worried look with Applejack before nodding to Nyx and walking inside. They followed Spike and Nyx to the library while Owlowiscious landed gently on Fluttershy’s back. The group was quiet as they approached the outer room that connected to the library.

When they got there, Applejack spoke up and said,

“So uh… are y’all really alright? And, what about Twilight? Is there somethin wrong?”

“Well you know how she gets when she’s researching something, right?” Spike asked as he turned to face Applejack.

In the background, Fluttershy sees a book at her hooves, and picks it up.

“Well, Yeah. She gets a lil nutty when it comes ta her studyin, but why are y’all so down ‘bout it? How bad could it possibly be?” Applejack says as Fluttershy opens the book she had just found.

Just then, the doors to the library swung open and Twilight came trotting out. Her mane was unkept and her coat looked messy. Her wings were also in obvious need of preening. She was muttering to herself while holding a clipboard, a quill, and an open book, all with her magic. She was looking at the clipboard, which was covering her face, while trotting forward.

No one said a word as they all watched Twilight stop and look around. She moved the clipboard away from her face to look around the room. She had bags under her eyes, and they were bloodshot. Twilight was obviously not well.

“Um, Twilight? Are you okay, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked in as gentle a tone as she could manage, though it was heavy with concern.

Twilight didn’t seem to hear Applejack as she continued to look around the room. Then she looked over in Fluttershy’s direction and she found the book that she was looking for. Twilight walked over to Fluttershy with a tired smile and magically took the faded orange book from her hooves.

“Thanks Fluttershy.” Twilight yawned out.

She then turned around and started to slowly walk back into the library when she stopped. Twilight was suddenly aware that she had just thanked Fluttershy, which meant that Fluttershy was here. Twilight turned around, half expecting Fluttershy to not even be there. But she was there, smiling and waving sheepishly at her.

Twilight then noticed Applejack standing next to Fluttershy with a somewhat bigger sheepish smile. It took a minute for Twilight to process what was happening. Suddenly, she became entirely aware of her surroundings and who all was in the room.

“Oh, uh, hi Applejack and Fluttershy! When did you two get here? Hehehe” Twilight was laughing through her own sudden self-consciousness and through gritted teeth.

“Well, actually, we just got here.” Applejack pointed out as she motioned to Fluttershy and herself.

“Oh really, is that so?” Twilight said nervously. “So, what brings you two by for a visit?”

Twilight was still smiling while looking quite nervous. She quickly levitated her objects behind herself in an attempt to hide them from view.

“We were worried about you Twilight, so we came to check to see if you were ok” Fluttershy said as she took a few steps toward Twilight.

“Oh I’m fine. You didn’t have to come by to check on me. Hehehe. I’m totally fine.” Twilight was now taking steps back to the library door.

“Well, ya say that sugarcube, but y’all don’t really look so good.” Applejack pointed out as she started to take steps toward twilight as well.

“Oh? What makes you say that?” Twilight looked as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with her friends.

“Twi, ya look like ya haven’t slept proper in days, yer manes a mess and so are yer wings.”

“Are you telling us the truth, Twilight? Because you look like you need to lie down for a bit” Fluttershy added.

“Oh you ponies.” Twilight said with a joking like tone and a wave of her hoof. “I appreciate your concern, really, but I’m fine as could be!”

Twilight was continuing to back up while Applejack and Fluttershy continued to advance toward her. She hadn’t noticed that she was no longer going to end up walking back through the library door, but instead straight into the corner just a few hoof step away from her target.

“Heheh. Heh.”

Twilight had managed to get backed into the corner by her friends. Twilight looked back as soon as she bumped up against the two adjoining walls. She raised her head and looked at the two mares with the one eye that she had facing them. She looked like she was being cornered by a pack of hungry Timber Wolves, instead of by two concerned friends.

Twilight was backed into a corner, both by her position in the room and also in her mind. Her brain was racing as fast as it could in it’s exhausted state, but she couldn’t come up with any ideas that didn’t involve teleportation, which would require more energy and focus than she currently had to give. Eventually, her friends worried faces, and the fact that she had no escape, finally got to her.

Twilight let the tension in her face go loose and just let the tired look have it. She bowed her head and accepted defeat. The first to move on this “surrender” was Fluttershy, who quickly went to Twilight’s side and gave her a shoulder to lean on. Twilight didn’t hesitate for long before she accepted her friend’s kind help.

Next, Applejack walked up to Twilight and gave her a warm and friendly smile. Applejack then gently asked, “So what happened to ya, sugarcube?” as she helped Fluttershy guide Twilight over to a big cushion.

Twilight thought about the question, but she decided that she wasn’t brave enough to confess herself to them just yet and kept quiet.

After Twilight was on her cushion, she finally relaxed a little. But in doing so she stopped levitating the objects she was holding. They all fell to the floor and made some noise which caught everyone off guard, except for Owlowiscious. Twilight was about to settle down again, but then she remembered the book that she didn’t want her friends to see. Twilight tried to get up, but Applejack gently held her down. Twilight couldn’t get to the book, and she wasn’t in time to stop Spike from picking it up and reading it out loud.

“A Psychological Analysis of Same Sex Couples. Why would you be reading this Twilight?” Spike then remembered the other books and started naming out there genre titles. “Pony biology, chemistry, romance novels, and this?” Spike raised up the book he was holding.

Twilight took the opportunity to magically snatch the book away. But just as she got the book, Nyx said, “What do all of these notes about ‘love’ and ‘romantic attraction’ mean mom?”

Twilight quickly snatched away all of her notes, but the damage had already been done. Applejack and Fluttershy were able to connect the dots.

“Twilight, are you tryin to explain love with all yer fancy science books? Is that what this has all been about?” Applejack said with a smile.

Applejack was expecting Twilight to lighten up and smile with her, but Twilight only looked away. She even looked like she was on the verge of tears. Twilight’s magical hold on the items she had gave out, and everything fell to the ground.

Applejack raised her head back up when she saw how hurt Twilight looked. Applejack had quickly forgotten about the book Twilight had taken from Spike. She was about to apologize for possibly being insensitive when Twilight let out a small sob.

It wasn’t a pleasant sound at all. It wasn’t an ugly sound, no, it was unpleasant because it was so sad and heartbreaking.

Twilight couldn’t hold back anymore. Her tears were flowing free and her breathing had become irregular as she cried and sobbed, there, in front of everyone. To make matters worse for everyone in the room, they saw how unkept Twilight looked. She looked tired and messy and now she was just crying away and sobbing uncontrollably.

“Oh, shoot Twi, ah didn’t mean ta make ya cry. Ah was just tryin to lighten up the mood a little. Ah shoulda thought before ah opened mah big mouth. I’m really, really sorry Twilight. Ah honestly didn’t mean ta hurt yer feelings, ah swear.” All throughout Applejack’s apology, she kept trying to extend her hoof out to touch Twilight’s shoulder, but she was hesitant, because she didn’t know if it was appropriate after making Twilight cry like that.

Fluttershy was on one side of Twilight, while Nyx was on the other. Both were rubbing and patting Twilight’s back, trying to console her. Nyx hated to see her mother cry, but she knew that it wasn’t Applejack alone who had made Twilight cry. Nyx knew that everyone was to blame, well, maybe not Fluttershy or Owlowiscious, but she and Spike had gone and messed with some things that they should have left alone. So Nyx was also whispering apologies to Twilight.

Even though Fluttershy had remained quiet most of the time while there at Twilight’s castle, she was also apologizing to Twilight, saying that she was sorry for snooping and sorry for making her cry. Then Spike apologized for his part in all of this. Then Owlowiscious landed next to Nyx with a remorseful look and hooted an apologetic sounding “Who”.

Twilight was looking around at everyone while they were all apologizing. She had to force herself to stop crying. Her breakdown was making her friends feel guilty.

After a few more sobs, Twilight finally managed to calm down. Or at least calm enough to offer up her own apology.

“(Sniffle) I… I’m sorry. (Sniff) I’m n-not upset with a-a-any of you. (Sob) It’s not anyone else’s f-fault.” Twilight was wiping the tears away with her fore hooves. She calmed herself down even more and was able to talk without sobbing.

“I’m only upset with myself.” Twilight was able to say calmly, now that she was mostly settled down. “No one needs to feel guilty or apologize. It’s no one’s fault but my own.”

Everyone looked around slightly confused. They were each sure that they had said or done something to upset Twilight like that. They all also wanted to tell Twilight that she shouldn’t be upset with herself, but they all kept quiet, for fear of saying something to hurt Twilight even more.

“No one here has to feel bad, because you didn’t do anything wrong.” Twilight continued. “It’s all my fault. I’m the one who’s got a problem, I’m the one who’s a big freak!” Twilight’s voice was getting louder and angrier as she continued. Though it wasn’t too loud, she was quietly shouting. But more importantly, she was shouting at herself.

No one was able to speak. No one was able to even move. Twilight was clearly very upset with herself. She was punishing and scolding herself, and Applejack noticed something that helped her to understand why.

The psychology book was laying open on the floor after Twilight had dropped it. Applejack followed Twilight’s eyes right to the slightly worn, and somewhat faded orange book. Applejack saw what Twilight was looking at while she was getting upset with herself. Right there in big bold letters was the biggest piece of the puzzle. This is what upset Twilight and made her cry. This is why Twilight was losing sleep. This is the big question that was tormenting her friend. Right there, those three words,

‘IS IT OKAY?’

Applejack could piece it all together now. Twilight was hurting so much because she thought that her feelings were wrong. She thought that she wasn’t normal, she felt like a freak.

The quiet was broken by Applejack’s hoof steps. Applejack walked up to the book, and she closed it. Then she looked to Twilight who was looking up into Applejack’s eyes. Confusion, love, wonder, hope, and sadness. So many feelings filled up the eyes that Applejack was looking back into. She needed her friends. She needed support.

Applejack was looking into Twilight’s eyes, and Twilight could see that Applejack knew now. Twilight could also see something she wasn’t expecting. Twilight could see that Applejack understood and that she accepted her.

“Twilight. Ah get it now. You felt alone and different cus ya thought that you were alone and different. But there ain’t nothing farther from the truth. Yer still the same ol’ Twilight that we all know an love.” Applejack lied down in front of Twilight and continued, “When somepony loves somepony else, no matter who it is, it’s ok. Twilight, it’s perfectly normal and natural fer ya ta love. An if y’all fall in love with another mare, well that’s ok too. You love who ya love, an don’t ya go lettin any pony tell ya who you can and can’t love. Cus it’s your life, and it’s your heart and it’s your happiness.”

Applejack finished up her speech with a big, warm smile. She was looking at Twilight with as much care and compassion as she possibly could.

Twilight could feel the love beaming from Applejack, and as she looked at her friends and family, she could feel it from the others as well.

Twilight looked at each of her friends that were now surrounding her, and asked, “You… You all feel this way?”

Each answered with different ways of saying “Yes.”

“We understand Twilight, and we will always love and support you however we can.” Fluttershy stated with her most supportive voice.

“Yeah Twilight. We will be here for you whenever you need us.” Spike said reassuringly.

“I love you no matter what, mom. I want you to be happy. It makes us all happy when you are happy.” Nyx chirped as she snuggled her head to Twilight’s shoulder.

“Who!” Owlowiscious hooted as he ‘smiled?’ at Twilight.

“And quite honestly, I’m happy that you found somepony special for you Twilight!” Spike beamed sounding like a proud parent.

Twilight sniffed, and chuckled in her throat. These close friends were just the best! She was so happy to get to be friends with such great ponies, and dragon, heheh, and owl of course! She hugged her three little ones, and looked at Applejack and Fluttershy, wanting them to join the group hug. Oh! Twilight hadn’t felt this good in days! Now here she was, relieved of one of the problems that had been troubling her for nearly a week.

After that touching and heartwarming moment, the group hug ended, and everyone shared in a laugh. After everyone was quiet again, Fluttershy remembered the current state Twilight was still in physically and said,

“I’m glad we could be here for you, Twilight. But I guess the others will have to wait until tomorrow to come and see you. I think you should get a nice meal, a warm bath, and then head off to bed for a good, long sleep.” The calm confidence let everyone know that Fluttershy wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Though Twilight didn’t even think about resisting. She was suddenly aware of how hungry and tired she was.

“I think that sounds wonderful.” Twilight said as she smiled at Fluttershy’s suggestion.

“I can cook up somthin real nice fer ya.” Applejack stated proudly.

“Ok. I’ll go and prepare the bath.” Fluttershy added with a smile.

After Twilight’s bath, she came down to the dining room where Applejack’s meal was waiting for her. Though she was still dead tired, Twilight was looking a little better, due to her clean coat and mane. Fluttershy had helped Twilight brush her mane and tail, and now Twilight’s hair was back to normal. She also helped Twilight tidy up her wings. Applejack decided that she would make enough lunch for everyone, mostly so that Twilight didn’t have to eat alone. While they were eating, Spike wondered out loud,

“So I wonder how exactly the others will react to this, if Twilight feels comfortable about telling them the news that is.”

They were all acting almost completely normal, except for the fact that they were trying to be careful around the subject of Twilight’s special feelings. Sure Twilight let them all know that they weren’t the ones that upset her, but they still didn’t want to hurt Twilight's feelings and make her cry again.

“Hm. Well I reckon that they would be just as excited an supportive as the rest of us.” Applejack answered with a smile. “Though ah suppose that they may have some different ways of sayin so.”

“Heh, yeah. I think I know what you mean.” Spike responded as he thought about the possibilities. “I guess Pinkie Pie would probably go crazy with some kind of party to celebrate.”

“An Rarity’ll probably get all excited too, and start jabberin on bout weddins an stuff”

“And I guess Rainbow Dash would probably joke around with it a little at first.” Spike guessed.

Twilight, who was really enjoying her meal, now looked a little nervous at the mention of Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, she’d probably poke a little fun, but she’d still be supportive too.” Applejack said. “She might be a lil bit of a joker, but she’s still a good an loyal friend.”

Twilight looked down at her food and thought about Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t worried about what her friends would think about her anymore, but one issue remained. What was she going to do about Rainbow Dash?

Fluttershy noticed that Twilight was looking down again (Metaphorically and literally).

“Is something the matter, Twilight?”

Twilight looked up and noticed that all eyes were on her. Everyone was looking concerned.

“Oh, nothing is the matter, I’m fine.” Twilight said, trying to get the attention off of herself. But Twilight was clearly bothered by something. She was just too tired to hide that fact.

Fluttershy just happened to be watching Twilight when Spike and Applejack started talking about Rainbow Dash, and she definitely saw Twilight’s distress. Though she wondered what Twilight was worrying about now.

Not wanting to make Twilight feel uncomfortable, everyone decided to leave that issue alone for now. They all turned back to their plates and ate a little more before Spike had a new thought.

“So who’s the lucky mare, Twilight?” Spike asked almost bluntly.

This question caught Twilight a little off guard, and she started to get nervous again. She looked at all of the curious faces who were once again all looking at her. Twilight smiled nervously and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She thought about saying that she didn’t have a particular pony in mind, but she figured that her friends wouldn’t believe her. Next, she thought about saying it was a pony whom they had never met, but she was too tired to try and weave a believable story. She quickly ran out of ideas and reluctantly gave in. Sure they had accepted that Twilight was in love with another mare, but she was still worried about how they would react if they found out that her interest was in Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked around for any last hope she could find of not having to confess with whom she was in love. Finding nothing, and feeling too tired to put up a fight, Twilight finally gave in.

She sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled. She looked around at all of her friends one last time before lowering her head and looked down at the nearly clean plate in front of her. She was scared and she hesitated for a moment longer. But finally, she spoke.

“It’s Rainbow Dash…” Twilight whispered.

“Uh, sorry sugarcube, we couldn’t hear you. Who did ya say it was?” Applejack asked.

Twilight brought up her head, but kept her eyes down and she repeated herself, this time loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I’m in love with… Rainbow Dash…”

Silence took hold of the room. No one was expecting what Twilight had just said. In fact, Rainbow Dash was probably the very last pony in all of Equestria that they would have guessed was Twilight’s secret crush. But that was the name that Twilight had said.

The room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. And the longer the silence continued, the more Twilight felt like she had just made a terrible mistake. Finally, Applejack spoke.

“Rainbow Dash? You mean our Rainbow Dash?” Applejack sounded as surprised as she looked.

Twilight didn’t move, or speak. She only sat there. More silence followed and Twilight bit her bottom lip. She messed up. Her friends silence could only mean one thing, they really couldn-

“Well, color me surprised! I wasn’t expecting that!” Applejack said. But it was the way she said it that snapped Twilight to attention.

Twilight looked up at Applejack. Twilight’s mouth was hanging slightly open from surprise. Applejack didn’t sound mad, or disappointed or judgmental at all. Instead she sounded very happy and excited. The look on her face, on all of their faces, were looks of congratulations. They all smiled at Twilight with big and real smiles.

“You… You’re all ok with this?” Twilight asked almost in disbelief.

“Well of course we are, sugarcube. Didn’t we just go over this?” Applejack said with a chuckle.

“We did say that it doesn’t matter who you love. We are always going to support you Twilight.” Fluttershy assured.

“We think it’s great that you like Rainbow Dash!” Nyx said feeling rather proud.

“Yeah, and we all know Rainbow Dash. So that makes it even better, since it’s not some stranger and all.” Spike added.

Twilight was soon smiling again. Because, yet again, her friends were proving just how great they were. They all shared in a happy laugh together. It was turning out to be a pretty good day after all.

After the laughter quieted down again, Fluttershy imposed a question of her own.

“Have you thought about confessing your feelings to Rainbow Dash yet?”

“Well I have thought about it, but I’m guessing that it’s not going to be that easy.” Twilight answered. “Rainbow Dash isn’t the most ‘touchy feely’ pony around.”

“Yeah” the others said in unison.

“Well don’t let it getcha down Twi, I’m sure it’ll turn out ok.” Applejack said comfortingly. “And ya know what, ah wanna help you with this, if yad accept mah help, a course.”

“Mm-hm!” the others all agreed while nodding their heads.

Twilight was more than willing to accept their help. Twice today they have proven how much they cared for her, and Twilight was happy to be surrounded by so many good friends. And to be honest, she knew she would need all the help she could get.

“Well, all righty then! This all sounds good ta me!”

“Yay!”

“Cool”

“Hooray!”

“Who!”

Twilight was feeling pretty good, but her body reminded her that she really needed sleep. Twilight yawned a big yawn and looked like she was about to pass out. She had had enough excitement for one day.

“Oh, but this will have to wait until tomorrow. What Twilight needs right now is a good night’s sleep.” Fluttershy said with a somewhat motherly tone.

Everyone agreed and got up to help Twilight get to bed. Twilight didn’t argue, she got up accepting her friends’ help. Though it was only 3 in the afternoon, sleep sounded heavenly to Twilight.

After everyone had helped Twilight get to bed, they each said goodnight and left to clean up downstairs and let Twilight get to sleep. She listened to the sounds of her friends and family leave the room. After it was quiet, Twilight thought to herself ‘I really do have the best friends in the world’ and she was out like a light.

~

The next morning Twilight woke up feeling well rested. It was around 9:30 a.m. and Twilight was ready to start the day. She went downstairs and found Spike and Nyx in the kitchen. Twilight felt a little proud of the fact that Nyx and Spike were so responsible. Obviously, they managed their time properly and had gone to bed at a responsible hour in order to be up by this time.

“Good morning mom!” Nyx greeted Twilight as cheerfully as she always did.

“Good Morning Nyx. Good morning Spike.” Twilight said as she entered the kitchen.

“Morning Twilight. Did you sleep well?” Spike asked.

“Yes I did. I slept very well.” Twilight said in response.

“That’s good cause Applejack and Fluttershy want to come by today and discuss a plan we were working on yesterday.” Nyx said excitedly, not wanting to waste any time on the matter of Twilight’s crush.

“But first you should have some breakfast” Spike said as he carried the pancakes he just finished making over to the table.

“Hmm, those do look tasty.” Twilight commented, causing Spike to put on a proud face.

~

An hour after breakfast was finished, Applejack and Fluttershy came to the tree castle again. They we happy to see Twilight answer the door and, once invited inside, they began explaining their plan. The plan was for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to spend the day together.

At first, all of her friends would be there, in order to make it all seem normal and natural. They wanted to increase Twilight’s chances of winning Rainbow’s heart. Hence, making her feel comfortable. Next, during their normal day of hanging out and having fun, Applejack and Fluttershy would start asking some “random” questions to get Rainbow Dash to start thinking about relationships and consider what she would want from one, if she ever got romantically involved with somepony.

Then, Applejack and Fluttershy would somehow get Rarity and Pinkie Pie away and leave Twilight and Rainbow Dash alone. The two could talk and hangout for a while and, when Twilight felt the time was right, she could maybe confess her feelings to Rainbow.

Sure one day seemed like a short time, but they had all known each other for a long time, and they might not get another chance like this for a while. So after some discussion, and Twilight’s few inputs, they were ready to execute the plan. Twilight could only hope that this would work.

~

Rarity and Pinkie Pie showed up, ready for a day spent with their friends. Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight were waiting for them at the park. They all politely exchanged their greetings, however, Twilight kept scanning the sky. She was already starting to worry that Rainbow Dash wasn’t coming, and after half an hour, so were Applejack and Fluttershy.

As Twilight was looking at a small cloud that was drifting by, Pinkie’s face was suddenly right in Twilight’s.

“Whatcha lookin at!”

Pinkie’s suddenness startled Twilight.

“Oh nothing, nothing at all.” She said to Pinkie.

“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkie shouted after a few seconds.

Pinkie let her head snap back to the way it was supposed to be, as she had just been stretching her neck around Fluttershy, across the gap that was meant for the absent Rainbow Dash, and into Twilight’s face.

“So does anypony know where Rainbow Dash is?” Rarity asked questioningly.

After a moment of silence, there came a shout from above,

“Here I am!”

Rainbow Dash was just flying up to meet her friends. Twilight’s face lit up, and the other two privy to the plan, were relieved at Rainbow’s arrival. They had both Pinkie Promised that they wouldn’t tell Rarity or Pinkie Pie about the plan, as Twilight had thought that those two knowing could possibly complicate things.

“You are a bit late, Darling. Why is that?” Rarity asked up to Rainbow.

“I had some last minute weather I had to deal with, but I’m here now.” Rainbow answered.

“Oh, ok. It’s so nice that you could make it Rainbow Dash. It’s always nice to hang out with you.” Fluttershy said, trying to butter Rainbow Dash up and get her in a good mood. “Um, why don’t you come down and walk with us?”

Twilight expected that Dash would just want to fly above them as she usually did. But Rainbow surprised her when she said,

“Sure thing.”

Since they were standing on a bridge just wide enough for the six of them to stand side by side, Rainbow didn’t have much choice except to land in the space provided. As she landed, Twilight could feel the heat coming off of Rainbow’s wings. She must have really been working them hard.

“I had to really work hard at this one and get back in time to hang with you guys.” Rainbow pointed out.

Now that they were all here, they continued on their way. At the end of the bridge, the two small pillars that started the walls that acted as a guard rail for the bridge were interrupting the size of the path just enough to make the group have to press together to get passed the “obstacle” as it were. Applejack was right next to Twilight and Fluttershy was on the other side of Rainbow Dash. They had put themselves in these places on purpose.

As Rainbow pressed against her, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little flushed. After the bridge was behind them, the group spread out again, giving each other about four inches of space. Twilight was suddenly aware that she had been holding her breath for the few seconds that she was pressed against Rainbow Dash. She calmly let her breath out and thought about how silly she was being.

But you couldn’t really expect any less of somepony in this situation, could you?

As the walk continued, Applejack was feeling somewhat eager to really set the plan into motion. So she started up a conversation to break the silence.

“So, are y’all enjoying yerselves?” Applejack asked her friends.

“Oh yeah! I’m having a super duper time!” Pinkie said as she bounced next to Fluttershy.

“It is an exquisite afternoon. This is an absolutely wonderful day to spend with friends.” Rarity answered as she looked up into the mostly clear sky.

“It’s pretty cool.” Rainbow Dash said casually.

The other three remained quiet, and Applejack asked her next question.

“So, uh… Y’all hear bout… uh,” Applejack thought she had a good question, but her eagerness to talk about romantic stuff made her forget the question she was going to ask now.

“Hear about what, Darling?” Rarity asked the stalled Applejack. It was so strange. It almost seemed like Applejack was trying to force small talk. Why would Applejack be trying to have a conversation, if she had nothing to say?

“Uummm… my, new apple tree?” she finally managed to ask.

“Your… new apple tree? I don’t think I have?” Rarity answered, feeling as if something where amiss.

“Oh, um, yes. I did hear about your new apple tree.” Fluttershy said in an attempt to save Applejack.

“Well I haven’t. What about your new apple tree?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh uh well, mah newest apple tree grew its first apple today.” Applejack said, sounding like a proud parent fighting the urge to shed a few drops of ‘liquid pride.’

“Oooo! That sounds nice! Maybe I should throw a ‘happy grew-your-first-apple party for it.’” Pinkie said as she was suddenly standing on Applejack’s back with a party hat on.

“Oh uh, that’s alright Pinkie, I’m sure the tree has lots o new buds an tiny new apples by now, and ah would much rather spend the day with y’all here anyway.” Applejack said, trying to deter Pinkie from deviating from the plan.

“Okie dokie loki, again!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped from Applejack’s back, over Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy, and landed back in her original spot. The party hat disappeared into her mane after she landed. Somehow, Pinkie Pie barely weighed anything while she was standing on Applejack.

The friends continued on their way, then Applejack thought of a new question.

“Well, uh, does anypony here ever think about that very special somepony?”

Twilight quietly took a deep breath in preparation for the next phase of the plan. She was feeling a little nervous, but she was ready.

“Whatdaya mean?” Pinkie said as she cleared Fluttershy’s height with her latest hop.

“Well, ah was just wonderin if anypony here ever thought about meetin their very special somepony.” Applejack explained to Pinkie.

“Well I do like to dream about him sometimes, when I’m not too busy, whoever he may be.” Rarity said looking dreamily into the sky.

Applejack then looked in Rainbow’s direction, as if she were expecting her to answer. Rainbow noticed the expecting looks she was getting from Fluttershy and Applejack, and so did Pinkie Pie…

“Eh…” was all Rainbow Dash said in response. This of course made Twilight feel a twinge of defeat. Then Pinkie Pie said,

“If I ever met my very special somepony, I would be really, really, really, really, really, really happy! I mean I would be so super-duper super-duper happy! Like, my happiness level would go way up, like really high. It could become, like, a little over a really high number. Like maybe less than ten-thousand but not too much lower. Like somewhere in the nine-thousand area!”

As Pinkie was explaining how happy she would be, she had gotten some already inflated balloons and had tied them around her waist. She then floated into the air and was hovering right above Rainbow Dash. As she explained, she continually looked at Rainbow Dash as if Rainbow was who she was talking too exclusively.

After Pinkie’s somewhat spazy explanation of her thoughts, she floated back to her spot, and the balloons were also devoured by her curly mane. This almost nonsensical explanation of Pinkie’s feelings poked at something in Rainbow Dash’s mind.

“Well Pinkie does have a valid point, if you can understand what she’s trying to say. One can be happy without that significant other of course, but, as Pinkie Pie said, that other pony could make one’s life infinitely happier, if one is willing to give the ‘dating game’ a chance that is.” Rarity added upon Pinkie’s statement.

Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight were smiling to themselves, as they listened to Pinkie Pie and Rarity unknowingly help to strengthen their secret case. Hopefully, this was all helping to convince Rainbow Dash that she could be happy with somepony. Of course that somepony would hopefully be Twilight by the end of the day.

Rainbow Dash listened to what her friends had to say and actually let their words sink in, instead of just brushing it off. Maybe they were right?

Applejack let it sit for a minute before moving on to her next question, but what question should she ask next? She couldn’t think of a way to bring up the next topic. But then Rarity added to the current topic,

“Oh I do hope he’s as handsome and charming as I imagine him to be.”

This gave Applejack the perfect ammunition for her next question, which was,

“Well what about two mares?”

Rarity wasn’t quite ready for this question.

“Beg pardon?” Rarity said.

“What if two mares like each other?” Applejack repeated.

“What brought this up, Applejack?” Rarity said, still slightly confused.

“Well, ya keep sayin ‘Him’, but what if they were a ‘Her’?” Applejack explained.

Rarity pondered the question for a few seconds before saying, “Well I suppose if a mare fell in love with another mare, than I would be happy for them all the same, but I’m not so sure how I would react if I was one of the two mares.”

Oh. That answer might have just cost them some points with Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy quickly came to the rescue by saying, “Well I think that, if I ever find my special somepony, I would be happy with them, mare or stallion.”

“Me too! Me too!” Pinkie Pie added enthusiastically.

“Well I suppose that that certain somepony is important enough. Hmmm… Yes. I think I can accept them the way they were. Mare or stallion.” Rarity admitted.

‘Way ta go, Fluttershy!’ Applejack thought to herself, thankful for the help.

“Hmmm, while we’re still on the subject, what has you so interested in this, Applejack?” Rarity questioned Applejack. “Is there something you want to say to me?” She added, teasingly.

“What?! No! I’m only askin hypothetically.” Applejack retorted in defense, earning a playful giggle from Rarity.

“Oh dear Applejack, I’m only teasing.”

Rarity giggled some more at the thought. Applejack remembered that this might poke a little harder at Twilight, and decided to drop the issue for her sake. Some time had passed, and things seemed to be going smoothly. The group walked around the park for a while longer before deciding to lie down under a tree.

They passed the time talking about anything that seemed like fun to talk about. Occasionally, a topic related to Twilight’s situation would come up, and the group of friends would talk about it and how they felt about it individually. Soon Twilight was feeling less anxious, and more comfortable.

At one point, Spike, Nyx and Owlowiscious brought a picnic dinner for everyone to enjoy. It only “surprised” those who knew that that was their part in the plan. The rest of the friends were genuinely surprised. After the nine of them had finished their picnic, the three little ones ran off again.

As the sun was setting, Applejack stood up and made up an excuse to get away with Rarity.

“Ah just remembered that ah need Rarity’s help back at mah farm.” Applejack said trying to convince both Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

“What in Equestria could I possibly help you with at your farm?” Rarity wondered, not wanting to do anything that involved dirt or getting messy.

“Ah need your… sense a fashion! Yea, that’s it. Yer sense a fashion.” Applejack quickly added to her excuse. Wow! Lyin was kinda tough.

“Well, ok. As long as I don’t have to get dirty.” Rarity agreed as she stood up to follow Applejack.

The two started to leave when Fluttershy stood up and said, “Oh my, I just remembered that I need Pinkie Pie’s help with something.” Fluttershy smiled sheepishly. She was starting to get worried that she would mess things up because she couldn’t think of an excuse, but Pinkie just stood up and said, “Okay!” and bounced off in the direction that Applejack and Rarity had gone. Fluttershy looked a little surprised, but then flew off after giving Twilight an encouraging smile and wink.

Now the only two ponies on the hill were Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. They both watched as their friends left. After they disappeared behind a hill, Rainbow looked over at Twilight and asked in a joking tone,

“So now are you going to ask me to come and help with something too?”

They both laughed before Twilight responded through the giggles, “No, I don’t need to go anywhere.”

They giggled together for a few seconds more before they got quiet. They had both been enjoying the day so far, and they were both in pleasant moods. Despite enjoying the speed and the adrenaline and the wind in her mane, Rainbow sometimes enjoyed a calm and relaxing evening. She was even enjoying watching the sunset with Twilight. It was turning out to be a good ending for a good day, despite their friends’ departures.

They were quiet as they both watched the sun slowly go that final stretch. It was relaxing, as Twilight shifted her attention over to Rainbow Dash, it even felt romantic. As Twilight watched the orange rays of the setting sun color Rainbow’s face with a gentle hue, she couldn’t help it as her heart sighed. Rainbow Dash was so beautiful like this, relaxed and calm. For a while Twilight was lost in the moment. She wasn’t thinking about the day before, she wasn’t worrying about her royal duties, she wasn’t even concerned with how the day was going to end.

Twilight was completely lost in the moment. She had completely forgotten about everything, even about her plans to confess to Rainbow. At this moment, nothing in the world mattered to her. Nothing else even existed in the world besides Rainbow Dash. These moments, this time now with Rainbow Dash, was absolute bliss. And even as Rainbow was looking back at Twilight, as time felt as if it wasn’t moving at all, Twilight was… Wait. Rainbow Dash was looking kind of funny.

Twilight could suddenly hear Rainbow Dash’s voice calling her name.

“Twilight? Hellooo. Is anyone home? Are you awake?”

Twilight almost jumped out of her skin when she was finally snapped back into her conscious state of mind. Rainbow was standing now, looking at Twilight with a confused face. Twilight hadn’t realized that Rainbow had looked over at her and saw the strange face Twilight was giving her.

“Um, are you ok?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight took a second to find her voice while all of her conscious memories returned to her. Including the memory of why she was here with Dash.

“Oh, uh, yeah I’m fine, I was just… thinking.” Twilight said as she rubbed her right temple with her right hoof.

“Ok, cool. I kinda didn’t want to leave you here like that. But now that you’re awake I guess everything’s fine.” Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings and her hooves left the ground. “So, see ya around.”

“Yeah, see ya…” Twilight said while still recovering from her trance.

But then she was suddenly aware of what she said, and that Rainbow Dash was flying away.

“WAIT!” Twilight shouted out to Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash stopped herself in midair. She turned around to look at Twilight. Her voice sounded panicked, and when she turned around and looked at her, Twilight looked like she was terrified. Rainbow got a little worried and flew back down to Twilight.

Rainbow Dash came back close to Twilight but only stopped to hover above the ground. She was looking at her friend with concern. Twilight then notice just how scared and panicked her shout was. But now wasn’t the time to be worried about keeping her cool.

Twilight thought for a moment, before she said, “Rainbow Dash… I need to talk with you.”

She sounded almost like she was sad. Rainbow decided that, whatever was happening, it must be serious. Rainbow landed and folded up her wings. She looked at Twilight while still feeling worried. Rainbow Dash took a few steps toward Twilight, but stopped only part way up the hill that Twilight was still standing on.

Twilight looked down at Rainbow and then her eyes went down to the ground. She thought about what she was going to say. But no matter what she came up with, nothing seemed like it would be easy to say. So she would just have to say what she had to say.

After a deep breath, Twilight raised her head and looked directly at the pony standing near the bottom of the hill.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight began and trailed off. She shook her head lightly and looked back at Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash, we’ve known each other for a long time. When we met, I was a different pony. I was somewhat resentful that Princess Celestia had sent me to this town. I didn’t want to make friends, I just wanted to keep to my books and my studies. I never thought that I would ever make any friends, and I never thought that I would come to care about friends.” Twilight wasn’t looking directly at Rainbow Dash. Instead, she seemed to be looking into nothing. She was remembering her past.

“But then I met Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, and Rarity, and Fluttershy… and I met you, Rainbow Dash…” Twilight had returned her gaze to Rainbow.

“All of us have done so much together. We have laughed, and had fun, and we have all learned together. We fought together and we even fought with each other.” Twilight smiled as she recalled all of the memories that she had that matched with what she was saying, as she was saying it.

“Ponies came into our lives. New friends, and new love. You were able to become a filly’s older sister in a way, and I became a mother to a little lost filly, myself.” Twilight’s words were making the both of them recall fond memories.

“And I became an Alicorn Princess. My life changed again and again and again… all because of the friends I made here, all because of you…” Twilight was staying strong, but the emotion in her words was getting to her. It was getting to Rainbow Dash as well.

Rainbow had been listening calmly and patiently. She wondered what was bothering Twilight, and she wondered why Twilight was saying all of this to her. To Rainbow, this was all starting to sound like Twilight was saying her final goodbyes before leaving forever.

That last thought stuck in Rainbow’s mind and stabbed at her heart. Please, oh please don’t let that be the case! She would be devastated if this truly was a last goodbye! Rainbow’s eyes were starting to tear up, and she started to walk forward. Maybe in an attempt to keep Twilight close, she got close to her dear friend. She was now standing face to face with Twilight, who had back up to give Rainbow Dash room up on the hill with her.

Twilight hadn’t stopped her confession, even as Dash walked up to her and now stood so close to her. Twilight hadn’t looked away from Rainbow’s eyes either. She could see the tears forming in Dash’s eyes. Seeing those eyes look so sad made Twilight’s eyes start to tear up as well.

“I love all of my friends and family so very fondly. You’re all so important to me, so before I continue, I want you to promise me something Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight stopped and waited for Rainbow’s response, though she didn’t wait long.

Almost immediately after those words left Twilight’s lips, Rainbow, sounding very worried, said “Yes! I-I’ll promise anything!”

Twilight almost choked when she heard Rainbow’s voice sounding so distraught. But she had to continue.

“Promise me that you’ll listen to what I have to say. And promise me that no matter what, we will always be friends.” Twilight said all of this with a heart wrenching fear.

“Y-Yes! I promise!” Rainbow Dash quietly shouted.

Twilight closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly to calm her nerves and her voice. Twilight was going to do this. Her future depended on her next words. There was no going back now. Twilight opened her eyes and looked directly into Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“Rainbow Dash, I have always loved you as a friend. You, and our other friends were always there for me. You always made me feel happy. You always gave me confidence. You would always help me when I needed help. You were all such good friends. But I started to realize that my feelings for you, Rainbow Dash, were different than my feelings for the rest of my friends. My feelings for you were special and unique.”

Twilight paused for another deep breath, and then she finally confessed her true feelings.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m in love with you!”

Everything seemed to become still. Everything was quiet.

Twilight was looking at Rainbow Dash with a serious expression. She looked into her eyes and waited. And waited…

Rainbow Dash was looking in Twilight’s direction, but she wasn’t looking at Twilight. She was just staring into space. Rainbow was shocked and completely motionless. Twilight’s words were echoing around in her head.

For what felt like a long time, Rainbow Dash just stood there, doing nothing. In her head she was going over everything that Twilight had just said. Rainbow was thinking about Twilight’s confession.

Twilight watched her friend carefully. She studied her face, and she looked deep into Rainbow’s wide eyes. After a little time had passed, Rainbow started moving. Her eyes had come back to focus on Twilight. She tilted her head ever so slightly to the right. But she remained quiet.

Twilight was beginning to worry. Rainbow was just staring at her now. She wasn’t saying anything, but she didn’t have to. Her actions spoke volumes to Twilight.

This was it. It was finally over, and as Rainbow stood there, Twilight knew. She knew what Rainbow Dash was feeling. She knew what Rainbow was going to say, and Twilight was devastated.

The painful seconds dragged by as Twilight came to terms with the inevitable. She had opened her heart up to Rainbow Dash, and she knew that she was going to be rejected. She could only wait now for Rainbow to say what she had to say. Though Twilight just wanted to fly home and crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep, she still waited. She stayed and waited mostly because Rainbow stayed and listed to what Twilight had to say.

Twilight waited for Rainbow Dash to speak, but she was quickly becoming impatient. ‘Why won’t she just speak already? Why is she just standing there? Just say it already! Just tell me that you don’t feel the same way and stop torturing me like this!’

Rainbow was silently considering her words. She thought about it, and she finally decided that she was ready to speak.

Rainbow noticed that Twilight had backed up a few steps, and had her head down. She couldn’t see Twilight’s eyes because of her bangs, but Dash could see her mouth.

Twilight was gritting her teeth. From that, Rainbow figured that Twilight was most likely angry. Uh-Oh. She had better not keep this waiting any longer.

After some careful thought, Rainbow Dash came up with what she thought were the best words to let Twilight know how she felt.

“Um, Twilight?” Rainbow’s words got Twilight’s attention.

“Twilight, Um, I have thought about what you said, and now, I want to say this to you.”

Twilight bit her bottom lip as she prepared for what Rainbow Dash was going to say.

“I care about you, Twilight. I care about all of my friends and family, like you do. We have had some pretty awesome times together. Yeah, we can get under each other’s skin some times, but those memories are still precious to me. They are precious to me because they are memories that I share with you. I know I can be a little thick headed sometimes, but I always mean well.”

Twilight was now holding her head level with Rainbow’s. She wasn’t expecting this. Rainbow’s rejection was pretty heart felt, and Twilight’s heart was lifted, because it was sounding like Rainbow Dash didn’t hate her. It sounded more like Rainbow still wanted to be-

“Earlier, you made me promise you something. You made me promise that we would still be friends, no matter what. So I want to tell you now that, yes, we will always be friends, no matter what.”

It’s finally over. Rainbow had turned her down, but she told her that they can always be friends. Twilight was feeling relieved at that at least. She was happy that her confession hadn’t ruined her friendship with Rainbow Dash, but there was still the fact that Rainbow had rejected her.

Tears began to fill Twilight’s eyes. No matter how happy she was that Rainbow Dash was still her friend, the pain of being rejected was still too much. Twilight smiled at Rainbow, but kept her bangs over her eyes. She then quickly turned hear head away so that Rainbow Dash couldn’t possibly see Twilight’s tears.

Rainbow Dash chose one of the worst times to pause.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, for listening to me and for understanding. I’m so happy that this didn’t ruin our friendship.” Twilight said as she looked away from Rainbow Dash. “I’m happy to still have that at least…”

Rainbow Dash smiled at Twilight’s words at first, but then she realized that Twilight might have misunderstood something. Rainbow thought about her own words, and saw that where she had paused might be confusing Twilight. Darn it. That was a stupid move.

Twilight was facing away from Rainbow Dash, so that she could hide her tears from Rainbow. She was thinking about what she should do now when a hoof came around and touched her cheek. It was the cheek that was facing away from Rainbow Dash. The sudden touch caused a tiny gasp to escape her lips. The sky blue hoof then started to pull very gently.

Rainbow Dash was gently turning Twilight’s head to face her again. After Twilight was looking back at her, Rainbow smiled at her somewhat apologetically. Even though Twilight was facing her again, Rainbow kept her hoof on Twilight’s cheek. Twilight looked a little confused.

“I, um… I think I might have messed up.” Rainbow started.

“I want us to keep being friends, Twilight. I want to keep making new memories with you. I don’t want that to change, but, I want something else now too.”
Rainbow moved her hoof from Twilight’s face, down to her neck. She continued to smile at Twilight as warmly as she could. Rainbow took in a deep breath as she prepared for what she was about to say.

“Twilight you are so special to me. I want to be with you Twilight. Not just as a friend.”

Then, as Rainbow Dash said her next few words, Twilights heart skipped a beat.

“Twilight, I’m in love with you, too. I want to be your very special somepony, and I want you to be mine.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to be dumb struck.

Twilight just stood there, completely shocked by what Rainbow Dash had just said. Twilight was absolutely sure that Rainbow was turning her down. But now, Dash was telling her that she did love her. Rainbow Dash just said that she was in love with Twilight and that she wanted to be with her.

Rainbow looked on as Twilight stood there, completely unmoving. Rainbow waited there for a few moments, but as Twilight just stood there, she started to wonder what might be wrong.

“Uh, Twilight? Are you o-OOOFF!”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t finish her question in time. Twilight had tackled her, and they both went down to the ground. Lucky for them, there was just enough ground behind Rainbow so that they didn’t go rolling down the hill and, lucky for Rainbow Dash, the ground wasn’t too hard.

Twilight had snapped out of her surprised daze as Rainbow Dash spoke. She had gotten so excited, that she just couldn’t help herself. Twilight lunged at Rainbow Dash, tackling her to the ground. Twilight was beyond reasonable thought and just acted purely on emotion. All she wanted to do now was hug and hold Rainbow Dash close.
After the landing, Twilight was lying on top of Rainbow Dash. She was smiling and snuggling, and nuzzling her cheek to Rainbow’s, and Twilight was crying. But now hear tears were ones of pure joy. She was just so ecstatic that her dreams all seemed to be coming true.

As Twilight lie on top of Rainbow, nuzzling her and crying, Twilight was also making sounds that sounded like a funny mixture of laughing and sobbing. The whole situation that Rainbow now found herself in made her feel joyous. As she listened to Twilight’s happy, sobbing… whatever noises she was making, and watching Twilight snuggle attack her face through her one open eye, Rainbow Dash just couldn’t help but smile.

Rainbow wrapped her fore legs around Twilight’s neck and hugged her close. Rainbow started to laugh along with Twilight and was snuggling her back. This was a very happy day for the two ponies on top of the hill.

After she had finished crying and nuzzling Rainbow Dash, Twilight lifted her head and looked down into Rainbow’s magenta eyes, and was overcome with happiness and a desire. Twilight softly chuckled in her throat once and she started to make her move.

Rainbow Dash looked up into Twilight’s purple eyes, and felt relaxed and blissful. She was also filled with a special desire as she looked up at her dear love. She could see in Twilight’s eyes the same thing she felt in her own heart. She noticed Twilight start moving closer to her, and she started making her own move.

Twilight was moving in on her target. She was so lost in the moment that the whole world seemed to just melt away. All that mattered now, all that existed now, was Rainbow Dash. Twilight slowly moved closer and closer, and as she did, she slowly closed her eyes.

Twilight’s face was centimeters away from Rainbow’s. Rainbow watched through half closed eyes as Twilight inched closer and closed her eyes. Twilight was so close now, her eyes closed, and her lips slightly puckered. Rainbow prepared herself for what she thought was going to be a very beautiful moment.

Twilight was so close to Rainbow’s face that she could feel her air. Twilight was so happy, but she was also very nervous. It may have been a spur of the moment, but she subconsciously wanted it to be perfect. Twilight now stopped, and waited.

Rainbow was waiting for contact, but she noticed that Twilight had stopped advancing. Rainbow waited for only a moment, and made the final move.

The sun was still visible on the horizon. Its beams of soft orange light still illuminated the hill in the park. It still lit the sides of the faces of the two mares on top of the hill. On the other side, the shadows it created on the ponies silhouetted them against the colorful sky. The silhouette on top facing down was still. Then the silhouette on the bottom facing up closed the space between the two. They became one shape, connected at the lips.

Rainbow closed the distance between herself and Twilight. She closed her eyes, and their lips made contact. Rainbow Dash felt electricity shoot through her entire body. Twilight felt the connection of their lips and also felt the electricity.

It was the most passionate moment of either of their lives. They lost touch with the entire world. The only sensations that reminded them that they even had bodies was the tingly sensation that coursed through their blood, and the softness and warmth of their bodies pressed together.

They held their kiss for what felt like an eternity. It was an eternal moment that neither wanted to end. As their lips touched, each one could feel the strength of every emotion the other was pouring into the incredible kiss. So much passion and love flowed through them that they became mesmerized with each other. Nothing in the universe could ever spoil this amazing moment.

While the kiss felt like eternity to the two lovers, in reality, it lasted for about thirty seconds or so. The two may have never wanted the moment to end, but the kiss was eventually ended.

Rainbow Dash reluctantly pulled away, and lay her head back down on the ground. She slowly opened her heavy eyes and looked up at Twilight Sparkle. She smiled and almost let slip a giggle when she saw that Twilight still seemed to be lost in the moment. Her eyes were closed and her lips were still puckered slightly. Twilight’s blissful expression looked kinda funny to Rainbow Dash.

Twilight barely felt her and Rainbow’s lips separate, but she soon became aware that the kiss was indeed over. She relaxed her mouth and looked down lovingly at Rainbow. She had just experienced one of the most amazing moments of her life with the only pony she has ever loved in a romantic way.

They smiled at each other for a few second longer. Then Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she was suddenly interrupted…

“YEEE-HAAWWW!!!!”

“YYYAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!! WOOOOHOOO!!!”

The shouts of excitement came shooting out from two ponies who were hugging each other as they jumped up and down with excitement. The other two ponies where watching as their friends leaped up and down and shouted with glee.

After more jumping and shouting, Rarity, in a proper and lady like way, cleared her throat loudly so as to get her friend’s attention, and to make them realize what they were doing.

Applejack and Fluttershy suddenly realized that they had just blown their cover by losing control and screaming their excitement to the whole park. They stopped mid-air and first looked down at Rarity, then to each other. They blushed when they became aware of how they were behaving. Then gravity took hold of them and quickly brought them back down to the ground.

Rarity rolled her eyes with a smile and Pinkie Pie giggled out loud. They climbed out of the river bank and helped their friends back to their hooves. Applejack smiled coyly while she adjusted her hat. Fluttershy blushed and smiled and shyly kicked at the ground with her right hoof. The four then looked over to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, and started walking toward them.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had been watching the scene from their spot atop the hill. After their friends returned their attention to the two mares, Twilight realized that she was still lying on top of Rainbow Dash. She was suddenly embarrassed by the situation and quickly jumped up to her hooves. Twilight then offered her hoof to Rainbow in order to help the Pegasus up.

After everypony had gathered on top of the hill, Twilight was looking at the four ponies who had been watching her and Rainbow Dash with a mix of embarrassment and sternness.

“W-W-What are you ponies all doing here?” Twilight managed to ask.

“Oh, uh, well uh, we were… uh…” Applejack stuttered out. “We were just watchin you two ta make sure everything went well, ya know.”

Twilight glanced over at Rainbow Dash, feeling a little nervous. She started wondering how Rainbow felt about this. Would she be upset? Twilight then looked back at her other friends, two of whom were not supposed to know about any of this yet.

The look twilight was giving them eventually made Pinkie Pie speak up.

“You don’t have to worry about Applejack’s and Fluttershy’s Pinkie Promise, cause they kept the secret the whooole time.”

“What? Then why are you and Rarity here?” Twilight puzzled.

“Well darling, during our date, I had noticed that Applejack, Fluttershy, and you yourself, were acting rather strangely. What, with all of the questions about romance and special relationships with other ponies. It all got me thinking about what the three of you could possibly be hiding. Then, after Applejack and Fluttershy led Pinkie Pie and myself away, and soon made excuses as to why they suddenly had to go back to the park, Pinkie Pie and I decided to follow them, to see just what it was they were up to.” Rarity explained to Twilight.

“Yeah, and I figured out that you three were up to something when Applejack kept asking questions about very special someponies, and when Fluttershy talked about it and Rainbow Dash talked about it and Rarity talked about it, but Twilight didn’t talk, I figured that Twilight must have needed help with her romance troubles. Then, when Fluttershy and Applejack and Twilight kept looking at Rainbow Dash every time they talked about very special someponies, I figured out that Twilight must like Rainbow Dash. So then I guessed that Applejack and Fluttershy and Twilight must be planning on helping Twilight to woo Rainbow Dash. So then I decided that I should help out too by trying to make Rainbow Dash realize just how happy she would be if she would accept Twilight’s romantic feelings and make each other their very special someponies by saying all that stuff I said about how happy I would be if I found my very special somepony, and make each other a special part of our lives together.” Pinkie Pie finished her last sentence with a deep and loud intake of breath, as she had to squeeze every ounce air she had in her lungs out in order to say everything that she wanted to say.

“I hope you’re not too mad at us. And if you are, I hope you don’t get too mad at Rarity and Pinkie Pie, because they only followed us. No one here really meant to intrude on your privacy, but we understand that we were spying and, well, were sorry.” Fluttershy apologized.

Twilight thought for a moment, then said in response to Fluttershy’s apology, “No, I’m not mad at any of you. It’s ok.” She finished with a friendly smile.

Twilight was slightly annoyed that her friends had been spying on her moment with Rainbow Dash, but it wasn’t anything worth mentioning, and she definitely wasn’t angry. But now Twilight was worried about Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t said anything yet about how she felt, knowing that her friends had watched her confess her feelings to Twilight. Who knows how she’ll react to knowing that her friends saw her kiss another pony. But what happened next surprised Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was quietly listening to her friends’ explanations as to why they had been spying. After all of their explanations and apologies, Twilight told them all that she wasn’t upset with them, and Rainbow nodded in agreement. She wasn’t angry, mostly because she knew that she would have totally spied on any one of them like they had been doing, but also for another reason.

As Twilight stood their worrying about Rainbow Dash, she was surprised when she felt a wing wrap around her back. Twilight looked to her left to see Rainbow Dash smiling at her. Rainbow’s expression was one that Twilight knew well. It was Rainbow’s ‘It’s All Cool’ look. Twilight relaxed now that she knew how Rainbow Dash felt about all of this. Then Rainbow looked at their friends. Twilight chuckled at the face she gave the other ponies. It was a proud expression that seemed to say ‘look at what I got.’

All the ponies laughed when they saw Rainbow’s mischievous pride at having Twilight Sparkle as her marefriend. After their laugh, Twilight snuggles her head against Rainbow’s. The others watch the touching scene with happy, congratulating smiles, and Rarity gave one of her excited ‘OOooOOoo’s’.

The sun had finally set just after Twilight’s and Rainbow Dash’s kiss, and it was now getting noticeably darker. The six friends decided that it was time to get indoors. A ‘romantic night out’ between Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle would have to wait for another day. But just before they all started to head out, Pinkie Pie gasped so hard that she floated into the air.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Does everyone know what this means?!”

Everyone turned to look at Pinkie Pie. Before anyone had time to guess, Pinkie shouted, “We need to celebrate today as Twilight’s and Rainbow’s ‘Day-We-Confessed-Our-True-Feelings-and-Became-Each-Other’s-Very-Special-Somepony’ day!”

“I think they call it an ‘Anniversary,’ Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash explained.

Everyone looked at each other, knowing just how they would be spending the rest of the evening.

~

Later at Twilight’s castle, lights were spilling out of the windows and, if you were close enough, you would hear the thumping of the music’s base. The song didn’t have any lyrics, but the music was recognizable as the song from Shinning Armor’s and Princess Cadence’s wedding. Inside, seven ponies, a dragon, and an owl, were all dancing and laughing and having a grand time together. They were celebrating the ‘first anniversary’ of Twilight Sparkle’s and Rainbow Dash’s confessions of love.

Pinkie Pie, with help from her friends, had gotten a party set up. Rainbow Dash was flying around near the roof of the entrance hall, ‘dancing in the air’ as it were. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were talking and laughing far enough away from the music so that they wouldn’t have to shout to here each other. Twilight was watching as Rainbow danced in the air, clapping her hooves together and cheering Dash on.

Spike, Nyx and Owlowiscious were gathered around Pinkie Pie while she explained in precise detail, everything that she had witnessed. The story of the kiss made Owlowiscious smile to himself. Spike smiled too, but also stuck out his tongue like he was gaging on something gross. Nyx ‘aaawwwwed’ when she heard the story and laughed and giggled with excitement.

The three small ones had wanted to hide and watch the events of the evening unfold, but had decided against it. They chose to stay at the castle after they returned from the dinner picnic. They didn’t want to get caught and possibly ruin Twilight’s chances of winning Rainbow’s heart.

Everyone looked at Rainbow Dash and Twilight when Rainbow flew down and landed next to Twilight. They smiled at each other before Twilight started dancing her signature dance. Rainbow Dash laughed and joined her. Everyone gathered around to join in the dancing.

A little while later, Pinkie Pie was munching on some cookies that she had brought over from Sugarcube Corner. She had brought many sweet treats, along with her party cannon. It was what had made this party come together so quickly.

Twilight and Rainbow approached Pinkie after they both decided to take a break from the “dance floor.” Pinkie looked up from her cookies with crumbs all over her lips and very full cheeks. Rainbow Dash laughed and said to Pinkie,

“Hey Pinkie, Twilight and I just wanted to thank you for this awesome party. We’re having a blast!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m the one who should be thanking you two. Not only were you ok with accepting a party that we didn’t have much time to set up, but you also inadvertently gave Ponyville something new to celebrate during this slower part of the year.” Pinkie Pie explained after swallowing her mouth full of cookies. “But we have to have another party tomorrow, so we can celebrate with the whooole town!”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and smiled.

“Of course Pinkie. We’re both looking forward to it.” Twilight said.

“Awesome!” Pinkie shouted, looking like she had just hit the happiness jackpot.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash hoof bumped and laughed together. Then they both dashed back towards the party group. Rainbow stopped and looked back at Twilight, who was still standing next to the table that held the party treats. Twilight was going to grab a cookie, when she looked out the nearby window and saw Canterlot silhouetted by the light of the moon. Twilight thought about her parents, and then about Princess Celestia. As she thought, Twilight got an idea.

“Hey Twi, ya comin?” Rainbow asked back to her marefriend.

Twilight looked back at Rainbow Dash. She grabbed a cookie with her magic and turned toward Rainbow Dash. She trotted toward Rainbow and stopped beside her. She nuzzled her nose against Rainbow’s nose and said to her,

“Yeah. I’ll be back in a minute Dashie. I have to go take care of something really quick.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. She then caught site of Nyx waving in their direction. Rainbow flew over to Nyx and started talking to her.

Twilight smiled at the site of her marefriend and her daughter talking and laughing together. She watched the two briefly before heading off to her study. When Twilight got to her writing desk, she pulled out a scroll and quill from their respective storage places. Twilight dipped her quill in some ink and put it to the parchment. But she only sat there staring at the blank parchment. She wanted to write a letter to her old mentor and fellow princess, if not as a letter to be sent, then at least just for nostalgia’s sake.

Twilight sat at the writing desk going through her thoughts and drawing blanks. It had been a while since she had last written to the princess. What should she write about, what could she write about. As Twilight thought, her eyes wandered around the room. She noticed a book on a body cushion next to the big window that looked out over Ponyville. Twilight remembered that she had been reading that book two days before her recent research into love and romance.

Twilight thought about the book and what she had gotten from it. There wasn’t really anything about it that had stuck. It wasn’t even a very interesting read, but as Twilight thought about it, she remembered a bit of philosophy that had been in the story somewhere. It was just a few words that seemed to have a powerful voice.

Those words were “Nothing Lasts Forever.”

Twilight didn’t know why she thought about that at this time, but she had. She contemplated those three words in her head. She wondered about the meaning for a minute, but it only made her feel sad. Then Twilight heard the sound of her friends having fun down stairs. She thought about all of her friends. She thought about Rarity and Applejack and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. She thought about Rainbow Dash.

Then Twilight thought about Spike and Nyx and Owlowiscious. She thought about her brother and her sister-in-law. She thought about her parents and she thought about Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

Twilight thought about everyone that she cared about, and she thought about how much she loved them all. They were all so special to her in one way or another, and she was so happy that she had all of this love in her heart. Then she thought about those three words again, and smiled.

Twilight looked back to the blank letter. She put the quill back to the paper and began writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today is a very special day for me, and it is a day that I will forever hold dear to my heart. For you see, today is the day that I was finally able to find the courage to confess my feelings of love to the pony who I am in love with. This pony is none other than one of my very best friends, Rainbow Dash.

At first I was terrified of what would become of my relationships with everypony I know if my secret feelings ever became public knowledge. But, thanks to a few of my friends and members of my family, I was able to overcome those fears. They comforted me in my time of need and they helped me to realize just what kind of friends I truly have. I confessed to Rainbow Dash this evening, and I am very happy to report that Rainbow Dash and I are now sharing our lives together as marefriends.

As I was deciding what to put in this letter, I remembered a bit of philosophy that I had recently come across.

“Nothing Lasts Forever.”

I know these words are rather ominous, however, they bring up a point that I feel is important.

As I thought about my friends and family, and as I recalled this saying, I came to understand something a little better.

This theory is just not true. It is true that ponies don’t live forever. Time does move on and many things are taken away as the clock continues to tick. Be that as it may, there are some things that I believe can last forever, Friendship and Love.

Though I know that I am no longer your student like I was when I first came to Ponyville, I still wish to write you this letter like I had done before. Well, here I go!

Today I learned that true friends, and true family, will always love you, no matter what secrets you may carry in your heart. They will always support you through your toughest times, and they will always be there to comfort you when you are feeling down.

The love of those close to your heart, can keep you going through life, even when life doesn’t seem so easy. I know that I will always be able to turn to those who love me, and I want to always be there for them in their times of need.

This is what I learned today.

Always your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. please tell Princess Luna that I said hello, and give her a warm hug as well.

Just as Twilight was finishing up, the door to the study opened, and Spike and Rainbow Dash came in.

“Hey Twilight. You’ve been up here for so long, we thought that you might have fallen asleep or something.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically as she and Spike walked up to her.

“Oh no. I was just writing this letter.” Twilight said as she rolled up the scroll and refastened the little red strap with the gold colored seal to hold it all in place.

“Who’s it for?” Rainbow asked, poking her head around Twilight, hoping to see whatever it might have written on it.

“Well, it’s addressed to Princess Celestia.” Twilight said to Rainbow.

“I thought you didn’t have to write those letters anymore?” Rainbow inquired.

“I don’t, but I felt like writing a letter to her anyway. I was thinking about when I first came to Ponyville, and of the times we all shared together. It made me feel nostalgic.”

Twilight said while she stood up from her spot at the desk.

“Do you want me to send it?” Spike asked Twilight.

Twilight looked over at a clock that was in the room. She wondered if the princess would still be awake at this hour. But while Twilight was considering saying no, she remembered the sunset from earlier. It was rather strange that the sun had taken so long to set. At the time, she didn’t even notice, but now she wondered. Twilight thought about Spike’s proposal, and said,

“You know, I think I would like that, Spike. Thank you.”

Spike nodded and picked up the letter in his claw. He took a deep breath, and exhaled green fire that burned the scroll and turned it into a stream of smoke that floated around the room until Twilight used her magic to open the study’s big window. The smoke then shot through the window and flew off towards Canterlot.

Twilight smiled and nodded. She closed the window and then turned around to face her friends. She walked over to them and hugged Spike. Then she got close to Rainbow Dash and she kissed her on the lips. They smiled at each other and turned to walk out the door and rejoin the party. Spike closed the door behind them and the room was now dark and quiet again.

~

Celestia was lying on a large cushion in front of a fireplace. She had been lying there for a couple of hours, just watching the fire. Her expression was almost blank as she went over the day’s events in her head. It was a rather average day, and now she lie here, watching the fire dance in the fireplace.

A knock at the door drew her out of her deep thoughts. She turned her head to the door and softly said, “Please, come in.” Celestia smiled, because she knew who was at the door. She had had a guard to go and find Luna and bring her here to this room.

Princess Luna entered the room with her usual expression and regal mannerisms. She gazed across the room and met her sister’s eyes. Luna started walking across the room toward Celestia and said,

“You summoned me? Is there something that you need, dear sister?”

Luna now stood at the edge of the large cushion that Celestia was lying on. As she looked her sister over, she decided that the issue must not be an urgent or dangerous one based on Celestia’s expression and body language. So she wondered what her sister could need her for.

“I don’t need anything Luna, I just wished for you to join me. I would like to spend some time with you, my dear sister, if you would care to join me.” Celestia explained as she motioned to the empty spot on the cushion.

Luna looked at her sister blankly for a moment before nodding her head and stepping onto the cushion. After she had settled down next to her sister, Celestia unfurled her right wing and gentle placed it over Luna. Luna relaxed and smiled, just as she always had whenever she would lie next to her sister, and Celestia wound embrace Luna with her wing.

The two sisters watched the fire dance lazily around in the fireplace for a few minutes. Luna always enjoyed the time she had to spend with her sister. While they lie there in silence, watching the fire burn, a memory and a thought popped to the front of her mind. As she recalled, Celestia had been intentionally delaying the sunset.

“Sister, might I ask you a question?” Luna asked, looking up to Celestia’s face.

Celestia only moved her eye to look at Luna. She smiled at her sister and nodded.

Not looking away, Luna asked her question

“Today I noticed that the sunset was delayed slightly. May I ask why you did that and what your reasons for that where?”

Just as Luna finished her question, a trail of smoke came down from above. It gathered and swirled in front of them before a scroll materialized from the smoke. Celestia’s horn lit up and she caught the scroll with her magic before it could fall to the ground.

Celestia looked over to her sister, who was watching the scroll with her serious expression, and said with a pleased, sing song tone,

“I think that this letter might contain your answer.”

Luna looked at her sister and then back at the scroll as it was magically unrolled in the air.

Celestia smiled, and began reading the letter from Twilight Sparkle out loud.

“Dear Princess Celestia…”

Author's Note

'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is owned by Hasbro.

Nyx is a character from the story, "Past Sins" by Pen Stroke.

This is my first story ever. I got the inspiration from watching the first episode of MLP: FiM when Twilight was making that cute surprised face when Rainbow impressed her with her speed. I jokingly thought to myself 'Heh... Twilight is fan girling over Rainbow Dash.'

This is only for fun. I don't seriously ship characters of any franchise.

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I would like to know if i could "earn my cutie mark" in writing. 20 years is a long time to have a "blank flank." Thanks.