Sixteen – Heart To Heart
“They’re here, they’re here!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping up and down. She didn’t care that she was making a spectacle of herself on the train platform. Nor did she care if she was on edge because of the last of the teenage hormones racing through her body.
As the train finally pulled to a halt, Twilight landed on all fours in between her parents and waited.
The passenger car doors slid open and out stepped Cadance and Shining Armor in full regalia. Cadance took one look at Twilight and grinned. She dashed ahead of her husband as Twilight met her halfway. And so began their dance.
“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”
“I can’t believe you’re all right!” said Cadance as she swept Twilight into her forelegs. “Your dad’s picture seemed too good to be true!”
Twilight’s ears dropped. “Oh. You got the photo already?”
Her sister-in-law smirked. “I have it framed and sitting on the royal nightstand.” She squeezed Twilight’s blushing cheeks and laughed. “Now I’ll never forget that adorable little filly I used to play with!”
At that moment, Twilight wished that Time Turner might show up and make one of his eccentric speeches to distract everypony. But since he was nowhere to be seen, she sighed and looked over at Shining Armor, who was hugging their parents.
“Twily!” Shining Armor trotted over and ruffled her mane. “How’s my little sis doing? Guess you’re not that little anymore, huh?”
“No, I’m not.” Twilight pointed a hoof at his face. “But you have to promise me you’ll never let me try an age spell anytime soon!”
“Deal!” Her brother laughed and side-hugged her as they followed Cadance and her parents away from the train platform. “I hear your second coronation’s gonna be a big hit.”
“Princess Celestia says it won’t be a huge affair like last time. A few words with a smaller audience and a short parade through Canterlot.” Twilight blushed when she remembered Celestia’s letter. Apparently the Princess thought that having a four-princess parade would be more expected in Canterlot, and take less of the spotlight off Twilight and her recent troubles. Not to mention that there had never been a procession of all four princesses in the city before.
After pausing to scratch her mane, Twilight looked up at her brother with a grimace. “Hey, B.B.B.F.F., I’ve got to ask you something personal.”
“Sure thing, Twily. What’s up?”
“It might be the teenage hormones talking,” Twilight began, “but I’ve got my eye on a certain pony. I mean, I know she likes me, but I don’t know what to say to her and how to go about this. I thought maybe you might, since, you know… you and Cadance…?”
Shining Armor laughed. “Since me and Cadance what, Twily?”
“Ugh. Don’t make me say it.”
“Okay, I won’t.” He slowly trotted alongside her, keeping out of earshot from the rest of their family. “Well, Cadance and I always had a thing for each other, but it wasn’t until after I got into the royal guard that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. When I proposed, I said I wanted her to be my family and not just my friend.” As he spoke, Twilight noticed a dreamy look in his eyes. His whole face had softened. “That’s what did it for her. She’s always wanted a family ever since she was little. You heard about how Celestia adopted her?”
Twilight nodded. Then she smiled. “And you told her she’d be getting me for a sister-in-law?”
“You got it.”
“Hmm.” Twilight continued to trot along in silence. This question of romance was quite tricky. More so than any math problem she’d ever encountered. Compared to this, vector calculus was a piece of cake.
Thinking about cake, she remembered that Fluttershy was still at the apartment with Pinkie Pie and Spike. She wondered if she should send a message that she’d be coming home late or if she should cancel her dinner plans with her family instead.
“So,” Shining Armor said slyly, “just who is the lucky pony on your mind?”
“Um, well…” Twilight ducked her head. “It’s, um… Fluttershy…”
“Sorry?” He looked like on the verge of bursting out into laughter. “Didn’t catch that.”
“Aargh.” Twilight lifted her head and looked him in the eye. “It’s Fluttershy. There. Are you happy now?”
“Huh, Fluttershy.” Shining Armor chuckled and shook his head. “You know, I was almost sure you were going to say it was Rainbow Dash.”
“What in Equestria made you think that?”
“Well, you’re both fliers. You both like to read—”
“She only reads Daring Do novels,” Twilight snapped. “And besides, shared interests do not equal romance. I mean, what did you and Cadance have in common before you got married?”
“Honestly?” Her brother smiled fondly at her. “Just you, sis.”
It seemed Twilight couldn’t stop blushing now that he and Cadance were in town. She got back at him with a sharp tail-flick to his rear, but Shining Armor just laughed again.
“You want my advice?” he added. “Just be yourself, Twily. You’re a very loyal pony and hard not to love. I’m sure you’ll both be happy together.”
Twilight turned and stared out at the moonlight streets of Canterlot. “I hope you’re right, bro.”
After a quick but sincere apology to her family, Twilight found herself flying back to the royal apartments. She landed on the main balcony and pushed the front door open, tensing up as she did. Almost two whole weeks of birthday parties had prepared her to be greeted with a mouthful of cake and a hoof-full of presents every evening.
But to her relief, there was no party awaiting her. Instead, Time Turner was sitting on the couch next to Public Record. They sat on the couch together, giggling and reading a shared copy of some ancient manuscript.
Twilight blushed and started to back out of the room. “Oh! Excuse me!”
“Yes, welcome back, Your Highness!” Time Turner suddenly looked anxious and adjusted his bow tie. “Ah.” He frowned and readjusted his bow tie. “I… I believe that your friends are playing a board game in the other room.” He shared an embarrassed smile with the royal archivist sitting on his left. “I’m sure they’d be delighted to have you join…”
His point was obvious, though Twilight found herself enjoying the rare occasion of catching him off-guard. “Yes, I’m sure the two of you will want to be alone.” She waved at them on her way into the next room. “Bye!”
Sure enough, Spike and Pinkie Pie were sitting at the kitchen table with a board game. Castles and Conquests, by the looks of it. Spike was rolling a pair of dice in his palm and dropped them onto the table with a triumphant roar.
“Yes!” he shouted. “Eighteen! The sphinx takes damage!”
“Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie Pie scribbled something down on her character sheet. “My bard casts a happy song spell on him!”
“Why?”
“So he’ll feel better and want to join our party!”
“Pinkie, it’s not…” Spike rubbed his palm down his face. “It’s not that kind of party. We’re trying to knock him out or scare him off.”
“Aww! Why would we want to scare away our new best buddy?” Pinkie Pie grabbed the tiny figurine of the sphinx from the board and cuddled it against her cheek. “He’s such a cutie-kitty-birdy-wirdy!”
Spike sighed and slumped back into his chair. When he saw Twilight, he grinned. “Hey, you’re back. How’s Cadance and Shining Armor?”
“Good. They’re both… good.” Twilight didn’t know what else to say. She was disappointed that a shy yellow pegasus wasn’t with them. “Hey, is Fluttershy around? I need to talk to her.”
“Oh, she’s in the bedroom,” Pinkie Pie replied. She began to rearrange the pieces on the board. “She said she wanted to be alone. I asked if she was taking a nap and she said that’s right!”
Spike leaned over and whispered, “Between you and me, she’s not sleeping. She’s just sad.”
Twilight’s ears flopped. “That bad, huh? Let me see if I can help her.”
“Be my guest.” When he turned back to the game, Spike’s tail thumped angrily against his chair. “Pinkie, no! The griffin cleric hasn’t leveled up yet! You can’t face him off against the sphinx!”
“But he can cast a spell that’ll make our team do this awesome dance!” Pinkie Pie started to dance a little jig on the kitchen floor as she spoke. “And then the sphinx will totally wanna party with us!”
“It’s not that kind of—!” Spike palmed himself in the face again. “Oh, what’s the use…?”
When she pushed the bedroom door open, Twilight poked her head in. “Fluttershy? Are you all right?”
“I-I’m fine,” the pegasus replied from under a pile of blankets. Her voice was choked and small, almost like she’d been crying. “Really. I’m… I’m fine…”
“You don’t sound fine to me.” Twilight crept forward, sweeping the door closed with her tail.
She was halfway to the bed when she stepped on large and soft on the floor. Looking down, Twilight saw the blue doll with the rainbow mane that she’d gotten as a birthday present. It was amazing how much it looked like Rainbow Dash, even in the dim lighting.
Picking it up with her teeth, Twilight flew the rest of the way to the bed and landed beside the bundle where Fluttershy was hiding. She gently set the doll down on the bed and waited.
At first, there was no response. But then Fluttershy stuck her head out and grabbed the doll with her hoof. The way she clutched it to her chest made Twilight think of so many school nights as a filly, when she’d been teased by the other ponies for being a know-it-all. And once her brother was asleep, the only friend she had was a stuffed pal named Smarty Pants.
Dolls were great that way. They never judged you. They were there to be held, whether you were happy or sad. Twilight wished she could cuddle with Smarty Pants now, even though she’d made her peace with Big Macintosh keeping her.
Still, that gave her an idea.
Twilight stayed completely still at first. Then she put her hoof around Fluttershy’s shoulder and snuggled close to her. The pegasus didn’t resist the embrace. If anything, she seemed to feel better. At least she’d stopped shivering under the blankets.
“I wanted to thank you for last night,” Twilight said slowly, trying desperately not to startle her. One wrong word and she might scar Fluttershy for life. “I know it was hard to stand up to the prince like that, but you were very brave.”
“I’m not brave,” Fluttershy whimpered.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are! You are, without a doubt, one of the bravest ponies I know! I’ve seen you face down a dragon, a manticore, a cockatrice, an army of changelings, and the entire population of Canterlot at the Hearth’s Warming Eve play!” Grabbing the blanket with her teeth, Twilight pulled it off Fluttershy’s head and looked her in the eye. “You’re brave and kind, Fluttershy. It’s a wonderful quality for a pony and I… I…”
She swallowed and tried to remember that she was brave, too. “And I love you for it.”
Fluttershy looked up at her in awe. “You mean it, Twilight?”
“I do.”
“Oh, my.” Fluttershy sat up, letting the blankets fall away. She still held onto the Rainbow Dash doll. “Oh, my. I-I don’t know what to say!”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Twilight was surprised at how comfortable she felt when her friend was like this. It was so easy to be brave when Fluttershy was scared. Something about her made Twilight want to protect her. To reassure her. To bring out that brave little pegasus inside and help her through whatever problems she was facing—
And that was when she knew.
She knew it was real.
“But, Twilight,” Fluttershy protested, “what if it doesn’t work out? What if we can’t be together because you’re a princess and I’m just a mere pegasus and you’re too busy and important for—”
Twilight stopped her with a kiss to the forehead. Fluttershy went quiet as her cheeks turned red.
“Princess or not, I’ll always have time for my friends,” she reassured her. “And if this is serious, I’ll always have time for you, Fluttershy.” She kissed her on the cheek, just below her ear. “Always.”
Fluttershy didn’t say a word. She squealed and hugged Twilight with all her might. They fell back onto the bed as the Rainbow Dash doll bounced out of her grip and back onto the floor.
We’ll get it later, Twilight decided. For now, she’s got me…