Third date
Pinkie stared at the door. She took several deep, calming breaths, and then a few more. She went over her plans in her head again just to be sure she knew what she was doing.
Shaking somewhat, she finally raised a hoof. She was expected at six o'clock, which meant she had no more time to prepare in exactly three.
Two.
One.
***
A wide smile spread across Pinkie's face as she gave an enthusiastic knock on her marefriends door. She pranced in place happily as the contents of the saddlebags she wore shuffled rhythmically. Her smile grew even brighter as the door opened and she saw Twilight's face smiling back at her.
Twilight couldn't help but give a little giggle as she opened the door. She had decided to test a theory, and had discovered that Pinkie Pie would indeed show up at EXACTLY when she had promised. How she had even seemed to time it down to the second to the clock in her house could almost be disconcerting if it was any other pony, but being Pinkie just made it interesting and amusing.
"You know, one of these days I feel like I need to find a way to figure out what is in your head that makes you so interesting."
Pinkie smiled a little wider, then a little smaller, at the inquisitive smirk in front of her. "Well, that's an interesting way to tell somepony 'hi'", Pinkie chirped as cheerfully as she thought was appropriate.
"Well you are an interesting pony to say 'hi' to. I have to at least try to keep up with your antics don't I?"
Pinkie Pie was thinking of a way to gently and cheerfully tell Twilight that she, in fact, didn't have to do that at all. But before the thought got too far it was derailed by soft lips meeting hers.
She found herself wanting to deepen the kiss but thought better of it. Twilight still managed to sneak in one more small peck as Pinkie pulled away. She smiled big, but not too big, as Twilight gave her a slanted smirk and took a step to the side in the doorway.
"Come on in. I think I have everything we need, but I'm still not sure. I'm looking forward to learning from somepony who knows their way around the kitchen, but is maybe just a little less snarky then Spike."
Pinkie couldn't help but to let out a little snort of a giggle. "I can keep the snark under control, but you might have to deal with a little sass." The humor made Twilight give a full smile as she led the way into the modest kitchen of her library home. Pinkie pronked behind.
Twilight raised a forehoof to display her preparations, blushing just a little knowing she'd need to explain. Pinkie just smiled a knowing smile. "So, exactly how many times did you burn the sauce?"
".... Seventeen." She said this while somewhat deflating and lowering her presenting hoof as well as her head. "So Spike finally gave up on showing me how and said that the store bought stuff would be fine if we were just having a simple night in." She said this while looking up and now more sheepishly gesturing to the assortment of various jars she had sitting on her counter.
Pinkie sauntered over and looked between them all for a few moments. She picked out a couple before replying. "He was right, they will be. Once I'm done with them." She gave a cocky wink to the other mare before she could catch herself. She felt that she could still make up for it though. Her smile became wide again. "You take your coffee with cream and sugar, right?"
When Pinkie looked back to Twilight from where she had now set down her assortment of sauces she thought she saw her expression shifting from a frown. Luckily it changed very quickly into mild surprise as she quirked her head in confusion. "Uh, yeah. Usually, if I'm not on a three day studying binge and have turned to just drinking it straight from the pot. Why?"
Pinkie hopped to the fridge, bobbing her tail happily as she opened and briefly looked around before holding her prize aloft. "Because, it means you have cream we can use and I'm going to show you how to turn regular old pasta sauce into the super-duperest cream sauce you've ever had."
Twilight seemed taken aback at this as she took the now presented dairy container in her magic. "Are you sure? Spike gave up on trying to teach me to cook years ago. It took me hours to convince him to let me try again and he still gave up after only a few hours." She smiled self-consciously at the confession but was caught off guard when she noticed pinkie had suddenly stepped close and brought their muzzles within inches.
"I can give you incentives for learning that he can't." She then gave her marefriend a small peck on her snout. "So, are you up to trying to learn again?"
Twilight was not going to admit it just yet, but Pinkie seemed to have already found nearly all her buttons and managed to push nearly all of them with that question. Feeling almost a little light headed with the intensity of her blush she could only manage to nod her head.
Pinkie knew that one had landed exactly as she wanted it to as Twilight's blush became very pronounced. It was perfect. Now all she had to do was sneak a flirty kiss and not say it. And why wouldn't she not say it. She knew it should be said and that anypony who cared about Twilight should say it, but she didn't need to, at least right now, it could wait, don't ruin the perfect moment...
"... But Twilight," 'oh ganache donuts'! The spell was completely broken with just the two simple words, and she knew there was no way to stop the rest. "Staying up for that long with nothing but coffee is like really super bad for you, and I would know, I've been on waaaaaaaay too many three day sugar rushes and I never feel good after, not even after waking up from the sugar crash. I mean, if you like really super needed to I guess you could, but I just think it would be..."
Her ramble came to an end as Twilight stopped resisting the urge and moved herself forward. Their lips locked deeply, but not as long as either mare would have liked based on how slowly they pulled away.
"Well then, how about from now on we just watch out for each other. You make sure I don't drink too much coffee, and I'll keep you away from the Cake's sugar store room. Deal?"
Pinkie was mostly focused on the kiss, and how it clearly meant she was still doing ok. Better then ok, if the tingling in her lips was to be believed. But even as she could still only just manage to nod at the question she knew she had to get back on track. As Twilight pulled away and she could see her smile, her perfect perfect smile, she knew she had to be perfect too. Twilight was worth it, so no more side tracks, no more rambling, no more getting too excited. She just needed a few more seconds to calm down and she'd be ok. Just turn away, give herself something else to focus on, like the plastic bag on the counter full of...
"What???!!!" Twilight turned suddenly at her marefriends outburst. When she did she saw her holding up a plastic bag by its sealed side, but holding it away from herself as though it were dangerous. "Twilight, what in Equestria is THIS???!!!"
More than a little shocked she could only mumble out a reply. "It's, umm... bread?"
For possibly the first time Twilight had ever seen, Pinkie seemed to become very annoyed. Yet the voice she used next came out slow and measured. "Twilight, you are literally dating a baker. I cannot stress enough the importance of you understanding that bread does not come from a supermarket. I would not let my worst enemy eat processed and enriched bread from the store, much less my marefriend whom I care about very much."
Though the statement made her blush, Twilight was still a little in shock and wanted to try to explain herself as carefully as she could. "I know you're a baker, that's why I thought it would be best if I got bread in advance. I didn't want you to have to do something on our date that felt like work. That's also why I didn't get it from Sugarcube Corner. I just figured if I got the best bread the regular store had it would probably be ok."
Pinkie tossed her head back in a huff that would make Rarity proud. "Well, if it is the best thing Barnyard Bargains had then it probably is good enough." She walked past Twilight and set the plastic bag on the other side of the kitchen where it would be out of the way. "We'll give it to Fluttershy, I'm sure her birds will love it."
Twilight was still taken aback, and yet that part made her giggle. "Pinkie, that just might be the meanest thing I think I've ever heard you say. And yet still I don't think it was in the least bit mean."
Pinkie was luckily turned away from Twilight as she was digging through the saddle bags she'd left at the entrance of the kitchen. She did her best to keep calm as she thought hard on how to erase the last couple minutes of time. She laughed in a way she hoped didn't sound nervous. "Ha ha, well you know I am a baker. I might not usually specialize in bread, but every baker needs to be able to bake good bread before they can move on to other stuff." She turned to give Twilight a smile she hoped didn't look too forced.
Twilight walked over to nuzzle into her in what could be mistaken for a comforting way. "Sorry."
"..... Why are you sorry?"
"I know you love your job, I should have realized that you'd prefer doing something like that fresh."
"It's not hard, I promise it won't take up too much of our night."
Twilight pulled away and smiled at that. "Ok, but you've gotta let me help. I have to do something to make up for insulting your pride as a baker don't I?"
Pinkie considered how to handle this, not wanting to think Twilight had in any way insulted her. But she had had a special plan for the night, and this was probably the best opening she would get. "Uuuumm, well not that I'm really insulted, but if you insist you could let me show off a little." This made Twilight quirk her head, clearly intrigued. Pinkie did her best to put on a smug smile as she pulled out extra ingredients with what she was already getting for the bread. "Have you ever had freshly made pasta noodles before?"
Pinkie was happy when that made Twilight's eyes light up with intrigue. "You can do that?"
Pinkie somehow managed to pronk back to the counter while carrying the various ingredients. "Yuparuny, and it's really not much harder than making bread. If you know how to do it." She gave Twilight a playful wink and gestured for her to join her at the counter.
Pinkie seemed to take great joy in showing Twilight just how easy it was to make a good bread dough. She explained that most of the potentially complicated parts of the process came after the bread had actually risen. After setting it aside to do so they started on another dough. Twilight now saw why Pinkie Pie had said this part would involve showing off.
"Pinkie, I don't think I could do that with magic. How in Equestria are you doing it with hooves?"
Knowing Twilight was watching her hooves and not her face, Pinkie allowed herself a slightly self-satisfied smile as she worked the dough. With practiced skill she stretched the dough, folded it in half, and stretched it out some more, adding flour here and there to keep the forming noodles from sticking together. She decided to just turn and give Twilight a wink at the praise as she gave them one last big pull to get them to the desired thickness. With a flourish, she grabbed a knife from a drawer and gave it a spin in her hoof as she cut off the excess and cut them down to the desired size. She took them straight to a waiting pot to cook right after.
When she turned around after doing so she found her marefriend had sat down on her haunches so she could clop her hooves together in applause. Blushing slightly, Pinkie decided to give a little bow. Twilight actually found herself feeling more than a little glad that she had made so many kitchen faux pas to start their date. Pinkie was obviously very comfortable in a kitchen and Twilight liked seeing her that way.
"I always knew you were a great baker, but I had no idea you knew how to do stuff like this."
Pinkie was now humming and bobbing her head happily as she began pouring the jars of sauce she had picked out earlier into a waiting sauce pan. She started adding various things to it from a discovered spice cabinet as it started to heat up. "Oh it's nothing that big. Most good bakers are good chefs too."
"Really?"
"Yuparuny, it's all about being confident in the kitchen. This is all stuff the Cake's taught me, same as baking."
Twilight thought on that a moment as she brought over the cream for the sauce. "I guess that makes sense. Kind of how it was easy for me to become a librarian because of how much time I've spent in libraries over the years."
Pinkie nodded her agreement as she mixed the cream Twilight was pouring into the sauce with the other ingredients she had added. When she finished she held the spoon out to Twilight. Twilight still blushed just a little when she realized what she was doing but still leaned forward to sample the new creation nonetheless. To her surprise Pinkie suddenly moved the sauce covered spoon forward and ended up dabbing a glob of it onto her nose. Twilight crossed her eyes at the feeling before noticing the barely contained laughter on the face of the other mare. Twilight purposefully gave the most obvious fake glare she could at the gesture. Thankfully Pinkie giggled at it as she sampled a taste from the spoon itself. Twilight scrunched up her face as she stretched her tongue out to get her sample from where it had been smeared.
At her tongues first contact with the substance her horn glowed to life seemingly of its own volition. Pinkie was caught off guard as the spoon was suddenly yanked from her hoof and she turned to find Twilight already licking it clean. She smiled brightly at this.
"I guess that means you approve." Twilight could only nod as she proceeded to lick the spoon clean. She then blushed deeply as she realized just how childish what she had just done must look. Pinkie didn't seem to mind as she took the spoon back, taking it to the sink to give it a rinse before giving the pot of sauce another stir. Now you know why a baker's dozen exists. We like to sample too you know."
Twilight turned quizzical at that. "Is that really true?"
Pinkie just shrugged as she pulled their now risen dough towards her. "It's what I've always been told, and it makes perfect sense to me." She said this while flashing a goofy smile. "Speaking of which, do you want to help me roll this out into rolls. If we try to do a loaf it'll take waaaaaaay too long."
It took more time, and flour, then Pinkie would have imagined, but Twilight finally got the hang of the process. With one minor hitch as they were finishing.
"Pinkie, there can't be five on the last row."
"But why not? If we don't then there won't be a bakers dozen."
"I'm pretty sure these are going to be amazing and we don't need to sample them. I just," Twilight paused to bite her lip briefly. "You know I'm a neurotic mess, right?"
"Yup, it's one of the cutest things about you." Pinkie smiled warmly.
Twilight gave a sigh of relief. "So hopefully you understand that if one row is uneven it's going to bug me all night. And possibly into tomorrow if one of us eats it."
Pinkie stopped herself. As cute as she did find Twilight's freakouts to be, she felt she had already pushed her luck too far at this point. She didn't need to tease at Twilight's ocd, even if she was sure it would be fun for the both of them if she did. She maintained her smile as she tried to think of an alternative way to keep the mood light, but not too light.
She smiled bigger as she extended a hoof. "Well that's probably OK Twilight, but if you really need the number to be even we could always use that one."
Twilight raised her own hoof to the side of her head, then pulled it away when it touched something sticky. She gaped at her own hoof as she spoke. "How did I get that much dough in my mane?"
Pinkie giggled at her expression. "Probably the same way I got whipped caramel in mine."
Twilight smiled at the memory, but still blushed as she realized the current state she must be in based on how much flour they'd gone through. "I think I need a quick trip to the bathroom. I'll be right back."
"And I'll get all twelve of these rolls into the oven."
Twilight smiled as she turned to leave.
The moment Twilight was out of the room Pinkie deflated noticeably. She let out a sigh before grumbling under her breath. "Keep it together Pinkamina. You were doing good, but that would have been way too much. More than anything else you can't be too much."
She proceeded to put the last of the rolls in place as she did her best to cheer herself up.
Just outside the door to the kitchen Twilight listened to the rolls go in the oven from where she had decided to linger. She gave a heavy but silent sigh as she continued to the bathroom.
A few minutes later saw Twilight returned to the kitchen refreshed. She gave her marefriend a wide smile when she found her digging through the fridge.
"Welcome back cutie, you ready to finish up?"
Twilight nodded. "Sure. There were just salads left right?"
"Uh-huh. And that is easy peasy lemonsqueezy. Although not really, unless we were going to do Mediterranean."
Twilight genuinely smiled at the dumb joke. "Let's just keep it basic. That way I can still help without needing to go get cleaned up again."
The two fixed themselves two picture perfect salads. Twilight was delighted when Pinkie felt playful enough to keep adding croutons and cherry tomatoes to hers whenever she turned her head. Not to be outdone, Twilight quickly used her magic to carefully reshape several pieces of lettuce into hearts and slipped them into Pinkie's dish. She turned away to seem nonchalant when Pinkie noticed the addition to her own salad, but was delighted to hear a little giggle of delight come from the mare.
Since they still had some time left before their rolls were done they determined it was a good time to decide on their entertainment for the evening. Twilight had put a lot of thought into where she should set up her projector. It was honestly the first time in her life she ever actually asked herself the question, 'which would be more romantic?' She came to the conclusion that while using the pillows and cushions she normally used while reading did seem more romantic for watching a movie, trying to eat on them as well would probably spoil that romance. So she had set up her projector behind her couch, but had made liberal use of cushions to enhance the comfort and hopefully the intimate nature.
What they still needed to set up about the whole thing was what they were actually going to watch. And Twilight had had a great idea about that. In amongst her selections of nerd classics, she had procured a few movies that she thought would be appropriate for a date. Mostly just a few romances, but one in particular had caught her eye. A romantic comedy she had heard leaned much harder into the comedy.
It seemed like exactly the sort of thing Pinkie would love. And it seemed like she was right. Twilight had left the small selection of films in a box next to the projector and told her marefriend she could pick the first movie. And as she bobbed her head as she hoofed through the selection Twilight couldn't help but notice she lingered on that one for a few moments longer than the rest. But to Twilight's disappointment she did end up passing it up. She flipped through the selection once more before stopping on the, very obviously, most used film of the bunch.
Twilight smiled at her, but she didn't feel all of it. While she obviously was the type that loved to watch Space Odyssey at least once a month, it definitely wasn't a great movie for watching with a date. Especially a date who Twilight could tell was probably not going to enjoy it.
"I've never actually seen this one. Is it really as amazing and sci-fi as ponies say?"
"It is one of my favorites, if you can deal with a slow pace then we definitely could watch it."
Pinkie did smile at that, but Twilight was starting to recognize Pinkie's less Pinkie smiles, and that definitely was one. Nonetheless she trotted over with the film in hoof. "Well then, since I have no idea how to work a projector, you can get that ready while I go check on the rolls."
Twilight thought about it for just a second, then caught the mare in her magical aura as she passed. It was just enough to redirect her and turn her right back around to where she had been a moment before. "Nope," Twilight chirped, smiling at the confused look on the other pony. "You get to help me. That way the next time we have a movie night you can set it up and I can do something extra special for you in the kitchen."
And that was the Pinkie smile she liked to see. "Okiedokiloki," Pinkie sing-songed happily, in a way Twilight knew meant she could barely contain her excitement. It made Twilight almost wish the process of setting up the film took much longer. The way Pinkie followed along with her as she helped was just what she liked to see in her. "Oh, so it's really just that easy?"
Twilight nodded with a smirk as she clicked the last piece into place. "Totally not hard for a pony as smart as you."
Pinkie giggled at the compliment. "You still showed me how to do it, so you're still the smart marefriend."
"We'll see how that stands up when we try out those noodles and bread you made. You're still the genius in the kitchen when I struggle to simmer pasta sauce." They both stepped away from the machine, Twilight managing to sneak in a playful hip bump as they did so.
At this Pinkie smiled again, then her nose went into the air. "Speaking of which, I think dinner is officially ready."
"You can tell just by smell?" Twilight questioned as she followed Pinkie as she pronked into the kitchen.
"Absoluteatutilty!" Pinkie sang as she pulled the oven open. "Hmmmmmm. Sweets are my passion, but there's just something about some good bread when it's fresh. Don't you think so Twilight?"
With the oven now open Twilight could tell what Pinkie had been smelling. She couldn't help but lean in as the other mare took up oven mitts and pulled out the delicate little miniature loaves. "Soooooo. What do you think of your first bread?"
Twilight blushed as a perfect line came to her. "Our first bread, from our first time baking together. And not the last if it's going to keep turning out this good."
Pinkie giggled at that as Twilight noticed some color come to her cheeks as well. "Oh, be careful there. Baking is so super fun you'll end up getting addicted. You'll end up leaving me just so you can have more time to bake." Pinkie fought hard to keep her smile from faltering. She hadn't meant to say the last part. Putting the idea of leaving her into Twilight's head was the last thing she wanted.
Twilight only scoffed a laugh at that. "Yeah, because baking with anypony but you could totally be fun."
Pinkie waited until Twilight turned around to let out a breath she barely realized she'd been holding. It came with a sigh of relief. She didn't notice Twilight's ear twitch at the sound.
Twilight used her magic to help the process of getting their plates of pasta, rolls, and salads into the living room for them. She also floated out a bottle of cider Applejack had given her for the occasion when she had asked if it was okay for Spike to join the Crusaders on this night. She could only smile a small smile as she used her magic to pull her curtains and extinguish all the candles as she clicked on the projector.
As the images of prehistoric ponies started playing on screen, Twilight couldn't help but to glance over to the pony sharing the couch with her. While Twilight loved this movie, it didn't exactly give her very many opportunities to be romantic. She decided to focus on her food, twisting a nice forkful of her fresh made pasta and raising it to her mouth.
"Oh my goodness Pinkie, this is the best pasta I've ever tasted."
Pinkie did not seem in the least bit bothered by having the movie interrupted. She turned with a proud smile on her face. With that they ended up talking through the first few minutes of the movie as Twilight gushed more about the food and how talented Pinkie was as a chef.
Noticing how much of the movie had passed Twilight smiled bashfully. "Umm, sorry. I made you miss the whole start of the movie."
"It's okay, unless you explained it the whole way through I don't think I'd get it anyway."
"Oh please, it's not that hard to understand and you're way smarter than you give yourself credit for." In the dim light Twilight could still tell that made Pinkie smile happily and blush just a little. This prompted her to go on. "But I guess since I've seen it so many times, we could just talk through the whole movie and I can tell you all about it."
Pinkie smiled even brighter at this. "I love it when you go full nerd. Ok, what the hey is up with the big black thingy?"
*
Despite the length of the film and how good the food was, neither pony had finished their meals by the time the credits were rolling. Not wanting such good food to go to waste, Twilight used her magic to warm their pasta and cool their salads.
"Well I guess that solves the question of if we'll have time for another movie," she said as she finished the process. Her horn still glowed enough to see Pinkie smiling a very Pinkie smile at that. This made her next decision easy. "Guess it's my turn to pick then." She twisted her body around, subtly using the action to scoot closer to her marefriend. She reset her projector easily with her magic, swapping out the film for a specific, special one.
"Oh," Pinkie said with just the smallest bit of hesitation as the movie started. "I didn't think you actually liked movies like this Twilight."
Twilight smiled. "I've been thinking a lot more about romance lately. And I've also been learning the value of a good laugh as well."
Pinkie couldn't resist lunging forward for a kiss at that moment. It was a welcome action to Twilight, even if she did pull away a little quicker then she would have liked her to. Pinkie then took a big slurp of her noodles to try to occupy herself. Twilight couldn't see her well in the low light, but she could tell she was still being apprehensive. Luckily that was short lived as something Twilight wasn't paying attention to must have happened in the movie. The sight of Pinkie's cheeks bulging as she tried not to spew her food everywhere in laughter was enough to break the moment for Twilight as well.
Now paying attention to the movie managed to lighten the mood overall. What Twilight had heard about the movie had been right, it was very funny and neither mare could deny it. Less than ten minutes in and neither could stop laughing for much longer then to take a few more bites of their food. It led to a particularly amusing scene that had them both wheezing almost uncomfortably. As their laughter finally died down, they realized that in their mirth they seemed to have sought out the others' embrace.
Twilight had a moment then. This was a moment that felt right. Laughing without a care in the world, and Pinkie Pie being close by. As they sat, pressed together with their legs slightly tangled. She noticed Pinkie have a moment of indecision, but before she could act on it Twilight was already moving.
Their lips met. Not their most intense kiss thus far, but definitely their most intense in private. At the corner of her attention Twilight realized that the movie had seemed to take their queue and had shifted away from the comedy and into the romantic part. And as she noticed Pinkie panting slightly as their kiss broke, she felt inclined to push the romance further herself.
Instincts she didn't know she had seemed to take over as her forelegs reached out to wrap around the mare in front of her. It was a surprisingly good feeling to be pulling her marefriend in close to her like this. Her legs seemed to wrap her up in a way that just felt, right.
Twilight had to break the kiss again, suddenly realizing she hadn't taken a breath in some time. She pulled back to inhale deeply, but used the clearance to lean herself forward. She placed her forehead against the other mare's chest in order to take a minute to breath. That's when she noticed the other mares forelegs. They sat there, half way reaching out to her. Trembling.
That, that felt wrong.
Pinkie forced a smile as Twilight breathed into her chest. Then she reeled it back. Then she smiled again. In her head she kept trying to remember: 'Don't be too much'. But as she forced her hooves not to reach out to the mare gripping her tightly she could no longer decide what too much was.
"Twilight... You, you don't have to push yourself. Unless you're not pushing yourself, then it's OK." The words were spilling out without her control now. "Unless you're pushing yourself because you want to push yourself. But you don't have to if you think you need to for me. I mean, unless it's me, or it's not me, or..." Her words finally stopped as purple hooves were removed from around her. Her last words came out barely a whimper. "I just, don't want you to do something you don't want to."
".... Pinkie, what's wrong?" Pinkie was caught off guard as Twilight's horn glowed to life, shutting off the projector and re-lighting the room with a single quick spark.
Pinkie smiled even bigger, closing her eyes in the process. "What? Nothing's wrong Twilight, why would you think something is wrong?" Pinkie drew back at the contact as a hoof touched her cheek. Said hoof only reached forward again to gently caress the soft pink fur of the cheek.
"Because this isn't your smile. Your normal smile has so much joy in it. This one... almost looks painful."
Pinkie kept her eyes closed as she kept talking. "Don't be silly Twilight. It's just me, regular ol' Pinkie Pie. Smiling 'cause I love to see ponies smile."
"Pinkie..." Pinkie's eyes finally snapped open as she could hear the distinct sound of a small sob in her marefriends voice. Pinkie's mind immediately went into overdrive as she went through every scenario she had thought of to figure out what she had done wrong. "... am I doing something wrong?"
"No. No no no no no. You would never do something wrong. If there's something wrong I.. I'm sure it's my fault. And, and I'll fix it. Just please don't cry and please please please don't break...." Pinkie cut herself off before she could vocalize the idea, even though in her mind she knew where this was going.
Twilight seemed to have caught on anyway. "Why.. why would you think I would break up with you. Obviously I'm the one doing something wrong if, if you won't even be yourself around me anymore."
Pinkie tried to brush off the accusation, waving her hoof in the air as she responded and pushing her smile even harder. "What? That's silly Twilight. It's just me, Pinkie Pie. Just here being Pinkie Pie like always." Her smile felt shakey as she tried to figure out why her vision seemed to be getting blurry.
"Pinkie... we decided we didn't need to be formal with this whole dating thing because we already knew each other so well. I know the kind of pony you are, and you haven't been acting like that. So is the Pinkie I knew before not the real Pinkie, or are you trying to act differently now that we're dating? Are you trying to be a pony you think I want you to be?"
Pinkie finally couldn't keep the smile on her face as she noticed tears start running down her face. She couldn't find the will to turn away to hide it. "Of... of course I'm trying to be a different pony for you. If I don't try to be a different pony then you won't like me anymore. Just like everypony else who's ever gotten to know me, they think I'm just fun Pinkie Pie all the time and then they don't like it when I'm not or they think they can handle me when I'm being too much but then they don't want to or they think I want to date them just because I date everypony and they can just brush it off or just leave when they're done or...."
In the midst of her rambling Pinkie noticed the feeling of her face touching the cushion of the couch as she dropped lower and lower as she went. She also felt the feeling of her usual poofy mane getting damp with her tears as it slumped limply on the cushion around her.
Twilight had to take a minute to respond at all to what had just happened. All she could think to do when she did was reach a shaking hoof to the literally deflated pony before her. She was cut off before she made contact.
"I.. it's ok Twilight." The voice was surprisingly calm for the state of the mare it was coming from. "I pretty much knew how this was going to happen from the start. I just kinda hoped..." She paused to take a few steadying breaths. "It's just ok. I'll be ok to leave in a little while. But yes, I still want to be friends after if you aren't too upset after dumping me."
Twilight felt her heart breaking at the nearly unrecognizable voice coming from the mare as she looked down at her. She didn't know what to do at a moment like this. No book had covered anything remotely close to this. But there was one thing she did know.
"Pinkie, I don't want you to go anywhere." She moved slowly and gently, coming to lay in front of her fallen marefriend where she had slumped. Even more gently she scooted herself forward until she was almost face to face with the silently crying mare.
Pinkie tensed at a feeling, then realized it was a familiar foreleg being placed over her own. Since she was not actually laying down, having just slumped forward until her face met the surface, she nearly tumbled forward when her head shot up at the contact. She was shocked when the top of her snout made contact with her marefriends chin. This caused her to pull away, one hoof sliding off the side of the couch, and the rest of her following. She fell onto her side on the floor with a small thud, but couldn't react to it right away as she quickly looked back up and saw the face of the mare above her.
Twilight was still upset, and at the fall she was concerned, but seeing Pinkie like this forced her to let out just the smallest giggle. She was able to give a caring smile as she spoke again. She slid off the couch to come sit on the floor in front of her. "When you're ready to talk, I'll be right here."
Pinkie was clearly stunned by this, the rest of her body relaxing where it had fallen as she vaguely noticed her hair seem to pull itself from in front of her face. "You, you don't want me to go?"
Twilight shook her head gently.
Pinkie felt herself begin to relax more, but drew back again. "B..but you still want to break up with me right?"
Twilight's head shook even more definitely. Pinkie thought she noticed a little color come to her cheeks. "That, was probably the literal furthest thing from my mind tonight."
Pinkie was taken aback by this. After some time looking into the face above her the only thing she could think to say was, "why?"
Twilight couldn't help but to smile as she noticed Pinkie's mane seemed to be literally inflating itself as she watched. "Because having you as a marefriend has been the most interesting, most revealing, most fun time of my life. I'm not going to end it just because I can't figure out why you keep trying to act differently when we're on dates."
At this Pinkie actually managed to relax herself, managing to turn herself over and sit up so she was facing her marefriend. She couldn't quite look directly to her face as she spoke.
"I'm sor.."
Her words were cut off as she felt something boop against her nose, a small squeak managing to come from it at the contact. Looking up she saw Twilight smiling warmly to her. She then crossed her eyes to see a tissue held in a purple magical aura pressed against her snout.
"Blow. You'll feel better after I promise."
For the first time in a while Pinkie felt the edges of her lips go up without having to tell them to. She inhaled deeply, then blew a trumpeting breath into the offered tissue, pulling away quickly and blushing slightly when she did. To her surprise Twilight gave a little giggle to the action. It still took her a minute, but that was what made her finally able to explain.
"I.. I'm sorry if I made you upset. I just really really really wanted it to work between us and I don't know what to do to make that happen."
Twilight now became slightly apprehensive at that, thinking of something that might have played a role in this. "Does this... have something to do with me not knowing if I wanted to go out with you at first? Because," she felt herself blush at the admission she was about to make. "... You should know that I've really come to realize a few things about myself since then."
"No, it's not that at all. I've been turned down enough times to not be too upset by that anymore."
Twilight's chest tightened at the look of hurt that came to Pinkie's face at that. She quickly leaned forward and pulled her into a tight hug before any more tears could find their way to her eyes.
"Why would anypony turn you down Pinkie. You're one of the most wonderful ponies I've ever met. A.. and I thought you had, you know... dated nearly every available pony in town."
Pinkie wanted to pull away at that, but the forelegs that were wrapped around her felt too comforting to allow her to. She instead leaned in more, burying her face into her marefriends shoulder. "No. Not really anyway. Most ponies at least agree to one pity date with me, but I.. I don't think many of them really cared. And even when they did, I still managed to chase them away."
Pieces started clicking into place in Twilight's mind. "I'm sorry Pinkie."
Pinkie pulled away, frowning at the words. "What do you have to be sorry about?"
"Because... At one point after I'd heard about your, reputation, I might have been a little more hesitant about it because I thought... oh my goodness this is going to sound horrible." She openly cringed at what she was about to say. An encouraging look from Pinkie helped her go on. "I thought, that you might have just been asking me out because I was the next in line. But that's just not the kind of pony you are." She added on the last part before a look of hurt could cross Pinkie's face.
Pinkie still couldn't help some sadness come over her features. "Of course not. I've heard some ponies say that in different ways, but it's just not true. I'd never go out with somepony if I didn't think they were a great pony to go out with. It's just that there are so many special ponies in the world. And I, I guess I can kinda get a little overzealous in showing that."
Twilight smiled. "I've heard it described as you being, 'a smitten kitten'." Pinkie quirked an eyebrow at that. Twilight just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I think it actually stems from one of the best things about you, and that is your ability to see the good in everypony. Everypony and everything." Her words seemed to be making Pinkie feel better, a genuine smile widening on her lips. The mention of this subject did make a question, and a blush, come to Twilight. "So, since you didn't ask me out just because I was available, why did you?"
The smile on Pinkie's face became dreamy at that. "I already told you that." It was now Twilight's turn to quirk her head in question. Pinkie nodded her head in confirmation. "The same day I asked you out silly." The memory came to Twilight, making her blush deepen. Pinkie smiled a very Pinkie smile at that. "I think you're super fun, super smart, super cool, and super cute. I still do, but even more now then I did then." She was smiling brightly at the memory now, but Twilight noticed it when something else seemed to come to her mind and make the smile faulter some.
"What's wrong?"
Pinkie shook her head before Twilight could become too concerned. "Nothing, it's just that that's why I was trying so hard. Out of all the amazing ponies I've ever tried to date you're the most super amazing I've ever met. So I, I just didn't want to make any of the same mistakes I must have made with all the other ponies. I.. it's why I had such a hard time figuring out how to act when we were on dates. It's why I only brought you flowers when I asked you out. It's even why I waited to ask you for as long as I did."
Twilight felt her fading blush come back at that. "W, when exactly did you first want to ask me out?"
Pinkie now began to blush and looked away sheepishly. "I, kinda wanted to ask you out when I planned the giant party to welcome you to Ponyville."
Both their blushes intensified.
"That.. that might have been a little early. I didn't even know how I felt about friendship back then. I'd have probably freaked out at that back then."
Pinkie's smile became forced again as she responded to this. "Yeah. I've learned the hard way not to be that forward with ponies. Mares especially." Her hoof seemed to unconsciously go up and brush her cheek at that.
Twilight grimaced at that. She moved forward, feeling the need to comfort the mare. She pressed their cheeks together, rubbing gently to ease the moment. "If it makes you feel better, you probably could have made Applejack the winner of the bet and been ok."
Pinkie pulled away, genuinely confused now. Twilight had to bite her lip at the attention being given to her now. "But, you weren't even sure you wanted to go out with me when I did ask."
"Like I said, I've been learning a lot, especially about myself, since we started dating." Her cheeks felt like they were burning at the moment. "I, think I might have had a crush on you for a while. I just didn't realize that it was what I was feeling."
Pinkie let out a gasp at this. "Really?"
Twilight seemed to become even more embarrassed at that. She had to clench her eyes shut as she continued. "Pinkie... I literally followed you around all day long, watching you out of high powered binoculars and documenting every detail I could about you. Every flop of your ears, every twitch of your tail, every movement of your hips Oh sweet Celestia this sounds so bad now that I'm finally saying it out loud." She sighed a deep sigh and with effort managed to pry one eye open to peek at the other mare.
To her relief she found the other mare smiling an embarrassed smile. "You know, you're not the only pony who likes to do research. None of that really sounds all that bad because I try to watch ponies reeeeeally closely so I know how to throw really fun parties for them."
This managed to make Twilight smile, an action that Pinkie followed. "So despite how weird it might seem on paper, we really are a pretty well matched couple aren't we."
Pinkie Pie's only reaction to this was to move forward and pull Twilight into a deep kiss. When she finally pulled away, panting a little from the action, she couldn't help but to ask frantically. "You really think so? You really really don't think I'm too much? You really don't want to break up with me?"
Twilight silenced her by placing her own forelegs over the mares shoulders. "Pinkie Pie." The joy in the other mare's eyes at the moment gave her confidence. She knew exactly what she wanted to say and exactly how she wanted to show it. "I'm in love with you." Twilight saw the beginning of an intense excitement well up in her marefriends eyes. Before she could let it out she prolonged the moment with a kiss.
A tension neither mare realized they'd been carrying melted away as each pressed deeply into the kiss. Feeling slightly light headed as they parted they leaned forward to press their foreheads together. The moment of passion had given her the time she needed. She briefly wondered for a moment if what she was about to do would be too much. The obvious barely contained excitement of the mare holding her only made her smile bigger and more devious.
"But yes, I am breaking up with you."
Pinkie's mind grinded to a halt with that. Twilight was slightly worried as she had never seen Pinkie quite at a loss as she was at that moment. Before she could react however Twilight pecked her on the snout, leaving her more confused but less panicked.
"Because tomorrow I want you to come back here and ask me out again."
Despite this Pinkie still had to ask. "So we're not breaking up for realsies?"
"Of course not," Twilight said as they finally separated. "But I want to give you another chance to ask me out the way you really wanted to. And take me out on the first date you would have taken me on if you weren't trying to do the things you thought would make me like you. No restrictions."
Suddenly Pinkie's entire body seemed to tense up. "No restrictions?"
Twilight nodded. Pinkie began to vibrate with excitement. "I want you to go full Pinkie Pie. And if you think for a second that you might be being too much I just want you to remember one thing." She leaned forward to whisper into the perked ear of the barely contained mare. "The only reason I didn't give myself to you tonight, was because I wanted it to be with the Pinkie who helped save the world with laughter."
At that Pinkie hopped into the air, streamers and confetti shooting from no apparent source as she shouted a joyous "WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" But before her hooves had even touched the ground, she was gone.
Twilight was taken quite aback by this, but still could only laugh at the perfect pony shaped dust cloud she had left in her wake. She was caught off guard as that suddenly dispersed as she reappeared as quickly as she had disappeared. She was caught in a sudden kiss which was accompanied with an audible smooch and a smack as their lips parted.
"I love you too so so so so so so so much!"
And just like that she was gone again. Twilight stood, savoring the taste of cake, and smiling the dopiest smile she'd ever felt on her lips.
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This is great! Looking forward to the follow chapter
10651988
Thanks so much, for the comment and the fav. Working on a chapter to another story right now, but hopefully you won't have to wait too long.
You likely confused 'disperse' with 'disburse'.
10704791
Got it. That was a good catch. Thanks for the help and thanks for reading.
"Pinkie" isn’t capitalised.
Missing start quote.
While I’m not OCD, it’s a bit relatable.
"OCD," all caps.
"Lemon" and "squeezy" are two separate words.
Not sure about this one, but aren’t "oki", "doki" and "loki" separate words?
What the "hay," not "hey" as in "hello"
The first word of her dialogue must be capitalised.
Some reoccurring mistakes I didn’t point out, you constantly add either less or more dots in an ellipses three and use commas directly before or after them and when a word is unfinished or to convey stuttering you should use an em dash.
This was a good chapter, despite your difficulties you portrayed "a character blatantly trying to act unlike themselves" pretty good.