Free period ended and Twilight walked out to the soccer fields. What she saw there made her reconsider her offer to talk to Rainbow Dash about Applejack's feelings. There stood Rainbow, scowling and fuming, waiting for the ball to ricochet off of the crater that was forming in the far wall so she could kick it all the way back. The book worm audibly gulped and waded into the fray. She had to clear her throat before weakly calling out, "Hi Rainb." Boom.
The force of the kick was like a clap of thunder right at ground level. The shockwave caused by the impact forced the purple girl to retreat a step. She rubbed the ring out of her ears and tried again. "Hey Rainbow." Boom. "Dash. Can I." Boom. "Talk to." Boom. "You?" Rainbow hadn't acknowledged the presence of her friend. She had stood scowling at the crater, waiting for the ball to return, but now stood motionless, not making any visible preparations to face the meteor that was hurtling towards her face.
Twilight watched the incoming artillery shell with growing alarm until finally she held her arms and leg up to shield herself from the imminent impact. Rainbow still hadn't moved, but a split second before the ball would've blown her head straight off her shoulders like a cannonball her left hand lashed out and caught the ball dead in its tracks. Twilight listened in horror to the sound of the ball crackling from the heat of the friction from moving through the air so fast. Rainbow finally made eye contact with the terrified girl, and again, the book worm reconsidered whether or not now was a good time.
Rainbow's eyes glowed with a hot roiling anger like a flow of lava, waiting to melt anything foolish enough to get to close. The purple girl visibly trembled in front of the raging tempest in the form of woman. Suddenly however, the storm dissipated, the lava cooled, the anger that had formed a crater in a brick wall vanished. Rainbow spoke in a completely casual tone as she said, "Sup Twi?"
The scholar stood stunned. For a moment she gained a gleam of hope that Rainbow had gotten it all out of her system, but then she noticed her friend's body language. She was still seething. The calm was a thin facade in an attempt to save face. Twilight sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about Applejack."
The anger slipped out again momentarily as Rainbow groaned and kicked the soccer ball hard enough to unseat the goal from the ground. "What? Did she send you to break up with me so she doesn't have to?"
Twilight felt mildly insulted by the notion. "What? No! Why would you say that?"
"Because what other reason could there be Twilight?!" The athlete whined, a note of desperation slipping out through the assumed calm. "We've been together for six months! I told her I loved her at the winter formal and it's MARCH Twilight!" She stomped over to the bleachers and plopped down miserably, the mask of calm slipping all the way off to reveal the deeply hurt lover beneath. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong Twi."
The scientist sighed and slipped silently beside her friend. "Rainbow. . . Applejack doesn't want to break up with you. It's just she's not quite ready to go. . ." She blushed and had to force herself to finish the sentence. "Quite. . . That far yet."
"But why not?!" Rainbow shouted, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I mean Isn't that what love is? Finding the person you want to be with? If she doesn't want me to touch her then what am I doing wrong? Am I not pretty enough like Rarity? I'm I not smart enough like you? What is it?" She let her head fall heavily into her hands. She attempted without success to disguise the fact that she was crying.
Twilight sighed and made a mental note to talk to her old babysitter turned sister in law about these issues. She started to think maybe Granny Smith had a point about teenage romance. It had brought two of her best friends to tears. "Rainbow? Do you really think that Applejack wants to break up with you?"
Rainbow had to mumble the answer from between her hands. "I don't." Sniffle. "Know."
"Cause you know what she told me, just a few minutes ago?" Twilight said.
Rainbow raised her head just high enough to see her friend's face. "Wha. Hiccup. At."
Twilight smiled and looked at the clouds rolling across the sky. "When we're together my heart swells up like it's gonna burst. It Feels like I'm floating when we're together."
Rainbow's mouth hung slack for just a moment in surprise. "Really. . . She really said that to you."
The book worm smiled and nodded. "Mhmm. Less than an hour ago." She gave her friend a reassuring squeeze. "It's not that she doesn't like you." Twilight blushed again and looked away. "It's not even that she doesn't like the. . ." She had to clear her throat. "Touching. . . Stuff. It's just she wants you to listen to her when She tells you to stop. She feels like it means you don't respect her feelings."
Rainbow wiped the tears from her face, but grew mildly annoyed. She sighed hard. "Does she really think I don't respect her? After all we've been through?"
Twilight shrugged. "That's what you not stopping when she wants you to stop makes her feel. She's uncomfortable, but you keep going. What is she supposed to think." Twilight saw a look of guilt come across her friend's face and she felt the need to console her. "But it doesn't mean she doesn't like you." She gave a small conspiratorial smile. "In fact, it may be even more." Rainbow's face snapped up to look at her like a dog being offered a walk. "I think you should go talk to her about it."
The athlete leapt to her feet and danced around a moment impatiently. "You're right. I gotta go." Rainbow's magic wings appeared and a rainbow streak stretched all the way back to the building. The wind tunnel that followed pulled Twilight several feet along the bleacher. She was immediately thrown back into place as Rainbow just as suddenly returned. She gave the bedraggled book worm a squeezing hug and quickly whispered. "Thanks Twi." Then rocketed away again.