The Error
Twilight Sparkle slowly walked into the library, her hooves dragging across the ground and her eyelids heavy. The satchel strapped to her side dropped to the ground and several pieces of paper flew from the unfastened pockets and scattered across the room. She sighed, exhausted but determined to finish her research on the birth of different pony species. She sat in front of a huge presentation board that she had put up beside her desk and looked over the birth tallies once more and gave a satisfied nod. Her horn began to glow a bright magenta as she used her magic to move her satchel over to her. She lifted the flap with a tired hoof, however the motion was too quick and sent more pieces of paper spiralling through the air. The Alicorn groaned in frustration and ground her teeth together in frustration. She heard a pitter-patter of little feet on the floor and whipped her eyes towards the source of the sound. Spike slowly waddled into the room, firmly holding onto the paper that had flown from the bag earlier. The already irritated Twilight growled, knowing that the pieces of paper would have to be organised into the pile again. She snatched away the papers and turned from him quickly to sort through all of the results she had collected. The baby dragon cautiously approached Twilight.
“Umm, Twilight. Don’t you think you should take a break?”
Twilight glared at him and shook her head no, slamming the results from her interview with the Cakes on the floor with a loud thump. Spike gulped.
“No Spike, it’s really important that I finish this as soon as possible!”
Her assistant sighed, knowing she was never going to stop mid-research project. He nodded silently and left Twilight alone to her work. Twilight spread out the sheets from her interview with the Cake family. Hmm, she thought to herself, so Mrs Cake’s parents were both Earth ponies, but her grandfather was a Unicorn. That would explain Pumpkin’s species. Excellent. Right, Mr Cake’s parents were both Pegasi, which means that Pegasi genes are strong in him. Where is the Earth pony origin in him- Ah! His grandfather was an Earth pony. Interesting… Twilight was lost in her studies, scratching her head occasionally when trying to piece together different pieces of data. A small smile would settle on her face when things became clear, but this would quickly become a frown when she got confused again. Oh no! I forgot to ask about their great, great, great, GREAT grandparents! Twilight thought, utterly exasperated. She put the research notes back in the pile and sighed heavily.
Once she had marked these results onto her chart and tally, she stood back, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. She flipped her mane out of her eyes and grinned. Yes, it was all coming together now! She’d be finished in no time! She let her gaze wonder to the picture of her and Rainbow Dash at the Apple Fair in Appleloosa last Hearts and Hooves day. The whole group had planned to go but Fluttershy was nursing Angel back to health, Rarity had important deadlines to meet for Sapphire Shores, Applejack was going on a road-trip with Granny Smith and Pinkie Pie was throwing the ‘super-mega-ultra-fun-Pinkie-love-party’ in Ponyville, so Rainbow and Twilight went alone. They had an amazing time, going on Ferris Wheels and making candy apples together. Twilight shook away the memories which currently served as mere distraction and went back to work, however she couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of their day out. Twilight sighed again, losing herself in her research notes. No more than seconds after her next study session began, a familiar sky-blue, rainbow-maned Pegasus gracefully flew through the open window and landed beside her. She nudged Twilight’s cheek with her nose and plonked herself down.
“Hey Twi, you weren’t at Pinkie’s birthday eve eve eve party, so I was worried. It was awesome by the way- What is all this?”
Twilight let out a laugh and began to talk her friend through the results and the research she was conducting. Eventually, the stubborn mare scoffed and hopped onto her hooves again, her attention already leaving Twilight’s research and wandering elsewhere. Shrugging a little, Twilight turned back to her notes, writing more numbers on her tally and more lines on her graph. Rainbow rolled her eyes and snatched away her data sheet.
“Rainbow!”
Rainbow Dash giggled and flew around the library, holding the paper tightly. Twilight groaned and flew after her, trying in vain to cut her off as she darted around, sending paper flying in all directions. Twilight landed on the ground again and stomped her hooves in frustration.
“Come on Rainbow, give it back!”
Dash took no notice, wanting her friend to take a rest from her boring studies. She flew towards the window, landing on the frame and began to wave the piece of paper around. She had a goofy grin plastered on her face and was laughing, however the unusually serious glare on Twilight’s face brought her laughter to a halt. Rainbow rolled her eyes and flew back down to the ground, reluctantly holding the paper out to Twilight who snatched it away without thanks and got back to her work. Rainbow paused for thought, trying to figure out a way to drag her Egg-Headed friend away from her crummy work. Eventually, she thought to try something different.
“Rainbow, maybe you should go, I can meet you when I’m do- Rainbow?”
She noticed that Rainbow was staring intently between the research results and the graph. Her eyes glittered at one point, which made Twilight smile. Seeing that the fun-loving, lazy pony was seemingly keen about her research excited the young princess and she giddily hopped over to her friend’s side. She began to babble a bit, pointing her hoof at certain parts of the graph and at the little diagrams she had drawn at the side of the main data, however a gentle shush from the Pegasus beside her silenced her. Eventually, she spoke up again.
“Rainbow, what’s the matter?”
“Hmm…”
The mare was being uncharacteristically quiet and it kind of bothered Twilight. She frowned and joined Dash in looking at the results and the graph, though she could swear she felt a certain pair of magenta eyes staring her up and down and it made her blush furiously and her stomach flutter. The two were completely silent, which, for Rainbow Dash, was shockingly rare. She felt a hoof brush her own and started to quiver. The numbers and letters on the board started to merge together and she found it difficult to concentrate. Should could’ve sworn that she heard a snicker come from the blue Pegasus but she closed her eyes tight and tried to ignore it. She straightened up and coughed to hide her embarrassment and sighed again. Her face was burning and her knees were weak as her mind spiralled, but she tried to concentrate on the origins of Pinkie Pie’s Pegasus grandmother, Surprise. She noticed that Rainbow was leaning on her and felt a shiver run through her. The butterflies in her stomach where flapping around erratically now and she was a million shades of red. Twilight found her gaze falling on Rainbow Dash, whose mane and tail looked tidier and shinier than usual and her coat look glossy and radiant. Knowing she was being stared at, Rainbow Dash spoke up, an almost smug look on her face.
“…What?”
Twilight continued to stare at her, face brushed pink and eyes soft. She suddenly found Rainbow Dash right in her face, mere inches away from her own face. She was sure her head was going to explode and her heartbeat was going a million times a second and her breaths were just as fast. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, but they flew open upon hearing Rainbow call her name.
“… Twi.”
Still blushing furiously, the Alicorn managed to stutter a whispery, shaky response.
“Y-Yes, Rainbow?”
Rainbow moved closer still, the minty tickle of her breaths reaching Twilight’s nostrils. A smug smile settled on her face, setting off warning bells for the Princess of Friendship. Regardless, her face was still on fire and her mouth was quivering at the corners.
“You got part of the graph wrong. Working too hard, Egg-Head?”
“Huh?!”
Rainbow moved away, laughing at her friend, who was still in a maelstrom of confusion, blushing and stuttering, stamping her hooves on the ground in flustered frustration. Rainbow wiped tears from her eyes and continued to giggle.
“What did you think I was gonna do, kiss ya? Bwahahaha!”
Her signature laugh filled the room and while Twilight’s frustration began to settle, her embarrassments didn’t shift at all. She tried to stutter a response, but her tongue just wouldn’t co-operate. She tried to calm herself and spoke.
“N-No! I'm just s-surprised I got it wrong, that's all! Wait- How do you know?!”
Dash giggled to herself and gave Twilight time to settle herself down before continuing.
“Aww c'mon, look at the results! Even I knew that one, Twi!”
Twilight flicked her mane out of her face and sighed, while Dash stuck her tongue out at her and continued to laugh to herself. The purple mare frowned.
“Well, everypony makes mistakes…”
Once her laughter had subsided, Dash stepped towards her friend again and pecked her cheek gently, leaving a spot of scarlet on her cheek. Twilight managed to contain herself this time and simply smiled. Rainbow Dash put her wing around her and pulled her closer.
“Aww, don’t be embarrassed, Twi! Y’know I care about you!”
Twilight blushed again but retained her frown, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
“Rainbow? Are you… Flirting with me?”
Rainbow Dash snickered and nuzzled her cheek as she had done previously.
“You’re the brains here, Twi.”
“I don’t know, Dash, you’re pretty clever too.”
Dash grinned at Twilight, her eyes soft and her face tinged pink.
“Not as clever as you, Egg-Head.” She whispered before cuddling up to her again.