//------------------------------// // Love Counter [Romance] // Story: Celestial's Half-hours // by Celestial //------------------------------// They say it isn't true love until it sends your heart beating at a hundred beats a minute. Then why isn't it so? I've truly tried anything, everything (well, except for doing prior exercise, that would be cheating) to make him beat my heart fast. We had dates together, we rested at each others' home' went for evening walks and afternoon picnics and morning breakfasts out and AAARGHHH! Why won't it just work? I've already studied him in detail, he's the perfect one! All the calculations point to him, being EASILY a >99% compatibility match! He loves astrology, I love astrology, he loves to research, I love to research, HE LOVES BOOKS, I LOVE BOOKS, we match personalities almost perfectly! He's the perfect stallion for me! Then why, WHY won't my heart listen?! It's one of those little things that incessantly dances about in my brain until it becomes a jackhammer, continously bombarding me with the notion that I'm doing something WRONG. I know, I know, I look crazy, I AM being crazy about this for Celestia's sake, but is it really too much for a mare to ask for the perfect stallion to hang out for an eternity with? What? Well, Don't look at me like that, I know that ponies die eventually... well, non-alicorns, that is, hehehe. It's just, well, yes I MAY or may not have a couple of plans to make my companion for life experience a.... dramatically increased lifespan, let's say? Nothing to do with dark magicks or other misaligned magic monstosities, of course! Where did you even get that idea? He's looking... well, staring at me right now... oh hay, I've been lost in thought for HOW LONG at OUR DATE? I smash my head on the restaurant table in sheer frustration and embarassement, groaning loudly all the way down. "Uh.. Are you okay?" From above comes his sweet, caring, slightest-bit-concerned voice. "I'm fine," I reply with the political poker face of a true princess. Okay, no, he totally didn't buy the strained voice and the sheepish smile. I sigh, releasing a great deal of tension I didn't know I was holding. This looks so hopeless. "Time Turner, can I ask you a question?" The tan Earth Pony stallion is quick to put on his smile, a genuine, comforting, reassuring arch of his lips that dispel the rest of my insecurities. "Of course, Twilight. May it never be that I prevent a fellow scientist from satisfying her curiosity." "Well..." I take another deep breath. Might as well go all-out. "It's just... When you look for a love interest, what do you look for in a... partner?" "Oh.." He says, looking pleasantly surprised by what I said. Perhaps he's reading this as a more forward advance? "To begin with, I suppose I would look in a partner some common traits with me. Shared hobbies, say, or perhaps same work, common habi-" I stomp a hoof on the table right there. "Okay, so this makes no sense. I've looked and we've got EVERYTHING in common! EVERYTHING! If you changed field of studies and got a horn, you'd be basically me! ... Well, you'd need a pair of wings too, too, and perhaps you'd need to be a protege of the prin-" He puts a hoof forward. "I understand what you meant." His expression is level, inscrutable. "Please continue." I cough once. "By what my research suggests we're the statistical perfect match, a one in a billion event! We should be perfect together in any possible way!" I push my hooves to my temples in desperation, "Then why doesn't my heart beat fast every time I see you? Why aren't I genuinely looking forward to spending time with you? WHY DON'T I LOVE YOU, TIME TURNER?" Okay, that one was a little louder that necessary. The whole restaurant may or may not have heard it, but they're certainly all looking in our direction now. Heh. Turner, for his part, is practically steaming from his embarrassment, trying to make himself as small as possible on the seat. "Can- can we go outside to discuss this?" "Er- Sure." -------- "Listen Twilight, I'm going to be direct and address your problem right away." He looks deeply into my eyes, leaving me entranced. "Love is not all about finding somepony as similar to you as possible. It helps, of course, but that's just a starting criteria. More often than not, it's about something else. "You know how two blind ponies don't perform well together when helping each other navigate? It's good for the blind one to have a non-blind partner. "We all have flaws, Twilight Sparkle, and love is not about finding someone with the same flaws as us, but rather someone that complements us. That can be your own mirror into what you're not, into a more whole, perfect... you know, WHOLE. In love it's good to look for someone that you're not, so that he or she may remind you to strive for that which you're lacking. So that you may, one day, teach your foals that there's more than one way of living life. That differences is what make life beautiful, so much that you may come to appreciate how everything may not be perfect itself, but it's rather part of a perfect union. "And with that, Sparkle, I must beg my leave. The bill is already paid. I really hope you find the stallion that will make your heart beat fast."