//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Head in the Clouds 
// by Timaeus 
//------------------------------//

The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, bathing the landscape in bright golds, vibrant oranges, and ruby reds as the light glinted and sparkled off of the Ponyville lake. Twilight snuggled in closer to the cyan blue wing wrapped around her back and pressed up against her date. The sky itself was another story. A myriad of colours painted the sky, each vibrant enough to stand out but not so much as to overwhelm the eyes. It was as if Celestia and Luna were working together to create the perfect sunset to end a perfect day.

Twilight chuckled to herself; she would have to send a thank you letter to her mentor.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about Twi’?” Rainbow asked, taking Twilight’s hoof in her own as they sat together, watching the sunset from high up on the Ferris Wheel.

“Oh, nothing much. Just today I suppose. It really was wonderful Rainbow, I’m glad you asked me out and I’m glad I said yes.”

“What did I tell ya? I promised you the most awesome date ever, and Rainbow Dash always delivers!” Twilight chuckled, leaning further into the embrace. “That... and I’m really glad I asked you out too, and I’m even happier that you said yes. Why did you say yes anyways? What made you make up your mind?”

Twilight shifted around, sitting up a bit to help clear her thoughts, “Well, honestly? I spent the first six hours or so freaking out about it.”

“You did?”

Twilight nodded, smiling at how silly she realized she had been acting, “Yeah, I didn’t know what to say. You know I went through every book I had in the library dealing with romance and dating looking for an answer?”

“Sounds like you,” Rainbow scoffed playfully, poking the unicorn in the tummy with a hoof.

Twilight stuck her tongue out at Rainbow in response, growing silent for a minute, “I guess I owe this one to Spike and Daring Do. If Spike didn’t calm me down, I would probably have spent all night and all morning freaking out. And if it weren’t for Daring... well, I don’t know.”

Twilight hugged a unicorn stuffy Rainbow had won for her earlier that day. Twilight tried to insist that she didn’t need one and told Rainbow that the games were all fixed anyways, but Rainbow was determined to win her date a prize. It had cost Rainbow a good number of bits and several tries, but eventually she somehow managed to win and Twilight walked away with a unicorn stuffy.

“You should totally name that little guy!” Rainbow chirped victoriously as they rounded the bend to a food stall.

“Hmm, okay then Rainbow, but what should I call him?” Twilight asked, regarding the toy nestled carefully on her back.

“How about Terry?” Rainbow blurted out, handing the vendor a few bits for the fair food.

“Why Terry?”

“I dunno, it just reminds me of something, can’t put my hoof on what though...”

“How did Daring Do help make up your mind?” Rainbow’s voice drew Twilight back to reality. “I thought you said that kind of romance-stuff was unrealistic?”

“It wasn’t that. I went over to the latest book we were reading and looked at your feather, the one we used as a bookmark. Anyways, it brought me back to all of the time we’d been spending together lately, and how much you mean to me. I guess everything just clicked after that. I wanted to give this a shot, and I couldn’t be happier that I did.”

Rainbow smiled adoringly and nuzzled the unicorn’s cheek, “Neither could I, Twi’, neither could I.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two as the sun neared the horizon and the golds and reds of the sky slowly began to fade to black. The yells of joy from the ponies down below began to grow less frequent as they returned home from a day of fanfare and fun.

“Y’know,” Twilight started, looking into Rainbow’s eyes. “We still haven’t finished that book. We at least have another couple of chapters to go through, and for some strange reason I can’t help but hope that things may turn around for Rosetta and Daring.”

“I guess that gives us something to look forward to,” Rainbow smiled mischievously, cupping Twilight’s cheek in her hoof.

“That, and so much more,” Twilight whispered as she nuzzled the hoof. 

As the first stars began to shine in the growing night sky, Twilight leaned in wordlessly towards Rainbow. Rainbow closed the last few inches between them, meeting Twilight’s lips with her own, Twilight’s hooves snaking around her back as she drew her in deeper into the kiss as the last light of the sun faded beyond the horizon.