Chapter 2
Twilight had just finished with her, or usually Spike’s, chores. Spike had only been away at Canterlot for a day so far on royal business, but already she missed him. Or at least his assistance in the library. She wondered how Spike managed to do all of his chores so quickly and with so much energy left over. Just the reorganization of the books alone had taken up most of her day. She’d have to remember to get him some more rubies as a show of her appreciation.
Now though, she was ready to relax. Her horn lighting up, she levitated a cushion over in front of her table and brought with her a book on pony psychology. That was Twilight, all right. It didn’t matter how complicated the subject matter was. As long as it was her beloved printed word, she’d have fun reading it.
Just as she settled down on her cushion and was about to open her book, she heard a faint buzzing sound, growing louder with every passing second. She cocked her head and listened to the noise. It was getting louder and louder, and now that it was clearer-
Twilight’s eyes widened. She knew what that noise meant. It was an early warning sign of imminent danger. She had to protect her bookshelves from the potential damage. She didn’t want to recreate several hours of hard work. Throwing up a magical barrier in front of the bookshelves, Twilight braced herself.
“WATCH OUT!” Rainbow came crashing through the window and into the floor, bouncing across before finally slamming into a bookshelf. Or rather, the magical wall protecting it. Her book had flown across the room when she crashed and had almost hit Twilight before ending up in front of the fireplace. Rainbow collapsed onto the floor with her head hitting the ground and her back still propped up against the magical barrier. Rainbow groaned and saw purple colored stars floating around her head.
Twilight jumped up and galloped over to Rainbow. “Rainbow! Are you okay?” She quickly looked Rainbow over, trying to discern any injuries the pegasus might have sustained. The only thing she could see wrong though, was just Rainbow’s eyes spinning. She could have sworn she heard little birds chirping too.
“Wassat? Dyu say something Twi?” groaned Rainbow. Noticing she had blurry vision, she blinked hard a few times. Looking up, she saw Twilight’s face staring down at her in concern. She gave a goofy smile in return. “Oh yeah Twi, I’m awesome. I always am.”
Rainbow made an attempt to get back on her hooves but only managed to flail her legs around before her body keeled over and hit the floor. Twilight giggled at Rainbow and raised a hoof to try and hide her smirk.
Rainbow got up, her face tinged red with embarrassment. Putting on a false show of bravado, she puffed out her chest and declared, “I meant to do that.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course Rainbow,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Yup,” Rainbow beamed.
“So Rainbow, any particular reason for you to drop in?” asked Twilight, smiling at her little pun.
Rainbow blushed and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Um, yeah actually. I wanted to see if that new Daring-Do arrived.”
“Oh. About that,” Twilight began, looking away with a worried expression.
“What? Was it mixed up in the mail or something?”
“No no, it arrived on time. It’s just that a little colt already came in and borrowed it. I was going to reserve it for you, but I just couldn’t say no to him. I don’t think it will be back until sometime next week,” Twilight bit her lip, hoping Rainbow wouldn’t take the news too badly.
Rainbow’s face fell. “Oh.” She was trying to hide how disappointed she was that her plan wouldn’t be carried out, and doing a rather poor job of it as well. “Well, I- uhh, guess I’ll just... head home then. See ya later Twi.” She began walking sadly to the door.
“Rainbow, wait.” Twilight couldn’t stand to see one of her best friends so downcast because of a book. She knew how it felt to want to read a book so badly but couldn’t. But maybe she did have something that would make up for it. Something almost as good as the book itself. “I have something else that might tide you over until the Daring book comes back.”
Rainbow visibly brightened. Maybe her plan wasn’t ruined. “Okay Twi. Whatcha got?”
Twilight gave a coy smile. “Oh, nothing much. Maybe just some Daring-Do comic books.”
Rainbow’s mouth was agape. “They make those? How come I never knew about this? I’m, like, Daring’s biggest fan!”
“That’s because I got these from Spike’s ‘secret’ stash,” replied Twilight, holding her hooves in the air and bending them like quotation marks at the word secret. “He thinks they’re in a safe place but I found it easily,” explained Twilight with a smug grin. “He hides them under my bed, practically right next to my-” Twilight cut herself off before she could accidentally make any false or awkward implications.
“Right next to your what?” prodded Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.
“Nothing!” Twilight replied a little too quickly and loudly, looking away with a faint blush on her cheeks. She couldn’t possibly tell Rainbow what it was. It was a very important and confidential document after all. Her eyes widened as a possibility occurred to her. She had let slip that it was under her bed! Rainbow just might head up there anyway to find out! She had to quickly move her private possession to a safer, more secure location.
Too late.
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and an evil grin grew on her face. “Well, then. Since it’s nothing I’m sure you won’t mind if I just take a quick look under your bed. Maybe you missed a few comic books.” She began to walk over to the stairs leading up to Twilight’s two floor bedroom.
Twilight was starting to feel a bit of panic. She quickly trotted over in front of Rainbow and put on a reassuring smile in an effort to placate the impertinent pegasus. “No, no, I’ll go up and look. You can just go ahead and read those comics books. I left them on the table.” Twilight raised her hoof and pointed behind Rainbow, all the while maintaining her nervous smile, her eyes darting between Rainbow’s.
“Nah, it’s no problem Twi. I’d love to help you out. I can even do it in less than ten seconds. Just watch,” replied Rainbow with a cocky look as she unfurled her wings. Twilight’s eyes widened and she jumped out of the way right before Rainbow rocketed up the staircase and into her bedroom. Twilight quickly rushed up her stairs but froze once she got past the doorway, her heart skipping a beat as she saw Rainbow lounging on her bed with a lavender colored book with a familiar six pointed star emblazoned on the cover. Rainbow saw Twilight burst into the room and with a wide smile and a flourish she opened the book to its first page.
“Dear Diar-”
That was as far as she got before a glowing purple hue surrounded the diary and yanked it out of Rainbow’s hooves. Before she could properly react other than with a start, the book quickly turned and dropped down on top of her head. Hard.
“OW! Geez, Twi, I wasn’t really- OW!” Rainbow was cut off as the book came down again and she covered her head with her forelegs in an effort to protect herself from the magical wrath of the angry unicorn. She jumped off the bed and darted past Twilight, who wore a self-satisfied smirk on her face, and flew downstairs. Rubbing her head and grumbling to herself, she grabbed a stack of comic books in her hooves and set herself down on the staircase. She soon forgot her troubles as she became immersed in the colorful artwork of Daring-Do.
A few minutes later Twilight came down the steps wearing an irritated look. Hearing the clip-clop of her hooves, Rainbow looked up and saw Twilight’s face. ‘Oh no, please don’t let me have ruined things. Please, please, please,’ she prayed to Celestia. Rainbow cleared her throat and sat up straight. “Hey Twilight, I’m sorry I swiped your diary. It was just a joke, I really wasn’t going to read it.” Rainbow thought for a second. “Well, maybe a little. Just a page... or two...” She faltered under the heated glare she was getting from Twilight. “Look, I really mean it when I say I’m sorry.” Rainbow hesitated. “You’re not... mad at me are you?”
Twilight sighed and gave a small smile to Rainbow. “No, I’m not mad, just a little... perturbed is all.”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I really am sorry. I don’t mean to be an annoyance.” Her face lit up with a smile and a slightly hopeful look. “Hey, you wanna read these comics together? I haven’t read much yet, but they’re awesome.”
“As much as I’d love to, I really have some studying to get done,” said Twilight with a gesture towards the thick book sitting atop her table. She nodded towards the comic books in Dash’s possession with a smile. “You enjoy those comics though. Who knows, I might just take you up on that offer.” Twilight turned and started walking towards her table.
“Okay then Twi,” responded Dash with a smile and a nod of her own before settling back down to read. Internally, she was going over what just happened. ‘Well, so much for the plan. Hmm, I could always just switch things up a bit. At least she’s not mad at me, just a little annoyed. Nothing I can’t handle. Okay, time to read these Daring-Do comic books. Awesome!’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight had been reading her book for a couple of hours now and was currently studying the parts of the brain that generated the “fight-or-flight” response in ponies. It was fascinating. Any kind of stress shock evoked a response in a pony’s body, with varying degrees. A pony’s body can release a huge amount of adrenaline, endorphins, and other accelerant hormones while the entire brain focuses its efforts in making the body’s muscles move. By the same token, pain could be easily ignored by the brain, or it could be made worse. Since the brain doesn’t immediately recognize danger when high on adrenaline and endorphins, damage to one’s body could be exponentiated.
She just had to experiment with this. She didn’t want to hurt anypony, of course, but the academic in her was enthralled by the thrill of experimentation and discovery. She’d need a research assistant, but with Spike out of town, she’d just have to find someone else. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted to Rainbow Dash. Well, she would be a perfect subject. She was an athlete so she had a well developed musculature and her bone structure was strong. She was also a pegasus so she had substantially increased reflex speed and reaction times. Another thought struck Twilight as she considered another aspect of Rainbow’s capabilities as a test subject. She loved pulling pranks on ponies, so she loved having a good laugh. This was just too perfect. The previous chapter had been dedicated to the section of the brain which generated a pony’s sense of humor. So she could experiment on both subjects at the same time! She could kill two birds with one stone!
Twilight shuddered at the awful metaphor. What kind of twisted pony would come up with something like that? It was just wrong! Shaking her head to dispel the nasty thoughts, she quickly summoned a quill and some sheets of parchment. She filled out on two sheets of parchment her experiments. On the first sheet of parchment:
Study of 'Fight-or-Flight' Psychological Reactions of Ponies
Test subject: Rainbow Dash
Procedure: Introduce a simulated threat to the subject in order to provoke either a ‘fight’ stress response or a ‘flight’ stress response.
Hypothesis: Based on psychological, physical, and personality traits, subject most likely to display a ‘flight’ stress response in the event of a sudden and unexpected introduction to a potential threat.
Results:
And on the second sheet:
Study of the Equus Cerebrum: Humor
Test subject: Twilight Sparkle
Procedure: Subject will introduce the simulated threat to the subject of the ‘F-o-F’ experiment and will react in a manner befitting humor.
Hypothesis: As a result of a ‘prank,’ subject will be stimulated to release laughter. Degree shall vary depending on reaction of subject ‘Rainbow Dash.’
Results:
Twilight finished off the last bullet point with a flourish. Perfect! Her notes were ready. Now she just needed a way to both prank and scare Rainbow. Twilight put a hoof to her chin and looked towards the ceiling in thought. Her eyes lit up as her brain formulated a solution. Owloysius had several chew toys that act much like a cat’s scratching post for his beak. One of them was a stuffed spider the size of a dinner plate. Even Twilight got creeped out whenever she saw Owloysius chewing on it. Her horn lit up and the fake spider was soon sitting on top of the table. Twilight looked it over. A dark brown two-sectioned main body with eight long legs all covered with ‘hair,’ along with eight beady red eyes that seemed to stare into a pony’s soul. Twilight shuddered and looked towards Rainbow Dash. Her face took on an uncharacteristically evil look. Her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth turned up to create a wide, toothy grin. Despite telling Rainbow that she wasn’t mad at her for invading her privacy, that by no means meant she had forgiven her. Yet.
Scratch her earlier thought. This would kill three birds with one stone.
It was time for some payback.
Chapter 4
Rainbow Dash emerged from her deep, dreamless sleep and let out a great yawn before opening her eyes. For a brief moment, her mind was completely blank, filled with blissful nothingness after having just awoken. Then the memories of last night rushed in, and a huge smile stretched across her face. She still couldn’t believe it. Twilight wanted to go out with her! It all felt like a dream. It was almost too good to be true.
Dash’s excitement gave way to nervousness. She had no clue of what to do! She’d never been on a date before! Dash squeezed her eyes shut and turned over, trying to go back to sleep. But the anxiety was nagging at her, preventing her from slipping back into unconsciousness. She tossed and turned for a few more minutes before sighing and dragging herself to her hooves. Plodding sluggishly into her bathroom, she stepped inside the tub and gave her showercloud a swift kick. Hot water cascaded down Rainbow’s body and she exhaled in relaxation. It felt good to let some of her stress rinse down the drain.
While in the shower, a thought struck Rainbow. She should probably look nice for Twilight. Not that she didn’t already look awesome, but maybe a few touch-ups here and there? After all, there was no such thing as looking too awesome, right?
Grabbing the bottle of shampoo and a brush, she squeezed some of the bottle’s contents out onto her mane and tail and began to scrub vigorously with the brush. Rinsing the soap suds out of her hair, she grabbed a bottle of conditioner and lathered herself with that next. Her mane, coat, and tail were all given the cleansing treatment. Once done with the wash she simply stood underneath the cloud for a few more minutes, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face as she daydreamed of what she was going to do on her date with Twilight.
After kicking the cloud again to shut it off, Dash stepped out of the tub and wrapped her mane and tail in Wonderbolt emblazoned towels while using a third towel to dry off her coat. Tossing the towel onto a rack to dry, she unwrapped the other two towels and threw them onto the first towel. She looked around her counter for the hairbrush but couldn’t find it. She sighed. How could Rarity stand to do all this? All the accessories and routines and beautifying. In Dash’s professional opinion, it was excessive and completely pointless.
Opening the medicine cabinet, Dash found her hairbrush somehow wedged in between the shelves. Grabbing it between her hooves, she tugged at it. The hairbrush stubbornly refused to move.
Growling to herself, Dash flapped her wings and planted her hind legs against the cloud wall. Bracing herself, she heaved at the brush with all her might, until it finally broke loose, sending her flying into the opposite wall. She groaned but held up her prize with pride. Success!
Her elation died almost immediately once she realized that she put all her effort into freeing a stupid little hairbrush.
‘Might as well use it,’ Dash sighed to herself. She jerked the brush through her mane a few times, then settled into an easygoing rhythm. It... actually felt kind of nice once she got used to it. Maybe a little awkward holding it in her hooves, but still. ‘Maybe I could get Twilight to brush my hair sometime. Hmm... Not a bad idea. She’s more into that than I am anyway.’
Finished with brushing her hair and tail, Rainbow examined herself in the mirror. Her usual wild, flight-blown hair was flowing smoothly over her forehead and was swept to one side while covering a bit of her eyes. It looked a lot brighter and even felt a lot softer. Her cyan blue coat looked a bit brighter as well, free of all the sweat and grime and dirt that built up from flight routines, workouts, and sleep.
Idly running a hoof over her freshly washed and brushed mane, Dash floated into the kitchen. Opening her fridge, she was given yet another reminder of why she mostly ate out. She was too lazy to buy groceries, other than food for Tank, and even if she did expend the effort to stock up her pantry, she didn’t know how to cook other than simple sandwiches.
Grabbing the last apple in the fridge, Dash sat down at her table and began to brainstorm. What would Twilight like to do? Aside from the obvious, of course. She was from Canterlot, but didn’t really share the same high class tastes as the rich. And she liked to have fun despite her studious nature. Hay, Dash had even seen her cut loose at her birthday party when they held it at Canterlot.
Sighing, Dash threw her apple core into the trash and rested her head on the table. Dating was harder than she thought.
Getting up, Dash walked over to Tank’s enclosure: a good sized terrarium filled with dirt and water. There were patches of grass and even a tiny bush. The whole setup had been relatively cheap. The only thing Dash had to do was get Twilight to cast a permanent cloud-walking enchantment on it, which turned out to be a lot more complex and energy consuming than the temporary version of the spell.
Tank looked up at his owner and gave a slow smile. Dash smiled in return and greeted her pet. “Hey, Tank. Let me fill those up for ya.” Grabbing Tank’s food and water dishes, Dash flew back into the kitchen to refill the bowls. She quickly returned and carefully placed the water bowl down to avoid spilling it, then placed the bowl filled with various leafy greens next to it.
Settling down next to her pet, she watched him amble over to the dishes and begin eating. She sighed for the upteenth time that morning.
“Tank, I’m taking Twilight out on a date today. What do you think?”
The tortoise in question turned his head to smile and nod at Dash, letting her know that he approved.
Smiling, Dash said, “Yeah, she’s great.” Dash’s tail swished anxiously as her smile faded and was replaced by a slightly worried look. “But I’ve never gone out on a date before. What do you think I should do?”
Tank turned his head and indicated the tiny artificial lake in his enclosure.
Dash was confused for a second before it dawned on her. “You think I should take her to the lake?”
Tank slowly nodded.
Dash mulled it over. Yes, that sounded perfect. Nothing too fancy, and it was certainly a beautiful day. Plus, they would most likely have the lake to themselves. It was Friday, so most ponies would be at work. Twilight had the day off today, and Dash’s weather schedule didn’t call for her until the next morning.
“Yeah... A day at the lake... Maybe a picnic, too... Thanks, Tank. You’re a genius,” Dash beamed as she gave Tank a playful noogie. Tank slowly smiled and went back to eating.
“Okay, a picnic at the lake. Need a blanket. Gotta have lunch, too,” Dash said as she slung her saddlebags over her back and stuffed a folded blanket into one pouch. “Applejack oughta have something to eat. And we’ll have the whole day to ourselves,” Dash mused. She threw in a small pouch of bits as well. “Some dinner wouldn’t hurt.” She thought ahead, to fun at the lake to relaxed dinner conversations to romantic walks underneath Luna’s moon. Dash’s normal confidence returned. Oh yeah, she totally had this date in the bag.
Exiting her home, Dash set off for Sweet Apple Acres. She looked down as she flew over the orchards and saw Applejack diligently bucking the apple trees to harvest the crop. Reaching the house, Dash landed and trotted up to the porch. Next to the door was the matriarch of the Apple family, old Granny Smith, snoozing in her rocking chair. The door opened and Big Mac stepped out, presumably to help his sister with the harvest.
“Hey, Big Mac.”
Big Mac looked a little surprised to see Dash at the house, and at such an early hour too. For her, that is. He gave a polite nod to Dash. “Miss Dash. Need somethin’?”
“Do you have any lunch I can buy? I need enough for two.”
Big Mac nodded and waved his hoof to indicate that Dash should follow him inside. He led Dash into the kitchen, where he wrapped up a couple of apple fritters in wax paper before grabbing a freshly baked apple pie. He got a small towel and wrapped the pie in it to keep it warm. He placed a plastic knife and a couple of paper plates on top of the towel before passing it to Dash, who took it and placed it in one of her saddlebags.
“Thanks. So how much do I owe you?” asked Dash.
Big Mac shook his head. “No charge, Miss Dash.”
“Really? Thanks Big Mac. Tell everypony hi for me,” said Dash as she turned to leave.
Walking down the porch steps, Dash unfurled her wings and took off for Twilight’s library. Quickly reaching it, she carefully set down and nervously ran a hoof over her mane one last time.
‘Okay, Rainbow Dash. You can do this.’ Taking a deep breath, she raised a hoof and knocked twice on the door.
“Coming!”
The door opened, revealing a frazzled looking Twilight. A slight twitch in her left ear, wide eyes, stray hairs poking out from her mane. Dash took a step back from surprise. She hadn’t seen Twilight look that bad since the tardy incident.
“Uhh, you okay, Twi?” asked Dash in concern.
If Twilight heard the question, she didn’t answer it. “Rainbow?” Twilight asked in surprise as she glanced at her clock. “Aren’t you a little early?”
“Early? What do you mean early?”
“Well, since you asked me out last night, I figured I’d do some research in order to make a schedule for today.”
Dash facehoofed. She should have seen this coming last night, but her giddiness had completely driven out any notion of telling Twilight that she would take care of everything.
“Would you like to come in?” Twilight’s voice brought Dash back to reality.
“Yeah, sure.” Dash trotted through the door and was taken aback by what she saw. There were piles of books next to the desk and papers, along with more books, were scattered across the surface.
“Uh, Twi? What’s with all this? I thought you said you had the day off today,” Rainbow asked as she turned to Twilight.
“Well, yes, but like I said, I wanted to do some research so I could make a schedule for today,” Twilight said as she trotted past Rainbow and stood before her desk.
Dash rolled her eyes. She seemed to be doing that a lot around Twilight lately. “Ugh, I should have told you yesterday not to do anything. Look, Twi, I already have today all planned out so you didn’t need to waste your time studying.”
Twilight’s left eye twitched and a dangerous look covered her face. Waste her time studying? What was this madness the pegasus spoke of? Dash, for her part, gulped audibly and retreated a few steps. She swore she could see something burning in Twilight’s eyes.
“Uh, hehe... what I mean to say is... uh, that I just want you to relax and enjoy yourself,” Dash hastily explained to Twilight, her ears folded backwards and a placating grin on her muzzle.
Thankfully, the burning in Twilight’s eyes subsided, eliciting a sigh of relief from the chromatic pegasus. “Sorry Rainbow. I was just so nervous about this whole thing that I guess I went a bit overboard with studying and planning for it.”
Dash raised an eyebrow at Twilight and pointedly looked at the books piled around her.
“Okay, a lot overboard,” Twilight said sheepishly. “I’ll be right back. Just let me get ready.” Twilight trotted up the stairs and into her bathroom, leaving Dash alone with her thoughts.
Curious, she walked over to the desk to inspect just what Twilight was studying. Once again, she rolled her eyes. The so called ‘research materials’ were mostly sappy romance novels that had been hastily flipped through and tossed aside. The notes were no better. Hastily scribbled down were only a few bullet points of any marginal value, surrounded by Twilight thoughts regarding those same notes. Mostly complaints about how useless the books were and how they didn’t help her at all.
Dash chuckled and rolled her eyes again. She was about to blow Twilight’s misinformed conceptions about dating clean out of the water.
Speaking of clean...
Twilight descended the stairs, looking as though she just emerged from the shower, despite having only been gone for no more than five minutes. She still looked a bit nervous, but much better than she had just moments previously. To Dash, she looked like a million golden bits.
Dash smiled widely at Twilight. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Twilight smiled back. Together they went out the door, Twilight closing it with her magic.
“Sooo, Rainbow... had a good sleep?” asked Twilight in an effort to start a conversation.
“Yup, sure did! One of the best nights of sleep I’ve had yet,” Dash said happily as they trotted towards the outskirts of the town.
“You know, I couldn’t help but notice you look different today,” Twilight remarked. “I can’t really place it, and I’ve never really been one to ogle other ponies, but you look... well... cute.”
Dash flushed at the compliment. Twilight had just called her cute! And not just as a friend complimenting her appearance! Had Dash’s self control been any less awesome, she probably would have squealed like a little filly.
Twilight started in surprise as she heard Dash squeal. Turning, she gazed at Dash with concern. It was Twilight’s turn to ask, “uhh, you okay there, Rainbow?”
Dash found herself hovering off the ground with her hooves at her mouth. Twilight was standing still and had stopped to stare at her. Dash realized what had just happened and felt her face start to burn. “Did I just...”
Twilight started giggling into her hoof, trying, and failing, to stifle her laughter. “Yeah.”
Dash cleared her throat and fell back to the ground, looking everywhere but Twilight, hoping the fire on her face would subside quickly. She gave a quick glance at Twilight once she felt her face cool down sufficiently.
“That never happened.”
“Awww, but you sounded so cute!” Twilight raised the pitch of her voice. “Just wike a wittle fiwwy.”
Dash glared at Twilight and flicked her tail irritably, her cheeks turning several shades darker. She never should have brushed her mane in the first place.
Twilight ignored her and cheerfully continued trotting forward. “So, what are we going to be doing today Rainbow?”
Rainbow quickly caught up to Twilight as her cheeks returned to their normal complexion, the conversation switching to a more comfortable topic. “We’re heading to the lake. Since today’s a weekday we’ll probably have the whole lake to ourselves. Aahhh, just think. Kids at school, adults at work. It’ll be just you, me... and nooopony else around to see or hear us.”
Twilight stopped and stared at Dash. “W- what?! Just what do you think we’re going to be doing today?!” she exclaimed at the pegasus.
Dash tilted her head at Twilight and gave her a wide eyed innocent look. “Whatcha talking about, Twi? All I’m saying is that we’ll be able to enjoy ourselves without having to worry about other ponies getting in the way.”
Twilight sputtered at Dash. For her part, Dash only laughed and continued trotting
towards her destination. “Oh, Twi. You’re too easy, you know that?”
Twilight’s face turned from her light lavender hue to a bright pink as she flushed in embarrassment. Muttering to herself, she caught up to Dash.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence as Dash led the way with a bright smile plastered onto her face. Twilight followed Dash as she contemplated how this date was going to go. Passing other ponies running errands, they soon exited the town and reached the lake’s shoreline. Dash stepped onto the sand and took in a deep breath.
She turned to beam at Twilight. “Well, we’re here!”
Twilight sighed as she took in the scenery. “This was a good idea Rainbow. It’s such a beautiful day too.”
Dash slid her saddlebags off and pulled out the blanket before spreading it on the beach. She set her bags on top of it and turned to Twilight. “Hey Twi, let’s go for a swim!”
Twilight smiled and gazed out over the lake. “Sure, the water does look inviting.”
Dash grinned and jumped up, grabbing Twilight between her forelegs. Twilight only had time to yelp before Dash flapped her wings, sending both of them over the lake. Twilight was going into full-on panic mode and she screamed at Dash.
“RAINBOW! What do you think you’re doing?! Put me down!”
Dash came to a hover and put on a devious grin. “Okay Twi. Whatever you say.”
Twilight’s eyes widened and she desperately tried to retract her mistake. “No! Wait, wait!” That was all she managed to get out before being dropped straight into the water, creating a large splash and sending ripples out over the water’s surface. She resurfaced, spitting water out of her mouth and glaring at the pegasus who dumped her into the water.
Dash was busy laughing, so she didn’t notice Twilight’s horn lighting up. She stopped laughing once she felt a force seize her and drag her into the lake. Once under, she felt the magical hold vanish, so she decided to take advantage of her situation and have a little fun. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out a blurry form above her. She started to slowly float back to the surface and her prey.
Twilight was starting to get a little curious as to why Dash hadn’t resurfaced yet. It had only been a few seconds, so there was no way she drowned. But what if she was drowning? Or what if... wait, this was probably just some kind of prank she was pulling on her. Before Twilight could make up her mind, she felt something wrap itself around her midsection and forcefully start dragging her down. In a panic, she started flailing her legs in an effort to free herself. She felt one of her back hooves connect with something and felt the presence disengage itself from her body.
Soon after, Dash surfaced, grumbling and rubbing the back of her head. It seemed she also got hit on the head a lot more while she was around Twilight.
Twilight turned to face Dash incredulously. “Was that you?!”
“Yes! Who’d you think it was, a sea monster?” Dash snapped.
“First of all, there aren’t any sea monsters here. This is a freshwater lake. And secondly...” Twilight ears folded back and she grinned sheepishly at the glare she received from Dash. “Maybe?”
Dash had long since lost count of how many times she rolled her eyes at Twilight so far that day. Fortunately, she didn’t dwell on it long. Lifting her hooves out of the water, she brought them back down with an audible clap. Water rose and washed over Twilight’s head, making her sputter and flip her soaked mane out of her eyes.
“Splash fight!” Dash declared, before swiping the water to send another wave at the unicorn.
Twilight laughed and turned her head away from the offending water. She began slapping water towards Dash in retaliation. For a good while, the two sent waves back and forth at each other, laughing like foals and flipping their manes out of their faces whenever a splash successfully connected with its intended target.
Eventually, their water war came to an explosive conclusion once Commander Rainbow Dash and her superior aquatic forces obliterated what was left of General Twilight Sparkle’s meager forces. With overwhelming force as her doctrine, and unconditional surrender her terms, Commander Dash showed no mercy to her lavender opponent.
“Okay Dash, okay! You win!” cried Twilight as Dash kept pummeling her with wave after wave. Having wings was a huge advantage for Dash. The powerful flaps sent large waves at Twilight and the constant splashing also prevented Twilight from focusing enough to use her magic to her advantage. She kept stopping to spit out water or flip her bangs out of her eyes. Although, in all actuality, she was having too much fun to really focus all that much anyway.
Dash finally relented, reveling in her victory with a mighty battle cry and a hoof pump. “YES!” she cheered.
Twilight rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face. The smile shook a little as she felt her stomach complain at her. “I hope you brought lunch Rainbow, cause I’m starving now.”
“Sure did! I told you I had everything planned out didn’t I?” Dash proclaimed with a cocky grin. “Race ya back to shore!” She quickly turned and shot off through the water.
“Hey! No fair!” laughed Twilight. She took off after Dash but had no hope of victory. It almost seemed like Dash was teasing her, pulling back far enough to make it seem like she could take the lead, before rushing back in front and making Twilight eat her... wake?
Dash clambered out of the water and flapped her wings to throw all the water off of them. Leaving the task of drying her coat to the sun, she turned to see Twilight slowly climbing out of water and walking towards her, her head hanging low. Dash was about to brag before she saw Twilight’s sides expanding and contracting rapidly. She got a little worried once she heard Twilight quietly breathing heavily. She trotted forward and nuzzled her head into Twilight’s neck.
“You okay, Twi?” her voice full of concern.
Twilight nodded and took in several gulps of air before giving an audible answer. “Yeah. Sorry, Rainbow. I’m just not as athletic as you.”
Dash shook her head. “Forget about it Twi. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself. I care about you, you know that?”
Twilight took a deep breath before exhaling. She smiled. “Yeah, I know Rainbow. Really, I’m fine. Now, about that lunch?”
“Ah, ah, ah. I won, so I get a prize first,” Rainbow declared, closing her eyes and placing a hoof on her puffed out chest before turning her muzzle upwards in a proud manner. Or arrogant manner.
‘Typical Rainbow,’ Twilight mentally sighed. “Okay, what’s your prize?”
Dash’s stomach growled angrily, quickly joined by Twilight’s. “Hehe, on second thought, I’ll collect later. For now, let’s eat.”
The pair sat down on the blanket and Dash pulled out the wrapped apple fritters and pie. She placed the plates down and put the apple fritters on top, then placed the apple pie and the knife between them.
Levitating her fritter to her mouth, Twilight began eating. Dash was much less elegant, picking up her fritter and tearing into it like a starved wolf. Swallowing it in three bites, she began carving out a slice of the pie. Placing the big slice on her plate, she began to snarf it down but stopped once she felt eyes on her, and looked up to see Twilight watching her with a small smile on her face.
“Mwuf?” asked Dash through a mouthful of pie. She swallowed the morsel. “What?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but remained smiling. “Nothing. It’s just amusing to watch you act like a pig.”
“Okay then,” Dash shrugged. She went back to shoveling pie into her mouth like it was some kind of contest.
Finishing their lunch, Twilight and Dash lay on their backs side by side to look at the clouds. Dash wrapped her foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders and Twilight rested her head on Dash’s shoulders. Twilight let out a yawn and snuggled closer to Dash’s side. The splashing war and subsequent race through the lake had taken its toll on the bookish unicorn, and the full meal gave her a warm feeling of contentment.
Dash was feeling content as well. ‘So far, so good. Fun at the lake, check. Lunch, check.’ She chuckled to herself. Spending so much time around the unicorn, her eggheaded habits had started rubbing off on her. This was definitely shaping up to be a great day. She felt her own eyelids begin to droop along with Twilight’s, and she descended with her into dreamland.
Unbeknownst to either of the sleeping ponies, a pair of bright yellow eagle eyes glared at them from the cover of the clouds above. Patiently watching. Patiently waiting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash was the first to wake, a warm feeling wrapped around her midsection. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see Twilight with her muzzle buried in her chest and her forelegs wrapped around her like a teddy bear. Dash lay back and smiled peacefully. If there was a better place than her current location, she didn’t know where it was.
Examining the substantially darkened sky, she deduced that several hours had passed since they had fallen asleep in each other’s embrace. Tilting her head down, she gently nuzzled Twilight’s head.
“Hey Twi. Wake up.”
Twilight’s only response was a muffled grumble and a tightening of her hold on Dash.
Dash tried again, this time switching tactics. She placed the tip of her hooves on Twilight’s underside and ran them up and down. If Twilight hadn’t been awake earlier, she was now. She squealed and pushed herself away from Dash, rolling off the blanket and into the sand. She sat up and stared at Dash.
“What was that for?”
Dash sat up and grinned at Twilight. “Well, you weren’t waking up. What else was I supposed to do? You’re a deeper sleeper than me.”
Twilight just sighed and rubbed her eyes. Looking up, she saw that several hours had passed since they had eaten. Stretching, she turned her head to see Dash trying, and failing, to fold up the blanket neatly enough to fit it back in her saddlebags. Smiling, Twilight picked everything up with her magic and placed them into the saddlebags for her.
Strapping the saddlebags to her back, Dash smiled at Twilight in thanks. “Okay, let’s start heading back.” Walking with Twilight at her side, they moved back towards the small town.
“Pleasant dreams?”
“Hmm?” Dash turned to Twilight.
“I asked if you had pleasant dreams,” repeated Twilight.
“Well, I didn’t really dream. It was more like a really peaceful sleep, or a really happy sleep,” Dash said as they entered the town. “Did you?”
“It was kinda the same for me. But, I did have this premonition, though. A feeling, I mean.”
Dash raised an eyebrow at this. “Feeling of what?”
“Hmm, I guess a feeling of safety. That’s the closest word I can describe it with. Like a feeling of warmth and security.”
‘I’ll always keep you safe Twi,’ Dash smiled.
“What?”
Dash turned back to Twilight. “What what?”
“Why were you smiling just then?”
“Oh, just thinking.”
Twilight feigned astonishment. “Thinking? Who are you and what have you done with the real Rainbow Dash?”
Dash chuckled good naturedly at the ribbing. “Hey, I can be smart if I want.” Dash led the way towards the park in Ponyville. They trotted along the pathways for several minutes before Twilight broke the silence.
“What were you thinking about?” Twilight asked as they reached the crest of a hill.
Dash sat down and Twilight sat next to her. They looked out over the park, watching other ponies revel in their freedom after work or school. Dash remained silent but had a soft smile on her face.
“Well?”
Dash turned and gazed into Twilight’s eyes. Those beautiful, sparkling pools of lavender. “I was just thinking... You know that I care about you, and I mean as more than just a friend.”
Twilight nodded, her face graced with a small blush.
“Well, since you said that you felt safe when you were sleeping, I kinda... promised myself that I’d always keep you safe,” Dash said as her face warmed up and she looked at her shuffling hooves.
“Huh. I’ll admit, Rainbow, that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Care to make that promise to me as well?”
Dash looked up to see Twilight smiling warmly at her. She smiled back. “I promise to always keep you safe, Twi.”
Twilight leaned into Dash. “Thanks, Rainbow. A true Element of Loyalty if I ever saw one.”
Dash leaned into Twilight and hugged her with her wing. She felt something tug on her tail and she quickly looked back to see that Twilight had entwined their tails together. Turning her head back to rest it against Twilight’s, she gazed over the park and watched the sunset, the sky highlighted with shades of red, orange, and yellow all flawlessly seamed together. She had been wrong. There was a better place than the lake.
After a short amount of time spent watching the sunset, Dash stood up, retracting her wing and pulling her tail free. “Come on, the day’s not over yet.”
Twilight stood and followed as Dash led the way out of the park. “Where are we going now?”
“To that new diner that opened up recently near the town hall. I forget the name.”
“The Feeding Trough?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“Oh good. I’ve been meaning to try that place.”
“Look forward to it, Twi. Your meal is going to be twenty percent tastier just from being in my awesome presence,” Dash boasted as she bumped her flank against Twilight’s.
Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Just lead the way Rainbow.”
Reaching the diner, they saw that the inside was filled with ponies. There were several tables outside, so they sat at an unoccupied table somewhere within the middle of the outdoor setup, Rainbow’s saddlebags dumped against a table leg. They spent about ten minutes in a comfortable silence, waiting for a waiter to approach their table.
They were approached by a pegasus stallion wearing a jacket and small apron to carry menus. His light blue coat had a slightly ruffled look from sweat and, behind his glasses, his darker blue eyes had a tired look. Dash had to stifle a giggle at the sight of his shiny, maneless head. Pulling out two menus and placing them on the table he pulled out a pad and pen before speaking.
“I apologize for the wait ladies. Would either of you like to start with something to drink?”
Twilight spoke first. “Can I just have some water please?”
“And I’ll have some grape juice,” added Dash.
“Water... and... grape... juice...” the stallion muttered around his pen, his neatly trimmed beard trembling as he manipulated the writing implement. He placed his pen and pad back in his apron and addressed the two ponies. “Alright, I’ll be right back with your drinks and to take your orders.” He quickly trotted back inside the diner, his light brown tail lightly swishing behind him.
Picking up their menus, Dash and Twilight perused the dining options. Glad the prices weren’t too expensive, Dash spoke up. “Feel free to order anything you want, Twi. I gotcha covered.”
“No, I can’t let you do that. I don’t want to be a bother.”
Deciding on the grilled potatoes and asparagus marinated with olive oil, Dash placed her menu next to her and looked across the table at Twilight. Or, more accurately, the top of her head that poked over the menu. “Seriously Twi, I got this. Don’t worry about it.”
With her decision in mind, Twilight placed down her menu and looked back at Dash. “Are you sure?”
Dash nodded and smiled. “Yes, I’m sure.”
The waiter returned bearing a tray on his back with two glasses. He gave the drinks to their respective owners and pulled out his pad and pen. “Do you know what you’ll be ordering tonight or do you need some more time?”
“We’re good. Can I have the grilled potatoes and asparagus?”
The stallion wrote the order. “Excellent choice, miss. And for the unicorn?”
“I’ll have your cucumber and tomato salad. And can it be with raspberry vinaigrette instead of ranch?”
“Of course, of course.” Putting away his pen and pad, he picked up the menus and placed them on his tray. “Anything else ladies?”
“Can I have a straw please?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Of course,” the waiter replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrapped straw. “Your orders will be out as soon as possible ladies.” The waiter turned and attended several other tables before returning to the diner to convey the new orders to the chef.
Tearing off the wrapper with her teeth, Dash stuck the straw in her glass and took a sip. It was sweet with a slightly sharp taste. “This is some good juice,” Dash said before taking another sip. “You want a taste?”
“No thanks Rainbow,” said Twilight before she took a sip from her levitating water.
They looked out at the still setting sun, watching as it finally slipped below the horizon, giving up the mantle of sky to the moon and stars.
“Thanks for taking me out Rainbow. Even if this doesn’t work out, I’m glad my first date was with you.”
Dash turned to face a smiling Twilight. “No problem Twi. Hey, if it’s not too much to ask, I’ve been wondering. How come you’ve never been on a date before? Weren’t any colts interested in you at all in Canterlot?”
Twilight gave a humorless chuckle. “Not really. I was Princess Celestia’s protege, her personal student. So, in foal language, I wasn’t just a teacher’s pet. I was the teacher’s pet.”
“That couldn’t have been fun. Other than my earliest years, I was always Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer in Equestria. First and only to ever pull off a Sonic Rainboom.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean other than your earliest years?”
Dash’s wings rustled and her tail swished across the ground as she shoved the memories back down into their grave and reburied them. “If it’s all the same to you Twi, I’d rather not say right now. I want to enjoy the rest of my night with you. Maybe some other time.”
“Well... if you’re sure,” said Twilight hesitantly. “But just know that I’m here for you Rainbow. You can always tell me anything.”
“Yea. I know,” Dash said softly. She shook her head. “So anyways, is that why you never went on dates before?”
“Partly, yes. Another reason is just that I was completely socially ignorant. A few times I’ve had colts come up to me and offer to buy me ice cream or take a walk in the park, but I’d always say I had to study.” Twilight frowned. “Once I learned what they were trying to do, I felt terrible knowing that I had turned them all down so callously. Poor Dusk Shine. He tried so hard to get my attention, and he was a cute one too.” Twilight gave another humorless chuckle.
Dash laughed heartily at Twilight’s expense. “Wow, that’s messed up, Twi. A real heartbreaker aren’tcha?”
Twilight blushed, but she giggled as well. “It’s not my fault,” she defended. “They were just being too subtle.”
“Twi, if they were any less subtle, they would have just walked up and kissed you,” Dash shot back.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You mean like what you did last night?”
Rainbow blushed and chuckled weakly at her date. Fortunately, Twilight wasn’t upset at all by that recent event.
“Oh relax, Rainbow. I already told you it was okay, didn’t I? Although, you still owe me for that.”
“Pfft, what’s the worst you can do? Make me study?”
Twilight’s wolfish grin made Dash a little uneasy. “Hehe, you sure you want to be giving me ideas, Rainbow?”
Dash needed an escape from this less than favorable conversation. Fortunately for her, the waiter was finally returning to their table with a food laden tray balanced on his back.
“Oh good, food’s here. I am soooo hungry,” said a relieved Dash as she rubbed her hooves together.
“Here you are. Grilled potatoes and asparagus for the pegasus, and a cucumber and tomato salad with raspberry vinaigrette instead of ranch for the unicorn,” said the waiter as he placed the plates of food in front of their respective owners. “Enjoy your meal, and let me know if you need anything else.” With that, the waiter turned to head back inside the building, leaving Twilight and Rainbow to enjoy their dinner.
Balancing a piece of asparagus in her hoof, she tossed it back into her open maw. She slowly chewed and swallowed before voicing her opinion. “Hey, this is pretty darn good. I’ll have to come back here more often.” She lowered her head and took a bite out of the sizeable pile of chunked potatoes on her plate, chewing and nodding in approval.
Across from her, Twilight was spearing cucumber and tomato slices with her levitating fork, eating in a much more civilized manner than her pegasus companion. Although, in a society where most of the inhabitants ate with their mouths, nopony really cared all that much about table manners anyway. “Agreed. Tastes like they used fresh vegetables for these dishes, plus this vinaigrette tastes homemade as well.”
The pair of ponies continued eating in silence, pausing to take sips of their drinks. Something was bugging Rainbow Dash though. Ever since the lake, she couldn’t throw off this strange feeling. She glanced up from her meal to look at Twilight, but she was acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. The fur on the back of Dash’s neck stood on end and she quickly twisted around in her seat. Seeing nothing but ponies trotting along the quiet streets, she turned back to Twilight, who was frowning at her.
“Is something wrong, Rainbow?” asked Twilight, her brow furrowed.
“Yeah... no... I don’t know, maybe? I just have the strangest feeling that I’m being watched.” Dash looked back down at her plate and began eating again, slowly chewing her food, deep in thought.
“You sure you’re not just being paranoid?” asked Twilight nonchalantly, focusing back on the tomato levitating in front of her muzzle.
“I don’t know... maybe I am.” Dash shrugged. “Whatever, though. It’s no big deal.”
Was it really, though? Dash could have sworn there was something. Or maybe it was just her imagination. Plenty of ponies got paranoid sometimes for no reason. What difference did it make if one more pony jumped onto the bandwagon? Forcing her inexplicable paranoia from her mind, she focused on her food and the beautiful unicorn sitting on the other side of the table. The food was real. She was real. They were what really mattered.
Once finished with their food, they waited for the waiter to return to collect their empty plates. “Check please,” Dash asked the waiter upon arrival.
“In a moment, miss. I’ll get right back to you.” Heading into the kitchen, the waiter dropped off the dishes before returning to the two ponies, bearing a small black folder. After placing it on the table along with two complimentary peppermints, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you tonight, ladies?”
“No thank you sir,” smiled Twilight.
“Alright then. We hope you enjoyed dining here and look forward to seeing you both again. Have a pleasant evening.” The waiter nodded and smiled back before turning towards other tables to attend to the other diners.
Dash popped the peppermint into her mouth before opening the folder and glancing at the price. Nothing too hefty. Paying for it wouldn’t be a problem. After rooting around in her saddlebags, she pulled out her sack of bits and counted out enough of the golden coins to cover the bill. Since she was in such a good mood, she also left a generous tip for the waiter. Placing the sack back inside, she put on her saddlebags and stood up before walking out onto the street, followed by Twilight.
The two ponies walked back towards Twilight’s library home, the light from Luna’s moon beaming down upon them. Since Ponyville was just a small country town with very little light pollution, a blanket of stars was shimmering against the dark backdrop of the night sky.
‘Fun at the lake? Check. Lunch? Check. A walk in the park? Check. Dinner? Check. A goodnight kiss? Ehh... yeah... let’s not get too ahead of ourselves shall we?’ Dash looked up to admire the night sky. A flash of inspiration hit her. She knew what to do on their next date. That is, if they have a next date. But why shouldn’t they? Why wouldn’t they?
Reaching the front door of Twilight’s treehouse, Twilight turned to smile at Dash. “Thanks for taking me out, Rainbow. That was the most fun I’ve had in days, maybe even weeks.”
Dash smiled back at her date. “You’re welcome, Twi. I had a lot of fun too. We should do this again sometime.”
“Yes. Definitely.” Twilight was about to turn towards her door but paused. “Oh, and before I forget...” She turned back to Dash and closed her eyes before gently pressing her lips against Rainbow’s.
Dash’s eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before fluttering shut. Her senses were working on overdrive, scrambling to absorb all the information they could detect. The pronounced taste of peppermint on Twilight’s breath. The velvety softness of Twilight’s lips gently massaging at her own. Twilight's calm, steady breathing. Her own racing heart pounding against her ribs.
In too short a time span, Twilight broke the kiss. She opened her eyes and giggled at Rainbow’s dumbfounded expression. “So how was that for a prize?”
Rainbow just nodded dumbly and made a strange squeaking noise, making Twilight giggle again.
“Goodnight, Rainbow. I’ll see you later,” Twilight said with a small, bashful smile.
“Yeah. Goodnight.” Dash’s voice cracked as she finally got her throat to unclench, making Twilight give one last adorkable giggle. Turning around, she opened her door and walked inside her home, gently closing the door behind herself.
Rainbow Dash turned and took a few steps away from the library. Taking a deep breath then letting it out in a satisfied sigh, she unfolded her wings then flew up into the night sky. Taking an easy pace, she flew towards her cloud home. Outside, she was a rare model of calm and grace. But inside, she was screaming for joy, her inner self leaping around like Pinkie Pie high on a caffeine and sugar mix. She couldn’t have asked for a better date with a better pony.
Except...
There was that feeling again. What was it?
Stopping to hover, Dash turned her body around, looking in every direction. There was that inexplicable feeling again. She couldn’t explain it. Was it just paranoia? She called out, “Hello? Is somepony out flying?” Not hearing a response, or any other sound besides her wing beats, she frowned and turned to fly the rest of the way home.
Lighting upon her porch, she reached out to open her door but froze when she heard an eerily familiar raspy voice.
“Sup, Dash. Long time no see, eh?”
Turning around, Dash laid eyes upon her former best friend. “Gilda,” she growled. “I thought you went back to the Griffon Kingdom.”
“Nah. I hit up Cloudsdale for a while before I decided to come back and check on ya.” Gilda polished her talons on her feathers then examined them cooly. They glinted wickedly in the moonlight. “You fell a long way, Dash. First you ditch me for those dweebs, and now you’re dating that stupid little nerd?” Gilda put down her talon and laughed. “But what can you expect from a flip-flop?”
Dash’s wings flared up aggressively and she took a combative stance. “Twilight’s not a stupid little nerd,” Dash snarled. “And furthermore-”
Dash cut herself off. That feeling she had throughout the day, ever since the lake. Gilda knowing that she was dating Twilight. “You were watching me the whole day, weren’t you?”
Gilda laughed again. “Well, the dullest tool in the shed finally figured something out. And all on her own, too!”
Dash growled again. “What do you want, Gilda?” she spat.
“What? Equestria’s self proclaimed fastest flyer is still the slowest brain?” Gilda taunted. “I guess all you’re really good for are lame little party pranks.”
Dash bit back a retort. She didn’t need this. “Whatever. I don’t need this, and you’re not worth me wasting my time. Get out of here, Gilda.” She turned away to enter her home, but froze at Gilda’s next statement.
“You know, wouldn’t it suck to find out that that pretty little nerd got hurt? But accidents happen. Even in libraries. Falling books and shelves, you know?”
Dash whipped around at this. “What was that?!” she shouted incredulously, but Gilda was already flying away into the night.
Dash stared at the fading speck that was Gilda. She began pacing back and forth in an anxious fury. Gilda’s words kept repeating themselves in Dash’s mind, replaying over and over again, eating away at her. Coming to a decision, she threw her saddlebags through her door then snapped it shut. Leaping off the clouds, Dash shot off towards the library.
Upon reaching the library, Dash saw all the lights were off and the windows were closed... wait, Twilight’s bedroom window was open! Gilda could’ve used it to flee!
Folding her wings, she shot through the window and flared them again, stopping just shy of colliding with the bottom floor of Twilight’s bedroom loft. Flying back up, she saw that the bed was occupied by a peacefully sleeping Twilight. The sight did wonders for calming her racing heart. Sighing with relief, she landed quietly and stepped closer to the lavender unicorn and smiled at the spectacle.
Twilight’s mouth was slightly open and a small line of drool was sliding down her cheek. The blankets rose and fell with each one of Twilight’s breaths. On her bedside table rested a familiar hardcover book. Dash quietly walked around the bed to reach it and, after taking a glance at Twilight, flipped it open to the most recent entry. She felt a little guilty, but what harm could come from it? It wasn’t like she was going to read the entire passage. Besides, she spent the whole day with Twilight. What else would Twilight write about other than their date?
She quickly ran her eyes over several lines before smiling wider and closing the diary. Looking back at Twilight, she gave her a small kiss on the forehead, making her smile and snuggle deeper into her blankets. Dash then walked over to the window and flew out of Twilight’s bedroom, back out into the starry night.
Flying back to her home, Twilight’s words were at the forefront of Dash’s mind.
I had my first ever date today. And it was with Rainbow Dash. I’d say it was the best date of my life, but would that really count, seeing as how I’ve never been on a date before?
I saw a side of Rainbow I’ve never really seen before while we sat on the hill. Even after having known her for this long, I’m still learning more about her. The reading also helped, I’d like to add. Her vocabulary has expanded exponentially since she started.
That kiss with Rainbow was something else. Again, I’d say it was the best kiss of my life, but with no other real kiss to compare it to, what would I know?
But the most prominent line:
I can’t wait to go on another date with her.
Dash smiled against the wind. “Me neither.”
Reaching her home and finally entering it, she checked up on Tank and refilled his water dish before floating up to her bedroom. Despite her happiness, her less than pleasant run in with Gilda left her a bit anxious. ‘Gilda wouldn’t really hurt anypony. Yeah, she’s a bully, but she knows where not to cross the line.’
Dash reached her bed and climbed in, curling up beneath the covers. Before falling asleep, one last doubt made itself heard in her mind.
‘... doesn’t she?’
A/N: Sorry this took forever. I've really got no excuse. I'm just a lazy bastard and I'm on summer vacation, which isn't helping my motivation for writing. This chapter was edited by MajorWheat and Hellpony. Following chapters will most likely be edited by them as well. Go show them some love.
Chapter 3
Rainbow was immersed in the world of Daring-Do. Her eyes danced across the colorful panels and she breathed in the awesome imagery laid out in front of her. No matter how often she read Daring-Do, she always felt as if it was the first time. All the excitement of following Daring’s adventures, close calls with death, and the thrill of emerging triumphant with a priceless artifact in her hooves never faded away. Here, with these comic books containing colorful and well drawn pictures, was no different. She was currently on the part where Daring had been left for dead in the chamber by Ahuizotl, tied to a sacrificial stone table in the center of the room with quicksand pouring in and poisonous snakes and spiders huddling around her helpless form. Dash knew Daring would escape, she had read the book several times after all, but that did not diminish the tension filling her body. She was reluctant and eager to turn the pages, to see what would be revealed in the next panels. Would Daring escape? Or would she be gotten rid of by Ahuizotl?
Dash turned the page.
Several spiders were crawling over Daring’s body. In response, Dash felt a chill run up her spine. She felt something touch her left shoulder and quickly slapped her right hoof across it in a panic to feel... nothing. It was just her hyperactive imagination. With mounting anxiety and excitement, she moved on to the next panel. She could have sworn she felt something prick at her right shoulder and she anxiously swept her left hoof across it to feel, once again, nothing.
Was it just her, or was her mane getting tugged at by something?
Dash slowly turned the page to see Daring attempt to launch her hat through the chamber. Letting out a tense breath, she ran a hoof across her sweaty forehead. As she continued to run her hoof backwards through her mane, she felt three separate appendages poking at her foreleg. Freezing in fear, she tentatively lowered her foreleg just a bit farther down the back of her neck. What she felt next made her eyes widen and jaw drop in a silent, horrified scream of terror. She felt another five digits move onto her limb, accompanied by a prickly sensation of tiny hairs brushing against her skin. She felt a light pressure on her foreleg as something lowered itself to rest on her coat.
“AAAHHHHH!” Dash screamed as she leaped into the air and flew around the room, thrashing about in midair. “GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!”
Dash kept flying around the room in a blind panic before she finally bounced off the wall and came to rest on the floor with a soft thump while the ‘spider’ flopped down about a meter away from her head. Curling up into a ball, Dash hyperventilated as she waited for her heart to stop trying to leap out of her chest. Eventually, her heart returned to a more normal rate of activity.
Dash eventually calmed down enough to turn her head and take a closer look at the ‘spider’ that had crawled its way up her neck. It was a fake, but in her wound up state of mind earlier, she had no intention of pausing to make that distinction.
‘Wait a minute! A fake?! How was it even able to move if it’s a fake?!’ Dash became aware of a certain lavender unicorn currently caught up in the throes of a laughing fit. She narrowed her eyes and her lips turned downwards in a scowl. ‘Of course.’
She got up and, quite irritably, kicked the stuffed spider out of her way before stomping over to Twilight. Her eyes took in the sight of the unicorn tossing and turning on the floor, still broken down in hysterics. She then looked over the table next to her and saw the papers that contained Twilight’s hypotheses and experimental procedures. Moving closer to get a clearer view of the papers, Dash rolled her eyes at Twilight’s typically eggheaded motives.
Giggling, Twilight caught her breath and shakily stood up. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash... well, actually, no. I’m not sorry at all. Now I know why you and Pinkie love to play pranks on other ponies so much.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes again. “Well, glad you enjoyed that little experience,” she said sarcastically.
“I sure did! I got great results for both my experiments! Plus, a little payback,” remarked Twilight with a smirk as she took up a quill in her magical grasp to record the results of her prank.
“Payback?! You said you weren’t mad at me!”
“And I wasn’t. But I didn’t say anything about forgiveness,” Twilight said with a cheery tone, finishing off her notes.
“So, do you forgive me now?” asked Dash.
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmm... yes, I forgive you,” she said with a smile at Rainbow.
“Okay, then,” Dash replied with a smile as well. Her face then adopted a more serious look. “You know, you still pulled a prank on me. It was mean and I feel very hurt,” Dash said with a slightly exaggerated tone, trying to elicit a certain reaction from Twilight.
Twilight’s smile was instantly wiped off her face. “Oh no, I’m sorry Rainbow. I never wanted to hurt you. Can I make it up somehow?” Twilight’s voice was sincere.
‘Success!’ cheered Dash internally. “I’ll need to think about it. But you’ll have to agree no matter what,” Dash said as she gave Twilight a poke below her ribs. Twilight responded to the poke with a small ‘Eeep!’ and a jump of surprise.
Dash raised an eyebrow. “What’s this? Don’t tell me you’re ticklish, Twi.”
“No! I’m not. Don’t do that again,” Twilight quickly said with a small blush while backing up a step.
Dash’s eyes narrowed and she smiled. “Well, I think I just figured out what I want.” She slowly advanced upon a still retreating Twilight with an evil glint visible in her eyes. “Roses are red, a deep crimson hue. Once you get tickled Twi, you sure will be too!”
Twilight turned and tried to run before Dash leaped forward and pinned her to the floor. Unfurling her wings, she brought them down to Twilight’s sensitive sides. Using just her wingtips, she started running them over Twilight’s struggling form, making her seize up with a new fit of hysterics.
“NO... stop! Please... stop... Rainbow... Dash!” Twilight managed to choke out before shrieking with laughter.
“What’s that? You’re going to have to speak clearly, Twi!” Dash kept tickling Twilight mercilessly.
“RAINBOW! I CAN’T BREATH!”
Dash relented and climbed off of Twilight to let her catch her breath. After taking a few deep breaths, Twilight sat up and glared at Dash. “I swear, you can be so evil sometimes, Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh, you know you love it,” Dash replied with a cheeky grin and poked Twilight’s chest.
“Well, I know you’ll love this,” Twilight said as her horn lit up.
The next thing Dash knew, she was flat on her back and couldn’t move. Looking up, she saw her legs were pinned to the floor by a bright purple hue. She squirmed and tried to break free of the magical field.
“My turn,” said Twilight with a cheerful voice as she placed her front hooves against Dash’s belly.
“Hey, wait! Can’t we talk about this?” Dash pleaded.
Apparently not. Twilight ignored Dash and began rubbing her belly, causing Dash to thrash around in her magical restraints and shriek with laughter much like Twilight had just moments earlier. Twilight vigorously tickled Dash’s belly, showing no mercy to the chromatic pegasus. Dash’s peals of laughter echoed around the room, accompanied by Twilight’s own gleeful giggles.
“Twi! TWI! I’m sorry!” Dash squealed between her laughter induced convulsions. “Please! Stop!”
Twilight stopped tickling for a second, pretending to go deep in thought. “Weeeell, since you said please.” Twilight got off of Dash to sit back on her haunches and relaxed her magical hold. The purple aura surrounding Dash’s limbs faded and she sat up to catch her breath.
Dash’s current state of mind was something akin to bliss with a mix of restlessness; a heightened sense of things. There she was, simply playing around and having a good time with her best friend and object of affections. In addition, the way they were sitting now had Twilight angled in front of a window from Dash’s point of view. Several hours had passed since she decided to pay Twilight a visit, so the sun was already halfway below the horizon. The effect was stunning. Behind Twilight, a natural backdrop had been created. A myriad of radiant spectrums emphasized Twilight’s lavender coat and navy blue mane, giving her a kind of ethereal glow in the remaining sunlight. She looked so beautiful, it was as if Princess Celestia herself was orchestrating this moment.
The scene was simply too magnificent. The moment, too perfect. Dash’s mind went blank and she simply made her move.
The effect was instantaneous. Twilight jerked back, her jaw hanging slack and her eyes wide in shock. Dash crashed back down into reality and she realized what she had just done.
‘Oh no. No, no no, nononono. I didn’t just-’
But she had. The look on Twilight’s face told Dash everything she didn’t want to know. She had just blown everything. There was no hope now. She just had to get out of there before her dignity and self-respect got torn to shreds. Again.
There was a moment of silence. It was as if the air itself was holding a breath. The tension in the room was so thick it could have been sliced with a knife. Twilight was still staring at Dash in shock, and Dash was beginning to shrink back as the implications of her deed started to sink in. Twilight closed and opened her mouth and then closed it again, at a total loss for words. Dash made a sort of squeaking noise that could have been mistaken for Fluttershy and made a snap decision.
Dash flew straight and true, intending to fly out the open window as fast and as far away as she possibly could. The brightly hued sky filled Dash’s vision, but it no longer looked so beautiful to her anymore. She reached the window and flew outside to find herself flying towards...
-a window?
‘What the hay just happened?’
She kept flying. She flew out the window again, only to find herself hurtling towards the same window again. Suddenly, she was jerked to a halt and she hung limply by her tail. It had been seized in a purple glow. Twilight was glaring at Dash and her horn was glowing with the same bright purple.
‘Oh no, oh please Celestia, no. Please don’t let this be happening.’
“Rainbow. Dash. You steal my first kiss, and you think I’m going to just let you fly away?”
Dash’s mettle broke. She covered her face with her hooves and cried out, “Please don’t hate me, Twilight! Please, please, please!”
Dash felt herself drifting downwards until finally coming to rest on the floor. She curled herself up and kept her forelegs covering her face.
A gentle voice reached Dash’s ears. “Rainbow Dash-”
“I didn’t mean to kiss you! It just happened! I lost control!”
“Rainbow Dash-”
“I’m sorry, Twilight! Please! It’ll never happen again, I promise!”
Dash felt a hoof rest upon her shoulder, and she risked a glance from behind her hooves. Twilight was standing above her, with the kindest, gentlest face Dash had ever seen.
“Rainbow Dash, I don’t hate you. I don’t think I could ever hate you. But, I have to know... why?”
And there it was. The moment of truth. The moment that Dash had been dreaming of and dreading. Dash felt infinitely worse than she had in the performer’s lobby of the Best Young Fliers Competition, switching her number with everypony else’s, trying to delay her own performance for just a little longer. But she was in Twilight’s library now. There was no way of delaying the inevitable.
Dash slowly removed her forelegs from her face and sat up. Twilight removed her hoof from Dash’s shoulder and sat back, calmly giving her friend her full attention. Dash herself wasn’t so calm. Her eyes were darting around the room and her hooves scuffed against the floor. She nervously cleared her throat before speaking up.
“Soo... uh, I -I kinda...” Dash fell silent and stared at the floor blinking rapidly. She tried again. “For a while now, I... I kinda, sorta had...” Dash took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “A crush on you, Twilight.”
“...”
“...”
“...Really?”
“Yea.”
“But... why?
Rainbow looked up in confusion. This wasn’t exactly the reaction she had been expecting. “Well, why not?”
Twilight looked flustered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered that you like me. But, I just can’t understand why somepony like you would like somepony like me.”
Now Dash was really confused. She had been expecting some kind of anger or rejection. What she got instead was nothing of the sort. “Wait, wait. Back up a sec. So... you’re okay? With fillyfoolers?”
Twilight’s face took on a scowl. “Don’t use that term, Rainbow. It’s a derogatory and condescending word. Just call it what it is.”
“Um, okay then. So you’re okay with lesbians?”
“Of course I am. What kind of narrow-minded pony did you take me for?” Twilight asked, irritated.
Rainbow dropped her gaze and shuffled her hooves again. “Well, since you came from Canterlot, I was kinda afraid that you were raised to look down on that sort of thing.”
“Rainbow, since Princess Celestia was my teacher, I spent a lot of time with her. She became almost like a third parent to me. And what time I spent with my family wasn’t spent talking about romance.”
“So, how did you get your own ideas of romance?” Rainbow was curious.
“Well, since I was getting private lessons from Princess Celestia, the topics would range from complicated magical spells to simple things like why grass is green. Occasionally, the conversation would stray to things like love. Plus, I also spent quite some time in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, so I would sometimes just watch other students interact with each other.”
“And just how did they interact with each other?”
Twilight’s face darkened. “I remember one time, there were two fillies that had kissed each other during break. Everypony who saw them immediately went into an uproar. The news spread like wildfire: there were two ‘fillyfoolers’ in our midst. Almost everypony was so cruel to them. It broke my heart and I cried about it to Princess Celestia. She told me that things like that are ever present in pony society, and it wasn’t just in the school too.” Twilight took a small breath before continuing. “As I grew older, I learned that almost all of the media denounced same-gender relationships as well. But the princess told me that I should always keep an open mind about everything. She said what had happened at the school was a clear demonstration of fundamentalism versus modernism, and that it is a constant in pony society. She told me that I could look in any history book about pony culture and see it at work in society.”
“Wait, what’s fundamenta-something versus modern-thing?”
“Fundamentalism versus modernism. It means a clash of old ideals and new ideals. In this case, the belief that two ponies of the same gender can love each other as a couple.”
Rainbow absorbed the information in silence. It sounded a lot like Cloudsdale alright. But she never thought that Canterlot would be as bad as what Twilight had just described. Sure there were a lot of mean ponies up in Cloudsdale, but not everypony was like that. There were even several that openly supported same-gender relationships, and she knew that number was slowly increasing daily.
“So, Rainbow, back to my original question. Just how did somepony like you come to like somepony like me?”
Dash just shrugged. “Well, why not somepony like you?”
“Stop avoiding the question.”
“I’m not!”
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I’m not!”
“Yes, you are!”
Dash facehoofed. This foalish exchange was completely counter-productive. “Do I really have to explain this?”
“Yes, you do! How did you come to like me? We have almost nothing in common!” Twilight had a strange look on her face. Dash couldn’t quite place it, but it looked a little like... fear? Uncertainty?
Shaking her head to rid it of those distracting thoughts, Dash sighed. “Well, for starters, I think you’re really cute.”
Twilight blushed at the statement.
“And secondly, I don’t think we’re as different as you say we are. Whenever you get focused on something, it’s like there’s a fire in your eyes. It kinda reminds me of me when I’m pulling off one of my awesome tricks.”
Twilight didn’t know whether to accept that as a compliment or roll her eyes at Dash’s typically boastful speech.
“And you’re smart, funny, nice... usually,” Dash winced as she rubbed the top of her head. “And I really enjoy just hanging out with you.”
Twilight sat there, silently absorbing what Dash said. She spoke up. “But what about Pinkie Pie? Or Applejack? Wouldn’t you be better off with them? I mean, you love playing pranks and spending time with Pinkie. And you’re always competing with Applejack. Or even Fluttershy. You’ve known her the longest out of all of us!”
Dash gave Twilight a piercing look. “Why do you keep asking me this, Twi? It seems like you’re trying to avoid the idea of me wanting to be with you.”
“IT’S BECAUSE I’M SCARED, OKAY?!”
Twilight’s shoulders sagged, her head drooped towards the floor, and she started to quietly sniffle. Dash was taken aback. Yup, this wasn’t what she was expecting. At all.
Dash moved up and sat beside Twilight. “You’re scared, Twi? Of what?”
Twilight sniffed. “What if something happens between us? What if we start arguing? What if we hate each other? What if we never want to see each other again?” Twilight raised her head to look Dash in the eye while blinking tears out of her own. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she whispered.
“Hey, come here,” Dash said, before wrapping Twilight with her forelegs. She could feel Twilight trembling slightly in her grasp. “Things aren’t going to be like that. We’re already best friends. Even if things don’t work out we’ll always be best friends. Besides, we’re the Elements of Harmony, remember?” Dash pulled back a little to look at Twilight. “Not even Discord was able to tear us apart.”
“Well, technically, he did. He managed to corrupt us one by one until-” Twilight’s rant was abruptly cut off by a cyan blue hoof.
Dash removed her hoof from Twilight’s mouth. She chuckled and shook her head. “Glad to see you’re back to normal, Twi.”
Twilight gave a small smile in return. “Thanks for that, Rainbow.”
Dash let go of Twilight and moved so she was standing back in front of her. “Alright, how about we try this again?” Dash took a breath. “Twilight Sparkle, would you like to go out with me sometime?”
Twilight looked into Dash’s eyes for a moment. She smiled and leaned forward to nuzzle her cheek. “I have the whole day off tomorrow. How does that sound?”
Dash closed her eyes and nuzzled Twilight back. “I’d like that.”
A/N: If somepony manages to spot at least one of the references in this chapter, I’ll give her/him a cameo in the next chapter. Good hunting!
