Twilight Sparkle was... Well, she wasn’t in a bad mood, per se. She wasn’t in the best mood, but if she had to be honest, she was actually leaning towards a more pleasant disposition with just sprinkle of stress.
Well, maybe more than a sprinkle.
She was, standing in one of her favorite places, -- her private chambers – and was sharing her company with a sterling ivory unicorn named Rarity; a unicorn who also happened to be one of her very best friends. Rarity was, at the moment, regaling Twilight with the tales of whatever Canterlot high-society party the unicorn had recently attended.
Admittedly, listening to stories of a bunch of Elitist snobs wasn’t something she’d normally enjoy, but there was just something in the way Rarity spun her tales that lent more entertainment to the lives of Equestria’s world-renown brown-nosers.
Hay, it was because of her friend’s more than excellent storytelling that she almost forgot the main reason her mood was being soured. Almost being the operative word there, as just when she began to immerse herself in friendly conversation, an errant needle saw fit to jab her right in the small of her back.
She tried very, very, hard to ignore the pain and remain absolutely still; considering any substantial flinch ran the risk of ruining the white silken dress clinging to her back. She was a princess; the very definition of serenity. She would not move more than was absolutely necessary because too much movement may tear the garment, and then she’d have to stand here even longer while another dress was fabricated from scratch.
Deep breaths, Twilight.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before her fashion inclined friend notice her spacial lapse in judgement, and a brief glint of azure brought an end to the spindly metal’s reign of annoyance.
“Terribly sorry, dear. This fabric seems to enjoy bunching up in the most peculiar places.”
Uugh... She hated this. Not the posing for a dress or the spending time with her friend, mind, -- she actually thought that the half-finished white dress Rarity was fitting her with was kind of cute. No, the thing that was really ruffling her relatively-new feathers was all of the time she was wasting just standing around. She had a very, very, tight schedule for today, and although she did work ‘dress fitting with Rarity’ into her plans, the fact that she could be doing something more productive, -- like maybe anything else -- was beginning to literally make her itch.
That, or it was the poke from the needle...
Still... It wasn’t Rarity’s fault the lavender alicorn needed a more ‘royal’ wardrobe; it wouldn’t do to take her anger out on her friend. Besides, there were celebrity rumors to ruthlessly poke fun at.
“It’s fine, Rarity. No harm done.”
Nothing a little self-indulgent gossip couldn’t fix, at least.
“Now, what was that about Fancypants?”
Twilight caught sight of her friends azure aura from the corner of her eye as the fashionista once more returned to her zealous machinations.
“Oh, yes! Well, it was at that point that Fancypants stormed right on up to Fleur – looking absolutely livid, I might add – and he said straight to her face-”
A rapt trio of knocks interrupted her friend’s retelling just when it was getting to the good part! Seriously! She didn’t pay attention to gossip very often! Was it really so wrong of her to want to hear about miserable celebrities living their miserable lives without being interrupted?
Apparently, the would-be intruder sure thought so, as another trio of incessant knocks sounded just moments after the first set.
Not for the first time in her reign did Princess Twilight Sparkle consider ignoring whatever beckons had been set upon her. She was having a lovely-ish time, with a lovely friend, and said lovely time with said friend was scheduled dangit! Whatever this was could wait until she was free!
But, just like every other time, she begrudgingly had to admit that whatever this pony wanted was probably important. The knocking itself didn’t seem that urgent, but the fact that whoever was knocking saw fit to gain audience with her in her own room spoke volumes of the mysterious messenger’s information.
Or at least it had better. If it wasn’t, this pony’s severe lack of respect for her day plan would not go unpunished. Maybe a year in the dungeons? Or civil servitude cleaning up whatever messes Twilight didn’t want to clean? Whatever it was, she’d have to make sure the severity of the punishment fit the severity of the crime.
After all, what was the point of a schedule if it was just going to be ignored by mysterious knocking someponies?
“Come in!”
With not but a squeak from its well-oiled hinges, the door opened inwards to admit the small purple scaled, green spined form of her number one assistant, Spike. He didn’t walk past the doorframe, electing instead to simply wave at the two mares from outside of Twilight’s room.
“Hey guys. Sorry to interrupt and everything, but Rainbow Dash is still pacing around outside the gates.”
Really? That’s what all the knocking was about? Twilight simply rolled her eyes.
Yes, it was a little rude. But Spike new better than to bother her with something so benign!
While, normally, she would applaud her assistant for diligently informing her of possibly important happenings, Rainbow Dash standing outside her door was decidedly not schedule-interrupting levels of important. Interrupting her day to say Dash was outside would be like interrupting her to inform her that gravity made things fall, or that the sun was bright.
Really, she wasn’t exaggerating. It was that common.
It wasn’t exactly a secret that Ponyville’s premier chromatic weathermare had a none-too-subtle crush on the town’s librarian-turned-princess. The prismatic pegasus had somewhat of an obsession with her; an obsession that was able to turn the bravest pony Twilight new into a meekly doormat that could out-nervous Fluttershy. And although Dash’s infatuation was... Excessive, it never really amounted to anything too overtly annoying. Back when she lived at the library, Rainbow would usually just crash in through her windows every couple of days; therefore ‘accidently’ making a mess that she’d stick around to clean up.
Of course, her new Crystal Castle of Friendship had reinforced crystal windows... So... Yeah. Now Rainbow Dash just stood around outside until she either worked up the courage to knock on the door, or until she suddenly ‘remembered’ some prior obligation that absolutely required her immediate attention.
It was an oddly effective strategy. Originally, Twilight was just going to find a way to let the pegasus down gently. A firm denial that left no room for false hope, wrapped in a plethora of niceties that would ensure that they remained friends; it was the perfect plan.
But... Seeing Rainbow crashing into the library so often was... Well, she couldn’t deny that seeing the normally brash young pegasus get all flustered was pretty cute. Add that to the fact that Dash was already one of her best friends, and Twilight really couldn’t think of a valid reason why she shouldn’t give the prismatic stuntmare a fair shot at a date.
As soon as the pegasus managed to actually ask her out, that is.
Twilight waved her hoof dismissively.
“I told you, Spike; Rainbow will knock when she’s ready. She just needs a couple of minutes to psych herself up.”
The young drake crossed his arms; fixating Twilight with that look he had whenever she was missing something she really ought not to be missing.
“Yeah? Except this time she’s been standing out there for nearly an hour.”
An hour?
“An hour?”
Both mares turned their heads to check the clock hanging behind them; confirming the fact that it had indeed been an hour since last Spike interrupted them.
Or the clock was broken. Twilight normally had an amazing sense of time, so she could never rule out that possibility.
“Well,” began the ivory unicorn, “I suppose one does have a way of losing track of time when in the company of friends.”
Now it was Spike’s turn to wave his hoof- er... Hand, dismissively.
“Sure, whatever. But could one of you guys go do something about her? She’s just pacing back and forth while muttering stuff under her breath. It’s starting to seriously creep out the neighbors.”
Of course. As if those very same neighbors didn’t do their fair share of creepy things all the time. This was Ponyville! Odd pacing and muttering was just a regular saturday evening!
Still... It would be rude to leave Rainbow out in the proverbial cold...
“I suppose I may as well go talk to her. Knowing Dash, she’d probably keep standing out there until the moon rose without a nudge in the right direction.”
With that decision made, the lavender alicorn set off on her schedule-rending trip to the front gates. From back in her chambers, Twilight could hear her friend calling out to her.
“Oh! Do tell us how it turns out, darling! Can you believe it, Spike? To think that Rainbow Dash is finally going to confess her undying...”
The rest of the unicorn’s words faded away as Twilight briskly navigated the incessantly reflective hallways of her Ponyville residence. That was okay, though; the purple princess already knew the gist of what Rarity was going to say. However, contrary to what the fashionista was expecting, she was probably not going to be swept off of her hooves by her knight in prismatic armor. Rainbow had likely just brought her another... Um... ‘Thoughtful’ gift... And if that was the case, in spite of the urges from her less romantically inclined friends, she would not throw it away. Twilight had a whole room in her palace dedicated to all the assorted knick-knacks Rainbow thought to gift her; due partly to the fact that she just had a lot of empty space in this giant crystal tree-thing, and partly because she wanted a whole slew of embarrassing memories in case the two ever ended up tying the knot.
Wait, that wasn’t planning too far ahead was it?
...
Nah, of course not; she’d know if it was. Twilight was an expert on planning.
Before she knew it, she had reached the end of the hallway; at which stood a pair of fairly large yellow doors that acted as the solitary guards over the Castle of Pretty Crystals.
A raspberry glow quickly enveloped the gates and pulled them open to reveal the familiar cyan form of a rainbow maned pegasus. Immediately, said pegasus froze in place; whipping her head towards the thing that had interrupted her pacing and...
Just... Stood there...
She was just... staring at Twilight; unmoving and unblinking. A pair or magenta oculi fixated on her like a changeling who had found love for the first time.
It was... Kind of starting to creep her out... Was there something on her face? Had she forgotten to bathe this week? Probably not, considering her more ick-conscious friend was just working on her dress andholy sweet goddesses Rainbow’s nose was bleeding!
Twilight was at her friend’s side in an instant; grabbing the pegasus’ face and looking straight into her previously unresponsive eyes.
“Oh no! Rainbow! Can you hear me? Did you have a flying accident? Did you get in a fight? Are you concussed!? Nonononono! We have to get you to the hospital right now!”
Twilight’s shouting seemed to snap the chromatic stuntmare out of whatever stupor she had fallen into, as Dash quickly backed away from the lavender alicorn before she had a chance to envelope her friend in a protective layer of telekinesis.
“W-what? No! No. I’m fine. Just fine; perfect, even! Hehe...”
Frowning, Twilight took a step back towards her door.
“But... What about your nose? If you’ve sustained any sort of extreme physical trauma, then you probably need to see a doctor.”
A look of confusion momentarily overtook the cyan pegasus’ face.
“Physical what? No, listen. I didn’t cru- crash! I mean I didn’t, uh... Crash or anything, it’s just that... Y’know... The air’s all dry and stuff.”
The prismatic weathermare quickly tried to wipe the blood away with her forehoof; only really succeeding in smearing it along her leg and leaving a stain that would make Rarity faint on the spot.
“See! No injury here! There’s no reason to, um... To leave right now...”
Twilight cast a soft frown over at her friend; trying and failing to look the pegasus in the eyes. She was still worried, but… The injury hadn’t looked that bad, and she knew Rainbow had taken far worse beatings from her more than frequent crash landings...
“If you say so...”
And just like that, all semblances of a conversation dissipated into the evening air; leaving the two ponies to stew in a quiet neither pony was sure she wanted to break. How long the silence lasted, Twilight didn’t know. Rainbow just stood across from her while avoiding the violet alicorn’s gaze like the plague; all the while the only sounds the pegasus made came from the occasional nervous shuffle of her cyan wings.
All in all, it was about as awkward as it sounded.
After about – gosh, it must have been an entire minute, right? Rainbow finally found within herself the determination to break the ice; though she still refused to meet the princess’ eyes.
“S-so... Funny running into you here, huh?”
Was... Was she experiencing some sort of memory loss? Maybe Rainbow really should see a doctor...
It was either that, or infatuation messed with a pony’s cognitive abilities more than her books had led her to believe.
“Yeah... This is where I live... So...”
Rainbow nervously rubbed the back of her head.
“O-oh... Hehe... I was just- um... Pretty nice weather, huh?”
Weather? Oh yes! It was apparently the perfect weather for dancing around the obvious chimera in the room...
Alright, think Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow needs to overcome her fears on her own, but that didn’t mean she had to make facing those fears any harder than it already was. Just give her an in, Twilight; project an aura of patience.
The lavender alicorn put on a smile that hopefully seemed a fraction as inviting as she was trying to make it.
“So, Dash. Is there any particular reason you dropped by?”
There you go, Twi! Get that metaphorical conversation ball rolling.
Unfortunately, metaphorical conversation ball seemed to be one of the only sports Rainbow wasn’t good at.
“Oh, y-you know. I was just in the, um... Neighborhood, and thought I’d drop by to say ‘hey.’ So... Um... H-hey...”
Twilight tried not to let her smile waver. She was all for being patient for her friend, but if Dash wasn’t going to get to the point...
The lavender alicorn didn’t have much more time to diverge from her day plan. As much as she’d like to help Rainbow’s apparently fledgling conversation skills – and believe her, she would much rather spend her day helping a friend – there were still quite a few things on her now even tighter schedule. She still had to get back to her dress fitting, and there were probably some leftover court issues that she was sure required her immediate and undivided attention. Coupled with all of the paperwork she had back in her office, and she really couldn’t afford Dash the time she deserved.
It’d probably be best to cut her loses here and hope Rainbow gave... Whatever she was trying to do... Another go sometime soon.
Twilight cast a glance back at the setting sun.
“It’s, uh... Getting pretty late.”
If it was even possible, Rainbow seemed to shy away even more at that declaration.
“O-oh... Yeah, I’ll just... Sorry...”
The prismatic pegasus lethargically turned around and began trotting off, her head hanging so low she was basically scraping it against the dirt road. Seeing her normally confident friend so utterly crushed sent unsettling pangs of pity throughout the entirety of her being.
She probably had enough time to at least comfort the distraught pegasus, but before she could lift a hoof to go try and help her friend, the chromatic stuntmare suddenly froze in her retreat.
For a little while, Rainbow simply stood there; her head held just slightly higher than it had previously been. However, after what was most likely a fierce internal debate, the pegasus briefly steeled herself before determinedly trotting right back over Twilight.
This time, the alicorn’s smile was much more genuine.
“H-hey Twilight; have you, like, um, eaten dinner yet?”
Wait, was this?- Oh! Yes! Way to go, Dash! Alright Twilight, keep it together. Don’t say anything that could scare her off. She’s finally asking you out; let her take this at her own pace. Give her an easy response.
“No, I haven’t.”
She really hoped that was the right answer, because about at that moment Twilight noticed that Rainbow was visibly trembling.
“T-that’s cool... Do you w-want to, m-maybe come grab something at H-Hayburger?”
Something at Hayburger... Well... Props to Dash for choosing a more avant-garde first-date destination... It certainly wasn’t the kind of place her dating advice books had recommended…
Ah whatever. So what if it wasn’t some fancy sit-down restaurant? Twilight happened to quite enjoy Hayburger’s culinary selections; even if Rarity would throw a hissy-fit when she found out where her first date transpired.
Speaking of Rarity, she’d have to tell the unicorn that her fitting session would need to be postponed. The ivory fashionista would understand, of course; this schedule aversion was in the name of romance, after all. Though she would also need to postpone her court meetings... The townsponies weren’t going to like that... And all of her unfinished paperwork... W-what if there was something important in there!? A-and what about Spike! And Owlowiscious!
She couldn’t do this! She had to call the date off! Or, at least postpone it until a sometime when she was free – there was just too much she had to do today! She would just need to go out tomorrow.
Except for the fact that her schedule was full tomorrow... And the next day... And the day after that... And the day after that... And...
And Rainbow Dash was looking right at her.
For the first time all afternoon, those glittering magenta irises were on perfect display for the violet princess to see, and the quivering hope that sat within them stopped Twilight’s errant train of thought cold.
Rainbow was finally doing it; she was putting her heart on the line in the hopes that it wouldn’t be shattered into billions and billions of microscopic shards. Those eyes that bored into her with hope beyond hope also held within them a fear the likes of which Twilight would never have thought to associate with the normally cocksure daredevil. This was Rainbow’s most vulnerable self; a part of her that she had chanced revealing to Twilight. This was a Rainbow that was racked with fears and worries that only an affliction of the heart could yield, yet even as she stood literally trembling, she remained resolute to face said fears.
In the face of her friend’s bravery, how could she possibly be scared of a little change in plans?
“Sure, Dash.”
Slowly, as if not entirely comprehending what Twilight had just said, Rainbow’s expression began to morph from a look of hopeful apprehension, to a face of disbelief and mounting excitement.
“Wait, really?”
Twilight adopted the most reassuring smile in her admittedly small arsenal of emotions.
“Yes, really. Just let me change out of this dress first. You wait here for a moment.”
Rainbow eagerly – and with no small amount of adorable enthusiasm – nodded her head as Twilight shut the gates with a flick of her magic.
As she turned to walk back to her private chambers, a small part of her couldn’t help but wonder if it really was such a great idea to cancel all of her prior obligations in favor of her upcoming soirée. Her princessly duties weren’t something that she was supposed to so carelessly neglect, and there was sure to be some sort of fallout for her callous disregard for them.
Of course, no sooner had the thought entered her head than it was drowned out by an uproariously enthusiastic cheering that the crystal palace walls just barely muffled out.
With an amused shake of her head, Twilight continued her trek through the reflective hallways. This would, without a doubt, end up being the most awkward afternoon of her entire life. Yet despite the impending onslaught of butterflies in her stomach, and the mountains of paperwork that would await her return, she was beginning to feel that she couldn’t have picked a better way to spend her evening.
And all things considered? Twilight was in a pretty great mood.