"Flowers?" Twilight asked.
"Check," Spike answered as a small bouquet of lilies and tulips floated through the air and into the basket on the table, glowing with a violet aura as they soared overhead.
"Umbrella?"
"Check, but why in Equestria do you need an umbrella?" he asked, watching a large umbrella drifting through the air over his head and scratching behind one of his green spines with the tip of the quill. “It’s been sunny all day, and there’s barely a cloud in the sky.”
"Just in case it rains," Twilight answered calmly as she watched it rest beside the basket. "I want this date to be perfect, and I’m not going to let a sudden unscheduled raincloud ruin it."
"I'm sure Rainbow Dash is going to keep the sky clear tonight," Spike said. "She's the one who set you and Fluttershy up for this, remember?"
"I know, Spike," Twilight answered, "But even Rainbow Dash can't keep a weather eye on every cloud in Ponyville."
"Heheh, don't let her hear you say that." Spike said with a chuckle.
Twilight snickered too. "Don't worry, I don't plan to. Tonight is about me and Fluttershy. Nopony else will-" She was cut off when Spike reached up one of his claws and held her lips shut.
"Twilight! How many times do you have to jinx yourself before you start realizing that it just might be a real thing?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed Spike away with her hoof. "Oh relax, Spike. Nothing bad is going to happen." She returned her focus to the picnic basket she was preparing while Spike smacked himself in the face.
"She just never learns," he grumbled to himself as he went back to looking over the list quietly, reviewing it again before Twilight made him triple check it anyway. A knock at the door broke his rereading after only a few minutes, though, and with a sigh he walked over to open it, only to be startled by a squeal behind him.
"She's here! She's here!" Twilight said excitedly as she ran to the door, nearly trampling Spike as she rushed past. "Spike! Get the basket!"
"But you were just standing by it!" Spike groaned, turning around and heading back the way he had just come.
Twilight did not hear Spike’s complaint, though, because she was far too focused on the door. She raised a shaking hoof to open it. Those annoying little butterflies in her stomach had not been bothering her all day as she planned the date. After asking Fluttershy out they had gone away and left her be. But now, as she opened the door and saw the yellow feathers and soft pink mane, they were back in force.
Twilight wasn’t the only pony feeling jittery. Despite her own queasy feeling, Fluttershy was glad to see her friend on the other side of the door. She had almost been too nervous to knock. When Twilight asked her on this date she had almost fainted, and since then she had been one big quivering ball of nerves. But now, looking into Twilight’s eyes, seeing her smile, all those nerves slowly began to fade away. It was Twilight. Her friend. More than her friend now.
“Hi, Fluttershy!” Twilight said, pure elation showing in her face. She stepped out and wrapped one of her forelegs around Fluttershy, and Fluttershy returned the hug.
“Hello, Twilight,” She said, her cheeks blushing pink as Twilight gave her a quick kiss on the side of her muzzle. Twilight had kissed her just like that when Fluttershy had said ‘yes’ to going out with her. It was a sweet gesture, the sweetest Fluttershy could recall ever getting.
“Spike!” Twilight called.
“Right here,” The young dragon said, already beside her holding up the picnic basket over his head.
“Thanks!” Twilight said as her magic ensnared the basket and lifted it off of him. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Can you finish re-organizing the books, dust the shelves, wash the dishes, mop the bathroom and air out the attic while I’m gone?”
“But I thought I was gonna be watching Angel?” Spike said.
“What?” Twilight asked, glancing at Fluttershy in confusion.
“Oh, um, yes," Fluttershy said as Angel poked his head out from behind her long pink hair. “I, um, asked Spike if he would keep Angel company while we were, um….on our date." She looked down seeming to be slightly upset. “I, um, if that is okay with you.”
“It’s fine,” Twilight said, “Spike can do his chores later." Turning to Spike, she added, “Just keep Angel out of trouble.”
“Easy," Spike said as the little white rabbit hopped over to him. “Angel and I are bros now.”
“Okay, have fun!” Twilight said, walking outside with Fluttershy. Moments after the door shut behind them there was a loud bang followed by the sound of books falling off of shelves.
“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy said.
“I think Spike has plenty to do now,” Twilight said, biting her lower lip. Part of her was strongly insisting that she go back and rescue her library now, but the rest of her knew that tonight was about her and Fluttershy, and she would force herself to get over the idea of Angel and Spike destroying every book she had.
Fluttershy and Twilight’s date was to be a picnic at the park. The sun was setting as they left the library, so it would be a picnic by moonlight. Walking to the park would have been a quiet affair if Twilight had not already been prepared. She knew Fluttershy well enough to know that casual conversation was easy between them, but the pegasus was unlikely to start a topic at the best of times. If she was even half as anxious as Twilight was then, it was impressive that Fluttershy was even still walking beside her with a smile.
Twilight started with what was easiest for her to talk about: the library. Fluttershy was responsive enough to the topic and within minutes was carrying her own side of the conversation. The library topic led to Spike, which led to Angel, and by the time they were at the spot Twilight had chosen, she knew more about that little bunny than she ever thought was possible.
“Really? His whole family?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded and Twilight shook her head. “I never would have thought,” she said as she came to a stop at the top of a small hill. It rose up steadily from the east and south sides, but had a sharp drop on the west and north where the small stream emptied into a pond.
Fluttershy looked around from the top of the hill as Twilight used her magic to pull the blanket from the picnic basket. “It’s lovely here, Twilight.” Fluttershy said.
“I picked it for the view.” Twilight said. The blanket was unfurled and they both rested on it, facing each other. Twilight took the sandwiches out next and gave one to Fluttershy. For a few quiet minutes they ate, both ponies content to just smile at each other under the moon and stars.
“The night is beautiful tonight.” Fluttershy said.
“Princess Luna knew we were going on a date," Twilight said, her eyes looking around, “I wonder if she did anything with the stars for us. Like a heart constellation or something.”
“Do you think she would?” Fluttershy asked, looking slightly embarrassed by the idea.
“I’m not sure…” Twilight said, “She could, I mean, she’s the princess of the Stars and Moon after all.”
Fluttershy glanced at Twilight when the word princess was mentioned, and Twilight caught the look. She sighed, but smiled and giggled a little. “I already told all of you that I’m just a princess in title. I don’t have any special powers or responsibilities like Celestia and Luna.”
“Um…” Fluttershy said, blushing, “I was actually going to ask, um, how your flying lessons with Rainbow Dash were going.”
“Oh…” Twilight responded, looking sheepish from her assumption, “They’re, um, on hold for a bit.”
“Oh?” Fluttershy asked. “Is something the matter?”
“Well, it’s just that flying is hard," Twilight said, “and Rainbow Dash’s teaching methods are...well...a little intense.”
Fluttershy nodded, knowing what Twilight meant. She had undergone some of Rainbow Dash’s training when Ponyville was emptying its water reservoir to Cloudsdale. Imagining her impatience with someone who did not even know the basics of flight was humorous, but pitiable.
“Do you want me to help you with some of the fundamentals?” Fluttershy asked.
“Really?” Twilight asked, “Would you?”
“Of course," Fluttershy said, enjoying the feeling of being helpful. “We can start now if you’d like.”
“But what about our date?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy had not thought about that and felt bad for forgetting that they were on a date. Twilight saw the upset look and frowned. “I mean, I definitely want to learn to fly, and I think you will be a better teacher for a beginner like me, but I just don’t want to ruin our first date.”
“I don’t think it would ruin the date," Fluttershy said. “Teaching you how to fly is important. It’s part of who you are now. Unless you had something else in mind.”
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but closed it. She thought about it for a moment before realizing that, besides talking and eating, she really did not have anything else planned. “All I really had planned was finishing our picnic and walking you home.”
“Okay," Fluttershy said, “But we’re almost done eating.”
“Yeah…” Twilight said, glancing at the basket. “Okay, if you’re fine with it, I think a short lesson would be fun." Both ponies smiled and stood up. Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but stayed quiet as Twilight conjured a quill and scroll and sat down. “Ready!” she said.
Fluttershy blushed and reached a hoof over to Twilight, pushing the notes away. “I wasn’t planning on teaching you that way," she said softly. This took Twilight aback momentarily but she nodded and the note taking gear vanished, smiling sheepishly.
“First,” Fluttershy continued, “Lay down on your stomach," She patted the blanket with her hoof. Twilight nodded and did as she was told. “Okay, stretch your legs out in front of yourself and behind yourself, and spread your wings.” She placed her hoof on one of Twilight’s to gently guide her limb into the right position.
As soon as Twilight took the basic flight form Fluttershy saw the first signs of her inexperience. “Your wings are too stiff," She said gently, as she prodded one of Twilight’s wings with her hoof. “You need to spread them, not stretch them. Here, relax your wings slightly," She said as she reached under one of the wings and pushed up softly. While Twilight relaxed her wings Fluttershy was able to get the one into the faintest bend and remove her hoof. “Like that," She said. She watched as Twilight matched that wing with her other wing and nodded. “Good. Now lift your legs a little and try to balance on your stomach.”
“This is kinda tough.” Twilight said as she lifted her limbs.
“Not a lot of non-pegasus ponies know how much work it takes to fly," Fluttershy said, “Besides wing and back muscles, you also need to really work your abdominal muscles for balance. If you do this exercise for about a half hour a day though you’ll be good. Once you fly regularly you won’t need to do this because you won’t even notice the strain.”
“Okay.” Twilight said through partially clenched teeth. This being her first time in this position, it was quite difficult.
Fluttershy smiled and patted Twilight’s back gently and said “Relax," she said, touching Twilight’s side to try and gently rub the muscles she knew would be sorest. Twilight blushed from the touch but giggled as well, being rather ticklish there. Realizing what she had done she meeped and withdrew her hoof. Averting her eyes from Twilight, Fluttershy looked out over the pond, thinking that this was one of the best places for their first practice. “Have you glided yet?”
“Glide? No," Twilight said, “I barely got off the ground so far.”
“Well have you tried jumping off of something?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t mean a roof," She jerked her head to the edge of the hill where she was standing. There was a short drop of about ten feet into the pond. “If you bend your wings the way I showed you and jump from here, you can glide to the other side," she said as Twilight looked down at the water. There was about fifty feet and some change from the hill to the other bank. “You just need to stay calm and keep yourself steady.” Fluttershy said sagely before jumping off of the hill and over the water.
Her wings spread and her feathers fluttered in the air as they carried her daintily across the water to land without any difficulty safely on dry land on the far side. Twilight looked down at the water, and then across at Fluttershy.
“You can do it!” Fluttershy called to Twilight. This heartened the alicorn and she smiled. Taking a deep calming breath, Twilight spread her wings the way Fluttershy had showed her and jumped. Her eyes were shut and her limbs outstretched but she felt the air passing under and over her wings. She opened her eyes after a second and watched with a rising excitement as she was,indeed, gliding across the water. Landing was not part of the lesson, however, and she crashed into the ground on the other side of the pond.
“Oof!” Twilight grunted. Fluttershy ran over to her cheering.
“You did it Twilight! You did it!”
“I did! I did do it!” Twilight said happily when she stood up. she lifted her forelegs and gave Fluttershy a hug. “That was so amazing! I’ve never felt that..that…free in my life!”
“Just wait until you fly," Fluttershy said. She looked back across the water at the hill. “Want to try?”
“Try flying?” Twilight asked, both scared by the idea but also feeling confident from her recent success at gliding. “Okay.” She said after a moment.
Fluttershy nodded and spread her wings. “Jump with your legs,” She said, “and flap your wings. You need to turn them to face downwards as you jump to get the most lift," She demonstrated by flapping her wings slowly, then rising on her hind legs and turning her wings appropriately. “You try.”
Twilight nodded and mimicked Fluttershy as best she could, flapping a little quickly and randomly. Fluttershy got her attention and showed her the more rhythmic, gentle flapping and the second time Twilight did it better.
“Okay. Watch me. Just jump and flap. Stay calm and flap steadily.” Fluttershy explained before doing it herself. Seemingly effortlessly, the natural born pegasus flapped her wings and took off, flying easily back over the pond to land on the hill. She waved back at Twilight, encouraging her to follow.
Less hesitant than before, Twilight took another deep breath and jumped. She flapped her wings a couple of times and ascended through the air but as soon as she began to dip she flapped her wings much faster and harder. The resulting instability led her to fall into the water in the middle of the pond.
Fluttershy was alarmed at first and jumped off the hill to fly over to where Twilight had fallen in the water. When she surfaced and spat water out, looking more annoyed than in trouble, Fluttershy relaxed.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah," Twilight said, her horn glowing. “The water’s nice. Come in!” Her magic aura surrounded Fluttershy and a second later the pegasus was submerged besides Twilight. She surfaced seconds later sputtering. Twilight chuckled and soon Fluttershy giggled also. In retaliation, Fluttershy splashed Twilight. The librarian would not be outdone so easily and splashed Fluttershy back.
For a little while the two ponies laughed and splashed each other in the lake and took it in turns to dunk each other below the water. After Twilight surfaced for the umpteenth time, she swam up to Fluttershy and kissed her. Not just a peck, but a long, deep, loving kiss. Fluttershy froze up momentarily but soon melted into Twilight’s hooves and returned the kiss.
“This is not at all what I had planned for our first date," Twilight said after their muzzles parted. “It was much better.” They hugged each other, floating in the middle of the pond and enjoying the sound of silence.
Fluttershy glanced skyward to appreciate the night once more and try to commit this moment to memory when she saw the stars moving. They were forming a very distinctive shape and she gasped.
“Twilight…” She said, pointing her hoof up. “Look.” she said softly. Twilight looked up as well and her eyes widened at the heart-shaped constellation.
Twilight and Fluttershy stared up at the stars. They both knew that the heart was for them, for this night. They looked at each other again, still holding each other, and kissed.