//------------------------------// // I Challenge You... // Story: All's Fair in Love and Twilight // by Short Stories //------------------------------// A week after Rainbow's flu had gone away, the two had agreed to tell everypony that they had found their special somepony. Rainbow had told all of their friends and everypony in Ponyville in less than five minutes; it was Twilight's job to tell the ponies they knew outside of their little town, but between the responsibilities she held and trying to solve a problem every Saturday, she could never find the time to do so. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow asked her one Wednesday evening during dinner. "You seem to be distracted a lot lately...do you want me to tell your Canterlot friends?" "I'm positive I'm okay." A very distressed Twilight replied. Her wings had some feathers that were matted down and others that were sticking up at weird angles. Her mane and tail were a mess, her pupils were dilated, and she had a slight twitch in her left eye. "Why do you think I'm not okay? Do I look okay to you? I'm fine, why do you ask?" Rainbow stared at her as if she had just escaped an insane asylum, because, in truth, that's what she looked like. "Twilight, I need to get you home." Rainbow said at last, "or at least to the spa. You look insane and you just asked me if I think you look okay three different ways." Twilight's ear twitched as she processed what Rainbow had said. "I do?" She asked, her ear twitching again. Rainbow moved aside she she could see her reflection in the restaurant's window. "Oh..." She mumbled, realizing her girlfriend was right. "Yeah..." "Can I please take you home now?" Rainbow huffed, moving back to where she was. "You look--" "Insane, I know." Twilight sighed, lowering her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I should have taken better care of myself this week." She ignited her horn, her aura surrounding her whole body. After a bright flash, she looked magnificent; her mane was done up in a braid with tiny flowers in it and she had her gala dress on, plus she didn't look insane anymore. "It's just this stupid princess stress; I feel like I barely have anytime for myself or you or anypony anymore!" She laid her head down on the table, just now noticing the appetizers that the waiter had put down a few moments ago. "At least nopony has come to bug you during our meal." Rainbow offered, "that's good, isn't it?" "I suppose so.." Twilight moaned. "This is the only time I've had for personal stuff in a while, though." "Are you saying your not enjoying the date?" Rainbow asked as she reeled back in her chair, clearly offended. "No, no, no, I'm loving this date; trust me," Twilight grinned, "it's just...I can't explain it, okay? I guess I just..I don't know. Forget I said anything. Let's just eat..." Rainbow gave her a skeptical look, feeling bad for her beloved soulmate. "Okay..." She said warily, picking up a hay fry and munching on it slowly, never taking her eyes off of her love. "Twilight!" Pinkie cried, skidding to a halt in front of their table. "Twilight! Come here! Quickly! An Ursa Major is tearing up the town!" Twilight looked up from where her head laid and, sure enough, saw an Ursa Major in the distance. She couldn't help herself; the alicorn let loose an ear-splitting scream of frustration. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie mistook it as a scream of horror. "That's how the town feels, too!" She said, taking Twilight's hoof; she somehow had an iron grasp on it, for Twilight tried to yank it away but it wouldn't budge. "Follow me! You took care of a minor, you can definitely take care of a major!" Twilight barley had time to ask Rainbow for a rain check for the rest of the date before Pinkie zoomed away with her. "Poor, sweet filly..." Rainbow mumbled, "she's been through so much stress lately." An idea struck the prism-maned girl like one of her famous Sonic Rainbooms. "I should do something for her!" Out of pure excitement, her wings began to flap and she began to hover in the air over her seat, her voice rising witch each word she said. "I'll do something for her tomorrow, at the crack of dawn! She'll love it; I just know it!" Around her, mares and colts alike all clapped their hooves together, no knowing if Rainbow wanted the attention or not. Rainbow floated back down to her seat, a light blush covering her muzzle. Had she really been that loud? What if Twilight heard her? She didn't want the surprise to be ruined for the best special somepony a mare could ask for, after all! Twilight woke the next morning to the sound of a urgent yet patient knock on the castle door. She looked outside and saw Luna was still holding up the moon. Who could be at the door at this hour? she thought, groggily getting out of bed and heading for her door. As soon as she opened the door, one of her Canterlot friends stepped inside, sopping wet. She shook herself dry in the manner of a dog then faced Twilight at last. "Hey, Twilight!" She beamed, "Sorry I dropped by so unexpectedly...and so early. I figured it would be daytime here by the time I arrived." Twilight smiled, trotting to the main lounge room, motioning for her friend to follow. "It's perfectly fine," she said, stifling a yawn. "I was just getting up, anyways." Her friend gave her a look, not buying her excuse. "What brings you to my castle?" Twilight asked, choosing to ignore the look and change the subject. "I just wanted to update you on how my Friendship findings are coming along, is all." She let out a quick breath, as if she had been holding it, before continuing. "I....uh...wanted to ask you something..." She mumbled, clearly uncomfortable. Twilight turned around from gazing at a portrait of all of her friends that hung high above the fireplace mantle. "Yeah? What's that?" The friend stayed silent, shifting her hooves every now and then, not meeting Twilight's eyes. "Moondancer, what is it?" Twilight asked after a good five minutes of awkward silence passed. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" "Of course I know that!" Moondancer mumbled, still not meeting Twilight's eyes. "I was wondering if...uh..." She paused, more uncomfortable than ever before. At last, she asked: "Were you really just waking up?" Twilight scrunched her muzzle, confused as to why that simple question could cause so much discomfort. "No..." She responded, "why do you ask...?" "Oh, it's...nothing. I was just--nothing. It's nothing. Forget I said anything." Moondancer seemed twice as more uncomfortable than she did before, if that was even possible. "I guess I was curious if you had an extra bedroom I could sleep in for a couple hours, too..." She bit her lip, seeming more nervous than uncomfortable now. "I--I mean...I...uh...yeah, nevermind." Twilight let herself chuckle a little at how nervous her friend was acting. "Of course you can sleep in an extra room!" She said with her trade-mark smile. "What makes you think I'd say no? We're friends after all, aren't we?" Moondancer's expression was one of pure shock, but Twilight couldn't figure out why. "Uh...yeah..." Moondancer said after a moment. "Friends...just friends..." A few hours later, after Twilight and Moondancer had finished off their usual 10 hours of sleep and were eating breakfast, there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" Twilight called, since she was already in a conversation with Moondancer about the different spells one could use on a daily basis. Rainbow Dash flew into the kitchen, nearly making Moondancer's bowl of Hayio's splash onto her face. She scowled at the cyan pegasus, but Rainbow didn't seem to notice. "What's up, Twi?" She asked, sitting in a chair next to the alicorn. "You enjoying your breakfast?" "And my chat with Moondancer." Twilight added with a smile, gesturing towards the other unicorn. "What brings you here so early? You usually sleep till noon on Thursdays, right? Or is that just everyday?" Rainbow laughed knowing how true that statement was. "Nah, it's just on Thursdays," she said, playing along. It's on all the other days, I sleep in till four." Twilight nodded as if that made complete sense. "That's why you weren't here at 8 am yesterday..." Neither of them noticed a certain unicorn that was at that table as well, who had her eyes closed and was puffing out her cheeks like a puffer fish until she finally burst. "I LOVE YOU, TWILIGHT! I ALWAYS HAVE!" She yelled, not caring if one of Twi's friends heard as well. She opened her eyes to see the two ponies stunned expressions across their faces. "W-will you be my special somepony, p-p-please?" She finished, feeling her face heat up and fill with a deep crimson color. Silence. Moondancer began to sweat, wondering if Twi had the same feelings for her. She began to feel ten times as more uncomfortable as she did last night. She wanted to teleport away, but wasn't sure how, so, instead, she lowered her head on the table and covered it with her hooves. She heard some whispering, then a sharp inhale followed by a gentle sigh. "Moondancer...?" Twilight said at last. Moondancer slowly looked up from the table, her face still beet red. "I'm flattered...really, I am... it's just... "Your not interested?" Moondancer guessed, "It's OK, Twilight...I understand." Twilight shook her head, placing her hoof on top of her friend's. "It's not that. Trust me, I would totally say yes, it's just that--" "I'm not your type?" "Just listen to me." Twilight stared into Moondancer's eyes until the unicorn perked up her ears and stared right back. "I can't be your special somepony because, well..." Rainbow slammed her fore-hooves on the table, clearly livid at Moondancer--wasn't it clear that the two were a couple?! "Because I already am!" She snapped, causing Twilight and Moondancer to flinch and fold their ears back, Moondancer wishing she hadn't had them up in the first place. Twilight switched her attention from Moondancer's to Dashie, giving her marefriend a stern yet gentle look. "I got this, Rainbow," she said, "Please don't be rude to my friend." She jolted back, as if she had just realized what she had emphasized and turned back to the still-stunned unicorn. "No offense..." she added meekly. "Twilight, I am sorry to say this," Rainbow huffed, "but your just way to gentle." "I--" "Just let me handle this one issue. Please. Then, you can go back and take care of all the other problems from here on out." Twilight bit her lip, knowing that, even though Rainbow didn't mean it, she was a little rude and off-putting at times, specially when it came to defending her love. She sighed, also knowing full well that there was no point in arguing with the pegasus when she got like this. "Be gentle." Twilight mumbled, giving Rainbow all she needed to (gently) chew Moondancer out. But...what if Twilight really did have feelings for this unicorn? They've been friends for a lot longer than she and Dashie had been; and she did say 'I would totally say yes...' Rainbow suddenly felt threatened. What if Twilight dumped her for this...this...unicorn?! She used to be one, so maybe she's more attracted to her type! "Moondancer?" Rainbow asked haughtily, rising a few inches in the air so she could be looking down on the pony. Moondancer nodded meekly; she must be feeling awful. Good, Rainbow thought evilly. "I challenge you..." "Oh, no..." Twilight mumbled, seeing where this was going. "To a contest..." "Rainbow, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Twilight warned. It was to late. The words were already out of her mouth before she could stop them. "For Twilight's affection!" She finished. There was silence from Moondancer's corner. After a lengthy period of time, Moondancer simply nodded. "I accept."