//------------------------------// // Horning In // Story: Experimenting in Feels // by TheTalentlessPony //------------------------------// There he was. Standing right at the fountain, as he had said. And he was staring right at her. Or, more specifically, the huge saddlebag she was carrying. "Important supplies Prin-er... Twilight?" he asked, raising a brow as he directed his hoof towards her back. "O-oh, these?" Twilight questioned, smiling sheepishly as she turned slightly, letting him see her saddlebag better. Was she hiding a filly in there or something? "You could say that." "Ah. I see," Comet Tail muttered. He went silent for a second, taking a moment to simply stare at her, before shifting his gaze downwards. "So, did you have any place in mind?" he asked. She smiled in return, glad to have the attention taken off of her saddlebag. "There's this little place I've been hearing about lately. Everypony says that I've gotta try the food there sometime, but I've never gotten the oppurtunity." "That place? I think I might know what you're talking about..." he told her. "Oh yeah? Then... could you please lead the way?" she asked, blushing slightly in nervousness. In her earlier determination for supplies, she had forgotton to get directions. "Of course," he answered, turning and heading down a dirt road, with Twilight following closely behind. The short silence they shared together didn't last long, as Comet Tail was quick to turn his head to her as he trotted. "Would you like me to carry that bag for you? Looks heavy..." She blushed slightly in response. "O-oh no, it's fine. I'm part earth pony; I can carry it." "Ah, right." His eyes then flashed a foreign emotion before he turned his attention back to the path. "If you insist." That was nice of him... ...Ah! Suddenly stopping in her tracks, Twilight sat down and reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a small device that she swiftly stuck to her foreleg. Comet Tail halted as well, eyeing her curiously (though a little less curiously than he probably should've been) as she fumbled with a notepad that she pulled out. "Heart rate increased noticably... cheeks feeling instantaneously warmer..." she muttered as she wrote. "I thought you already took all of your notes last night?" he questioned in a bit of a joking manner. She looked over at him, then grinned nervously as she frantically put her things away. "Right, right. We were heading to that one restaurant, right?" He nodded, and she quickly got back to following him as he continued to walk, observing him all the while. His breathing seems to be hitched somewhat, and his straight face appears to be forced. Comet Tail glanced over at her suddenly, making her jump a bit, as it was right as she finished her thoughts. However, he quickly looked away and focused back on the path. Twilight scrunched her snout at the scene with curiousity. That was odd. He looked at me, then suddenly looked away. My heart seemed to jump a bit too... "You're somewhere else today, Twilight," his voice suddenly rang in her ears, making them shoot up as she gazed at him. "H-hm?" she asked, trying to mantain her composure. Though, admittedly, being part-pegasus, it was difficult to not show fear or nervousness, as flared-out or ruffled-up wings were usually a sign of such things. She had once complained about it, but her friends thought it was a nice new quality of hers; something about it making her seem 'more expressive', or something. "You didn't have to take me anywhere if you would've preferred not to," he muttered. "Now, don't start that again," she told him with a bit of a smirk. "I said I wanted to, and I meant it. I'm not the Element of Honesty, but that doesn't meant I'm a liar!" Comet Tail took a moment to stare at her, then shifted his gaze towards the sky. "Mmm... I see," he whispered. "Like starlight..." "Starlight?" Twilight asked. "You're talking about astronomy, right? The stars?" He nodded, suddenly smiling blissfully. "The stars have a tendency to make predictions of the future, correct?" "On occasion," she replied, tilting her head in mild confusion. "Well, predictions are never a lie. It is merely theory. The stars are wrong sometimes, but predictions cannot be faulty, as predictions are all they are. They're always honest." There was a brief silence between the two for a moment, but Comet Tail was quick to break it as he winked to Twilight. "Besides that, they move. They never 'lie' for too long," he said. She giggled cheerfully at his sudden joke, her wings nearly flaring out from the surprise of his unseriousness. "A-ah, I made you laugh," he said softly, sounding amazed that he managed to do so. "Hah~ It was a good one though," she told him. "O-oh? I'm glad," he stated, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. And Twilight's eyes widened at the sight.... Though relaxed just a second ago, she was suddenly in full gear. "You're doing it too!" she suddenly shouted, reaching into her bag as fast as she could. "H-hm?" Comet Tail grunted, taking a step back in surprise. "I need to record this!" "W-wah!" He was swiftly knocked over by her as she attached her device to his hoof, eyeing the numbers that appeared carefully. His heart rate's gone up... some of it is probably from surprise, but- Her thought process halted as she realized what she had done. Looking over at him, Comet Tail's face was a deep crimson red. "U-uh..." Twilight stuttered, blinking obliviously for a moment. "I... I-I'm so sorry!" Quickly jumping off of him, she snatched the device off and placed it back into her saddlebag. "I, uh... don't know what-" "Don't worry about it," he said calmly as he sat up, though looking away from her. ...Did I... make him upset? "Let's get back on our way now, shall we?" he asked. "..." "Twilight?" he called as he began to walk, back facing her. His calm tone was forced. "O-oh! Y...yeah." And she followed.