//------------------------------// // Day 8 (Yes, I know I goofed) // Story: The Bet // by Blueninetails //------------------------------// The following day, Rainbow was the first out of everyone to awaken. Well, second only to Luna probably, but she was awake bright and early nonetheless. Rainbow headed out of the hotel to stretch her wings. Similar to Twilight, now that she had technically admitted that she had lost her bet with Applejack, she was no longer bound by it and was free to fly around as she pleased. Rainbow practiced a few of her tricks to make sure she hadn't gotten soft during the six days she wasn't practicing, and smiled as she let the feeling of the wind in her mane and feathers relax her. The whole time though, she kept in mind that she had to be attentive of what the time was, she remembered that she was going to hang out with Twilight during lunch. Just a few minutes before noon, Rainbow flew back down to the front of the hotel to meet up with Twilight. While she waited for the alicorn, she came across Applejack as she was leading the Cutie Mark Crusaders back to the hotel. Apparently the Crusaders had snuck out earlier to explore on their own. When asked by the farmer pony who she was waiting for, she explained to Applejack what Twilight and her were planning to do that day. Applejack nodded before telling Rainbow she hoped they had a good lunch, then went back to leading the three young fillies back into the hotel. Despite the fact she was growing hungrier with each passing minute, Rainbow stayed true and waited for Twilight to show up. Eventually though, Rainbow fell asleep on the grass in front of the hotel. By the time she woke up, she saw five pairs of eyes looking down at her, each belonging to Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. "Hey girls." Rainbow greeted as she gave a yawn, "What's up? Why are you all looking at me like that?" "We were all jus' wonderin' why ya were still 'ere." Applejack replied. "We were about to go find something to give Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as a gift of thanks for paying for most of our vacation expenses." Rarity added "Did ya an' Twi already finish up yer lunch?" "What...? No, I'm still waiting for her. She's probably gonna be here soon." "Dear, do you know what time it is right now?" Rarity asked "Um...I dunno...12:30?" "It's 2:45 in the afternoon sugercube." Applejack stated. "What?!" Rainbow asked as she shot up into a sitting position. "Have ya been out 'ere the entire time?" "But, I- Where's Twilight?" "We haven't seen her all day." Scootaloo replied "I take it you haven't either." Rarity guessed "No, why do you think I was still out here for?" Rainbow asked. At that moment they heard Rainbow's stomach growl. "All the while, hungry?!" she shouted. "Relax Rainbow, we didn't say nothin' ta upset ya. We're jus' as curious ta find out where Twi is as ya are." Applejack stated "Hm, perhaps Twilight went out for a moment. You know how she can be at times." Rarity suggested. "Yeah, but she was suppose ta have lunch with Rainbow, and it ain't much like 'er ta be late." Applejack stated, "She'd probably chew her own hooves off before bein' late like this." "True." Rarity nodded in agreement "Why don't we check with Spike? Maybe he knows where Twilight went." Pinkie suggested as she hopped up and down. "Yeah, if anyone knows where she went, it's gotta be Spike." Rainbow agreed. "Well, what are we waitin' fer then? Spike at the buffet with Fluttershy an' mah sister." Applejack stated before all six of them started toward the buffet. At the buffet, Spike and Applebloom were talking to one another while Fluttershy was coming back with some ice cream for the three of them. The others arrived just as Fluttershy was returning with three big bowls of ice cream on a tray in her hooves. "You're back early." Fluttershy timidly stated, "Did you find a gift for the Princesses already? Oh, and hello Rainbow." Rainbow just gave a nod in response to show she acknowledged the greeting. "Not exactly." Applejack replied as she shook her head, "We're jus' comin' back ta ask Spike somethin'." "Well, uh...What did you want to ask me?" "Is somethin' the matter Applejack?" Applebloom asked. "We're looking for Twilight." Rainbow replied, "We want to know if you've seen her." "Looking for her? I thought she was suppose to be with Rainbow." Spike stated. "She was suppose to." "It seems Twilight arranged with Rainbow to have lunch with her, but it appears she never showed up." Rarity explained "We thought that maybe you knew." Rainbow added. "Um...I-I don't think Twilight said anything to me." Spike stated "You gotta know something." "No..., she just went to bed last night. She didn't say a word to me, and she woke up before me, so I didn't see her at all today." "Maybe she's with Princess Luna." Fluttershy suggested "No, I doubt it. I was with Princess Luna all morning after breakfast helping organize her things to leave tomorrow. I didn't Twilight once come up to the suite." "Well, she's gotta be somewhere." Applejack stated "Maybe she went off somewhere to...I dunno....think." Spike suggested "To think?" Rainbow asked "Yeah. Back at Canterlot, before she met all of you, Twilight use to disappear for hours without telling anypony. She use to do that when she wanted to think and didn't want any kind of distraction." "How's that differ from just coopin' 'erself up in 'er room?" Applejack asked, genuinely curious. "When I said 'any distraction', I did mean any distractions. That includes, unfortunately, anypony talking to her." "Ah do hope she's fine, wherever she decided ta hid 'erself." Rainbow gave a groan, this wasn't giving her any answers to finding Twilight. Just as she was about to complain and try asking another question, her eyes went wide as she realized that Spike had given her the answer she wanted. "Hey, I think I know where to look for Twilight." Rainbow announced. "You do?" Spike asked "Yeah, thanks for the help Spike." and before anyone could say another word the pegasus was flying over to the hotel doors and out. "You're welcome...?" The others could only look on in confusion, wondering what did Spike say that helped. Twilight wasn't too far, she was currently seated at the top of Lover's Echo. True to Luna's statement two days ago, it had been rarely visited, leaving Twilight a place to silently think. Twilight was going over the events of the past week, particularly though what had happened yesterday. The ending results after all that happened the previous day had left the alicorn considerably upset, confusing her greatly. Her attempt to treat the whole matter as an experiment to experience life as a non-unicorn did yield some very valuable results, she's forged unique and special memories that easily ensured her bond with her friends are as strong as ever, and she's managed to learn more about her friend Rainbow Dash, who until this point she hadn't really spent any personal time with. So much good use of her time, yet it troubled her. It had all been going so well up until the incident yesterday. During the whole incident, especially when Rainbow had lost consciousness, she was extremely panicked. Of course she would be panicked, why wouldn't she be? But panicked enough to make her blood run cold? Panicked enough for it to feel like her heart had dropped into the pit of her stomach at the sight of her friend's unconscious form? Panicked enough to beg the pegasus to come to like as if her own life was precariously hanging in the balance? It just felt distinguishably different from what she thought would've been normal. At that moment Twilight heard someone land behind her, tearing her away from her thoughts. Twilight's eyes went wide as she noticed it was Rainbow who had landed behind her. "Hey Twilight." she greeted. "Uh...hey there Rainbow. What are you doing here?" "I'm looking for you." Rainbow replied as she sat down next to her, "I didn't see you where we were suppose to meet for lunch." "Oh, right. I-I'm sorry Rainbow, I guess I forgot." "Yeah, I thought that might've been the case." "Listen, Rainbow...I want to apologize." "Apologize? Apologize for what?" "It's my fault you lost your bet with Applejack." "Oh yeah...that. Listen, It's alright, it's cool." "But, I thought you'd be mad at me." Twilight stated as her ears flattened against her head. "I'm mad, but I'm not mad at you. It was an accident, and...I'm cool with that." she explained as she out-stretched a wing and wrapped it behind Twilight, earning a very cute smile from her. "Thanks Rainbow." then gave a sigh, "Now, if you will Rainbow, I'd like to have a moment to be alone." "But I just got here." she complained. "Please Rainbow, I really need the time to think things over. I been having some trouble since yesterday." "Oh, well, can I help? I'm sure somepony as awesome as me can help." Twilight smirked in response, "Rainbow, we both know thinking isn't really one of your strongest skills." "Oh come on, just humor me Twi." Twilight raised a brow then sighed. "Alright. Yesterday, after we both hit the water, you passed out. When you did, and after I had already teleported us to the beach, I...I panicked. Which I suppose is completely normal for any pony who watched their friend almost drown; but...when I saw you...I not only panicked, I became extremely scared." Rainbow shot a curious look at Twilight. "I became frightened that I was about to lose a friend; but, somehow it felt more so. My chest hurt, my stomach felt like it just did a flip, and I felt like I was willing to trade away almost everything if it meant helping you." she sighed, "It felt like I was about to lose-" "-something precious?" Rainbow interrupted, as she looked Twilight in the eye. Twilight looked at the pony next to her in utter shock, "H-how did you-?" "-know? Because, that's actually how I felt when I saw you fall out of the balloon." "..." "Twilight..., I think I have something to tell you, and I think it might help, but you have to promise me that you won't let this hurt our friendship." "Um, okay..." Rainbow sighed before swallowing, "Twilight...I think I'm starting to...kinda like you." and looked away. Twilight gave a curious and concerned look at Rainbow, "I'm your friend Rainbow...I thought liking me was required for us be consider ourselves friends." "No, I-I mean, I like you more than just a friend." Twilight's eyes widened as she picked up exactly what Rainbow was getting at, and pulled away from the pegasus's wing that was still on her. "Listen Twilight, I know it's kind of a lot take in, but I do think I'm starting to like you that way. If you don't...I can understand." "No..., it's alright Rainbow; and, yes, all this is a lot to take in for me." Twilight stated, almost too quietly, "But, why...? Why me?" "I'm not really sure actually, I kinda found out myself two or three days ago; but, I know you're a cool mare, you're smart, you're talented, and I guess I kinda think you're...kinda...you know...pretty." she paused to take a deep breath, she hated having to be this emotional, to be this soft, but it had to be said, "When you took me flying, it just felt...it felt right. It felt so good to be able to be there with you, and I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to be close to you." Twilight smiled, "Rainbow..." "Look, I'm not good with words. So if you think I sound stupid, fine, I'm stupid. Just know, that you matter to me now, and that I'd really love to have a chance to see if we can be together." "Rainbow." Twilight said as she wrapped her wings around the pegasus, "I don't think you're stupid, and...I think I feel the same, because I do want to try us." Rainbow gave a caring smile before attempting to wrap her own wings around Twilight. "We both have a lot to think about it, we need to learn more. I'd rather be sure than have to go blindly into something like this." "So what do you suggest?" "Well...I was thinking, we both feel like being more than friends, right?" "Yeah..." "And, you kinda lost our bet..." "Don't rub it in." "Well, I was thinking, maybe for the favor...we could go to...to dinner?" "Twi... did you just ask me out on a date?" Rainbow asked with an amused smirk. Twilight's face turned a ruby-red color as she tilted her head down, so she looked like she was giving Rainbow a puppy-dog eyes. "Okay, I can roll with that. Besides, I made a bet, I lost, and I owe you." The two stayed where they were until the late late afternoon, and after berating Rainbow a bit about not eating a single thing that day, the two headed back to Lunar Bay to find dinner and go on their date. Their date was a fairly simple affair, just two of them talking and enjoying each other's company as they ate. During their dinner, Rainbow stole a few glances at Twilight, the alicorn just looked so much more cuter when she was trying to discretely hide her occasional blushes. Afterwards, the two went out for a quickly nightly stroll, at least until Rainbow decided she had an interesting idea for the both of them, and started leading Twilight back up to Lover's Echo. "Come on Twilight, hurry up." Rainbow shouted out to her "Rainbow, this is a ridiculous idea." "Oh, come on Twilight, just trust me. You trust me don't you?" Twilight looked at Rainbow as she joined the pegasus at the top of hill, then smiled, "Of course I do. Are you sure about this?" Rainbow nodded eagerly before going over to the edge, and talking a big breathe as she flared her wings and shouted out, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!". She looked back at Twilight. "I dunno Rainbow, I mean we've only had one date together, isn't this a bit too..." she was saying before started to trail off as she looked at Rainbow's expression. Rainbow had flattened her ears against her head, and had a very hurt look on her face. Even her wings went limp as they fell toward the ground in an opened state. She wasn't actually sad, or at least too much, she was actually trying to convince Twilight without really saying anything, which was working. "Fine." Twilight stepped up to the edge next to Rainbow, and taking a deep breathe herself and shouted, "RAINBOW DASH!" They looked at each other again, smiling, before turning to look at the horizon in front of them again and shouted each other's names once more. The two then backed away from the edge and sat next to each, draping a wing on each other's back. "I know it was kinda silly for us to do that, but like I said, I'm not good with words, but I'm good at being loud. So..., thanks." "You're quite welcome Rainbow." Twilight said before she gave Rainbow a quick peck on the side of the pegasus's lips. "Did you...Did you just kiss me?" Twilight just gave a smile. "I didn't think you wanted to go that fast Twi." "Says the pony that decided to, and convinced me to do as well, let all of Lunar Bay know we're dating now, by shouting our names out on the top of Lover's Echo." Twilight remarked Rainbow snorted quietly. "Touché." She said as she brought the two of them closer to each other. They then sat quietly in each other's wings as they looked up at the night sky. As they sat there though, they remained oblivious as a blue alicorn quietly appeared behind a tree behind them. Princess Luna curiously looked at the two, before smiling and shaking her head. Her horn gave a quiet hum as it started to glow and a comet streaked through the sky in front of Twilight and Rainbow, who looked on in amazement. Princess Luna gave another gentle smile before vanishing into the night. Twilight and Rainbow would remain there for another hour, enjoying the view of the night sky together, and as the rumors go, the view of the sky really was beyond spectacular.