//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two: Decisions 
// Story: A Magical Spectrum 
// by DoctorSpectrum 
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Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise, assuming for a moment that she had misheard Twilight. The purple unicorn was standing before her, a very nervous and forced smile upon her face.  Rainbow Dash could sense a lot of tense, built-up energy within her friend, whose hooves were noticeably fidgeting.

            Rainbow Dash was so taken back by Twilight’s question that a few moments passed before Twilight hesitantly added, “So…?” There was a shaky quiver in her voice. In her surprise, Dash hadn’t even answered the question.

            “Oh, um, gee Twilight… that’s kinda a big question you’re asking there,” Rainbow answered shakily, stalling for time. Is there a way to let her off as quickly and as easily as possible? she wondered.

            “Oh, naturally,” Twilight answered quickly, nodding her head in agreement. “I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest if you need time to make up your mind. Obviously I’d, um, love it if you’d said yes –” The unicorn somehow managed to blush even deeper upon saying these words, and once more avoided Rainbow Dash’s gaze. “– b-but of course that’s up to you! No pressure at all! If you want to say no, just say it – that’s okay too and I’m definitely fine with that.” Twilight’s hasty speech was ended with yet another forced smile.

            As tempted as Rainbow Dash was to simply tell Twilight her honest opinion, leave the library, and never mention the incident to anypony again, she was a better pony than that, and didn’t want to hurt Twilight’s emotions in so blunt a manner. “Well if you don’t mind, I might, uh, have to think about it for a bit,” Rainbow Dash said, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. “I mean, it’s a big question, and I dunno whether I can just answer it on the spot like this…”

            “Yep! Sure! That’s fine by me!” Twilight said, nodding frantically once more. “Take as long as you need to make up your mind.”

            “Yeah… sure, Twilight,” Rainbow replied, her ears drooping a little. Dammit, I wanted to let her off easily, but now I feel guilty for leading her on. “If you don’t mind I might, uh, go home for a little bit.”

            “Of course!” Twilight agreed as the two ponies exited out the front door of the library. “You do what you feel you need to do in order to reach a decision. Take as long as you need!”

            “Sure,” Rainbow said briskly, hovering into the air. She was about to zoom off for her home when Twilight cleared her throat.

            “I, um, don’t suppose that you’ll come to a decision by later this afternoon, would you?” she asked, forcing herself to face Rainbow Dash with a hopeful smile on her face.

            “Um… we’ll see,” Rainbow said, taking off before Twilight unintentionally made her feel any more guilt.

            Twilight stayed outside the library, watching the receding form of the pegasus until it was no longer visible to her eyes. Her chest felt oddly tight, and she still had a lump in her throat, but she felt a bit more relieved knowing that she had done all that she could have in asking out the pegasus. As Twilight returned to the library, Spike entered the room.

            “So? How’d it go?” he asked.

            “Well, it went as well as it could have,” Twilight said. She was trying not to think it over too much – whenever she started to, she remembered how fidgety she had been, and how visible her blush was. “I just have to wait for Rainbow’s response.”

            “See? I told you that she’d think about it!” Spike said confidently, punching the air with a fist. “And I’m sure that she’ll agree to go out with you once she’s given it enough thought.”

            “Yeah… I’m sure she will,” Twilight said, allowing herself a small smile as she clambered onto a couch. This lasted for about ten seconds, before Twilight started to imagine what could be going through the pegasus’ mind, and started to fidget nervously.

            “Twilight…” Spike said warningly, noticing the return of her nerves.

            “…What do you think Rainbow thinks of me?” Twilight asked, a hint of worry creeping into her voice. “Do you think she likes me as more than a friend?”

            “I’m not answering that,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “You’ve asked Rainbow Dash out, all you can do now is wait for her answer.”

            “I suppose so,” Twilight reluctantly said, sighing and resting her head on her hooves. “But I’m starting to feel kinda helpless…This situation is now entirely out of my hooves!”

            “And you didn’t expect this when you first planned to ask her out?” Spike asked in a monotone. “Listen, Twilight, you’re a smart mare – you know as well as I do that there really is only one thing you can do right now – and it’s not worrying and panicking about what’s happening.”

            “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Twilight said. “There is only one thing I can do…” Spike nodded in agreement. “…and that’s to write up a flowchart to try and anticipate Rainbow’s reaction to my question, based upon what factors of the conversation she picked up on and her possible thoughts prior to me asking her! What do you think?” Twilight had already gotten up and retrieved a scroll of parchment and a quill.

            Rather than giving a proper response, Spike chose to merely smack his face with a claw.


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            Rainbow Dash opened the door of her house and headed up to her bedroom, less energetic than she would normally be. It was a good thing that today was her day off from work; she didn’t think that she would be able to concentrate enough to work properly today if she had to. Rainbow collapsed onto her bed, closing her eyes and sighing.

            Twilight Sparkle likes me. It was an odd situation, one which Dash had nothing to compare it to. Sure, she’d had ponies who knew her from her various stunts and tricks develop crushes on her before – some of those had been mares, too – but that was different. Those were just random ponies whom Rainbow didn’t have much emotional attachment to, having never known the majority of them before. Twilight was different. Twilight was one of Rainbow’s best friends, someone who she knew and regularly spent time with.

            For a minute, Rainbow Dash debated returning to the library right now, and telling Twilight her answer. That as flattered as she was, she just didn’t think of Twilight in the same way, and that she liked the two of them as they had been earlier – as friends. But even in Rainbow’s head, the situation bothered her.

            She pictured Twilight’s ears gradually drooping as Rainbow revealed her thoughts. Of Twilight avoiding her eyes, probably saying that it was fine in an unconvincing voice. The disappointed mare’s expression as she returned into the library, no doubt to lose herself in a book in the hopes of forgetting her feelings… no, Rainbow Dash definitely didn’t feel comfortable telling Twilight that she didn’t want to go out with her, regardless of how sincere she sounded in her imagination.

            But what was the alternative? Rainbow had never considered the possibility of dating any of her close friends, since that was all that she thought of them as – friends. Sure, now that she was thinking about it, Rainbow could admit that Twilight had a nice, smooth mane, and her coat was certainly warm and cuddly from the times that Rainbow had been in close contact with her. Rainbow could even admit that she had enjoyed the feeling of wrapping a wing around Twilight at the library the other week, managing to comfort and protect Twilight at the same time. All of that was fine. But dating Twilight? That was definitely not in Rainbow’s list of cool things to do.

            “Urgh! Why can’t somepony else just tell me what to do, so I can get this over and done with?” Rainbow wondered out loud, frustrated. A moment or two passed before she thought her impulsive idea through. Sure, getting somepony to just tell her what to do was a stupid idea, but asking somepony else for advice in a situation like this? That could work.

            Who to ask, though? That was the question. Pinkie was out of the question – the hypothetical best advice she could give Rainbow would no doubt be something insane and misleading. Rarity was out of the picture as well – Rainbow was sure that her advice would somehow lead to her and Twilight dining in a fancy five-star restaurant before the night was out. That left Applejack and Fluttershy.

            After a few moments of thinking it over, Rainbow settled on Fluttershy. Applejack was a good friend, but she had as little experience as Rainbow in matters such as these. And besides, she’d probably end up teasing Rainbow about it, something the pegasus would rather not think about. Fluttershy was a much better choice – she was one of Dash’s oldest friends, after all, and was more likely to think over the situation properly than Dash.

            Within a few minutes, Rainbow Dash had flown off for Fluttershy’s cottage. She had tried putting it off, but even in those few minutes she couldn’t help but wonder what to do about the Twilight situation. After a short flight, the pegasus was knocking on Fluttershy’s door.

            “Come in!” came the soft voice from within, to which Rainbow complied. As usual, Fluttershy’s house was filled with all manner of small creatures running around the place. The yellow pegasus herself was currently sitting on a couch, sipping some tea from a mug. “Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy greeted as she took in her visitor. “What brings you around here? I thought you’d be at weather duty.”

            “Nah, today’s my day off,” Rainbow said, walking over and sitting opposite Fluttershy on another couch. “As for why I’m here, well, I, uh… it’s kinda personal,” she said, feeling embarrassed as she recalled what she was going to talk to Fluttershy about.

            “P-personal?” Fluttershy asked, blushing as brightly as Twilight had been all afternoon.

            “Yep, personal,” Rainbow replied simply. “Y’see, earlier today Spike sent me a message saying that Twilight had something important to say to me. I went around to the library, and… well…” Rainbow faltered a little.

            “Yes?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

            “Well, Twilight sort of… asked me out,” Rainbow said bluntly.

            “Oh my!” Fluttershy replied, blushing once more. “That is quite personal!”

            “Yeah, I know it is,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “The point is… I kinda don’t know what to say to her, and I was hoping you could help.”

            “You mean you haven’t given her an answer yet?” Fluttershy asked, shocked.

            “Well… no,” Rainbow said, rubbing her neck awkwardly. “That’s why I came around here – y’see, I need to -”

            “Oh, but you simply must give her an answer right away!” Fluttershy interrupted. “If you don’t, who knows what Twilight might think? She’s probably beside herself with nerves right now!”

            “You think so?” Rainbow asked, grimacing. She’d felt guilty enough about planning to reject Twilight’s advance – now she was also probably giving Twilight an anxiety attack.

            “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case,” Fluttershy said, taking a sip of her tea. “What did you tell her when she asked?”

            “I said that I needed time to think about it,” Rainbow explained. “That’s not that bad, is it?”

            “Well… it’s not the worst thing you could have said, but it’s probably not the best,” Fluttershy said. “You should definitely give her an answer as soon as possible. What were you thinking about it?”

            “I’m kinda torn,” Rainbow admitted. “If I say no, I’ll hurt Twilight’s feelings, and I really don’t wanna do that. But if I say yes, then I’m just lying to myself, and everything will fall apart sooner or later. I want to say no, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

            “Hmm…” Fluttershy gave it a few moments of thought, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “I think that if you don’t feel the same way, you’ll just have to be honest with her. Tell her that you don’t want to go out with her, and that you just want to stay friends. I don’t think that there’s a way to reject her without hurting her feelings.”

            Rainbow Dash cringed. That was the very last answer she had wanted Fluttershy to give. “Yeah, but… I feel so bad about making her upset. Seeing her unhappy… it’d make me feel pretty bad. Twilight’s a lot nicer when she’s happy, don’t you think?”

            “Isn’t it better to let her know your feelings, and save her some heartbreak now rather than later?”

            “I dunno… my head says that that’s the right thing to do, but my heart says that it’s wrong,” Rainbow said. “I know how confusing that sounds, but that’s how it is.”

            “Well then,” Fluttershy suggested, “why don’t you say yes if you don’t want Twilight to be upset?”

            “What?” Rainbow said, shocked. “Are you kidding? I can’t go out with Twilight!”

            “Oh?” Fluttershy asked, taking another sip from her mug of tea. “Why not?”

            Rainbow hesitated before answering. And hesitated some more, trying to think of what her reason was. Or any reason, really – there were dozens of them. So how come she couldn’t think of a single one right now?

            “Well… I guess because she’s my friend?” she eventually answered. “It’d feel kinda weird, dating a friend.”

            “How so?” Fluttershy asked. “You two could still do the things you do at the moment, you’d just have more, um, intimate moments as well.” The pegasus blushed again and avoided Rainbow Dash’s gaze.

            “With Twilight?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “I dunno… I mean, sure, she’s a great pony, and I do like spending time with her. But I just can’t picture myself doing… that sort of stuff with her… although I guess it did feel kinda nice, being able to comfort and warm her up at the library the other week, and I guess she’d be sorta fun to cuddle with based on that…” Rainbow Dash blinked. Where did that come from? And why was she suddenly fiddling around with her hooves so much?

            Fluttershy smiled knowingly. “Are you sure you don’t have feelings for Twilight?”

            Rather than answer with a simple “no”, Rainbow Dash continued fiddling with her hooves as she considered the question properly for the first time since Twilight had asked her out. What was wrong with the idea of dating the unicorn? Twilight was a great friend, and she and Rainbow had had some great times together, especially after Twilight had introduced Rainbow to reading.

            “I… I dunno,” Rainbow said. “Now that I’m actually thinking about it rather than immediately dismissing it, I don’t think that dating Twilight would be that bad… but I dunno whether it’d be a great thing either.” She flicked her tail in frustration.

            The cottage was relatively silent (the various animals were naturally as noisy as ever) as Fluttershy pondered the situation whilst finishing off her tea. Even after she put her mug down on a nearby coffee table, the yellow pegasus continued to stay silent as she tried to think of a way to get both of her friends happy.

            “I think you have to say yes,” she eventually said, summing the situation up simply.

            “You really think so?” Rainbow asked.

            “I do,” Fluttershy confirmed. “If you’re not sure about your feelings, it won’t hurt to at least try going out with Twilight for a little while. That way, if you decide that you don’t like her, you’ve at least given it a chance, and Twilight can take comfort in the fact that you did so.”

            Rainbow thought Fluttershy’s proposal over. On the surface there was nothing wrong with it, and as Fluttershy had said, as she wasn’t sure of her feelings it wouldn’t hurt to try dating Twilight. “…Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Rainbow agreed. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

            “No problem at all,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “Would you like to stay for a mug of tea? I’ve still got some in the kettle, and I didn’t even consider offering you some when you arrived. Sorry,” she added quietly.

            Hovering into the air, Rainbow grinned at her fellow pegasus. “Thanks but no thanks, Fluttershy,” she said. “There’s a unicorn I’ve got to go see.”

            “Good luck, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said as Dash flew over to the door and opened it. “I hope everything works out between you two!”  

Dash gave Fluttershy a nod before flying out the door and in the direction of the library.

“Oh my, I hope that she does decide to stay with Twilight,” Fluttershy said to herself as she got up from the couch. “They’d be such a nice couple. Although I wish she had thought to close the door before she left.”
 

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Twilight was sitting on a couch in the library, re-reading an old Daring Do book. She had eventually given up on her new flowchart after realising that there were too many variables to keep track of. That, and the majority of options she put down somehow ended up leading to Rainbow Dash turning down her offer, which was something Twilight would rather not have to think about.

In spite of this being her favourite Daring Do book, Twilight could barely concentrate on the words on the page, as her mind kept flashing back to Rainbow Dash no matter how hard she tried not to think about the pegasus. Whenever she forced herself to concentrate on the book, she’d find herself in the middle of a page, unable to recall what had happened in the current scene. Twilight was about to give up on the book and find something more desirable to do, such as frantic pacing, when there was a knock at the door.

Heart pounding, Twilight leapt up from the couch and to the door. Although she was trying to walk at a regular pace, she couldn’t help but canter, in spite of the face that Dash having already made up her mind by now was highly unlikely. Keeping this knowledge in mind, Twilight opened the door, a lump forming in her throat, to see…

“Mail’s here!” said the mailpony as she opened the door. He opened a saddlebag and passed Twilight a few envelopes, some of which looked like bills.

“Oh, um… thank you,” Twilight said, levitating the envelopes from the stallion and placing them on a nearby table. Her ears fell as she turned around to return to the couch. She felt like an idiot – what were the chances that Rainbow had made up her mind so quickly?

“Hey! Twilight!”

The purple unicorn spun around as quickly as she could. She wasn’t imagining that, was she? Her question was answered when the most beautiful pony she had ever laid eyes on swooped through the still-open door. “R-Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed, her voice shaking. Her heart rate had slowed down when she had opened the door to find the mailpony, but upon seeing the pegasus it sped right up again.

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, beating her wings a few time to reduce the landing impact. “Kept you waiting, huh?” she asked, grinning at Twilight.

“Y-yeah, you did,” Twilight replied, forcing herself to laugh. Was Rainbow’s grin an indication of good news for her?

“So anyway, I had a think about what you asked me,” Rainbow began, smiling the whole while. Twilight’s body tensed up, and she swallowed.

“Y-yes?” Twilight asked. A moment later she realised how quietly she had spoken, and repeated the question.

“Look, I’m gonna be honest with you,” Rainbow said, looking to the ground. “I- I’m not one hundred percent sure how I feel about you in… y’know, that way.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “But I know that I like you enough that I’m definitely going to give you a chance, Twilight.” Twilight swallowed once more. Was Rainbow Dash about to say what she thought she was? Twilight’s heartbeat was sounding incredibly loud to her.

“S-so…?” Twilight forced herself to ask. It was all she could manage at the moment.

“Sure thing, Twilight,” Rainbow said, smiling gently at her. “I will go out with you.”

If Twilight had any doubts that her heart rate could increase, they were dismissed as her pulse sped up to the point where there were hardly any pauses between beats. “Yes yes yes yes yes!” she shouted. As tempted as she was to jump around Rainbow in joy, she restrained herself enough to hug the pegasus instead, albeit with a very strong grip. “Thank you so much!”

“Pretty darn happy there!” Rainbow commented. “Maybe I should have thought this over more – I can’t have my marefriend be having more energy than me!”

Twilight immediately released the pegasus, her ears unexpectedly falling. “I- I’m sorry, Rainbow,” she said. “I didn’t realise that you- ”

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow interrupted. “That was a joke.”

“Oh,” Twilight said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof as she looked to the floor in embarrassment. “It’s just that I’ve never dated anypony before and, um, when you said that you’d go out with me I thought you wouldn’t mind but I guess that since you said you were joking it is okay so I shouldn’t have overreacted and –”

“Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted again, putting a hoof on her new marefriend’s shoulder to stop her rambling. “It’s okay. Calm down – you don’t have to worry about things like that.” It occurred to Rainbow that she should probably avoid teasing like that in the future in case Twilight took her too literally. “Just say what’s on your mind,” she added, to help calm down the unicorn.

For some reason, this caused Twilight to blush. She hesitated before saying, “Well, I was thinking, it would be nice if we could… I-I mean, I’ve never kissed anypony before, so would you, um, like to, uh, kiss?” She finished with an awkward smile, which Rainbow was already beginning to realise was quite cute.

In response, the pegasus flashed a grin. Buck it, I’ve already said I’ll date her, and it’s gonna happen sooner or later. “Ready when you are,” she said.

Wait a moment, did she say she was ready when I was? Twilight wondered, taken aback. She had hoped that Rainbow would have kissed her, not the other way around. Well… I guess I can’t back down now, she thought. Taking a step or two closer to Rainbow Dash, Twilight moved her lips in closer to Rainbow’s, and then after another brief moment of hesitation, closed the distance and planted her lips over Rainbow’s.

 A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine as their lips contacted each other. For some reason, Twilight had expected Dash’s lips to be rougher somehow - as it was, they were soft and delicate, and responded eagerly to Twilight’s exploration of them. Twilight hadn’t realised how sensitive her own lips could be prior to this, each nerve tingling where Dash’s lips made contact with her own. For a few moments, the two mares continued to explore the physical side of their new relationship, before Rainbow Dash eventually pulled back.

Twilight’s felt her cheeks heating up as she reluctantly pulled herself back, tempting as it was to lean forwards once more and continue to kiss Dash. “So, um, how was I?” she asked self-consciously. “I mean, that probably wasn’t that good for my first kiss, but I’m sure that I can improve over time if I experiment more and…”

Rainbow rolled her eyes as Twilight started her babbling once more. There was only way to stop this. “Hey Twilight?” she asked, grinning mischievously.

“…chemicals released in the brain and – yes, Rainbow?” Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Rainbow and reminded herself that yes, this beautiful mare was her partner.

“Think fast!” said Rainbow, leaning forwards to embrace Twilight in a kiss. For the next few minutes, the two ponies kissed each other, happy to be in each other’s presence.

And neither would rather have it any other way.
 
The End