“I…don’t suppose we could borrow that book for a little while…do ya?”
Smiling broadly, Twilight floated the Hearts and Hooves Day book down to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Of course you can!” She turned her attention back to her saddlebag, grabbing a second tome in a glow of magenta. “I have another book here that I think you’ll…” The filly threesome had disappeared. A quick look around the street confirmed the unicorn was alone. Grimacing in annoyance, Twilight sighed and cracked open the book before continuing her trek back to the library.
“Ya know, if you read and walk at the same time you’re gonna knock somepony over, Twilight.” The purple mare jumped, dropping the book to the ground. Her eyes scanned up, finding Rainbow Dash hovering a few feet above her. The pegasus snickered. “You’re a riot.”
Smirking and shaking her head, Twilight grasped the book in a haze of magic and put it back in her saddlebag. “Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash. What’re you up to?”
The pegasus flipped over on her back, flying upside down. “Not much. Figured I’d find out what my favorite Egghead was doin’ today.”
“Well, I was reading a book about the history of Hearts and Hooves Day, but I loaned it out to Sweetie Belle and her friends.” The mare shook her head slowly, resuming her canter towards the library. “Why do I suddenly feel like that was a terrible mistake?”
“Seriously Twi’?” Rainbow Dash flicked her wings and spun through the air, hovering next to Twilight and matching her pace. “A history book? D’you always spend holidays reading about them?”
“Hey, I like reading. I thought maybe you’d learned how to appreciate that.” She gently shoulder-checked her flying friend, shooting the blue pony a smirk.
“Well, yeah, Daring Do is awesome and I’m sure you have a ton of other books like that, but history?” A few exaggerated retching sounds earned her another shoulder-check. Chuckling, she bumped into Twilight. They traded blows the remainder of the walk, giggling as they went.
“So how is Daring treating you? Finish Griffin’s Goblet yet?” Twilight asked between strikes and fits of laughter.
“Days ago.”
“So how’d you like it?” A bit too forceful of a charge sent both mares tumbling to the ground.
Dusting herself off with a large grin on her face, Rainbow grew distant and mumbled, “Eh, it wasn’t good.” Twilight frowned, her ears falling back. The pegasus flashed a playful eye at her before cracking an even wider smile. “It was awesome!” She leapt back into the air, flying up in a looping backflip before hovering just off the ground. “It was even better than Sapphire Statue! When I was done I wanted to crash into your window just to talk to you about it, but it was like, three in the morning.”
Twilight opened the door to Golden Oaks Library with a small effort of will, Rainbow’s infectious enthusiasm adding a bounce to her step. “Well, wanna talk about it now? I’ve wanted somepony to talk to about Daring Do for ages!”
“Okay, but no spoilers, Egghead, I’m only halfway through the Cannibal’s Crown.” The blue mare followed her friend through the library’s main room and into the kitchen. Twilight put on a pot of coffee to brew sat at the table. Rainbow sat opposite her, wings wide and twitching with keen interest. “So where do we start?”
“How about Daring’s escape at the end of Sapphire Statue?”
“Oh my gosh, yes!”
A grinding rumble shook the library, dragging the two mares from their conversation. Rainbow flapped her wings and lifted from the kitchen table, whipping into the main library. “What was that?”
Twilight trotted up to join the blue mare hovering at the window. “Can you see anything?”
“It…kinda looks like that house over there is moving…” The slowly-drifting house moved across the roofline. It eventually halted and the low vibrations ceased. “That was weird.” Her magenta eyes scanned the rooftops of Ponyville and settled on the clock tower. “Wow, we’ve been talkin’ about Daring Do for almost two hours, Twi’.”
“Really?” The unicorn glanced at the clock on the wall. “I guess we have. I didn’t notice at all; Daring Do is so fun to talk about.”
Rainbow Dash back flipped and landed with her chest puffed out and a smirk on her lips. “Time flies when you’re talkin’ to the Rainbow Dash.” Twilight giggled and shook her head. The blue mare’s expression softened to a more genuine smile. “And the Twilight Sparkle, apparently. That was a lot of fun, Twilight.”
“It was. You wanna sit back down and keep talking? We were just about to get to the part where Daring invaded the griffin warcamp.”
Rainbow Dash grew quiet and watched the clock-tower through the window, a small stillness silencing the library. When she spoke, some of the bravado had drained from her voice. She seemed subdued to Twilight; not as nervous as she’d seen the pegasus during the Best Young Flyer competition, but with a vulnerability that was rarely present. “…Twilight, wanna go to dinner with me?”
The purple mare raised an eyebrow, studying her friend’s change in demeanor. “Sure; it’s getting close to dinner anyway and I’d like to keep talking. Want me to get Spike to whip something up?”
Rainbow’s wings fidgeted. “I meant, like, to a restaurant.” She turned to face Twilight, but couldn’t meet her eyes. “It uh, would be a good day for it.”
Twilight’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “Rainbow…are you asking me out on a date?” The pegasus continued to fidget but flashed a tentative smile. Before she could help herself, Twilight blurted out, “Why?”
Furrowing her brow, Rainbow asked, “Why not? You’re smart, you’re fun to hang out with and talk to, you’re really pretty,” Twilight felt her face grow warm, “Why wouldn’t I ask you out?”
The unicorn cleared her throat, shuffling her hooves on the wooden floor. A small pout graced her reddened muzzle as she met Rainbow’s gaze. “But we’re so different. You shouldn’t be interested in somepony like me…you should want a mare or colt who can keep up with you. An athlete.”
The pegasus rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. “That sounds like fun; going out with somepony I’ll always wanna compete with. Every walk in the park turning into a race, every dinner a hoof-wrestle…” The daredevil’s voice dropped, colored with imperfectly hidden reproach. “You just had to say you’re not interested.”
Twilight swallowed thickly, cantering resolutely up to Rainbow Dash. She set a hoof on the mare’s shoulder. “I’d love to go to dinner with you.”
The blue pony straightened up, her wings fluttering against her sides. Her squeaked out response of, “Cool,” was not as suave as she would have liked, but Twilight didn’t let on that she noticed if she had.
Grinning foolishly, Twilight trotted to her desk and levitated a saddlebag over her neck. “You just surprised me. To be honest, I kinda started thinking about it after we had that chat the other day, but I wasn’t expecting you to be interested in somepony like me.”
“Oh yeah,” Rainbow smirked, “A foxy mare who I know I can have fun with, talk to about anything, and apparently has the hots for me already? Totally not my type. What was I thinking?”
Giggling, Twilight bumped the pegasus with her shoulder on her way to the door. “Come on then, sarcastic one. Let’s go to dinner. This has already been one of the best Hearts and Hooves Days I can remember; let’s not stop now.” The unicorn locked the door behind them, humming tunelessly to herself. She turned to find her date staring at her. “What?”
“…This is one of the best Hearts and Hooves Days I can remember, too.” Beckoning dramatically with a hoof, Rainbow waited for the purple mare to join her. The two fell in line together, trotting off towards the town. Rainbow thought she heard a lingering scream of ‘no’ on the breeze from Sweet Apple Acres, but it was easy to ignore. Her mind was too busy shouting ‘yes.’