//------------------------------// // Twiley: Daring Confession // Story: Friendship is Shining: The Gala // by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof //------------------------------// "I can't believe I agreed to this," Pound Cake groaned as he held his wings straight out from his sides. "You chose dare," Twilight said, "and I get to pick the dare." She picked up the egg and tried to set it on the wing. On the opposite side of Pound Cake, Pumpkin was trying to do the same thing. "I know, I know." Pound shifted. "Still, balancing eggs on my wings." "Hold still," Pumpkin growled. "Besides," Twilight added, "it's only just one egg per wing." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, grinning. "Unless you want to got get the entire cart to see if you could six each." "NO!" Pumpkin and Pound both shouted. "I don't want to have to clean up that big a mess," Pound said. "And neither of us want to tell mom what happened to a dozen eggs," Pumpkin added. "That's what I thought," Twilight said with a giggle as she set the egg onto the wing. "Ready Pumpkin?" "I think so." "Okay. So on the count of three we both let go. Then," she looked at Pound, "you try to keep the eggs from falling for a slow five count. One... Two... Three!" Pumpkin and Twilight let the eggs go and pulled away. Pound shifted and tensed, trying to adjust his wings to keep the eggs from falling. "One," Twilight counted off. "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." Twilight and Pumpkin both took a hold of the eggs and lifted them up. Pound let out a sigh of relief. He gave a shake of his wings before tucking them back in. "Where did you come up with an idea for a dare like that?" Pound asked. "A book on The Wonderbolts," Twilight answered. "According to the book, they would sometimes do wing exercises by balancing objects on their wings. Sometimes it would be something heavy to build up strength and endurance. Other times it would be something small or delicate for fine control." "A book," Pumpkin said, rolling her eyes. "Of course. Well it's my turn anyways. Twiley, truth or dare?" Twilight rubbed her chin, considering a moment. Did she want to go with truth? Not like she had anything to keep hidden from her friends, right? Then again, what if there was? What if she had a secret she wanted to keep even from herself? Alternatively, what kind of dare could Pumpkin come up with? From what Twilight had seen, her friend could be quite creative, but would never actually hurt a pony. "Truth," Twilight finally said. "Alright then. Pound, why don't you take the eggs back to the kitchen while I ask Twiley her question." "Okay." Pound took the two eggs and headed out the room. Pumpkin watched him go, ears perked until the clopping of his hooves could barely be heard. She then turned back to Twilight. "Okay, truth," Pumpkin repeated. "That means that you have to honestly answer any question that I ask you. Do you like my brother?" "Well yeah," Twilight replied. "I mean we are friends. Why wouldn't I like him if-" "No," Pumpkin interrupted. "I mean like like. As in you want him to be your coltfriend." "What?" Twilight squeaked out. Her ears dropped as her face turned a bright red in color. She took a step back. Suddenly everything in the room except Pumpkin Cake had become very fascinating. "I asked if you liked my brother," Pumpkin repeated, "and remember: you picked truth. So you have to answer, and it has to be the truth." "Well... Uhm..." Twilight shifted. "That's kind of a complicated question isn't it? I mean, how do we know if we like any pony as a friend or more. Especially at our age when... Uhm... what I mean is..." Pumpkin stared at Twilight, saying nothing. Twilight sighed and looked down at the floor. "Yes." "Why?" "Well..." Twilight thought a moment. "He's cute..." "Ew..." Pumpkin groaned, scrunching her face. "He is!" Twilight huffed. "He was also nice enough to put up with me when we first met." "You mean when I found you pulling his wings out to look at them and pressing up against him?" Pumpkin asked." Twilight let out a nervous giggle. "Yeah. He was just going to put up with it and answer my questions, which shows how nice he can be." Pumpkin rolled her eyes. Her brother never was one to stand up for himself. That was kind of why she started to. She could not even remember how long it had been since she had started trying to protect him. "Plus he's learning to take care of animals from Fluttershy," Twilight continued. "So-" "Okay, okay," Pumpkin interrupted. "I get it." She sighed. "So, why don't you ask him?" "Ask him what?" "To be your coltfriend." "What?" Twilight squeaked. "No! I can't do that. What if he says no? What if things become awkward and we can't be friends anymore? I'll never get to see you. I'll never be able to return to Sugarcube corner. The Cutie Mark Crusaders will fall apart and we'll never get our cutie marks. I'd have to leave Ponyville and hide somewhere in the thickest regions of the furthest woods where ponies will think I'm some weird witch that will eat their foals in the middle of the night." The filly fell backwards, panting as she tried to catch her breath. "Where do you come up with this stuff?" Pumpkin asked, looking down at her. "Okay, first, calm down and breath before you pass out." Twilight nodded and closed her eyes. She tried to remember the breathing exercises she had read about. Slowly in and slowly out. It was a lot easier to read about doing something than actually doing it. After half a minute she opened her eyes. "Feeling better?" Pumpkin asked. "I think so." "Good. Now second, I can assure you that what you just said would never happen like that." "You mean you know Pound will be my coltfriend?" Twilight asked. She smiled as she thought about that. "No," Pumpkin answered. "I mean... I think he likes you, but I haven't actually asked him. He would probably say yes? What I meant was that even if he says no, we would still be friends and you wouldn't end up being Twilight the Witch of the Woods or whatever." "Oh," Twilight said. "Well if you-" she stopped as Pumpkin put a hoof over her mouth. "He's coming," Pumpkin said, hearing the sound of hoof steps. "We'll talk about this more later. Get up." Twilight quickly scrambled to get back up on her hooves. "Alright," Pound said as he came in. "So is it my turn now?" "Actually," Pumpkin said, a mischievous grin spreading across her face, "I was thinking that we might move on to doing something else." "And what would that be?" "Twilight?" Pumpkin turned to her friend. "You're book mentions doing make-overs, right?" "Yeah," Twilight responded. "Why?" "Don't you think Pound would be the perfect pony to do a make-over on?" "Oh!" Twilight said before grinning as well. "Yeah. That's a great idea." Pound Cake's eyes went wide and his ears drooped as he looked at the two grinning unicorn fillies that were moving toward him. His legs felt like stone and his wings just would not respond. Even if he could get away, it would do no good. He knew Pumpkin. There was no where he could hide that his sister would not find him. "Oh no!"