//------------------------------// // Turn of Questions // Story: A turn of questions // by Silver Scrolls //------------------------------// The afternoon sky was cloudless, not a single fluffy white speck blemished her wondrous blue visage. A golden sun cast a warm glow over the lazy town from it's zenith in the sky. Near the horizon a multicolored speck began to glow, tracing a rainbow line across the sky. If one were to peer closely at the rainbow one would see it was following a blue speck. From time to time the rainbow would loop or roll over itself as a quiet squee teased the ears of those nearby. All this was happening because the one creating the rainbow was ecstatic. Her best friend and secret crush, Twilight Sparkle, had invited her over to the library. Sure it was to interview her for the book she was composing about the Bearers of Harmony, but they would be alone together in the library. Undisturbed and alone together, nopony to bother or disturb them. Rainbow's mind began to drift as she began imaging where the afternoon might go. As with many things, letting your mind wander while you fly can be quite hazardous, a fact Rainbow often forgot when her mind began revolving around her crush. Today, like many days before, her lack of attention to where she was flying would result in a resounding and rather painful sounding thud. Sliding to the ground with a pained groan she shook her head as she staggered to her feet and made her way to the front door of the library and knocked, a trick Twilight had spent countless hours teaching Rainbow. The heavy oak door creaked open as a small purple dragon put his weight into opening it. “Oh, hello Rainbow. Come in, I’ll go let Twilight know you're here.” With that said, the dragon tottered off towards the kitchen. His muffled voice soon carried out from the kitchen and was followed shortly by the voice Rainbow dreamed of. “I'll be out in a second, would you like something to drink?” A smile crept across Rainbow's face as she closed her eyes and let the voice soothe her like the soft caress of velvet. “Sure. Have any of Applejack’s cider?” Rainbow asked, opening her eye's and taking a seat on the couch in the center of the library. “I just got some more yesterday,” Twilight answered, walking out of the kitchen with two mugs held in her magic. Placing the mugs on the table in front of Rainbow she took a seat in the chair across from her. Pulling a quill and parchment from the nearby desk, she turned to Rainbow with a warm smile. “I’m glad you could make it. Now to reiterate, this interview is about your life so if there is any topic you would rather avoid, please let me know before we begin.” “I would rather skip over my parents; I really don't like talking about them too much. It's not like they were bad though, they just weren't very supportive...” Rainbow looked out the window and smiled coldly, her voice bitter, “of my lifestyle.” “Your lifestyle?” Twilight cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. “It’s not real important. It basically boils down to we didn’t see eye to eye on everything and it resulted in a lot of screaming matches.” Rainbow’s hoof found it’s way to the back of her head and she found an interesting spot on the table to stare at as she spoke. An awkward silence settled over the library for few moment before Rainbow spoke up again. “So back to the interview, was their anywhere in particular you wanted to start off.” Twilight shook her head and shuffled through her papers. “Well if you want to avoid talking about your family why don’t we start with your school life. Cloudsdale Flight Academy I believe it’s called.” “Hm, well it was the only school I attended so I don’t have anything to compare it with. I would guess it was pretty average as private schools go. You had yer cliques, the popular ones and the unpopular ones, and then the outcasts.” Rainbow sat back and took a swig of the cider. “The teachers were pretty laid back, gave you a push if you needed it.” “So, aside from Fluttershy and Gilda, did you have a lot of friends? You must have been quite famous for the sonic rainboom.” Rainbow sighed and shook her head trying not to let the old memories shake her up to much. She was too awesome to let those things bother her anymore. “Not really, I mean the sonic rainboom was awesome, but it made a lot of others jealous. I was pushed away because of it and never really made a lot of friends beyond Fluttershy and Gilda.” “Oh, so you were bullied then?” Twilight scribbled away on the parchment without breaking eye contact, a sympathetic frown tugged at her lips. Rainbow fidgeted and rubbed one fore hoof on her other leg. “Well umm...kinda...yea I was.” She trailed off for a bit before taking a deep breath and continuing. “It's hard to talk about. I am the toughest pony you will ever meet but it can be hard when it happens every hour of every day. ” Rainbow trailed off again. “It hurt more to see Fluttershy get teased because she hung out with me than the insults to myself honestly. Gilda wasn’t phased by it but you know how Fluttershy is.” Twilight nodded and made a few quick notes. “It must have been hard, I know it was for me.” Twilight reached over the table and placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “If you ever want to talk more about it, in a non proffesional setting, my door is always open.” Rainbow reached up and grabbed Twi’s hoof, leaning into it slightly. “Thanks, I know. I just prefer to forget about it and move on though. I am an adult and most of them can’t even come close to claiming what I can.” Twilight smiled and leaned back, picking up her quill and parchment again. “Moving on then. What was your love life like at Cloudsdale Academy.” Rainbow sputtered into her mug as she unwittingly tried to breath cider with the sudden question. After her coughing fit subsided she looked at Twi coyly. “Why, see something you like?” Without missing a beat Twilight lowered the paper and stared at Rainbow with half lidded eyes. “That is niether here nor there tonight Dash, it’s about your life not mine. If you don’t want to answer a question, just say pass.” Rainbow turned beet red and coughed into her hoof, struggling to keep her wings down. “Of course, sorry, the question just caught me off guard. It was pretty normal. I dated a few times, never anything real serious, the bullies and popular kids tended to run them off.” “I see.” Twilight stood up and moved the table aside. “I think that’s enough about your school life. Next I want to talk about your flying. You are probably the most graceful, and fastest pegasus alive today.” Twilight motioned for Rainbow to stand as she talked. “I have done a bit of studying about pegasus anatomy and I would like to compare your wings to some diagrams I have. If you don’t mind that is.” Rainbow stood awkwardly. “So you want to examine my wings to compare them with more text book wings?” A small tinge of red began to grow on Rainbow’s cheeks as she thought more about Twilight touching her wings. As she was thinking her wings started to flare out. “I’ll take that as permission then, if you could fully extend them please.” With a gently touch she prodded Rainbow’s wing. The resulting poomf startled Twilight and she found herself with a faceful of feathers. “Rainbow, you could have at least waited till my face was out of the way.” Rainbow blushed, turning her face the same color as the red hairs in her mane. “Sorry, you...startled me when you poked it. Go ahead and examine them now.” Rainbow bit her lower lip as she felt Twi start to gently caress her wing, in a manner which felt a little less than professional “You have gorgeous wings Rainbow. You must take great care of them. How often do you preen?” Twilight went about playing with Rainbow’s wing under the guise of examining them, enjoying herself immensely. “Have I ever told you how much I love pegasus wings, not only are they fascinating but beautiful as well.” Rainbow squeaked a little as Twi found a loose feather and gently pulled it loose. “I preen about once a week. It helps with flight control for my stunts. I didn’t know you were-” Rainbow stopped midsentence as Twilight ran a hoof down the top of her wing, a gentle light touch that left a lingering warmth in it’s wake. “Interesting, I knew preening was important but from what I read it’s usually only done once a month or so, or for special occasions.” Twilight put a little emphasis on special occasions and ducked under Rainbow’s muzzle to look at her other wing. She rubbed her back along Rainbow’s chin as she went, almost teasingly. “Twilight are you okay? Your being awfully...frisky.” Twilight froze and the library went silent. Twilight took deep breaths trying to calm herself. Okay, she noticed, how could she not though. That’s okay though, I planned for this. This entire evening was to get close to Rainbow and see how she reacted and so far it’s been good. I’m still not sure but- Twilight’s thought’s were interrupted as a blue hoof bopped her gently on the nose. “Earth to Twi, are you in there?” Rainbow had stepped back from Twilight and managed to fold her wings at her sides again. “You there?” With a nervous giggle Twilight slid to the floor. “I ruined things didn’t I? Here I was trying to be more like Cloudkicker, who swore to me it would get your attention and instead it freaked you out. Not only did I lie to you but I completely violated your personal space, and then the thing with your wings.” Twilight covered her head and started scooting across the floor towards the table. Rainbow watched Twilight with a raised eyebrow, unsure of what was going on. “What are you talking about, what do you mean like Cloudkicker.” Rainbow grabbed the lavender tail sticking out from under the table and pulled, dragging a despondent purple lump from under the table. “What was this about really?” Twilight took a deep breath and turned to look Rainbow in the eyes. “What would you say if I told you I brought you here under the guise of an autobiography so I would have a reason to ask you about your personal life so I could figure out whether you were into mares or not?” Rainbow stood still for moment, the gerbil wheel in her mind spinning far faster than it ever had before. Just as the gerbil keeled over and brought her thoughts to a screeching halt, one thought bounced forward. “Wait, you mean you wanted to know if I was gay or not.” Rainbow started laughing so hard tears formed in the corner of her eyes. “Really Twilight, all this just so you could ask me if I was gay. You are too much egghead. You could have just asked-” Rainbow froze as she replayed the night in her mind. “Wait, why do you want to know if I’m gay or not?” Twilight shuffled back and forth on the floor for a few moments, her eyes scanning the entire room. She closed her eyes and turned her head to Rainbow and lunged at her. No pretense, no warning, just a panic driven lunge at the cyan mare standing there with a shocked expression as she attempted to process the sudden explosion of lavender in front of her face. Rainbow flinched back, have attempting to escape half trying to understand what was going on. She expected Twilight to do something just not that! Of everything Rainbow could imagine Twilight doing at that moment, the act of pressing her lips to her own was nowhere on that list. The act of wrapping her hooves around Rainbow’s neck was somewhere in the same area on the list as the lips meeting. But most of all, she had not been expecting Twilight to be that good at kissing. Rainbow fainted almost immediately, whether from surprise or sheer elation, Twilight was unsure, but she took it in her stride. She wrote a short note telling Rainbow that she’d be visiting the Carousel Boutique if she would want to find her. As soon as she stepped out of the library into the afternoon sun, her pupils became pinpricks and her breathing accelerated as she began hyperventilating. What had she done? She’d just kissed Rainbow Dash without her permission; she’d potentially thrown their entire friendship into jeopardy just to fulfill some stupid crush. She just knew that when Rainbow woke up, she’d completely disown Twilight as her friend, writing to the Princess to get me thrown out of her school for gifted unicorns, and- and- and… “Twilight, are you alright my dear? you look positively...” Rarity, having decided to come and meet Twilight, was interrupted by a thud as Twilight promptly fainted on the spot. Twilight was completely rigid and even rocked a little as her stiff form settled on the ground. “Well I guess you went through with your plan, didn't you dear?” Rarity sighed to herself, gently levitating Twilight into the air and taking her back to the Boutique to rest. Rarity's ears were twitching slightly from a nearly imperceptible squealing sound coming from the motionless Twilight she was levitating. ~~ Rainbow woke up a minute later to the empty library. “What? Why am I...?” The moments before passing out filtered into her mind. “Oh Celestia! Twilight’s a… and she…!” Rainbow launched herself into the air, a high-pitched squeal echoing up her throat. She spotted a note on the mantelpiece, addressed to ‘Rainbow’. She quickly grabbed it. Rainbow Dash, I’ll probably be at Rarity's boutique when you wake up. If you want to give me an answer, I’ll be there. Hopefully your special somepony, Twilight Sparkle The note didn't even have chance to hit the floor before Rainbow had flown out the window towards Rarity's boutique. ~~ “Oh my Twilight, you make such a great mannequin. I wonder if I could get you to freeze up like this more often. I really hate it when you fidget while I’m trying to fit a dress, though I could do without that squealing sound which I can only assume is coming from you. I do hope Opalesence comes out of hiding before Fluttershy has to intervene again.” Rarity spoke towards Twilight, shuddering slightly at the memory of the last time Opal had hidden. It had taken Fluttershy half a day to get the poor kitty up from the basement and settled down again. Rarity chatted to the frozen Twilight normally as she used her as a living mannequin to adjust her newest dress for her. As she added the finishing touches, she heard a monstrous thud and her door fell inward off its hinges. Rainbow Dash was planted firmly on the other side, practically buzzing with excitement. “Where is she? I have an answer for her!” Rainbow shouted as she scanned the room. When she saw Twilight she froze. “Rarity, umm, what's wrong with Twilight? And what is that sound?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head slightly to try and clear her head from the irritating noise. “That, Rainbow Dash, would be Twilight; I assume her plan went well, and judging from your reaction, you’re quite happy with it as well. I do wish you could have just knocked though.” Rarity glanced at the broken door with regret, “Give me a second, I’ll wake her up.” Rarity leant over and whispered something to Twilight before standing back. Twilight's eyes dilated and the squealing became inaudible for a second before Twilight completely unfroze and toppled over in a mess of hooves. Twilight immediately scrambled to her hooves, noticing the dress that she was wearing and she gave Rarity a sharp look, not that the fashionista paid it any heed, then Twilight’s eyes found Rainbow and she turned deep red, looking away again. “Um, hey Rainbow, sorry about earlier... please don't hate me. I got lost in the moment and I just... did they dumbest thing ever that is gonna cost me you..." Twilight failed to notice that Rainbow was almost vibrating in place with excitement. "About the dress, I totally didn't get this dress commissioned in the hope of dating you in it at all. I didn't get one that I would coerce you into wearing...” Twilight’s rambling was interrupted by a kiss from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow turned to Rarity. “Get me that dress, I want to make this night memorable for Twilight” Both Twilight and Rainbow turned and looked at Rarity as she suddenly squealed and stammered. “R-r-r-rainbow Dash asking to be put into a dress. This is too WONDERFUL.” She nearly screamed as she grabbed Rainbow and dragged her into the back room to begin the final touches with the dress on Rainbow Dash. Twilight watched Rarity drag Rainbow Dash into the back room with a small chuckle as she smoothed out her dress and laid down on the couch. “I can't believe this is really happening. Oh by Celestia I can't believe I kissed Dashie. I didn't plan that part but...” Twilight paused as she brushed her lips with her hoof, “it felt so right.” Twilight giggled a bit and sighed. “Ever since Nightmare Moon I have wanted to do that to her. Was it always like this? I mean was it always more than just lust?” She paused as she thought about when it occurred to her, what she had been feeling, and how it had changed. “I never realized how I truly felt did I, yet I always knew it was love. It was so different than anything I ever felt back in Canterlot. It always felt like so much more with Rainbow, the feeling with Rainbow were so much stronger.” Twilight settled into the couch and began reminiscing about Rainbow Dash with a goofy grin on her face. ~~ “So Rainbow Dash, how do you feel about our wonderful friend Twilight?” Rarity began her standard interview while fitting routine with Rainbow now that they were alone. Rainbow nibbled her lower lip. “What do you want me to say Rarity. It’s Twilight, the mare I have been crushing on since she arrived.” Rainbow shook her head. “Don’t ever tell anypony anything I am about to tell you,” she said as fixed her stare on Rarity. “EVER.” “Of course dear, your girly little secrets are safe with me.” Rarity continued with the dress, ignoring Rainbow’s death sentence of a glare. “Don’t ever put me and girly together again please.” Rainbow shuddered. “That is so uncool, I DO NOT have girly secrets.” “Right, Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pegasus alive, does not do girly, I forgot that.” Rarity rolled her eyes and stuck a pin sharply through the fabric into Rainbow’s side. “Now back on topic. What do you think of our darling little Twilight.” Rainbow tapped her hoof on the floor, her brow furrowed quizzically. ”I don’t really know. I never stopped to think about it. She’s smart, easy to be around. I just feel good around her. It’s like, I don’t know how to explain it, that’s her thing. All I know is I like her, a lot, and have for a while.” Rainbow chewed her lip and her eyes glazed over as she tried to start thinking. “What's with the worry lip dear? You seemed so happy a second ago.” Rarity looked at Rainbow a little concerned without breaking stride as she fitted the dress. Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “It’s stupid, nothing important. how’s the dress coming along.” Rarity sighed and fiddled with a seem. “It’s not nothing, I know you Rainbow and you're never like this. What’s got you so worried?” “It’s nothing Rar-” Rarity fixed her eyes on Rainbow, using the glare she usually reserved for Sweetie Belle when she got into her sewing kit. “Fine, I’m worried that this will oust me. My past hasn’t exactly been stellar when it comes to ponies accepting me and the ponies I chose to court. You weren’t there at Cloudsdale, but it was hard. Then there were my parents, the one pair of ponies I wanted to accept me more than anything, and you know how that turned out.” Rarity winced, memories of Rainbow’s parents coming by Ponyville to see their daughter flashing through her mind. She had to agree with Rainbow that her parents were not very accepting of non traditional relationships. Poor Lyra, some of her saddest music to date was written after that little escapade. “Are you worried that something like that might happen again with Twilight, that your parents or some other ponies will scare her away?” “I have to make this work, not for me or her but for us.” Rainbow paused and seemed to chew on last word. Her brow furrowed and her eyes darted about. “Us, huh, us.” She repeated the word a few times quietly to herself. “Rarity, have I ever described a relationship like that before, using the word us rather than me and her or something?” Rarity tapped her chin a bit. “Not since I have known you. I would ask Fluttershy too, she has known you a lot longer than I have.” Rainbow seemed to stand straighter with a smile. She looked like she had just dropped a weight from her shoulders as she realized something. “Yes it's now going to be us. We will fight, we will find a place for ourselves. Together we will face the future, and together we will work on what I fear. Even if it stops being us she will make it a different us that work on things together to stay friends. It's no longer just me fighting. I now have her beside me and we will protect each other.” Rainbow paused as she noticed Rarity’s small half smile and proud look in her eyes. “What?” “Well, you just seem so happy about this, like this is the first time you have had something that felt like this. Not to mention you're being awfully insightful, quite unlike your usual brash self.” Rainbow coughed into her hoof and tried to glare at Rarity. “I can’t help it, she might be the first mare I have truly ever wanted. Not just because she can make me feel less lonely but because I know she has the strength to fight just as hard as I will. The others were great, but none of them fought for me in the end, they just accepted it, but Twilight went out of her way to make sure it would be okay. I bet if I thought about it, I would see a lot of examples of her making exceptions for me, excuses to help me. I think she’s been fighting for this a lot harder than I have and now it’s my turn.” Rarity sniffled a little. “You’re finally growing up. I never thought I would see the day when Rainbow Dash would fight for love.” She deftly finished the final touches on the dress and stepped back with a massive smile on her lips. “Well you and Twilight compliment each other so I know it will work. I have never seen a better matched pair of ponies.” Rarity frowned, “drat, you must have moved at some point. Hold still a second while I...” Rarity deflt stuck a needle into Rainbow between her wings causing her to freeze up. “Perfect, now to do your hair and tail up. It won’t be long and you will look stunning. And do try not to hold the needle trick against me, blame Aloe for teaching it to me.” With a little hum and a skip, Rarity turned and floated some hair products over as Rainbow whimpered a little. ~~ Twilight had drifted off, but awoke to the sound of the backroom opening. When she looked over at the gorgeous mare walking through the door, her breath caught in her throat. Rarity had gone all the way to make Rainbow as pretty as she could be. Twilight smiled as Rainbow walked up. “Twilight how do I look? Oh, I have something for you.” Rainbow said as she pulled out a necklace that had her cutie mark as it's charm and lowered it over Twilight's neck. “It matches the one she gave me.” Rainbow pulled out a necklace with Twilight's cutie mark as the charm. “Rainbow you look amazing and thank you.” Twilight blushed a little. “So shall we go?” Twilight leaned against Rainbow and they walked out of the store together leaving Rarity standing in the background wiping a happy tear from her eye. They turned away from the Boutique, it was a warm evening and the sun was just above the horizon. Rainbow broke the silence, “So shall we Twilight? I figure dinner and then a walk through the meadow sounds pretty romantic.” Rainbow said as she glanced at Twilight who was beaming. “I think I want to add a flight with you and we can watch the moon rise and the stars on a cloud together.” Rainbow smiled and gave Twilight a quick peck. “I think I like the idea of snuggling with you on a cloud, but nothing more ‘till the third date.” Twilight froze instantaneously and began her squeal again as Rainbow nipped her ear.