... I think you're cute
Twilight sighed, glancing over to the clock hung on the wall.
18:50
"Just 10 more minutes," Twilight thought to herself
For the past couple of months, both she and Rainbow Dash had been doing weekly reading sessions. Rainbow Dash would bring in a book one week - which would, quite obviously, be a Daring Do comic or story - and Twilight would bring in a book the next. Her collection consisted of mainly adventure stories, with the occasional romance or sci-fi novel thrown in.
It was Rainbow Dash of all ponies, however, that Twilight expected to be interested in "actual" reading. When she had asked, Dash had simply shrugged. She wasn't complaining, though - far from it, in fact. She enjoyed reading with her friend and, clearly, so did Rainbow.
Her train of thought was interupted by a small "woosh" to her left. Twilight's ears perked up slightly and she cast her gaze over to Rainbow Dash. Out of second nature, Twilight glanced over to the clock on the wall.
18:55
"Hey, you're early!" Twilight commented in surprise "You're never early."
Rainbow Dash smirked, motioning her hoof outside.
"Well, I can leave and come back at 7 if you'd like," She responded
The two shared a small chuckle. Twilight looked up to the pegasus.
"You could do that, but then you'd probably be late!" Twilight said "So you're better off coming in now."
Rainbow simply smiled in response, following Twilight as the pair trotted into her bedroom - their usual spot for reading. The two took a seat each by her desk.
"So, what book did you bring this time, Rainbow? Another Daring Do novel?" Twilight teased playfully.
Rainbow responded by simply shaking her head.
"No, actually," She responded "I've got something... different, this time!"
Dash pulled a book out of her bag and placed it on the table. Twilight almost recoiled in pure shock at the title of the book.
"Only for you?" Twilight questioned in shock "I had no idea you were into romance, Rainbow Dash!"
The pegasus shrugged, looking downwards in embarassment.
"Well, I thought that maybe... we could read something different than usual?" Rainbow said, more of a question than a statement.
Twilight had already opened the cover of the book, eagerly flicking through the empty pages to get to the introduction. She merely let out a small hum of approval, before falling upon the start of the text. The alicorn looked up to Rainbow, admittedly quite cutely.
"You ready?"
"Getting right into it, huh Twi?" Rainbow giggled "Heck yeah, I'm ready."
Even before Twilight had begun reading, Dash had found herself staring at her. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was her voice. Despite her voice being drowned out, she could still hear the almost, sheer beauty in it. Or maybe it was her eyes, moving from word to word across the page, staring at them as if they were the only things in the world. Maybe it was even her caring personality, always willing to go the extra mile to help others, always putting herself before everypony else.
Or maybe it was all of these things combined. Dash didn't know why, but she had begun to admire her more and more just lately. It was almost like everything about her was just... perfect.
"-sh! Rainbow! Hello?!"
Rainbow jumped, shaking her head.
"S-sorry! I was just... thinking."
Twilight giggled at her comment.
"Thinking? That's not like you, Rainbow."
Realising how utterly horrible her excuse was, she attempted to correct herself.
"Not thinking, thinking. Just... looking!" Dash stammered
She made a mental note that she was horrendous at lying.
Twilight shook her head, a small smile visible on her muzzle.
"Oh, Celestia... that smile..." Rainbow had caught herself thinking. She quickly motioned for Twilight to continue reading, a bright blush visible on her muzzle.
Once the alicorn continued, she tried her best to follow along with Twilight, each word seeming to get harder to concentrate on. Her mind drifted to different situations with her and her friend, each more intimate than the next. She struggled to keep it together, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to block out unwelcome thoughts.
"Why?" She kept asking herself "why am I being like this?"
She kept interrogating herself with this simple question. Of course, deep down she knew why, but her logical thinking wouldn't allow it, making up every excuse under Celestia's sun as to why that wasn't the case.
Twilight's reading had now been forgotten, her concentration set soley on trying to keep her eyes away from Twilight, and on the book she was reading. With each passing second, it became harder and harder to keep it together. She heard Twilight's voice, but it wasn't coherent words she was hearing - just noise. Beautiful noise.
"Um... Rainbow?"
Realising Twilight had stopped reading, she jumped - almost like a cat does when it gets startled. As she did so, four words came out.
"I think you're cute!"
It took Rainbow a few seconds to clock into what she just said. She froze, unable to form any coherent sentence, and instead was left stammering, her muzzle left bright red. Twilight remained silent, staring at her in disbelief. Perhaps she had heard wrong? She took a breath, choosing her next words very carefully.
"Um... what did you say, Rainbow?"
Dash couldn't bring herself to repeat what she had just said. She averted her gaze to the floor, now apparently being capable of entertaining her for hours on end. Her ears drooped in shame. She hadn't even intended to say it - it just came out.
Twilight had taken her silence as confirmation that she had heard right. But what had it meant? Just a friendly remark, or something more? Of course, judging by her friend's reaction, it meant something more. But she almost didn't believe it.
Rainbow was left standing there, staring at the floor in shame, a million questions running through her head simultaniously. What if Twilight hated her? What if she didn't want to be her friend? And even if she did, would they ever be the same? What if all of her friends hated her for it?
Twilight slowly walked up to her friend, placing a hoof gently under her chin and brought her to face her. She leaned in slowly, pressing their muzzles together.
Rainbow panicked. She had no idea what to do. A million emotions and thoughts ran through her head, muddling her thinking and rendering her mind almost useless. Running off of pure instinct, she returned the kiss, closing her eyes.
After what seemed like years - millenia, even - Twilight eventually broke off the kiss, panting for air. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Rainbow averted her gaze and murmured something.
"... I think you're cute..."