I rolled out of bed and threw on a decent set of clothes. I drank some water to freshen my breath a little. I made my way to the bathroom and cleaned myself up a little. I peeked my head out to make sure no one was there and quickly went back to my room.
What am I gonna do?
I’m pretty sure I like Starlight.
Do I?
I don’t know.
Maybe I need a second opinion.
Let’s see. Which one of my friends has a knack for this sort of thing? Who can recognize love without even trying? And who can do that as well as help me proceed?
I facepalmed and let out an annoyed groan.
“Rarity, duh. Who else?” I said to myself.
I made my way down to the foyer. I was about to walk out the door when I smelled the unmistakable scent of Spike’s cooking. And he was even making pancakes.
I nearly turned back, but stopped myself. I put my hand on the door when my stomach grumbled. I tried to open the door, but my hand just wouldn’t move. And looked back and practically started drooling at the smell.
Oh who was I kidding? I was hungry.
I sighed and reluctantly made my way back to the kitchen, where, sure enough, Spike was making pancakes.
“Morning, Jake. You hungry?” Spike asked.
“Yeah, but I gotta be quick. I have somewhere I need to be,” I told him.
“Where could you possibly need to be? You’ve only been here a day and a half,” Spike pointed out.
“Okay, I don’t really need to be somewhere, but you remember what I used to tell you and Twilight whenever you asked me about something I didn’t want to tell you?”
“You have your reasons?”
“Attaboy.”
“Okay, but at least have something before you go,” Spike enticed.
I took a look at the pancakes he was finishing, and I couldn’t resist grabbing a fork and plate. Spike chuckled as he helped me get the hot pancakes onto my plate. I ate them pretty quick, which turned out to be a really bad idea because they were hot. After I finished, I thanked Spike and made my way out the door to Carousel Boutique.
Twilight yawned as she made her way to the kitchen.
“Morning, Spike! Pancakes I see. What’s the occasion?” she asked.
“I meant to make them yesterday, but we didn’t have all the ingredients. You seem in a good mood,” Spike commented.
Twilight smiled. “Thanks, and I am.”
It was at this time that a barely awake Starlight wandered into the room with a smile. “Morning,” she said.
“Morning, Starlight. You’re up early,” Spike told her.
“Jake accidentally woke me up, and I didn’t feel like going back to sleep,” Starlight explained.
Twilight seemed to light up when she heard what Starlight had said. “So Jakes up?! Where is he?!”
“Calm down, he said he had to go somewhere,” Spike told them.
“Why?” Twilight asked.
“Remember what he told us when he didn’t want to tell us something we asked him?”
Twilight tilted her head in confusion.
“He said he has his reasons,” Spike deadpanned.
“Oh,” Twilight said.
“Why do you want to see Jake?” Starlight asked her mentor.
Twilight visibly blushed. “I...just had something I really needed to tell him. Anyhow, Starlight, Jake told me you already told him about your past. That was pretty bold of you.”
Starlight’s checks took on a red hue. “Y-Yeah, I was really hesitant at first...but he just made me feel so...safe. You were right, he’s great.”
“S-See, told you. I think I’m just gonna go eat these in my room,” Twilight said, following up with some nervous laughter.
“Okaaaaaay then,” Spike said, preparing three plates of pancakes for himself and the two mares.
“I-I think I’ll just take these and eat them in my room,” Twilight said, picking up her plate with her magic.
Twilight exited the kitchen in an orderly fashion, and flew hurriedly back to her room. She shut the doors and leaned back on them, hyperventilating.
“I can’t do it. I can’t...I just can’t,” she said to the empty room.
Twilight looked down to see her pancakes had fallen off their plate and onto her carpet. Twilight manifested some cleaning supplies and cleaned up her little mess. She then jumped on her bed and ducked her head under her pillow.
“I can’t...I can’t.”
Twilight stood back up on the floor and smacked herself in the face with her hoof.
“What am I doing? I haven’t even seen him and I’m already freaking out. Maybe I should ask my friends for help.”
Twilight perked up with an idea.
“Yeah, I’ll tell them what’s going on, and ask them what I should do. It’s not like they’ll judge me. Well, Rainbow Dash might tease me, but that doesn’t matter.”
Twilight faced her reflection in the mirror.
“What matters is that I do something instead of just cowering back here every time I get nervous.”
I knocked on the door to Carousel Boutique and waited. I shivered as I realized I wasn’t wearing a jacket.
Of course I wasn’t.
Luckily, the door opened pretty quickly. I looked down to see not Rarity, but her little sister Sweetie Belle.
“Jake?! You’re back?!” she asked in a cute, excited voice.
I knelt down as she stood on her hind legs. Although most fully grown ponies could reach my chest while on their hind legs, fillies and colts only stood at my knees on all fours, and at waist-level while on their hind legs.
“Yeah, Sweetie Belle, I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere this time,” I said, wrapping her in a hug. I looked to her flank to see a pink shield with a small musical note in it. “And I see you got your Cutie Mark while I was away.”
We broke our hug, and she backed away with a big smile on her face. “Mhm, so did Applebloom and Scootaloo. They’re nearly identical to mine!”
“That’s great! You guys are gonna have to show me sometime. Anyhow, is your sister around? I need to talk to her about something,” I explained.
“She just woke up. I’ll go get her for you. You should come in, you look cold,” she offered.
“Thanks.” I walked into the boutique as Sweetie Belle ran off to get her sister. I took a seat on one of the couches and looked around. As much as the boutique had changed since I left, I could still recognize it.
A few minutes later, Rarity and Sweetie Belle both came out to greet me.
“Good morning, Jake. What brings you by today?” Rarity asked.
“I-I need your expertise,“ I said sheepishly.
“Okay, Sweetie Belle, why don’t you go play with your friends?” Rarity suggested.
“Okay,” Sweetie Belle said in a tone of voice that forced me to smile, despite how much I tried not to.
“So, what exactly do you want to ask me? Is it about making you some new clothes? Or do you need me to fix your old ones?” Rarity asked.
“N-No, Rarity...actually, yeah, that would be nice, but I was talking about your...romantic expertise. See, I think I might have... a crush on a mare,” I said, quietly and quickly as possible.
Rarity took a second to figure out what I said, and when she did, her eyes grew wider than I had ever seen. I could tell she was containing some level of excitement.
“I-I’m sorry, Jake. You’ll have to say that again. I didn’t quite catch that,” she said. I could tell she was definitely excited.
“I...have a crush...on a mare,” I sighed.
“Hmm, yes, one moment please,” she said, standing up. She walked in a brisk pace over to the door and closed it. I furrowed my brow until I heard a screech coming from the other side that made me flinch.
Rarity walked back out in a much more awake pace and a big smile on her face. “That’s just wonderful, darling. I was wondering if you would ever fall in love in Equestria, but I didn’t know if you could see mares that way. And now here you are, in my boutique, telling me you have your first Equestrian crush-“
I quickly cut Rarity off before she broke into an all-out rant. “I said I might have a crush. I don’t know for sure, I’ve never had a crush before.”
“Oh, I see. And you wanted my opinion on whether or not it is a crush?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
She took a seat on the red sofa she usually uses for fainting. “Now, if you don’t mind my asking, whom is it exactly that you may or may not have a crush on? Perhaps somepony you met during your travels?”
“No, it’s someone who lives here in Ponyville, but I’d honestly rather not tell you who it is, in case it turns out I don’t have a crush,” I explained.
“Alright. Now, what would make you think you have a crush on this mysterious mare?”
“Well, very recently, when I was with her, I could feel myself blushing. And while I think most ponies in general are just cute, I actually thought she was...beautiful. And her smile...it just warms my heart to see that mare smiling.” I trailed off as I started picturing Starlight’s smile during our picnic.
Rarity simply smiled and nodded her head. “Well, it sounds to me like you have a certified crush. No doubt about it.”
“Really? Well that answered that question. But you don’t think it’s weird for me to have a crush on a mare?”
“No, of course not. Jake, you’re my friend. I would never judge you for something as silly as love. Besides, it’s only natural. You have been living among ponies for a long time now. Although, I do think it is a tad strange that you think ponies are generally cute, however,” Rarity responded, ending in a teasing manner.
I sighed and rolled my eyes playfully. “Just because ponies are the Equestrian equivalent to humans where I come from, doesn’t mean that I think of you the same way in all purposes. You ponies are cute by comparison to humans.” I felt like I’ve been explaining that a lot lately.
“Well alright then. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Is there anything else you needed to ask me?”
“Yes. Now that we’ve established that I do have a crush on St-this mare, how exactly should I proceed?” I asked, hoping that Rarity wouldn’t be able to guess who I had a crush on.
If she did, she didn’t show any signs of it. “I can’t tell you how to proceed unless you tell me how you want to proceed. Do you want to tell her? If you do, how do you plan on doing so?”
“Well, of course I want to tell her. But I was kind of hoping you would help me with that,” I admitted.
“Okay, but considering that you won’t tell me who it is you’re crushing on, all I can tell you is to spend some time with her. Get to know her, and try to make her feel special. And when you feel the time is right, which you shouldn’t need anypony to tell you when it is, tell her how much she means to you, and confess your feelings to her. But make sure you aren’t too nervous when you do it. You have to seem confident.”
I thought about it for a second, and I realized that Rarity’s advice would probably work. “Thanks, Rarity. I think I’ll go for a walk through Everfree to clear my thoughts.”
Rarity gasped at my statement. “The Everfree Forest? Why would you ever want to go there?”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit. I forgot the majority of ponies were afraid of going into the Everfree Forest. I, however, was not.
“I’m not afraid of the Everfree Forest. Not during the day at least,” I told her.
“Alright, if you insist. It was nice to see you,” she responded.
“No problem. And thanks again for the advice,” I said with a smile.
With that, I exited the boutique and made my way to the Everfree Forest.
As I wandered through the forest, I couldn’t help but wonder why ponies were so afraid of this place during the day. Sure, at night it was extremely dark, and it always felt like there was something watching you even during the day, but I’ve never actually seen anything remotely scary during the day.
In the day, the sunlight poured through the trees, making it look like a bunch of tiny little flashlights were shining down upon the ground. The air was fresh, touched only by nature. It was quiet, making it an ideal place to think and relax.
I allowed myself to become lost in my thoughts as I kept walking. I was alone, undisturbed, and at peace.
That being said, what happened next was the last thing I expected to happen.
I ran into something that moved when I bumped into it. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I tripped onto the ground. I swore I heard a little “squeak” as I fell. I looked back to see what I had tripped over.
Of course, as fate would have it, it was none other than Starlight Glimmer.