Rainbow Dash knocked on the library door. There was no response. She knocked again. Still, nothing. Eventually, she gave the door the tiniest of pushes. It swung loosely open as if on its own volition. Pensively, Rainbow stuck her head into the front atrium of the town library.
"Twilight?"
She gazed left and right. The place was well-lit, but nopony was home.
"Twi?"
Silence hung over the books and shelves and dust of the place.
Rainbow Dash sighed. She trudged forward, squinting at a curious sight atop the central table. There was a picnic basket lying in the middle. She reached a hoof forward and pulled a checkerboard blanket aside. She smiled.
The basket was absolutely brimming with red, delicious apples.
Rainbow's stomach gurgled. She had almost entirely forgotten her appetite over the past thirty-six hours. Reaching in, she pulled a fruit out, rubbed it against her feathers, and admired the glistening shine. Before her, the reflection of a lavender unicorn grinned across the crimson skin.
"Rainbow! There you are!"
"Gah!" Rainbow Dash flinched, dropped the apple, juggled it, and eventually caught the fruit in a pair of outstretched wings. Exhaling sharply, she pivoted and gazed tiredly at her friend. "What is this? Sneak-Up-On-A-Pegasus Day?"
"Heeheehee... Hardly." Twilight held a hoof up. "Hold on just for one second." She turned and called out the door. "I found her, girls! She's here!"
"Well, alright!" Applejack could be seen beyond the doorframe outside. She stood in the middle of the street along with three other familiar mares. "Reckon it's about time she showed up!"
"Is she joining us for breakfast with the dew and aphids?!" Pinkie Pie bounced into view beside the farm filly.
"Goodness!" Rarity grimaced. "Pinkie, must you?"
"What?! What other insect has a sillier name than an aphid?"
"They get all over one's mane, though," Fluttershy said with a shudder.
"So we can make a game out of it!" Pinkie bounced. "Aphid Crisis in 3D!"
"Shhh!" Applejack hissed at the other three. "Land's sake!" She cleared her throat, then smiled towards the library entrance. "Twi? Is she coming?"
"You girls go on ahead! I'll talk to her." As the four trotted off, Twilight turned to smile at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow—"
"Twilight, before you start." Rainbow Dash bit her lip, balancing the apple limply in her feathered grasp. Her limbs kneaded the wooden floorboards as she stood before Twilight like a prisoner in front of a firing squad. "I... I know that I haven't been around much, lately. And you're probably gonna go head over hooves in trying to talk me into attending the picnic. Well, the truth is... I wanna go to the picnic with you girls. But... But there's..."
Rainbow Dash winced, avoided Twilight's gaze, and fumbled for words.
"There's been something I've been meaning to tell you... all of you. And, like, I guess I'm a little scared to. And there really isn't much in this world that scares me. But this does. It scares me, because I know that things will... will change. I mean, they'll be different—or maybe just feel different after I... after I just come out and say it. And I don't want to freak you all out and yet I owe you all enough to just be upfront about it and—"
"I love you too, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.
Rainbow Dash froze, her eyes locked on Twilight Sparkle. Her irises shrunk and her lips parted. "...Buh?"
"Heeheehee," Twilight giggled pleasantly. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash."
"It... It is...?"
"We're your friends," Twilight said. "And we all love you dearly. We know how hard it is for you to express your feelings, on account of how 'sappy' it is to do so."
Rainbow Dash blinked. If it was possible for her face to pale and blush all at once, it would have, and most likely did right there. "Ahhh... Ohhh... Heh... Heheheh..." She exhaled sharply, running a hoof through her mane. "Oh, Twilight. That... That's... What you meant—I mean, what I meant—"
"You don't have to say anymore," Twilight waved her hoof.
"No, really." Rainbow Dash gulped and hoarsely stammered, "I think that—"
"Rarity and Fluttershy told us all about how distant you've been acting lately, as if you were stressed over work or something. It doesn't take an apprentice of Princess Celestia to tell when a lot of stuff is weighing on you, Rainbow Dash. But, at the same time, I and your other friends know how you like to keep stuff to yourself."
"Er... Yeah..." Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "I do that all the time, don't I?"
"But Rainbow Dash..." Twilight smiled up at her. "You should know by now that we love you no matter what. And if ever one of these days you would like to do something different—something brave, for you that is—heehee—and share stuff with us. Well, we're here for you, Rainbow Dash. And we'd never leave your side. Not ever."
Rainbow stared steadily at her, her eyes soft but imploring. "Really, Twilight?" She swallowed dryly. "Would you really be okay with anything? No matter what?"
"That's the thing about loyalty, Rainbow Dash." Twilight leaned in and whispered playfully, as if it was a secret. "It's infectious," she said with a wink. "We're all much closer, much more secure ponies thanks to you." She leaned back. "After all, you're the reason we ever got together in the first place, what with the sonic rainboom and all."
"Huh... Yeah..." Rainbow Dash's wings flexed. "Yeah, I guess that's true, isn't it?"
"That kind of a bond is meant to be. I don't know where'd we all be without you. And—you know—if you would like to sit out this picnic and have some peace to yourself, that's okay. I won't be hurt by it. Really. But do forgive us if we bug you from time to time, Rainbow Dash, even when you're doing stuff alone. Cuz we just can't get enough of you, and I doubt we ever will."
Rainbow Dash exhaled, gazing down towards the floor with red cheeks.
"Now..."
Rainbow Dash glanced up, curious.
Twilight Sparkle was still smiling. "You said there was something you wanted to tell me?"
"Uhm..." Rainbow Dash took a nervous breath, the rosiness leaving her face. "Yeah. Uhm... I... I wanted to tell you... I wanted t-to tell all of you..."
"Hmmm?" Twilight stared, grinning innocently, her eyes fluttering.
Rainbow Dash's mouth hung open. Her eyes watered slightly, but she hid it with the glint of her smiling teeth as she eventually said, "I wanted to tell you that you are all the b-best friends that I could ever have." She took a deep breath as if coming out of a dive and added, “Cuz I’ve got some good news to share with the whole gang, but I want to wait until we’re all together. So, uhm, I would like...” She fidgeted, then blurted, “I would absolutely love to have this picnic with you guys. Today more than ever.”
"'Love,' huh?" Twilight chuckled, lifted the basket of apples with her magic, and hoisted it onto her backside. "That's a new word for you, Rainbow."
Rainbow nodded slowly. "Not new. Just different."
"Well, if you wanna practice saying it, why not do it with the bunch of us? Any occasion is the best occasion for good news!" She trotted happily out into the sunlight, motioning for Rainbow to follow her. "Come along, Rainbow Dash! It's a beautiful day!"
Rainbow Dash stood behind for a few seconds, exhaling as if having finished a ten million mile flight. She gazed at the apple in her winged grip. She tossed it into her hoof, raised it to her lips, and took a bite. She tasted the morsel in her mouth. It wasn't any more or less sweet than she remembered the fruit. If anything, it tasted different, and she couldn't remember a time in her life when she was so terrified and excited all at once.
"It most certainly is," Rainbow Dash said. She quietly came out of the library and closed the door behind her.
Special thanks to: Ezn, RazgrizS57, theworstwriter, Vimbert, theBrianJ