United We Stand
“You don’t have to help me put the books back you know. I’m sure you would much rather go nap or something.” Twilight said as she floated book after book in front of her face in a line. She only needed seconds to read the title, find out where it went, and put it there. Rainbow’s help was… nice, but not exactly efficient. She needed to double check each books title to get the author, fly over to the front desk to find out where it went, then spend another 5 minutes looking for that exact spot on the shelf. And half the time she got it wrong and Twilight had to fix it.
“But I want to.” Dash blurted out, she quickly realized this mistake, however, as Twilight suddenly turned around and looked at her as if her head had been cut off and replaced by a pickle.
“You want to? You, the Rainbow Dash, worlds best napper and all around lazy pegasus, want to do manual labour, manual labour involving books, no less.” Her voice was thick with doubt. She liked to give her friends the benefit of the doubt, but this was going a little too far. This was against everything she knew about Rainbow, this was wrong.
“Um… well… yes?” Dash began sweating profusely. Sure, maybe she was having a good time, but she wasn’t even paying attention to what she was doing. Enjoying putting books away? So not cool. Spending the day with your secret crush? Also not cool, but Dash loved every second of it. She just hoped Twilight wouldn’t catch on, she wasn’t ready for that. That would ruin their friendship, and what little chance, if any, she had of getting a date with her.
“Why don’t I believe you? I think you’re just waiting for the perfect chance to slip away and nap for the rest of the day.” Twilight said it, and she believed it, but she wished she was wrong. She hoped that Dash actually wanted to be there. For her or the books, she didn’t care, just as long as Dash didn’t hate her for making her do manual labour. That one thought had been nagging her all day; what if Dash resented her for this? What if this was all an act to fix the damage then just leave? Had she crossed the line by asking her to stay and help? Twilight didn’t know, but her mind had told her that was the case, and her mind was rarely wrong.
“Does that really sound like me, to just abandon a friend?” Dash’s tone was that of mock hurt, though all Twilight heard was white noise. That was it, Dash hated her. She had made her do one too many things. She had ruined their friendship and any slim chance she had had at getting a date with her.
“Hello? Earth to egghead?” Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by that nickname. That nickname that Dash only used when she was fooling around; when she was having fun. When she was happy.
Hope restored, she spun on her hooves to meet Dash’s eyes, ignoring the books falling to the floor in the lack of her magic. Her mouth opened; the words she had wanted to say for months on her tongue. But they never came out, instead all she said was “Yeah I guess your right.” Before she turned back around and continued her re-shelving. How many times had she done that now? 39. 39 times she had been so close. Just three words. Three words she could never say. Three words that Dash would never hear from her, three words that she herself would never hear.
“Something wrong, Twi? You’ve been off all day.” Dash asked, cocking her head slightly.
“Yes, I-I’m f-fine.” Twilight sniffled, looking down as her books floated by one by one. Somehow even they seemed sadder then usual. Rainbow would have to be blind to miss the fact that as each cover passed under her bangs it came out with a few wet spots. Luckily, Rainbow Dash prided herself on her vision (and everything else).
“Then why are you crying?” Dash asked, real concern evident in her voice as her cheerful smile was replaced by a solid frown. She dropped the books she was supposed to be putting back, they didn’t matter right now. Nothing mattered right now except a crying purple unicorn.
“I-I’m not.” She lied. She hated lying, but she couldn’t risk Dash finding out. Not now, she wasn’t ready. She had to read more books; she had more notes to take. Maybe she should make some flash cards too.
“I know you’re lying.” Dash said, walking up behind Twilight on silent hooves.
“My allergies are acting up.” Twilight fell back on her haunches, book after book floating through her tear blurred vision, hoping that she could keep her mind off it and hold herself together long enough for Dash to leave. Books had always helped her do it before, and they would help her now.
“You don’t have any allergies.” Dash said smoothly, wrapping a lone wing around the unicorn’s shoulders. She jumped at the touch, having been unaware of Dash's proximity. She wanted to tell Dash everything, to poor her heart out for all to see. She didn’t care anymore; she wanted it off her chest. But at the same time she couldn’t, she couldn’t risk loosing Dash as a friend, and something like that would make things worse then ever. It would be worse then if she had never met Rainbow in the first place.
“C’mon Twi, you once told me I didn’t have to hide my feelings from you, same goes for me. You don’t have to hide anything.” Dash spoke in the most comforting tone her naturally scratchy voice could muster. To Twilight it was the most comforting thing in the world, and for a second she found herself believing it. For just the tiniest moment, she believed that she could tell the truth and everything would be fine. Dash might even feel the same way. Her logical mind, however, quickly shut these thoughts down. There was no logic behind them. Every book she had read said the exact opposite would happen, and books had never steered her wrong. But at the same time, when had her friends ever lied to her? When had Rainbow ever lied to her?
“I-I l-l-lo… l-lo-love… y-y…” Rainbows breath caught in her lungs. Surly she had misheard her? Surly Twilight didn’t feel the same way. She must have misheard her. There was no possible way. Still, her quick mind took a chance, a leap of faith.
“Me?” She asked quietly. So quietly had she been so much as an inch further away Twilight would not have even known she had said anything, but she did hear it, and she still didn’t believe it. She couldn’t bring herself to answer, instead she responded by giving a weak nod: Indistinguishable from the shaking motion of crying or the rising and falling of breathing. But Dash saw it, and that’s all she needed to see.
Twilight felt a tickling sensation as Dash’s wing was slowly pulled off her shoulder. This was it, it was over. Dash had lied to her, and she had fallen right into the trap. She felt her quiet crying turn into outright sobbing as the wing was pulled fully off of her shoulders, followed by the distinct sound of hooves on wood. Dash was walking, just walking away. She didn’t even have anything to say to Twilight. Every step echoed loudly in Twilight’s mind, every step feeling like a thousand years.
CLIP… CLOP… CLIP………
The hoof steps stopped
“Twi?”
“W-what?” Twilight choked out between sobs. Her body was shaking, a solid pool of salty water forming below her. She didn’t care anymore. She just prepared herself for the verbal lashing she was going to get. Dash hated her now, there was nothing she could do to change that fact. Her books had always warned her of this, but her friends had never lied, so she trusted a friend over countless books, just like she had been taught. The magic of friendship was always stronger then any other magic or explanation. In the three years she had been in Ponyville she had learned that, and now those lessons were the defining factor in her downfall.
“I love you too.”
-_-_-_-
“She’s waking up.”
“About time, why did she pass out anyway?”
“I’ll tell you later Spike.”
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, the world a colourful blur. Slowly, her vision began to clear, fuzz became objects, blobs became shapes, and blurry circles became Spike and Rainbow Dash.
“What happened?” Twilight sat up slowly, her head swimming as the world came into full focus and she recognized her bedroom. Spike and Rainbow Dash were standing beside her bed.
“You passed out.” Dash said calmly, stepping closer to the bed.
“I still don’t know why.” Spike glared up at Rainbow Dash, obviously expecting an explanation she was not going to give him.
“It’s not important, why don’t you go downstairs and make something for Twi to eat, I’m sure she’s hungry.” Spike grumbled something in response, but walked out of the room and down the stairs anyway. Sometimes things just weren’t worth arguing over.
“Why did I pass out?” Twilight sat fully upright in her bed, her head had finally stopped spinning enough for her to lean back against the head board without fear of falling.
“You mean you don’t remember?” Dash asked, almost sounding disappointed.
“The last thing I remember is trying to tell you…” She trailed off as she tried to remember what had happened after that, though it was all a blur of shapes and emotions. One stood out though; fear.
“Well, you kind of told me that you loved me-” Dash was cut of by Twilight shoving her head under the covers, an ‘eep’ escaping from beneath the purple blanket.
“Nonononononononononononononono, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I don’t even remember, I’m so stupid! I’m sorry, please don’t hate me, I just I-I-I always just GAH!” Twilight gave up trying to form coherent sentences and instead decided to fall back to her fail safe; blubber out apology after apology and pray that she accepts one of them.
“Twi, breathe, come out from under there, I need to talk to you.” Dash clutched the edge of the blanket in her jaw and tore it off, revealing a bawling Twilight covering her head with her hooves.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me, I’m sorry.” Twilight spat out apology after apology, not even noticing Rainbow drawing closer until she was sitting on the bed next to Twilight, wing wrapped around her shoulders and a cyan hoof was slowly stroking her mane. It felt good, good to be comforted, good to be held, maybe, just maybe, she could be forgiven.
“Twi, I love you too.” Dash said quietly. Twilight’s crying instantly silenced itself, not a sound escaping the purple unicorn as she let the new information sink in.
“W-what?” She asked hesitantly, doubting what her own ears had told her. Her books said this would never happen. Her books said two friends that were already as close as they were could never be anything more. Her books had never lied, but nether had her friends.
“I said I love you too, have for months now. I’ve just been too scared to tell you.” Dash admitted, her voice was happy, yet there was still some tiny trace of shame; Shame that if she had just been stronger she could have avoided this. She could have spared Twilight so much pain of loving somepony that would never lover her back, the same pain that she had felt for months.
Twilight just sat in the silence, Dash’s hoof had not stopped stroking her mane, and her wing still firmly wrapped around Twilight’s shoulders. There was no where she would rather be. Nopony she would rather be with. She enjoyed the slow, methodical pace of Dash’s hoof, counting each stroke as if it were going to be the last, but at the same time knowing that there would be another. Even if it would be a while, there would be another. Then, all too soon for Twilight, the hoof stopped. 124 slow, methodical strokes had managed to stop the tears, sobbing, and shaking. She wanted just one more, just one more to assure her that it could happen again, that this was not a dream.
“We should go, you’ve been out for a few hours, and you haven’t eaten since brunch this morning. Let’s go see what Spike made.” Dash said, gesturing towards the door with a hoof. A hoof Twilight was determined to get back.
“We should… but, is it ok if we just, stay here for a while longer? I’ve waited a long time.” Twilight closed her eyes and wished for the hoof to return, and to her surprise it did. She was delighted, this was better then anything she had fantasized. This was better then her dreams where anything could happen. This was real.
“I hoped you’d say that.” Dash said quietly, resting her chin on top of Twilight’s head, her horn sliding along her cheek as she got comfortable. Ok, maybe cuddling could be cool, but only when it was with Twilight.
“Why me?”
“What?” Dash was caught a little off guard by the random question.
“Of all the ponies you could have chosen, why did you choose me?” Twilight repeated; her voice barely audible as she continued to enjoy the hoof. It was the only constant thing now, everything else she had planned or rationalized had been blown away. That hoof was one constant that she could count on coming back time and time again.
“I don’t know, probably ever since Discord. You never gave up on me, even after I abandoned you, but it was more then that, because all our friends were there. I think it was when you cast the memory spell on me. Of all the memories I got back, the happiest were always the ones with you. The brightest and the strongest were always when we were together. I guess after that it just grew.” Dash shrugged, she didn’t think the why was important, so long as they had the what.
For the moment Twilight was content with the answer. She knew there would be time later to study it if she wanted to, but for now she didn’t want to. She didn’t feel the need to explain why it happened. Maybe it was Rainbow, maybe it was finally getting her love out in the open, or maybe it was the hoof, coming back for its 211th stroke. Whatever it was, it calmed her nerves and dulled her mind. She wanted nothing more then to freeze time, to hold this moment in time with her forever. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
Slowly, Dash allowed her hoof to come to a complete stop, resting just above her wing. She was met with a mumbled complaint from Twilight, who stretched head up and nuzzled her neck, asking for her to continue. For now, however, Dash was happy to just sit with her, Spike would have dinner ready soon and she wasn’t sure she was ready for anypony else to know just yet.
“Why’d you stop?” Twilight grumbled groggily. She was so close to slipping off to sleep in the comforting embrace, her breathing matching the stroking of Rainbow’s hoof.
“Don’t you think we should go eat before Spike get's suspicious?” Dash withdrew her wing and hoof as she started shuffling to the edge of the bed.
“I guess.” Twilight sounded as if her heart had broken. Like this was a one time thing and Dash would never come back. Dash leaned in close, her muzzle right in Twilight’s ear.
“If you want we can continue after dinner.” Twilight instantly perked up, she got that look that she only ever got when she had made a new list, when she had just finished planning out the next month down to the minute. The look of a pony looking forward to the thing they loved most. In this case it was something as simple as being held by Rainbow Dash.
“Well then, let’s hurry up and eat.” Twilight jumped energetically off the bed and bounced to the door much like Pinkie Pie. Where she got the new found energy Dash didn’t know, but it warmed her heart to see her so happy. Cuddling may not be cool, but if she got to see Twilight like that, then she could take it; after all, she had plenty of coolness to spare. Smiling to herself she got off the bed with a quick flap and trotted over to the door.
“Hold up.” She called after the fading purple form trotting down the stairs. She got no response however, as Twilight just kept going, forcing her to pick up the pace to catch up.
“Come on, I thought you were the fastest pegasus in Equestria, surly you can catch me?” Twilight taunted, reaching the base of the stairs just as Rainbow got to the top.
“Oh you are so on!” Dash challenged, quickly taking to the air and diving right past the stairs at break neck speed. She heard Twilight giggle as she rounded a corner, revealing Twilight sitting at the table, reading a book as if she had been there for hours.
“Wow, you must be out of practice.” Twilight raised her hoof to her mouth in a fake yawn, though it still failed to cover up the huge grin she wore.
“Yeah, laugh it up, you got a head start. I won’t go easy next time.” Dash landed and walked up to the table where Twilight sat.
“Good timing, I was just about to come get you two. Here.” He passed a plate loaded with hay noodles to each pony. “Now will you please tell me why Twilight was knocked out when I got here?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash glanced nervously at each other, both unsure as to what the other wanted to do. As they stared at each other an uncomfortable silence befell the room, nopony daring to break it.
“When I was putting the books back on the shelf I kind of dropped a rather heavy one on my head.” Twilight was first to break the silence, having come to the conclusion that it would be best to wait a while before telling the others. Dash seemed to agree, as she quickly ran with it.
“Yeah, it was a pretty big book.” Spike looked suspiciously between the two ponies who were still staring at each other.
“You dropped something as light as a book? C’mon, I know you’re stronger then that.”
“I, uh, startled her accidentally?” Though it sounded more like a question then an answer, Spike seemed to accept it as he glared angrily at Dash,
“Why would you do that? You know she needs to concentrate when she does her magic!” Spike yelled; the anger thick in his voice. Twilight was like a big sister to him, it was only natural for him to be protective, even if he was going a bit too far for Twilight’s taste.
“It was an accident!” Dash defended weakly, though from the look on Spike’s face it had done little to calm his anger.
“So what? She could have been hurt worse! She could have a concussion, or she could have bent her head the wrong way and broke her neck! Do you have any idea what could have happened?” Spike seethed, his claws clenched into fists as he verbally assaulted Rainbow. Rainbow knew he was mad, but she couldn’t keep from snickering a little.
“So what it’s funny to you now? It’s funny Twilight could be seriously injured?”
“No, it’s just… you sound like Twilight!” Dash burst out laughing, falling from her chair and kicking her back legs out as her body shook with a booming laugh. Even Twilight couldn’t help but start laughing as she connected the dots. It would be just like her mind to rush to the worst case scenario.
“It doesn’t matter who I sound like! Twilight, back me up on this.” Spike turned to look at Twilight hopefully, but what he saw was a purple ball of giggling that had collapsed onto the table. “Not you too!” Spike groaned, slapping a claw to his forehead.
“She has a point, Spike. None of that happened and it was just an accident, just calm down, alright?” Twilight slowly regained control of her breathing.
“Fine. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Spike spat before walking back into the kitchen, the door slamming behind him.
“Wow, I’ve never seen him so protective.” Dash said, finally cutting off her laughing as she climbed back into her chair.
“Yeah, he’s growing up. He’s really cute when he gets like that. He’ll be fine in a bit.” Twilight levitated a fork full of pasta and sauce up to her mouth. He may be a bit over protective, but he made some amazing food. Those cooking lessons in Canterlot really paid off. Rainbow chuckled a bit before diving into her own food; Spike really was a good chef.
For the rest of dinner they ate in a happy silence. The sound of chewing the only noise in the room, along with the occasional clatter of dishes being cleaned and put away in the kitchen. They were happy to let it stay that way. For now no words needed to be said, no conversations had, no feelings exposed. They had gotten it all previously, and now they could enjoy a quiet meal with each other as a new couple.
When dinner was done they went back to Twilight’s bed. Dash had a promise to hold up, and Twilight needed comfort. For what, Dash wasn’t sure, but she could tell there was something going on in her head. Upon walking into the room Twilight immediately rushed to the bed and sat, motioning for Dash to join her.
“What’s up, Twi?” Dash asked as she sat next to Twilight, wrapping her wing around her instantly. There was just something about it that felt right to Rainbow Dash, something protective about the gesture that made Dash feel proud of herself; like she was protecting Twilight from some giant monster or something.
“What do we do now?” Twilight spoke quietly. She refused to meet Rainbow’s gaze as she glued her eyes to her hooves.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what does this make us? A couple? Do we tell our friends? Should we be together? Do we want to be together? Every book I’ve read has told me this will never work and books have never been wrong. But, at the same time, I don’t want to believe that, I want this to last forever.” A single tear rolled its way down Twilight’s face. Rainbow quickly saw it and brought her hoof up to wipe it away.
“Then don’t listen to your books. Listen to what your heart is telling you.” Dash made a mental note to do something awesome later to counteract how un-cool that statement was. However, as clichéd as it was, it seemed to at least start to calm Twilight’s nerves, as she looked up from her hooves and met Dash’s pink eyes with her own violet ones.
“But… my books, they said that-” Twilight was cut off by a cyan hoof resting gently over her lips.
“It doesn’t matter what they said right now. Right now all that matters is that we’re together. I bet your books said that was impossible as well.” Rainbow said in the most comforting tone she could. It was calming for the unicorn to have Dash be there, for her, telling her to ignore her books; the only things that had been constant throughout her life other then the Princess herself. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to add one more constant.
“Rainbow?” Twilight asked timidly, the pegasus smiled and looked at the unicorn as she brought her a little closer with her wing.
“Yeah?”
“Would you be my marefriend?
“Any day of the week.”