Twilight Sparkle sprawled out in her bed. A single light on her end table glowed, as did the unicorn's horn. Floating in front of her was the latest Daring Do book in the series. Admittedly, she was not exactly in what would be considered the target audience, but she still enjoyed it. It was actually similar -- although not as popular -- stories that had gotten Twilight interested in history, artifacts, and monsters of legend. Sometimes, she wished she had the courage, skill, and capability to go out on adventures, seek out ancient artifacts, and recover long lost knowledge to bring back to ponies all across Equestria.
Although she probably would do poorly. Probably end up getting impaled or eaten on her very first expedition. Maybe it was better if she stayed out of the field. Perhaps, instead of putting her life at risk, she could do research on ancient legends and share what she discovered with a skilled treasure hunter or archaeologist who could then mount an expedition. That way, the treasures would certainly be brought back, and she would not be killed.
Still, a part of her thought that it would be fun to travel the land, escape traps, decipher ancient codes, and stop greedy or power hungry creatures from getting a hold of incredible ancient powers. Maybe she could even have books written about her and inspire other ponies to do the same.
Or maybe she would just write her own version.
Except nopony would really be interested since it would compared to Daring Do.
A knock at the door drew Twilight Sparkle from her thoughts and book. Marking her page, she set the book aside and sat up.
"Come in."
The door opened silently. Fluttershy peaked through the gap before slowly stepping inside.
"Can I talk to you a moment?" Fluttershy asked, shifting her hooves as she looked at the foot of the bed.
"I guess so," Twilight replied, raising an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Fluttershy answered, shaking her head. "It's just that..." she looked down at her hooves, "well..." she mumbled something softly as quick as she could.
Twilight's brow furrowed and her ears perked up. She moved closer toward her friend.
"I didn't quite catch that."
Fluttershy took a deep breath.
"IreallylikeyourbrotherandIwannatellhimwhenhegetshome."
Twilight stared a moment longer, trying to decipher what her friend had said. She thought she the words "like" and "brother."
"Did you say you like my brother?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
Fluttershy nodded.
"That's great," Twilight shouted with a grin, causing Fluttershy to look up at her in confusion.
"It is?"
"Yes." Twilight hopped off the bed and gave Fluttershy a hug. "I want all my friends to get along with my brother, you most of all since you were kind of my first. I figured you already liked him since you knew from the castle and it sounded like you were already friends. Although it is nice to hear you actually say it." She paused, brow furrowing.
"Don't get why you feel the need to tell him though. I thought he already knew."
It was at that point that Fluttershy realized what was going on. She took a deep breath and sighed, feeling her cheeks heat up.
"No," she finally said. "I don't mean I like him as a friend -- even though I do. I mean that I like him in a romantic way."
"You like my brother?" Twilight asked.
Fluttershy nodded.
"Yes," she mumbled.
"Why?"
Twilight held up a hoof before Fluttershy could say anything.
"Wait. Let me try that again." She rubbed her chin, thinking a moment. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out.
"Okay," Twilight said. "So, Shining Armor is my brother, and I love him. It's just... well... I don't know." She let out a sigh of frustration. "I just remember him as this big, dorky colt that was my brother. I really don't see why any filly would be interested in him, especially one that has connections to Princess Temporal and could probably have her pick of stallions."
"You do realize he was dating a princess, right?" Fluttershy pointed out.
"Point," Twilight conceded, rolling her eyes, "but it doesn't change anything. I get that he's a guard, but I don't really see why mares are so interested him. Why are you -- or anypony really -- so interested in him."
Fluttershy considered this a moment, one of her fangs sticking out from between her lips.
"Maybe we should talk about this in the kitchen over tea," she suggested.
Twilight Sparkle agreed and the two of them made their way downstairs toward the kitchen. Twilight filled the kettle and set it to boil while Fluttershy got the tea and some cookies out. Soon the water was hot and the two had their drinks ready.
Fluttershy took a bite of a cookie then a sip of tea before talking.
"To start, I never really fitted in anywhere. Batponies mostly keep to themselves in darker parts of Equestria. That's why you don't really see a lot of them around. If you did, you would see that most of them have dark coats: blues, grays, purples, all colors that would blend in with the night. So, having a bright yellow coat and pink mane kind of made me stick out. It kind of made a lot of the grown-ups uncomfortable, especially with my red eyes. Because of that, other foals weren't allowed to play with me and were even afraid of me..."
Her ears drooped as she stared down at her cup, a tear running down her cheek. Her wings stretched out before wrapping around her, like she was hugging herself. She sniffed and took a deep breath before continuing.
"I'm not really a good flyer, and none of the other batponies wanted to teach me. So my parents tried sending me to a flight school in Cloudsdale. It... wasn't much better. Being the only batpony, not being a very good flyer, being shy. I got teased a lot."
She smiled and looked up.
"It wasn't all bad. It was where I met Rainbow Dash. She told some of the bullies to leave me alone, so they did for a while. After that, we would hang out sometimes. Not very often. She had Gilda and Lightning Dust to do things with, but she always had at least a little time for me. Until Princess Temporal came and found me. I don't know why, but she showed up at the flight school and invited me to her castle. I was scared at first, but Rainbow Dash said I should go and it would be an awesome opportunity. So I went, and you know what happened to Dash."
She sighed.
"Maybe if I had still been there, I could have kept it from happening. Rainbow Dash was always a great flyer. If she had finished flight school, she would probably be a Wonderbolt by now.
"Anyway, at the castle I was treated pretty much like any other pony."
She paused, rubbing her hoof against her chin.
"No," she corrected. "It was more like I wasn't treated differently because of what I am. Not really a normal life. I got to spend time with Princess Temporal, was tutored and educated by Professor Spike, even met Princess Cadence. When I got a little older, I was introduced to Luna, and put in charge of being her nanny."
Fluttershy grinned at the memory of how cute Luna was as a baby, with her little wings and big eyes. It was hard not to love the little filly.
"Anyway," she finally continued, "it was some time after that when I met your brother. He was a brand new guard, fresh out of the academy, and very nice. He was very professional on duty... most of the time. Off duty, he would talk to me, ask about Luna, treat me like a friend. Sometimes, it felt like... well..."
"Like you were his little sister?" Twilight suggested.
Fluttershy nodded.
"It was nice," Fluttershy stated. "We weren't close, but we did have kind of a casual acquaintanceship. It might even have become a full friendship -- " looked out the window "-- or maybe something more."
Taking a moment, she drank more of her tea. All the talking had left her throat feeling a little dry. It was also doing something else. It was kind of like a catharsis where she was getting all of her negative emotions out, but it also felt like all of these ancient feelings that have been long forgotten were being stirred up again. Flutteshy was familiar with the idea that talking about feelings helped deal with them, but she always had that with current emotions and problems, same as she told to Luna. Was it possible that dealing with older -- even nearly forgotten -- feelings could help as well?
She returned her attention to Twilight and her story.
"I did eventually develop a crush on him. I didn't know that's what it was though. I just really liked him and wanted to spend a lot time with him when I could. By the time I realized that I liked him like that, he was already with dating Cadance."
That statement brought back one particular memory very strongly: It was Hearts and Hooves day, and Celestia and Luna were with Princess Temporal for the moment. A young Fluttershy had made a little card to give to Shining Armor, letting him know how she felt. Screwing up all her courage, she walked through the halls of the castle, carrying it to give to him. After turning one corner, she stopped, eyes going wide and mouth falling open.
Further down stood Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. The stallion was giving the mare a bouquet of pink roses, and was holding a heart shaped box in his magic. Both of the ponies were grinning, their cheeks pink as they blushed.
After seeing that, Fluttershy turned. Her wings flapped as she ran, giving her more speed and having her barely touch the carpets. Tears burned her eyes. She ran as fast as could, going to her room. Slamming the door behind her, she curled up on the bed and hid.
Giving a hard shake of her head, Fluttershy returned her thoughts to the present, and her attention to Twilight.
"Now that he's no longer with Cadence, I should at least tell him how I feel." She looked down at her cup, turning it slowly. "I mean, I doubt he'd be interested, but I should as least let him know. Right?"
"I don't know about whether or not he would be interested," Twilight responded, "but you're right. He does deserve to know. However," she narrowed her eyes and pointed a hoof, "keep in mind that he is my brother. That means that if you two are dating, I have certain expectations as to how you should treat him as well as how he better treat you. So you better be careful and not hurt him."
Fluttershy grinned, letting out a small chuckle.
"I won't."
Twilight Sparkle smiled back.
"Glad we understand each other." She then finished her own tea and got up. "Now, I'm going back to bed. I'll see you in the morning."
Fluttershy nodded, but stayed where she was, deciding to have another cup of tea and cookie while she waited.
A knock at the door was a surprise to both of them. It was pretty late, and few ponies would still be up at this hour. Shining Armor would have just come in since he was staying there. Had one of them accidentally locked the door?
Fluttershy headed toward the living room as Twilight Sparkle answered the door. She found it unlocked as she opened it.
"Rarity? What are you doing here so late?"
Rarity stepped inside and looked around quickly. She turned her attention to Flutteshy.
"I take it you two have been talking?"
"I was telling Twilight about my feelings for her brother," Fluttershy answered.
Rarity gave a nod and took a deep breath.
"Fluttershy, sweetie, I'm sorry."