//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Dinner // Story: A Unicorn's Dream, A Pegasus' Nightmare // by t_givlin //------------------------------// Fluttershy walked slightly in front of Twilight, which was probably best, considering she was the only one who knew where the two of them were going. As the two mares walked down the streets, talking of the days activities, Fluttershys curiosity had gotten the best of her "So, um, Twilight, what was that dream you mentioned to me earlier? If you don't want to tell, I completely understand" Twilight gave her friend a smile and blushed slightly "Well, I don't know what it means, but recently I have been having this dream where I am being chase through the everfree forest by something I cant see, and I run with all my might, and then, i come out of the forest up to this soft grassy hill in a clearing, where somepony stands looking down at me. But when I get close enough to see who it might be, I wake up" Fluttershy listened intensely, hoping to hear more "So, is there any clues as to who the pony is?" Twilight shook her head “No, the only thing I know is that it is a tall, strong stallion who wears a dark cloak” Fluttershy turned away from her friend, and began having second thoughts about the evening. "If Twilights have dreams about strong stallions, maybe I should just go home" Fluttershy thought to herself. But immediately after that thought, the image of Angel Bunny popped into her head and pointed to the imaginary calendar on her wall "Oh, Angel Bunny was right, I have to do this!" Twilight look quizzically at her friend "what did Angel say you had to do?" Fluttershy's wings closed in on her suddenly and she hit the ground, blushing madly, and hiding behind her mane as she often did when things were getting too much for her to handle. "How could you have said that out loud?" she berated herself in her head, not comprehending what just happened. Fluttershy built up as much courage as she could muster. "Oh, um...its nothing really, Twilight, just something I have to do for the animals when I get home” Fluttershy was tripping over her words, trying desperately to convince Twilight of their truth. Twilight looked into her friends green eyes, and Fluttershy was sure the game was up, and she would have to push up her plans. After studying Fluttershy for a good few minutes, Twilight was sure something was bothering her friend, but did not want to press the matter, as she knew her friend would talk when she was ready. "Well, Fluttershy, when you feel ready, you know you can talk to me about anything." Twilight smiled and Fluttershy relaxed "How could anypony be so understanding and beautiful" she thought to herself, being sure to keep her thoughts in her head. Both ponies continued into the night, heading towards the fanciest restaurant in Ponyville. As they walked through the door, the host looked at Fluttershy "Oh, mademoiselle, your table is ready” without another word, they were brought to their table in the private area at the back of the very posh eatery "Wow, Fluttershy, I feel guilty now, this is way too fancy. You didn’t have to do this you know” Fluttershy simply shook her head "Oh, not at all, Twilight, it was the least I could do" Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her menu, shielding herself from Twilights beaming purple eyes. Soon after, a waiter approached and took the two mares, order; a daisy and apple salad with a bottle of apple cider from the last of Sweet Apple Acres cider season. As the waiter left, Twilight looked to her friend "So Fluttershy, I know there is something on your mind, and I know that I said I would let you tell me on your own when you were ready, but I really think that it would help if you just let it out, so if its ok, would you please tell me what’s bothering you?" Fluttershy took a deep breath and looked at her best friend sitting across from her. All of the last 2 weeks of planning and set up had led up to this moment. Looking out the window, she seen Angel looking through the glass, waving impatiently for the pegasus to finally say what she has been longing to say since the day they confronted the sleeping dragon. Fluttershy opened her mouth "......you” Twilight couldn't hear anything except the shy squeak Fluttershy had been so famous for "Im sorry Fluttershy, could you speak up a bit, I didn't hear you” Fluttershy took another deep breath, and with an approving glance from her bunny, let out the words heavy on her mind "i, i, its you" she managed to get out. Twilight looked confused "I've been bothering you" Fluttershy shook her head "No, not at all, Twilight” Fluttershy hid herself deeper behind her mane "It’s just that, I.....I......I like you!" Twilight nearly fell out of her chair, too shocked to respond, all she could do was stare blankly at her friends eyes as the truth was finally revealed. Fluttershy fled the eatery, leaving behind a small bag of bits on the table along with a hoof written note with Twilights name on it. Twilight was stumped and speechless, walking home grasping the sealed note in her magic. She had left the restaurant with the eyes of everypony on her as she sat alone for nearly 20 minutes. Finally getting a hold of herself, the mare opened the letter, and began reading "Dear Twilight, If you are reading this, it means that I have finally told you about how I feel about you. I do hope that you're not upset with me. I understand it might come as a shock to you, and knowing that I would have difficulty, I decided to write this letter to make sure that I don't mess it up" Twilight noticed that the letter was written in different colours of ink "Wow, she must have written this over a long time" she mumbled out loud. She looked down to the note and continued reading "Ever since the day we faced the dragon, I have felt something for you. You were so caring, determined, smart and supportive of me, and since that day, I have been working out exactly what I feel" The note continued for an additional 2 pages, all explaining to twilight what she had been unable to notice during these past few months. After coming to the end, she had read the last line aloud "Twilight, you will always be my friend, and I never want to lose that, please don't be mad at me, and I will hope to talk to you real soon" Twilight finished the letter just as she arrived back home to the library. She didn't feel right talking to Fluttershy about this tonight, and felt that a good nights rest would make everything all the more clearer. She made her way into her bedroom, and began pouring over some books on the subject of love and its effect on ponies. After reading through a good number of chapters on infatuation and crushes, she had a pretty good idea that Fluttershy wasn't in any of those categories, based on the contents of the letter. She called out to Spike "Spike, could you run me up the libraries copy of "Somepony for Everypony?" Spike arrived a few seconds later carrying the tome "What could you want with this book, Twilight? Is there somepony who you have an eye on?" Spike spoke teasingly, but Twilight was in no mood. "No Spike, there’s a pony who has their eye on me, and I really just want to get through this book in peace!" Twilight looked at Spike, and noticed that he was upset at her tone. "Oh, I'm sorry Spike, I just had a weird encounter, and I didn't mean to take it out on you" The dragon shook it off "Its ok Twilight, I'll let you get to work, I'm getting pretty tired anyway, I'll see you in the morning." Twilight watched as her assistant headed down into the lower levels of the library, grateful to have such a good friend helping her out. As she opened the book, she noticed the chapter titled "Mare to Mare" and decided that it was a good place to start and she bean to read "Often called 'fillyfoolers' some mares have an affection for other mares. These ponies will experience the same feelings as those who love stallions but the object of their love is another mare" Twilight closed the book. She had never intended on starting a relationship, heck, it had only been a short time since she met all of her friends. Carefully considering every option, she felt it was best to talk with Fluttershy first thing in the morning, and maybe she convince the Pegasus that they should just remain friends. "After all" She thought to herself "you don't feel that way about her.......do you?" as that last thought still rattled around in her head, Twilight closed her eyes, and fell asleep..... Twilight was running again, the forest floor felt slick under her hooves as she ran towards the glaring light ahead. She turned around, and could not see anything, or anypony chasing her, but She knew it was getting closer. With all her might, Twilight pushed as hard as she could, and sprinted right through the forest edge into the grass clearing. She looked ahead in the distance, and seen a pony standing atop of a small grassy hill. As she came to a stop, she studied the figure ahead of her, and, as of times before, knew the pony would make her safe and secure. Pushing herself with all her might, Twilight made for the hill as fast as she could, not wanting to be out in the open alone. As she climbed higher, Twilight looked to the Pony standing above her. Standing at about the same height as she was, the other pony brought her snout low to meet Twilights, and Twilight returned the gesture. She knew she was safe here, with the other pony by her side. The bright coloured silken cloak draped over the mysterious ponies back, but it was evident to twilight the pony was another mare, gentle and kind, Twilight reached with her magic and began removing the cloak, letting the fabric fall gingerly to the grass below....... Twilight woke suddenly once more. It was definitely the same dream, but things were different. "Could Fluttershy's revelation last night had caused the recurring dream to change?" Twilight thought to herself, as she turned over in her bed. Twilight was unsure of how to proceed, she knew that it must have been difficult for her friend to reveal her feelings, but Twilight was confused. To her amazement, the clock read 8:30am, "Wow" she thought aloud "Its been a few weeks since I've slept that late" Twilight made her way downstairs only to find Spike was busy preparing breakfast. "Hey Twilight, you really were out of it last night, I hope you don't mind that I let you sleep in" Twilight shook her head "Oh, not at all Spike, in fact, the extra time was exactly what the doctor ordered" Twilight sat at the round table and began to dig in to the stack of golden pancakes that were laid in front of her. "I wonder if I should speak to Fluttershy" she mumbled aloud. "Oh, Twi, that reminds me, Fluttershy stopped by earlier, but only wanted to drop this off" Spike handed the unicorn a small basket wrapped in plastic that contained an array of books, sweets and fresh fruits. Taped to the top of the basket was another hoof written note "Twilight, I am really sorry about what happened last night, and I hope I didn't upset you. I know I acted out of line, and should not have run out on you like that. If you want, I am waiting to talk to you at my cottage, your friend, Fluttershy" Twilight put the note down and looked to her assistant “What is it Twilight, you look upset" The baby dragon had climbed onto the chair next to twilight "I just don't know, Spike, Something happened last night that I just don't understand, and I don't know what to do about it” Twilight lowered her muzzle in deep thought "Come on Twilight" she thought to herself as she stared blankly at the ground "You should go to talk with her, I mean, put yourself in her horseshoes" Twilight thought back to all of the adventures the 2 had together. Of course she had feelings for Fluttershy, but she also had feelings for all of her other friends. And if Twilight was looking for a relationship, Fluttershy would certainly be the type Twilight would be looking for. Through all of her faults, Fluttershy was loyal, kind and generous; she was also strong, in her own way. But Twilight just couldn't connect the dots. After what seemed like an eternity (though what was actually 3 minutes) Twilight raised herself from her chair and made for the door. "I'll be back later Spike; I have to go talk to a friend” Confused, the dragon shrugged his shoulders, finished his breakfast and began work on his chores. Twilight made her way through the streets of Ponyville at a very slow pace. She knew she had to talk to Fluttershy, but she had no idea what she was going to say when she got there. Twilight certainly didn't want to hurt her friend, but at the same time, he had no words of encouragement either. Twilight was on the pathway leading to Fluttershy's cabin at the edge of the town when she had a realization "Fluttershy is kind and sweet" she thought to herself, quite confidently "And since you're being honest with yourself, she is quite attractive" Twilight blushed at the very thought, and continued the mental conversation she was having with herself "It's not like you haven't thought about a relationship with a mare before" Twilight was taken aback by her own sub-conscious, of course it was true, there were times in her past where she had fantasized about being with another mare, though she felt that she would never act on it "But why not act on it" her sub conscious piped in "I know what you are thinking, I am you after all, and I also know that if there was any mare in Ponyville who you would be happy with, Fluttershy would be that mare." Twilight sighed "but what if..." Twilights thought was suddenly interrupted by a sound coming from the cabin. The front door slowly opened, but Twilight could not see who had opened it "The time for 'what ifs' is over, you have a friend to talk to" her sub-conscious said, rather determinately. Twilight entered the room and seen Fluttershy setting up some tea, blushing madly, and averting her gaze from Twilight. There was a surprising lack of animals about the cabin, and nothing around that might cause distraction. Twilight smiled to her pegasus friend, still unknowing what to say or how to start. After a few moments, Fluttershy brought Twilight a cup filled with her favourite tea, and sat across from her at the dining room table. "So, uhm, thank you for coming Twilight..." Fluttershy finally managed to get out. Fluttershy started playing with her hooves, trying desperately to avert her eyes from twilights own. "I am really sorry for last night. It wasn't very nice, and I wouldn't have blamed you if you didn't want to see me again...” The mare was on the verge of tears, and twilight was shocked at the sight of one of her closest friends breaking down in front of her. The pegasus continued, not letting the unicorn interrupt "I realllllly didn't want to tell you, but I couldn't hold in my feelings any longer " Fluttershy was crying now, the words escaping between sobs. Twilight moved closer to her friend and put a hoof around her to attempt to comfort the trembling pegasus. "Its OK Fluttershy, I'm glad that you told me, and I am certainly not mad at you” Fluttershy stopped crying and looked into her friends beautiful purple eyes. "I just don’t know how I feel about all of this” Twilight lowered her gaze as she said those last words. Fluttershy broke away from the half hug and produced a small bound leather book from underneath her wings. "Here, Twilight” she said handing the tome over to the mare of her dreams. "I want you to read this before you say anything else” Twilight took the book and opened the front cover and quickly read the first line "Fluttershy's Diary" Twilight closed the book quickly and handed it back to her friend "Oh Fluttershy, I can’t read that. It would feel too much like an invasion of your privacy" Fluttershy shook her head "Oh, no Twilight, I want you to read it” The mare averted her gaze from Twilights once more. Twilight reluctantly opened the book again and looked to her friend "Are you sure about this Fluttershy?" Twilight was looking for any excuse she could find to not read her best friends inner thoughts. Fluttershy nodded, reached across the table, and opened up to a page she had earmarked. Twilight looked down and seen that the date was the same as the day they had managed to convince the dragon to leave the cave where he was causing the dark smoke with his snoring. Taking a large gulp, Twilight looked onto the page and read the entry. "Dear Diary, Today I faced one of my deepest fears, and, oh my, was it scary" Twilight looked up and noticed the pegasus across from her was hiding her face with her mane, starring at the ground, Twilight continued to read. "Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and I all climbed the mountain to face a Dragon! It was terrifying, all I wanted to do was to run home and bury myself in my bed." Twilight remembered that day, and remembered just how scared Fluttershy had been. "Twilight was insistent that I go, and said that she didn't think that they could do it without me. Twilight was so brave and confident, she managed to convince me to go, she had so much confidence in me that I just felt like it was something that I could do. Anyway, when we got to the top, and we got to the cave where the dragon was, felt so scared. I just couldn't go in there, it was too scary, and the dragon could have eaten me up. All of my friends tried to convince the dragon to go, but he wouldn't listen, But Twilight insisted we keep trying. Then, out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash flew straight in to try to force it to leave. I couldn't bear it, I hid behind a rock and wished with all my might for me to be back at home." Just reading about that made twilights side hurt, that dragon had managed to bruise her ribs really bad and she spent days inside of her library recuperating. "But then something happened, the Dragon HURT Twilight. The big, scary meanie had knocked Twilight and all of my friends into a rock! I was so mad! I don't know what came over me, but I flew right in that dragons face, and I told him that he was a mean bully, and that he should go away to sleep where he couldn't hurt anyone. I was so proud of myself, and Twilight was too. I don't understand why, but Twilight seemed to really care about me, and really wanted me to help, even though I felt like I couldn't do anything. Twilight is so brave, smart, funny, caring and I wish I could be more like her. she’s also REALLY pretty, and she doesn't try to be either, like Rarity does. Oh my, I better stop writing, Thank you Diary, I think I'll go see how Twilights doing" Twilight stopped reading and looked up to see that Fluttershy had gone; she looked down at the diary once more and closed its covers. The unicorn went upstairs to see if she could find her friend. Fluttershy was sitting on her bed, holding a pillow tightly between her hooves. She just knew that Twilight wouldn't want to be her marefriend; she just hoped that her actions didn't cause Twilight to not want to be her fiend at all. As she thought to herself, she heard the stairs leading to her room squeak and crack, and the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps Fluttershy looked to the window and briefly thought about lying away. "NO Fluttershy" she thought to herself "You have to do this!" There was a quiet knocking at the door, and the unicorns voice echoed through the room "Hey Fluttershy, are you in here?" Fluttershy wanted to run, she wanted to fly away and hide for the rest of her life, but she couldn't "Oh, um yes, Twilight, I'm in here” the timid voice was barely audible, but Twilight heard it no problem. "Hey Fluttershy, I want to um..." Twilight’s voice trailed off, she really didn't know what she wanted to do, but she knew she had a very upset friend. "Fluttershy, I know that you feel some attraction to me, but, if I'm honest, I don't really know how I feel about all of this" Fluttershy felt her heart breaking. This was it, Twilight was going to tell her that she wasn't interested, and that it would be best if they spent less time together "I mean, I really like you as a friend, and I certainly know that your gentle and kind to every pony" Fluttershy's eyes began to water, she almost couldn't bear it but twilight continued "This is all just so sudden, and it really is a lot to take in" Fluttershy was now crying silently, and bracing herself for the words that would hurt the most. "But I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to share, and to be honest, I do find you quite attractive. So, if you're ok with it, I'd like to give us a chance" Fluttershys heart had skipped a beat. At some point in Twilights talk, Fluttershy didn't even notice that Twilight had moved closer to her, and she certainly didn't see that twilight was blushing, or that the unicorn had leant in. But what Fluttershy did notice was that Twilight Sparkle, The mare of her dreams, did give her a kiss on her cheek. Fluttershy was frozen, not daring to move a muscle in case she had been dreaming; Twilight looked into her eyes, and smiled. "So, is it ok, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy barely nodded, it was all that she trusted herself to do. She couldn't believe it, Twilight Sparkle, star pupil of Princess Celestia, the bearer of the element of magic, the strongest, smartest pony in all of Equestria agreed to go out with her.