> A Magical Spectrum
>  by DoctorSpectrum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One: Nerves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle let out a deep sigh as she stared into the mirror. In the past half hour, she had been pacing around her bedroom, trying to make sense of the newfound feelings she had been experiencing the past week. For once, it seemed as though her usual logical approach to problems wasn’t going to work, and so she had turned to her emotions and primal thoughts to understand the new feelings she had been experiencing. And after all of this time, she had finally reached her conclusion.

            “I like you, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said nervously to herself, noting the way her pulse increased as she said the pegasus’ name. “I like you a lot, and – and I want to be with you.”

            It had all started out so simply. Just over a week ago, Rainbow Dash had come over to the library for a reading session with Twilight. The evening had started out as innocently as any other, the two mares quietly reading and occasionally commenting on some noteworthy part of their novels to one another.

            But as the night had progressed, the weather had gradually gotten colder and colder, culminating in a heavy storm which beat furiously at the windows. In spite of Twilight’s insistence that she had known a heating spell, Rainbow Dash had ended up warming up the two ponies by wrapping a wing around Twilight. Although Twilight hadn’t realised it at the time, the soft touch of Dash’s feathers had stirred something inside her – the longing for somepony to be with.

            Over the resulting week, Twilight had started to notice small things about herself – the way her voice would stammer and crack when talking to Rainbow Dash, or the constant shaking of her legs when Rainbow Dash came over for another reading session. And so, determined to find out the reason for these odd sensations, Twilight had gone over her feelings and thoughts, leading to the present situation.

            Of course, now that Twilight had worked out her feelings, she had a new problem. Namely, how was she going to tell Rainbow Dash that she had a crush on her? Clearing her throat, the unicorn looked into her mirror, imagining that it was the cyan pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, I like you. Do – do you like me and want to go out with me?” Twilight said, unintentionally rushing the last few words.

            It was easy to ask the question here, in her bedroom with nopony watching, but what would happen if she really were to say the words directly to Rainbow?  Twilight wasn’t sure whether she wanted to think about the pegasus’ reaction – whether it be shock, confusion, or worst of all, disgust. Heck, Rainbow Dash could even mistake it for a prank by Twilight. All of these hypothetical scenarios filled Twilight’s head against her bidding as a voice at the back of her head whispered to her that Rainbow Dash didn’t feel the same way.

            Forcing herself to ignore the voice, Twilight once more cleared her throat and faced the mirror to practice. “Rainbow Dash, would you like to go out with me?” she said, forcing herself to speak clearly and at a reasonable pace. “Because it’s just that we’ve been spending a lot of time together recently – well, relatively recently, at any rate – and I was thinking that I like when we spend time together, because you’re really friendly and nice and confident and your wings are really soft and nice to touch if that doesn’t sound weird and I really would like to go out with you so how about it?”

            Twilight’s voice sped up as she continued to speak, getting to the point where the pauses in-between words were barely noticeable. She finished off her ramble with a smile, which she held for a few seconds before letting it slide. She may not have had any experience with asking out ponies – whether they be stallions or mares – but she knew that the attempt she had just made was horrible. Her eyes slid to the ground and she sighed. “How is this so hard?” she wondered out loud.

            “How is what so hard?” a voice asked as a newcomer entered the room.

            “Spike!” Twilight yelped, wondering how much he had heard. “What are you doing – I mean, have you finished re-arranging the books downstairs?” To give herself some time to go over her feelings this morning, Twilight had asked the baby dragon to make himself busy sorting some books into order.

            “Sorted ‘em into alphabetical order by author name, just like you asked,” Spike said. “Nothing else you wanted me to do, is there?”

            As much as Twilight wanted to get Spike out of the room, she wasn’t selfish enough to send him off to do more unnecessary work for her own sake, and so she merely said, “No, that should be fine for now.”

            “Good, because your number one assistant is ready for some relaxation,” Spike said, climbing into his basket. “What were you doing in here, anyway? It sounded like you were talking to yourself.”

            “Of course I wasn’t talking to myself!” Twilight hastily replied, blushing slightly. “I was just, um… reading aloud from this play, to… get a feel for how the work sounds when it’s acted out on stage!” As she spoke, Twilight levitated the nearest book she could find over to herself, holding it out to convince Spike that she really was telling the truth.

            “Ah yes, that is a classic, isn’t it?” Spike asked, examining the cover. Twilight nodded, hoping that he was buying her lie. “Although I didn’t realise that they had turned 101 Magical Theorems For You and Your Partner into a play.”

            Blushing even more furiously, Twilight had a quick glance at the cover before putting it aside on a desk. “Oh, isn’t – isn’t that strange?” she asked, trying to smile but looking all the more unconvincing as a result. “I’m sure that I had put the play around here somewhere!”

            “…Are you sure that you were reading a play out loud?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow. When Twilight was as highly strung as she was at the moment, her lying was even more obvious than Applejack’s.

            “Of course I was!” Twilight said, trying to think up some way to change the topic. “What else would I be doing? Practising asking out somepony special?”

            “Where did that come from?”

            “Nowhere! Like I said, I was reading a play out loud!”

            “Right…” Spike still had his eyebrow raised, partially out of confusion, partially out of concern. Just as Twilight began to think that he was accepting the lie, he added, “It’s not Rarity, is it?”

            “What?” Although Twilight realised that she would have to let other ponies eventually know about her crush if Rainbow Dash decided to go out with her, she wanted it to remain a secret for now. “Don’t be silly, Spike. I did say that I wasn’t -”

            “Big Macintosh?”

            “No, because I wasn’t-”

            “Fluttershy?”

            “Where are you getting these ideas from?”

            “Rainbow Dash?”

            Twilight unintentionally hesitated a moment before answering. “…No,” she said, her voice going oddly high-pitched.

            “Oh really?” Spike asked, an evil grin spreading from cheek-to-cheek. “So, you’d deny it if I said that Rainbow Dash is the most stunning pony in all of Equestria?”

            “Um… of course I would,” Twilight said, feeling a lump form in her throat.

            “Ha!” Spike laughed. “You’re so obvious, Twilight!”

            “Okay, fine, you worked it out,” Twilight snapped, her emotions getting the better of her. “Happy?”

            “Sorry, Twilight, I was just joking around,” Spike said, defending himself. “I actually think it’s kinda cool.” In spite of his reassurance, Twilight was now looking downcast. “Twilight? You alright?” Spike asked. “I didn’t annoy you that much, did I?”

            “No, Spike, you didn’t,” Twilight sighed. “It’s just – this Rainbow Dash thing. I, well – I sort of, you know… want to ask her out.” Admitting all of this to Spike wasn’t easy, but it was nice to get it off her chest. “And I’m not too sure how to do so.”

            Spike shrugged. “Just go up and, y’know, ask her.”

            “Really, Spike?” Twilight deadpanned. “That never occurred to me. Thanks for the advice.”

            “What’s wrong with that?”

            “Because it isn’t that simple!” Twilight exclaimed. “Don’t you know how many ways this could go wrong?” In response, Spike stared blankly, not sure how to reply. “If I end up panicking and overreacting, I’ll look like an idiot in front of Rainbow! But if I also don’t want to be too casual about it, or she might think it’s a joke! But then again, what if I overdo it? Rainbow might think that I’m taking things too seriously too quickly – and oh Celestia! What if she doesn’t want to be serious with me? What if she just wants a casual relationship – or – or what if she doesn’t want a relationship at all?! Then I’ll be the laughing stock of Ponyville, and everypony will –”

            “Calm down, Twilight,” Spike said, snapping a claw a few times in front of Twilight. Her speech had started to speed up once more as she had let her vast imagination run wild, and started to consider all possibilities in her own analytical way. With Spike quite literally snapping her out of it, Twilight’s rambling stopped, and she started breathing deeply for a few moments.

            “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said as her pulse rate slowly returned to normal. “It’s just that I- I don’t want to screw this up. Over this past week, I’ve started to realise how much I care for Rainbow Dash, and I -”

            “Wait, over the past week?” Spike asked, a grin forming on his face once more. “Does this mean that when you two were having your reading session and I came in to find Rainbow’s wing around you –”

           “That was nothing,” Twilight hastily said. Although she was starting to blush once more, she couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Rainbow Dash’s soft, cuddly, and above all warming wing. “It was a cold night, remember?”

            “If you say so,” Spike said, still grinning. “But go on.”

            “Well, like I was saying, I realised how much I’ve started to care for Rainbow Dash, and when I … ask her out, I- I’d like everything to be perfect.”

            “Twilight…” Spike began, concern creeping into his voice, “I don’t think that you should make too big a deal out of this. It’s possible to plan too much, and -”

            “Obviously I can’t just leap right into the question,” Twilight continued, ignoring Spike’s advice. “I’ve got to lead up to it casually… Hmm, and I’ve also got to find a good time to ask her, when other ponies aren’t around...”

            Spike slapped his face with a claw. “Twilight, why don’t you just go to Rainbow Dash’s house right now and ask her out? Or invite her over and do it?”

            Twilight shook her head. “No, that’ll look too unnatural, and Rainbow will know that I’m up to something… Maybe I could schedule a book reading session for tomorrow evening? Although since we normally read on Wednesdays it might look a little suspicious if I move it a day forwards…” By now Twilight was writing down ideas, having picked up a nearby length of parchment and quill. “I know! I’ll tell her that on Wednesday evening I’m busy, so that she’s got to come over tomorrow… now, how should I ask the question…?”

            Having realised by now that Twilight wasn’t going to listen to him, Spike simply rolled his eyes and climbed back into his basket, wrapping his blanket around him. For the next fifteen or so minutes Twilight continued scribbling on the parchment, muttering occasionally as she made adjustments to whatever she was writing. Once she was done, she levitated the parchment in front of Spike.

            “All done!” she said happily. “Tell me, what do you think?”

            Spike had a quick skim of the parchment before answering. “Twilight… what is this? Some sort of chart?”

            “Yep!” Twilight said proudly. “It’s a flowchart I’ve constructed to ensure the best possible way to partake in a conversation with Rainbow Dash whilst leading her onto the topic of dating! I estimate a ninety-four point three percent chance of managing to bring the conversation around to dating and asking Rainbow Dash out!”

            “So… how does it work?” Spike asked, looking at the flowchart with a worrying look. The amount of options and arrows pointing around the chart was monstrous – the chart could have been mistaken for some sort of creature from beyond the veil of space and time.

            “It’s simple! I begin by greeting Rainbow Dash,” Twilight began, pointing a hoof to what was apparently the start of the chart, “and then depending upon her response to that, I simply follow the chart through, choosing whichever option is best for the situation!” She giggled nervously to herself. “I was feeling pretty nervous about asking Rainbow out earlier, but thanks to this chart, I think I can do it.”

            Spike rolled his eyes once more. “Sometimes you’re impossible, Twilight,” he muttered as he returned to the warmth of his blanket.

            Not hearing him, Twilight continued reading over the chart. “Yep! If I follow this chart when I invite Rainbow over tomorrow, I think that everything should be just fine!”
 

============================

 
            It was early afternoon when there was a knock at the library door. Humming happily to herself, Twilight put away the flowchart, which she had been modifying every few minutes as she considered a new scenario that could potentially crop up during her meeting the next day.

            “Just a minute!” Twilight called out. She rolled up the flowchart once she was sure that all of the ink was dry, and tucked it away in-between two books. There was no need for whomever her guest was to find and question it.

            Twilight walked over to the door and opened it, wondering who could be visiting. She opened her mouth, planning to greet the pony, only to leave her mouth open in shock once she realised whom the guest was.

            It was Rainbow Dash.

            “Hey Twilight!” Dash greeted in her usual chirpy manner. “What’s up?”

            “R-Rainbow?” Twilight stammered, not quite believing the scene before her eyes. “What are- what are you doing here?” She could feel a lump rising in her throat, and she found it hard to look the pegasus in the eye as she entered the library.

            “What do you mean? Spike sent a message to me telling me to come over today, so I did!” Twilight had asked Spike to send a message to Rainbow Dash, but to ask her to come over the next day. He had clearly tried to meddle with Twilight’s plan for what he thought was her own good. Just as Twilight was beginning to think up of a way in which she could somehow work with the situation, Rainbow added in, “He said that you had something to tell me.”

            Twilight’s heart rate had already been steadily increasing upon seeing the pegasus, but upon hearing those words it sped up so much that she was amazed Dash couldn’t hear it somehow. “O-oh, did he?” Twilight asked. She was trying to think a way out of the situation so that she could follow the plan she’d been making all morning, but at the moment the majority of her brain was thinking Rainbow Dash is here!

            “Yep!” Rainbow Dash smiled at Twilight Sparkle, causing a conspicuous blush to spread across Twilight’s cheeks. The unicorn turned her face away, hoping that Rainbow hadn’t noticed it. “So, what was it you wanted to say?”

            “Oh, well I, um… T-tell me, how is the weather duty going?” Twilight asked. The swift pounding of her heart was filling her head, and she was sure that any moment now Rainbow would question why she was so tense.

            Subtly raising an eyebrow, Rainbow replied, “Yeah, it’s going pretty alright. You probably noticed that yesterday was a bit windier than it was supposed to be – that was because of some new worker who doesn’t quite know what she’s doing yet.” Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight swallowing as the unicorn nodded, avoiding her gaze. “Is everything alright, Twi? You seem kinda… nervous.”

            “Of c-course everything’s alright!” Twilight said, forcing herself to smile. “In fact, why don’t I go and make us some coffee?” One of her back legs was shaking quite noticeably – at least, it seemed noticeable to Twilight. She assumed that Rainbow was too polite to question her intense blushing, which just made her feel like even more of an idiot than she already did.

            “Uh, no thanks,” Rainbow said, still with an eyebrow raised. “Too bitter for me. But anyway, did you want to say whatever it is you –”

            “Of course you want coffee!” Twilight interrupted, slightly more loudly than she meant to. “You just wait right here and make yourself comfortable!” In her haste to leave the room, she teleported into the kitchen rather than walking the ten or so metres.

            Twilight levitated a bag of coffee beans from a cupboard, but no sooner was it in the air than her magic spasmed and she spilled half the contents all over the bench. “Oh, no no no no no!” Twilight said, trying to sweep all of the beans into one pile with her hooves. “Don’t look like even more of an idiot!” she said to herself. She slammed her face into the bench, not realising how hard she was biting her lip as she did so. For a brief moment, Twilight wondered whether it was worth teleporting to some far-away island and living the rest of her life out as a hermit to avoid having to face Rainbow Dash again.

            “That you I hear, Twilight?” Spike asked as he entered the kitchen. “How’d it go? Pretty good idea of mine, telling Rainbow Dash to – oh,” he said, noticing Twilight’s shaky stance. She turned around to face Spike and slid to the ground, her hooves feeling too weak to support her at this moment in time. “You alright?” Spike asked, concerned.

            “No,” whispered Twilight. “I- I don’t think I can do this, Spike. I don’t think I can ask out Rainbow Dash.”

            “Aw, c’mon, Twi!” Spike encouraged. “You just need to get back out there and tell her how you really feel!”

            “No,” Twilight repeated, still whispering. “I’ll go up to her and ask her out and she’ll say no but say it really nicely and I’ll say that’s okay and that I’m fine with it but I won’t be and then she’ll leave the library and she’ll never talk to me again because she’ll think that I have a crush on her which I will because she’s so pretty and amazing and –” Twilight’s rambling was interrupted by Spike putting a claw on her shoulder.

            “Twilight, you’ll be fine. Rainbow Dash is a good friend, she’ll definitely think about it, and I’m sure she’ll say yes once she has.” He spoke the words as sincerely as he could.

            Twilight felt a small glimmer of hope. “You – you really think so?” she asked. She was still biting her lip, but with a little less force.

            “I do,” Spike said. He held out a claw for Twilight and helped her to her hooves. “Now go out and get that mare!”

            “Th-thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, still feeling incredibly nervous, but a little better than she was a moment ago. “I’ll – I’ll try and do that.” The mare exited the room, trying to feel more confident than she was. It’s okay, she thought to herself. You can do this, Twilight. Don’t think about the plan, don’t think about how you look right now. Just go up to her and say what you need to.

            “Sooo... should I stay and wait for coffee or not?” Rainbow Dash asked as Twilight approached, cocking her head to one side. Twilight took a deep breath before answering.

            “No Rainbow Dash, you don’t,” she began, trying to stay calm. Easy part’s over – keep going, Twilight. “But I am, um, ready to tell you that thing,” she said, starting to take note of how much she was blushing before trying to ignore it. As much as she longed to avoid Rainbow’s gaze and to face the floor, Twilight forced herself to keep looking into the pegasus pony’s beautiful magenta eyes.

            “Yeah, I was kinda wondering whether you’d get to that sometime today,” Rainbow said, laughing a little. Twilight forced herself to join in. “What is it?”

            Twilight took another deep breath. “Well, I’m sure that you, um, remember that night about a week ago or so when we were reading together,” she began. Eyes on Rainbow! “And how cold it ended up getting,” she continued, trying to delay the moment as best she could.

            “Yep,” Rainbow said bluntly, blinking once or twice. “I remember.” Twilight wasn’t sure whether she should be glad that Rainbow didn’t appear to be seeing where she was going with this.

            Twilight’s front two hooves fiddled with each other as she continued, avoiding Rainbow Dash’s eyes in spite of her earlier determination. “And after we ended up… together as we, um, were on the night, I thought that I, uh, kind of liked that.” Twilight risked a quick look at the pegasus before returning to facing the floor. Rainbow’s expression was impossible to read, but she was clearly listening intently.

            “And it just sort of got me thinking… I really like you, with the way you’re always there for me, and the way you’re always so bright and cheerful and can get me to smile in ways that even Pinkie Pie can’t, and the way your feathers are, um, r-really soft and nice to touch,” Twilight stammered, starting to trip over her words now. “And I, um, had a big think, and I sort of want to ask you…” Twilight forced herself to look at Rainbow Dash directly once more, wishing with all her might that the next few seconds would be over.

            “Would you like to go out with me?”
> Chapter Two: Decisions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.


============================


            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.”
 

============================

 
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