Castus felt like the tie around his neck was trying to choke his breathing, but he fought the urge to sink a finger down and fiddle with the fabric. He had worked hard for almost an hour for this date, more time then any date he had had before. Not to say he did not make himself presentable those times before, but this time the date was something outside of his league.
"Castus," Fluttershy giggled, lightly slapping his hand from going to his tie, "you look fine. Stop worrying."
Castus grunted, "I'm sorry dear, I just....this is...what do I say when she gets here?"
Fluttershy smiled, "Well, a hello would be a good start. Just don't be too forward."
"Oh," Castus said, blinking in surprise, "Oh, yeah right. Uh..a hello. That's what I'll say when she gets here."
Castus looked around, "Uh...she isn't here yet."
Fluttershy giggled, "We did get here a little early. Don't be so worried."
"I'm not worried. Who said I was worried," Castus asked, "I'm just out on a date with my wife, and one of her friends who is romantically interested in me as well and my wife is totally fine with this and even suggested this. Why wouldn't I be fine?"
Fluttershy leaned up a bit and kissed Castus' cheek, "You will be fine."
Castus sighed, "I'm just not use to this. Frankly I'm jealous you can be so calm."
Fluttershy shook her head, "Oh, I am a bit worried. This is our first date with Twilight, and we are all in new territory. But I know we will all have a good time."
Castus sighed again, still feeling nervous, "I hope so. It's just...this is all so strange. I'm still wrapping my head around how it all happened."
Castus sat on one of the lounge chairs in the living room. He looked from the cup of tea in his hands, to the two mares sitting on the couch; each with a cup of tea as well.
"Mmm, this is good Fluttershy," Twilight said, after sipping her tea.
Fluttershy smiled, "Thank you. I hope I didn't add too much sugar."
Twilight shook her head, "No, no its just right. Umm...so how are you both? I'm sorry if I came so late but..."
"You wanted to talk to us about something?" Castus asked, taking a sip of his tea.
Twilight blushed, looked into her cup and nodded, "Y-yes. M-mostly to you Castus. But, Fluttershy...you deserve to hear it as well."
Twilight gulped, "B-but...please...no matter what is said. P-Promise we will still be friends. Please!" Twilight said the last with an almost desperate plea in her voice. She was scared, and Fluttershy and Castus both frowned in seeing someone they cared about so afraid.
Fluttershy placed her hoof on Twilight's, "Twilight. We will always be friends, no matter what. You've experienced too much, done too much together for anything to separate us. Whatever you have to say, you can tell us and whatever it is we will work it out."
"Yeah," Castus said, smiling, "So just get it off your chest."
Twilight blushed a bit brighter, "Oh thank you. W-well...."
Twilight took a deep breath.
"CastusIloveyou!" Twilight shouted in almost one breath, taking both Castus and Fluttershy by surprise.
Castus made a shushing sign, as Fluttershy whispered, "Twilight. The girls are asleep, please keep your voice down."
Twilight blinked, "O-oh," she blushed again, "I'm sorry. I...I just got so...I'm sorry."
Fluttershy patted her hoof, and Castus cleared his throat.
"So uh...what was that again?" He asked. He heard what she screamed, but he wanted to think he just misheard.
Twilight gulped, "Castus. I..I love you. I tried not to, but I can't deny my heart. I love you. I'm sorry."
Castus stopped mid sip of his drink, and slowly set his cup down.
"Uh....s-say again?" Castus stammered, gulping.
"Castus," Fluttershy said, exasperated, "Don't make her say it a third time. You are embarrassing her."
Twilight looked at her hooves, fidgeting, and a blush still on her face.
Castus rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, s-sorry."
"I-I will understand if you don't return my feelings. I just...I tried so hard to make them go away, but each time only made me feel even stronger for you." Twilight said, "So I...I had to tell you. And I had to let you know Fluttershy; I'm sorry I'm such a horrible friend."
"Twilight. You're not a horrible friend." Fluttershy said, wrapping Twilight in a hug.
"Y-yeah," Castus said, still feeling surprised by this love confession, the slight feeling of insult that Twilight tried to not fall for him, and the fact that Fluttershy had so far seemed so fine with it, "W-we can't pick who we fall in love with."
"We were actually talking about it before you arrived." Fluttershy said.
Twilight looked at her friend in shock, "Y-you were?!"
"Yeah," Castus said, rubbing his head.
Twilight placed her hooves over her face, "Oh this is embarrassing."
Fluttershy patted Twilight's hoof, "Twilight, I...sorted of started to suspect that you might have a crush on Castus; after he told me about the...incidences."
"You told her!?" Twilight shouted, looking at Castus in shock.
Castus held up his hands, "Hey, she's my wife. I'm not going to keep secrets like that from her."
"E-even the one where I was..." Twilight blushed and covered her face with her wings.
"Twilight." Fluttershy said, carefully pulling Twilight's wings out of the way.
"Would you be willing to go on a date with us?" Fluttershy asked.
Castus gasped and coughed as his tea went down the wrong way, "WHAT!?"
"WHAT!?" Twilight shouted as well.
The two then looked at each other, and Twilight gripped her hooves and looked intently at Castus now. Fluttershy did as well, and in this moment of both shock and realization Castus saw that he held in his hands Twilight's heart. Not physically, but emotionally.
Depending on what he said next, would either make her happy, or shatter her.
Castus bit his lip, and Twilight started to shake as he kept silent. Finally, fearing Twilight might take it the wrong way, and the expecting look on Fluttershy's face, Castus gave the only answer he felt he could.
"Uh....yeah. Why not go out with us." He said.
He jus hoped it would all work out.
A delicate cough, and a nudge to his shoulder, broke Castus from his thoughts and he looked from Fluttershy, to who coughed.
It was Twilight. She wore a silver circlet adorned with a small gem that looked similar to the star of her cutie mark. She wore a amethyst shoulder less dress.
"Um, sorry if I'm late." Twilight said, looking to the two of them.
"No, your not late. We just got here only a short time ago." Castus said. He had to admit, Twilight looked gorgeous.
"Twilight, you look great." Fluttershy said, standing and offering her friend a hug.
Twilight returned the hug, before sitting down at their table across from them, "Thanks. I-I don't really have a lot of dresses for things like this, but I hope this is okay."
"It looks lovely Twilight." Castus said, offering her a smile.
Twilight blushed, "Th-thank you."
Not long after, the waitress soon came over. Castus noticed the odd look he got, though the real surprise was that a princess was here. The waitress seemed eager to please and offer Twilight anything she wanted, even some special wines that were normally kept in reserve for special guests; such as her.
"Um, n-no that's okay." Twilight stammered, clearly still uncomfortable receiving special treatment.
Once the waitress had their orders, she left, promising a quick return. Not soon after, a waiter came with a wine bottle and some glasses. A special gift from the manager for the princess.
Twilight could only blush, feeling embarrassed, and accept the gift and ask to give the manager her thanks.
"Oh, this is so embarrassing." Twilight groaned, once the waiter was finally gone.
"At least they aren't bowing their heads to you and making offerings to stone idols of you." Castus said.
"Huh?" Both mares said, looking at him curiously.
Castus sighed, "During the first year or so after I freed all those humans and went into exile with them, some of them started to think I was some sort of god or divine being. It took me months to pound that notion out of their thick heads."
At that point, Twilight looked fascinated, "Wow. We ponies do something similar with the alicorn race. Since our earliest known history, we've held them in an almost divine like status due in part that they were the race that gave us culture during our prehistoric years. I wonder if its a common trait in species to deify creatures whom they view as mystical or...oh, but that's not something we need to discuss. Not on our date."
"Oh its fine Twilight. As long as you feel comfortable, I don't mind what we talk about." Fluttershy assured her, smiling.
Twilight smiled, "Thanks, but I want to talk about something we can all share in."
"Like what?" Castus asked, as he poured himself and the girls a glass of wine.
"Thank you." Fluttershy and Twilight said, as Castus offered them their glasses.
"Um, well I guess there is something I wonder about," Twilight started, "why do you want to start a herd with me? I don't want to feel like I'm coming between you two. Especially not you Fluttershy."
Both Castus and Fluttershy looked surprised. Castus rubbed the back of his head, as he thought of what to say.
"Well...I will admit, that this isn't something I am use to. In fact, on my world things like this were usually looked down on, or a quick way to end a relationship." Castus said, "In fact, most relationships were monogamous."
Fluttershy and Twilight looked at him surprised, "Really?" The both asked.
"Yeah. But, then again the population ratio was kinda equal between males and females. So..." Castus shrugged as he finished, and took a sip of his wine.
"Well, I guess that would make sense. Even here, humans seem to be more equal in ratio between males and females as well. So I can understand that your culture might be different from ours on your world. Though, I do wonder how you will shape the culture of humans here on ours." Twilight said, rubbing her chin at the thought. No doubt formulating a number of studies in her mind.
Twilight then looked to Fluttershy, "But, what about you Fluttershy? Why? I hope I don't make you feel pressured, because we are friends, or that I'm a princess."
Fluttershy giggled, then smiled, "Twilight, I told you, you don't need to worry or feel bad."
Fluttershy placed a hoof on Twilight's, "Too be honest, though, I did feel a little worried. Nopony in my family was ever part of a herd, so when I figured out that you had a crush on Castus, I guess I did worry about what it would mean for us all."
Twilight frowned, and Castus placed a hand on Fluttershy's hoof, giving it a squeeze. Fluttershy smiled, and kissed his cheek.
"Don't worry. I don't feel that way anymore. I know you both would never want to do anything to hurt me, just as I would never want to do the same to you."
"But," Fluttershy continued, "I care about you both. Twilight, you've been my friend for years, and we've both faced so much. All I want, more then anything is that all my friends are happy. When I saw the bond that you and Castus had growing, a part of me was happy because I saw that it made you happy. That's why...that's why I want to start a herd with you. You both made me happy, and I want to do the same for you."
Twilight smiled, "I-I worried that I might be coming between you two. That I would ruin the family you made."
"Twilight," Fluttershy placeda hoof on Twilight's cheek, "You aren't ruining our family. Your adding to it."
Twilight smiled, and she and Fluttershy hugged each other. Castus watched the two and smiled.