“...and so, once again, Daring Do escaped with the treasure, leaving Ahuizotl cursing her name as she flew away.” Twilight finished, closing the cover of the book.
“That was so awesome!” Rainbow Dash squealed as she lay cuddled with her marefriend on the bed. Twilight used her magic to place the book back on her personal bookshelf, before turning to look at Rainbow.
“I knew you’d love it.” Twilight said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.
“Of course I did. I always love Daring Do.” Rainbow looked lovingly up at Twilight, and responded to her with a forceful kiss on the lips.
After a few blissful minutes, they broke apart.
“Y’know Twilight, you didn’t used to be such a great kisser.” Rainbow teased gently.
The purple alicorn blushed heavily. “Oh, don’t remind me, but I had a great teacher.” She pondered this for a moment before speaking again. “How did you get so good at this? I mean obviously practice, but with how many others?”
She rubbed her forelegs together self consciously. Before she had come to Ponyville, she had never made time for other ponies in any respect, always giving some lame excuse about studying or having some project due. Before Rainbow she had never even thought of others in an intimate light. Fearing her lover had far greater experience than she made her feel suddenly inadequate.
“Well before you, I never really had anything serious, just a couple of flings. Never had any of them go well enough to pass into the relationship phase, but that doesn’t mean we never did anything.” She noticed that Twilight seemed to deflate a little bit at this news. She started to say something, but Twilight spoke up first.
“Anyone I know?” Rainbow cringed a little at that one. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she fumbled her words.
“Well… Um… Let’s see, there was Raindrops, Cloudchaser, Flitter…” She trailed off for a moment trying to remember more. “Oh there was Derpy too, and let me tell you, that mare…” Rainbow finished her sentence with a whistle. “Heck I even had little thing going with Applejack, but that didn’t last very long.” She heard a whine and looked down to see Twilight with her head buried in her hooves.
“Aw come on Twi! Just cause I know my way around the bedroom a little, doesn’t mean I’m gonna judge you.” She said lifting Twilight’s head with a hoof so she could look her in the eyes. “You know our relationship is about more than just that. So what if you aren’t the most amazing pony in the bedroom? I chose to be with you. I mean sure you asked me out, but I kinda figured the anti-social bookworm from Canterlot, who’d never even made friends before, would be new to all this.” She lovingly nuzzled Twilight.
Twilight looked into Rainbow’s eyes. “Thanks for that. I love you so much Rainbow.”
“I love you too, Twi.”
Rainbow leaned in and pressed her lips passionately to Twilight’s. She felt the other mare press into the kiss as well. Opening her mouth slightly, she snaked her tongue out and brushed it lightly across Twilight’s lips. When the other mare’s mouth opened, she launched her assault, working her way in to wrestle for dominance. Neither mare noticed the door opening or the third party enter the room unannounced. They were too engrossed in their private battle to notice until the new pony spoke up.
“Hey Twilight, mind if I…” Applejack spoke up before stopping mid sentence as she noticed the sight before her.
“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, her face bright red as she pushed away from Rainbow, “What in Equestria are you doing here?”
“I… I...” The tears began to run down her face as she turned and bolted from the room. The front door could be heard slamming a few moments later. A speechless Rainbow and Twilight looked to each other to see if they had an explanation for their friend’s strange behavior.
Rainbow took off after their friend, leaving Twilight alone in her bedroom. She was still a little flustered from the kiss and her brain was having trouble sorting out the confusing situation that had just happened. Looking back to the door again, she saw something on the floor that she hadn’t noticed at first. Using her magic, she picked up the item and brought over to herself, gasping when she saw what it was.
Floating before her was a beautiful bouquet. But this was no ordinary bouquet, it was specifically made up of Rainbow’s favorite flowers. Rainbow had only told her what they were after two months of being together, and they were not easy to get.
Twilight’s heart sank as the pieces fell into place in her mind. Applejack had come here to confess her feelings for Rainbow. She remember Rainbow telling her how she had once had a thing with Applejack, apparently AJ had never gotten over it.
Twilight sat back in her bed, clutching the flowers to her chest.
What are we going to do?
Rainbow touched down back in front of the library. She had searched everywhere for Applejack but turned up nothing. She hated not being able to help one of her friends, and hated even more when it could be her that was causing their problems. She roughly opened the door before heading inside and kicking it shut again. The sight that greeted her instantly made her forget what she had been thinking.
Twilight was sitting at her desk with several different books floating in front of her. This in and of itself would appear to be a normal sight for Rainbow to walk in on. The part that got her attention was that Twilight was openly sobbing while clutching something to her chest. She took a few steps forward but stopped when she finally caught a glimpse of what Twilight was holding, and it sent a chill down her spine. She’d recognise those flowers anywhere.
Oh my gosh, I just ran out on her and we were supposed to be celebrating! Some marefriend I am...
She meekly continued her way across the library’s lower floor and sat down in front of Twilight’s desk, her wings hanging limply at her side. She let out a sigh and started to apologize.
“Twilight, I’m so-” She was cut off by the sound of all the books hitting the floor. Twilight looked at her and raced around to the other side of the desk, still clutching the flowers.
“Oh! Rainbow Dash! I’m so glad you’re back, because we have a serious problem.”
“What? No! I’m sorry for running out like that but everything is cool.” She wrapped her wings around Twilight in a loving embrace. Twilight pushed away from here a little and stared at her dumbfounded.
“What? How can everything be ‘cool’ about this?” Twilight replied pushing the flowers towards Rainbow. She stared at the flowers, puzzled for a second before meeting Twilight’s gaze.
“You didn’t get these for me?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“No! After you and Applejack ran off I found them laying in the doorway. Rainbow, I think Applejack still has feelings for you, and the reason she seemed so upset is because she walked in on us!”
Rainbow’s heart sank. To her, Applejack had just been a fling, with no serious feelings involved, and she had thought Applejack felt the same way. It tore her up inside, knowing that one of her friends was suffering and it was her fault. Even more so, because she knew there was no way she could make things right. She was with Twilight now and she wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Besides, she didn’t feel that way about Applejack. She considered her a very close friend, but she didn’t possess any romantic feelings for her like she had for Twilight. Sure she had enjoyed their time together but she had never thought of taking it any further with the apple mare.
“What are we gonna do about this?” Rainbow sank down into the chair and rested her head in her hooves.
“I don’t know but I’ve been researching relationship issues in different self help books the library has,” Twilight said, picking the books back up in her magic and opening them again. “I’m sure there has to be a solution in one of them.”
“Come on, Twilight. I don’t think any book has the answer to this problem. I’m pretty sure the only answer is letting her know that we’re an item and that’s that.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t there a way we can try to do this without hurting her?” Twilight asked, pulling a rather large, dusty tome off the shelf where the other books had been. It was labeled ‘History of Relationships Through the Ages’. “I really don’t like the idea of having to just stomp all over her heart like that.”
“Well what else do you expect us to do? I’m spoken for, and she can’t have me no matter how badly she wants it. It would be better to let her get over things on her own than to lead her on with false hope.” Twilight lowered her book to meet Rainbow’s gaze.
“You’re right.” She said with a sigh. “I just don’t want this to drive a wedge in between us and ruin our friendship. Did you manage to catch up to her when you went after her?”
“Nah, I looked everywhere I could think of, even checked most of Sweet Apple Acres.”
Twilight frowned. “That’s strange. Where could she have gone?” A shrug from Rainbow was her only answer.
“Let’s let her cool off a bit. She’ll show up again when she’s ready to see us. Besides she couldn’t be gone for too long, she wouldn’t want to worry her family again like she did in Dodge Junction.”
“Yeah. I guess I’m just worried is all. I really hope she’s doing okay.” She closed the book and ran a hoof over the cover absentmindedly.
“Wow. This really put a damper on our whole six month anniversary thing.” Rainbow chuckled mirthlessly. Twilight nuzzled her lovingly, and then glanced at the clock.
“We still have enough time to make our dinner reservation if you want. This doesn’t have to completely ruin our special day.”
Rainbow smiled halfheartedly. “Sure, that sounds nice. Let’s go.” She got up and stretched a wing over Twilight’s back. “Besides, it might help get our minds off of this whole… thing.” Twilight nodded, and the two departed the library in silence.
Spike could be heard snoring loudly as the two quietly pushed open the door.
“How did you ever get any sleep with him in the same room?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle.
“Sound dampening spell.” Twilight replied, using her magic to close the door on the downstairs study. They had converted it into a bedroom for Spike when they made things official between them. Rainbow just rolled her eyes and made for the stairway.
They softly walked up the library’s creaky stairs, and into Twilight’s loft bedroom. Rainbow plopped down on the bed, stretching her wings after a long and stressful day.
She yawned. “Alright Twi, I’m gonna hit the hay. G’night, I love you.”
“Goodnight, Rainbow. I love you too.” She levitated her large book from earlier onto the desk and sat down in front of it. “I’ll join you in a second, but for now, I’ve got some studying to do.” Rainbow’s soft snores were the only response she got.
She continued reading from where she had stopped earlier. She went through several chapters that were less than helpful before she finally found something that seemed different from the other ones. The chapter was simply titled ‘Herding’ and it immediately piqued her curiosity, wondering what relationship could revolve around the corralling of animals.
She began reading, and as she made her way through the chapter a smile began to form on her face. This was exactly what she had been looking for, and she couldn’t wait to tell Rainbow. She wasn’t sure if she would go for it exactly, but the book didn’t say anything about it being a banished practice. It may have been a little unorthodox nowadays but she didn’t care, so long as everyone would be happy in the end.
She closed the book and stretched before making her way over to the bed. Snuggling in beside Rainbow, she soon joined her in peaceful slumber, worries cast aside by her perfect plan.