The rain began to come down, lightly at first then turning into a downpour. The view from the window was completely obscured by a constant wall of water. Every few minutes, a roar of thunder broke through the sound of rain. Keep calm, no need to freak out yet. She probably thinks I'm weak though, a full grown stallion who's still afraid of thunderstorms.
Twilight saw how nervous Bishop was getting, "Are you okay?"
He cleared his throat and maintained his composure. "Yes, I'm just a little uneasy right now."
"You're really afraid of thunderstorms, aren't you?"
His composure faltered a little, "Y-yeah, ever since I was a foal. I just couldn't get over it... and I still can't get over it." A flash of lightning sent a chill down his spine.
"Well, I'm here for you. You're not the only one with fears that seem a bit... unorthodox."
"Really?" His curiosity was piqued, what could she possibly be afraid of?
"Yeah, but can I trust you to keep it a secret?"
"Absolutely." It's not like Jimmy's going to grill me about it.
"Okay, I am really terrified of snakes."
"Snakes?" The most powerful unicorn of our time... is afraid of snakes?
"I can't stand them, they just creep me out too much."
The room was lit up by a bolt of lightning, causing Bishop to flinch slightly, reminding him of his own phobia. "It's an understandable fear, those fangs they have don't exactly make them cute or cuddly."
A roar of thunder made Bishop start to hyperventilate a little. "Stay calm, everything's okay, I'm here for you." Twilight wrapped him in a hug, he managed to keep his body under control.
"Thanks Twilight, I'm glad to have your here..." He hesitantly returned it, should I tell her? Better now than later... "I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"I think I-" he was cut off by a distant boom and the room losing all artificial light, leaving lightning as the only light source. Twilight jumped a little, "It's okay, the power just went out, you're okay. The apartment complex has back-up generators that will kick on in a minute." As if on queue, the power returned.
"When did I become the jumpy one?" She couldn't stop herself from laughing.
Bishop joined in the laughter, "I don't know, but I don't think it matters."
"I think you're right, but I'm glad to see you've relaxed a bit." She pulled away from his grasp. "Didn't you want to tell me something?"
"Uh... yeah, after this storm passes. Would you maybe want to... go out on a date?"
"W-what?" Her eyes grew wide as another flash of lightning momentarily lit the room.
He hesitated for a moment, did she not hear or is she just surprised? "Would you want to go out on a date... with me?"
"I... I don't know what to say..."
"Whatever the answer is, it won't change the fact that you would be staying here or the fact that we can be friends." He did his best to take away the pressure of answering his question.
Twilight took a deep breath, "I don't know, I need to think about it." She moved to the opposite end of the couch.
"Take all the time you need, there's no rush."
There was a deafening silence between the two as the storm continued. Bishop managed to completely shut out the storm by thinking about the question he just asked her. Although, at that time, he'd probably prefer the storm stopping him from focusing on what might happen if Twilight flat out rejects him. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days before Twilight broke the silence. "Bishop, I need to know something before I can answer your question."
He turned to face her and asked, "What would that be?"
"Why? Why me? Why, out of all the mares here, you decided to ask me?" Her question perplexed him.
"What do you mean?"
"There have to be mares that are better than me: prettier, smarter, funner." What is she talking about? She can't honestly believe that.
"Twilight, no... in my eyes you are definitely the smartest unicorn around, I won't be convinced otherwise. You can say that you're not pretty, but it would be from your eyes not mine, and in my eyes you are down right beautiful. And after last night, I know you can have at least a little fun. To answer your question, I decided to ask you because, well, you're you. I can't sum it up any better than that, you are so smart, so beautiful and so... amazing. I can't stand the fact that I didn't notice it last night."
Twilight looked away from him, face fully flushed, "I-I'm just a regularly unicorn, I'm not better than any one else."
Bishop was starting to get annoyed by her modesty. "Twilight, you are not 'regular.' Even if such a thing exists as a 'normal unicorn.' You are really special, you are the Element of Magic and Celestia's personal apprentice."
Twilight's expression turned cold as a flash of lightning reinforced her expression, "Is that what this is about? My 'celebrity status' being the only reason you would even ask?"
A facehoof felt appropriate at this moment as he hopped off the couch, "That has nothing to do with any of this! Why would it?! I asked you because I like you! I might even love you, I don't know right now but what I do know is that I want to go out on a date with you!" He realized that his voice was booming more than the storm outside, and took a moment to regain his composure. "I didn't think asking about a date would escalate into me shouting at you, I'm sorry."
Bishop's outburst caught her completely off guard, "You l-love me? Isn't that what you just said?"
"Yeah, that's what I said," he sighed, sitting back down. "I think that I might be falling in love with you... I don't know right now, but the idea wouldn't exactly be farfetched."
Twilight's mouth was agape, her speechlessness spoke volumes. So, did I just ruin this friendship? Probably. He played the worst possible outcome of the situation out in his head over and over:
The two would sit there in awkward silence through the duration of the storm. The second that the storm ended, Twilight would see herself out as if the building was on fire. She would leave and never come back, to see him or the town. His life would be spent reliving and regretting this day and wanting to do anything to turn back the clock and do everything differently...
His heart sank with every passing moment of silence, looking over to see that Twilight wasn't planning on saying anything, comforting or otherwise. Leaving the sound of heavy rain as the world's symphony to his sadness.
Darkness approached and the storm died down, and the rain followed suit. "Looks like it's finally over," Bishop sighed. "So, are you going to leave now?" He waited for the inevitable dagger to stab him in his heart.
"Why would I do that?" His ears perked up at the sound of any words besides 'yes.'
"So, you actually want to stay?" His heart was filled with a renewed sense of hope.
"Well... yes," she closed the distance between them on the couch and put her head on his shoulder. "I mean, what would your friend Niccolo think if you showed up by yourself after going to all of the trouble of inviting me?"
Bishop gave a soft chuckle, "Yeah, that would be a little awkward to explain to his family."
"And besides, I'm curious to see what you're planning for our date." His heart skipped a beat, he looked down at her to see she had a grin on her face.
He couldn't help but smile, "When did you change your mind?"
"Well... I can't really say that I changed my mind. I didn't really decide to say yes or no until a short while ago."
"Okay, then what made you decide to say yes, especially after I started shouting at you?"
"To be honest, I don't blame you for getting a little upset after what I said. You asked if I would go on a date with you, and all I could think is why you would ask me. Then I proceeded to believe that you only asked me because you think I'm famous. When I saw how frustrated you got, I realized how dumb I was."
"What did I say about calling yourself dumb?"
"I said I would try to not call myself that, remember? Anyway, the thing that really influenced my decision was when you said you might be in love with me..." She had a tear in her eye, "No one has ever said that they love me, I've never actually been in a relationship before, or even a date."
"Never?" Bishop was dumbstruck, never been in a relationship? Never been on a date?
Twilight shook her head, "Never, I've always been too focused on my studies to worry about friends, let alone a coltfriend. So I haven't been on any date either..."
"Well, we are definitely going to have to fix that," he grinned.
"I can't wait," she sighed contently.
"Well, I'm sorry to say that you have to," he joked. "I won't be able to set it up until the day after tomorrow."
She gave him a confused look and asked, "Two days?"
"Yes... two whole days, does that sound alright to you?"
"I guess..." she smiled playfully. "But, if that's the case I need to send a letter back home to my friends."
"About what?"
"A surprise," she teased.
"Alright, I've got an office set up at the end of the hall. I have all the things you need in there, just pay no mind to the papers all over the place. I'll take care of that later when you're done."
Twilight looked at him suspiciously before standing up, "Okay, thank you."
She disappeared down the hall, hopefully she doesn't trip on those papers. Oh shoot, some of those aren't meant to be seen yet! Bishop jumped to his feet, wait, calm down, just explain them, she will understand and hopefully keep it a secret.
After a few moments she returned to the living room holding a rolled up scroll in a purple aura, "Where is your mailbox?"
"Are you sending it to another unicorn?" She nodded, "Then I got it I just need to know where the address is."
"Uh, 4512 Stirrup Street?"
"Okay, ready," he took the scroll in a grey aura and walked over to the window and opened it. In a flash the scroll was reduced to a powder and sent out the window.
"Is that a spell?" She asked slightly shocked.
"Yeah, you see it before?"
"Only when I send letters to Princess Celestia," Twilight explained. "And even then I have to have my assistant send and receive letters."
"Huh, interesting I didn't know that Princess Celestia became a part of that test group."
"Test group? Test group for what?"
Oh... crud, others aren't supposed to know about test groups. No point in trying to hide it now, I might as well tell her, maybe I can get her to be a tester too. "Do you promise to keep it a secret?" She nodded. "Okay, the Institute develops new spells and then has employees test them. Many spells go through years of extensive testing before being sent out to the public. Celestia has been known to jump on a few test spells and it doesn't surprise me she took part in that one."
"How many spells are in testing now?"
"To be honest, I don't know. We have hundreds of spells going through their beta stages."
"Wow, but how will my friend be able to send me a letter?"
"Oh, right they don't know the spell," he deadpanned. "What's your friends name?"
"Uh, her name is Rarity."
"Okay, I'll be right back." He walked into his little office and took note of all of the equations and figures littering the walls and floor. He sat down at the desk and placed a piece of parchment in front of him before taking a quill in his grey aura and dipping it in a nearby jar of ink.
He wrote:
Dear Miss Rarity,
My name is Bright Bishop, I am a friend of Twilight's. If you wish to send her a letter, focus on the address 5629 Hoofington Lane in Phillydelphia before using your magic to reduce the letter to ash. I will receive it a moment after you send it, my apologies if a random scroll popping up in front of you is a little distracting.
Sincerely, Bright Bishop
P.S. Don't tell anyone about this spell please, it's supposed to be a secret for about another month. Thank you.
He walked back into the living room as he was rolling up the parchment and sent it out the window as dust. "There, hopefully I will receive a letter from her in a few moments."
"It's that fast?" Twilight asked.
"Yep, hopefully next month it will be released to the public and help allow faster communications." Suddenly, a cloud of dust surrounded his horn and a scroll materialized from the dust. He took the scroll and opened it, it read:
Dear Mr. Bishop
Do not let Twilight read this. I want to take this opportunity to talk to you in private. From Twilight's letter, you two are not 'just friends.' With that in mind, I need you to know a few things: First, she has no experience with romance whatsoever, so you are taking the reigns on this relationship. Second, since you have the reigns, if you hurt her feelings or abuse her trust I will personally go over there and teach you a lesson, along with three or four others. Third, if you plan on having a serious relationship with her, you should meet her friends here in Ponyville. I have no choice but to trust Twilight and, by extension, I have no choice but to trust you. Treat her well, I'll be in touch. Regardless if you want me to or not.
Sincerely, Rarity
P.S. I will keep this spell a secret, you just have to trust me.
P.P.S. Do not even think about reading the next letter I send you.
Bishop gulped, well, extra motivation I guess.
"What does the letter say?" Twilight inquired.
"Well, I'll tell you the first sentence: Do not let Twilight read this. With the 'not' in bold for affect."
"Can I read it?"
"I think Rarity made it clear she didn't want you reading it," Bishop explained.
"Pleeeaaase?" She put on her cutest face to reinforce her plead.
"I-I can't," he tried to look away, but it was just too much for him.
"Please, Mr. Magic?" She turned a simple nickname into a powerful weapon as she backed him against the wall.
"That's just not fair!" Her tactics were too powerful for him to win. "Okay, you win! Just please stop with the assault!"
She took the letter from him and kissed him on the cheek before whispering in his ear, "Thank you."
He felt his cheeks grow warm, "Don't mention it."
Twilight skimmed the letter, "So she develops a crush on Dusk and takes him out of town, but threatens you without a second thought."
"What?" A scroll materialized in front of Bishop and he floated it over to Twilight.
"Nothing just thinking out loud," she took the new letter. "You aren't going to try to read it?"
"No one really sends me letters the express way. It's from your friend Rarity, and she 'asked' me not to read it."
"You aren't even going to try?"
"Nope, I don't feel it's any of my business to know what Rarity wrote. That's between the two of you and it should stay that way unless either of you say otherwise."
Twilight nodded before skimming through the letter, "Bishop, how long does it take for a package to get here from Canterlot?"
"About a day and a half, why do you ask?"
"No reason."
"Alright then," he shrugged. "I think now would be the appropriate time to get some sleep."
She yawned, "I think you might be right. It's my turn to take the couch right?"
"Nope, you have the bed," he answered.
"I can't let you sleep on the couch again," she stated.
"I'm sorry but I'm sleeping here and you should take the empty bed," Bishop suggested as he grabbed his bedding from the hallway closet.
"Fine, good night Bishop." She walked passed him in the hallway and headed into the bedroom.
He threw his pillow and blanket on the couch and proceeded to collapse on it, he was completely drained by the events that transpired over the course of the day. Sleep gripped him the moment his head made contact with the pillow...