Hypothesis
Night had fallen fast and hard upon the small town of Ponyville; houses all around were dimming the lights and tucking in for a good night’s sleep as the moon crept along its nightly route across the horizon. The stars shone bright across the dark canvas of the sky, not even the streetlamps could dim them as they flickered awake and illuminated the ground beneath them with soft yellow light.
There wasn’t a soul outside; the streets were vacant and eerie like a ghost town as the only sounds to be heard were the occasional muted tones of a pony within the walls of their home. One by one the windows darkened and all sounds ceased except the chirping of the occasional cricket or the buzz of a cicada. But even as all of Ponyville slipped into a dead slumber still the light of the library blazed on in the night like a lighthouse at sea. Inside, the town’s librarian pony toiled away by the light of several lamps; a number of books lay open, sprawled across the floor, and the purple unicorn alternated between one and the next, jotting notes down furiously with her quill and parchment. Occasionally she would pause her frantic study and tap her chin with the feathered portion of her writing implement, gazing out the side window at the moon and stars.
Upstairs, her assistant-- the baby dragon Spike-- slept in his little basket, snug beneath his favorite blanky. Often Twilight found herself grateful for his ability to sleep soundly, especially lately when her studies had kept her burning the midnight oil far into the night and sometimes even into the wee hours of the morning. She was without assistant tonight as even her pet Owloysius had abandoned her hours ago for Celestia knows what reason.
She didn’t typically get lonely studying; after all, it was her passion to learn and it wasn’t difficult for her to find herself thoroughly immersed in a text for hours at a time. But more and more frequently she had begun to feel distracted; the pang for pony interaction snuck up on her like a wily predator, pouncing whenever she was most vulnerable and unsuspecting. She was pretty sure she had pinned down the reason for this with a valid hypothesis and she hoped that she could test it sooner rather than later.
A soft knock came from the front door of the library, and Twilight nearly tripped over her own hooves in a rush to answer it. Behind it stood Ponyville’s professional party planner, Pinkie Pie, wearing a slightly subdued smile and a basket that nestled neatly in the midst of her wildly curly magenta mane.
Twilight stepped aside and gestured for Pinkie to come in; Pinkie obliged, skipping rather than walking as she was wont to do. Twilight shut the door and turned to face the pink earth pony who was bouncing the basket up and down on her head.
Pinkie spoke first, “I was walking home from my last super duper fun wedding party and I saw that the lights were still on. So I thought to myself, “Pinkie, do you think that Twilight is still awake?” and I knew that you must be because you never leave the lights on when it’s time for bed! So I decided you must be up studying all by your lonesome again, and that made me sad. So I thought, “Hey! Maybe she’d like some of these leftover cupcakes!” and so here I am!”
Pinkie dropped the basket onto the floor and removed the cloth covering to reveal a full dozen pristine pastries. Twilight had to wonder just how Pinkie managed to deliver delicacies like these completely intact when she was so… bouncy. It also didn’t seem entirely plausible that ponies would ignore cupcakes like these; Pinkie was pretty well known in their circles to make the most tantalizing treats in the area, overlooking them seemed like a crime. But Twilight wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when that gift horse seemed to have brought her favorite lemon meringue cupcakes. Ooh and the frosting had been lightly toasted too.
Twilight was struck by the sudden image of Pinkie Pie in a frilly apron attempting to yield a blow torch in the kitchen and she covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggles.
Pinkie continued to look at Twilight, saying nothing, and not letting her friendly smile waver in the slightest.
“Oh,” Twilight said, suddenly realizing she hadn’t said anything since Pinkie had walked through the door, “Thank you very much, Pinkie! These look absolutely amazing!”
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically, “They taste super yummy too!”
Twilight gestured towards the basket with her hoof, “I know it’s late, but I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help me eat these would you? To be honest I could use the company.”
Pinkie’s smile spread wider across her cheeks, “I'd love to!”
The two ponies settled down on the floor next to one another and dove into the basket.
Twilight took a big bite of a particularly good looking cupcake and squeaked in surprise.
“Pinkie!” She exclaimed around a mouthful of delicious pastry, “This is still warm!”
The pink pony smiled sheepishly, “It is?”
Twilight took another bite to verify.
“It is.” She raised an eyebrow, “Tell me how a cupcake can remain warm after a long wedding reception.”
“Magic?”
Twilight chuckled, “Honestly, Pinkie?”
Pinkie shrugged and sighed, “I should’ve known I’d get caught. Nothing gets by such a clever little librarian pony.” Pinkie shifted her hooves beneath her into a more comfortable position, gently brushing against Twilight’s side, “I saw your light on coming home from the party like I said, but there weren’t any cupcakes left. So I went home and baked some for you because I knew you were up all late and alone again.”
Twilight took another bite of her cupcake and chewed thoughtfully, “It seems like an awful lot of effort on your part.”
Pinkie coughed violently.
Twilight looked on in concern, but Pinkie waved her on, “Silly cupcakes. Going down all wrong.”
Twilight chose not to comment on the oddness of Pinkie choking on something, but continued with her original thought, “This isn’t the first time you’ve gone extremely far out of your way for me. This isn’t even the first time you’ve come to visit in the middle of the night bearing sweets.”
Pinkie wiped a smudge of frosting off the side of her mouth, “I’m Pinkie Pie! I always do whatever I can to make my friends happy.”
Twilight found herself focusing on the soft brown tones on the tips of the icing towers on the cupcakes, a testament of an expert baker using her skills to use just the right amount of heat to lightly toast the frosting to give it that extra special texture that made Twilight's mouth water.
“The cupcakes,” Twilight gestured at the basket, “you made lemon meringue.”
Pinkie nodded slowly, “Aren’t they your favorite?”
Twilight looked right into those baby blue eyes, “You hoofmade the frosting and then you toasted it.”
Pinkie didn’t seem to understand the flow of the conversation, “That’s the only way to have them. They’re so bland otherwise.”
“So you saw that my light was on, went home, and made complicated confectionary just because it’s my favorite?”
Pinkie blinked, “Didn’t we just say that?”
Twilight felt her heart pick up tempo; she was really going to do this. She was going to test her hypothesis. It was nerve wracking, to be sure, but there was that surge of excitement that she always felt when pursuing something, whether in study with a book or research in a lab. It was a little frightening, like jumping off a cliff without having checked the parachute for yourself, but at the same time exhilarating.
“I have a hypothesis, Pinkie.”
Pinkie cocked her head to the side and a strand of her hair dipped into her cupcake’s frosting, “A hypo-whatta?”
Twilight raised a hoof to gesture with, her typical lecture pose, “A hypothesis. It’s an idea that has yet to be tested. I have a hypothesis about why you continually go out of your way to visit me at all hours of the night. Why you do things like bake me my favorite cupcakes because you assume I’m up studying all alone.”
Pinkie looked like she was trying really hard not to get her hopes up, “What is it?”
It was the moment of truth, and Twilight found the words sticking on her tongue. Why was her mouth so dry all of the sudden? This was ridiculous.
She licked her lips and cleared her throat, “I hypothesize that you are experiencing… well… that you harbor… affections for me. Of the romantic category.”
Pinkie practically beamed at her, “You got me!”
Twilight blinked. She had been right? She hadn’t really expected this outcome. She didn’t know what exactly she had expected, but this just seemed so… anticlimactic.
She tapped the floor with a hoof, “So…?”
Pinkie’s gaze never wavered from Twilight’s face, “I’m in love with you, Twilight Sparkle. Now that everypony in the room knows that, it’s time for you to say how you feel about how I feel.”
How did she feel? That was a good question now wasn’t it? Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. It occurred to her that she probably should have seen this coming and prepared accordingly, but somehow her plans had never gone beyond testing her hypothesis about Pinkie. She glanced at the basket, still full of those amazing cupcakes, and imagined the pony beside her toiling away in the kitchen long after the sun had set just to see a smile on her face. She thought about how the nights had been growing lonely and how Pinkie Pie always seemed to appear when she needed her most. Her thoughts flickered to her bright coat and her luxurious mane and those gorgeous blue eyes that peered at her with such sincere affection…
Twilight shook her head in a physical attempt to dislodge those particular thoughts. Such carnal ideas didn’t belong in her analytical approach to her own emotions. Or did they? After all, was not the mere fact that she noticed things like the softness of Pinkie’s features and the fullness of her lips an indication of some kind of attraction? She was swept up in a sudden desire to kiss the pink pony that burned so fiercely that she flung herself backward in an attempt to escape it; she tumbled onto her back and felt one of her rear hooves kick over the basket of cupcakes. She righted herself, shamefaced, and watched as Pinkie carefully scooped up the spilled pastries and tried to clean them up.
The earth pony had her back to Twilight, “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I’ll go now and let you study in peace.”
The pang of longing and loneliness struck hard in Twilight’s chest at the suggestion. She didn’t want Pinkie to go. Twilight let the thought sink in and take root. She did not want Pinkie to leave. Isn’t that answer enough, you foolish egghead of a pony?
Twilight stood up and trotted slowly over to Pinkie who was still focused intently on the spilled cupcakes. She could now see the tears the pink pony was desperately trying to keep at bay. It broke her heart.
Twilight draped a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder, and Pinkie turned to face her.
“Pinkie…”
Pinkie rubbed at her eyes furiously and donned an unconvincing grin, “Don’t worry. I’m just being a silly little Pinkie, crying over spilled cupcakes.”
Twilight felt horrible, “Pinkie, you didn’t let me answer your question.”
“Don’t pretend, Twilight,” Pinkie’s fake smile melted into a sorrowful expression that Twilight hadn’t thought Pinkie even capable of making, “I’m sorry I cried, but don’t pretend, please.”
Twilight nuzzled Pinkie’s wet cheek, “I never want to hurt you Pinkie.”
Pinkie leaned into Twilight’s touch but said nothing.
“I don’t want you to leave either.”
Pinkie looked at the unicorn with a confused expression, “What?”
Twilight planted a soft kiss on Pinkie’s cheek, still slightly salty from tears, “My hypothesis is that I also harbor affections for you of the romantic category. Furthermore, it states that I would very much like to kiss you now if you will let me.”
Pinkie narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “Do you Pinkie Promise that you’re not pretending?”
Twilight pantomimed the vow, stopping just before jabbing herself in the eye, “Cross my heart and hope to fly.”
Pinkie sniffed, a small smile breaking through, “Stick a cupcake in your eye?”
Twilight glanced at the decimated cupcakes, “Don’t tempt me.”
Pinkie giggled, “It'd probably be a bad idea. The frosting would get everywhere.”
Twilight smirked, “It’s already gotten somewhere.” She pointed to the glob of frosting coating a strand of Pinkie's magenta bouffant.
Pinkie reached up and scraped the frosting off. With a mischievous smirk she stuck her hoof in her mouth and licked it clean.
Twilight frowned, “That can’t really be-”
Pinkie interrupted the fretting unicorn by covering her mouth with her own. Twilight felt heat surge into her ears as the earth pony slipped a tongue coated with fluffy vanilla frosting in and giving the purple pony a taste. It was delicious, but Twilight was too distracted by just how amazing it felt to kiss the party pony to really think about the frosting. Pinkie was passionate, and yet somehow still tender at this whole business; she stroked a gentle hoof along the side of Twilight’s face.
Twilight broke off to breathe, and Pinkie watched the unicorn with an anxious expression. She shifted from hoof to hoof, head tilted down so she was looking up through her eyelashes. Was she waiting for Twilight to respond? Was she worried that she did something wrong?
Twilight breathed out hard, “I… What I mean to say is… How should I put this…?”
Pinkie bit her lower lip.
A huge grin lighted up the unicorn’s face, “Wow. Just… wow. That was amazing!”
Pinkie Pie’s ears perked and a smug grin graced her muzzle, “Oh. You liked it, huh?”
Twilight moved towards the earth pony to nuzzle her cheek once more, “I more than liked it; I loved it! Pinkie, you are flabbergasting!”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It’s the best thing.”
“So it means “smartypants bookicorn”?”
Twilight laughed, “No, it means “enigmatic party pony”.”
Pinkie grabbed Twilight in a hug, “I think you mean, “beautiful Element of Magic”.”
Twilight snuggled up under Pinkie’s chin, “No. I definitely mean, “gorgeous Element of Laughter”.”
“Amazing student of the princess.”
“Mesmerizing baker of sweets.”
Pinkie opened her mouth to add another retort but Twilight covered it with a hoof, “Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie responded when Twilight removed her hoof, “Yes, Twilight?”
Twilight wrapped her arms around the earth pony’s torso, rubbing her face into the familiar pink fur, “What happens now?”
Pinkie paused for a moment. “What happens now?”
Twilight nodded, “What comes after this part? Now that we both know and accept the other’s feelings what happens now?”
Pinkie answered in a very matter-of-factly tone, “Now we let everypony else know and accept our feelings.”
Fear ran icy cold through Twilight’s veins and she clenched tighter to Pinkie; what would their friends say? What would Spike? What if it changed things for their whole group? What if it strained the relationships she had with her other friends?
Pinkie gently stroked Twilight’s mane and began humming softly.
After a minute or two Twilight spoke, “I’m nervous. No, I’m scared.”
Pinkie softly rubbed Twilight’s shoulders, “The next step is up to you, Twilight. I'm ready whenever you are to tell our friends, but I can wait as long as you want. Pinkie Promise.”
“Can we just stay here a while? Like this?”
Pinkie nodded. They huddled together, enjoying the warmth of the other pony beside them; Twilight clutched Pinkie for dear life, consumed with the fear that she would lose something dear to her soon. Whether that was a friend or this new found romance she couldn’t be sure.
Light was just barely beginning to peek over the horizon; a new day was beginning, and soon the town would wake and the ponies would go about their busy schedules once again in the light of the brilliant sun.
--Author's Note--
This is something that I'll be working on alongside Equestria's Messiah. I'm not sure how often one or the other will update, but I'm pretty ADD about my projects and having a "serious" piece and a romance piece will help keep me writing despite what mood I'm in.
It was an idea that popped into my head last night that I pounded out on my poor keyboard and that I'm pretty interested in. It's going to focus a little more on the relationship after it begins and how it affects the group dynamic of the Mane Six. I'm thinking it will probably shift point of views, but I'm not dead set on my narrative direction as of writing this.
Just to reiterate: this is not dip into clopfic territory. I may write sloppy makeouts again, but I Pinkie Promise that I'm not going to go much farther than that.
Thank you for taking the time to read. I hope you enjoyed.
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All these shipping stories, if not already,
are becoming very ... Textbook.
They all follow the same guidelines
and they are all well... boring.
Like a textbook.
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
I'm not a huge Twinkie fan but this was actually quite sweet. Tracking!
not bad i must say
i guess this is your second or third type of shipping story?
one can never have enough TwiPie fanfics. Especially well written ones like this. tracked faved and thumbs up
359143 The same could be said of any type of story in any medium. When you boil everything down, obviously you're going to get a lot of very similar stories at their core. It's execution, variation, and combination that make stories worth reading. If you don't want to read shipfics, don't read shipfics, but don't get presumptuous because you'd rather read something else.
BSB is at it again. Like a boss. No! Like a HOSS.
This was... oh my gosh that was just so adorable and touching! Good times and sweetness.
359143
and you alway leave a comment like that (fill with hate)
Twinkie, so much delicious Twinkie.
MMMMmmmmmm
OH, how spoiled I feel. Sitting here in this chair, with a nice helping of Twinkies. BUT OH, are they good. I just keep getting more! We've been getting so many Twinkie's lately. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THOUGH. Great to seem them, really. These things are amazing.
359443 ahh.... yay?
359211
Thanks for reading.
Thank you for reading; I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Glad you liked it. I hope it'll continue to suit your fancy.
Twinkie is a great ship. It's all magic and cupcakes.
359274
Why thank you. I'm not sure what you mean by type, but I suppose you could say that I've written one "traditional" ship fic that began with a dramatic get together and progressed to near-clop levels (that one cannot be found anywhere), a fluff piece or snapshot fic, a one-shot goofy get together fic, and then this one which will be more along the lines of interpersonal interaction including the entire Mane Six. So I guess you could say that this is my fourth type.
359280
I agree completely. TwiPie is so neglected it's tragic.
359378
What can I say? I'm obsessed.
359443
Yes. There has been so much delicious Twinkie lately. So much delicious Twinkie.
359395
Hate?
Uhhhm no.
I may seem harsh sometimes but i never hate.
Its either trolling or being a bit exaggerated with my
opinion. Its what i do.
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
359343
To me that sounds like a designer trying to sell two different suits, the only difference
is one has a Bow tie and the other doesn't.
Its different but for ME I think it doesn't make a difference.
They are both suits that i want, ill take either one, but if I
want to buy something else and its another suit, it gets a bit redundant.
I don't hate ship fics, im subscribed to a shipping group! I never once
said i didn't want to read it, i was simply pointing out that im finding
all of these stories a bit similar. They are drying out, so to speak.
But that's just me, I wasn't speaking for a general audience. I was speaking
for myself. I love Twinkie Shipping, one of my favorites, i just wish for less of the
Checklist like flow they have to them; or at least that's how i think they feel.
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
359957
"To me that sounds like a designer trying to sell two different suits, the only difference
is one has a Bow tie and the other doesn't."
It's more like two suits that are differently coloured, of different cuts, and made for different occasions. It's redundant if you just want a suit. They're both suits. If you go beyond the most basic purpose, however, each suit is vibrant and different, and easily appreciable on their own for their separate merits. Lumped into a group, though, they remain just two more suits in the pile.
As for the checklist type feel, that's present in a lot of writing (especially romance). Like I said, we follow the same basic plot structures but it's the embellishment that really matters. There are some notable exceptions, though.
I thought this story was cute, but pinkies dialogue seemed off sometimes, like she'd say I am instead of I'm, which isn't really her if you know what I mean.
Excellent work so far and I'm really interested in where this going.
Too many fics end right when the relationship is starting, which works fine for some pieces but I feel more Ship Fics should focus on the ups and downs of a pairing's love life. Really explore how the characters would deal with this sort of thing. In one of Donny boy's works it describes an entirety of a relationship in a blink of time "There is yelling, and there is crying, and there is laughing. There is fighting and making up and hanging on and letting go--and, above all, there is love." it's a really great example of how Love isn't all a bed of roses and that a lot of conflict is internal as well as external.
in short:
Upvote, and tracking.
360320
Whoops. I'll fix that right up. Sometimes I wax a little too formal, and Pinkie doesn't like it.
361081
I agree. I think I've said before that I'm not particularly interested in writing shipfics that are primarily the get together story because I don't feel like I have much to offer there that hasn't already been done a thousand times over. What I am interested in and what I have a good portion of ideas for is the actual relationship and the dynamics that work and don't work. And Donny Boy is one of my favorites.
Thank you for reading.
359957
I can understand where you are coming from completely.
However, what I am attempting to accomplish here is something different from what I've normally written and seen which takes place after the getting together. I see this chapter as a sort of necessary evil before getting to the meat of the story; yes, it's cliche, but it's important for allowing the reader to get where they need to be before I can start mixing it up. I actually made fun of this part a bit in the description by calling it a "textbook jump into romance" which is where I'm assuming your original statement came from. I'm sorry if I'm adding to the tedium of predictable shipfics, but I am hoping to make it a more interesting in the chapters to come.
Regardless of whether you decide to keep reading or not, thank you for reading this chapter and giving your input.
361256
Mmm..
Alright then.
Cheers
~iraqlobstah
Underrated ship FOR THE WIN!!
I'm liking where this is going! That and I adore Twipie....it really needs more love!! TRACKED!
Very cute. Normally I would give a detailed explanation of what I liked and disliked, but no time for that right now.
I will say, however, that I feel you go a bit Purple at times. The prose is heavy, which is fine for the introduction to set the mood, but it doesn't lighten up at all. There's a bit too much detail, which disrupts the "flow" of the story somewhat.
But that's all for now. Still going to track it :).
369518
That's a bit of a problem of mine that I need to keep a closer eye on. Thanks for mentioning it, I'll try to keep it in check.
Hi! *waves*
Pinkie practically beamed at her, “You got me!”
I am hearing this said in the same tone of voice as she used in the desert scene from "Over a Barrel." Which I love. Nice call-back to the show, by the way.
Pinkie rubbed at her eyes furiously and donned an unconvincing grin, “Don’t worry. I’m just being a silly little Pinkie, crying over spilled cupcakes.”
Aww! Pinkie! I liked Pinkie's half-hearted fib here. Seemed in-character, and it made my heart have a sad.
Twilight planted a soft kiss on Pinkie’s cheek, still slightly salty from tears, “My hypothesis is that I also harbor affections for you of the romantic category. Furthermore, it states that I would very much like to kiss you now if you will let me.”
That is completely adorkable. Just like "You got me!" seemed very apropos for Pinkie, this bit of nerdiness seems very appropriate for Twi. Also, she asked if she could kiss her. Awww.
Twilight moved towards the earth pony to nuzzle her cheek once more, “I more than liked it; I loved it! Pinkie, you are flabbergasting!”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It’s the best thing.”
You write some of the cutest TwiPie dialogue, if not THE cutest. Twilight calling Pinkie "flabbergasting," and Pinkie asking if that's a good thing, is possibly the best thing ever.
Other things I liked: Twilight's methodological thinking process and questioning of Pinkie. The perfectly toasted frosting (I really fell in love with that detail, for some reason). "Flabbergasting" (which I already mentioned, but I like it so much, I'm mentioning it again).
One part that gave me pause was here:
Pinkie answered in a very matter-of-factly tone, “Now we let everypony else know and accept our feelings.”
I can buy Pinkie being all steam ahead, let's tell the gang we're fillyfriends now, but I was a bit surprised that Twilight didn't want to take things more slowly and cautiously. They've never even been on an actual date yet, y'know? I think the ending of this chapter might have worked a bit better if you'd either included more of Twilight's internal thoughts on why she's cool moving so fast (especially as she's JUST realized, at least consciously, that she likes Pinkie too) or have extended the chapter a bit to allow them to establish a bit of a baseline as a couple.