The next day was bright and breezy as usual. Spike and Twilight spent most of the morning researching libraries and their construction. Thankfully there was plenty of material on the subject, so the two were quite busy tearing through books and design portfolios. Spike yawned over a chapter on shelf maintenance, exposing all of his teeth from the sharp ones up front all the way to the molars in the back. Twilight was grateful that his morning breath problems were solved by the mouthwash she bought him. He lazily flicked a page over and sighed loudly, expressing his lethargy.
“Do we even need all this research? I mean, we practically spent our whole lives in libraries and studies. I’d say between the two of us, we’re already experts on libraries,” Spike said, peering over to Twilight who lay on the rug across from him.
“I do not want to get complacent, Spike. You and I are expert researchers, so we should do our best to learn how to build Ponyville the best library we can. We’ll need to know what we want when we talk to that contractor tomorrow,” she said and flipped a page with her magic.
“Okay, you’re right. But so far I’m only learning things I already know. Howbout we--” Spike was interrupted by a knock on the castle’s doors. They both perked up and began walking towards the main entrance.
“I wonder who that is? It can’t be the book orders yet. I just finished ordering them yesterday,” Spike said and dutifully opened the door on behalf of Twilight, who curiously stayed nearby to peek at their guest. When Spike opened the door, he was greeted by a wide smile, magenta eyes, and a rainbow colored mane.
“What’s up, Spike?” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. “Did I ever tell you that you look totally awesome with those wings?”
“Hey Rainbow!” Spike greeted her. “Thanks, and yes you did, like seven times already.”
“Well it’s true. Anyway, is Twilight here?” she asked. Twilight poked her head out from the side of the door and smiled at her friend.
“Hi Rainbow Dash! How are you?” she asked.
“Hey Twilight, I’m good. Pinkie told me that you guys are throwing a book drive the day after tomorrow and that you’re taking book donations. Trouble is, the Wonderbolt Academy has asked me to come look at some new recruits, so I’ll be gone for the next few days,” she explained.
“That’s so great, Rainbow Dash! Don’t worry about the book-drive, you won’t be missing much. It’s all ‘egg-head’ stuff anyway,” she said with a smirk.
“Well, you know I’m not much of a bookworm, but I do have one exception for the ‘Daring Do’ series, which is why I brought these!” she said and turned to her side to show them her flank. She was wearing a saddlebag full of books on either side. Spike guessed that they were likely the series she was talking about. Twilight ears shot up and she threw her face into the bag and began looking over the book titles.
“Wow Rainbow! This is so cool! But these are your own copies. Are you sure you want to donate them to the library?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, why not? I’ve read them all a dozen times, and I know you lost your collection in Golden Oaks. Since I’m not going to be here to help with the book-drive, it’s the least I could do to pitch in for Ponyville. Maybe more ponies will read them and geek out with me over them someday,” she said and began taking the books out of the bag.
“That’s very nice of you, Rainbow,” Spike said and began taking the books from her and holding them in his arm carefully.
“Actually, I was hoping I could ask one of you to help me bring the rest back from my place,” she said after putting the book bag back on. “This is not even half of the series, and that’s all I could fit in the bag.”
“Oh I’ll go!” Twilight said and excitedly threw her wings open. “Spike, do you know where my saddlebag is?”
“Hmm, yeah I used it to bring back the s’mores stuff from Pinkie’s. Think I left it near the fireplace,” he said and put the last book in his arm and held it to his chest.
“I’ll get it!” she said and dashed away. Spike smiled and rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm.
“S’mores?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah. Remember the storm? we spent that night curled up by the fire making s’mores and stuff,” Spike explained, remembering the warmer parts of the “and stuff” from that particularly romantic night. Rainbow Dash gave him a skeptical look and rolled her eyes.
“Sounds sweet and sappy,” she stated flatly.
“Pretty much,” he responded with a mirrored expression. Twilight emerged again with the saddlebag around her flank a moment later.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said looking up at Spike.
“I’ll find a place to put these,” Spike said and gestured to the books in his arm.
“Make sure to leave room for the rest of them. Bye,” she said sweetly and leaned up and quickly kissed him.
“Fly safe,” he said smiling and turned back towards the library with the books in tow.
Rainbow Dash let out a muffled groan at the sight of them. She did her best to conceal the bad taste in her mouth, but Twilight noticed her discomfort. Rainbow Dash was always pretty vocal and excited before a flight, but right then she was stone silent.
“Alright, lead the way,” Twilight said and they both kicked off the ground and flew up into the clouds. Their manes lightly tossed in the breeze and their empty saddlebags fluttered like flags on a pole. Twilight noticed how quiet Rainbow Dash was being right away, and decided to see what was bothering her.
“Is everything alright, Rainbow Dash?” she asked politely. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were scanning the ground as they usually did on their flights.
“Yeah, sure. Why?” she feigned.
“Because normally we would not be able to shut up about Daring Do right now. Is something bothering you?” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash scoffed and began flying a little slower so she could talk with her royal friend a little quieter.
“It’s just . . . I don’t know. It’s a little weird seeing you two all kissy and lovey and stuff, I guess,” Rainbow Dash confessed. Twilight frowned and carefully reassured her friend.
“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry if we bothered you,” she said politely.
“Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m happy that you two found love and stuff because you’re both the awesomest friends of mine. I just can’t believe how you guys act like nothing’s different!” she said and spread her hooves wide to express her disbelief.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Well . . . okay so you two are in love now right? There are so many questions that brings up that it drives me crazy just thinking about them. Seeing you all lovey is a little confusing to me since before now you’ve been just friends. And here you two are, just doing what you’ve always done, except now with kissin and stuff,” she ranted a little loudly. Rainbow’s face was not one of anger or frustration, but rather of concern and a bit of curiosity. Twilight understood that her heart was in the right place, but she needed to know a little more. It was foalish of her to think that all of her friends would just immediately accept them and pretend like nothing was different. She sighed and smiled at her friend as comfortingly as she could.
“So what kinds of things do you have questions about?” Twilight offered.
“I shouldn’t ask, it’s none of my business anyway,” she said matter of factly.
“Rainbow Dash, I know you must be curious, and if it helps you get comfortable with me and Spike, I’d be happy to talk to you. Go ahead and ask anything you like,” she said sweetly. Rainbow dash shrugged and looked up from the ground and back at Twilight.
“Okay, so for starters, how do you guys work in the castle? I mean, you’ve lived together forever, but usually ponies don’t move in together until after they’ve dated for a while or got married,” she asked flatly.
“Well, I guess it was a little strange at first. But ponies usually take that much time before moving in because they’re getting to know each other. Me and Spike already know each other better than anypony, so it’s not difficult. We just treated each other like we always did and everything kind of felt natural after a while. It’s hard to explain, but it helps that he’s sleeping in the library,” she explained.
“Wait, so you guys aren’t sleeping together?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. Twilight fought back a blush and looked at Rainbow a little flustered and irritated.
“What gave you that idea?”
“I mean, you guys are all ‘in love’ now right? And back when you guys first told us, Spike said--”
“--I know what Spike said, and no, we’re not sleeping in the same bed. Partly because I don’t think we’d fit anymore, and also because it’s easier to get comfortable with each other that way. It’s kind of like we’re neighbors, we just happen to live in the same castle instead of on the same street,” she said and frowned at Rainbow’s tactlessness.
“Aren’t you worried about foals and stuff?” she asked, and Twilight nearly stumbled out of the sky.
“Rainbow!” she scolded.
“What? You said to ask anything,” Rainbow said and began to fly a little higher. Twilight followed.
“Well that stuff is private!” she said with a blush and cleared her throat. “If you must know, no we are not worried about foals. Not yet anyway. We’re still learning how to live with each other first, and we’re . . . close but not that close.”
“So will you guys get married eventually? Can that even happen? I mean, you’re a princess and he’s a dragon,” she stated.
“To be honest? I don’t really know. I’ve talked with Princess Celestia about me and Spike, and she’s alright with the relationship right now, but we never mentioned getting married. Royal weddings are typically big events, and royalty is often paired with nobility like Cadence and my brother. But Cadence came by a few months ago and told me about some changes happening across Equestria,” Twilight said, remembering back to when Cadence visited her for a weekend. That was many months ago, so Cadence will probably be pretty far along now, she thought.
“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked and banked a turn towards her house, which floated high above Ponyville a mile away from them.
“Well, Cadence is the princess of love right? She heard about couples in Cloudsdale of Griffons and Pegasi wanting to get married, so she personally went there and married a few couples herself,” she explained.
“Woah, really? I didn’t know that,” she said, a little surprised at how long she’s been away from Cloudsdale.
“Mmhhmm, and some have started adopting already. Apparently her support has made a huge difference with the community,” Twilight said. The two of them began approaching Rainbow Dash’s house and began descending into a glide.
“So has she give you that public support?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight thought for a moment, then came to a horrible realization.
“Oh my gosh! She doesn’t know yet! I told myself I’d tell her and Shining Armor ages ago, and I never did!” Twilight said and began fluttering her wings nervously. “What if she doesn’t support us? What if Shining kills Spike? They’re going to be so worried about me and with Cadence’s royal duties and the foal and the Crystal Empire and . . .” Twilight ranted in panic to herself so vigorously that she nearly collided with the side of Rainbow Dash’s house.
“Woah woah woah, hang on there,” Rainbow Dash called out and pulled her friend downward to the cloud-padded ground at the foot of her front door. Twilight looked around for a moment to get her bearings and breathed in and out to calm herself down.
“Thanks Rainbow,” she said with sigh.
“From what you told me, I’m sure Princess Cadence won’t have any problem with you and Spike. And your brother is a cool guy, I’m sure he’ll be happy if you are,” Rainbow Dash said and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Seriously, you have nothing to worry about.”
“I guess you’re right, Rainbow Dash. Thanks,” she said and followed her into the grey and white floating house. Twilight was just about to admire the posters on her walls when Rainbow Dash froze and looked at Twilight in shock.
“You said foal,” she remembered.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“You said foal just now when you were worrying about . . . is she . . . ooohhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSH!” she said loudly and Twilight silenced her by waving her hooves frantically.
“Shhhh! I can’t believe I said that! . . .” Twilight quietly bowed her head and decided that they were in a private enough place to be safe. She looked up to her pegasus friend and slowly whispered to her, “. . . Yes, Cadence is pregnant. But she hasn’t made the announcement yet, so please keep it quiet! It’ll be all over the papers when she does.”
“Wow! That’s so cool! Don’t worry, I never spill secrets. I’m the element of loyalty after all. Can we go to the Crystal Empire and see it when it comes?” Rainbow asked. Twilight laughed a little in surprise.
“Sure Rainbow Dash. I didn’t know you’d be so excited about a royal baby,” Twilight confessed.
“Oh Celestia I hope it’s a pegasus, that way I could be the royal flying tutor!” she said proudly. Twilight followed Rainbow Dash into her bedroom where a pile of books laid scattered on the floor. “When is it due?”
“Sometime next month, actually. I think they’re going to keep it a secret until the baby arrives,” she pondered.
“Why would they do something like that?” Rainbow asked with a cocked eyebrow. Twilight began floating the books up with her magic and placing them neatly in their saddlebags while she pondered her question.
“I guess for protection. From King Sombra and Tirek to Discord, we’ve never had a shortage of enemies who would take a pregnant Alicorn Princess to their advantage. Knowing Shining Armor, it was probably his idea,” she guessed.
“I guess I never thought about how scary it can be when you’re a princess. Everyone’s looking at you, even the bad guys,” Rainbow wondered aloud. This made Twilight frown and she turned back towards the front door.
“Yeah, it can be scary,” she said softly.
“Oh, darn it Dash! Sorry Twilight,” she said sincerely. “I’m sure you and Spike have nothing to worry about. You are still a secret right?”
“We are for now, but we can’t do that forever. We’ve been thinking it might be easiest to appear in public a few times here in Ponyville. Sure it’ll start rumors, but we don’t want to just drop the news out of thin air either,” she said and walked back onto the cloudy ground and into the sun. She could see all the way from the windmill to town hall from where she stood. The view of Ponyville was beautiful on sunny days like this.
“I guess that makes sense. So what are you guys going to do?” she continued with her barrage of questions.
“Spike said he got reservations somewhere for the night after tomorrow, after the book-drive,” she explained.
“So, is that your first real date?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I guess, but it’s not like we’ve never had dinner before. My guess is that nopony will pay us any mind,” she said, quietly hoping that she was right. Rainbow Dash extended her wings and looked over to Twilight, who did the same. They both took off again and carried their now heavy bookbags back towards the castle. Rainbow Dash continued to fly quietly as she mulled over their Q and A session.
“Is everything okay Rainbow Dash? I know this can be a lot to take in,” Twilight offered.
“I’m fine, Twilight. I just have one more question, and I think this one is the most confusing to me,” she said and looked at her friend sincerely. Twilight looked back at her and nervously waited for Rainbow Dash to speak. “I guess . . . what happened? I mean, how does somepony go from being friends to being in love like that? Back at the castle you said that you just sort of ‘fell’. What happened really?” she asked. Twilight slowed from a simple flight to a glide and thought about her question carefully. How exactly could she answer that question for Rainbow Dash the best?
“I guess it all started when I realized love is like friendship,” she started.
“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash piped in.
“See, most ponies find love to be kissing, poetry, romance, marriage and all of that right? Someone helped me realize that love is not in lieu of friendship, but rather in addition to friendship. For a relationship to work, you cannot simply have attraction. That happens all the time, sometimes with terrible matches. You need to be friends too, otherwise the relationship will only last as long as you both are fawning over each other,” she explained.
“Huh,” Rainbow Dash thought aloud. “So you’re saying real love is like kissing your friend?”
“Not exactly. It’s like being friends, but adding something more. Spike and I have always been close, but only recently did we both feel something more. After he came back from his training in Canterlot, we started to grow even closer. I realized that I did not want him out of my life ever again, and one day I just felt like I wanted to kiss him, so I did,” she confessed. This made Rainbow Dash laugh pretty loudly as they drifted downward through the clouds. Her laughter caught the princess off guard and she scowled at her friend.
“What is so funny?” Twilight demanded.
“That last part!” the pegasus coughed between chuckles. “That was the only thing that made any sense!”
“Oh come on, Rainbow Dash! The rest of it was important too.” Her friend continued to laugh as they began to approach the castle again.
“Maybe, but all of that sappy sentimental stuff doesn’t make that much difference for me. You love Spike because you want to, and I was a featherhead to need any more explanation than that!” she said and rounded her statement with a few more hearty laughs.
“Well if laughing at me helps you feel better . . .” she started.
“Oh no, I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing at me!” she reassured her and the two of them touched down at the footsteps of Twilight’s Castle once more. The door was cracked open just as they had left it and Spike was likely in the library waiting for them.
“I’m sorry, Twilight, for being so nosy. I guess all I needed to hear was that you did what you wanted to do. I promise that as a friend, I will help you two whenever you need me. You guys being in love might weird me out, but that’s because all love is weird to me. You go on ahead and love each other okay? I’ll figure this love thing out eventually. Thank’s for talking,” she said with a nod.
“Thank’s for asking, and for the books,” Twilight said and lifted the books out of Rainbow’s bookbag with her magic and floated them behind her. “Good luck with the Wonderbolts, and come home safely. And remember, don’t tell anyone about Cadence,” she reminded her and bid her friend goodbye.
“My lips are sealed,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, and with that she lept into the air and soared skyward at her usual lightning pace. Twilight smiled as she watched her friend draw a rainbow trail behind her as she slowly disappeared in the sky. She then turned and walked spritely through the hall and into the library with the books behind her.
Spike was holding two books in his hands inspecting them closely. He turned and saw Twilight come in with a large pile of books floating behind her. He smiled and watched her as she carefully piled one on top of the other and placed them in a large stack on a table. She kept her eyes closed and smiled proudly as she marched towards Spike.
“How was flhhmfmfff!” he was cut off by Twilight’s lips locking with his and her hooves pushing the books out of his claws and onto the floor with a thud. She reared up on her legs and pushed the two of them over until Spike was on his back with his wings splayed like a flattened sparrow. She leaned down on him and continued to kiss him, letting her lips and tongue explore his. Her own wings widened and covered the two of them on the floor of the library. After another moment of an impromptu embrace, she let go of Spike and let him breath.
“What . . . *huff* was that . . . *huff* for?” he said, looking at her in complete surrender. She smiled and walked back towards the table to sort through the books she got from Rainbow Dash’s place.
“Because I wanted to,” she answered simply.