Scootaloo opened the door to the house she shared with her aunts Holiday and Lofty, she had just finished another day of school and crusading and was looking forward to a nice meal with her aunts.
"Hey slugger, how was school today?" Lofty asked as Scootaloo came into the living room. "Did anything interesting happen?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," Scootaloo said as she blushed a little, in truth something had happened, but she wasn't really sure if she was ready to talk about it with anypony yet. "Got some schoolwork done, helped some ponies out, not really much else to report."
"Are you sure?" Lofty asked as she looked at her young niece, she could tell when the filly was hiding something and Scootaloo was pretty clearly hiding something. "You know you can talk to us about anything right?"
"I know, I just, feel a little silly talking about it is all," Scootaloo said sheepishly as Holiday came into the room.
"Hey Scootaloo, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "What's for dinner?"
"Oh, I'm trying something new with a pasta recipe," Holiday said as she looked at her niece. "So, why don't you tell us about your day?"
Scootaloo paused a long moment, she wasn't really sure about this, it felt kind of silly for her to admit this kind of thing even to her family. She was still kind of figuring out herself, she just didn't know what to say about it.
"IkindasortahaveacrushonSweetieBellecanweeatalready?" Scootaloo said so fast it took a moment for her aunts to register what she just said.
"Did you say that you have a crush on Sweetie Belle?" Holiday asked as she looked at Scootaloo. "As in, your best friend Sweetie Belle?"
"Maybe..." Scootaloo said as she blushed even more.
"Aww, Scootaloo has her first crush!" Lofty said with a laugh as she ruffled the filly's mane. "How cute."
"Yeah, but, I don't really know what to do, what if she doesn't feel the same way about me?" Scootaloo said nervously. "What if we ruin our friendship because of this? What do I do?"
"Scootaloo, you don't have anything to worry about," Holiday said with a smile. "You're a great filly, and you and Sweetie Belle have a bond that most ponies would only dream of having. We're glad you've found somepony you feel that way about, and maybe she feels the same way."
"You never know until you try," Lofty said as she nuzzled her wife gently. "Something your aunt Holiday knows all too well, isn't that right?"
"Yeah, but when you find that special somepony, its all worth it in the end," Holiday said as she nuzzled back.
"How did you two meet anyway?" Scootaloo asked curiously as she looked between her two aunts, she had always just thought about the two of them being together, she had never really thought about how they met.
"Oh, that's quite the story, do you think we should tell her dear?" Holiday asked as she looked at Lofty.
"Why not, it might at least help her be less nervous to know what you went through," Lofty said with a chuckle. "I mean, its hard to be more nervous than you were when you first asked me out."
"Yeah, yeah," Holiday said with a chuckle before the two mares turned to look at their niece. "Well Scootaloo, it was before your parents met each other... I was just getting out of art school in Canterlot and was trying to find my inspiration."
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A younger Holiday was seated on a bench in Canterlot as she worked on a sketchpad with the pencil in her mouth. She was sketching the landscape and any ponies that happened to be nearby. She could draw pretty well, but she never could seem to get the right idea of what she wanted to draw.
She sighed a little as she finished the sketch and looked at it, it was good but she wasn't sure if it was what she wanted to draw. She had mostly been good at portraits, but ever since she had graduated she hadn't been sure enough with what she had done.
"Come on Holiday, you can do this," she muttered to herself as she put the sketch off to the side and started working again, there had to be something she could draw.
She was so focused on sketching she didn't hear the sound of hoofsteps approaching, another pony had noticed her drawing and walked over out of curiosity. She checked out the sketches and looked at Holiday curiously.
"Your art is really nice."
The Earth pony mare nearly jumped out of her fur when she realized somepony was talking to her. She looked up and was surprised to see a blue Pegasus mare with a purple mane looking at her with a smile.
"Oh, umm, thank you," Holiday said with a smile as she blushed a little, the mare was about her age and was pretty cute, she wasn't really sure what to think about this right now.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" The Pegasus asked curiously and Holiday just nodded and moved her papers out of the way to let her sit down next to her. "What's your name?"
"Holiday."
"I'm Lofty, its nice to meet you," Lofty said with a smile as she looked at the paper for a long moment. "So, what are you going to try and draw next?"
"I don't know yet," Holiday admitted as she looked around. Her eyes kept falling back on the Pegasus mare sitting next to her though, Lofty just gave Holiday a smile. "Umm, do you mind if I try and sketch you?"
"Sure, I'd like that."
Holiday smiled and took her sketch pencil back in her mouth as she started to work once more. She worked hard, focusing on every inch of Lofty right down to the flying sheep cutie mark on her flank. She blushed a little when she realized she was staring at another mare's flank on purpose.
Holiday had never had much of a love life, sure there were a few stallions that had tried to ask her out but she had never found any of them that interesting. She had dated a couple of them sure, but she had never taken a relationship deeper than that.
She smiled a little as she remembered when she first found herself loving art. She had been on a vacation with her parents and a friend's family when she was just a filly and had gotten her first sketchbook. She had earned her cutie mark after having sketched her then best friend, and had loved art ever since.
Now she was sketching Lofty and pouring all the attention into the sketch that she had with that early picture. She blushed a little when she realized she caught herself looking a little too closely at the curves of the other mare's body, was it possible that she was attracted to this Pegasus?
She didn't really have much time to dwell on that because she was soon done with the sketch, she smiled a little as she dropped the pencil. The picture had captured Lofty perfectly, right down to her smile.
"It looks great," Lofty said with a smile as she looked at the sketch. "You have a real talent Holiday."
"Thanks, it was nothing..." Holiday said as she blushed more, she was feeling more flustered by the minute so she barely noticed that Lofty was talking to her.
"Nothing? You're kidding right, you have a real talent for your art," Lofty said with a smile as she got to her hooves. "Do you mind if I take this home?"
"Oh, no not at all," Holiday said as she took out the sketch and gave it to Lofty, she was a bit surprised but was happy to have gotten some attention for her art.
"Thanks, maybe I'll see you around," Lofty said with a smile as she gave Holiday a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you later!" Holiday finally managed to call out after her but Lofty was out of hearing range now. "What am I gonna do with myself, I don't even know how to talk to a mare like her..."
Holiday sighed and got to her hooves as she gathered up all her art supplies, she was going to have to figure this out and soon.
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A week passed, Holiday saw Lofty a few more times in the park and they wound up talking more often. It was hard to believe that just a little sketching session had lead to the two mares becoming such fast friends, though Holiday was still a little unsure if she wanted it to be more.
A week after they met Lofty surprised her by inviting her to dinner with her parents at a local restaurant near the Art School. She hadn't expected the invitation, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to at least check it out, it might be fun.
That evening Holiday had dressed up in the finest dress she owned, which admittedly wasn't saying much given that most of her money had gone to tuition. But still, she wanted to look nice for Lofty and her parents, especially for Lofty, she couldn't stop thinking about the Pegasus mare.
She took a deep breath as she made her way down the street and stopped in front of the restaurant. She had never felt more nervous than she was right now as she was faced with the possibility of meeting this mare's parents.
"Can I help you miss?" The hostess pony asked which caught her attention.
"Oh, yes, I'm here to meet my party for dinner," Holiday said as she looked around before she finally saw Lofty waving at her. "There they are."
"Of course," the hostess said and Holiday went to go meet with them.
Lofty gave Holiday a smile as she took a seat at the table next to her. Her parents were pretty ordinary looking Pegasi and they looked at the mare curiously.
"So, you're the pony Lofty met today in the park huh?" Lofty's mom said as she looked at Holiday curiously. "Our daughter tells us you're an artist."
"Uh, yeah, that's right," Holiday said with a smile as she patted her bags where her art supplies still were. "I just graduated from the Canterlot School of Art last month, second in my class."
"You should see her artwork, she's very good," Lofty said with a smile as Holiday took out her sketchbook and passed it around nervously, she wasn't used to letting anypony other than her teachers see her work yet, and it made her a little uneasy.
"This is very nice," Lofty's father said with a smile as he passed the sketchbook back to her. "Have you considered doing more portraits?"
"Well, yeah, but I've always had kind of a hard time finding subjects," Holiday admitted. "I mean, when I was in school it was easy since the classes always provided them. Since then I've tried to do my own thing but its hard to get a pony to just let you sketch them like Lofty did."
"And it came out great," Lofty said which made Holiday blush a little in embarrassment.
"It wasn't that good..." Holiday said softly.
"Hey, don't sell yourself short, if I could draw like that I'd do it all the time," Lofty said as she placed a hoof on Holiday's gently.
The brief moment of contact sent a surge of electricity through Holiday's body. She couldn't believe she was even thinking about it, but the more she did the more she knew that she wanted to get to know this mare better.
"So, you know about me, what about you Lofty, what do you do?" Holiday asked curiously as she looked at her.
"Oh, I'm trying to get my flight instructor business off the ground," Lofty said with a light chuckle at the small joke. "In the meantime I've been working mostly with the weather team. I'm still kind of learning really, but I'm getting a lot better at it."
"That's good."
"So, tell us more about yourself," Lofty's mother said.
"Well, I was born and raised in Fillydelphia, like I said I'm an artist, I have a little brother who's studying business right now, there's really not much else to say," Holiday said with a shrug. "I don't know how much longer I'll be staying in Canterlot now that school's over."
"Yeah, I understand, I'll probably be moving away soon too," Lofty said. "I mean, unless there's some reason to keep us here in the city."
Holiday paused a moment, was it possible that Lofty felt the same way? Every time she tried to say something she just got flustered and couldn't get the words out.
"Are you okay Holiday?" Lofty asked as she looked at the other mare worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Holiday said before she finally managed to get the words out, kind of. "Would you like to, mate me?"
Lofty's eyes went wide and Holiday's face turned red when she realized what she had just said. Why had she said that? And in front of Lofty's parents too. She quickly got to her hooves and rushed off towards the mare's room, ignoring any calls from Lofty to stop.
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Holiday ran the water in the sink and splashed her face with it, she was mentally kicking herself for making such a stupid mistake. She had just lost probably the best chance she had at being with Lofty or her chance at being friends with the mare because she had embarrassed herself like that.
She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment, she felt terrible, she hated that she had done this and all because she couldn't get out a coherent sentence. She had never felt like this about a mare before, was Lofty that special or was she just nervous?
Maybe it was nothing, I mean they had just met that day, why was she so certain that she wanted to be with this mare? Was it possible that she really did think about her that way or was it all just getting to her?
"Holiday, are you okay?" A mare's voice said from the door and she turned to see Lofty walking into the bathroom. "What happened back there?"
"I'm sorry, I just... I don't know, I tried to ask you something and I freaked out," Holiday said with a blush. "Its hard to explain but ever since we met I've been feeling, things about you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it started when I was sketching you, and then it just kept getting stronger, I'm sorry," Holiday said with a shake of her head. "I shouldn't have said anything, I don't want to lose you as a friend."
"Don't worry, you won't," Lofty said with a smile as she hugged Holiday gently. "So, what were you trying to ask me back there?"
This was the moment of truth, Holiday had one chance to ask Lofty what she wanted to ask her and not mess it up, she took a deep breath and spoke.
"Well, umm, I was kind of wondering if you wanted to, you know... go out sometime... with me," Holiday said, as she looked up at the Pegasus mare nervously, she had no idea what she was going to say. "I mean, if you're into that kind of thing that is."
"You really feel that way about me?" Lofty asked and Holiday nodded softly.
"Ever since we first met today."
Lofty paused for a long moment, then leaned in and kissed Holiday softly on the lips, catching the Earth Pony slightly off guard. She smiled a little and kissed back despite her surprise, she had never kissed another mare before and was surprised at how nice it felt.
Lofty wasn't exactly a small mare, but she was still soft and gentle, she wrapped her wings around Holiday gently and smiled as she broke the kiss.
"I've felt the same way about you too Holiday," Lofty said with a smile as she nuzzled Holiday gently. "I'd love to go on a date with you."
"What about your parents?"
"Are you kidding? I came out of the closet years ago, I just haven't found the right mare," Lofty said with a smile as the two headed out of the bathroom together to rejoin Lofty's parents.
00000
"We dated for about two years until finally I proposed to her," Holiday said with a smile as she wrapped her forelegs around her wife gently. "We've been happy ever since."
"Yeah, so see, just because you're nervous doesn't mean things won't work out in the end," Lofty said with a smile as she nuzzled her wife.
"You really think so?" Scootaloo asked as she looked up at her aunts.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle is a good filly," Lofty said with a smile as she pulled Scootaloo into the hug. "Though, you two might be a little young for that."
"I know, I know," Scootaloo said as she hugged her aunts. "Still, you gave me a lot to think about, thank you."
"You're welcome, anything for our favorite Niece, come on, lets get dinner," Holiday said and the three headed off to the kitchen.