Juniper hesitated as her wings kept her aloft. She had managed to get the hang of flight, but the next stage made her dubious.
“Come on,” I said, laying down. “Is it really that difficult to believe?”
“Yeah,” Starlight said from nearby. “You have become a pony, after all. This should be a snap.”
She looked at us, then at the cloud we were comfortably resting upon. I could understand her doubts. If not for a cloudwalk charm, Starlight and I would have just fallen through the clouds. I had learned it in my studies earlier in the week and today I had decided to test out some of the alteration charms I had gone over with Celestia.
I was also wanting to talk to the girls about Twilight and her odd behavior lately. She seemed to be overly busy as of late, but I couldn’t quite believe that she wasn’t actively avoiding me.
Juniper drifted over to the cloud and gingerly set a pair of hooves down on it, then folded her wings as she shut her eyes. When she didn’t start plunging to the ground, she opened her eyes and looked down at her hooves.
“This is so weird,” she said, almost more to herself.
“Yeah, it takes a little getting used to,” Starlight said. “As much as I enjoy cloud-watching, I still prefer to have solid ground under my hooves.” She turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “So what’d you bring us out her for, anyway? I’m sure there are others that are better qualified to teach Juniper cloud-walking.”
I fidgeted with my hooves for a moment. “I kinda want to talk to you about Twilight,” I whipsered.
“What about her?” Starlight asked, trying to unsuccessfully fluff the cloud up.
“I get that she was shocked to find out I was Celestia’s filly,” I said. “But is she avoiding me?”
Starlight grinned nervously. “Ah, well, heh…”
Juniper tried laying down, still not trusting the cloud under her completely. “Why does it matter?” she asked.
I stretched out full length and sighed. “Besides living in the same town she does?” I asked. “She’s a really good friend, and if she hadn’t been who she is, I doubt I’d have the friends I do. What she did for me was even more impactful to me than what Starlight did for you. I just don’t want who my mother is to impact our friendship.”
Starlight sighed. “She just needs to get used to the idea,” she said. “As a filly, she practically adored Celestia, being her faithful student was a badge of honor to her.”
I frowned, the sound of that nickname sour in my mouth. “I know, but I’ve tried to go and talk to her and Spike just says she’s busy.”
“She is,” my friend said, idly poking small divots in the cloud with her hoof. “She spent one day just rocking back and forth in denial.”
Juniper blinked. “Is she really that nervous over a crush?”
Starlight nodded. “She never acted on it when Sunset lived through the mirror because she felt it would be unfair to force her to choose a world.” She swirled her hoof around. “What was she going to do, just visit on the weekends?”
I nodded. "And then I come back,” I whisper. “Making it possible to her maybe get to admit to it.”
“Ah,” Juniper said as realization dawned on her. “And the thought of trying to date the daughter of her childhood idol - and ruler of the land - triggered one of her panic attacks.”
Starlight blinked. “How did you know about her panic attacks?”
“I am friends with the other Twilight, you know.”
“Right…”
I blew a wisp of my mane out of my eyes and sighed. “What do I do?”
“About Twilight?” Starlight mused. “I don’t know. I don’t know how you feel about her and I don’t really have a lot of experience in this.” She shrugged and glanced at Juniper.
The woman-turned-Pegasus shifted, even her wings ruffling in nervousness. She looked for a moment like she wanted to say something but held back.
“Juniper,” I said, smiling wanly. “If you’ve got an idea, I’m willing to hear it.”
She fidgeted a bit, wings fluffing as she looked away, a blush tinting her cheeks. “When I heard that a boy I liked liked me,” she whispered. “I went and just kissed him.” She looked away again. “That didn’t work so well for me.”
I felt a blush rise in my cheeks at the thought of kissing Twilight. “Uh,”
The Pegasus waved a hoof. “Feel free to ignore that idea,” Juniper said. “I’ve only ever had the one crush.”
A flutter of wings brought Fluttershy up to us. “Sunset,” she said softly. “Twilight wants to see you when you’re free.”
I groaned and buried my face under my hooves.
Fluttershy was apparently surprised.
“Oh my. Was it something I said?”