Twilight tossed the blanket aside as her mouth extended to let out a large yawn. She sat up slowly, bringing her hooves up to rub her eyes. Reaching her left hoof up higher, she ran it through her mane.
“Ugh, what a dream. It almost seemed so—” Twilight felt something strange just behind her ear. It was small and the texture was much smoother than her mane. She gripped the odd object and brought it down to her eyes. “—real...” In her hoof gripped the familiar light blue feather. It’s cyan hue reminded Twilight of what had happened in the past four days. How everything had went wrong. Her brain urged her to put it down, to leave it forgotten inside a book. However, Twilight ignored those thoughts. Instead, she tucked the feather nicely at the back of her ear before leaping out of the bed with a smile.
Twilight trotted down the stairs, a spring in each step. She turned towards her kitchen, opening the squeaking door with a grin. With a glow of her horn, she swung open her cupboard, levitating down a cup and a packet of powdered cocoa. Tearing open the top of the packet, she emptied the contents into the cup before adding the boiling hot water from her kettle. Twilight floated the cup to her mouth, taking a deep sip before trotting back to the table in her living room.
“Alright. Morning, done!” she said joyfully, staring at the Princess’s letter. “Now for the last riddle. ‘I am the force that drags two ponies together, yet my bond strengthens when they are further apart. Everypony seeks to find me, but I have been found by only a few. I can make a pony question his or her life, yet I am also able to give a pony a reason to live. What am I?’” Twilight read out loud. Before she could even get a second of thought in, there came a loud knock from her door.
“Coming!” Twilight shouted, rushing to the library’s wooden door and swinging it open. She was greeted with the sight of all five of her friends outside her door, beaming.
“Heya, Twi!” Applejack greeted.
“Look, girls. About lunch yesterday. I’m so sorry!” Twilight started to apologize, the very memory of how she acted yesterday fresh in her mind.
“Twilight, stop. We have something to say.” Rarity told Twilight, her smile vanishing.
“Twi, you shouldn’t be afraid of being in love!” Pinkie said, her smile only growing wider.
“P-Pinkie’s right. Love is a beautiful thing,” Fluttershy continued.
“And no matter what you may have told me four days ago, on Wednesday, I already knew you were in love,” Rarity added.
“And that ain’t nothing to be ashamed of, sugercube! Ya shouldn’t be running off and denying it!” Applejack trotted closer to Twilight, whispering into her ear, “truth be told, Rainbow loves ya too.”
Twilight’s eyes grew twice their size, her hooves getting weak. “S-s-she... she does?”
All of them gave a confident nod. “She came to my place two days ago. And mare, oh mare, Ah hadn't seen Rainbow so conflicted since Celestia knows when!” Applejack explained, immediately turning to Pinkie after she was done. “Sorry, Pinkie. Ah know Ah Pinkie promised Rainbow, but Twi needs to know.”
“It’s okay, AJ. I forgive you,” Pinkie replied.
Applejack opened her mouth to continue her speech, but was suddenly interrupted by Pinkie, who was now up in her face. “But just this one time. Break another Pinkie promise and you’ll lose my trust.”
“Ah got—”
“Forever!”
“Ah got it!” Applejack yelled, pushing Pinkie to the side. “Twi, Ah think Ah speak for all of us when Ah say ‘Go for it’!”
Twilight tilted her head down slightly, just enough to hide the bottom half of her face from the five ponies. She brought her right hoof up to rub at her left hoof. “A-are you girls really okay with Rainbow and I becoming a couple?”
“Darling, we’re more than okay with it!”
“Yeah! Plus, that means that’s yet another day to throw a party!”
“And if two of my dear friends are happy together, that’s all we can ask for.”
Twilight couldn’t hold it in any longer. Tears had started to drip out of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and onto the floor below.
“I... I’m the luckiest mare on Equestria to have friends like you girls,” Twilight barely managed to stutter out. The others rushed forward, pulling Twilight into a huge group hug.
“Now go and get her!” Applejack spoke in a commanding tone.
“W-wait. How? It’s too late... Rainbow’s in Cloudsdale and I don’t know how to stay there long enough to tell her.”
“What about that cloud walk spell?” Fluttershy suggested.
“I... guess I could. But it’ll only last an hour.”
“Why don’t ya recast it?”
Twilight shook her head. “Unicorns can’t renew existing enchantments. The enchantment has to end before the same one can be applied.”
“Well, it shouldn’t take an hour, Twilight,” Rarity reasoned.
“Yeah. I mean, how hard can it be, right?”
“Ugh! How can it be this hard!?” Twilight complained, pacing nervously on the streets of Cloudsdale, just outside the stadium.
“Okay, Twilight. It’s easy. All you have to do is to just say ‘Rainbow, I love you.’ See! It wasn’t that hard! ….What if something goes wrong!? Ugh!” Twilight slumped down onto the ground, her hooves hiding her face. “It’s. Just. Three. Words!” she yelled out into her hooves.
“I love you. Is that so hard?” Twilight sighed. “I’m just not prepared for this. Math, easy! Magic, piece of cake! So how can three words defeat you!?” she pushed herself upright, staring at the many ponies wandering around a short distance away from her. Some were sitting down, enjoying their meal from a cafe while several others were trotting past a fairly large clocktower, made entirely of clouds, which stood in the middle of the district.
Twilight looked upwards at the face and hands of the clock and immediately, a look of horror washed over her. “I have ten minutes left on my cloud-walk spell!? How did I waste fifty minutes on this!?” she turned towards the large stadium. “Now or never,” she whispered to herself, forcing her hooves to take step after step closer to the stadium.
Upon nearing the stadium, the sound of Spitfire’s shouting was clear as day. Twilight forced herself closer until she was just a step away from the entrance. “Now go in.” She stepped past the entrance with her right hoof, but swiftly took it back out. “I said go in!” This time, she tried to enter with her left hoof. However, the results were the same. She pulled her left hoof back out in a second.
Turning to her right, she slumped against the wall of the stadium.
“Okay, what do I say again? ‘I love you’? Is that too simplistic? The books I’ve read on love says that love is something nopony can understand! There’s no way I can say it so simply! What about... ‘Rainbow, you know that I’ve had feelings for you for a long time, and...”
“No no no no!” Twilight gripped her head in frustration. “Okay, what if—” She took another glance towards the clocktower, showing her that five minutes have passed. “What!?” Twilight screamed out. “I’ve got five minutes left. Okay Twilight. Pull yourself together. Let’s go.”
Twilight stepped in, taking another huge breath before putting next hoof past the entrance. With what willpower she could summon, she brought herself into the stadium. A few steps in and she could already see Spitfire commanding loudly at the Wonderbolts. The pegasi were in the air, soaring through the skies and attempting different maneuvers. No doubt practising for their next show. She trotted slowly inside, sweat dripping down her forehead and her throat quickly becoming dry.
Once she was sure she was within Spitfire’s earshot, she called out, “Spitfire?”
Spitfire didn’t respond, continuing to shout out commands to the ponies above.
“Ummm, Spitfire?” Twilight repeated, slightly louder.
“I want to see those wings work! Now move it slackers!”
“Spitfire!” Twilight screamed. The pony in question finally turned around, a shocked look on her face.
“Hey, no ponies allowe— wait. I know you! You’re that student of Celestia, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’m. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“So what brings you around here?” Spitfire asked, her eyes directing downwards to Twilight’s hooves. “And how are you—”
“Cloud-walking spell. And I’m here because I need to talk to Rainbow Dash.”
“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle. But you aren’t even supposed to be here. And Rainbow Dash is busy right now.”
“Please, ma’m. It’s really important,” Twilight pleaded.
Spitfire wanted to decline, but the look in Twilight’s eyes told Spitfire that this was no small matter. She let out a sigh, turning around to the ponies zipping through the sky.
“Rainbow Dash! Down here now!” she commanded. Without missing a beat, Rainbow Dash soared down, landing perfectly in front of the captain.
“Yes, cap?”
“There’s a friend here who wants to talk to you, says its important.” Spitfire stepped aside, revealing Twilight to Rainbow.
Rainbow recoiled slightly, taking a step back. Her cheeks glew a hot red as she turned her head away.
“Make it quick, Twilight Sparkle,” Spitfire ordered.
“Yes, ma’m.”
Spitfire spread her wings, taking to the skies above.
Tense silence enveloped the two mares. Twilight desperately tried to get Rainbow to look her in her eyes, but Rainbow wouldn’t budge. It looked as if the cyan pegasus had frozen solid, her breathing becoming slow and heavy.
“R-Rainbow. Please, look at me,” Twilight begged. Rainbow didn’t move at first, but after a few seconds, she tilted her head up slightly to stare Twilight in her eyes.
Twilight had never seen Rainbow so silent. Usually she would be shooting a barrage of words. What scared her the most, however, was the look in Rainbow’s eyes. A look of... fear.
“Rainbow, I... I’m here to tell you something. But first, I have to say sorry. I’m sorry for what I shouted, for what I screamed at you two days ago. I was angry that you didn't tell me you were going to leave, that the ‘reward’ for you achieving your dream, was for me to lose mine.”
Secretly, Spitfire had ushered all the Wonderbolts out of the stadium upon hearing Twilight’s words.
“Twilight, I—”
“I didn’t understand why I was so angry at you achieving your dream,” Twilight continued, completely ignoring Rainbow’s interruption. “Actually, I think I did. I just refused to admit it. Months of Daring Do nights, years of being with you, seeing you!” Tears started to stream down Twilight’s face. “Wanting to be with you! Dreaming that maybe one day, our happiness can move on past those nights!”
Rainbow was frozen solid. She didn’t dare to move or say a word. It wasn’t like she knew what to do or say anyway. All she could do was watch helplessly as Twilight continued to confess, stripping away any defences she may have one had.
“I kept telling myself it wasn’t true! And I was just so blind to not see what you wanted me to see! Rainbow, I’m so sorry! I was selfish in trying so hard to stop your dream from coming true, all because I couldn’t say three words!” Twilight took a deep breath in, stomping her hoof with every few words. “Well, I’m not waiting anymore. It took me losing you to see how badly I messed up. No more.”
Rainbow was trembling as well, her heart racing and tears at the edge of her eyelids.
“Rainbow.” Twilight stomped her hoof to the ground. “I.” Stomp. “Lov—” With the next stomp, she felt the ground beneath her separate. She felt the sudden rush of wind through her mane. She felt the weightlessness of her body and her hooves dangling in the air in front of her. Her eyes were wide open and she could feel the feather behind her ear slipping away, disappearing into the wild blue yonder. Her gaze locked onto the shrinking city that she once stood on and without warning, she felt as if time itself slowed down around her.
I wonder if I did it right? she thought as she fell from the sky. Wonder if she would come to save me? I don’t blame her if she doesn’t. That just means I did it wrong. After all, I didn’t even get to say the words that mattered. It should’ve been so easy. ‘Rainbow, I lo—’
Twilight felt her body jerk forward. Something had stopped her fall, but her eyes were closed shut from the sudden impact to notice what it was. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open and as her vision focused, she almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Against the shining sun which hung in the sky was the familiar six-colored mane.
“Rainbow...,” Twilight whispered out. She suddenly realized that her forehooves were wrapped around Rainbow’s neck as the pegasus carried her through the sky. “Rainbow, I—”
“I know, Twi.” Rainbow didn’t even look down. There was a heartwarming smile drawn across Rainbow’s lips, a smile Twilight had only seen when they were sitting together during Daring Do nights.
“I see it now,” Twilight thought out loud.
“What do you see?” Rainbow asked, curious.
“The answer to the second riddle. The answer was staring me right in my face.”
Rainbow let out a chuckle as they flew through the air. “Took you long enough.”
“Wait, what? You knew?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
“Of course! I knew when I read it, Twi! I kept trying to tell you but you kept going on and on about biscuits and stuff.” Rainbow laughed once again. “But it doesn’t matter. You figured it out.”
Twilight brought her face closer to Rainbow’s chest, her eyes closed tight as her mane danced in the wind.
Rainbow landed alone in the middle of the stadium, just in front of Spitfire.
“Captain! I have a question!” Rainbow shouted.
“What is it, rookie?”
“May Twilight Sparkle watch our routine?”
“Twilight Sparkle? Where is she?”
Rainbow lifted her hoof, pointing towards a bright purple hot-air balloon floating a short distance away.
Spitfire smirked slightly. “Very well, rookie. Your friend can watch. But just this once and you’ll have to do extra work to make up for this!”
“Ma’m, yes ma’m!” Rainbow saluted before soaring up to the hot-air balloon.
“So I can watch?” Twilight inquired.
“Yeah, you can!”
“Great! Well, you better get down there. I don’t want to get you into more trouble than you’re already in.”
“Before I go....” Rainbow gripped Twilight’s head, pulling her lips to meet hers. Twilight’s eyes shot open, but she slowly melted into the kiss, closing her eyes and hugging Rainbow tightly. After what seemed like an eternity, Twilight parted her lips with Rainbow’s, her cheeks glowing a burning red.
“That was... n-nice.”
“Y-yeah. Oh and Twi.” Rainbow shifted her head down to her wing, pulling out a bright blue feather and tucking it safely behind Twilight’s ear. “Try not to lose this one, alright? I can’t keep passing you my feathers! They could be worth a fortune in a few years!”
Twilight giggled, bringing her hoof up to her mouth. “I’ll try not to.”
“Rainbow Dash! Down here, now!” Spitfire’s voice roared from below.
“Well, better get going.” Rainbow started to fly downwards, but she stopped just a second later. “Oh right. Can we have a Daring Do night tonight?”
“But what about your training?”
“Well, I do need to come back here tomorrow, but it’ll be worth it. Even if I do have to fly to Ponyville and back.”
Twilight gave a gleeful grin and a nod. “Then let’s have one tonight.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire’s voice bellowed.
“Gotta go, bye!” Rainbow dashed downwards to the rest of the Wonderbolts.
Twilight rested her head on her hooves, staring down at Rainbow with a dream-like gaze before muttering those words she wanted to say out loud for so long.
“Rainbow, I love you.”