He Is The One

by Loyal Defender

Best Friends to the Core

A few hours later, the train arrived at Ponyville. As the passengers got off the train, Twilight nuzzled Loyal, and called to him, to wake him up.

"Hey... it's time to wake up... We're back in Ponyville..."

"Mmmmhh..what..?" Local replied tiredly, and looked out the window,

"Are we home..?"

Twilight nodded. "Yep. It's time to get off the train."

Loyal tiredly got up, then stood up straight, and stretched.

"Best train ride I've ever experienced...."

Twilight chuckled. "Well, you were sleeping for part of it. But it was quiet and peaceful, so I can hardly blame you."

"I'll be surprised if Diamond's waiting out there...it's so late..."

Loyal replied, before exiting the train. The second he left it, he was tackled to the ground by a familiar small pink filly.

"There you are! I was getting worried! What happened? How was it? Why do you look so sleepy?"

*yaaawn* Dangerous....scary....awesome.....too tired to reply..."

Diamond giggled. "Okay, okay, let's get you back to Sweet Apple Acres to sleep, then.”

*half an hour later, and after Loyal accidentally fell asleep walking at least three times*

Diamond knocked on the door, and Applebloom came to answer it. She smiled when she saw Loyal standing there.

"Train got delayed. You got a letter about it, too, right?" Diamond asked.

AB just nodded, and motioned for the others to come in.

Loyal made a beeline for the couch and practically fell onto it, landing in a comfortable position....

"That was....the most exhausting trip ever..."

"Well, it's late, so you can tell us all about it in the morning, alright?" Diamond let out a yawn.

*Yaaaawn* "Sure.....night, Di...."

Diamond whispered a goodnight to Loyal before she and Apple Bloom went upstairs to sleep.

A few hours later into the night, Loyal could feel somepony gently nuzzling him and nudging him, trying to get him to wake up. He then heard Twilight's voice speaking to him.

"Hey... Um... L-Loyal...? Wake up..."

"Hm...? Wha....?" Loyal opened his eyes slowly, and found Twilight looking at him.

"Oh....-hey, Twi...what's up..?" He said sleepily.

"Listen, um... I... kind of wanted to talk to you about something..."

"About? GO, on,it's okay."

"Look, um, I don't really know how to say this...."

"I'll understand."

Twilight took a deep breath. "Well, um... I kinda... Like you...?"

"What?"

"I... I kind of... like you..."

You......you like me? As a friend, or beyond that? don't be afraid to be honest."

"See, that's the thing... I don't really know for sure... I know I like you as a friend, but I don't really know how I really feel..."

"I have an idea. If you like me beyond....thn....then snuggle me. I know, it sounds odd...but if you truly like me, you'll snuggle me. Then, we'll know for sure."

"I don't know... Are you sure that'd work...?"

"If you did it because you felt like doing it while you liked me, it'd prove you liked me. If you did it just because I asked you to, it'd prove nothing.....but tell me...do you feel like cuddling with me? Be honest."

"...I don't know, that's the thing... I sort of do? But I don't know if it's because I want to or because I feel like I should."

"Come on....there's only one way to find out."

Loyal held his arms out for Twilight to approach him to lift her onto the couch..

Twilight hesitated, but approached him a moment later.

Loyal lifted Twi off of the ground, and onto the couch...onto his stomach.

"Now....just relax..."

"Are you sure? I don't... want to make you uncomfortable..."

"Go ahead...snuggle me."

Twilight hesitated, but wrapped her hooves around Loyal.

"There ya go..."

Twilight nuzzled herself into Loyal's chest quietly.

"There.....see? Not so bad....how do you feel? Relaxed?"

"I... suppose so..." Twilight looked down.

"d you do it because you were asked? Or did you do it because you liked me?"

"I... don't really know... I don't really know what I want..."

"I know, it's kind of complicated....but just know this, Twi...I've always liked you."

"Have... Have you really...?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't like a sweet and caring pony like you?"

"Well, there's Tirek for one. And Queen Chrysalis. Oh, and the Umbrum, and- oh, wait, is that a rhetorical question...?"

"Haha, yes!"

"Hehe... Well, I don't think I'm THAT lovable..." Twilight scratched at one of her ears

""Not true....you're an incredibly patient, hard-studying, brainy friend....that's the best thing somepony like me could ever ask for..."

Twilight giggled. "Really?"

"Well....yeah....I know, I might be overdoing it with thee compliments....but I'll be honest. You and the other girls are the sweetest ones I've ever met....you seem passionate...caring....brave.....something I'd always wanted to see in good friends...and you fit that quality.."

"Well... yeah... That's what drew us together. We're all brave, and kind, and friendly. We're all passionate about what we do. It's what makes us... us."

Loyal proceeded to hug Twi.

"Like I said...that's the best thing a person like me could ever ask for..."

Just then, Loyal heard the familia voices of the four fillies come from in front of the couch.

"Ooooooh! Loy's got a crush on Twilight!" They said.

Twilight blushed at the fillies' teasing before diverting the subject to something else. "Girls, what are you doing up? It's not morning, is it...?"

"Ah always get up this early to prepare for mah chores" AB replies.

"I never knew it'd help me wake up to one of the cutest things ever! A Princess cuddlin'! Imagine that, girls!"

Sweetie Belle giggled. "It's pretty adorable! I wonder if anyone else around here might have a secret crush?"

"No....I think it's just us....but don't tell anypony else....it'd look awkward....j"

Just then, AJ came down the stairs, hearing the commotion.

"What the heck's goin' on here?"

"Just a touching moment that I pray does not get any more awkward....."

"Darn it..." Loyal muttered.

"Umm... M-Maybe I should go..."

Loyal shot a glare at the fillies, and silently mouthed, "You owe me!"

Twilight stood up and walked out of the room.

"Well, that was interesting, huh?" Sweetie gave an innocent smile to her friends.

"Pardon me for a moment" Loyal said, and walked into a closet. Moments later, sounds of headbanging could be heard. 7 times.

"Uh, is everything okay in there?" Apple Bloom knocked on the closet door.

"Unless you count as ruining special moment with Twi and me as being okay, then no."

"Oh... Well, i'm... Sorry..."

"Would you want us to ruin a moment between Apple Bloom and a colt? She's the one who woke us up."

"Sweetie Belle, now's not the time!"

"Just leave me in here for a few hours.."

"Well.... alright...." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned and returned to the others.

"None of this ever happened....noene of this ever happened....none of this ever happen....find your happy place....find your happy place.." Loyal said to himself.

There was a knock on the door. "Is our closet haunted now or did the girls chase you in there, sugarcube?"

"Just trying to recover from an embarrassing incident they caused...."

"Oh boy, they sure do have a knack for causing those. To themselves AND everyone else... 'course they don't mean no harm really..."

"Could we discuss this and take a stroll...?"

"Don't see why not."

*letter, on a stroll*

"So, how often does Applebloom....cause trouble?"

"Well I wouldn't call it TROUBLE, exactly. She just used to be overeager looking for her cutie mark. She and her friends would try all these different things, runnin' around every single day not really caring whose way they got into. There WAS this one time she and her friends revealed everypony in town's secrets, and spun wild stories out of out-of-context photographs, but other than that...

...But, well, she did also steal a powerful magic plant from Zecora one day. Got a mysterious magical disease with only one known cure. What a day that was..."

"Wait, what..?"

"Look, it's like this. Earning a Cutie Mark is an important rite of passage for a young filly or colt. But Apple Bloom and her friends were already starting to grow up - if'n you catch my drift - but they'd still not gotten theirs. They were desperate. Maybe a little TOO desperate in Apple Bloom's case. But they learned their lesson. And then, not too long ago, they FINALLY got their Cutie Marks. They were so excited! Mostly they've calmed down, but they're still just kids. It's kinda hard to be mad at them for things they do."

"I never thought of it that way before....if they hadn't gotten their marks yet, they'd have had a good chance of getting it by embarrassing me when Twi and I were......uhh.......bonding....yeah, bonding..."

Applejack chuckled. "Well, I dunno. I don't think I've ever seen a pony with a cutie mark in ruining moments between others. But, um, speakin' of bonding.... I was hoping maybe you could give me a bit of advice? See, I mentioned that AB and the others are growin' up, right? Well, that means they might start doing things like.... Well, hanging out with colts more. Maybe. I don't actually know if she would or not, she's never thought about that before. But see, our parents... um.... aren't around.... So I've more or less been acting like a mother figure for AB and I've got all the instincts that come with it, you could say. How do I deal with it if she DOES start doin' that?"

"Just make sure if AB seems to be doing something with a colt that seems wrong, you just don't let them do it...it'll be hard on them, but it's the best thing to do."

"Well, yeah, but I've only recently stopped babying her when it comes to responsibility... She's a very capable filly, after all. But she's still my baby sister, and I don't want to see anything happen to her. I'm worried I'll try to split her up from somepony she cares about without realizing that I'm even doing it or something, just because I'm overprotective."

"My sister usd to think my mother babied me a lot.....and she might be right....I know how it feels to have somepony who thinks you;re the "angel" in the family...because one person gets in all the trouble, while you get in trouble less often......it just makes me feel terrible, in a way..."

"Well I wouldn't know how that feels. We all have our issues that crop up every now and again for us all, but we're as thick as they come. Nopony around here goes through anything alone. ...Which is why I'm thinking so hard on this. This one's complex... On the one hoof, I should trust her judgment not to make mistakes, and take care of herself. On the others... I should still keep my eyes open in case she can't see if something bad is going down, right...? But then... if she finds out, she might get upset. And the worst part is I don't know how to bring this subject up with her so we can talk about it. What if she's not ready? What if I alienate her? What if we stop being so close?"

"Seems you get freaked out a lot.....you know, I've read about horses, and one thing can calm them down."

Loyal proceeded to stroke AJ's mane.

Applejack started taking deep breaths. "Okay... Yeah, we do tend to calm down when somepony strokes our mane... Not sure WHY... But it's helped me calm AB down many times... I assume Rarity has the same luck with Sweetie Belle..."

"You mean I'm not the only one who's learned to do this?"

"Nope. It's a reaction we have, I guess. Whenever someone strokes our mane, we feel calm. I'm guessing it has to be someone we feel safe with, but who can say. It's not like anypony we feel unsafe with would be stroking our manes anyway. 'cept maybe Discord. But he's doin' a lot better lately."

"Still....feels nice, doesn't it?"

"Well... Yeah, it does..."

"No matter what happens....I'll always be here to guide you....besides, even the hottest farmers needs guides....." Loyal said, before realizing he just called AJ ""hot", to which he blushed.

"Hmm... Are you sure Twilight was the one you were meant to have a moment with?" Applejack said, chuckling.

"Don't ever mention that to the others.."

"But....You know....I'm glad I met all of you....without any of you, I'd never have felt more happy..." Loyal said, tearing up a bit and hugged AJ.

"Aww, shucks, that's sweet of you to say! We're all glad we met you, too! And I'm sure Diamond Tiara's especially happy, given you helped her stand up to her... witch... of a mother."

As AJ embraced Loyal back, the two could feel a strong bond forming between the two of them....so strong, in act, it formed a large magical heart over the two, to which it soon faded out.

"Maybe we should be gettin' on back now. I feel like I should have a talk with AB about why she should leave two critters having' a moment be..."

"Sure....that was actually a nice chat..."

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

This better not be a harem. I find it strange that Loyal instantly makes every mare around him wanna be his marefriend. I can understand knowing the future, but this stinks of a Gary-Stu.

[Loyal Defender]

8865079
It's not like that. I don't have crushes on all of the Mane Six....and not even Twi. This was back when I DID have a crush on her. Like, years ago. This story was back in my amateur days when I was getting the hang of how stories worked.

The hearts don't represent love. They represent something else. A stronger friendship bond.