It was a good morning to take a walk. Even if it was on a holiday that reminded you of perpetual loneliness, the day itself wasn't all too bad. Of course this world had flying ponies that managed to make the weather whatever they wanted, but it was still a nice day. The only thing that could have made it better was if there was no Hearts and Hooves Day. With luck, your trip to the library won't have you seeing too many couples that would otherwise bring your mood back down. After all, seeing couples everywhere in a world where you know your chances of finding a partner for yourself are nonexistent can get pretty depressing. Especially on a day that seems to be dedicated to expressing your love in public.
Fortunately, you managed to make it to the library without really seeing any couples. The only thing on your mind was deciding what kind of book to take out for the day. Definitely nothing romantic. What about an adventure or mystery story? Maybe it would be a good idea to brush up on the history of Equestria? Screw it, you were going with an adventure novel. Perhaps that one Rainbow Dash always bugs you to try out. Somehow the name escaped you as you walked up to the Golden Oak Library.
"Daring Do? Of course I have that here," Twilight replies with a smile. "I'll go get you the first few in the series."
You thanked Twilight before she walked off to go find the books, figuring it wouldn't take too long since she seemed OCD about always keeping everything in perfect order. It was kind of cute, in a psychotic way. Every one of the ponies in the town had some sort of quirk it seemed. That one mailmare for instance could never keep her eyes from "derping out" as you put it.
"Okay here you go," Twilight said as she returned levitating three books with her magic. "These should last you a while if you're looking for something to keep you occupied."
"Thanks again, Twilight," you said as you took the books from her. "I think I'll be good for today."
"Wait what do you mean?" Twilight suddenly asks as you start walking towards the door. "Don't you have a date for today?"
You flinched slightly as you suddenly remembered the real reason you were checking out the books in your hands. Hadn't Twilight realized you weren't comfortable talking about dating or anything related to romance the first time she brought up Hearts and Hooves Day?
She must have just remembered, or at least noticed your knuckles whiten on the Daring Do books because she quickly told you to forget about it. Relieved, you went for the door again.
"Wait, um, actually. You're not doing anything, right?" Twilight asked awkwardly. "I mean I wasn't implying..."
"Implying what?" you said turning around with a scowl.
"Oh uh, nothing. Nothing at all," Twilight said with her ears drooping. "I just thought..."
"Well, uh, are you doing anything?" you asked about as awkward as she was acting.
"Me? No! Of course not! WHY?" Twilight said ecstatically with her ears perking back up.
Okay that's kind of weird, even for Miss Purple Smart. Needing to desperately knock the awkward meter down a few levels, you decide to casually ask the most non-awkward thing you can think of: "So uh, wanna hang out... or something?" Sadly, that was the best one up there at the time.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Twilight squealed with increasing pitch as she bounced around you in a circle.
"Okay Twilight, uh... stop by my place later when you're finished here," you said deciding to get out of there as soon as possible to give her time to calm down. It seemed kind of weird Twilight didn't have a date for Hearts and Hooves Day, but then again she was pretty awkward when it came to anything social. Maybe it wasn't so surprising after all. "Wow, she must be really bored," you say to yourself as you walk back home.
By the time you get home you it's about an hour shy of midday and the PDA is already rampant through the town. You make yourself a sparse brunch and sit down on your couch to read the first Daring Do book while you wait for Twilight. To be honest it didn't seem improbable she was still prancing about in the library yessing higher than a Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson lovechild. After getting through the first chapter you hear a few erratic knocks on your door.
"Well, that was quick," you say to yourself, putting the book onto the coffee table next to the couch as you get up.
"Hello, _____," Twilight said with a big smile plastered on her face.
Relieved that she seemed to have calmed herself down, you invited her in and offered her something to eat or drink.
"Huh? But I thought we were going to go out to eat," Twilight said sheepishly looking down.
"Why would you think that?" you asked confusedly.
"I don't know," she mumbled dejectedly as if half to herself.
"I mean, we can still go out someplace if you want," you started. "It's just th-"
"Great! Where?" Twilight said, suddenly perking up again.
Good question. There were bound to be couples flooded everywhere and you weren't in the mood to be reminded of your forever alone status that literally followed you through dimensions.
"How about somewhere quiet?" you asked, hoping Twilight would know a restaurant that wouldn't be too crowded. "Or maybe a place we can be alone?"
"Alone? You mean just the two of us?" Twilight asked with a slight blush. "Um, how about the library?"
"Okay," you said hesitantly agreeing. "I guess we can order for food or something. Alright, let's go."
"Actually, you wait here. Come by in a few hours. Say 5 o'clock?"
"Okay," you repeated, feeling the awkward meter rise up again. "See you then."
"Bye!" Twilight bleated out before bolting off. All of a sudden, you figured out why Twilight must not have had a date for Hearts and Hooves Day.
"Man, she's just as awkward as I am," you grumbled as you went back to the couch and continued reading.
Once it reaches around five, you decide to start off to the library. The one mailmare with the derpy eyes passes you with a brown stallion as you walk through Ponyville amidst the crowd of ponies with their partners. There's a slight pang of guilt as you feel angry that it appears at everypony in town for finding love today except you. Hoping Twilight can help take your mind off of this stupid day, you rush on to the library only to find a piece of paper on the front door that simply says "Sorry. Closed for the day."
"That's weird," you mutter, wondering why Twilight would bother to close the library. Was that there before? Oh well, it's not like she was probably getting anyponies looking to take out any books today. You slowly knock on the doors and don't have to wait too long for Twilight to appear and invite you inside. You turn and shut the door behind you as you walk inside before turning back to the interior of the library to a strange sight.
The first thing you notice is that it seems darker than usual. Like there are less candles lit or something. There's also a table and two chairs set up that you've never seen before that look like they've been taken out of one of the fancy cafes that Rarity always went to in town. The table is complete with a white cloth and one of those stupid little vases that only have one flower in them and everything. All in all it looked like the first floor of the library had been set up for a...
"Date?" you asked suddenly, snapping out of your astonishment.
"What?" Twilight asked in return, turning around.
"It's nothing. I mean it's just that... it looks like the library was set up for a date or something," you said with a laugh.
"Oh," Twilight said lamely. "Right, that would be ridiculous."
"So what are you in the mood for?" you ask, remembering you hadn't eaten since around noon.
"Well, I actually prepared us a meal," Twilight said quietly.
"Oh even better," you said with a nervous smile, wondering if some scientific abomination was going to crawl out from the basement as the "appetizer."
To your surprise the meal was actually pretty good. She even had even cooked fish for you and seemed to have meticulously avoided putting in anything she knew you didn't like. Fish was pretty expensive, and a taboo of sorts at that. Last time you had fish was probably back when you were on Earth. You frowned as you were reminded of how you felt just as lonely back on Earth for this day as you did now.
"Is something wrong, _____?" Twilight asked. Neither of you two had said a word since sitting down to eat, but you had shared an occasional awkward glance at each other. You had at this point stopped eating and Twilight had caught on to this. "Is it not acceptable?"
"What? No! No, of course not," you said, snapping back to your current predicament. "It's good. I didn't know you cooked. Your really good. At cooking."
"Really?" Twilight asked sitting up in her chair for the first time since you two sat down.
"Yeah! Thanks for taking the time to do this for me. The fish must have cost you, though," you said feeling a little guilty.
"Oh don't worry," Twilight said dismissively, "it was worth it for you."
"Well, I'll have to pay you back for it somehow. You're a great friend, Twi."
"Oh right... friend..." Twilight said as she slouched back down into her chair.
Huh? Why was she... oh so that's why you were still single. Twilight was crushing on you like a filly. Unless, you were getting the wrong signals. What if she's just depressed today like you are? Has she shown any signs you'd look for in another girl that shows she's interested? Did you even like her? You never had really given a pony relationship any thought. Well you did think she was kind of cute, in that psychotic way. But would it work out between you two? Only one way to find out.
"But you know what? You'd make a better marefriend," you said before your lips closed the distance with hers. While you two are pressed together, that one thing you were missing in your life is suddenly right there in front of you. It took an interdimensional trip for you to find her, but you found the one you had been waiting for.
You both pulled away upon remembering the need to breathe and stared lovingly into each other's eyes again. As you move in for another kiss you suddenly hear someone cough and you realize the rest of your friends had been standing at the door for an unspecified amount of time.
"About time," Rainbow Dash said with a snort.
"What are you all doing here?" you blurt out, red as a tomato.
"You must excuse us for wanting to be present when you two finally confessed your feelings for each other, darling. We have, after all, been trying to set you two up for quite some time, now." Rarity said with a smirk. So that explained why they were asking you about Hearts and Hooves Day so much this week.
"So?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. Wait, do ponies have eyebrows? They do here.
"So what?" you ask obliviously.
"Aint you two gonna confess already?"
"I think we just did," Twilight mumbled, no less red than you were.
"Oh forget it, you two are hopeless!" Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well..." you said as you looked from each of your friends expressions which ranged from happy, to excited, to smug. "This is awkward."