//------------------------------// // Fist // Story: You Can Lead Your Bacon Horse to Water... // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// Several yards west of the Apple Family farmhouse... Positioned atop the crest of a green hill... A wooden gazebo stood in the soft morning light. A dewy mist hung gray and gleaming above the wet grass. Twilight Sparkle sat on a wooden bench, curled up and hugging her knees to her chest. She shivered in the moist air, staring tearfully across the distant apple orchards. She had almost calmed down—heaving lungs cascading into dull shudders—by the time someone else strolled up to the gazebo. Soft feet crunched across the wet lawn. Rubbing her eyes, Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked over—and immediately winced, looking away. "Twilight, what's gotten into you?!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. In spite of her own shivers, she shuffled up the steps of the gazebo and wrapped a familiar-looking jacket around Twilight's shoulders. "It's super cold out here before the sun's fully risen! You'll get a cold by running out here in nothing but pajamas!" "Mmmmm..." Twilight barely let loose a trilling sound. She clutched the edges of the dark jacket to herself, continuing to stare away from Sunset. Sunset gazed down at the girl, blinking. With a deep sigh, she paced around, then sat on the bench beside her. Folding her arms, she squinted at her friend. "Twilight, talk to me." Her brow furrowed. "Ever since this weekend at Applejack's started, you've been a total basket case." Twilight winced. "I mean... more of a basket case than normal," Sunset clarified. Twilight winced harder. "Erm... what I mean is..." Sunset rolled her eyes. She facepalmed with a groan. There was an air of silence, and then: "Twilight, you've been... acting all nervous and jittery and... downright squirmy for the last few days. Heck... the last few weeks! I mean ever since you came to Canterlot High! And... and I need to know what's going on." She gulped, looking up. When she next spoke, there was a shakiness to her voice, soft and fragile. "I need to know if... if I've been a terrible friend." "... ... ...?" Twilight silently looked up, eyes glossy. She sniffled once, gazing at Sunset with sudden concern. "Right before you were transferred here, I... I-I made a promise." Sunset swallowed a lump down her throat. She nervously kneaded her knees with guilty fingers. "I promised to teach you everything I knew about friendship... everything that the other Twilight taught me and more." Biting her lip, Twilight gazed at the wooden floor of the gazebo. Sunset continued. "I promised that I would show you a better way." Her eyes hardened. "A better way than Crystal Prep. A better way than just... letting science and books be your only companions." A slight smirk. "I mean, besides Spike of course... but you know what I mean." She nevertheless sighed. Twilight fidgeted. "Please, Twilight. I... I need to know if this is turning out to be a rewarding life for you after all," Sunset said. She held a hand over her heart. "I need to know... personally... if... if we're making you rush things. If... if maybe you're not ready for socializing like the rest of us. And... you know... if you want to take things even slower... that's p-perfectly fine! I mean... the girls will miss you. I... w-would definitely miss you." She gulped. "But I understand that you're very... very new to friendship and the last thing I wanna do is make you feel uncomfortable." Twilight shivered, clutching the jacket tighter. "So please, Twilight," Sunset spoke. She pivoted until she was facing the girl completely. "Help me help you. Tell me what you need. I'm here for you." She smiled tenderly. "We're all here for you." At last, with a nervous shudder, Twilight looked up. She cleared her throat, then spoke in a tiny voice: "You... want to help?" "Yes. Yes, Twilight." Sunset leaned forward. "Just tell me what you need, girl." Twilight's eyes fell down. "Would you... mmmm... hold m-my hand?" Sunset blinked. With a firm nod, she obliged, reaching her hand out. Twilight held her breath as she lifted her wrist. Within seconds, a warm set of fingers clasped around hers. Just like that, Twilight exhaled with a gunburst. All of her shivers stopped, and the girl's heartbeat slowed to rhythmic, pounding thunder. She felt her skin melting under a cocoon-like touch, softer than soft... gentler than gentle. And yet—all the while—Sunset's grip was strong, protecting, loving. There was no stopping the tears. Twilight sniffled, feeling as the moisture cascaded over a pair of blushing, curved cheeks. Sunset Shimmer winced. "I... I don't understand." She gulped. "I... I thought this was supposed to h-help—" "It does help," Twilight murmured. Her other hand clasped around Sunset's, securing the grip they both shared. "More than you know. More than..." Her shoulders buckled, and the jacket slid off her back as she heaved and shook a few times. Sunset blinked. She shifted nervously. "Twilight... why... why are you so sad?" "It's not sadness," Twilight cooed. "I'm h-happy." She looked up, eyes tearing above a tender smile. She squeezed Sunset's hand as she said, "I'm always... always happy when I'm around you, Sunset." The other girl leaned back, her turquoise eyes narrowing. "Twilight...?" "Each and every day... in every class period... at home or on the bus..." Twilight encircled her fingers with Sunset's, and her smile only grew. "Just so much as thinking about you." She gulped, sniffling. "And the time we first met. And you took my hand in yours... just like this. You..." She looked up, eyes darting about. "You saved me, Sunset Shimmer. You saved my life. All of this... all of everything is because of you." Sunset exhaled. She murmured in a dry voice: "But... b-but the girls—" "I like them too. Each and every one of them. But... b-but..." Twilight took a deep, tight breath. An explosion: "I only love one. The one who makes me feel so safe... the one who showed me that there's a better way. Just like sh-she's showing me right now." Sunset squirmed. "Twilight, I... I don't think—" "Pl-please...!" Twilight whimpered. "You can feel whatever you need to feel, say anything you need to say. But... b-but if I don't get this out now, then... I never will." She shuddered. "There's no place I feel happier than when I'm around you... when I feel your warmth... your hand. I... uh..." She brought a trembling hand up and brushed a strand of violet hair around her ear, only for it to fall again. She didn't care; she only smiled. "I sometimes hug myself in bed at night, thinking that it's you holding me instead. That's how much... h-how much I..." Sunset's lips parted. She sat there, anchored by Twilight's grip of her hand. "Well..." Twilight sniffled. "Th-there you have it." She sucked her breath in, avoiding Sunset's stunned expression for a brief moment. "Sooner than you know it, I'll be back to my clumsy... klutzy self. The silly girl who c-can't... just can't grasp that which she knows will make her complete, even when it's right in front of her. Especially if... I m-mean..." She sniffled, biting her lip as she stared at the floor of the gazebo. "It's okay, Sunset, if you d-don't feel the same way. It's... it's a lot to take in. After all, you only ever asked for a friend. And... and here I am dumping all of th-this on you." She clenched her eyes shut. "So stupid, I swear." There was no response. The silence went on for over half-a-minute. Twilight was more curious than alarmed. She tilted her head up, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Sunset sat in place, trembling. Her face was flushed. It was her turn to avoid Twilight's direct gaze. "... ... ...Sunset?" "Twilight, I..." The girl shuddered, her hand trembling within Twilight's grip. "I care about you. I really do." A gulp. "Mmmm... m-more than you pr-probably know." Twilight's eyes twitched beneath her glasses. Sunset continued—or at least tried to: "You are so... so precious. So gentle... so fragile." She clenched her teeth, gazing at the grass and the orchards beyond. "I knew from the moment that uncontrollable magics overtook you that you weren't anything like I imagined. You were something special... a treasure that only this world could hold. And... and yet you were in such a bad place... surrounded by mean, nasty people. What you needed was friendship... companionship. And... and at last I was f-finally in a position where I could provide that to somepon—er... to someone. I c-could make a difference in somebody's life. In your life, Twilight." "And you have, Sunset." Twilight leaned forward. "And you continue to—" "Don't you get it?!" Sunset suddenly snapped, frowning. Just as quickly, her face stretched into something painful. "I... I-I got full up on that feeling... of being needed. Of being a good and positive influence in someone's life for once, instead of... of..." She shuddered, eyes moistening. After a hard gulp, she stammered, "Anyways, my bad side nearly tore you to shreds at the Friendship Games. And... and I-I don't want to do that again." "Sunset..." "You're in such a tender, fragile pl-place right now, Twilight!" Sunset sniffled, rubbing her eyes dry. Her hand began to tug away from Twilight's grip. "I... I don't want to wreck it! Not when you need comfort and security more than anything! You don't need me taking advantage of th-that! And all for what? Just because I'm some lonely, selfish jerk who feels more for y—" Twilight suddenly lifted Sunset's hand so that her yellow palm was cupping her face. Sunset gasped, eyes finally lifting to meet Twilight's. Twilight smiled back. Softly, lovingly, she nuzzled her tear-stained cheek against Sunset's palm. Sunset's lips quivered. "Tell me, Sunset," Twilight murmured, smiling warmly at her. The same rosiness in her face spread to Sunset's own wrist and forearm "Do you feel like you're wrecking me now?" Sunset gulped. "I... I-I..." "Does it feel selfish?" Twilight exhaled, teeth showing beneath her smiling lips. "Or... maybe... just maybe... it feels like I'm helping you... the same way you're helping me." Sunset was trembling uncontrollably at this point. "Twilight, it's just..." She gulped, shaking her head. "We've b-barely known each other! Everpony will think—I mean... everybody will think..." She gnashed her teeth. "You're so vulnerable and... sweet and... intelligent and... goddess..." "Hmmm...?" Twilight smiled, her dimples brushing up against Sunset's palm. Sunset blinked, then rolled her eyes. "Unnnnnnnngh..." She drifted forward. "C'mere, dammit." She hugged Twilight close. "Eeee..." Twilight squealed breathily, clutching Sunset's shoulders as she happily nuzzled her violet hair into the other girl's neck. Sunset sighed long and hard. She rested her chin atop Twilight's head. "This is crazy." "Mmmhmmm..." "We're out here in our pajamas, freezing our flanks... butts off beneath a gazebo on an apple farm." "Mmmmhmmm..." "You... you've never had a girlfriend." Sunset gulped. "And I've been through one boyfriend and a very, very disappointed Princess." "Uh huh..." Twilight nevertheless nestled herself tenderly in her arms. Sunset felt Twilight's tiny heartbeat through her chest, and that's probably what elicited the groan from deep within her. "Mehhhhhhhh... buck it." She parted the hug, leaning back with a lazy smile. "So... you wanna... like... go on a date or something next weekend?" Twilight gasped. "Yes!" She jumped to her feet, clasping both hands together. "Yes to the Power of Googol!" "Heh... a first googolplex together it is, then." "Heeeeee!"