• Published 21st Dec 2011
  • 31,481 Views, 114 Comments

Trust - Incredible Blunderbolt



Trust is a tightrope we all walk. But sometimes we misinterpret things that are indeed sincere.

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Trust

The fading sunlight shone through the window of the Ponyville Public Library, illuminating the face of a cyan pegasus. Twilight Sparkle and friends stood all around Rainbow Dash, waiting for her to speak her piece. “Well, uh...” Rainbow stuttered, shifting her hooves nervously. Her wings fluttered, betraying the anxiety of the normally brazen pony.

“You can do it Rainbow, just tell them what you told me.” Fluttershy's quiet voice broke the awkward silence Dash had left hanging. She placed a hoof around Dash's neck. “There's nothing to be worried about.” The yellow pegasus said in a soothing tone.

Twilight was confused. Rainbow Dash had called all of their friends together at the library a few hours ago. They'd had a good time, romping around town, playing board games and simply talking about whatever came to mind. But just a few minutes ago, with the sun setting and a storm approaching, Dash had turned very serious. “I have something I've got to tell all of you guys... Something kinda important...” She'd frozen after that, too scared to move on, to stubborn to back down. Whatever she had to say, Twilight realized, it definitely wasn't easy.

Rainbow Dash visibly gulped. “Well... you see, I've kinda had this thing I've needed to say that I've, uh, been too scared to...” She trailed off once more.

“What's wrong Sugarcube?” Applejack inquired gently. Dash's wings fluttered nervously again, and she looked at the ground. Was that- no- Twilight swatted the thought aside, Rainbow wasn't blushing!

“So, um... here goes.” Dash gulped again and hunkered down defensively. Twilight was concerned, she'd never seen this pony so anxious, usually Rainbow Dash radiated pure confidence. “I...I...I...” Fluttershy placed a reassuring hoof on Dash once more. “I like...fillies. Like, i-in a romantic way...” She managed, wincing. Rainbow Dash was now visibly shaking, waiting for her friends' responses.

Twilight was taken aback. Pure shock forced her onto her haunches. Maybe... NO! She yelled at the voice in her head. She didn't want to put up with that again. Just because Dash had announced that she was gay didn't mean Twilight had any better chance than earlier that day. Still...

"And," replied Applejack, becoming the first to respond, "your point?" A confused Rainbow Dash looked up at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

Applejack smirked at her polychromatic friends's query. “Ah mean, Ah already had that figgered out.” Rainbow's face twisted up into an even more bemused arrangement of features.

“You knew? How?”

“Ah had... a hunch Ah a'spose. Anyway, congratulations R.D., Ah hope that takes a load off'n yer shoulders.”

“OOOOOHHH!! OH!” Pinkie Pie screeched, hopping around excitedly. “I know what this calls for! A PARTY! No, wait... TWO PARTIES! OOH! And we're gonna need balloons and streamers and punch and-” She was interrupted by Rarity, whom had silenced the party pony with a look.

“I think what Pinkie means is that we're very happy for you Rainbow Dash. All of us are thrilled that you are ready to accept yourself and seek love! Oh, I simply MUST make you a dress for your first date! Perhaps something blue, no- green- wait ew, not green...” Rarity began rambling about colors and balance.

“Alls she said was that she's gay, Rarity.” Applejack observed. “Ah don't think she's ready to go chasin' after ponies quite yet.”

“Nonsense.” Rarity replied. “Everypony wants to find that special pony!” Applejack just face-hoofed herself. Rainbow turned to Twilight, whose breath caught in her chest. Fighting a blush, Twilight started to speak, but lost her nerve, along with the words she truly wanted to say.

“Uh, yeah. What Rarity said, we're happy for you Dash.” And with those final words, the cyan pegasus perked up.

Smiling, Rainbow said, “I-I... thanks guys. I was worried about how you'd take it...”

“Oh, that's just silly talk Dash.” Applejack stated. “We love you for who you are, not who you love!” Dash was beaming now, her happiness clear to all around. The sight made Twilight's heart soar.

After a few more congratulations and a short celebration, courtesy of one spontaneous pink mare, the rain had started to fall. “Well, Ah guess Ah should be headed home, don't wanna get caught facin' the real storm.” Applejack announced. The six friends all agreed with her and began to part ways. All it seemed, except one pegasus.

Twilight had just closed the door on Dash, having just watched her walk out of it, a big smile on the latter's face. Outside, a crack of thunder roared, a last warning from the weather team to get indoors. Water began pelting the ground, raining down in buckets. There was a crash against the wall of her dwelling, then another. A few moments later a knock brought Twilight back from the kitchen.

Reopening the door, a scene of chaos revealed itself to her. Rain poured down from the sky like the steady stream of a bathtub faucet. Wind blowing so hard the water looked to be falling sideways, trees bent over, anything that wasn't nailed down was flying around in the streets, and in the doorway stood the mare of the hour, soaked to the bone in just a few moments, a fresh bump on her head. With a bit of awkwardness in her voice Twilight seemed to miss, she said, “Hey, Twi? Is it all right if I spend the night here? I can't fly straight with all of this wind.”

Twilight felt like leaping for joy, Rainbow Dash was asking to spend the night with her! Granted, it was because she couldn't get home and not because she wanted to spend time with her, but Twilight could live with that, after all, time with Rainbow Dash was still time with Rainbow Dash. Thoughts of what they could do filled her imagination, more board games, a hot meal, maybe they could even become study buddies! Maybe Twilight could actually work up the nerve to tell Dash how she felt, (she'd been researching the subject for months) and maybe, just maybe, if she played her cards right, Dash would give her a chance!

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Are you okay?” The lavender pony froze, she'd been so happy she'd forgotten to invite Rainbow in! How long had she zoned out? What would her friend think now?

“Oh, yeah I'm fine. Sorry Rainbow, come in, come in!” She said hurriedly, waving a hoof. Dash raised an eyebrow, but followed her friend's lead. “Spike? Spiiiiiike!” Twilight called for her assistant. In a burst of speed that would put even a Wonderbolt to shame, the baby dragon appeared next to his friend.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Rainbow Dash is spending the night tonight-”

“Get the guest room ready? On it!” Spike interrupted.

“Actually, I was going to say that you need to make dinner for three tonight.” Twilight finished, only a tiny bit annoyed about Spike's interruption. “But yes, do make sure the guest room is... habitable before she goes to bed, please?” Spike winced, Twilight didn't blame him, the guest room was where Twilight did most of her long-term studies and as such, books were lying all over the place, quills and ink would cover the desk, and every inch of flat surface; including the floor, would be coated in layers of carefully written notes.

“On it!” He said, bolting up the stairs.

“Man,” Dash said. “I wish I had my own little Spike to do things like that for me.” Oh Rainbow, Twilight sighed to herself. I would do things like that for you all day long.

“Yeah.” Twilight responded. “Spike really is one of a kind.” Owlowicious hooted indignantly in the corner. “... and so is Owlowicious.” She added, giggling. She looked back over to the cyan pony. “So Rainbow, you never, ever, come to the library unless it's to hang out. How would you like to check out some books?”

“Books? Awwww! I thought we were gonna do somethin' fun!” Dash complained loudly, following Twilight between the shelves of the library.

“Don't worry Dash, I have books that you'll like. Look!” She used her magic to pull a few tomes down to eye level. “I have 'Learning to Fly' by Commander Thundermane,”

“Sounds boring.” Dash said monotonously, sitting down and rolling her eyes.

“What about 'Nebula Crusades'?” She offered, hopefully. Rainbow looked at her funny.

“Were those words?”

“I guess that's a 'no'.” Twilight searched through the small section she'd pulled out. “'Wild Blue Yonder' by Green Speed?” Dash looked up from the small house she was building out of foal books.

“Yawn.”

“What about 'Speed Demons' by Spitfire?” Dash's eye's went from bored to excited faster than Twilight could distinguish the difference.

Spitfire? She wrote a book?” Dash sat up quickly, knocking over her fort in excitement. The foal books lay on the ground at her hooves, forgotten.

“Well yeah, famous ponies tend to write books; memoirs, autobiographies-” She had pulled the tome closer, to read the synopsis, but the cyan pony had pulled it out of the air, gawking at the cover with glee. Twilight chuckled at the sight, one she thought she'd never see.

“Yeah, but I never knew cool ponies wrote books!” Dash looked up at Twilight. “Can I read it?” Once again, Twilight withheld a chuckle. Dash seemed as a child asking her mother if she could have a cookie.

“Well Dash, we are in a public library.”

A few moments later, Twilight's wildest dream had come true. She sat upon a small couch in the main room with a book on stars. Rainbow Dash lay curled up on the carpet next to her, completely absorbed in her reading. Twilight watched the light from the fireplace dance on Dash's cyan coat, and breathed a sigh of serenity. Returning to her studies, Twilight found her concentration to be anomalously low. Furrowing her brow, she focused on the page, carefully saying each word in her head, determined to maintain concentration. But again, she found her eyes wandering off towards her pegasus friend.

Twilight let out a huff and adjusted herself on the couch, again going back to her studies. A few quiet moments passed before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Hey Twilight?” The unicorn turned over to face her friend.

“Yes Rainbow? What is it?”

“What's this word?” Dash showed Twilight the book, pointing at the page in question. Twilight studied the word for a moment before blushing. Figures it'd be that word... Twilight thought.

“Paramour.” She said. Rainbow Dash gave her an expectant look. Chuckling in barely hidden embarrassment, Twilight continued. “It means 'lover'.” Rainbow smiled happily.

“Thanks Twi!” She said, returning to her book.

The minutes passed by quickly as they read in silence, marked only by Spike's occasional trips across the building, equipped each time with a stack of paper taller than he was. Twilight had made a few passing comments, telling him not to strain himself.

The smell of cooking food pulled Twilight out of her book. Spike must've finished cleaning the guest room. Twilight thought. He's so helpful, I should ask Rarity if she has any extra gemstones to give to him.

Rainbow Dash's stomach broke the silence, issuing a loud growl that probably could have scared off an Ursa Major by itself. “Go on out to the kitchen Dash," Twilight told her. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes. I have to go... to the bathroom.”

Dash raised an eyebrow, obviously analyzing her sentence, then shrugged nonchalantly. “Okay.”

Twilight watched Rainbow disappear behind the wall of the kitchen, then tore off up the stairs toward her room. Twilight had been nursing an idea during her studies: The present she'd gotten Dash a few weeks ago, she wanted to give it to Rainbow now. She rifled through her bureau and found the thin sheet of paper. Smiling in triumph, Twilight grabbed it with her mouth and made her way back down to the kitchen. Upon reaching the entrance, she hid her gift in the crevice between her body and her foreleg.

“...every night?” Rainbow Dash questioned Spike as Twilight entered. The young dragon hopped down from his stool in front of the stove and walked across the kitchen to the refrigerator.

“Well, not every night,” He responded, opening the door. “but yeah, I do cook for Twilight a lot.” He retreated back to the stove, carrots in hand.

“Don't you start with the sob stories, young drake!” Twilight declared indignantly. “You know perfectly well that you told me you didn't want me cooking anymore.”

“Actually, I said I didn't want you poisoning us anymore.” He grumbled in response, eliciting a chortle from their guest. Twilight glared at her assistant before moving to sit across the table from Rainbow Dash. Ungrateful little miscreant!

“So Spike, when's the grub gonna finish cookin'?” Rainbow asked, leaning back in her chair.

“Right now!” He said happily, pulling the boiling pot off of the burner. He hopped down and made his way to the table, stumbling a bit from the weight of the soup. He poured a bit into both bowls. Still smiling, Spike gave a meaningful look to Twilight, then excused himself to go eat with Owlicious.

I wonder what that was all about... Twilight thought. Oh well, she accepted it as normal Spike behavior and began to eat her dinner. “So, how's the book coming along Rainbow Dash?”

“Oh! Great! You know, I never really liked books, especially not learning ones-” She began.

“Non-Fiction.” Twilight helped.

“Yeah, that. But the one you gave me is really cool! Did you know that Spitfire was raised in Cloudsdale? She practiced for her auditions on the same street I grew up on!” Dash gushed excitedly. Twilight listened intently during dinner as Dash filled her with fun facts on Spitfire's life. She talked back very little, ecstatic to see her athletic friend so interested in reading.

“You know Rainbow...” Twilight said nervously, once they had finished eating. She reached under her seat and grabbed her gift. She had decided that dinner would be a good place to announce her affection for her friend. “I know you're a fan of anything Wonderbolt related, so I thought you might like this...” She slid the slip of paper across the table with a hoof. Rainbow gave her a quizzical look, but flipped it over and gasped.

“Ohmygosh! Twi... how did you get this!” Twilight smiled happily, she knew Rainbow would love an autographed picture of a Wonderbolt.

“Well... let's just say Princess Celestia owes me a favor... Do you like it?” She asked courteously, already knowing the answer.

“Do I like it? Twi- it's an autographed picture of Spitfire! How could I possibly not like it! It's AWESOME!” She punctuated the last word with a quick spinning liftoff, until she bumped her head on the ceiling. “Ow...” She grumbled, rubbing her head.

Okay Twilight... Twilight thought to herself. It's the moment of truth. Tell her!

Blushing slightly, she said, “I'm glad you like it, Rainbow. You see-” But she was blocked from finishing when she found herself enveloped in a hug. Rainbow Dash squeezed her like a boa constrictor.

“Oh Twi, thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-THANK YOU!”

“Dash...can't...breath!” Twilight managed to choke out when Dash finished her speech.

“Oh, sorry...” Rainbow said, once again rubbing the back of her head; now from embarrassment.

“It's all right. Rainbow, I've been meaning to tell you-” Twilight was interrupted when Owlowicious burst through the door, Spike hot on his tail.

“Come back here you little-!” Spike sputtered in rage. The frightened owl took cover behind his owner. Oh Celestia!... Can't I just have FIVE MINUTES! Jeeze it's not like I'm going to be able to tell her all night! Twilight grumbled to herself.

“What's going on here!” Twilight demanded of her dragon-child.

“He's being a jerk!” Spike defended. “I told him that story about Rarity and Hoity Toity and he just kept saying 'Who?' the whole time! I must've explained who he was a dozen times!”

“Spike...” Twilight sighed. “Did it ever occur to you that 'Who?' is all owls say?” Spike dropped his gaze to his shifting feet.

“Yes Twilight...sorry.”

“I'm not the one you should be apologizing to.” Twilight responded. Owlowicious peeked his head around Twilight's mane.

“Who?” He said. Spike groaned.

“Sorry Owlowicious... I guess I got kinda carried away.” The owl hopped off of Twilight Sparkle and flew over to Spike's shoulder.

“Who?”

“I did.”

“Who?

“I di- hey, wait a minute!” the duo walked out of the kitchen, Spike laughing. Rainbow stood beside Twilight, she too was laughing.

“Do those two ever give it a rest?” Twilight peered over her shoulder.

“About once a blue moon.” They shared a chuckle before Rainbow released a long yawn. I could tell her now... Twilight thought nervously. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not going to tell her, I never do! I'm too much of a coward... “Here, let me show you to the guest room.” Twilight said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

As they walked up the stairs, Twilight realized that she was indeed cowardly. She was afraid to tell Rainbow her feelings, but it was more than that; Twilight was afraid of the unknown. This was the one thing that she could ask, and not be able to learn from a book.

“Here it is.” Twilight said, presenting a small room on the far side of the tree. A bed stood on the right side, next to the wall, flanked by a window. A bureau stood on the opposite wall, bare and empty. Twilight often wondered why a guest room would even have a bureau, but never bothered to take it out. A desk stood next to the bureau.

Spike had done an excellent job of cleaning up Twilight’s notes, which had formerly coated the entire room. Twilight nearly breathed a sigh of relief, she didn’t know what she would have done if her friend had stumbled upon that research- die of embarrassment probably. But she trusted Spike, he would never do anything that could possibly harm his friends. He probably double- no, triple checked for any loose papers.

“Twilight, thanks again for letting me stay the night. I really appreciate it.” Rainbow said as she walked in and admired the room.

“Yeah, Rainbow. Anytime, that's what friends are for, right?” Twilight rambled anxiously, studying the floor, the bed, the window- anything but the beautiful mare before her.

Dash placed her new photo on the desk, the golden inscription shining against the light. 'Always follow your dreams! -Spitfire' The sight filled the lavender pony with a new vigor.

Twilight took a deep breath, forget fear, it was time to follow her dreams. Research was only going to take her so far, the time for action had arrived. “Uh... Rainbow?” She said, tentatively. The cyan mare looked back over her shoulder towards her near jittery friend.

“Yeah?” The sudden exposure to Rainbow's beautiful crimson eyes caused Twilight to freeze in place. Come on Twilight! The love-struck unicorn berated herself. Enough dancing around! Upon seeing her friend’s expression, Dash’s features softened. “What’s up, Twi?” The soothing, almost comforting tone helped Twilight to pull herself together.

“Well Dash, there's something that I need to tell you... something important...” Intrigued, Rainbow Dash turned around to fully face Twilight, and stepped closer.

“What is it, Twi? You can tell me.” Twilight could feel her face getting hotter by the second. The amount of irony in that statement could sink a cruise ship! Was the role of nervous confessor not Rainbow's just a few hours ago? Twilight stared at the floor in a futile attempt to once more gather her thoughts.

“Well... Y-You see... For a while now...” Twilight attempted, once again looking at the floor, this time out of frustration. She wanted so bad to tell Rainbow Dash the truth, but she had no idea how to start. How many times had she practiced this to a mirror, to a wall, to Owlowicious? How many times had she said it in her dreams, under her breath, in her mind or even on paper? Obviously Twilight was not built for verbal admissions “Oh forget it! Rainbow Dash; I love you!” Twilight said, she then leaped forward and planted her lips on her crush's own. It only lasted long enough for the cyan mare to overcome the shock.

Pulling back furiously, Rainbow Dash growled at her friend through gritted teeth. “Just what do you think you're doing?” Twilight stumbled back, falling onto her haunches. The look on Dash's face quite literally scaring her speechless.

“I... I...” Twilight couldn't believe what she'd just done. Her nerves got the better of her, she knew that, but that didn't change the facts. She knew what was coming, she'd just blown any chance she'd had with Dash right out of the proverbial water.

“I opened myself up to you, I trusted you! I thought you would be better than that!” Rainbow cried angrily, stomping her hooves on the ground to emphasize her points.

Twilight didn't understand what was going on at all. She could understand Rainbow not feeling the same way, but this was something else entirely. The young unicorn wanted to reach forward and comfort her friend, but she was afraid to touch her. She wouldn't get the opportunity however, as Rainbow Dash had started pacing angrily around the room.

“I expected this behavior from the bullies back at Junior Speedster Flight Camp," the pegasus growled. "But not one of my best friends! Do you know how that makes me feel, Twilight? That you would mock me for something so personal that I never even told anypony until today?”

Now Twilight understood. Rainbow Dash thought Twilight was mocking her, insulting her friend's sexuality in the worst way possible, by pretending to share it.

“Rainbow, I-”

“I don't wanna hear it Twi! If it wasn't so darn windy, I'd already be out the door! Just leave me alone! As soon as the storm clears I'm outta here! And don't worry, you'll never have to look at my filly-fooling face again!” Twilight stood, shocked as the mare of her dreams told her she never wanted to see her again. Her eyes stung- no, burned.

“Rainbow, I-”

Snarling furiously, Rainbow cut her off once more.. “Just go away, Twilight!”

“But-”

“GO AWAY!” Rainbow bellowed, once more stamping her hooves on the floor.

Twilight sniffled a little as the once only threatening tears began to fall. No! Twilight thought determinedly. I am not letting her see me cry. The cyan pony let out a threatening snort and turned around to face the window.

Tears now flowing freely, Twilight ran out of the room as fast as her hooves could carry her. Down the stairs through the kitchen and up the other stairs, past Spike- whom she nearly hit in her blind sorrow, into her room and flung herself onto her bed. She released a long, anguished cry of frustration and heartbreak.

Her worst fears had come true; Twilight had told Rainbow Dash about her feelings, but not only had she been rejected, no, something worse had come out of it. The worst possible scenario Twilight could think of: Rainbow Dash hated her now.

[X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X]

Rainbow Dash sat, stewing in her own grief. She stared listlessly out the window at the stormy landscape, her tail flicking in annoyance every now and again. She made a move to once more wipe the tears from her cheeks. I can't believe Twi would do that! Dash thought. You think you know a pony...

Thunder roared outside once more, echoing the pain in her heart. Dash tried to focus on something, anything to get her mind off of recent events. The waving grass, the sky; so gray that not one speck of the former beautiful blue wonderland could be seen, even the fliers and stray pieces of trash dancing in the wind, freed from their tin prisons.

It was no use, she couldn't forget it. Twilight's outburst had struck too close to home. Memories of the bullies at flight camp began to resurface. The cruel ponies swarmed around her, throwing out names and cruel insults. But now there was a new face among them, a lavender unicorn pranced around her head, singing jovially. “I looooove you Dashie! Looooove!

“No! Stop it! Stop it!” Dash screamed, wanting so bad to fight back, or even fly away, but her parents' voices rung clear above the cacophonous cries of her classmates.

“No more fights, please Dashie?” Her father begged her. “I know it can be hard, but you can stand up for yourself without resorting to violence. I don't want to have to come get you early this summer, honey. Promise me I won't have to.”

“Suck it up, squirt.” Her mother said curtly. “You'll have to deal with bullies your whole life. If what they say isn't true, why should it hurt? You aren't... one of those freaks, are you?”

The voices blended together, striking her in waves, wrapping around her, tightening around her throat, choking her, rendering her helpless and unable to plead for mercy.

“St-stop it...please!” She cried out as soon as she could, gasping for air. The ponies just laughed at her some more.

“What's wrong Dashie? What's wrong? What's wrong?” The voices changed, becoming deeper, resonating against her ears stronger and stronger. “Rainbow Dash! Hey, wake up! What's wrong?” Dash's eyes snapped open and she picked her head up, breathing heavily.

Spike stood over her, arms crossed. His expression a mixture of concern and fury. “What the hay is going on here?” Rainbow Dash looked around, she must've fallen asleep while looking out the window, as that was where she was at the moment.

“Spike? What do you mean?”

“I mean, why was Twilight all happy go-lucky one moment, and then tearing through the library spraying enough water to fill a creek bed the next?” Rainbow Dash frowned. She wasn't sure she'd heard her reptilian compadre correctly. Why would Twilight be crying? She should be laughing, or even stomping around angrily, crying didn't make any sense at all.

“Twilight's... crying?” She inquired, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

“Yeah, she just about impaled me going up the stairs, then locked herself in our room and started howling. What happened?”

The young mare stared down at her hooves. Maybe she'd been too hard on the poor pony. Maybe Dash had taken offense too easily, perhaps she should have just grinned and bared the joke her friend had attempted. “We had... a bit of a fight.” She confided in Spike.

Spike's eyes narrowed, then widened with dawning realization. “Oh... what about?”

“I...” Rainbow hesitated, this subject was quite personal to her. “I’d rather not talk about it, Spike. Sorry.” The young dragon nodded his understanding.

“You know... when I get sad I like to watch the rain out the windows. It kinda calms me down.” With assurances that he'd be back, the baby dragon wandered off down the hallway.

Sighing, Rainbow Dash decided to just go back to her window like Spike suggested. However, on the way there she spied something on the floor under the dresser. Spike must've missed it when he cleaned up. She thought. She walked over and grabbed it, intending to give it to him upon his return when something written on the parchment caught her eye. What the... The pony placed the paper down on the floor. Page numbers and sentences littered the surface, organized by bullet points. Notes on Twilight's latest project, Dash realized. However, that simple fact hadn't been what the athlete was interested in. Written at the top was the phrase “Dealing with Love, A Guide for Fools.” Curious, Dash sat down on her haunches to read.

Dealing with Love, A Guide for Fools
(By: Star Hooves)
Note Page 1

'One must first admit to one's love for the pony, no matter the problems.'(pg. 2)
I'm not entirely sure it's love, but I feel something for Rainbow Dash, even though she's another mare...

'Realize that love comes in all forms and is not exclusive to sex or pony type. If you love someone, you should not care about these things.'(pg. 3)
Funnily enough, I don't care that Dash is a mare, in fact... I think I prefer it... For some reason, the thought of her being a colt just doesn't feel right.

'You must admit your feelings, the only way to know if they are returned is to tell the object of your affections what they mean to you.'(pg. 7)
How could I ever tell her what I feel, I don't even know if Dash likes fillies! What if I tell her and she scorns me? What I don't tell her and nothing happens?

'It is important to realize that your feelings may not always be returned, if they aren't, you must be able to move on, it is not easy; but it is essential.'(pg. 7)
I guess I wont know for sure unless I ask her,..

'Remember; there is no 'right time' to tell your crush your feelings, however, there are wrong times, Try to feel the mood in the air.'(pg. 9)
I'm going to have to work on that, aren't I? Perhaps next time the gang gets together. I just hope I can do it.

Show them you pay attention, get them little things like flowers you picked while walking, or a teddy bunny on a day when they look glum.(pg. 12)
Or maybe a signed picture of one of the Wonderbolts. Perhaps Princess Celestia can help me with that part.






Rainbow Dash sat, dumbstruck. She glanced over to the no doubt very same autographed photo of Spitfire now sitting on the dresser. The guilt hit her like a ton of bricks, she had completely misjudged her friend; not only had she smashed the Twilight's feelings for her first crush, but Rainbow had also spat in her face while Twilight came out of the closet. Rainbow dropped her head to the floor in shame, hoping the coolness of the floorboards would comfort her.

She remembered a few weeks ago; the gang had gone to the beach, Twilight had asked her repeatedly for time to talk. After Twilight had waved her off the first time with a “never mind.” Dash had ignored her, instead focusing on her aerial tricks. Then there was dinner, Twilight had been trying to say something after she'd given Dash the photo, but all the pegasus could think about was how awesome it was to have Spitfire's autograph. Then there was the incident when she'd asked for help with that word, what was it... “Paramour”? Then the most painful image appeared, Twilight with tears in her eyes as Rainbow Dash tirade her for her feelings.

There was no excuse, Dash realized. Thinking that Twilight was mocking her was no excuse for being such a jerk, she was one of Rainbow Dash's best friends, Twilight would never do something so cruel. The Element of Loyalty sure wasn't giving her friends a lot of credit lately, it seemed.

I need to talk to her... Dash wasn't sure if she returned Twilight's feelings, but she did know that she owed her an apology.

[X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X]

Twilight was in her bed, the worst of her crying had passed. She simply sobbed quietly to herself, wishing the pain away, hoping the whole situation was just a dream. But it's not, Twilight thought. You just made a complete fool out of yourself, and now one of your best friends hates you. Stuff happens, accept it. The unicorn breathed a deep, if shaky sigh.

There was a rustling in the adjacent room, it had been going on for a few minutes now and Twilight was becoming curious. Hoofsteps approached from the stairs, coming towards the room. As they drew closer, Twilight heard Spike say, “Rainbow Dash? Wait!” before the sound of multiple papers dropping to the floor reached her ears.

The door cracked open, the silhouette of a pony's head peeked inside. Great, Twilight sighed again. Now Dash wants to rub it in my face... Maybe she's going to tell our friends! Anxiously, Twilight pretended to be asleep, hoping to avoid a confrontation. The door closed after a moment.

There was a hoofstep, a few seconds later another one came. Twilight cracked an eye to see what was happening. Rainbow Dash was on the other side of the room, nervously taking a step every few moments, as if forcing herself onwards. Bewildered, Twilight wondered exactly what Rainbow had to be nervous about, she had made herself quite clear at their last meeting. The pegasus stopped a few feet short of the bed and reeled back onto her haunches.

“Uh... Twi?” No response. The pegasus looked down at the floor boards, her wings fluttered nervously. “You probably don't wanna talk to me...” She said somberly. Twilight fought the urge to nod in agreement, maybe Dash would go away soon if she kept her ruse up. “That's okay, though. You don't halfta talk back if you don't want to, but I still wanna say somethin'.”

Now the unicorn was curious, this didn't sound like the same Rainbow Dash who'd angrily dismissed her just an hour or so ago.

“So... uh, back when I was in Junior Speedster Flight Camp I had to deal with these jerks who always picked on me. They called me names and teased me because they thought I was a filly-fooler.” She paused, before adding with a slight chuckle. “They were right of course, but it still hurt...

“My mom... she heard about it- what they called me. She figured that they'd need a reason to call me that; so she started trying to stamp it out of me. My Dad didn't care, in fact, all he cared about was the fact that I got kicked out of camp every year because I'd start fights. When I told him what my mom was doing, he filed for divorce, he told me there was nothing wrong with me. I hadn't told anypony my secret yet, but... it was like he already knew... My Dad's kinda cool that way.

“Anyway, I never told anypony the truth until today. I was worried that you guys would hate me like my classmates did. I probably still wouldn't have said anything today if Fluttershy hadn't pulled it out of me yesterday.

“When you... when you told me your feelings Twi, I thought... I thought that you were like them, the bullies at flight camp, that is. The fillies used to make kissy faces at me and tell me that they loved me, they thought they were hilarious. I guess they were, everyone always laughed at them.

“I was only feeling sorry for myself when Spike woke me up, but then I found this under the dresser in the guest room.” She set a piece of paper down on the floor near Twilight. “'What if I tell her and she scorns me?' Twi...” She said sadly. “I saw the tears in your eyes when I was yelling, I didn't care at the time but... Spike told me that you were crying...

“Twi, I'm sorry. I've been a real jerk, and the worst Element of Loyalty ever. I... I...” Twilight could sense Dash fumbling for words, she'd obviously put a lot of thought into this apology, it was time to speak up. She opened her teary eyes and sat up, Rainbow took a nervous step backwards.

“Dash, you are far from the worst Element of Loyalty ever. In fact, I'd say you're the best one ever. It takes a lot of courage to apologize like you just did. I know I went a little crazy in the guest room,” Twilight smiled meekly at the statement, a blush hidden amongst the darkness. “and I'm sorry I dragged up bad memories for you...” The cyan pony seemed to relax a little, even taking a step forward.

“So... you forgive me?” She asked nervously. Twilight wrapped her friend in a warm embrace.

“Of course I do Rainbow! I wasn't sad because of what you said. I was sad because... because I thought you hated me...” Dash scoffed a little at the statement as Twilight released her.

“Me? Hate you? Well... maybe a little bit earlier... but you'll always be one of my best friends!”

“See? The Element of Loyalty if I ever saw her, willing to stay friends even after she thinks she's been mocked!” Twilight said half jokingly. A smile slowly formed on Rainbow's countenance.

“So... I was thinking, Twi...” She said, nervousness returning to her voice.

“About what?” The unicorn frowned. She'd thought they'd resolved the issue. The pegasus studied her hooves as they made a circle on the floor.

“Well... about what you said earlier... I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna go out with me sometime- I mean, i-if you're still interested...” Twilight had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping to the the planet core and melting upon contact with the magma. After all of this, Rainbow Dash was asking her out? On a date? She studied the cyan pony for a moment, her wings once again fluttering nervously, tail twitching, she was even too afraid to make eye contact.

Twilight leaned forward and nuzzled her friend gently. “I'd love to, Rainbow.”