“Sparkle in my life, Twilight...”
“Sparkle...”
“Sparkle...for me...”
“Be my bandmaster.”
Twilight awoke to her early alarm going off again. Her dreams recently had been focused on one thing: Trey. Yet, she’d been very scatterbrained in how she approached it. Ever since the “Sparkle in my life” dream, she’d never quite been able to get over it. Hearing such compliments in her life just made her...happy. She’d long desired such affection, but never knew exactly how to go about it. She’d read multiple books on the subject, read some of the more...interesting...pickup line novels, and still...what was she missing?
She munched down on breakfast, pondering over the same proposal she’d been thinking of for a while.
“Twilight?”
Twilight suddenly snapped out of it, looking at Spike.
“Yes?”
“You alright? You seem out of it recently.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“Whatcha thinking about?”
“Whether to give you the day off or not.” she said, lying.
Spike simply nodded at her, smiling a bit.
“Well I guess you have the day off, then. Have fun!” she said, as Spike let out a gentle “Alright!” and ran out the door for other unknown activities. Twilight then continued pondering to herself silently, habitually grazing on her food.
***
“Good morning.” said Trey, as he once again woke up to the most beautiful sight of Fluttershy right next to him. “Hope you slept well.”
“I can never sleep bad next to you, silly.” she said, smiling at him, kissing him. He smiled back at her and stroked her face with his hoof tenderly.
“I always love waking up next to you. Now, Rainbow Dash gave me another rain check. Let’s have some breakfast.”
Fluttershy smiled and lightly kissed him again before letting him get up.
***
Twilight trotted down Ponyville, hoping not to get seen by any of her friends. As Trey’s house drew nearer, she suddenly spotted Fluttershy leaving. Trey waved her goodbye, blowing her a kiss. Twilight took note of this and waited until he closed the door, when Fluttershy was well out of sight. She took a deep breath in, trotted up, and knocked on the door.
Trey opened the door, a small look of surprise on his face as he noticed Twilight.
“Hello there, Twilight. What can I do for you?”
“Um...I just have a few questions. Can I come in?”
“Uh...sure.” he said, letting her step in, showing her to the couch. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’m writing a new report on love, and, well...books just don’t do it. Since I need to interview ponies, I was wondering if you’d like to give your opinion on the matter.” she said.
Trey clearly saw through this ploy but played along. “What do you want to know?”
“How do you know if you’ve fallen in love?”
“There’s really no good way to describe it. You just know. Love isn’t about finding a pony you can live with...it’s about finding somepony you can’t live without.”
Twilight pretended to write it down, shortly before realizing she didn’t bring any sort of parchment or quill. She sighed, frustrated with herself.
“That’s a very good way to look at it.” she said. “So what attracted you to Fluttershy?”
“Well, I’ve always had a bit of a thing for shy fillies.” he said, much to Twilight’s astonishment. Most colts thought confidence was a big turn-on, according to her studies. Trey never ceased to defy expectations.
“And why would that be?”
“Well...probably because I’m an habitually natured creature, and I’m actually slightly introverted and shy as well. She’s like sticking with the familiar. Besides, I just think it’s cute. But that’s just the purely psychological explanation.” he said, nodding at Twilight. He knew she’d want that.
“You seem to know a lot about psychology...” stated Twilight.
“I may be introverted, but because of it, I’ve had a lot of time to study ponies. Their attitudes, what works socially and what doesn’t. There are some things books can’t teach you. Some things, only books can teach you. It’s healthy to find a balance.”
“How would you psychologically describe Fluttershy? Why do you think she, psychologically, would be attracted to you?”
“I think because she needs a good colt in her life. She had something bad happen to her, yes. Deep in her mind, she wants something to prove to her that not all colts are the same. Since everypony in Ponyville already knows what happened with her, she wanted a fresh start. That’s where I came in. I’ve strived my entire life to be anything but typical, and I can only hope that Fluttershy accepts it. I know that she’s shy, yes, but she’s desired for so long to have a true friend, and she feels slightly neglected. I guess I give her the attention she needs, in a truly beneficial way. She also likes the feeling of knowing that she’s helping somepony. She’s truly helping me out by allowing herself to love me and vice versa. It’s a mutualistic relationship.”
Twilight froze for a second. That was an excessively good explanation. He was a lot smarter than she gave him credit for, which was saying a lot, since she already knew he was smart.
“Are you satisfied with Fluttershy?”
“I’m more than satisfied.”
“Is Fluttershy satisfied with you?”
“I think you should stick around and ask her yourself.” he said. Twilight almost shunned the idea, but gracefully accepted it. “She’ll be right back.”
“You two spend a lot of time together.”
“Usually that’s what ponies do when they’re in love.” Trey said, making his answers intentionally bland and mundane, almost sarcastic. “Besides, I don’t like the moments I have to spend away from her. You’d be surprised at how much Fluttershy feels the same way once she finds somepony to really love her.”
“I’m sure she’s very happy to have you.” she said, not thinking of much else to say. She’d completely tuned out, though. She suddenly pondered to herself as to what he could give her that her other friends couldn’t. Apparently Trey gave her something that Twilight failed to give her as a good friend. What was she missing?
“Would you say you’re also friends with Fluttershy?” she asked.
“Yes. But there’s a difference between simply being a friend and being in love. A good friend will do nearly everything somepony in love will do. The only difference, however, is how you react to it. For example, you and I would both rush to Fluttershy’s aid should she be in trouble. She’d show proclivity towards me showing up though, since she loves me. It’s not a matter of seeing who cares, but seeing who you care about.”
“Oh...am I interrupting?” asked Fluttershy, who’d been standing in the doorway.
“Not at all.” said Twilight. “I just had a few questions to ask for a research paper. Care to answer some for me?”
“Oh..um...sure.” she said shyly, unsure of what she was getting into.