Chapter 3: Rest and Relaxation

"Urgh..." Rainbow moaned as she collapsed on the floor, "Are we done yet?"

"Almost, just have to put this book over there, and, done!" Twilight said triumphantly.

"Thank Celestia, I think my muscles were about to give out" Rainbow said as she sprawled out on the floor.

"Yeah me too" Twilight said as she sat next to Rainbow.

"So, you up for some R&R?"

"Some what?"

"Rest and relaxation, like, uh..." Rainbow quickly thought about what to say, "Sleeping, eating, going to a restaurant with me..."

"What was that last one?" Twilight asked, not sure if she heard Rainbow right.

"Eating?"

"No the one after that"

"Going to a restaurant with me?" Rainbow said while blushing slightly.

"Uh..." Twilight mumbled, scrunching up her face in a vain attempt to figure if Rainbow was joking or not. Just before she could ask there was a knock at the door, which ended up breaking the awkward silence that had started to form.

"I got it!" Rainbow shouted as she bolted to the door. She opened it, expecting a random pony to be standing on the other side, but much to her annoyance, it was Spike.

"Hey Rainbow, what are you doing here?" Spike said, rather preoccupied with his handful of gems.

"I was helping Twilight with her chores while you were out wooing Rarity"

"I wasn't wooing her!" Spike quickly hid the gems he had in his hands, "I was helping her look for gems!"

"Sure you were..."

"Is Twilight here?" Spike asked, rather annoyed with how Rainbow was acting.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen I think" Rainbow said while waving a hoof towards the kitchen door.

"Okay thanks, oh wait a second..." Spike said as she stopped suddenly, spinning around to face Rainbow with a devilish grin on his face.

"What?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Rarity mentioned something going on with you and Twilight..."

"Did she..." Rainbow whimpered, afraid of what Spike would do, and if Rarity had told more ponies.

"It looks like I wasn't the only one wooing somepony" Spike said as he narrowed his eyes at Rainbow.

"You can't tell anypony!" Rainbow begged, afraid of what would happen to her reputation if everypony knew she was interested in a mare.

"What's stopping me?" Spike asked, attempting to blackmail Rainbow.

"I'll tell everypony that you love Rarity!" Rainbow said, her confidence returning slightly.

"You wouldn't dare!" Spike said defensively.

"I would dare!" Rainbow said as she went face to face with Spike. The two of them stood there staring at each other for a good ten minutes before Twilight came out of the kitchen with sandwiches and iced tea. Twilight quickly sat them down on the table and walked over to the two of them, giving both of them confused looks.

"What are you two doing?"

"AH!" the two yelled in surprise. Spike jumped back, landing on his gems, which made he yell out in pain, and Rainbow flew straight up, whacking her head on the ceiling, nearly knocking her out. Twilight jumped back at their shout, and couldn't help but laugh as the two of them got back up, with Spike pulling a ruby out of his backside, and Rainbow wincing as she rubbed the top of her head.

"What was that for?!" Rainbow asked, still in a lot of pain.

"Yeah!" Spike added, staring at a gem that had been broken in two.

"I was just asking what you two were doing" Twilight said, barely managing to hold in her giggles.

"Oh, uh..." Spike and Rainbow both said, giving each other worried looks.

"So, what were you guys doing?"

"Nothing" Rainbow said quickly, her face scrunching up slightly as she tried to make it believable.

"Yeah, we were doing nothing, nothing at all!" Spike added, his eyes shooting back and forth. Twilight looked at the two of them and started laughing, unable to hold it in anymore.

"It's not funny!" Spike and Rainbow shouted in unison.

"Whatever, I'm going over to Rarity's" Spike said as he picked up what gems he had left.

"Okay, have fun" Twilight said, somewhat happy that her alone time with Rainbow would continue. After Spike shut the door she ran over to Rainbow, afraid that Rainbow might have gotten a concussion. Her horn began to glow as she checked for any serious damage, but when nothing showed up, she smiled happily.

"You okay Twi?" Rainbow asked, somewhat confused as to why she was smiling.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine" Twilight said, snapping out her slight stupor, "Want some lunch?"

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Rainbow said as she shot over to the table, eager to begin eating.

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"Those were some good sandwiches..." Rainbow said lazily, rubbing her belly slightly.

"Yeah, you sure did eat a lot of them" Twilight said with a slight giggle.

"So, about that R&R..." Rainbow said as she raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

"Which part, the sleeping, the eating, or the restaurant?"

"Well, we just ate, and it's too early to sleep, so I'm gonna have to say the restaurant"

"Hmmm..." Twilight said as she tapped her chin, "I don't know..."

"C'mon Twi, it'll be fun, I promise!" Rainbow said worriedly, "We can even go to Canterlot if you want!"

"Would this just be a girl's night out, or...?" Twilight asked in a somewhat seductive tone.

"It's whatever you want it to be!" Rainbow said, excited by how Twilight had asked.

"Well, then I guess it's a date!" Twilight said, smiling at Rainbow.

"YES!" Rainbow shouted, flying into the air, and then becoming embarrassed, "I mean, cool, this'll be fun!"

"Well, Rainbow, where are we going to go?" Twilight asked, putting Rainbow on the spot.

"Uh..." Rainbow muttered, not sure of what to say, "Doughnut Joe's?"

"Sure, I've never been there before" Twilight said, actually happy that Rainbow had suggested Joe's, "Now I need to get ready"

"Oh, uh, sure!" Rainbow said, somewhat flustered, "I'll wait for you down here"

"Actually, I think you should meet me at the restaurant" Twilight said in a monotone voice.

"Why?" Rainbow asked, not sure what Twilight is planning.

"It's a surprise," Twilight said as she began to head up to her room, "See you at eight?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow said as she went towards the door, "I'll be there, I promise!" Rainbow quickly shut the door and flew towards her place, eager to get ready for her first date. Meanwhile Twilight had quickly run back to the main floor to get Rainbow's feather.

"She'll be surprised all right..." Twilight said deviously, as she grinned at the feather floating in front of her face.

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Rainbow was impatiently waiting at her table. Luckily Joe had remembered her from the incident on the train, so he gave her a private table in the corner of the restaurant. She was tapping her hoof on the table, silently wishing that Twilight would show up already. Rainbow was about to get up and look for Twilight when she heard somepony coming towards her. She quickly looked up, expecting to see Twilight, but instead saw Soarin, from the Wonderbolts, coming towards her.

"Hey, it's Rainbow Dash right?" he asked when he saw her look up.

"Uh, yeah" Rainbow replied, confused and slightly worried.

"You here on a date?" he asked, obviously noticing how her hair was slightly done up.

"Uh, yeah..."

"Who's the luckily stallion?" Soarin asked jokingly.

"Uh..." Rainbow swallowed hard, not sure what to say.

"Lucky mare?" Soarin asked, noticing her hesitation. Rather than reply, Rainbow just dropped her head in shame. There's no way they'd accept me now!, Rainbow shouted in her head, They'd never accept a fillyfooler!. When Rainbow heard Soarin laugh her head quickly shot up. Soarin quickly stopped laughing, and said, "Don't worry, I don't think anypony is going to care which way you go"

"Huh?" Rainbow asked stupidly, not sure what just happened.

"Can I trust you to keep a secret?" Soarin asked, leaning forward towards Rainbow. She quickly nodded her head, eager to find out what Soarin was going to say. "The truth is, Surprise, you know her right," he paused to see if Rainbow had nodded, which she did, "Well, she goes both ways"

"What?!" Rainbow half shouted.

"Yeah," Soarin rubbed the back of his head, "There have been some pretty crazy after parties thanks to that, but, uh..."

"I can't tell anyone, I know" Rainbow said, "But just one question"

"Uh, sure, ask away" Soarin said.

"Do all the Wonderbolts get involved?" Rainbow asked deviously.

"Uh, yeah, there was this one time when Spitfire..." Soarin quickly caught himself, "No wait, I can't tell you, or else they're gonna kill me"

"Okay, well, see you later" Rainbow said as she sat back in her seat.

"Yeah, have a good night" Soarin said as he made his way towards a table stacked with pies of every shape and size. Rainbow quietly laughed to herself, now realizing how late it was. 9:30..., Rainbow started to worry, What's taking her so long....

"Hey Rainbow" Twilight said, seemingly coming out of thin air

"Oh, uh, hey Twili..." Rainbow trailed off, noticing the feather in Twilight's mane, "Is that mine?"

"Yeah, do you like it," Twilight said as she brushed it with her hoof, "I read somewhere that this something Pegasus couples usually do, so I thought, you know..."

"Twilight" Rainbow said in a monotone voice.

"Yeah Rainbow?" Twilight asked, afraid that she might have ruined the night by wearing the feather.

"I love you" Rainbow said as she pulled Twilight into a hug.

"Thanks Rainbow" Twilight said happily as she nuzzled into Rainbow's neck. They sat there for a few minutes, Rainbow opening her eyes for a second, seeing Soarin smiling at her. She quickly turned bright red and released Twilight.

"So, ready for dinner?" Rainbow asked as they both sat down.

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The two of them ended up spending the entire night at Doughnut Joe's, talking about random things, ranging from the Wonderbolts to Twilight's studies. They even talked about some embarrassing moments they've had, and that they've seen. It was closing time before they left, which took quite a lot of pushing from Joe, as the two were more focused on each other than anything else. After being kicked out of Joe's they headed back to Ponyville, arriving in the early hours of the morning. Nopony but them, Soarin, and Joe, had any idea what happened that night, and that's just the way they wanted it.

They parted ways at the library, giving each other a loving hug before saying good night. Twilight went to her room and put the feather on her nightstand, quickly falling asleep, happy that she could now express her feelings for Rainbow. Meanwhile Rainbow flew across Ponyville, doing rolls and turns, her excitement causing her to nearly perform a sonic rainboom as she passed over town hall. When she got home she quickly ran up to her room and jumped on the bed, and almost instantly fell asleep. The two of them were happier than they'd ever been before, but how were they going to tell everypony about it?