//------------------------------// // Last Post On The Bugle // Story: Will She Love Me Too? // by Liechtenstein //------------------------------// Twilight took the not-so-subtle hint and headed off home alone, slightly dejected and rather abashed by her sudden rejection. Returning home she called to Spike, to check on how he was; going without Twilight to supervising. "Spike! I'm back now." She informed her reptilian assistant. Coming down the stairs to greet his librarian friend, Spike tried to put himself to immediate use. "Hi, Twi. How was your day? D'you need anything?" "It was alright, I guess. Just the usual boring sleepover, nothing too exciting. And I don't need anything now, Spike, thanks. Any way how were you?" Twilight lied, for a reason she was not able to ascertain; it just seemed like the appropriate think to do. "Oh, alright then, Twi. We were fine; me and Owlowiscious just had a boys night in. I ate- I mean 'we'- ate most of the ice cream, by the way. We got a bit carried away, you know how it is, right?" Twilight just shook her head and sighed. "Whatever, Spike. I'll just be up in my room if you need anything; I need to think somethings through." Without another word, Twilight solemnly strode upstairs, leaving Spike mildly concerned about his friend and master's well-being, this feeling exacerbated by the slam of Twilight's door. I'm taking this the wrong way, of course I am. But what am I taking the wrong way, what do I falsely infer from this? Does Rarity hate me? No... I think we can set that idea aside, she's been too supportive to hate me. Unless of course she's been bluffing this entire time, but I need to at least hold the pre-supposition that my friends are at least truthful in their accents. If I don't hold that I can't trust in anything. If she doesn't hate me then what? Maybe she just thought that me going back to her house would be arbitrary? And she was probably a bit embarrassed by what Applejack said about 'us'. She did seem a bit overly embarrassed, like Applejack touched a nerve. But why? Rarity could be a little homophobic, or thing that Applejack was in someway purposely offending her? There's obviously the possibility that- no... if that were the case Rarity would've said something. Twilight paced her room endlessly, throwing all the possibilities around her head, reviewing and re-reviewing the situation. She had several distinct possibilities, but she couldn't decide on which was more likely, or indeed which was more appealing. Okay, so if she is a lesbian so what? That shouldn't change anything. Of course it will, though, obviously, thinking otherwise is just kidding yourself. But if she is then why did she get so offended? Is she scared of who she is? I can understand that, but surely seeing how the others reacted she should feel more secure. Then again Rarity is quite a vain pony, perhaps she's scared at ow this will affect her social standing, somehow. Maybe I should go and see her? She probably doesn't want to see me though. Her thoughts were, once more, interrupted by Spike knocking at the door. "Twilight, are you alright? It's just that you seem to be speaking to yourself a lot." said the concerned dragon. "I'm alright, Spike; I was just thinking. Must've been thinking aloud. I think I should be done for now. Sorry for being so weird at the moment, did I disturb you?" "No, I'm fine, Twi. I was just concerned. Do you need anything?" Spike spoke with genuine sincerity and concern, clearly the way Twilight had been acting had recently. "I could probably do with a cup of water, please?" Don't really need a cup of water, but it's nice to make Spike feels useful. Plus this might all make sense if I quench my first. "I'll get right on it, Twilight!" Enthused at being given a task, for the first time in what seemed like a millenia, Spike promptly got to it; and promptly returned. Twilight thanked him and sent him on his way, before setting herself down in a corner of her library. If I can't talk to my friends about my problems then I can always refer to the vast collection of books living in a library gives me access to. Nice, predictable, safe, impersonal books. Twilight, somewhat out of desperation, plumped for the scarcely visited 'romance' section. The Romance section of the library was a small quaint little area within the library. It wasn't a place that Twilight frequented, but it was unusually popular. In fact it was so popular that it was immediately distinguishable to the surrounding sections at a mere glance; the book spines were all slightly more wrinkled compared to the books in the other sections, and the colours slightly more worn. The popularity of the is particular section of the library always bemused Twilight. She had never seen the appeal in the books herself; they all seemed to talk of an overly idealized version of a feeling she never truly understood, as well as being, in her opinion, generally of lower literary quality or merit than other works of fiction. Twilight let out a deep sigh; unsure as to her motivations for visiting this section and unclear as to why she thought it would help. Right, need to pick something that looks helpful in anyway. 'Last Night in Neighgas', 'Mare in Manehattan', 'Pegasus Wings', none of these sound helpful. Why can't there just be a book entitled 'A Rough Guide to Love in Equestria'? Why must we skirt around the issue coyly. There should be studies about this. We already study friendship, why not go one step further? Twilight perused through the Romance titles, taking mental notes about some, as she needed. It wasn't long before she bored of the task, as her previous conceptions of romance novels were become increasingly validated by the minute. Right, it's decided; reading books will get me nowhere. I really do need to do something spontaneous, that needs to happen. It was at this point that her personal reflection was broken, by a voice that was all too familiar to her. "Hi, Twi. What'cha reading?" Twilight didn't need to look up; she knew that the voice belonged to Rainbow Dash. "Uh, noth-" "'A Picture of a Princess'? I didn't know you were into that soppy stuff, Twilight." "I'm not, really, it- it was just research... what are you doing here, Rainbow?" Twilight was flustered; she felt off-guard by the sudden emergence of Rainbow Dash. "Well, it is a public library. I just thought that I'd come and visit my favourite librarian, is that a crime? And anyway what are you researching that requires you to read this lovey-dovey stuff? Do you 'love somepony'?" Rainbow spoke in a faux mocking tone, making mocking kissing gestures towards the end. Well, Twilight, its now or never. "Well, kinda; Iloveyouverymuch- but I just thought I'd broaden my hori-" "Wait, what did you just say? Did you just say that you loved me very much?" Rainbow wasn't so much asking Twilight to repeat herself in order to make sure she had heard correctly, but to clarify why Twilight had just said that. "No. Anyway, I thought that I-" Twilight, realizing that she had probably made a terrible mistake, tried to move past the topic as quick as possible. "Yes you did. Do- do you 'love' me, Twi?" A puzzled look was now covering Rainbow's face; she was unsure how to react, or even how she felt about it. "Well... maybe a little bit." Twilight was still hoping that if she acted as nonchalant and aloof about the issue then it would suddenly vanish. "Well. That's certainly... different. So what? I suppose you want me to kiss you and tell you that I love you and whisk you away to a faraway hill top overlooking a placid lake and all that junk?" Twilight was unsure if this was a trap or not, Rainbow Dash didn't seem disgusted by the notion, but she certainly didn't look as if she was being sincere. "The thought had occurred, I guess." "Well it ain't gonna happen, Twi. I'm not like you, you knew that already. And now you bring this up. You saw how I reacted initially to even the concept of you fillyfooling, what did you honestly think the best outcome to telling me this was? Honestly for an egg-head you can be really stupid at times." Rainbow's tone was highly critical, not angry, per se, just disappointed, tired; as if she was too exhausted to be angry. "I dunno. I just definitely thought that you knowing about this would somehow make everything better." I'm sure I should be upset right about now. Instead I'm paralyzed by what feels like apathy. "Well, has it? Actually don't answer that; I'll leave now before you get the chance to say something else you will regret." Rainbow Dash didn't leave the library in a quick flash, like one would have expected her to do. Instead she landed with a thud and trotted casually out of the library's front door. The whole event was reminiscent of when Twilight's parents used to chastise her for some minute misdemeanor. The feelings the event invoked were also very much reminiscent of her foalhood punishments; shame, with a slight amount of confusion and indignation.