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1: Everything Matters2,406 words
2: City Escape2,565 words
3: Sky Blue World1,861 words
4: Sweetness and Passion2,315 words
5: The Freedom of Flight3,145 words
6: Life Lessons2,122 words
7: Supporting Each Other2,534 words
Last: Opening Hearts3,709 words

4: Sweetness and Passion

At seven forty-five, Twilight emerged — this time from the nearby bathroom — wearing her Fall Formal gown. Rainbow Dash, already in her own outfit, gave a thumbs-up.

"You still look awesome," she said, gesturing for Twilight to come into her room.

"Thank you," Twilight replied, looking at Rainbow in her own dress. "And you look beautiful."

Rainbow froze at the compliment. "S-seriously?" she said, refusing to look at Twilight directly.

Twilight nodded. "Seriously seriously. It seems no matter what world I go to, Rainbow Dash loves to say she isn't really into 'girly' things at all." Twilight stepped closer. "But wouldn't you know it? Turns out no matter what world I go to, Rainbow Dash always makes for a pretty awesome girl."

"W-wow, thanks." A deep blush crossed Rainbow's cheeks. "I... I don't usually hear that kinda stuff."

Twilight smiled.

"I know."

---

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic x Equestria Girls:

"Rainbow Reflections"

Chapter 4: Sweetness and Passion

by Bookish Delight, 2014-2015

All characters and referred properties belong to Hasbro.

---

The two walked over to Rainbow's dresser, which had a stool in front of it. Twilight sat, and Rainbow Dash picked up one of her combs.

"All right, let's do this. I'm no Rarity, but I know she'll kill me if she sees even one strand out of place on one of her friends. Only exceptions are me and Pinkie Pie."

"Why you two?"

Rainbow snickered. "'Cause I don't care, and Pinkie Pie and orderly hair don't mix."

Twilight giggled as she felt the comb's teeth gently moving through her locks. "Sounds about right."

The two stood there with Rainbow combing Twilight in silence for a short while, until Rainbow piped up again. "Twi?"

Twilight meanwhile was doing her best not to fall asleep under Rainbow Dash's surprisingly soothing comb technique. "Hmmmm?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I like nights like this. When you're awesome twenty-four-seven, you kind of... forget to be other things sometimes. I think that's why I brought you up here. You reminded me of a lot of stuff."

Twilight kept her eyes open, watching Rainbow through the dresser's mounted mirror. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you only got here a few days ago, but since you did, you've been gluing together all my friendships! And I got to learn about an awesome world where I'm super-happy and already living my dream."

"You can still be and do all of that here, you know." Twilight grinned. "Nothing's stopping you. I'd say the sky's the limit, but..."

Rainbow gave a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah, starting to remember that. Which is all because of you, too. And 'cause of that..."

Rainbow trailed off, fidgeting with her comb in one hand before continuing.

"This whole time I've been trying to find the right words to tell you just how happy I am that you came here. But I think I've finally got it."

She tossed the comb onto her bed, walked in front of Twilight, stood her up, and took the violet girl's hands in hers. With a blush strong enough to tint her face close to Twilight's complexion, she placed her right hand on her friend's left cheek.

"I don't care if you're a human or a pony, Twilight. I like both. You're a pretty sweet girl, and I hope you know that. And that whole magic-and-mystery thing you've got going? That's cool no matter who you talk to. You're..."

Her last words were delivered in a voice laced with longingness.

"You're on my level of awesome. We've known each other for less than a day... but it really feels like we've been friends forever."

"Thanks," Twilight said, her own face flushing. "And I know how you feel. Sure, you remind me a lot of my Rainbow back home, but being around you, it's like I've made a new best friend all over again." Twilight quickly thought back to her very first visit to Ponyville, and giggled. "And in about the same amount of time, too."

At Twilight's words, Rainbow went silent, thoughtfulness written across her face. However, that thoughtfulness was soon replaced with a sly grin.

"'Best friend,' huh?" Rainbow exhaled. "Sheesh. Here I go again, being so jealous."

Twilight cocked her head. "Jealous? Why?"

"Duh. The pony me? I can't imagine what she goes through."

Twilight blinked. "I’m not following you."

A shocked look crossed Rainbow's face, and for once, Twilight found herself being studied. After a few seconds, Rainbow let out a slow gasp.

"Oh my gosh," she said, putting her hand to her mouth. "You... you really don't know. And I bet she's never told you, either." Rainbow sighed. "Not surprised, I guess."

"What? Tell me what? What don't I get-" Twilight said, before realizing that Rainbow's arms had encircled her neck. She froze, overloaded by far too many thoughts, far too many questions, rushing through her mind, all at once.

"I can't tell you straight out," Rainbow said, softly. "She's gotta. But maybe I can help move things along a bit."

Twilight was about to ask just where things were "moving along" to, but she never got the chance.

With an all-too-familiar speed that Twilight never had a chance of stopping, Rainbow Dash closed the small distance between their faces, placing a soft, closed-mouth kiss on Twilight's lips.

It lasted all of three seconds. For Twilight, it may as well have been three minutes. When it was over, her mind was spinning ten times faster than it had been during the bus ride. The thoughts refused to stop, and her ability to find just the right words were lost within their deluge.

"Rainbow, I-I... um..."

"Hah!" Rainbow Dash said, grinning in triumph. "Still the fastest. And now I can say I kissed tonight's Fall Formal Princess before anyone else."

She then leaned forward, and whispered in Twilight's ear.

"Not to mention a real princess. Your Dash never tried, did she?"

As Rainbow pulled back, a flabbergasted Twilight Sparkle stuttered her reply. "W-well, no, o-of course she hasn't! Why would she? We're best friends, not... not-"

A knowing smirk crossed Rainbow's lips. "Those her words? Or yours?"

"I..." Twilight stalled upon realizing that she had no concrete reply.

Rainbow's smile widened, her voice soft and frank. "Like I said, I've only known you for a day, and I'm into you." She winked. "And I already told ya' why. Not doin' it again."

Too curious — and flattered — to respond, Twilight remained mute.

"Your pony pal though? From all you've told me, she's known you for years while putting up with all your stuff about libraries and spells and stars that stay in one place in the sky. Spending time with you? Means she's had to slow down. Stay on the ground for however long it takes. And she's still cool with that."

Rainbow chuckled, meeting Twilight's eyes directly.

"Forget about me, Twilight. Your Rainbow's feelings for you have been an open book for years. And I'm betting it's the only one you haven't read."

Twilight sat on the bed, her mind reeling as she did her best to grasp what she'd just heard.

Rainbow Dash? Her? When...? Why hadn't...?

Too many questions. Trying to answer them only brought more questions. Twilight did her best to funnel them towards clearly more knowledgeable parties so she didn't get a headache.

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. This is just all so much, so... fast."

Rainbow Dash sat beside Twilight. "Hey, fast is what we do. It's in our name. Pretty sure your Dash and I aren't clones, but it sounds like there's enough of the same awesome in both of us for me to know what's up."

Twilight nodded back. "Yes, that makes sense. It's just..."

"You didn't see this coming?" Rainbow laughed. "That makes two of us! Kinda wish this world did have it's own Twilight. Maybe then I might've been prepared for you."

Twilight laughed in return, calming down in the process.

"If everything you say is true, though? If..." Twilight took a deep breath and clasped her hands. "If she really feels how you say she feels about me? Why haven't she and I ever talked about this? Why did she never bring it up?"

Rainbow "hmm"ed, grasping her knees with her hands, before speaking again. "Maaaaaaybe I can give you a cheat sheet, just this once."

"A cheat sheet?"

Rainbow tapped her temple with her index finger. "Top secret, back of the book. But it's for a good cause, so..."

Twilight's eyes went wide when she decoded Rainbow's gesture. "I'm all ears."

Rainbow's grin was back. "'Course you are. You're smart like that. So. You remember when you told me your Dash talks about herself a whole bunch?"

"Uh-huh." Twilight chuckled and nodded. "Usually about how awesome she is."

"Yep! Now, if your Dash really is all about her image and rep, and totally wants to be seen as the greatest flyer ever, then there's stuff that she's gonna want others to know about her, and never forget. Stuff she's sure about. Stuff she believes. And stuff she wants others to be sure about and believe. She'll talk about all that stuff... 'cause all that stuff is safe."

Twilight's breathing nearly stopped upon parsing Rainbow's words. "So what's not-"

"Duh. The opposite. For me, it's anything I'm not totally sure about. Anything I don't really know how to put into words. Anything that makes me really look at myself for a long time without instantly seeing straight-up coolness. 'Cause that's..." Rainbow sighed, gripping her knees more firmly. "...that's hard."

Rainbow's eyes lidded, her gaze settling on the carpeting.

"Now imagine everyone's looking at you, picking apart every word you say, every move you make... all while you're still trying to figure yourself out."

Twilight clasped her hands tighter. "That is hard. I've been there myself."

"I bet. Anyway, that’s where she’s at. You? You’ve got two choices. You either wait for your Rainbow to decide to talk about stuff she's still trying to figure out... or you convince her that opening up to you is worth the risk. 'Cause otherwise, just being awesome? Never hurt anyone."

Rainbow turned, put her hands on Twilight's shoulders, and looked into her eyes, her expression the definition of sincerity.

"Especially not Rainbow Dash." She tilted her head. "You get me?"

"I do," Twilight said, wrapping her arms around her friend. "Thank you for sharing that, Rainbow. I know that had to be hard."

Rainbow hugged back.

"Yeah, lots of stuff in life is hard." She sniffled. "But hey, I'm me."

They sat alone in the room, in each other's arms, for as long as they could before Rainbow Dash's phone beeped.

"Whoa, fifteen minute warning," Rainbow said. "Limo will be here real soon."

The two parted, and when they did, Twilight noticed something. "Rainbow, your face!"

"Huh?" Rainbow darted to the mirror to see telltale streaks of ruined mascara running down to her cheeks. She gritted her teeth.

"Ugh!" she growled. "This is seriously why I don't do makeup." Rainbow wiped at her eyes. "I'll fix this stuff, you keep an eye out for Rarity."

Twilight walked towards the window. On the way, she passed the nightstand. Again, she saw the picture.

Curiosity got the better of her. After making sure Rainbow was still preoccupied, she picked up the picture, examining it closely.

This close up, she could now see that it depicted a much younger Rainbow Dash, flanked by a blue man and woman — parents, Twilight presumed — who had one hand each on Rainbow's shoulders. All three were smiling and waving without a care in the world.

The three of them were in a very large room, far larger than Rainbow's — it looked to be warehouse-size. Surrounding them were all sorts of flying machines and apparatuses hanging near the ceiling, as well as posters advertising different flight events.

Twilight's eyes were then drawn to one last thing, which she'd almost missed due to the angle the picture was taken at. The family had nearly obscured it.

However, she could now plainly see a giant painted symbol on the rear wall.

That symbol was Rainbow Dash's cutie mark.

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