Chapter 1
*BUMP*
"Woah, we gotta stop bumping into each other like this!" he says, holding out a hoof and helping her up, before walking away. A beautiful red hue spreads across her face.
"Who was that!" she asks, wonder evident in her voice.
"He's one of the new guards here," Cadence says. "His name was, Flash Sentry, I think..."
Flash Sentry. So that's it. Just hearing his name causes an anger to bubble in your stomach. She stares at him as he continues his round around the castle and sighs, clearly smitten.
"Looks like somepony's got a crush on the new guy!" Applejack says, nudging her.
"WHAT, no, no I don't!" Twilight exclaims in denial, holding her head up high and failing to hide her blush. You know its bullcrap.
"She does! She totally does!" Rarity gushes.
A pain stabs through your heart and forces you to land. You lower your head and clench your teeth and your hair covers your eyes.
"Rainbow Dash?"
You lift your head enough to see a purple dragon standing in front of you, worry evident in his emerald eyes. Of course, how could you forget Spike, the only person who knows about your crush.
"Are you OK?" he asks.
"I'm fine...” you say, determined to hide your sorrow. You can't let anypony she you so weak.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asks. You look ahead and see all your friends looking at you worriedly. "You're shaking, you look like you're...about to cry..."
You shake your head. "I-I'm fine, I'm just, uh...not, feeling well! Yeah...I'm gonna go get some rest..." You say, turning away and walking to your room, head lowered. You walk, mane casting a shadow over your face and your mouth in a thin line.
You push your room door open, a slight creak is heard. The light from the hallway shines through, illuminating part of the dark room. You walk over to your bed, not bothering to close the door and take out a picture from under your pillow.
The only you have of you and her together.
Pinkie Pie was the one who took it. You had been teasing Twilight about her eggheaded-ness again and she had gotten mad. You ran away (after all, if you flew it would be pretty unfair for her) and she ran after you. Before long it turned into a game, the two of you chasing each other around, laughing in glee. Eventually you tripped on a rock, and just as you got yourself back up, Twilight had tackled you and held you to the ground. You still remembered the blush had covered your face. That was when Pinkie had taken the photo. It isn't the best, but it's all you have of yourself and the subject of your affections.
Suddenly droplets of water splash onto the photo. You rub your eyes and find that you're crying. You scold yourself internally for being so weak, but ignore yourself as the dam breaks and tears start flowing down your face. You turn and practically throw yourself onto your bed, burying your face in your pillow in an attempt to muffle your sobs. If anyone could see your face they would see the bittersweet smile covering your muzzle.
You just don't understand it. You have known Twilight for nearly a year now. You're one of her first and closest friends, you've done so much for her.
But she falls for some stallion she barely knows instead.
You have done so much for her in attempts to get her to like you. You did so many things to impress her, you wore a dress for her, you starting reading based on her recommendation. You even let her persuade you to read more than Daring Do, even if you found it totally boring and uncool, just to make her happy. You would catch a grenade for her.
But she doesn't care about that. She likes somepony else. It's that simple. Why are you looking into it so much? She doesn't like you, she likes him, and you can't do anything about it.
Just give up.
Your heart is ripped in half as you come to this realisation. An ache fills your chest as cry out in anguish, the sound muffled by the pillow pressed against your muzzle, salty tears once again streaming down your face. You fail to notice the creak of the door opening. You fail to notice the beam of light filling the dark room. You don't even notice the caring hoof rubbing your back in an attempt to comfort you. You just cry.
"Dashie?" a soft, familiar voice fills the room. You gasp as you sit up and stare at the one who called you by that nickname.
"T-Twilight, I, w-w-what are you doing in here?" You ask, wiping away your tears in hopes that she won't notice you had been crying, even though it's clearly obvious.
"I'm worried about you Rainbow..." she says, amethyst eyes twinkling in the light, sparkling with traces of tears. "What's wrong?"
You know you should be angry with her, but you just can't bring yourself to.
It's not her fault, after all.
"I-it's noth-nothing," you say, biting back the sobs. "You wouldn't understand anyway..." After all, you don't know what heartbreak feels like, you think.
The alicorn just sighs and wraps her hooves around you in her soft embrace. You sit there with a confused expression and traces of a blush on your face. "OK Rainbow..." she says. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine..." she pulls away. You wish she hadn't.
"But know that I'm always there for you. Always" she finishes her short pep talk and looks you in the eye. You stare back into her eyes for a moment before you feel tears returning, but instead of fighting them, let them flow as you throw your arms over her neck and cry on her shoulder. A moment later you feel Twilight returning your embrace, which only make you cry more. You give your heart out to her, not bothering to hide your emotions anymore. You bury you face in her fur and feel her rubbing a hoof through your mane and down your back. You feel your exhaustion catch up to you as your eyes begin to flutter closed and your sobs begin to quieten. You feel a feathery blanket of wings envelop you as her lavender hooves hold you tighter in her embrace.
You fall asleep in her arms.