It was a gorgeous day in Ponyville. The sun streamed down in bright rays that spread a warm tingling sensation wherever they hit. The smallest of gentle breezes wafted by, preventing one from becoming uncomfortably hot under the brilliant radiance and keeping a perfect temperature. It was all the benefits of curling up indoors, underneath a sunbeam from a window, with the addition of fresh air and the smell of grass and wildflowers that the wind carried with it.

Perfect day for a picnic, Twilight thought to herself as she started laying out the blanket and supplies. In addition to the usual sandwich fare, there was a variety of puddings, small cakes, and pastries that looked especially delicious. She saw her picnic partner approaching over the hill and gave a quick wave.

Rainbow Dash waved back as she slowed her approach and landed elegantly beside Twilight before placing a quick kiss on her cheek. Twilight blushed and felt her knees tremble a bit. It was silly how much she still reacted to the simplest things. How long had they been dating now?

"That is still the cutest thing ever." Dash unleashed a few restrained giggles at her. It was the most beautiful sound in the world to Twilight. "Wow, this looks delicious! Let's get started!"

They both happily started in on their lunch, but Twilight couldn't even taste the food. She was far too occupied stealing glances over at the beautiful pony next to her to concentrate on anything else. She caught Dash glancing back at her as well, a smile on her face. A beautiful cyan wing reached out and gracefully wrapped around Twilight's shoulder before gently pulling her in. She gave a deep sigh of bliss as she was pressed firmly against the warm, soft side of her marefriend. She never wanted to move from this spot again.

"I love you Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as she nuzzled into Dash's chest.

"Ha! I kinda figured that out by now. You say it all the time."

"I can't help it, it's true. I want to keep saying it and never stop. I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I-" Twilight was interrupted by a kiss that set her mind and body on fire. Strong legs and wings wrapped her in a loving cocoon and pulled her in tight while her tongue danced and her mind melted into incoherent bliss. When it finally ended, she was left in an impossible combination of satisfied serenity and a burning hunger for more. How was it she could feel contentment and avarice at the same time?

"I love you too Twilight. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I want to stay with you forever."

The look of sincere love shining behind those magenta eyes filled Twilight with so much joy that it actually hurt. It felt as though she might burst from too much happiness. Truly, she must be the luckiest pony in the world. To have such a wonderful marefriend whom she deeply loved, and knew loved her just as much in return.

It was still hard to wrap her head around that concept. Dash loved her back! The one pony she wanted to be near wanted nothing but the same! She knew she could never possibly hope to deserve such happiness. She held her love tight, as if afraid she might blow away in the wind. As if sensing her thoughts, Rainbow Dash bent her head to whisper into her ear.

"I promise I'll never leave. I'll always be here. Always."

Twilight shuddered as Dash nipped at her ear and then proceeded to nuzzle her neck. It had been perfect, these past few weeks. How long had it been again? Twilight found she couldn't quite exactly recall how much time had passed since that night when Dash had realized her feelings for her. Come to think of it, the whole event had been kind of a blur. She couldn't really remember what had happened. The small concern was quickly pushed away as she went back to enjoying Dash's affection. The past was gone, better to look forward to their wonderful future together.

The kisses that Dash was laying on her neck were increasing in speed and intensity. More of them involved teeth. Twilight felt her heart rate increasing rapidly, and her breath was starting to come out in short gasps. She caught Dash's eyes in hers again, and saw a fire burning within them. Twilight used her magic to unceremoniously fling the sundry dishes away, not caring where they landed as she cleared a space for them on the blanket.

Flinging her front legs around Dash's neck and pulling them both down onto the blanket, Twilight pushed forward for another kiss. This time, something felt...off. Not that Dash was responding with less passion, it just felt like Twilight's senses were being dulled, numbed. She didn't feel the lips against her own, and even the wings wrapped around her started to feel less substantial. She couldn't taste anything either, couldn't find any satisfaction.

Twilight pushed in harder, pouring more passion into the kiss, but every tactile sensation felt less real, more like the ethereal brush of a ghost. Panic gripped her as her vision swam, and the details of her surroundings began to blur. She realized that what she was tasting wasn't quite the blankness of air, but more like the empty taste of the fabric of her pillow case. Finally realizing what was happening, she tried to hold onto Dash as tightly as she could as the landscape started to dissolve around them, crying and screaming, and trying to hold the world together for a few more precious seconds. Dash seemed worried as well, a look of pain and confusion stuck on her face. Twilight's hooves passed through thin air as Rainbow Dash turned to smoke in her arms, leaving only a rough and blurry outline that could barely be seen.

"Please don't leave me." Those were the last words spoken by the phantom Rainbow Dash before the dream ended.

Twilight's eyes remained closed. She stared at the back of her eyelids, willing herself to fall back asleep, trying in vain to bring the world back to life.

NO! I have to go back! I have to go back now! She's waiting for me! I can't leave her behind! Please!

Tears leaked out from behind her closed eyelids as she buried her face in the pillow that lay wrapped in her arms, corner damp from where she had been chewing on it.

A year. It had been a full Celestia damned year since that letter. She thought it was behind her.

The use of letters had turned out to be a good decision. Dash and herself had managed to continue on as if the whole incident had never occurred. There was no awkwardness between them as neither of them ever brought the subject up. All that needed to be said had been said and they had continued their close friendship without a hitch. Twilight was incredibly grateful for that.

Neither of them had found anypony else yet, a point that had occasionally led her objections to resurface in her mind, but they had finally settled over time. It seemed that finally confessing her feelings had given her some kind of closure on the situation. At least she finally had an answer, as much as she disliked it. She would always care for Dash, but as the days turned to weeks and weeks to months, she thought about her less and less. There was a point where Twilight realized she had gone almost a whole two days without thinking about Rainbow Dash once. She could even hang out with Rainbow Dash without the horrible melancholy setting in and ruining the rest of her evening when it was over.

Life went on. She had adventures with her friends, and they had even saved Equestria again from yet another horrible, apocalyptic disaster using the power of friendship. She continued to look after the library while she studied and researched. It seemed her wounds were finally healed, and she had finally found her chance at peace. Until now.

With one horrible, wonderful dream, her subconscious had torn all the wounds back open. All the feelings had come rushing back, blazing brighter and stronger than they ever had before, as if making up for lost time. Twilight sobbed into her pillow. She had been so sure this time. So sure that she had moved on, that she could have a chance to be happy again, and it had all been cruelly torn away. Just as the dream Dash had disappeared from her arms.

How long is it going to take?! Another year? Two years? Ten?! I can't do it! Celestia help me, I just can't do it!

It wasn't as if she had a choice though. There wasn't a thing she could do to change her situation. She felt helpless as she stared into a future of unending misery. Crushed beneath hopelessness and despair, something in Twilight's mind finally snapped. A small voice she had been ignoring pushed its way to the front of her consciousness and spoke.

Look at you. Pathetic. Why don't you go out there and get her?

I can't. She just doesn't love me. There's nothing I can do.

You know that's not true. You know exactly what you can do to fix this entire situation. You've always known.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Liar! You know exactly what to do. You've just been too much of a coward to follow through! You have the power, but you lack the force of will!

NO! I can't! I'm not supposed to do that! Never again!

Why not?

Because it's wrong! Horribly unethical and wrong!

And there it is. You still care more about staying a "good and ethical pony" than you do about being with Dash. Shouldn't that be the ONLY thing that matters? It seems as if you just don't care enough.

NO! There's nothing I care more about!

As long as you hold yourself back with the chains of what's considered "ethical", you'll continue to be miserable. You're only torturing yourself in the end.

Was she really considering this? If she went through with this, nopony could ever know. Friends and family would disown her, Celestia would probably have her locked away in a dungeon. Twilight felt her last bit of resistance draining away.

I...okay. But will it work?

The other voice in her head, the one that sounded exactly like her own, replied with what sounded like a smile, if voices could have smiles.

Of course it will. Works...Every...Time.

Author's Notes:

Awww Yeah! Time for things to get interesting and for the dark tag to finally come out. Gonna have fun with this. I know this is back to being criminally short, but it's a nice little intro into the third act, and I wanted to torture you all with that cIiffhanger. If you don't get what this is referring to, then I am disappointed in you. Bonus points if you can guess what related song is currently playing in my head.