Chapter 22: The Heart's Calling: Part 1
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Twilight had spent the better part of the last three days cooped up in the library. While that in itself wasn't anything new for her, what she had done over the past three days was. She couldn't figure out why, but every time she thought about Azure's last visit, her stomach started to do gymnastics, something that she herself never even looked at much less mastered. At the same time, her chest-no, her heart, began to hurt when she recalled that they'd been about a second short of kissing. If Spike hadn't interrupted--
Of course, it wasn't just that she had to deal with. Her assistant, Spike, seemed keen on reminding her about it at least once a day. Sure, immediately after he saw the angry or hurt look on her face-Twilight couldn't tell what kind of face she'd been pulling when the memory came back-he shut up about it for the rest of the day, but it still kept reminding her of the moment...
And the immediate aftermath. The first thing she did was shove him over onto his rump while he remained completely still. Then, when he tried to talk about it-probably not meaning anything by it-all she did was push him away. Ever since then, she'd felt that she did need to talk about it. However, she would always put it off, insisting to herself she wanted the study time.
That approach had worked so far. But now she couldn't focus on the book she was reading, and it certainly wasn't a result of eye damage. She'd forgone wearing her glasses since that day. Her face pulled into a grimace as she strained to keep herself focused on the literature.
It's no use... Twilight thought to herself. I can't focus like this...
She looked to her winter gear at the opposite side of her room, just to the left of the door.
"Spike, watch the library," Twilight called out.
"Why?" Spike asked back, poking his head into the room to look to her. Twilight tried to hold herself from blushing, which was easier said than done given the circumstances.
"I've got somepony I need to talk to. Now."
She reached out to her scarf and boots, and began to put them on. She cast a glance to her glasses, and breathed steadily as she decided to herself on whether or not to wear them over there.
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Azure hadn't moved much from his home over the past three days. He wasn't sure at all what to do about the predicament he found himself in. The only thing he could think to do in his situation was to stay away from the others as much as he could, since he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to be around them. He did remember he did have a moment with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as well. While there hadn't been any since then, he wasn't about to take the chance until he could sort out the mess between himself, Twilight, and Applejack.
The only time he left his home was to see if Rarity had any other advice to offer him, given two things: she knew when he said something, he didn't mean it romantically; she also wasn't interested in him like that anyway. She didn't really seem to be advising him one way or the other. Applejack and Twilight were very different mares. One of them was very physical-well, being an earth pony aside-and the other spent most of her time reading and studying. Azure wasn't sure which one he would choose. However, he didn't want to hurt either of them if it could be helped, and he certainly didn't want his final decision to hurt them any worse than it was going to already.
The colt lay back in his bed, racking his brains for an answer to his question.
I guess it can't hurt to go down what it is I like about each of them again, and see if anything new comes up this time. Azure thought to himself, closing his eyes and going down his mental list. Both of them are beautiful and hard-working at what it is they do; I know this already. I have to admit, they both can get aggressive at times, though it seems like Twilight is always trying to direct hers at me...
Azure furrowed his brows, All of which I know already...Among my friends, they were saying Twilight was the one, at least way back when I first met each of them. Among my co-workers, I think they were pulling for Applejack, though I'm not sure of that. But I guess that doesn't matter since I've wound up with both of them liking me in a way that ponies shouldn't like "just friends"...
The unicorn's eyes twitched, and he shifted on his mattress.
What else is it you like about them? Which mare's traits do you like more?
There was a knock at the door, disrupting Azure's train of thought. He swallowed nervously, dreading who was on the other end of the door. It was a dread he'd never thought he would have about the fact it would be one of his friends at the other end of the door, but given the situation he'd wormed himself into unintentionally, he didn't want to chance attracting any other mare to him.
He rose from his bed and trotted up to the door, wrapping himself up in the blanket on his bed as he went. Eventually, he opened the door, and was moderately surprised to see Twilight Sparkle standing there. And she was still wearing those glasses. Azure had half a mind to ask why she was still wearing them, but he wasn't about to get slapped by another mare.
"T-Twilight, what are you..." Azure started, not expecting her of all ponies to visit. Yet, he knew he'd wanted to talk about what had happened between them a few days ago. The memory of that event returned, and he felt himself blush.
"Azure..." she started, starting to blush herself. "We need to talk about what happened the last time you were at the library..."
"Okay...are you sure you're ready now?" Azure responded. Twilight paused, and after a few moments of awkward silence, she nodded, showing reluctance to talk about it. However, since she did look ready to speak; and seem ready, the cyan colt cast aside his doubts, "Come on in and make yourself comfortable...we're gonna be here a while..."
I'm probably gonna regret doing this, but I still want to talk about it. Maybe it'll allow me to see something I hadn't before.
Twilight set aside her winter gear in the spot where she had when she had last visited him, and joined him over by the fireplace. The two unicorns shifted about awkwardly. Azure could tell neither of them could find the exact words they needed for the moment, so he said the first thing that came to mind.
"So..." he started, completely unsure of how to begin. Following his instincts, the first thing Azure said was this: "Uh, you must be cold after the walk here...so...I have cocoa, would you like any?"
Twilight remained silent, merely nodding to his question. It was a bit awkward, since neither of them had anything to say. Given the fact they always seemed to have something to say to each other since the first day they met, the fact there was nothing much said so far made Azure even more uncomfortable. He tried to delay the upcoming conversation as long as he could, taking the longest possible time he could with preparing the hot drinks.
I've been trying to avoid them the past few days while I tried to figure things out, that much is true... Azure thought to himself. I couldn't have seen this coming...what do I do now?
He couldn't stall for more than ten minutes before the cocoa was ready. Exhaling harshly to himself, he stood up, and began lifting the mugs with his magic, carrying them back to his room and setting them back down.
"There we go..." he said, setting Twilight's cup down in front of her. "Careful, it's hot."
He awkwardly paused as a voice in the back of his head cried out: Of course it's hot, stupid!
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Twilight took the mug, not knowing what else to say other than "Thank you" to the offer the colt had made. After cooling the cocoa, she took a sip of the drink. She watched Azure set his mug aside. If she didn't know what to say, she might have acused him of buying time, but knowing he was in the same boat she was made it more bearable to not know what to talk about regarding their "almost kiss".
It didn't help the mare's case any that there were no books on the subject of romance she could see. At least, not fact-based books. Most of them were sappy romance novels that Rarity would be drawn to, and even some that would be too much for her. But Azure seemed particularly reluctant to say the first words. She gritted her teeth, not wanting to be the first to say something, but she came here to find out why she felt the way she did.
"F-first," she finally stuttered audibly, and Azure snapped to attention. She was trying to keep control of the situation, but her voice wavered just a little bit. "I want to apologize for what I did back then."
"It's not your fault, Twilight," Azure responded, sounding as though he were making every attempt to keep his voice flat and his words short, failing in the former. "We were both in shock."
"Maybe, but it doesn't excuse what I did," she continued, now feeling at least a little more comfortable talking. "I could have just backed away...I didn't have to push you over!" She frowned, looking at her own reflection in the cocoa. "You even wanted to talk about it and all I did was make you leave...a-a mare shouldn't do that to a...colt."
For some reason, she felt like she missed a word. No. She knew the reason why she felt like there was a word missing.
"It's okay, Twilight," Azure said, abandoning all effort to keep his voice flat, but he was still speaking in an unusual manner for him. The purple mare couldn't figure out why he seemed so...different. "At least we're talking about it now."
Twilight smiled. At least that softer half hadn't gone away. The fact he was still acting serious in this case, and not...reckless or hard-headed here, made the fact she was here to talk about a painfully awkward moment all the better for her. She merely nodded in response to this, and found herself unsure of how to start the discussion once again.
She shifted the mug about on the table with her hooves as opposed to her magic. "To be honest, I don't know where to begin with this. You should know by now I don't do things without first getting some information on it. But there wasn't anything on...things like this. Not even a 'how to' guide..."
"I wouldn't have expected anything different," Azure replied, only now taking a sip of his cocoa. He flinched slightly, probably because he failed to take his own advice and burned his tongue as a result, but he recovered quickly. "Back when we first met, you were the only one out of the seven of us that night that knew what to do about Nightmare Moon. Me? Even though I saw it coming too, I didn't have any plans in mind."
"But even though we both know the situation again, this time, neither of us know what to do. I am just as lost as you are on how to start this." Azure finished, taking another sip. His brown eyes trailed elsewhere, and they almost seemed to glow for a moment as the light from the fire hit them.
"Alright..." Twilight sighed. For once in her life, she was just going to have to go by instinct. And her instinct was telling her to ask a very simple, straightforward question. "So...before we almost..." She once again found herself unable to say it, and a strange pain once again flared in her chest. "What exactly went through your mind."
The answer she got wasn't what she'd expected.
"You were."
Twilight's eyes widened, and she couldn't hold herself from blushing at all.
W-was I really...?
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Azure--you idiot, you did it again!
Ever since Rarity had made him totally aware that his words were in fact having an impact on his friends, in particular two of them, Azure had made it a point of staying home whenever he could, except to see if the white unicorn had anything new to offer him on his problem. So far, she didn't dispense any real worthwhile advice except to see which one he was sure he liked more.
Now that he saw Twilight's reaction, guilt welled up in the colt's heart like he'd never felt before. At no point did he mean to lead her or Applejack on, but it was the truth that he had said in all of the instances.
Azure tried not to sigh heavily as he gathered his words. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he decided to make sure the cat couldn't retreat into the bag. The hole he was digging for himself was getting deeper.
"So...w-what was going through your head, Twilight?"
"Oh...well..." She gathered herself with a deep breath, "I had been thinking about you...or, rather, the side of you that had come out into the open..."
"Eh?" Azure asked, completely oblivious as always.
"I guess I'd better explain this..." Twilight sighed, setting the mug of cocoa down and sliding it slightly away. "When I'd first met you, when you tried attacking Nightmare Moon even though you had full knowledge of what she was capable of, I thought you were a hard-headed colt who just could not be reasoned with." She was blunt about it, but it wasn't exactly news.
"It wasn't until you reassured me when the Ursa Minor attacked town that I began to re-think what I thought of you. Even then I wasn't really sure. After you stood up to your own cousin, I really began to evaluate who you really were." Twilight said. "In light of everything that's happened recently, I realized that I wasn't right about you."
"Yes, you recklessly charge into everything that you can't stand to see, but in almost every instance where you had, you were provoked by something. Whether it was Virid mocking us or an evil pony doing evil deeds, you never once attacked out of spite alone. You did it because your friends were insulted, because they were going to be hurt if you didn't do anything."
"Azure, you might be a reckless colt, but you're also...you're also probably the most interesting colt I've ever met!" She finally finished. "That was the colt I saw in your eyes three days ago..."
Is...is that how they see me now...? Azure thought to himself, unable to react to what he'd heard straight away. I should have guessed...but I didn't think my actions would have affected her of all ponies this much. "Actions speak louder than words"...Why didn't I think of that?! What kind of catacylsm have I gotten myself into with all of them?
"Azure, are you okay?"
Azure blinked a few times in quick sucession, trying to get himself together. He hadn't even been aware he'd spaced out while pondering the depth of his predicament.
"S-sorry," Azure replied at last to the mare's discomfort, "That caught me by surprise..."
"I hadn't really thought about it until recently," Twilight said. "I'd had a lot on my mind for the past few days after that almost happened..."
Silence reigned once more in the house for a few uneasy seconds, and the purple mare seemed like she was fighting with herself on a certain subject. Finally, she leaned forward, and began to ask another question.
"C-can I ask you another question? You know, now that I've...said that?" Twilight asked awkwardly, seeming to be incredibly nervous about it.
"S-sure," Azure said, fearing what her question was inside. "Go on..."
"W-well...what--what do you see in...in me?"
The amount of nerves he could detect in her voice as she questioned him didn't soften Azure's nerves any.
What a time to ask me, when I'm not even sure of that myself... Azure thought to himself, sweating bullets. His eyes darted about against his will, and he found he couldn't even fabricate an answer to save himself here. What do I do now...?!
His heart started beating painfully, and admist the panic that gripped him, a single thought emerged in his mind. Am I going to lose her?
"Y-you don't have to answer right away..." Twilight finally said, breaking the silence. Azure blinked, and looked over to Twilight. Her expression, her body language, betrayed her emotional landscape. "I... I don't even know why I asked it, but...I really wanted to know..." She frowned, and Azure had to hold himself from holding his hoof to his torso in sickness.
Darn it...I'm hurting her doing this! I can't leave her like this...
"P-please don't take it the wrong way, Twilight," Azure responded. "I...I just have a lot on my mind lately..."
"I-is there anything I can help you with?" Twilight asked, trying to recover from her emotional disarray. The lights in Azure's mind were dim, but he wasn't a total idiot, especially after what had come to light recently. She wasn't quite right after Azure had failed to answer her, yet deep down he feared it would have gotten worse had he actually answered her without having his thoughts in array.
"I..I just need time to think, that's all..." He tried to sound as sincere as he could despite all the emotions raging inside of him.
Twilight seemed to buy his statement, and rose from her seat. She began to make her way to her winter gear, appearing to go a little slow.
"I understand," she said. "Guess I'd better get going." She was speaking a little fast for somepony that "understood" the situation, but Azure couldn't think of anything else to do in the case. He wanted to avoid hurting either of the mares he'd found himself attracted toward, and so far, he was doing a lousy job of that. "So, I guess I'll see you later then?"
"O-of course..." Azure said, walking up to the door, only to find the handle coated in a magenta hue. Twilight, now back in her boots and scarf, was walking past him.
"I'll just...show myself out..." she said, with a small smile. Though Azure really wanted to believe she was alright, there was something in her eyes that just seemed off. The mare walked past him, closing the door behind him.
Silence reigned in his home for a few moments. Azure went towards the table to clean up after the visit, when the full impact of the moment hit him and guilt...at least, that's what he was telling himself it was, guilt, began to leak from his eyes before he even realized it.
I'm hurting her, doing this... Azure thought to himself, leaning over as he sat down on his rump, overwhelmed. Have I hurt any of the others, too?
Twilight, I want you to understand, you're an irreplacable mare...but...
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Twilight's chest hurt like it never hurt before. She could see Azure was being sincere, or at the very least, he looked the part, when he was at a loss for words. The mare didn't like it at all, that he couldn't answer her straight away when she'd asked him that question. She was trying to hold herself together, trying to make it home before she began thinking too much of the--
Has he already decided on Applejack? The memory of how she'd learned of their closeness hit her full-force, and now she couldn't stop thinking about it. Azure, have you--
She had to stop herself immediately before she could think any further on that.
Azure might be reckless, but he's not...that kind of colt! I know he can't be... The mare thought to herself. If he was, I'd have already seen that side of him by now and I wouldn't be feeling like this...but why does it hurt so much...?
Tears tugged at the corners of her eyes, and she couldn't hold her jaw from clenching. She lowered her head, and raised a forehoof to the frame of her glasses to prevent them from slipping down off her face.
Azure's a great colt, and Applejack's a very good friend! I don't...I can't lose either of them...!
She bit her lip, at a complete loss for what to do about her situation. This was clearly more than just a matter of friendship, she could feel it deep down. And she wasn't immediately sure who she should ask about her problem.
That is, until she recalled the kind of books she did find on stuff like this.
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It was another pretty average day for Rarity. There was a certain triangle that needed to be resolved, but she was fairly confident Azure wouldn't do anything stupid. In fact, according to him, he had been trying to avoid contact with the others until he'd sorted things out. It was a bit unhealthy, but the white unicorn believed that in matters like this, especially considering all six of them were mares and he had a nasty habit of saying overly romantic things without even being aware of the romantic connotations.
With the Winter Wrap-Up approaching, Rarity had taken it upon herself to get this year's team jackets ready. Of course, typically Ponyville's Spring always came one day later, just because the whole affair was one disorganized mess, each and every year since she'd come here. However, since the event gave her store some publicity, she didn't turn down the chance to show what she could do.
She had been deep into her work when she heard somepony entering her shop. With a sigh, she decided to get up, somewhat expecting it to be Azure again, and Celestia knew he needed all the help he could get. When she crossed into the threshold, however, she was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle there instead. The white unicorn blinked, honestly not expecting her.
"Twilight!?" Rarity tried to compose herself from the surprise, but as she drew closer to her friend, the unicorn found it slightly difficult when she saw the whites of Twilight's eyes had been run red, and her cheeks looked a little wet. Rarity lightly bit her lip, and all of a sudden a very familiar anger rushed through her.
Azure Courage, what have you done?!
"Hi, Rarity..." Twilight said, probably trying to hide the fact she had just been crying. "You got a minute?"
Almost immediately, the white unicorn chose to hide the fact Azure had already talked about his side of the story thus far. It might have really complicated the tangled mess he'd already gotten himself into. It might have benefitted Twilight in the moment, but it would later come back to bite all three of them.
"Of course I do, darling," said Rarity, "Please, make yourself comfortable..."
The purple mare seemed surprised by the sudden hospitality, but didn't question it. Whatever it was that Azure did seemed to have knocked away her other concerns, and that only made Rarity's anger grow. Nevertheless, she had a duty to carry out for now. So, she went to close up shop for the time being while Twilight proceeded to make herself comfortable.
She was sitting down on the same sofa that Azure himself had sat on when the colt started to realize he was digging himself a hole. Rarity trotted into the room, fully ready to hear what it was that had happened, expecting the worst when it came to Twilight's condition.
"Would you like some tea, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"N-no thanks, Rarity, I'm not very thirsty right now," Twilight responded, still seeming off. The white unicorn felt another swell of anger, but she remained calm in her demeanor. Never in the time she'd known her did Rarity believe Twilight could be like this, especially towards Azure. Even with the fact that they did sort of make--
No, Rarity, be honest with yourself, the unicorn thought to herself, looking over to Twilight. Both of the mares he wound up in this situation with have an equal chance with him.
"Twilight, dear, is there something bothering you? You seem very upset..." The white unicorn questioned, going straight for the jugular and asking indirectly. Twilight was hit with the full force of Rarity's question, and her eyes widened.
"I-is it that obvious?" Twilight asked.
"I make it a habit of knowing when something's wrong with my friends," Rarity answered, opting not to comment that everypony could see how bad it was. "Please, tell me what's happened, Twilight. I will help you through it. After all, what are friends for?"
After a few moments of quiet consideration, Twilight spoke up: "Will you promise not to tell any of the others?"
"Well, of cour--"
"Especially not Azure?" asked Twilight. Rarity felt yet another surge of rage spike in her, but at least she knew she had been correct in the cause for the purple mare's change in attitude. And now, she absolutely had to know what happened between them.
"Of course, I won't say a word to anypony, whether it is Azure Courage or anypony else." Rarity affirmed. "Now, please, tell me, what happened..."
"Well, a few days ago, Azure and me were in the library..."
She'd heard this story before from Azure himself, but now she was hearing Twilight's half of the story. Apparently, her infatuation with him was longer-running than Rarity had realized. Ever since he had his ill-fated showdown with his cousin, Virid, even Rarity had to admit Azure was not the colt she thought he was. And she never thought she'd hear Twilight talk about Azure like that.
Such depth... she thought. This is far worse than I realized it to be...Is it the same way with Applejack, or...?
"Um, Rarity?"
"What?"
"You looked like you were daydreaming," said Twilight, taking note of the fact she had gone deep into thought over the bookish mare's story.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Rarity said, trying to banish her thoughts on the manner until after she'd heard everything. "As you were saying, darling?"
"Well, today I visited him at his house after finally getting up the courage to talk to him..." Twilight really seemed torn up about it. "We ended up talking for a while...and I asked a question that...I don't even know why I asked it in the first place..."
"What kind of question could you have asked him?" Rarity asked, not liking the look in Twilight's eyes.
"Well...I guess I should start with how it got to that point. You see, I asked him what was going through his mind when we almost..." She trailed off. "Well, you know..."
Rarity nodded in response, but did not say anything, reserving her words for when Twilight got to the point.
"He said he was thinking about...me..." Twilight smiled faintly, and her cheeks became flushed slighltly pink, but both signs of embarrassment quickly faded as she got to the heart of the problem. "But after I told him what I thought of him, I asked him what he thought of me..."
"A-and," Rarity immediately feared where this conversation was going. Azure had just barely figured out his problem; she didn't expect him to have an answer. "What did he say, Twilight?"
"He didn't have an answer...he said it was because he had a lot on his mind..." The purple mare hadn't looked more upset, and for a moment, Rarity swore Twilight reached up to her chest to quell some kind of heartache.
He couldn't answer you, Twilight, because he's not completely sure of his feelings for either of you yet...but he doesn't have a lot of time left to choose now.... Rarity thought to herself, trying to find a decent plan to buy Azure some time while at the same time placating Twilight.
"Well, it's highly possible he does," Rarity said, as an idea came to her. "Celestia forbid this is true, but something might have happened to one of his family members for all we know."
"T-that...that never crossed my mind..." Twilight bought the story, her eyes thinking through all the possibilities.
"Don't overthink it now, darling, I'm only using it as an example," Rarity cautioned. The last thing she wanted was to have told a lie too big for Twilight. "What I'm trying to say is he might be going through a tough time right now. He might need some time to himself."
"I-I guess me showing up and asking him that d-didn't help," The lavender unicorn seemed to understand Azure's plight, but she only knew half of it.
I really didn't want to lie to her like that...but I can not have her interrupting Azure while he's struggling to understand what it is he's doing and where his feelings lie.
"Please do not worry about it, darling," Rarity cut in. "I'm sure he will tell you his answer in due time."
Twilight's expression brightened. It was the reaction Rarity was looking for. "Thanks, Rarity, I really needed somepony to talk to about this, and from all the romance novels you checked out, I knew you were the perfect candidate."
"Anytime, dear," Rarity wasn't exactly sure what Twilight was getting at, but it was nice to see she was at least feeling better now. "but I must admit, I did not expect your feelings for Azure to run so deep..."
"I can't explain it, but over time, I found myself enjoying the time we spent together," Twilight said. "I searched all the books I could find, but none of them had a straight answer."
"This is not a topic you can research, Twilight."
"What...is it?" Twilight asked, confused by the fact one of her vices was shut down.
Rarity walked towards her friend, placing a hoof to her shoulder. "It's something you must figure out on your own."
"Okay," Twilight relented with a sigh, "Guess I'd better get going. Thanks again, Rarity. I feel a lot better now."
"If you ever feel like you need somepony to talk you through this, Twilight," Rarity felt a sense of deja vu enter her, but she did not dwell on it, "I believe I'll be able to offer you that service."
Twilight smiled and nodded before making her leave. As she watched her friend leave the boutique, Rarity quietly smirked to herself.
I really seem to have a knack for this...
There was no time to deal with that now. The white unicorn attempted to go back upstairs.
"Oh my, I appear to have forgotten something..." She looked towards the front door, and saw that she had left the "out to lunch" sign up on her front door. That wouldn't help her business at all, so Rarity decided to go towards the door, intent on correcting this fact.
Out of her peripheral vision, she saw it.
It was Azure, coming down the street, looking visibly disappointed. Rarity's forehoof twitched before she was even aware of it.
Impeccable timing, Azure... she thought to herself. I suppose I'd better leave the sign up for now. I know what he's here to talk about...
She decided to wait away from the door for Azure's arrival, and be prepared to hear his side of the story. A minute or two later, in walked the cyan colt. He looked up, seemingly surprised to see Rarity away from her work.
"Azure," Rarity's forehoof twitched again. "have you come for more advice?"
"Of course I have..." Azure seemed willing to blow past his surprise for the moment, walking up to her. "But first, I have a simple request."
"What is it, dear?"
"Slap me," Azure said. "Just as hard as you--"
SMACK!
The force was probably even more than the first time, but given he requested "as hard as she could", Rarity was willing to do that.
I probably couldn't have held myself from doing so anyway... thought Rarity. Does he already know how badly he messed up?
The cyan colt seemed almost dazed from the force of the slap, another bright red hoofprint taking form on the side of his face that got hit. He shook his head a little bit, recovering from whatever lag he had. "Thank you..."
"So, Azure," Rarity said, "why do you feel like being struck is necessary?"
Azure released a heavy sigh, and began telling her his story.
It was the same story Twilight had just told her, but she could hear the stress that was in Azure's mind. He still was coming to terms with what it was he liked about each of them, so telling Twilight what exactly he thought of her wouldn't have come naturally to him, or at least, as naturally as it might have were it not for the situation he was in.
"I know I hurt her, I know I did..." Azure's voice was full of guilt, "I didn't tell her what I thought of her...and--and I...I feel terrible."
Rarity raised a hoof to her mouth, as she quietly reconsidered hitting him for a split second. He's learning, at least...
She released a sigh. While she wasn't going to tell Azure any of the specifics, she felt like he had to know about Twilight's visit, so he didn't have to rush thinking about who he loved more. Such matters were not to be rushed.
"Azure, you do not have to worry too much about it," Rarity said.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm not saying you should lie back and patiently wait, but I bought you a little time..." The white mare continued. "It wasn't too long before you visited that Twilight came to me and told me the same story you just told me."
"What?!" Azure questioned.
"You did hurt her with your lack of an answer, but I was able to convince the poor dear that you needed time to figure it out. I didn't tell her anything that you told me, but you needed to know so you didn't feel like your time was up just yet." Rarity finished, "Matters of the heart should not be rushed."
Azure quietly stared, his pupils shaking a bit as he considered all that had to happen. He released a heavy sigh and said, "Thanks, Rarity. I owe you one."
"Do not worry about it, Azure," The white mare said. "Now, you know what you must do, right?"
"I probably still don't have that much time..." Azure responded. "But I need to get my feelings for both of them sorted out soon..."
With that, the meeting ended. Azure thanked Rarity for her help once more before departing. He seemed to be moving slow as he ambled down the walk, Rarity quietly watching him.
Some colts would envy you, Azure Courage, but... she thought to herself. You're not like them at all. You care for the mares you've wound up in this mess with, and you're faced with a tough decision to make. Both of them are matches for you, there's no denying that. But you need to decide for yourself which one's the bigger match. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack...which one calls out to your heart more?