It was a chilly winter afternoon in Canterlot, and a young unicorn, barely older than a filly, stepped out of the ornate wooden doors to her school, and into the brisk late afternoon air. Close behind her, a similarly aged brown colt with a streak of blue in his mane followed.
"Twilight, wait up - I wanted to ask you something!"
She froze mid-step and closed her eyes for a moment in frustration before softening her expression and turning to face him, "Yes? You know the exam's not 'till next Tuesday - that gives you plenty of time to study; I don't really have time to help tutor anyone else with my own classes to worry about-"
"I'm not asking you to tutor me... Twilight... I- I'll just come out and say it: I think you're cute, and I'd... like to take you out for coffee some time," he hesitated, scratching the back of his head with a hoof.
Me? Asking me out? I can't! There's just so much to do... but... he is kind of cute. Oh Celestia, I know this is just my brain pumping me full of hormones. Rationally I shouldn't even think this way; I'm not ready for a relationship with anypony! Oh gosh - is that why he's been staring at my flank all class-
The colt coughed and scratched at the ground, "Uh - you know, if... if you don't want to answer, that's fine... I understand - I can take a hint." Head still tilted down, he stole a hopeful glance at the seemingly paralyzed pony in front of him.
"Agh! Uh, I mean!" Twilight shook her head nervously and one eyelid took on a bit of a nervous tic, "Yes. Yes - it's just coffee, right? What's coffee between friends?" She grinned, trying to look casual, yet interested.
The expression on the mare's face looked more like downright insanity, but the brown colt pressed on, smiling - "Okay, right. Coffee. It's almost the weekend; it'll be alright to stay up late one night, right? Here, I know the perfect place," he said, offering to lead.
"Yes! Staying up late is grrreeat! It'll be just... peachy!" Another few eye twitches, and a disturbing, almost maniacal grin, but she followed alongside, as the pair headed for a newly opened donut shop down the street.
"So there I was, trying to demonstrate the spell in front of the entire class, with Celestia herself watching! I was so nervous, with all those ponies staring at me-"
"You have really pretty eyes."
"...uh. Thanks?" Oh no, am I blushing? He's hitting on me - this isn't good! Not good, not good at all!
The colt leaned in a bit over his drink and the half-eaten plate of donuts perched between them, to get a closer look, as he reached up to brush a stray lock of hair out of the other unicorn's face, "They're even better up close."
Twilight shrank further back into her chair subconsciously, a firey blush on her cheeks, but the rest of her skin pale. I had too much - I must be going through caffeine overdose - the dizziness, flushed face, the way my heart is beating in my chest... "ThishasbeengreatIgottago!" She dropped a few bits on the table to pay for her share, and bolted out of her seat for the door.
"Huh? Wait! Twilight, wait - what did I do? I'm sorry!" The colt fumbled for his own change, before hastily getting up and chasing after her. He didn't have to go far, for in the panic, Twilight had tripped down the small flight of stairs outside the doorway and was nursing a scraped knee.
Panic. Animalistic panic. I'm injured and cornered and he's closing in on me - just... just let me get away!
"Oh no - I'm so sorry... here, let me hel-"
"GET AWAY! BACK!" Her eyes bloodshot and chest heaving, Twilight's eyelid spasmed uncontrollably as she glared daggers at him.
"But Twilight, you tripped - the least I can do is help walk you home," he said, leaning in to lend a hoof. The patch of ice under his remaining footing would prove its infamy, however, and startled, he slipped and fell right on top of her, hooves on either side of her shoulders.
"GAH! I SAID GET AWAY!" He's - he's trying to take advantage of me! I knew it! Before she could comprehend what she was doing, her horn flared, and her instincts took over. Push.
It was a full week before the colt woke up - the force of the blast had put him into a small coma, and broken one of his legs. A small card and pot of flowers sat on the nightstand beside his hospital bed, but aside from the nurse, no one was there to greet him when he woke up - to be honest, some thought he simply may not. Wrapped in bandages, and hooked to a heart rate monitor, one thing was for certain - he wasn't planning on going anywhere near that crazy unicorn again.
Twilight paced inside the main room of the library, sweating nervously - or was that what was left of the flu? She couldn't quite tell anymore. "Spike! Spike, I need you to get some more supplies - I think we need more of that herbal tea from Zecora; I don't think I'm quite better yet."
"Wow, Twilight - it's been two weeks; are you sure you shouldn't see Nurse Redheart again? You look pretty bad."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Spike-" she snapped, then sighed and hung her head, "I'm sorry - it's just... yeah. I must still be sick, and I'd reeeally appreciate it if my number one assistant would help me get better, isn't that right, number one assistant?" She hated having to pull that card on him, but desperate times and all that.
"Alright, but only because you asked nicely."
"Thanks, Spike! You're the best. As always. I'll put in a good word for you with Rarity - maybe she'll take you with her on her next trip to the spa?"
"Ooh, you really think so?"
"Maybe, if my number one assistant delivers like I know he can!"
"Right! I'm on it - you can count on me!" Spike offered a mock salute before marching out the door with a backpack.
Perfect. Now, to figure out what's really wrong with me... Twilight started pulling down various tomes from the library shelves. Magical Ailments, a compendium - No. Equine Cardiology - no. Wait, maybe? She set it aside for later. A Mare's Guide to Love, Romance, and Lust. Whoa - is this supposed to be in the general audience section? Cracking open the cover and flipping through a few pages towards the end of the book, she stopped on a particular page, wide-eyed for a moment, before slamming the book shut. NOPE. That's not safe for anyone's eyes! She hesitated, trying to decide where to re-shelve the book where the younger folk were least likely to see it. Welll... maybe later. She smirked, and added it to the pile with the cardiology reference.
Rainbow Dash's cloud house was completely devoid of life - well, Tank was hiding in his shell, napping in the corner of one room, but the turtle hardly counted when he was tucked inside like that. A cloud rustled, and a vibrant tail poked out from inside it. Perfectly normal for clouds to sprout tails, of course.
"Ungh... get out of my head... no, Twilight - that tickles... hey! That's not nice! O..okay. Maybe a little. S-stop i-" The mare gasped and sat up, her cloud blanket vanishing with a quiet pop. "Oh my gosh. Okay. I'm home. Alone. It was just a dream." A really nice dream... Her thoughts were short-lived as memories came flooding back, and her world crashed down once more.
"She hates me. I'm the coolest flyer in Equestria, the best, and she hates me. All because she's an egghead, and I'm stupid." She sighed, kicking the ball near the foot of her bed against the wall, watching it bounce harmlessly out the door into the hallway. "I blew it, Tank."
Slowly poking his head out, the turtle yawned and blinked indifferently at Rainbow.
"Yeah, I know - I'm just a dumb filly and I didn't know she wasn't into mares." Or other ponies at all, probably.
Another slow blink.
"What're you talking about? Of course she's not - if she didn't want to go out with me, that must be why!"
A completely blank stare.
Rainbow gasped, "You take that back! Fine! You know what, I'm gonna try again. I'll prove you wrong, you just watch!" She choked back a nervous tear, before finding a small hoof-mirror buried underneath various sporting paraphernalia and checking her mane. "See - smokin' hot. There's no way she could say no to the Dash, unless she just didn't swing that way." She snickered, "Heh, speaking of swinging, and barn doors, I should check on Applejack. I know she was pretty drunk, too. Who knows what she did after I left?" Giggling like a schoolfilly, she rushed out of her door and took to the skies.
Tank, for his part, rolled his eyes, and ever so slowly settled back into his shell to resume his nap.
"Ah did no such thing!"
"Aw, come on, Applejack - admit it - you were eyeing up Rarity at the party!"
"W-what? What do you mean 'eyeing up'? I would never stoop so low and degrade such a fine lady-"
"Ooh, so you think she's fine, now, do you? Wait 'till I tell her!" She leapt up into the sky, teasingly flying right over Applejack's head before preparing to zoom off towards the Carousel Boutique.
"Now you just wait a cotton pickin' minute, missy!" Applejack took the bait, and snagged Rainbow's tail in her teeth, digging her hooves in, "Ye ain' goin' nuhwhur!"
Dash pretended to give in, sighing and settling down on the ground beside Applejack, "Fine - I won't say anything to Rarity if you promise to help me fix things with Twilight."
"Good - now that that's settled- wait, what? Am I hearing things right, sugarcube? So is this why we haven't seen her all day? What did you do to that poor girl?!"
"Whoa, Applejack, easy - this is Twilight we're talking about. It's kinda normal for her to like... not come out of her basement for days at a time."
"Point. You still said or did somethin' you shouldn't have," she scowled slightly, "You gone'n done something stupid, haven't you?"
Rainbow looked flustered, "N-not exactly, you see, I-"
"You asked her out, didn't you? You silly pony..."
"Hey! Why does that make me silly? How else am I supposed to do it?" The pegasus flared her wings instinctively.
The orange mare just sighed, "You have no idea, do you? Twilight's got... issues."
"Well, duh - we all saw the way she broke down when she didn't hand in her friendship report on time."
"Yeah. Yeah, we did."
"...just what are you trying to say?"
"You know what, Rainbow - you're on your own. You done goofed, but it'll be okay. Twilight's a smart pony, and I'm sure she'll figure it out and forgive you for whatever you did." I bet she's got her muzzle buried in some dusty books right now...
"Hey! I'm not just trying to get her to forgive me, I'm trying to fix things, if I'm ever going to have a chance with her. She just needs to realize how awesome I am, and how awesome I think she is."
"And just why do you think she's so awesome?" Applejack grinned coyly.
"She's smart," Rainbow started, quietly.
"Uh-huh."
"...aaand, she's nice! She brought me that book to read when I was in the hospital, even though I pretended to hate it. She knew I'd like it, because... because she must care about me."
"And why do you think she cares about you as more than just a friend in need, hon?"
"I... I don't know," she sighed, staring at her hooves, "I don't know if she does. But I need to know - I need to find out. Applejack, she makes me crazy - I have these dreams, that won't go away! Every night she's in them, and we're out having fun, or I'm taking her flying with me, or we're dancing, or cuddling, or..." she trailed off and blushed heavily for a moment, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts, "My point is - I need to know for sure. I can't keep doing this, or I'm going to go nuts!"
"Sounds to me like you already are."
If eyes could have lasers in them, Rainbow Dash would be shooting them right now, burning a hole through Applejack's prized stetson. All she could manage was a narrow glare.
"Whoa, there - you know, Dash? I can see this is really eatin' you up. I'm not gonna stop you from doing what you need to do, but just... promise me you'll be careful, okay? Twilight's a lot stronger than you think, but a lot weaker, too."
"Just what in the hay is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll get it - trust me."
She rubbed her face with a hoof. Ugh - all this... thinking. I need to get out of here. "Alright, whatever you say. I gotta go."
Applejack curtsied with her hat and watched the multicoloured mare rocket off into the distance, towards the library. I hope she knows what she's doing.