//------------------------------//
// Thursday - Psychological Botany 
// Story: Ballistics of Romance 
// by Cytotoxin 
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	Twilight sat up on the bed slowly. "Ooh... I knew that idea would bite me in the flank." - she complained to nopony in particular. She overslept, severely. It was almost two after midday. But then again, after lucid dream she needed some regular dreaming to offset the exhaustion. Still, she didn`t regret her decision one bit. Squaring away things with Trixie was definitely a good thing. Who knows, maybe there`s something to consider for future, there.

She levitated the brush off the nightstand and began making her mane presentable as she mulled over what had happened. True, she told Trixie that they both needed a closure... But who said there can`t be a new beginning after it? Of course, there were some noticeable problems to that arrangement - first and foremost being the fact that Trixie had to lead rather nomadic lifestyle to support her profession, and Twilight had to live in one place to do the same.

All in all, while courting Trixie was not the most convenient idea, Twilight had to admit that Trixie was also the most successful attempt so far. Granted, maybe it was due to the fact it was just a dream... but both of them were well aware of lucid and shared nature of such. Laying the brush aside, Twilight picked up her notebook and jotted down her thoughts about Trixie. Maybe if she couldn`t find any better options, she might consider working some more in that direction. For now, though, Twilight had to settle for labeling Trixie as potential Plan B.

Now, however, she had to get ready for Plan A. Tea was already stored in her cupboard safely. What about everything else? Stretching, she slipped out of bed and trotted downstairs. Huh, no Spike? She took a look around. Aha, a note. "Hey, Twilight. Helping Rarity dig up gems, will be back in evening. XOXO, Spike." - she read aloud, chuckling. Leave it to Spike to be absent when convenient. Too convenient. Twilight distinctly remembered she told nopony (and no dragons either) about her arrangement with Fluttershy for the five o`clock. Coincidence? Maybe. Things could just go her way sometimes, no?

She quickly ascertained there`s no pressing matters to attend to, and even managed to dust off the shelves a bit before the clock chimed half to five. Time to boil the kettle. Things continued to be unremarkably quiet as she set the table with some sweets, treats and snacks. Bastian Rose Tea was steeping in the teapot, sugarcubes were arranged neatly and... Aha!

Noting the ginger knock, she trotted to the door and opened it carefully. As expected, Fluttershy was outside, holding a bag of cookies in her mouth. "Ah, hello there, Fluttershy. You`re just in time. Come on in, come on in." - proffered unicorn, stepping back and smiling, as shy pegasus trotted into the library. "Hello, Twilight. I brought sugarlump biscuits." - she said cheerfully, settling the bag on the table. Twilight wasted no time unwrapping it and shaking the biscuits out on the plate.

"How`s your life going, Fluttershy?" - again, trite but oh so true way to start a conversation. "Oh, quite good, thank you. What about you, Twilight? I`ve been hearing some... um, things, lately." - ventured pegasus, shying away as she finished her question. Twilight blinked as she sat down, pouring tea into cups. "Well... what kind of things? Good or bad?" - she offered, trying to gauge Fluttershy`s reaction before committing with some of the answers.

Daintily, pegasus set her cup down. "I`ve heard from Applejack that you`ve asked her out, and um, Rarity was strangely subdued about it in the spa yesterday..." - she proffered, her voice tapering off into cute squeak as she got progressively more embarrassed with each word she spoke. Twilight blinked and rubbed her nose - "Ah, that. Yes, I did ask Applejack out the day before yesterday, but she said she`s not interested."

Blinking, Fluttershy stared on unicorn for a few tense moments. "Um, you don`t seem to be upset much..." - she finally ventured meekly, - "I was afraid you`d take it hard." Twilight shook her head slowly as she took a sip of tea - "Oh, no, no. I`m not upset. Applejack`s not attracted to mares and I can respect that. She`s been nothing but courteous about it, too, so no hard feelings."

"Twilight... You don`t have to bottle it all up." - offered Fluttershy softly - "It`s perfectly natural for a pony to be upset over a rejection, and you have every right to be upset right now. I`m certain I would cry for days if something like that happened to me." Blinking in confusion, Twilight set her cup down again, and turned to face her friend squarely - "Uh, Fluttershy? I`m being perfectly honest right now. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I`m really not upset."

Shrinking back from the Pinkie Promise, yellow pegasus stared on purple unicorn in confusion. "But... but, why would you.. I mean, how... Aren`t you in love with Applejack?" - she finally blurted out, blush coloring her cheeks as she hid behind her mane again. Twilight facehoofed. "...It`s strange, you know. Everypony seems to assume I fell in love with Applejack." - she opined, heaving a sigh - "Is it so unusual of me to ask somepony out without a deeply vested romantic interest already in place?"

"But why?" - plead Fluttershy, - "Why would you do that?" Twilight blinked. Again. Then she poured herself a fresh mug of tea and sipped it, collecting her thoughts. "Why?... Because I want to develop that deeply vested romantic feeling, Fluttershy. But I don`t know whom is also interested. And so, I`ve tried to ask Applejack out. She`s always honest, and she would tell me straight if I`m doing something wrong." - she offered between the sips - "But I am not yet sure whom I want to start romance with, you see? So Applejack is not interested, that`s alright. I`ll just look for somepony who is interested instead."

Somewhat calmer, yellow mare nodded, as she picked up her cup again. "Oh. Oh, I see... I guess. You`re just. um... trying to get a date?" - she inquired quietly. Twilight rubbed her cheek absentmindedly, and nodded - "I suppose so, in a nutshell. Or more precisely, I`m trying to figure out who would be interested in dating to begin with. No sense in getting all serious about somepony who isn`t, right?"

Fluttershy nodded and sighed a little. "You`re right... No sense at all." - she offered, her usual shyness replaced by a more forlorn expression for a few moments - "But sometimes, you just can`t help but not make sense." Twilight offered with a chuckle - "That sounds like a personal experience. Perhaps, I`m not the one bottling things up here, eh, Fluttershy?"

Yellow pegasus merely shook her head, however. "It`s nothing important." - she ventured softly, taking a sip of tea - "This is really, um... good?... But it tastes um... somewhat sour?" Twilight nodded absentmindedly - "Ah, yes, that`s to be expected. This tea has some hibiscus flowers mixed in. They give the sour taste and the red color." She rubbed her ear with hoof, pondering the response - "Say, maybe it would be better with some honey instead of sugar?" Fluttershy nodded eagerly, holding out her cup as Twilight poured some honey into it from the jar.

"Mm, yes. Much better." - she opined, after taking a little sip, - "Now it tastes great." Unicorn nodded. "Say, Fluttershy? Why were you so interested about me asking Applejack out?" - she offered thoughtfully, - "I`m not treading on your hooves here somehow, am I?" Twilight could`ve sworn Fluttershy would`ve caught on fire that very second, if spontaneous self-combustion was a thing for pegasi. "Um... no, not at all." - she breathed out after a few moments, her face red as a tomato.

Twilight chuckled - "Oh, sorry. Didn`t mean to embarrass you." Pegasus nodded, but her cheeks remained red, as she sipped the tea again, sighing - "No, that`s alright..." Twilight`s brow creased as she considered the situation. Maybe being blunt would work here just fine. "Say, Fluttershy. Would you like to go out with me, in that case?" - she offered as casually as she could. Apparently, it wasn`t casual enough. Thankfully, she was prepared, and caught the cup the very moment it slipped from pegasus` hooves.

"Meep!" Twilight set the cup on the table and turned to face Fluttershy - who had somehow managed to end up behind the couch, peeking from over the couch pillow shyly. "...Are you alright, Fluttershy?" - she asked, somewhat worried about the backbreaking leap pegasus must`ve undertaken to change the position so abruptly. It didn`t help that Fluttershy`s wings were obviously locked up in full spread. Strange. And... Oh dear no. Unicorn reached out with her magic again, just in time to catch the hyperventilating mare as she fainted.

___

Fluttershy woke up. It was a strange kind of waking up. She couldn`t see a thing, just an off-white light everywhere. That light was also wet. And then Twilight lifted the wet towel from her face. "...I`m very very sorry, Fluttershy." - she offered awkwardly, folding the towel up to lay on Fluttershy`s forehead - "I should not have had said that." That. That being... Meep.

"Oh, um... Twilight?" - offered pegasus meekly, as she sat up a bit and pulled the towel off her head - "I`m really flattered but, um... I can`t, ohpleasedonthateme...," She ended her little speech in a squeak, covering behind her mane. Unicorn sighed a little and patted Fluttershy`s back with the hoof. "That`s alright." - she offered calmly - "I`m not going to hate you for anything, I promise. Though, if it`s not too much trouble, can you tell me why not? I`m trying to figure out this romance thing, but it seems to be much more complicated then I expected."

Collecting her thoughts together, Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together, nervously. She didn`t like admitting things, but... Right now, she had to speak up. Because otherwise, things could get ugly. Well, she could lie about the reason, say she`s not attracted to mares, like Applejack.. but lies tend to get exposed sooner or later. "I`m sorry, Twilight. But I am in love with somepony else." - for a moment, Fluttershy wasn`t even sure it was her who said it. So casual, so aloof, so... self-assured...

Twilight smirked - "Ah, that explains things. So who`s the lucky pony?" For a moment, Fluttershy considered stopping the line of inquiry there. But Twilight.. Unicorn had uncanny knack for hanging on doggedly to every single unanswered question. It would be just easier to nip this in the bud by truth. "Rainbow Dash. I`m in love with Rainbow Dash." - she muttered quietly, looking down.

Twilight quirked her brow. "Interesting." - she offered after a few tense seconds, - "Did you happen to mention that to Rainbow Dash, perchance?" Fluttershy shook her head quickly - "Oh no, no, I couldn`t. She wouldn`t be interested anyways." Twilight`s face assumed a rapid series of expressions, finally settling on concerned puzzlement. "How long were you in love with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy?" - she asked finally, picking up a cup of tea an sipping it - "And did you ever gave her a reason to suspect you are?"

Canary mare sat up completely, looking on the teapot wistfully. In a few seconds, she began speaking, softly. "I... I don`t know, Twilight. I`ve always loved her, ever since we met at school. I guess I`m one of those mares who fall in love at the first sight. And... um, no, not intentionally, at least. I wanted to, I really did, but I just... just don`t feel confident enough to say something to her." - she offered, surprised at the sudden relief of having had told somepony, at last, - "I hoped... you know. Rainbow`s always with a new mare, and I was hoping that um, maybe... one day, she`d get around to pick me... Um."

That admission caught Twilight in the middle of the sip, and she nearly choked on tea. Setting the cup down, she coughed a few times to clear her throat - "Fluttershy? What do you mean, Rainbow`s always with a new mare? I`ve never seen her on a date with anypony." Fluttershy blinked. "But... everypony`s talking about her. And the mares, I mean. Each day, there`s someone new. Sometimes not even pony. I thought she was in love with Gilda..." - she offered meekly.

Lavender hoof connected to lavender forehead. "Oh, for crying out loud... Fluttershy, had you ever seen Rainbow Dash out on a date with anypony at all?" - she quipped. It came out a bit harsher then she wanted it to be, but... Pegasus blinked again - "I um... What about... Oh... Well, maybe at the... no, I... Well, fiddlesticks. Do you mean to tell me it`s just.. rumors?" Twilight nodded, shaking her head slowly - "You see, I had a similar conversation with Rainbow Dash yesterday. As it turns out, she does not date anypony... and maybe, never did. Apparently, all those rumors are cropping up just because she looks and behaves like a butch fillyfooler stereotype."

Fluttershy`s eyes suddenly grew very big - "So... you mean to tell me she waits for..." She trailed off, shushed by Twilight`s waving hoof. "As far as I understood, Rainbow Dash does not think about dating much, period." - unicorn offered dryly - "I`d like to encourage you to go after her, but... I tried to ask her out yesterday, and she wasn`t interested. Still, I think you should tell her how do you feel. If nothing else, it will give you some closure. And who knows? She wasn`t interested in my offer of casual dating, but maybe she would be more responsive to a genuine love offer."

Pegasus looked down, sullenly - "I can`t. And besides, if... maybe Rainbow Dash likes stallions." Lavender mare shrugged at her - "Had you ever seen her with a stallion, Fluttershy? Listen, I don`t know much about dating, but even to me, holding out for years seems like an unhealthy thing to do. She`s your friend, Fluttershy. Even if she declines, she`ll never stop being your friend. I should know, because she turned me down, and we`re still friends. Nothing changed. So... my advice is to try and talk to her, at the very least. I think you`ll be surprised."

"I... I`ll think about it." - offered pegasus with a timid smile - "Thank you, Twilight. I think... I think I really needed to talk about it with somepony." Unicorn smirked - "Well hey, what are friends for?" Fluttershy looked up, straight into Twilight`s eyes - "No, I mean it. I just turned you down, after all. It takes a very kind pony to help me sort out my love problems immediately afterward. You`re a best friend a pony could wish for, Twilight." Suddenly uncomfortable, unicorn turned away, her face blushing lightly - "Aww, thanks." Fluttershy chuckled - "And Twilight? Good luck with finding your special somepony. I`m pretty sure I`m not her, but... I hope you`ll find her very soon. You deserve that much."