All's Fair in Love and Twilightby Short StoriesChaptersI Challenge You......To a Competition...For Twilight's Affection!I Challenge You...A week after Rainbow's flu had gone away, the two had agreed to tell everypony that they had found their special somepony. Rainbow had told all of their friends and everypony in Ponyville in less than five minutes; it was Twilight's job to tell the ponies they knew outside of their little town, but between the responsibilities she held and trying to solve a problem every Saturday, she could never find the time to do so. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow asked her one Wednesday evening during dinner. "You seem to be distracted a lot lately...do you want me to tell your Canterlot friends?" "I'm positive I'm okay." A very distressed Twilight replied. Her wings had some feathers that were matted down and others that were sticking up at weird angles. Her mane and tail were a mess, her pupils were dilated, and she had a slight twitch in her left eye. "Why do you think I'm not okay? Do I look okay to you? I'm fine, why do you ask?" Rainbow stared at her as if she had just escaped an insane asylum, because, in truth, that's what she looked like. "Twilight, I need to get you home." Rainbow said at last, "or at least to the spa. You look insane and you just asked me if I think you look okay three different ways." Twilight's ear twitched as she processed what Rainbow had said. "I do?" She asked, her ear twitching again. Rainbow moved aside she she could see her reflection in the restaurant's window. "Oh..." She mumbled, realizing her girlfriend was right. "Yeah..." "Can I please take you home now?" Rainbow huffed, moving back to where she was. "You look--" "Insane, I know." Twilight sighed, lowering her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I should have taken better care of myself this week." She ignited her horn, her aura surrounding her whole body. After a bright flash, she looked magnificent; her mane was done up in a braid with tiny flowers in it and she had her gala dress on, plus she didn't look insane anymore. "It's just this stupid princess stress; I feel like I barely have anytime for myself or you or anypony anymore!" She laid her head down on the table, just now noticing the appetizers that the waiter had put down a few moments ago. "At least nopony has come to bug you during our meal." Rainbow offered, "that's good, isn't it?" "I suppose so.." Twilight moaned. "This is the only time I've had for personal stuff in a while, though." "Are you saying your not enjoying the date?" Rainbow asked as she reeled back in her chair, clearly offended. "No, no, no, I'm loving this date; trust me," Twilight grinned, "it's just...I can't explain it, okay? I guess I just..I don't know. Forget I said anything. Let's just eat..." Rainbow gave her a skeptical look, feeling bad for her beloved soulmate. "Okay..." She said warily, picking up a hay fry and munching on it slowly, never taking her eyes off of her love. "Twilight!" Pinkie cried, skidding to a halt in front of their table. "Twilight! Come here! Quickly! An Ursa Major is tearing up the town!" Twilight looked up from where her head laid and, sure enough, saw an Ursa Major in the distance. She couldn't help herself; the alicorn let loose an ear-splitting scream of frustration. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie mistook it as a scream of horror. "That's how the town feels, too!" She said, taking Twilight's hoof; she somehow had an iron grasp on it, for Twilight tried to yank it away but it wouldn't budge. "Follow me! You took care of a minor, you can definitely take care of a major!" Twilight barley had time to ask Rainbow for a rain check for the rest of the date before Pinkie zoomed away with her. "Poor, sweet filly..." Rainbow mumbled, "she's been through so much stress lately." An idea struck the prism-maned girl like one of her famous Sonic Rainbooms. "I should do something for her!" Out of pure excitement, her wings began to flap and she began to hover in the air over her seat, her voice rising witch each word she said. "I'll do something for her tomorrow, at the crack of dawn! She'll love it; I just know it!" Around her, mares and colts alike all clapped their hooves together, no knowing if Rainbow wanted the attention or not. Rainbow floated back down to her seat, a light blush covering her muzzle. Had she really been that loud? What if Twilight heard her? She didn't want the surprise to be ruined for the best special somepony a mare could ask for, after all! Twilight woke the next morning to the sound of a urgent yet patient knock on the castle door. She looked outside and saw Luna was still holding up the moon. Who could be at the door at this hour? she thought, groggily getting out of bed and heading for her door. As soon as she opened the door, one of her Canterlot friends stepped inside, sopping wet. She shook herself dry in the manner of a dog then faced Twilight at last. "Hey, Twilight!" She beamed, "Sorry I dropped by so unexpectedly...and so early. I figured it would be daytime here by the time I arrived." Twilight smiled, trotting to the main lounge room, motioning for her friend to follow. "It's perfectly fine," she said, stifling a yawn. "I was just getting up, anyways." Her friend gave her a look, not buying her excuse. "What brings you to my castle?" Twilight asked, choosing to ignore the look and change the subject. "I just wanted to update you on how my Friendship findings are coming along, is all." She let out a quick breath, as if she had been holding it, before continuing. "I....uh...wanted to ask you something..." She mumbled, clearly uncomfortable. Twilight turned around from gazing at a portrait of all of her friends that hung high above the fireplace mantle. "Yeah? What's that?" The friend stayed silent, shifting her hooves every now and then, not meeting Twilight's eyes. "Moondancer, what is it?" Twilight asked after a good five minutes of awkward silence passed. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" "Of course I know that!" Moondancer mumbled, still not meeting Twilight's eyes. "I was wondering if...uh..." She paused, more uncomfortable than ever before. At last, she asked: "Were you really just waking up?" Twilight scrunched her muzzle, confused as to why that simple question could cause so much discomfort. "No..." She responded, "why do you ask...?" "Oh, it's...nothing. I was just--nothing. It's nothing. Forget I said anything." Moondancer seemed twice as more uncomfortable than she did before, if that was even possible. "I guess I was curious if you had an extra bedroom I could sleep in for a couple hours, too..." She bit her lip, seeming more nervous than uncomfortable now. "I--I mean...I...uh...yeah, nevermind." Twilight let herself chuckle a little at how nervous her friend was acting. "Of course you can sleep in an extra room!" She said with her trade-mark smile. "What makes you think I'd say no? We're friends after all, aren't we?" Moondancer's expression was one of pure shock, but Twilight couldn't figure out why. "Uh...yeah..." Moondancer said after a moment. "Friends...just friends..." A few hours later, after Twilight and Moondancer had finished off their usual 10 hours of sleep and were eating breakfast, there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" Twilight called, since she was already in a conversation with Moondancer about the different spells one could use on a daily basis. Rainbow Dash flew into the kitchen, nearly making Moondancer's bowl of Hayio's splash onto her face. She scowled at the cyan pegasus, but Rainbow didn't seem to notice. "What's up, Twi?" She asked, sitting in a chair next to the alicorn. "You enjoying your breakfast?" "And my chat with Moondancer." Twilight added with a smile, gesturing towards the other unicorn. "What brings you here so early? You usually sleep till noon on Thursdays, right? Or is that just everyday?" Rainbow laughed knowing how true that statement was. "Nah, it's just on Thursdays," she said, playing along. It's on all the other days, I sleep in till four." Twilight nodded as if that made complete sense. "That's why you weren't here at 8 am yesterday..." Neither of them noticed a certain unicorn that was at that table as well, who had her eyes closed and was puffing out her cheeks like a puffer fish until she finally burst. "I LOVE YOU, TWILIGHT! I ALWAYS HAVE!" She yelled, not caring if one of Twi's friends heard as well. She opened her eyes to see the two ponies stunned expressions across their faces. "W-will you be my special somepony, p-p-please?" She finished, feeling her face heat up and fill with a deep crimson color. Silence. Moondancer began to sweat, wondering if Twi had the same feelings for her. She began to feel ten times as more uncomfortable as she did last night. She wanted to teleport away, but wasn't sure how, so, instead, she lowered her head on the table and covered it with her hooves. She heard some whispering, then a sharp inhale followed by a gentle sigh. "Moondancer...?" Twilight said at last. Moondancer slowly looked up from the table, her face still beet red. "I'm flattered...really, I am... it's just... "Your not interested?" Moondancer guessed, "It's OK, Twilight...I understand." Twilight shook her head, placing her hoof on top of her friend's. "It's not that. Trust me, I would totally say yes, it's just that--" "I'm not your type?" "Just listen to me." Twilight stared into Moondancer's eyes until the unicorn perked up her ears and stared right back. "I can't be your special somepony because, well..." Rainbow slammed her fore-hooves on the table, clearly livid at Moondancer--wasn't it clear that the two were a couple?! "Because I already am!" She snapped, causing Twilight and Moondancer to flinch and fold their ears back, Moondancer wishing she hadn't had them up in the first place. Twilight switched her attention from Moondancer's to Dashie, giving her marefriend a stern yet gentle look. "I got this, Rainbow," she said, "Please don't be rude to my friend." She jolted back, as if she had just realized what she had emphasized and turned back to the still-stunned unicorn. "No offense..." she added meekly. "Twilight, I am sorry to say this," Rainbow huffed, "but your just way to gentle." "I--" "Just let me handle this one issue. Please. Then, you can go back and take care of all the other problems from here on out." Twilight bit her lip, knowing that, even though Rainbow didn't mean it, she was a little rude and off-putting at times, specially when it came to defending her love. She sighed, also knowing full well that there was no point in arguing with the pegasus when she got like this. "Be gentle." Twilight mumbled, giving Rainbow all she needed to (gently) chew Moondancer out. But...what if Twilight really did have feelings for this unicorn? They've been friends for a lot longer than she and Dashie had been; and she did say 'I would totally say yes...' Rainbow suddenly felt threatened. What if Twilight dumped her for this...this...unicorn?! She used to be one, so maybe she's more attracted to her type! "Moondancer?" Rainbow asked haughtily, rising a few inches in the air so she could be looking down on the pony. Moondancer nodded meekly; she must be feeling awful. Good, Rainbow thought evilly. "I challenge you..." "Oh, no..." Twilight mumbled, seeing where this was going. "To a contest..." "Rainbow, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Twilight warned. It was to late. The words were already out of her mouth before she could stop them. "For Twilight's affection!" She finished. There was silence from Moondancer's corner. After a lengthy period of time, Moondancer simply nodded. "I accept." ...To a Competition...Rainbow's face was one of pure shock, Twilight mimicking her marefriend. "You...you what?" Rainbow asked, not sure if she heard Moondancer clearly. "You...you accept?" She had trouble picking her jaw up off the floor. Moondancer stared at the two blankly, wondering if she did something wrong. "I accept," she repeated, looking from Rainbow to Twilight then back again. "Is that bad?" "No, no no, no, no." Rainbow started, Twilight saying 'yes' at the exact same time. The couple looked at each other, Twilight giving Rainbow a look. Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes while Twilight shook her head. After a couple more seconds of the silent conversation going on, Twilight sighed in defeat and let Rainbow talk. "It's not bad," Rainbow continued, "it's just...different. Usually, ponies back away if I challenge them or...something..." "This has happened before?" Moondancer asked, wondering how many ponies have fallen in love with Twily, only to be shut down by her brutish-like marefriend. "Interesting..." she mumbled under her breath. She'd have to make a note of that for later and see if others have brutish partners just like Rainbow Dash. "Multiple times." Twilight deadpanned. Rainbow offered an innocent shrug, as if to say 'sorry I'm not sorry.' "I'd really rather--" Rainbow flew in front of Twilight, cutting her off. She landed on the table, one hoof inches away from Twi's breakfast. "How'd you like to do this?" Rainbow asked, trying to not show any sign of excitement. "What should the deadline be?" Twilight scowled despite her effort to stay positive and tried to move to the side to see Moondancer. "Don't you think you two--" "If by 'How should we do this', you mean 'what should the rules be,'" Moondancer said as she conjured up a pad of paper and a pencil, "I'm not sure...the only serious one I can think of is no attempted...." she cleared her throat, her head fur turning a light pink. "You know." Rainbow, who had gotten off the slab while Moondancer was talking and was currently sitting in a chair slammed both forehooves on the counter. "I'd never do that!" She exclaimed; "what type of pony do you take me for?!" Moondancer glanced toward the kitchen door, wondering if she'd be able to escape with some dignity and leave all this absurd awkwardness behind her. She knew, however, that wasn't possible without creating an awkwarder situation then she felt it was already. Plus, she didn't come to Ponyville just to leave like a coward with her tail between her legs all because of an over-protective marefriend; she was going to try her best and win this whole thing. Maybe Twilight would appreciate her more afterward, and would finally agree to be hers! "I don't think she meant it like that." Twilight whispered. "You girls really--" "Right. Sorry; I lost my head there for a second." Rainbow mumbled sheepishly; Moondancer looked back at her, getting out of her trance. "I was thinking the deadline could be at the end of the week?" The nervous unicorn nodded, albeit uncertainly. "As long as Twi's okay with that." "I'm sure she is." Rainbow said, not letting Twilight speak. Twilight scowled at Rainbow, decided she couldn't take anymore of the stupid conversation if they were hardly going to let her get a word in edgewise, and teleported up to her room. "May the best mare win!" Rainbow cheered, giving Moondancer a quick hoof shake. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my marefriend is upset and I'm going to talk to her. Rainbow dashed upstairs, leaving a rainbow-colored trail behind her. Moondancer watched her leave before getting out of the chair and cleaning up the breakfast mess. She couldn't help but wonder what she got herself into. Twilight appeared on her bed, not expecting anypony to come up to see if she was okay, judging by the way they had treated her. That, and she didn't think anypony saw her leave. "Twi?" Rainbow asked gently from the doorway, surprising the young alicorn. "You okay? You didn't seem that happy when--" "Because you hardly let me talk!" Twilight yelled. She jumped off her bed and began pacing back and forth. "You never asked me for my opinion on the matter, or even if I wanted this ridiculous thing in the first place! And when I tried to say something about it, you or Moondancer kept cutting me off!" Rainbow sheepishly ran her hoof over her luxurious mane. "Yeah, sor--" "Mainly you." Twilight added. "I thought we agreed to talk about it if anypony were to agree. But you just kept running your mouth on and on and on. You know there's a limit to your superiority, right? This relationship isn't one-sided, Rainbow. But I'm kind of starting to feel like it is." She turned her back to Rainbow, facing an open window. Rainbow recoiled at Twilight's words, knowing she was missing the obvious. "Oh, I'm sure you are." Rainbow said, "The Princess of Friendship, who hardly has enough time for her girl and let's one of her old friends stay the night, who--by the way--has a crush on you, gets mad because her actual marefriend, who feels like the "Princess" is losing interest in her, challenges another for your liking. Yet you go and blame it all on me. Definitely not one sided." She scoffed, "not one sided at all." Twilight said nothing. Instead, she shook her head slowly, spread her wings, and flew out the window. Rainbow face-hoofed herself for being so inconsiderate and spread her wings as well, ready to apologize to the sensitive Twilight. "Smooth." Moondancer's voice mocked from behind Rainbow. She whirled around to see Moondancer in the open doorway, slowly clapping her hooves. "Real smooth." Rainbow groaned, irritated that Moondancer had followed her. She should have closed the door as soon as Twilight started blaming her. "It's not like you could have done any better." Rainbow scoffed, "your still learning about friendship. I doubt you even know what love is." Moondancer smirked, raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you do?" She asked. "Love is having a mutual feeling of trust between two or more individuals, while also feeling safe, protected, and having a deep affection towards one another." "Typical egghead." Rainbow mumbled, rolling her eyes, hiding her wonderment. "I bet you read that from a dictionary or something." "Yeah." Moondancer said calmly, walking towards Rainbow. "Or something." Rainbow groaned, hating how cocky Moondancer was acting. "Whatever." She mumbled, "I need to apologize to Twi now, maybe get her some daffodils, too. Just stay out of my way, okay egghead?" "You know, you should really stop telling me what your going to do." Moondancer advised, looking out the open window. "It'll just ruin your whole 'plan', if you even have one." Rainbow's ears started to turn red at the tips, a sure sign she was getting angry. "Besides, how do you know I haven't already done that?" "Huh?" Smirking, Moondancer cast a spell on herself, then blinked away. Rainbow gasped as she realized what the mare had meant. Quick as a whip, she flew out the window, after Twilight, worried she was already too late. "Daffodils, daffodils...where are the stinking daffodils?!" Moondancer mumbled, prancing in place like a crazy pony. She had been worried Rainbow would knock her upside the head for not being apathetic in the least, and was now scared that Rainbow would already be with Twilight, made up and everything, by the time she got there. Hearing a loud zoom overhead, her attention was directed upward to see a rainbow trail in the sky; one that hadn't been there before. She followed it by eye westward and saw a small speck in the distance, presumably Rainbow, flying at a faster speed then before. "Sweet Celestia..." she mumbled. Looking left then right frantically, she spotted a small patch of daisies by a fruit stand. She figured daisies were better than anything, so she plucked a couple with her magic, cast a water spell on them, so they wouldn't die as quickly, and put them inside her saddlebag. She instantly felt her saddlebag become wet the second the daises were placed inside. She groaned to herself, but didn't take them out. She had a feeling Twilight was on a cloud somewhere; it was just in her gut. She had cast a cloud-walking spell on herself before she left, for precaution. The only trouble was actually finding the alicorn. It was a pretty cloudy day and Moondancer was incapable of flying, obviously. She moved away from where she had been to get a better view of her surroundings. If only she could get a hot air balloon, it would help her tremendously. Hot air balloon, hot air balloon.... "Hot air balloon rides!" A stallion called from a block or two away. "Two bits per hour! I'll take ya anywhere ya need in my hot air balloon!" Moondancer nearly jumped up and down, she was so happy. She was also suspicious of how coincidental the whole thing was. She had just needed a hot air balloon, and this stallion had started announcing about his as soon as she finished her thought. She glanced over at the stallion again, saw a purple pony with a deep purple mane walking towards him. "Not on my watch..." Moondancer grumbled. Firing up her horn, she teleported in front of the mare and proceeded to growl at her. She didn't care if she looked insane, Twilight was the only thing that mattered right now. The mare stopped dead in her tracks, one hoof raised, more than a little frightened. She ran in the other direction, probably hoping the strange pony didn't come chasing after her, barking. Moondancer turned around to face the stallion, who was minorly shocked at what had happened. She levitated a bit out of her bag and dropped them on a little table he had next to him. She didn't even need a half an hour, for she was going to jump and land on the clouds once they got close enough. "I'm kind of in a hurry," she told him as she trotted aboard. "Could you hurry up, please?" The stallion looked at her with wary eyes. He put the bit in a container, tucked the container away under the table, and boarded the balloon, trying to stay as far away from her as possible in the small space they had. He untied the rope that kept the mechanism from floating away and started the fire in the center. It was all taking much too long for Moondancer's liking. She huffed, then cast a spell on the tiny flame to grow bigger. The stallion that was close to the flame was caught by surprise when it got a sudden 'growth spurt'. "Woah!" He cried, jumping backwards so his face wouldn't be well done. "That's quite the spell you got there." He added, chuckling slightly. "Thanks." Moondancer mumbled as she put both forehooves on the side of the basket. She looked down and saw they were already far above Ponyville. She looked up and saw that the bottom of the clouds were within a hoof's reach of her. She reached out and saw part of the cloud dissolved by her touch. The spell must have worn off. As soon as they were above the clouds, she cast the cloud walking spell on herself once more and jumped down. "What about your balloon ride?" The stallion called from over the edge. He almost had a heart attack, for he feared she was going to attempt suicide. Moondancer made the flame in the balloon die down, back to the small state it was at before. The balloon started to float down, giving her enough time to pay the stallion two bits. "Give that one mare a free ride," she told him, "Tell her I felt bad for scaring her off, so it's on me." The stallion smiled at her generosity before disappearing below the clouds. Moondancer watched the top of the balloon sink down for a second more, the turned around, looking for Twilight. She spotted a tiny purple dot just west of where she was. Quickly, she cast a long-lasting spell on her so the cloud walking one wouldn't wear off and galloped towards her love. "Oh, I'm sure you are." Rainbow said, "The Princess of Friendship, who hardly has enough time for her girl and let's one of her old friends stay the night, who--by the way--has a crush on you, gets mad because her actual marefriend, who feels like the "Princess" is losing interest in her, challenges another for your liking. Yet you go and blame it all on me. Definitely not one sided." She scoffed, "not one sided at all." Twilight fought to turn back at yell at Rainbow more, knowing it would cause a bigger mess. Instead, she slowly shook her head, spread her wings and flew out the window as fast as she could, tears flying from her eyes and absorbing in the clouds below. She found a small, puffy cloud at long last--right over Sweet Apple Acres. She had just put her head down to think about what had happen when Rainbow zoomed by, caught her eye, and back peddled to where she was. "I'm sorry, Twilight." She apologized quietly, "I shouldn't have been such a jerk. I should have asked your opinion on the whole thing instead of speaking for you and interrupting you. I should have..." "You should stop apologizing." Twilight informed her with a gentle tone. "I over reacted, Rainbow. I'm the one who can't schedule my time properly." Rainbow laughed, pulling another small cloud over so she wouldn't be using her wings the whole time. "Your kidding me, right?" she asked Twi, "The queen of checklists and scheduling stuff can't scheduling her own time?" "You get what I mean." Twilight sighed, "sometimes, I wish I was a basic unicorn again. Then I wouldn't be so stressed and maybe even enjoy this 'battle for my love' thing." She paused, thinking about what she had just said. "No. I still would hate it. You called it off, didn't you?" "Uh..." "Twilight!" Moondancer called from behind. Rainbow turned her head to see the rival a couple clouds away. Celestia darn it! Rainbow thought, I'm going to look bad in front of Twi again! No thanks to that rotten unicorn. Twilight was about to turn her head to, Rainbow stopping her in the nick of time. "Are you busy now, Twi?" Twilight shook her head. "No. Did you hear my name being called?" "That was me." Rainbow said quickly, ready to kick some clouds away. "I wanted to know if you'd like to continue that date?" "Twilight!" Moondancer called again, closer than before. Rainbow mouthed 'Twilight' a little late, hoping she would buy it. That Moondancer was really starting to get on her nerves. The princess tried to turn her head again, denied by Rainbow once more. "Are you sure?" She asked, "because it sounds a lot like Moondancer's voice...." She got off her cloud, which Rainbow quickly bucked away, and turned around to see if she could find her childhood friend. Rainbow quickly got in her view and, without thought, kissed her on the lips. The alicorn, who normally wouldn't mind that action, pushed Rainbow away, irritated that she wouldn't let her see what was going on. "Not right now, Rainbow," she mumbled, not wanting to hurt her darling once more. Moondancer landed on a nearly invisible cloud that was right next to Twilight. She smiled, used her magic to levitate the daisies out of her saddlebag. They were wet and slightly droopy, but she didn't seem to notice. "Twilight," she panted, "I got these....I got these for you." Twilight enveloped the daises in her magic, smiling back at the exhausted mare. "Why, thank you, Moondancer!" She exclaimed. She took a sniff of them, then teleported them into a vase back at her castle. When given a slightly hurt look, she told Moondancer they were back home, safe and sound. "Did you and Rainbow make up?" She asked. Moondancer looked at her with wide eyes, looking either shocked or trying to be endearing, Twi couldn't tell. "About that..." Moondancer chuckled sheepishly. She was shocked; definitely shocked. Before she could answer, Rainbow, who's ears were full-on red, bucked Moondancer's cloud out of existence. To Moondancer's and Twilight's horror, the unicorn started free-falling back town to Ponyville, with no idea how to stop herself. "Moondancer!" Twilight cried. "Leave her be." Rainbow said calmly, "I timed it so she'd fall in a tree. No harm, no foul." Twilight frowned at how ridiculously rude and strange Rainbow was acting. She didn't like this side of her and had a feeling why she was acting so mean. "Serious harm, serious foul, Rainbow!" She yelled, "You will come with me down to Sweet Apple Acres, you will apologize to Moondancer, and after that, I swear, Rainbow, after that, we are through!" For Twilight's Affection!Her word had been taken out fro under her. Literally. Rainbow had kicked the cloud she stood on just so she could have Twilight to herself. Moondancer couldn't think of anyone she ever knew who was more selfish and ruthless as that prism-maned, fast as lightning,sky-colored brat. Of course, brat wasn't enough of a word to describe Rainbow, but Moondancer didn't like to swear. She was seconds away from splatting like a bug on the hard grassy earth, her eyes clenched close, hoping it would somehow absorb the impact, but the impact never came. Slowly, she opened one eye, saw she wasn't dead, and opened the other. A magenta aura had cradled her, gently setting her on the earth's crust. Twilight landed in front of her seconds later, looking less than pleased. "Rainbow...." she called to the pegasus above. Moondancer looked up to see she was taking her sweet time to get down to where they were. Why, though? "Thanks for saving my life, Twilight." Moondancer offered. "You know, that's why I always did lo-" "Save it." Twilight snapped. It was obvious she was trying her best to contain herself, but failing hard. Moondancer instantly wondered what had happened. "Rainbow Dash!" She yelled, causing the pegasus to tense up then fly down at a more reasonable speed for her. Rainbow looked like she was on the verge of tears and her head was hung low. Moondancer wasn't sure if she should yell at the speed demon or ignore what she had done. Twilight nodded, as if confirming to herself Rainbow was there, and started to pace in front of the two, reminding her greatly of what had happened earlier today. "Rainbow...?" Twilight said, "you going to tell Moondancer what we talked about?" Rainbow shook her head slowly, still keeping it low. "I'm serious about what I said up there. Not apologizing is just going to make it harder." Rainbow gave some sort of strange strangled sigh before lifting her head a tiny bit, mumbling sorry, then dropping down to her knees and face-planting into the grass. Mondancer winced at the dramatic motions, starting to feel sorry for the pegasus. "Moondancer?" Twilight said in the same, calm tone she had been using, "I'm single now." The unicorn looked at her childhood friend with shock. "What?" She exclaimed. "Do you want to go on a date with me?" Twilight continued, unfazed by her reaction. Moondancer felt slightly torn, seeing how Rainbow seemed utterly devastated. Then again, Moondancer thought, she was pretty rude to me before and had literally tried to kill me not even ten minutes ago. "Yes." She finally said as calm as she could, trying to ignore the painful groan that sprouted from Rainbow and the immediate guilt that had blossomed inside of her. "I would love to." "I must say," Twilight smiled as the two enjoyed dinner inside the castle two weeks later, "Your much more kinder than Rainbow's ever been. She almost always talks with her mouth open and hardly lets me finish telling her about the newest spell I've mastered or book I've finished." She gave a laugh that sounded forced to Moondancer's ears, then shoved her mouth full of broccoli. She gave a forced laugh as well, still feeling guilty about Rainbow. She knew it was kind of stupid, yet over the past couple of weeks, she found herself drifting off and envisioning herself in Rainbow's hooves more and more; even if she didn't want to or feel like it, her sub conscious always found a way of making her thoughts go back to that day. Each time, her guilt grew, making her feel like a selfish brute--like Rainbow Dash--even though she knew it wasn't true. She took a deep breath, deciding now was as good a time as ever to tell Twilight what she had just been thinking about. "Twi...?" She asked quietly, just know noticing her marefriend was rambling on about something and she wasn't even paying attention. Twilight stopped talking, glad to not fill the awkward silence that seemed to always sneak it's way in whenever the two were together with her own voice. At least RD could carry a conversation. "Yes?" She replied. "Can we......" Moondancer paused, a bit uncomfortable about bringing a still slightly sore topic up. "Can we talk about Rainbow?" Twilight was stunned at her question, though she didn't exactly know why. Every now and then, she'd catch Moondancer staring into space and mumbling about what had happened. Though Twi occasionally commented Moondancer's behavior being the opposite of Rainbow's, she did miss the sweet yet bitter speed demon. "Of course," she declared, "why, though? I thought you hated her." "'Hate' is such a strong word..." Moondancer mumbled, folding her ears back. At the same time, she used her magic to send her already full dinner plate to the middle of the table, for she wasn't that hungry to begin with. "I guess I don't like her, but I don't hate her either, you know?" The princess blinked. In the back of her mind, she knew exactly what Moondancer was talking about, for she was having the exact same feelings as well. "I know," Twilight offered, "you feel guilty because she was so depressed when we saw her last?" Moondancer nodded guiltily, gently tapping her hooves together nervously. "You want to break up so Rainbow can be with me and be happy again?" Twilight guessed, Moondancer nodding again, this time trying to hide under the table. Twilight smiled and shook her head, loving this shy part of Moondancer the most; she was so used to Rainbow's outgoing behavior and opposite personality that it was nice to have somepony that was quiet and awkward and had the same personality as hers. She could live through the nine or ten awkward silences that came each day. Probably. "I know exactly how you feel, Moondancer," Twilight comforted, "but what Rainbow did was wrong and seriously illegal; she was an element bearer or else I would have had to call the girls and used a reforming rainbow on her." The unicorn's face switched from one of guilt to one of confusion. Twilight rolled her eyes, mainly to herself than Moondancer, as she continued. "It's normal to feel this way; everypony feels empathy for others when they're sad by nature, but you got to remember that Rainbow did an unholy deed and me breaking up with her was her punishment." Moondancer sighed, looked down at the table. Twilight got out of her chair to hug the regretful mare. "It'll pass in time." Twilight said quietly, "let's try not to dwell on it for now." Moondancer nodded slowly, levitated her dinner back to her. "I suppose..." she mumbled, "long as it isn't forever." Twilight wasn't sure if she meant the guilt or the relationship, but, knowing how determined the mare was, when for the former. "I promise you it won't." Rainbow laid on her bed, hugging Tank as hard as she could without hurting him, sniffling from her recent meltdown. Everywhere she looked reminded her of Twilight, from her floor, where Twi had spent many a night over to the vanity where Twilight had left her comb and Rainbow kept forgetting to return it,, and finally, to the dream journal the two shared that was lying on her nightstand. She felt tears come to her eyes once more, but they weren't tears of sadness. In a sudden fit of rage, Rainbow grabbed the journal and flung it hard at her vanity; the journal hit the comb just so, making it flip halfway across the room, only to land on the cloudy floor. Not even a second later, it fell through, falling miles downwards to the dirt road Rainbow was above. She fought the urge to catch it and save one of the precious memories of Twilight she had left. Instead, she watched it fall, saw it split into many little bits upon impact. Watching it break gave her a strange sense of self satisfaction. She looked around, wonder what else she had that remind her of Twilight she could destroy. A sudden thought of evil briefly flashed through her mind. What about the mare herself?
I Challenge You...A week after Rainbow's flu had gone away, the two had agreed to tell everypony that they had found their special somepony. Rainbow had told all of their friends and everypony in Ponyville in less than five minutes; it was Twilight's job to tell the ponies they knew outside of their little town, but between the responsibilities she held and trying to solve a problem every Saturday, she could never find the time to do so. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow asked her one Wednesday evening during dinner. "You seem to be distracted a lot lately...do you want me to tell your Canterlot friends?" "I'm positive I'm okay." A very distressed Twilight replied. Her wings had some feathers that were matted down and others that were sticking up at weird angles. Her mane and tail were a mess, her pupils were dilated, and she had a slight twitch in her left eye. "Why do you think I'm not okay? Do I look okay to you? I'm fine, why do you ask?" Rainbow stared at her as if she had just escaped an insane asylum, because, in truth, that's what she looked like. "Twilight, I need to get you home." Rainbow said at last, "or at least to the spa. You look insane and you just asked me if I think you look okay three different ways." Twilight's ear twitched as she processed what Rainbow had said. "I do?" She asked, her ear twitching again. Rainbow moved aside she she could see her reflection in the restaurant's window. "Oh..." She mumbled, realizing her girlfriend was right. "Yeah..." "Can I please take you home now?" Rainbow huffed, moving back to where she was. "You look--" "Insane, I know." Twilight sighed, lowering her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I should have taken better care of myself this week." She ignited her horn, her aura surrounding her whole body. After a bright flash, she looked magnificent; her mane was done up in a braid with tiny flowers in it and she had her gala dress on, plus she didn't look insane anymore. "It's just this stupid princess stress; I feel like I barely have anytime for myself or you or anypony anymore!" She laid her head down on the table, just now noticing the appetizers that the waiter had put down a few moments ago. "At least nopony has come to bug you during our meal." Rainbow offered, "that's good, isn't it?" "I suppose so.." Twilight moaned. "This is the only time I've had for personal stuff in a while, though." "Are you saying your not enjoying the date?" Rainbow asked as she reeled back in her chair, clearly offended. "No, no, no, I'm loving this date; trust me," Twilight grinned, "it's just...I can't explain it, okay? I guess I just..I don't know. Forget I said anything. Let's just eat..." Rainbow gave her a skeptical look, feeling bad for her beloved soulmate. "Okay..." She said warily, picking up a hay fry and munching on it slowly, never taking her eyes off of her love. "Twilight!" Pinkie cried, skidding to a halt in front of their table. "Twilight! Come here! Quickly! An Ursa Major is tearing up the town!" Twilight looked up from where her head laid and, sure enough, saw an Ursa Major in the distance. She couldn't help herself; the alicorn let loose an ear-splitting scream of frustration. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie mistook it as a scream of horror. "That's how the town feels, too!" She said, taking Twilight's hoof; she somehow had an iron grasp on it, for Twilight tried to yank it away but it wouldn't budge. "Follow me! You took care of a minor, you can definitely take care of a major!" Twilight barley had time to ask Rainbow for a rain check for the rest of the date before Pinkie zoomed away with her. "Poor, sweet filly..." Rainbow mumbled, "she's been through so much stress lately." An idea struck the prism-maned girl like one of her famous Sonic Rainbooms. "I should do something for her!" Out of pure excitement, her wings began to flap and she began to hover in the air over her seat, her voice rising witch each word she said. "I'll do something for her tomorrow, at the crack of dawn! She'll love it; I just know it!" Around her, mares and colts alike all clapped their hooves together, no knowing if Rainbow wanted the attention or not. Rainbow floated back down to her seat, a light blush covering her muzzle. Had she really been that loud? What if Twilight heard her? She didn't want the surprise to be ruined for the best special somepony a mare could ask for, after all! Twilight woke the next morning to the sound of a urgent yet patient knock on the castle door. She looked outside and saw Luna was still holding up the moon. Who could be at the door at this hour? she thought, groggily getting out of bed and heading for her door. As soon as she opened the door, one of her Canterlot friends stepped inside, sopping wet. She shook herself dry in the manner of a dog then faced Twilight at last. "Hey, Twilight!" She beamed, "Sorry I dropped by so unexpectedly...and so early. I figured it would be daytime here by the time I arrived." Twilight smiled, trotting to the main lounge room, motioning for her friend to follow. "It's perfectly fine," she said, stifling a yawn. "I was just getting up, anyways." Her friend gave her a look, not buying her excuse. "What brings you to my castle?" Twilight asked, choosing to ignore the look and change the subject. "I just wanted to update you on how my Friendship findings are coming along, is all." She let out a quick breath, as if she had been holding it, before continuing. "I....uh...wanted to ask you something..." She mumbled, clearly uncomfortable. Twilight turned around from gazing at a portrait of all of her friends that hung high above the fireplace mantle. "Yeah? What's that?" The friend stayed silent, shifting her hooves every now and then, not meeting Twilight's eyes. "Moondancer, what is it?" Twilight asked after a good five minutes of awkward silence passed. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" "Of course I know that!" Moondancer mumbled, still not meeting Twilight's eyes. "I was wondering if...uh..." She paused, more uncomfortable than ever before. At last, she asked: "Were you really just waking up?" Twilight scrunched her muzzle, confused as to why that simple question could cause so much discomfort. "No..." She responded, "why do you ask...?" "Oh, it's...nothing. I was just--nothing. It's nothing. Forget I said anything." Moondancer seemed twice as more uncomfortable than she did before, if that was even possible. "I guess I was curious if you had an extra bedroom I could sleep in for a couple hours, too..." She bit her lip, seeming more nervous than uncomfortable now. "I--I mean...I...uh...yeah, nevermind." Twilight let herself chuckle a little at how nervous her friend was acting. "Of course you can sleep in an extra room!" She said with her trade-mark smile. "What makes you think I'd say no? We're friends after all, aren't we?" Moondancer's expression was one of pure shock, but Twilight couldn't figure out why. "Uh...yeah..." Moondancer said after a moment. "Friends...just friends..." A few hours later, after Twilight and Moondancer had finished off their usual 10 hours of sleep and were eating breakfast, there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" Twilight called, since she was already in a conversation with Moondancer about the different spells one could use on a daily basis. Rainbow Dash flew into the kitchen, nearly making Moondancer's bowl of Hayio's splash onto her face. She scowled at the cyan pegasus, but Rainbow didn't seem to notice. "What's up, Twi?" She asked, sitting in a chair next to the alicorn. "You enjoying your breakfast?" "And my chat with Moondancer." Twilight added with a smile, gesturing towards the other unicorn. "What brings you here so early? You usually sleep till noon on Thursdays, right? Or is that just everyday?" Rainbow laughed knowing how true that statement was. "Nah, it's just on Thursdays," she said, playing along. It's on all the other days, I sleep in till four." Twilight nodded as if that made complete sense. "That's why you weren't here at 8 am yesterday..." Neither of them noticed a certain unicorn that was at that table as well, who had her eyes closed and was puffing out her cheeks like a puffer fish until she finally burst. "I LOVE YOU, TWILIGHT! I ALWAYS HAVE!" She yelled, not caring if one of Twi's friends heard as well. She opened her eyes to see the two ponies stunned expressions across their faces. "W-will you be my special somepony, p-p-please?" She finished, feeling her face heat up and fill with a deep crimson color. Silence. Moondancer began to sweat, wondering if Twi had the same feelings for her. She began to feel ten times as more uncomfortable as she did last night. She wanted to teleport away, but wasn't sure how, so, instead, she lowered her head on the table and covered it with her hooves. She heard some whispering, then a sharp inhale followed by a gentle sigh. "Moondancer...?" Twilight said at last. Moondancer slowly looked up from the table, her face still beet red. "I'm flattered...really, I am... it's just... "Your not interested?" Moondancer guessed, "It's OK, Twilight...I understand." Twilight shook her head, placing her hoof on top of her friend's. "It's not that. Trust me, I would totally say yes, it's just that--" "I'm not your type?" "Just listen to me." Twilight stared into Moondancer's eyes until the unicorn perked up her ears and stared right back. "I can't be your special somepony because, well..." Rainbow slammed her fore-hooves on the table, clearly livid at Moondancer--wasn't it clear that the two were a couple?! "Because I already am!" She snapped, causing Twilight and Moondancer to flinch and fold their ears back, Moondancer wishing she hadn't had them up in the first place. Twilight switched her attention from Moondancer's to Dashie, giving her marefriend a stern yet gentle look. "I got this, Rainbow," she said, "Please don't be rude to my friend." She jolted back, as if she had just realized what she had emphasized and turned back to the still-stunned unicorn. "No offense..." she added meekly. "Twilight, I am sorry to say this," Rainbow huffed, "but your just way to gentle." "I--" "Just let me handle this one issue. Please. Then, you can go back and take care of all the other problems from here on out." Twilight bit her lip, knowing that, even though Rainbow didn't mean it, she was a little rude and off-putting at times, specially when it came to defending her love. She sighed, also knowing full well that there was no point in arguing with the pegasus when she got like this. "Be gentle." Twilight mumbled, giving Rainbow all she needed to (gently) chew Moondancer out. But...what if Twilight really did have feelings for this unicorn? They've been friends for a lot longer than she and Dashie had been; and she did say 'I would totally say yes...' Rainbow suddenly felt threatened. What if Twilight dumped her for this...this...unicorn?! She used to be one, so maybe she's more attracted to her type! "Moondancer?" Rainbow asked haughtily, rising a few inches in the air so she could be looking down on the pony. Moondancer nodded meekly; she must be feeling awful. Good, Rainbow thought evilly. "I challenge you..." "Oh, no..." Twilight mumbled, seeing where this was going. "To a contest..." "Rainbow, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Twilight warned. It was to late. The words were already out of her mouth before she could stop them. "For Twilight's affection!" She finished. There was silence from Moondancer's corner. After a lengthy period of time, Moondancer simply nodded. "I accept."
...To a Competition...Rainbow's face was one of pure shock, Twilight mimicking her marefriend. "You...you what?" Rainbow asked, not sure if she heard Moondancer clearly. "You...you accept?" She had trouble picking her jaw up off the floor. Moondancer stared at the two blankly, wondering if she did something wrong. "I accept," she repeated, looking from Rainbow to Twilight then back again. "Is that bad?" "No, no no, no, no." Rainbow started, Twilight saying 'yes' at the exact same time. The couple looked at each other, Twilight giving Rainbow a look. Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes while Twilight shook her head. After a couple more seconds of the silent conversation going on, Twilight sighed in defeat and let Rainbow talk. "It's not bad," Rainbow continued, "it's just...different. Usually, ponies back away if I challenge them or...something..." "This has happened before?" Moondancer asked, wondering how many ponies have fallen in love with Twily, only to be shut down by her brutish-like marefriend. "Interesting..." she mumbled under her breath. She'd have to make a note of that for later and see if others have brutish partners just like Rainbow Dash. "Multiple times." Twilight deadpanned. Rainbow offered an innocent shrug, as if to say 'sorry I'm not sorry.' "I'd really rather--" Rainbow flew in front of Twilight, cutting her off. She landed on the table, one hoof inches away from Twi's breakfast. "How'd you like to do this?" Rainbow asked, trying to not show any sign of excitement. "What should the deadline be?" Twilight scowled despite her effort to stay positive and tried to move to the side to see Moondancer. "Don't you think you two--" "If by 'How should we do this', you mean 'what should the rules be,'" Moondancer said as she conjured up a pad of paper and a pencil, "I'm not sure...the only serious one I can think of is no attempted...." she cleared her throat, her head fur turning a light pink. "You know." Rainbow, who had gotten off the slab while Moondancer was talking and was currently sitting in a chair slammed both forehooves on the counter. "I'd never do that!" She exclaimed; "what type of pony do you take me for?!" Moondancer glanced toward the kitchen door, wondering if she'd be able to escape with some dignity and leave all this absurd awkwardness behind her. She knew, however, that wasn't possible without creating an awkwarder situation then she felt it was already. Plus, she didn't come to Ponyville just to leave like a coward with her tail between her legs all because of an over-protective marefriend; she was going to try her best and win this whole thing. Maybe Twilight would appreciate her more afterward, and would finally agree to be hers! "I don't think she meant it like that." Twilight whispered. "You girls really--" "Right. Sorry; I lost my head there for a second." Rainbow mumbled sheepishly; Moondancer looked back at her, getting out of her trance. "I was thinking the deadline could be at the end of the week?" The nervous unicorn nodded, albeit uncertainly. "As long as Twi's okay with that." "I'm sure she is." Rainbow said, not letting Twilight speak. Twilight scowled at Rainbow, decided she couldn't take anymore of the stupid conversation if they were hardly going to let her get a word in edgewise, and teleported up to her room. "May the best mare win!" Rainbow cheered, giving Moondancer a quick hoof shake. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my marefriend is upset and I'm going to talk to her. Rainbow dashed upstairs, leaving a rainbow-colored trail behind her. Moondancer watched her leave before getting out of the chair and cleaning up the breakfast mess. She couldn't help but wonder what she got herself into. Twilight appeared on her bed, not expecting anypony to come up to see if she was okay, judging by the way they had treated her. That, and she didn't think anypony saw her leave. "Twi?" Rainbow asked gently from the doorway, surprising the young alicorn. "You okay? You didn't seem that happy when--" "Because you hardly let me talk!" Twilight yelled. She jumped off her bed and began pacing back and forth. "You never asked me for my opinion on the matter, or even if I wanted this ridiculous thing in the first place! And when I tried to say something about it, you or Moondancer kept cutting me off!" Rainbow sheepishly ran her hoof over her luxurious mane. "Yeah, sor--" "Mainly you." Twilight added. "I thought we agreed to talk about it if anypony were to agree. But you just kept running your mouth on and on and on. You know there's a limit to your superiority, right? This relationship isn't one-sided, Rainbow. But I'm kind of starting to feel like it is." She turned her back to Rainbow, facing an open window. Rainbow recoiled at Twilight's words, knowing she was missing the obvious. "Oh, I'm sure you are." Rainbow said, "The Princess of Friendship, who hardly has enough time for her girl and let's one of her old friends stay the night, who--by the way--has a crush on you, gets mad because her actual marefriend, who feels like the "Princess" is losing interest in her, challenges another for your liking. Yet you go and blame it all on me. Definitely not one sided." She scoffed, "not one sided at all." Twilight said nothing. Instead, she shook her head slowly, spread her wings, and flew out the window. Rainbow face-hoofed herself for being so inconsiderate and spread her wings as well, ready to apologize to the sensitive Twilight. "Smooth." Moondancer's voice mocked from behind Rainbow. She whirled around to see Moondancer in the open doorway, slowly clapping her hooves. "Real smooth." Rainbow groaned, irritated that Moondancer had followed her. She should have closed the door as soon as Twilight started blaming her. "It's not like you could have done any better." Rainbow scoffed, "your still learning about friendship. I doubt you even know what love is." Moondancer smirked, raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you do?" She asked. "Love is having a mutual feeling of trust between two or more individuals, while also feeling safe, protected, and having a deep affection towards one another." "Typical egghead." Rainbow mumbled, rolling her eyes, hiding her wonderment. "I bet you read that from a dictionary or something." "Yeah." Moondancer said calmly, walking towards Rainbow. "Or something." Rainbow groaned, hating how cocky Moondancer was acting. "Whatever." She mumbled, "I need to apologize to Twi now, maybe get her some daffodils, too. Just stay out of my way, okay egghead?" "You know, you should really stop telling me what your going to do." Moondancer advised, looking out the open window. "It'll just ruin your whole 'plan', if you even have one." Rainbow's ears started to turn red at the tips, a sure sign she was getting angry. "Besides, how do you know I haven't already done that?" "Huh?" Smirking, Moondancer cast a spell on herself, then blinked away. Rainbow gasped as she realized what the mare had meant. Quick as a whip, she flew out the window, after Twilight, worried she was already too late. "Daffodils, daffodils...where are the stinking daffodils?!" Moondancer mumbled, prancing in place like a crazy pony. She had been worried Rainbow would knock her upside the head for not being apathetic in the least, and was now scared that Rainbow would already be with Twilight, made up and everything, by the time she got there. Hearing a loud zoom overhead, her attention was directed upward to see a rainbow trail in the sky; one that hadn't been there before. She followed it by eye westward and saw a small speck in the distance, presumably Rainbow, flying at a faster speed then before. "Sweet Celestia..." she mumbled. Looking left then right frantically, she spotted a small patch of daisies by a fruit stand. She figured daisies were better than anything, so she plucked a couple with her magic, cast a water spell on them, so they wouldn't die as quickly, and put them inside her saddlebag. She instantly felt her saddlebag become wet the second the daises were placed inside. She groaned to herself, but didn't take them out. She had a feeling Twilight was on a cloud somewhere; it was just in her gut. She had cast a cloud-walking spell on herself before she left, for precaution. The only trouble was actually finding the alicorn. It was a pretty cloudy day and Moondancer was incapable of flying, obviously. She moved away from where she had been to get a better view of her surroundings. If only she could get a hot air balloon, it would help her tremendously. Hot air balloon, hot air balloon.... "Hot air balloon rides!" A stallion called from a block or two away. "Two bits per hour! I'll take ya anywhere ya need in my hot air balloon!" Moondancer nearly jumped up and down, she was so happy. She was also suspicious of how coincidental the whole thing was. She had just needed a hot air balloon, and this stallion had started announcing about his as soon as she finished her thought. She glanced over at the stallion again, saw a purple pony with a deep purple mane walking towards him. "Not on my watch..." Moondancer grumbled. Firing up her horn, she teleported in front of the mare and proceeded to growl at her. She didn't care if she looked insane, Twilight was the only thing that mattered right now. The mare stopped dead in her tracks, one hoof raised, more than a little frightened. She ran in the other direction, probably hoping the strange pony didn't come chasing after her, barking. Moondancer turned around to face the stallion, who was minorly shocked at what had happened. She levitated a bit out of her bag and dropped them on a little table he had next to him. She didn't even need a half an hour, for she was going to jump and land on the clouds once they got close enough. "I'm kind of in a hurry," she told him as she trotted aboard. "Could you hurry up, please?" The stallion looked at her with wary eyes. He put the bit in a container, tucked the container away under the table, and boarded the balloon, trying to stay as far away from her as possible in the small space they had. He untied the rope that kept the mechanism from floating away and started the fire in the center. It was all taking much too long for Moondancer's liking. She huffed, then cast a spell on the tiny flame to grow bigger. The stallion that was close to the flame was caught by surprise when it got a sudden 'growth spurt'. "Woah!" He cried, jumping backwards so his face wouldn't be well done. "That's quite the spell you got there." He added, chuckling slightly. "Thanks." Moondancer mumbled as she put both forehooves on the side of the basket. She looked down and saw they were already far above Ponyville. She looked up and saw that the bottom of the clouds were within a hoof's reach of her. She reached out and saw part of the cloud dissolved by her touch. The spell must have worn off. As soon as they were above the clouds, she cast the cloud walking spell on herself once more and jumped down. "What about your balloon ride?" The stallion called from over the edge. He almost had a heart attack, for he feared she was going to attempt suicide. Moondancer made the flame in the balloon die down, back to the small state it was at before. The balloon started to float down, giving her enough time to pay the stallion two bits. "Give that one mare a free ride," she told him, "Tell her I felt bad for scaring her off, so it's on me." The stallion smiled at her generosity before disappearing below the clouds. Moondancer watched the top of the balloon sink down for a second more, the turned around, looking for Twilight. She spotted a tiny purple dot just west of where she was. Quickly, she cast a long-lasting spell on her so the cloud walking one wouldn't wear off and galloped towards her love. "Oh, I'm sure you are." Rainbow said, "The Princess of Friendship, who hardly has enough time for her girl and let's one of her old friends stay the night, who--by the way--has a crush on you, gets mad because her actual marefriend, who feels like the "Princess" is losing interest in her, challenges another for your liking. Yet you go and blame it all on me. Definitely not one sided." She scoffed, "not one sided at all." Twilight fought to turn back at yell at Rainbow more, knowing it would cause a bigger mess. Instead, she slowly shook her head, spread her wings and flew out the window as fast as she could, tears flying from her eyes and absorbing in the clouds below. She found a small, puffy cloud at long last--right over Sweet Apple Acres. She had just put her head down to think about what had happen when Rainbow zoomed by, caught her eye, and back peddled to where she was. "I'm sorry, Twilight." She apologized quietly, "I shouldn't have been such a jerk. I should have asked your opinion on the whole thing instead of speaking for you and interrupting you. I should have..." "You should stop apologizing." Twilight informed her with a gentle tone. "I over reacted, Rainbow. I'm the one who can't schedule my time properly." Rainbow laughed, pulling another small cloud over so she wouldn't be using her wings the whole time. "Your kidding me, right?" she asked Twi, "The queen of checklists and scheduling stuff can't scheduling her own time?" "You get what I mean." Twilight sighed, "sometimes, I wish I was a basic unicorn again. Then I wouldn't be so stressed and maybe even enjoy this 'battle for my love' thing." She paused, thinking about what she had just said. "No. I still would hate it. You called it off, didn't you?" "Uh..." "Twilight!" Moondancer called from behind. Rainbow turned her head to see the rival a couple clouds away. Celestia darn it! Rainbow thought, I'm going to look bad in front of Twi again! No thanks to that rotten unicorn. Twilight was about to turn her head to, Rainbow stopping her in the nick of time. "Are you busy now, Twi?" Twilight shook her head. "No. Did you hear my name being called?" "That was me." Rainbow said quickly, ready to kick some clouds away. "I wanted to know if you'd like to continue that date?" "Twilight!" Moondancer called again, closer than before. Rainbow mouthed 'Twilight' a little late, hoping she would buy it. That Moondancer was really starting to get on her nerves. The princess tried to turn her head again, denied by Rainbow once more. "Are you sure?" She asked, "because it sounds a lot like Moondancer's voice...." She got off her cloud, which Rainbow quickly bucked away, and turned around to see if she could find her childhood friend. Rainbow quickly got in her view and, without thought, kissed her on the lips. The alicorn, who normally wouldn't mind that action, pushed Rainbow away, irritated that she wouldn't let her see what was going on. "Not right now, Rainbow," she mumbled, not wanting to hurt her darling once more. Moondancer landed on a nearly invisible cloud that was right next to Twilight. She smiled, used her magic to levitate the daisies out of her saddlebag. They were wet and slightly droopy, but she didn't seem to notice. "Twilight," she panted, "I got these....I got these for you." Twilight enveloped the daises in her magic, smiling back at the exhausted mare. "Why, thank you, Moondancer!" She exclaimed. She took a sniff of them, then teleported them into a vase back at her castle. When given a slightly hurt look, she told Moondancer they were back home, safe and sound. "Did you and Rainbow make up?" She asked. Moondancer looked at her with wide eyes, looking either shocked or trying to be endearing, Twi couldn't tell. "About that..." Moondancer chuckled sheepishly. She was shocked; definitely shocked. Before she could answer, Rainbow, who's ears were full-on red, bucked Moondancer's cloud out of existence. To Moondancer's and Twilight's horror, the unicorn started free-falling back town to Ponyville, with no idea how to stop herself. "Moondancer!" Twilight cried. "Leave her be." Rainbow said calmly, "I timed it so she'd fall in a tree. No harm, no foul." Twilight frowned at how ridiculously rude and strange Rainbow was acting. She didn't like this side of her and had a feeling why she was acting so mean. "Serious harm, serious foul, Rainbow!" She yelled, "You will come with me down to Sweet Apple Acres, you will apologize to Moondancer, and after that, I swear, Rainbow, after that, we are through!"
For Twilight's Affection!Her word had been taken out fro under her. Literally. Rainbow had kicked the cloud she stood on just so she could have Twilight to herself. Moondancer couldn't think of anyone she ever knew who was more selfish and ruthless as that prism-maned, fast as lightning,sky-colored brat. Of course, brat wasn't enough of a word to describe Rainbow, but Moondancer didn't like to swear. She was seconds away from splatting like a bug on the hard grassy earth, her eyes clenched close, hoping it would somehow absorb the impact, but the impact never came. Slowly, she opened one eye, saw she wasn't dead, and opened the other. A magenta aura had cradled her, gently setting her on the earth's crust. Twilight landed in front of her seconds later, looking less than pleased. "Rainbow...." she called to the pegasus above. Moondancer looked up to see she was taking her sweet time to get down to where they were. Why, though? "Thanks for saving my life, Twilight." Moondancer offered. "You know, that's why I always did lo-" "Save it." Twilight snapped. It was obvious she was trying her best to contain herself, but failing hard. Moondancer instantly wondered what had happened. "Rainbow Dash!" She yelled, causing the pegasus to tense up then fly down at a more reasonable speed for her. Rainbow looked like she was on the verge of tears and her head was hung low. Moondancer wasn't sure if she should yell at the speed demon or ignore what she had done. Twilight nodded, as if confirming to herself Rainbow was there, and started to pace in front of the two, reminding her greatly of what had happened earlier today. "Rainbow...?" Twilight said, "you going to tell Moondancer what we talked about?" Rainbow shook her head slowly, still keeping it low. "I'm serious about what I said up there. Not apologizing is just going to make it harder." Rainbow gave some sort of strange strangled sigh before lifting her head a tiny bit, mumbling sorry, then dropping down to her knees and face-planting into the grass. Mondancer winced at the dramatic motions, starting to feel sorry for the pegasus. "Moondancer?" Twilight said in the same, calm tone she had been using, "I'm single now." The unicorn looked at her childhood friend with shock. "What?" She exclaimed. "Do you want to go on a date with me?" Twilight continued, unfazed by her reaction. Moondancer felt slightly torn, seeing how Rainbow seemed utterly devastated. Then again, Moondancer thought, she was pretty rude to me before and had literally tried to kill me not even ten minutes ago. "Yes." She finally said as calm as she could, trying to ignore the painful groan that sprouted from Rainbow and the immediate guilt that had blossomed inside of her. "I would love to." "I must say," Twilight smiled as the two enjoyed dinner inside the castle two weeks later, "Your much more kinder than Rainbow's ever been. She almost always talks with her mouth open and hardly lets me finish telling her about the newest spell I've mastered or book I've finished." She gave a laugh that sounded forced to Moondancer's ears, then shoved her mouth full of broccoli. She gave a forced laugh as well, still feeling guilty about Rainbow. She knew it was kind of stupid, yet over the past couple of weeks, she found herself drifting off and envisioning herself in Rainbow's hooves more and more; even if she didn't want to or feel like it, her sub conscious always found a way of making her thoughts go back to that day. Each time, her guilt grew, making her feel like a selfish brute--like Rainbow Dash--even though she knew it wasn't true. She took a deep breath, deciding now was as good a time as ever to tell Twilight what she had just been thinking about. "Twi...?" She asked quietly, just know noticing her marefriend was rambling on about something and she wasn't even paying attention. Twilight stopped talking, glad to not fill the awkward silence that seemed to always sneak it's way in whenever the two were together with her own voice. At least RD could carry a conversation. "Yes?" She replied. "Can we......" Moondancer paused, a bit uncomfortable about bringing a still slightly sore topic up. "Can we talk about Rainbow?" Twilight was stunned at her question, though she didn't exactly know why. Every now and then, she'd catch Moondancer staring into space and mumbling about what had happened. Though Twi occasionally commented Moondancer's behavior being the opposite of Rainbow's, she did miss the sweet yet bitter speed demon. "Of course," she declared, "why, though? I thought you hated her." "'Hate' is such a strong word..." Moondancer mumbled, folding her ears back. At the same time, she used her magic to send her already full dinner plate to the middle of the table, for she wasn't that hungry to begin with. "I guess I don't like her, but I don't hate her either, you know?" The princess blinked. In the back of her mind, she knew exactly what Moondancer was talking about, for she was having the exact same feelings as well. "I know," Twilight offered, "you feel guilty because she was so depressed when we saw her last?" Moondancer nodded guiltily, gently tapping her hooves together nervously. "You want to break up so Rainbow can be with me and be happy again?" Twilight guessed, Moondancer nodding again, this time trying to hide under the table. Twilight smiled and shook her head, loving this shy part of Moondancer the most; she was so used to Rainbow's outgoing behavior and opposite personality that it was nice to have somepony that was quiet and awkward and had the same personality as hers. She could live through the nine or ten awkward silences that came each day. Probably. "I know exactly how you feel, Moondancer," Twilight comforted, "but what Rainbow did was wrong and seriously illegal; she was an element bearer or else I would have had to call the girls and used a reforming rainbow on her." The unicorn's face switched from one of guilt to one of confusion. Twilight rolled her eyes, mainly to herself than Moondancer, as she continued. "It's normal to feel this way; everypony feels empathy for others when they're sad by nature, but you got to remember that Rainbow did an unholy deed and me breaking up with her was her punishment." Moondancer sighed, looked down at the table. Twilight got out of her chair to hug the regretful mare. "It'll pass in time." Twilight said quietly, "let's try not to dwell on it for now." Moondancer nodded slowly, levitated her dinner back to her. "I suppose..." she mumbled, "long as it isn't forever." Twilight wasn't sure if she meant the guilt or the relationship, but, knowing how determined the mare was, when for the former. "I promise you it won't." Rainbow laid on her bed, hugging Tank as hard as she could without hurting him, sniffling from her recent meltdown. Everywhere she looked reminded her of Twilight, from her floor, where Twi had spent many a night over to the vanity where Twilight had left her comb and Rainbow kept forgetting to return it,, and finally, to the dream journal the two shared that was lying on her nightstand. She felt tears come to her eyes once more, but they weren't tears of sadness. In a sudden fit of rage, Rainbow grabbed the journal and flung it hard at her vanity; the journal hit the comb just so, making it flip halfway across the room, only to land on the cloudy floor. Not even a second later, it fell through, falling miles downwards to the dirt road Rainbow was above. She fought the urge to catch it and save one of the precious memories of Twilight she had left. Instead, she watched it fall, saw it split into many little bits upon impact. Watching it break gave her a strange sense of self satisfaction. She looked around, wonder what else she had that remind her of Twilight she could destroy. A sudden thought of evil briefly flashed through her mind. What about the mare herself?
