“So, Twilight.”
Two mares sat around a tiny kitchen table in the castle’s dining hall. It was the sort of room that should’ve had a long, imposing table fit for a mighty feast. Instead, Twilight had filled it with a single small table and pair of chairs from NeighKEA. She and Sunset were eating cornflakes.
Twilight, in fact, currently had a mouthful of said cornflakes. So, she daintily covered her mouth with a hoof before responding. She was a princess, after all.
“What’s up?”
Sunset flicked her eyes to Twilight’s muzzle. Twilight blanched and brushed an errant corn flake off her cheek.
“Are you busy Thursday?”
“Yeah, I think so. Let me check my calendar. But... wait, isn’t that usually your date night with Fluttershy?”
Sunset looked at her hooves. “Yeah, it is. I was, uhm, hoping maybe you could join us?”
Twilight frowned. “Oh Sunset, I don’t know...”
“Twilight...”
Sunset was trying to be gentle but Twilight could tell she was frustrated.
“I know, Sunset, I’m sorry, I just don’t know if I’m ready yet.”
“Twilight, you don’t need to be sorry. I’m not upset. I just don’t understand! We’ve been dating for three months and you haven’t wanted to meet a single one of my partners!”
Sunset’s voice had an edge that surprised Twilight. In spite of herself, she felt the sting of tears welling up in her eyes. She hated crying in front of Sunset but sometimes there was nothing for it. She flinched as Sunset’s face fell, feeling even guiltier about derailing their conversation, and that just made her feel worse.
As Twilight’s mood spiralled she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Sunset had walked around the little wooden table and pulled Twilight into a hug. Her face was full of concern, which didn’t help Twilight at all. The hug, however, was a much better salve.
She nuzzled Sunset’s neck.
“Twilight, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I...” Twilight wiped an errant tear from her eye with a hoof. “I’m sorry.”
Sunset squeezed her. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, Princess. I know this is stressful for you, but... we can’t keep going like this. It’s not fair to any of us.”
“Sunset... are you saying...”
Twilight had mostly gotten a handle on her tears, but with that ominous statement they threatened to start up again.
“No! No of course not. I just... we need to talk about this, Twilight. Tell me what you’re afraid of.”
Twilight exhaled, inhaled, exhaled. She looked at her hooves, unable to make eye contact with Sunset.
“Sunset, the last three months have been... perfect. I love hanging out with you, I love cuddling you, I love your jokes... but I’m so new to this. I’m happy with what we have and I’m so scared of changing it.”
“I understand that, Twilight, I do. But Fluttershy isn’t a stranger or unknown quantity. You two used to be friends!”
Used to be.
Sunset was right. It was one thing for her to forego tagging along on Sunset and Fluttershy’s dates, but she had been totally avoiding the poor girl. Even when she hung out with the rest of Sunset’s friends, she couldn’t remember having said more than a few words to Fluttershy. There was always Pinkie to talk to, or Rarity to go shopping with, or Applejack to help out...
“Some Princess of Friendship I am,” Twilight mumbled.
She sighed, and finally managed to look at Sunset.
“This doesn’t have to be a big deal, Twilight,” Sunset said gently. “Just come hang out with the two of us. It’ll be just like old times.”
“It won’t really, though, will it? Everything’s different now. What if I feel super jealous of her? What if she’s jealous of me, sneaking into her happy relationship?”
“Then we’ll talk about it, Twilight. All three of us. We’re all adults here and this sort of thing is like, basically your job, isn’t it?”
Sunset gave Twilight a little peck on the cheek.
“Plus, I think there’s a possibility you haven’t considered,” Sunset added.
“There is?”
“You might really like it! Seeing Fluttershy with her partners always makes me really happy, because I love her and I like seeing her happy.”
“I... hadn’t thought of that.”
She imagined hanging out with Fluttershy and Sunset, and for the first time, she just saw three girls having fun. But unlike most times she thought about it, nobody was crying or upset with anyone else. Sunset and Fluttershy were pretty cute together.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“I think I can do this.” Twilight tried to sound resolved.
“There doesn’t need to be a big ‘this’ to do, Twilight! I’m sure you’ve got a bunch of worst-case scenarios cooked up —” Twilight blushed at this — “but it’s just gonna be three girls hanging out.”
“Okay. Yeah, okay.”
“And if it doesn’t work out... we’ll figure something out, okay? I’m not gonna force you to do anything you don’t want to. I just want you to try.”
Sunset gave Twilight another hug.
Twilight squeezed back. “So... Thursday you said? Is it uh... okay to steal your and Fluttershy’s date night?”
“Oh, I don’t think she’ll mind.” Sunset shot Twilight a small smile. “She misses you, Twilight.”
Twilight sighed as yet another wave of guilt washed over her. But mixed in was some optimism, and maybe even a little touch of excitement.
“Thursday it is.”
Thursday came, and despite Equestria’s best efforts, Twilight was ready to make her way through the portal. Since gaining a marefriend, she had learned that while the job of a Princess was never done, it could, on occasion, be postponed. Free time would never be willingly given, but could occasionally be clawed back, kicking and screaming, from the demands of her title.
Every noble and petitioner, of course, thought their concerns were urgent, and needed to be tended to immediately. Every document needed her signature ideally six hours ago, and maybe now would do in a pinch. But if it had waited six hours, it could usually wait six more. And, well, no petitioner had come to pester her on the far side of the portal. At least not yet.
Landing, as was customary, on all fours, a pale yellow hand was offered to her in place of the customary goldenrod one. Fluttershy stood before her, wearing a pair of of heavy leg warmers and a thick coat to protect against the bitter Canterlot winter.
One of the things Twilight had learned about the portal was that you only ever got one set of clothes. In summer this was fine, if a little monotonous, but Twilight’s mini skirt and thin blue top offered little protection against the elements.
Just as Twilight’s teeth began to chatter, Fluttershy offered her a thick orange coat.
“Um, Sunset said you would need this,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Thanks,” Twilight whispered back.
“Sunset’s at her apartment, making us dinner. She uh, asked me to pick you up. I um, hope that’s okay?”
“Sounds good to me! Anything to get out of this cold.”
“Oh dear, is the coat not warm enough?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Sunset told me to bring one, but I didn’t have any spares, and oh gosh now you’re cold and I messed everything up!”
“Oh no, the coat is great! It’s very cozy. I’m just uh, not used to not having fur,” Twilight stuttered, alarmed by Fluttershy’s clear distress.
Fluttershy responded by squeaking what Twilight was pretty sure was another “I’m sorry!”
Conversation petered out as the two headed for the bus stop. By the time they had boarded they were sitting in nearly complete silence. Twilight’s attempts at conversation went thusly:
“So, Fluttershy, how’s work?” Twilight would say.
“Oh it’s um, fine.” Fluttershy was barely audible over the rumble of the bus.
“Anything interesting happening?”
“Not really.”
“...”
After the second attempt, Fluttershy got out her phone and started staring at it. Twilight knew enough about human social customs to take that as a sign not to try small talk again. Lacking a phone herself, and being unable to see much out the window into the darkened city, she directed her gaze over the other passengers on the bus.
After spending so much time on this side of the portal, Twilight had made a game out of trying to spot human versions of ponies she’d met back in Equestria. The woman in front of her, for example, bore a striking resemblance to File Folder, one of the bureaucrats that made up her government's vast apparatus. The old man sitting behind the driver bore a striking resemblance to Cranky Doodle, the donkey Pinkie had befriended. And that girl with the pink hair...
Twilight was pulled from her reverie by Fluttershy quietly rising to pull the stop request cord. They walked in silence up the street to Sunset’s run-down apartment building. Twilight moved to the buzzer system to call Sunset, as she’d been told to do on the rare occasion Sunset hadn’t been able to mee. Instead, Fluttershy surprised her by pulling a shiny silver key from her purse.
She has a key to Sunset’s apartment, Twilight though. She couldn’t help but feel a small pang of jealousy. Of course Fluttershy did, she and Sunset lived in the same world, and had been dating for almost a year. This did little to calm the pit in her stomach though.
Inside Sunset’s apartment the smell of lemongrass and fried onions filled the air. A loud sizzling came from the kitchen and there was a slight haze hanging around the ceiling.
“Sunset, we’re here!” called Fluttershy, louder than Twilight heard her speak in quite a while.
“Hey girls! Perfect timing, the curry’s almost done!” Sunset answered. “Could one of you set the table?”
Twilight was about to volunteer, but Fluttershy called “on it!” before she could respond.
“Chopsticks or forks, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked from the kitchen.
Sunset walked out of the kitchen and gave Twilight a gentle kiss. “Can you use chopsticks, hon?”
“What are chopsticks?”
“Forks, Fluttershy!” Sunset laughed, and wrapped her arms around Twilight. “I missed you, Princess. Sorry I didn’t meet you this time.”
“It’s okay, Sunset. Dinner smells delicious.” Twilight pointedly licked her lips.
“How was hanging out with Fluttershy?”
“Oh! It was... fine.”
Twilight tried her best not to show how awkward the ride home with Fluttershy was.The look on Sunset’s face told her exactly how successful she’d been.
Sunset looked like she was about to say something, but a loud hiss came out of the kitchen and she ran back in after it. Twilight took this opportunity to stand awkwardly in the entryway. Should she go sit on the couch? Down at the dinner table? What was the etiquette here?
Sunset’s apartment was not very large, though, and eventually Fluttershy noticed her standing there.
“Um, dinner’s ready, Twilight.”
“Oh! Sorry! I was just... um, yeah...”
She quickly hung up the orange coat Fluttershy had brought her in a closet and walked toward the living-slash-dining room. Sunset and Fluttershy were already seated at a table remarkably similar to the one in Twilight’s dining hall. A delicious smelling stew and pot of rice sat steaming on the table between them.
“You get lost on the way here, Twi?” Sunset teased.
Twilight felt herself blush and mumbled an apology. Fluttershy and Sunset both laughed, the former getting to work doling out dinner to the waiting bowls. Twilight politely waited for everyone to be served and then dove in greedily.
“Sunset, this is amazing.” Twilight barely contained a moan as a dozen flavours washed over her.
“Come on Twilight, it’s nothing special.” Sunset blushed. “Just some random store bought spices and stuff.”
“I’m telling you, this is the best thing I’ve eaten in weeks!”
“That’d mean more to me if you’d eaten anything besides cornflakes and daisy salads in the last week, Princess.”
“Hey, daisy salads are delicious!” Twilight stuck out her tongue. She hoped there wasn’t any “curry” still on it.
“You eat flowers?” Fluttershy knit her brows. “I mean, I suppose that makes sense. You are ponies after all. I just never thought... huh.”
“Did I ever tell you about that time I tried to eat roses after I came through the portal?” Sunset asked, in between quick bites of curry.
“What? No!” Fluttershy and Twilight answered in unison.
They glanced at each other and Twilight felt her face flush a little. Sunset didn’t seem to notice.
“I’d just come through the portal a few days ago, and I didn’t understand how this world worked at all. So, I was super hungry, and I saw this bush full of roses outside the school...”
“You didn’t!” Fluttershy gasped.
“I did! Ate half a dozen of ‘em before I realised they were making my stomach hurt. That was my first hard lesson in the difference between pony and human anatomy. I was sick for days.”
“I wondered why you always picked the roses out of your salad back in Equestria. You poor thing.”
Twilight was trying her absolute best not to laugh. It wasn’t going well.
“I still don’t even like the sight of them. And they used to be my favourite! Neither of you ever get me a bouquet. I might throw up.”
Sunset grimaced, and the three of them cracked up. Privately, Twilight thanked her lucky stars that she’d never tried to buy Sunset a corsage. Her lucky stars were, of course, Alpha Centauri and Xi Andromareda.
Sunset took a quick sip of water before turning to Fluttershy. “So how’s work been going, Shy? It sounded like you had some good news on the phone.”
Fluttershy beamed. “My manager says he’s going to give me a raise! Apparently a bunch of customers have left really nice compliments about me in the suggestion box.”
Sunset leaned over to give Fluttershy a peck on the cheek. Twilight braced herself for the familiar knot to form in her stomach, but to her surprise it never came.
“That’s so great, Shy! It must’ve taken some doing to make an impression on that horde of caffeine zombies.”
“Caffeine zombies?” Twilight asked incredulously. “I thought you worked at the animal shelter, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy let a sigh escape, but quickly collected herself. “The animal shelter is just a volunteering thing right now. I’d love to work there full-time, but they just can’t afford it right now. So I work at a little coffee shop by Canterlot Central.”
Sunset chimed in. “Plus, she’s saving up for veterinary school”
“Oh, yes! I’ve still got a long ways to go before I can do that, but this little raise will put me that much closer!”
“You’ll be there before you know it, Shy. I know you will.” Sunset beamed.
“I know, Sunset. It just feels so far away right now. Looking at the poor little animals coming through the shelter every day and not being able to help them is just so... frustrating sometimes!”
“For what it’s worth, Fluttershy, I think you’re gonna make a great vet someday.”
Without even thinking, Twilight’s put her hand on Fluttershy’s and giving it a squeeze.
“Th-thank you, Twilight. That means a lot to me.” Fluttershy was definitely blushing now.
Twilight, now extremely aware of what she was doing, pulled her hand back and spent some time concentrating on her meal. Unfortunately, she was no longer hungry. Probably because of all the butterflies she’d clearly eaten.
A pregnant pause fell over the table. Twilight wasn’t willing to make eye contact with Fluttershy again and one look at the grin on Sunset’s face sent her back to poking at the curry in front of her. The quiet clatter of forks quickly died down, signalling the end of the meal.
“Anyone want seconds?”
Sunset’s question was mostly a matter of formality. Twilight and Fluttershy both still had food on their plate when they laid down their forks in defeat.
“Oh, I couldn’t eat another bite.” Fluttershy said.
“It was delicious, Sunset, but I’m completely stuffed.” Twilight agreed.
Twilight set about clearing the plates from the little table before its other two occupants could offer. Sunset had cooked, Fluttershy had set the table, and Twilight would not sit idly by and let one of them take care of the cleanup. She precariously balanced the three plates on top of each other — what a time to not have magic! — and walked over to the small kitchenette.
The sound of running water and scrubbing dishes almost, but not completely, disguised the footfalls behind Twilight as she tried to clean the bottom of the pot of rice.
“It’s okay, Sunset, I can take care of this,” she called over her shoulder.
“Um, it’ll go faster if we work together.” Rather than Sunset, a quiet Fluttershy answered. “Then maybe we can all watch a movie? If that’s okay?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
A quick glance back confirmed Sunset was already laying down on the couch, staring at her phone. Fluttershy was putting on an apron.
“You wash and I’ll dry?” Fluttershy offered.
By way of answer, Twilight handed her a slightly dingy towel. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure.”
They quickly fell into a quiet cadence. One might think there is a limit to the amount of dishes a small kitchenette could hold. Let alone how many a single dinner would generate. From the tower of plates , though, it was obvious that Sunset hadn’t actually done her dishes in quite a while.
Twilight broke the silence. “Fluttershy?”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“I’m sorry if I, uh, belittled your job at all. At dinner. I know this world works differently from mine, but sometimes I forget”
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight. I wasn’t bothered.”
“I’m glad, but I should still be careful. It’s just... weird.”
“Knowing me on the other side?” Fluttershy asked gently.
“Y- yeah, actually. How’d you know?”
Fluttershy put down the bowl she was drying and picked up a chipped mug. “There’s a Twilight who lives here too, remember? She’s off at university and I haven’t seen her in a while, but she used to be... one of us.”
She made a sweeping hand gesture towards Sunset.
“I guess I hadn’t really thought about that.”
“You two are definitely similar in a lot of ways, but in others you couldn’t be more different. It’s definitely... weird.”
A few more mugs were washed in silence.
“How about this, then. I won’t compare you to my Fluttershy and you won’t compare me to your Twilight.”
Fluttershy mumbled something under her breath that Twilight couldn’t quite make out, then brightened.
“Sounds like a deal, Princess.”
“Oh no, not you too!”
As the two giggled, Twilight reached for the next dish, only to come up empty. Beside her, Fluttershy was putting away the last few pot. A quick wipe down of the table and the counter and the two girls declared victory.
“You two make a good team,” Sunset called from the couch. “You want to do my bathroom next?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but Fluttershy spoke up. “Would you like me to?”
Sunset furrowed her brow in mock concentration. “Tempting, but I think I’d rather cuddle instead.”
She adjusted herself on the small couch to allow Twilight and Fluttershy to sit on either side of her. Fluttershy immediately curled up on her left, and Twilight sat gingerly on the far right side of the couch.
Usually when she and Sunset watched TV together they cuddled. Didn’t they? But Fluttershy was curled up next to Sunset now. Should she go over there? Was that rude? Was it rude not to? How did any of this work?
Sunset gave her a little nudge. “You gonna hang out there all by your lonesome or are you gonna join us?”
Twilight’s face must’ve betrayed her inner turmoil because Sunset suddenly looked concerned.
“Twilight, are you okay?”
Fluttershy lifted her head to look at Twilight too, peeking out from under Sunset’s hair.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Twilight was surprised to hear herself say it, but she was even more surprised to realise that it was true. She had been worried that seeing the two of them being affectionate would make her miserable, but instead they just looked cute. Fluttershy had gone back to Sunset’s shoulder with a content smile on her face, and Sunset was absent mindedly fiddling with her long pink hair.
Twilight took a deep breath and lay her head down on Sunset’s free shoulder.
Fluttershy soon realised that Twilight had missed out on basically the entire worldwide corpus of movies and TV shows. It then ceased to be a question of “what should we watch” and “what should we watch first.” Twilight had rarely seen the girl so animated as when she expressed her ignorance of the entire concept of “romantic comedy.” Sunset gave her a look that said something like “oh, here we go,” but she was definitely smiling through it.
They were now midway through one such film, wherein a supposedly straight high-powered lawyer falls for a cute girl at her local coffee shop. Twilight had attempted to make a comparison to an old Equestrian playwright, but Fluttershy had politely but firmly shushed her. This was clearly not the kind of movie you chatted through, at least for Fluttershy.
Sunset and Twilight always chatted through movies. They tended to watch cheesy science fiction, lambasting the “science” contained within and cheering on the plucky but improbable protagonists. But one look at Sunset told Twilight she was just as engrossed as Fluttershy was.
It was really something special: not just seeing this side of Sunset, but seeing Sunset and Fluttershy’s relationship. Even though the two of them were just sitting on the couch together, it somehow felt like a very intimate moment. Twilight smiled and curled into Sunset just a little more.
Something shifted behind Sunset and a hand brushed against hers. Instinctively she grabbed it.
Wait, how is Sunset’s hand behind her... She just barely had time to think before a quiet “eep” emanated from the other side of Sunset. For the second time this evening, she’d accidentally held Fluttershy’s hand.
“Fluttershy, I’m so sorry, I thought that was Sunset’s hand!” she whispered urgently. “I’m an idiot, how would her arms even bend to get back there?”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” came the whisper from the other side of Sunset. “It’s, um, nice.”
“Huh?”
“You can, um, if you want to...” The whisper was barely a squeak now.
“You mean, uh...” Twilight whispered.
She scarecly hear herself over the sound of her heart pounding.
Between the two of them, Sunset shifted, shaking them off herself, then stretched. “I’m gonna go get us some more popcorn.”
Neither of them said anything as she walked to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets.
Twilight scratched the back of her neck. “So, um, yeah...”
Fluttershy was hiding behind her long pink hair. She let out a sound that sounded a lot like “I’m sorry!” but it was hard to be sure.
Slowly, carefully, over what felt like minutes, Twilight reached her hand over until she found the Fluttershy’s, and gently entwined their fingers.
“Is um.” Twilight fought to control her breathing. “Is this okay?”
“Yes, please.”
Fluttershy’s hand was impossibly soft. Her thumb ran slowly and unsteadily over Twilight’s wrist. Twilight gave an experimental squeeze, and received one in return.
Out in the kitchen, the microwave beeped. Sunset, however, did not return to the couch.
The movie played on in front of the two of them, forgotten.
From the other side of the couch, Fluttershy whispered, “Would you um. Like to be closer?”
“I... I would.”
Twilight wasn’t sure if she meant physically or romantically, but at that exact moment she didn’t really care.
Fluttershy carefully scooted over on the couch and leaned up against Twilight. Carefully, slowly, gently, Twilight placed her free arm over her shoulder.
“Is this okay?” Fluttershy asked, her voice trembling.
“This is perfect, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied.
Twilight happened to glance at the coffee table in front of her. The bowl of popcorn was full.