An Autumn Romance

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out! I tried to make this chapter longer, and I won't be doing again soon (it's wayyyy too frustrating). The feedback has been great, be sure to keep it coming! Every bit helps! Thanks, and enjoy!

Chapter 5: Past Hopes and Current Pain

Celestia's sun broke through the early morning clouds, causing Rainbow to awaken suddenly. The pegasus rolled over, trying to shield her eyes from the light. Not ready to get up yet, she kicked a hole in her roof and dropped down onto her bed for another couple hours of rest.

• ~ -

Over in the library, Twilight was just waking up as well. It had been nice to go out with her friends, and the concert after dinner had made the night even better! DJ Pon3 was way more awesome in pony than on her albums. Humming to herself, she headed down to start breakfast. Spike was sleeping in, and she didn't want to wake him. After putting on a pot of coffee, she took a seat in the mane room.

The tree seemed to glow at this hour, with the newly risen sun shining into the library. The purple unicorn scanned the many shelves, before selecting one of her favorite stories and floating it over to herself. It was a book she had first read as a foal, when she would stay up late reading page after page of the engrossing chapters. A simple story, and one that she could read now in a matter of hours. The tale of a pony, alone for so long. He traveled far away from his homeland to one day stumble across his soul-mare. The life he made for himself and his partner, along everything they experienced, seemed so real.

After flipping through the pages, Twilight was about to put the book back when a note fluttered out. She couldn't think of what it could be as she levitated it up to her muzzle. On the paper was a simple, more crude version of Twilight's own writing. She read it over, smiling as she went.

Dear Future Twilight Sparkle,

I know I will be reading this one day, or at least I hope I will be. (Will I always love this book as much as I do now?) I pray to Celestia that my life is going well, and I am happy with what I am doing. I just wanted to make sure I remember to accomplish a few things. Here's the list:

Stop studying so much
MAKE SOME FRIENDS (This one is the most important)
Learn to relax (Goes along with the first one)
Have an adventure
Travel someplace away from Canterlot (May go with the adventure)
Learn to love

What I have learned in this book may not be much, but I know that these are all things I will value eventually (if not already). I do really love my books, so I hope this one has stayed near and dear to my heart. Hopefully my life turns out like the story does, or at least I can be happy even if it hasn't! Good luck, future me!

-Sincerely and lovingly,

Past Twilight Sparkle

Twilight looked up from the note, her eyes glistening with tears. She had almost forgotten what she had wanted to do as a foal, her goals and dreams almost left unanswered. Blinking away the water, she read the note once more. Almost everything on the list had been accomplished already, except for the last one.

The unicorn paused, stuck in deep thought. She enjoyed being with Dash, and always was happy to be around her. With Dash, she felt like a better pony. Was that love? She wasn't sure. Only time would tell. She replaced the note in the pages, levitated over a new piece of parchment with a quill, and began to write a new note.

Dear Future Twilight Sparkle,

Another note from me! It has been years since I wrote the last one in this book, and I wanted to make sure life has been going well. At this point, I have accomplished almost, if not all, of the goals from before. The only one I question is love. Am I in love with Rainbow Dash? I haven't really had much experience with it. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I hope that I am, but all will be revealed in time! I have a few new goals to add to the list from before:

learn more about love
tell all of my friends about my feelings (See, I did make friends!)
continue my studies on the magic of friendship
learn more about myself

Not as stellar or as long of a list as before, but some small things I wish to work on. I know that these won't be hard, and I need to just keep looking forward for what my life will bring. Good luck with the what the future brings!

-Sincerely and lovingly,

Past Twilight Sparkle

She sighed as she put the note into the book, thinking back on how her life had been. All of her adventures had brought her so close to her friends, more close to some than others, and she couldn't have been happier. Soon, she was pulled out of her daydreaming by a couple knocks on the front door.

• ~ -

Twilight opened the door to the familiar pegasus in front of her. “Wow, I've never seen you knock before. Aren't you usually crashing through a window?” She smiled as Dash hung her head slightly.

“Well, I decided to change it up today. What are you up to?” Raising her head back up, Rainbow still looked slightly sleepy. “I don't have work today, and I was hoping we could do something together.”

Twilight thought for a moment, before responding. “I have a few things to do around town, but I was planning on heading over to Sweet Apple Acres to see Applejack. Wanna come along?”

A scared look passed over Dash's face. “B-b-but won't she see us, well, together?”

Twilight was taken aback. She knew that Dash was nervous about telling their friends all at once, but separately!? Did she not want to admit to anyone that she was, in fact, interested in mares? “Rainbow, what's wrong? Do you want to talk about this?”

Dash slowly walked in and sat in the middle of the room. She looked up at Twilight with her big red eyes, before starting to speak. “I care about you, Twilight. I really do. I, uh, I just don't know how others will look at me. I feel that they won't want to support a fillyfooler.”

The words from the pegasus stung Twilight. How could she say such things? She regained her composure quickly, allowing her to express her own personal feelings. “Dash, do you remember how Pinkie reacted to 'us'? She was OVERJOYED! Sure, some ponies won't look up to you, but does that really matter?”

“Twilight, this is my reputation on the line! You know I care what others think of me!” Rainbow stood up, anger creeping into her voice.

“You really shouldn't!”, the unicorn exclaimed. She was furious that the only pony she cared for would rather please her her 'fans' than her own marefriend. “What do you feel is more important, myself or the reputation you have? You need to decide what you really care about!”

Dash sighed, and looked back to Twilight. She looked angry, but behind her eyes the pegasus could see the sadness they both shared right now. “Honestly, I just don't know...” With that, she got up and trotted out the door.

Twilight was star-struck. What had just happened? Had the one pony she may have loved left her over what others might think of her? She stood there for a moment, before running upstairs. Tears filled her eyes as she slammed the door to her bedroom, waking up Spike.

“Tw-Twilight?”, Spike said sleepily. He heard faint sobbing, and figured it best to leave her alone for a while.

• ~ -

The cold air stung Rainbow, as tears formed in her eyes. She walked towards town, before bumping into a familiar cream-colored earth pony. “Sorry...”, she apologized without looking.

Bon Bon turned to see the pegasus slowly walking away. Noticing something was wrong, she ran up to stop her old friend. “Oh Dash, what happened?! You look like you had a horrible night!”

“More like a horrible day...”, Rainbow muttered before attempting to set out again.

Bon Bon placed her hoof down in front of her, stopping the pegasus in her tracks. “Does it have to do with Twilight?”. She pushed Dash's head up, looking at a pair of eyes on the verge of crying.

She couldn't hold back any longer. “It's all my fault!” Dash began to sob, falling back onto her rump. “I want to be with Twilight, but I can't stand the fact that everypony won't look up to me! She said that I need to choose between her or everypony else!”

Looking down, the candy pony shook her head. “She's right.” Dash stopped crying, gazing upwards from where she sat. Bon Bon continued, “There are ponies that look at Lyra and I and give us dirty looks. We just got used to it and ignore them for the most part. The best advice I can give you is to do what you think is right. Think about what's best for both you and Twilight”

Dash got up quickly, looking surprisingly angry. She was glaring at Bon Bon, looking as if she had been insulted. “I can't give up all that I have worked hard to get for one filly! You think that Lyra and yourself can even compare to what I have now?! Ponies IODLIZE ME! I can't let them, or myself down!” With that, she rose up and took flight. Flying as quick as she could, she headed for home.

“Smooth”, Bon Bon said to herself. “I'd better go check on Twilight.” Looking into the sky, she saw the sun had just passed overhead, beginning it's decent to the west. “I hope Lyra won't be cross that I'm home late.”

• ~ -

Back at the library, everything looked normal from the outside. Bon Bon walked up to the door, and knocked quickly. It opened to reveal Spike, looking quite worried.

“Sorry Bon Bon, but now isn't a good time. Twilight isn't too happy, and I don't think she wants to see anypony.”

“That's what I'm here about. I know what's wrong and I think I can help.” She could hear the faint sound of crying from the room upstairs.

Spike looked at her in disbelief, but opened the door to let her inside. He had spent all of his time awake trying to help Twilight, but she wouldn't even let him into her room. “Go ahead and try, but I wasn't even able to get in there! She is just inconsolable.”

Bon Bon walked up the stairs and tapped a hoof softly on the door at the top. “Twilight, it's me. Bon Bon. Let me help.”

She crying started to stop, and after a few moments the door opened to reveal a sniffling unicorn. She looked like a mess, and like she could really use someone to talk to. She looked out of her room with sadness, as if nothing could be right with the world. Once she noticed her guest, she managed a pitiful smile. “Hay Bon Bon. Come on in.”

She turned to go back into her dark room with the earth pony just behind her. Spike stood with a look of shock. How had she gotten let in!?

• ~ -

The room was a mess. It looked as if Twilight had been searching through every book she owned for an answer to her problems. All of the blinds were closed, leaving the room almost completely black. Bon Bon stepped over a pile of what looked like clothes, and sat down on Twilight's bed. The unicorn flopped down next to her, still sniffling.

She looked up with fresh tears welling up in her eyes. “I take it you heard what happened...”

“I ran into Dash on the way over.” Bon Bon went to continue, but was quickly cut off.

“She doesn't really care about me! I asked HER to go out because I was curious, but her feelings were my mane motivation! She was the one looking at me for ages!”, Twilight buried her head into a pillow. “Now she thinks every other pony is more important!”

Bon Bon sat there with the crying unicorn, rubbing her back. Once the tears were beginning to waver, she pulled Twilight up from the bed and gave her a long hug. “Dash and I were friends as fillies, and I know that she cares about me. Nothing like how she cares about you, but she always has put her reputation before others. I know this is hard, but it is how she's always has been. You need to be strong, and try to get her to see how you feel. She won't abandon you.”

Twilight leaned back and looked into Bon Bon's eyes. The sincerity she saw was clear as she wiped the tears form her own. “Why can't she just be happy that we're together? That's all that I care about.”

“I know, but Dash is so different from everypony. You need to take charge. Have you tried telling anypony other than myself?” Bon Bon hoofed Twilight a tissue to dry her eyes.

“No, but Pinkie put two and two together and found out...” Her violet eyes lit up a bit upon mentioning the pink pony. “She didn't seem to mind the fact Pinkie knew! Maybe I just need to help our friends discover it for themselves!”

Bon Bon smiled. If anypony could figure Dash out, it would have been Twilight. “Do whatever you think will work. Just remember that Lyra and I will be there to help if you need anything.”

The purple unicorn stood up. She seemed proud and confident in what she had figured out. “Thanks for all of the help, Bon Bon. You really are a great friend. Now, though, I need to go talk to Applejack. I think I know how to get Dash to change her mind!”

“Good luck!”, the candy pony called as Twilight galloped out of the room. She stood up, and slowly walked out after her. Spike was still standing there, slack jawed. “It's OK Spike, I helped her work everything out.”

Spike turned and slowly walked away. Bon Bon could see he really cared for Twilight, and hoped he could figure out was going on. It wasn't up to her to inform the small reptile on the comings and goings of other ponies.

She walked out of the tree, and breathed deep. The sun was starting to dip low in the sky, as Bon Bon sighed. “Lyra will be wondering where I was. Oh well, I know she'll understand.”