Rainbow Dash stifled a belch as she put down her fork, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. A few pieces of pasta lay scattered around the bowl in front of her, the wick of a candle struggled to stay aflame in what little wax remained, and the stars danced across the clear night sky in a festival of splendour.
Across the table sat Twilight, who had a loving smile on her face. As Rainbow Dash let out a contented sigh and slid further down her seat, Twilight gently cleared her throat and spoke.
"I take it you enjoyed your meal, Rainbow?" she said.
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Sure did, Twi," she said. "If there was any left, I could have gone back for seconds." Twilight raised an eyebrow at her, and she chuckled. "All right, fourths."
"Glad to hear it," Twilight said. "It took me several attempts to get the recipe right, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out." She glanced over at a large black bin bag, which groaned under the weight of her earlier failures. "I hope that doesn't burst..." She turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash, who had straightened herself up in the seat. "So, Rainbow, what now?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "Well... I know it's late, but there's something I want to do with you," she said. "And, before you say it, it isn't what you're thinking."
"Um, okay." Twilight giggled and blushed. "So, what is it?"
Dash got out of her seat. "I'm glad you asked," she replied. "I want to ask you a few science questions."
Twilight cocked her head in confusion. "Really?" she asked. "Is that all? Um, can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "No, it can't," she said. "This is something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but I had to do some research first." She smiled at the ecstatic look which crept onto Twilight's face. "I know, the idea of me doing research is strange; I guess some of your mannerisms rubbed off on me." Her expression became more serious. "Joking aside, though, I really want to get started with this. So, shall we?"
Twilight nodded, and Rainbow Dash disappeared under the table. There was the sound of papers being shuffled, and she soon reappeared with a small piece of paper in her mouth. She pushed the bowl and fork to one side and put the paper next to them.
"Question number one," she said. "Which element makes up approximately seventy-eight percent of the air we breathe?"
Twilight scoffed. "That's easy," she said. "Nitrogen."
"Correct," Rainbow Dash said. "Question number two, which material is used to produce isotopes for medical, industrial and defensive purposes?"
"Uranium," Twilight said smugly. "Come on, Rainbow Dash, at least give me something difficult!"
"Trust me, Twi," Rainbow Dash said. "The difficulty of the questions isn't important here, it's the answers." She glanced at the paper. "According to legend, which element can you easily turn into gold?"
Twilight tapped her chin with a forehoof. "Okay, that is a difficult one," she said. "It would have to be something close to it chemically, and the process would involve editing protons, which is something not even I could do. Since I have a fifty-fifty chance here, I'm going to guess... mercury?"
"Platinum." Dash stuck her tongue out. "Guess you got a hard one after all, Twi." She smoothed her mane with a forehoof. "Anyway, three questions left, babe. Number four is, what is typically put on cuts as a form of disinfectant, which also stings like hell?"
"Iodine," Twilight replied. "I had to use it on you last week after you crashed through the window while practising your double-loop inverted corkscrew trick." She giggled. "You were squirming and grumbling so much, it was adorable."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "So I'm not made of stone," she said. "Thanks for patching me up, by the way; I love having you as my personal nurse." She leaned over the table and gave Twilight a gentle kiss on the nose. "But I love you more."
Twilight kissed her back. "And I love you too," she said. "So, that was question four of six. What's the next one you have for me?"
"Question five, what are cans usually made from?" Dash let out a small sigh. "I couldn't think of anything else for this one."
"Aluminium," Twilight said. "It's mostly used for drink cans; cans holding food are generally made of steel."
"Thank you for the chemistry lesson, Professor Egghead," Dash said. "But I'm afraid I have to postpone it, for we have reached... THE FINAL QUESTION! Dun dun dun!"
Twilight smiled at Rainbow's overacting. "Very well, Rainbow, tell me the final question," she said. "I must say, though, I am very intrigued by all of this; what exactly are you planning to do with the answers I've been giving you?"
"All will be revealed soon, Twi, trust me," Dash said. "Question the sixth and final... under certain conditions, what mineral is said to have a stench similar to rotten eggs?"
Twilight's nose wrinkled, as if imagining the smell in question. "That would be sulphur," she said. "And I seriously hope you're not planning anything involving stink bombs again."
"I'm not, I swear," Rainbow Dash replied. "Moving on, you got an impressive five out of six. But wait, there's more, for I now have a seventh bonus question for you to answer!"
Twilight seemed surprised. "Really?" she said. "Is this the part where all of this starts to make sense?" Rainbow Dash nodded. "Well, all right then, let me have it."
"Okay, so it's like this," Dash said. "As you know, it was our one year anniversary last week, and it got me thinking. Do you remember how we got together in the first place?"
"I do." Twilight sighed wistfully. "I asked you if you were made of copper and tellurium, and you cut me off before I could finish. But then you made up for it later by telling me you loved me too."
"And I do, Twi," Rainbow Dash said. "I love you loads, and that's why I wanted to ask you about something. The questions I've been asking you tonight have all had a purpose; they all lead up to something I want the two of us to seriously consider."
"Okay," Twilight said. "And what would that be?"
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Well, the story of how we got together kinda resonated with me, so I figured I'd use the same method to bring up the thing I mentioned. So, if you'll just humour me for a moment and think about the answers, in order, that'd be great."
"All right, Dash," Twilight said. "So, there was nitrogen, uranium, platinum, iodine, aluminium and sulphur. If I apply the same logic as before, that would be..." She trailed off for a moment, then suddenly her eyes lit up and she leapt across the table to envelop Rainbow Dash in the biggest hug she could muster.
"Yes, Rainbow!" Twilight cried. "I will!"
"Awesome sauce," Rainbow Dash said. "C'mon, let's go tell the others; I'm sure Rarity and Pinkie are going to be the happiest."
She picked up the piece of paper and dropped it on the floor, allowing Twilight to get a proper look at it, as well as wince at Dash's sloppy mouth writing.
Nitrogen Uranium Platinum Iodine Aluminium Sulphur
N U Pt I Al S
With that, the two shared a deep and tender kiss before they rushed out the door and slammed it shut behind them, the draught extinguishing the candle and leaving only the light of the stars.
