> Shy Violet > by Starlight Shadow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Angel Eyes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I check the clock anxiously. About ten more minutes until three o' clock, when Twilight's coming for tea. The pony who makes my stomach twist and my heart flutter. The pony who I've had a crush on ever since that day... Easy now, Fluttershy. Calm down. I try Twilight's breathing technique. "Push away the stress and let it float away." She said, and it helps. But all the same, I dart into my bathroom and shake out two pills prescribed for Fluttershy Buttercup Stormchaser, as it says on the bottle. I swallow them dry, drinking a little water afterwards to wash out the taste. My anxiety pills taste awful. I rush outside and check everything I had set up one more time to be sure. I had put together my collapsible tea table - with some help from a passing Rainbow Dash - and draped a frilly pink tablecloth over it. I'd dug out an old tea set, and made a pot of mint tea. I always like that kind. I hope Twilight does too... I guess I should explain. When Philomena was up on top of the fountain, and she burned up and I thought she'd died and I was so upset, and Twilight took the blame...something bloomed inside me. A shy, tentative violet inside my heart. Twilight cares about me enough to take the blame? A question that spawned so, so many more questions and daydreams and even a few poems written in a notebook carefully hidden in the very back of my closet. Ever since then, when all of us were together, Pinkie and Applejack and Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Twilight...I just kind of hung out in the background, mostly, admiring her. Her looks, her voice, her personality...all of it spoke to me in a voice I had never heard before. Love. Time and time again I had wanted to confess, tapping her on the shoulder or asking "Twilight?" to get her attention, and she would ask what, and listen, and then I would back out at the last minute and say never mind. But not today. Today I am going to tell Twilight Sparkle that I love her, and want to be a good special somepony for her, because a wonderful pony like her deserves one. Here she is now! I dash back inside the house and to my front door, hesitating a bit before opening it. Twilight is outside, as I knew she'd be, and my heart is hammering away inside my chest. She says hi, Fluttershy, and I say hello in return. We head out to my backyard, where I have our tea things set up beneath the beautiful weeping willow back there. I grab the cream, milk, and sugar on the way out, and walk ahead of her both to put them on the table, and take a deep breath. She sits down. I sit down. And there is an awkward silence. "Soooo..." Twilight's magenta eyes wander around my garden, occasionally resting on one of my more unique animals. I told them to stay a respectable distance away from this spot for the duration of Twilight's visit. I love them, really, but there's a reason I don't have many guests. "Any particular reason you wanted me to come over?" Yes. "No, not really. We don't spend much time together, just the two of us. I thought this would be nice." "You're right, it is, I was just wondering." Twilight's gaze sweeps the garden once again. "Where's Angel? He's a bit...protective of you. I figured he'd pounce on me as soon as we came back here." She smiles. I smile. "I think he's just trying to toughen me up." We both laugh. Twilight's laugh sounds like sunlight, if sunlight had a sound. We don't talk after that, mostly just sipping our tea. I discovered that Twilight likes her tea with a little cream. Eventually Twilight speaks up again. "This is good, Fluttershy. Is it mint?" "Thank you, and yes, it's mint." I say, the compliment making me blush. "I like mint in the morning, it helps me stay awake." She explains, taking another sip. I nod. We lapse into more silence. I don't mind these somewhat awkward silences as much as I thought I would - it's kind of nice to just sit here, with Twilight, the weeping willow branches casting shadows over our faces. Twilight's going to leave soon - we scheduled this for only twenty minutes. I panic a little. No. Stay calm, Fluttershy. "Twilight?" "Yes, Fluttershy?" She's looking right at me, her beautiful magenta eyes holding curiosity within. I almost back down again, I almost utter the two words that have sent me ten steps back time and time again, never mind, but I take a breath and look right at her. "Twilight, I...I really like you. Like...romantically." I blush at Twilight's surprised expression. "A-and I was wondering if...maybe we could go out sometime." My heartbeat sounds so, so loud as she considers what I've said. The minute or so that passes between my confession and her answer feels like an eternity, and my mind won't stop going over every single outcome, even ones that Twilight would never even consider. I jump when she finally answers. "I suppose we could. See what could be." Her eyes twinkle. "Three dates. Just to see how things would go, then we'll go from there. Does that sound good?" I tackle-hug her in response. "That would be wonderful! Oh, um, I mean...that would work fine." I blush for the third time that day as I let go of Twilight as quickly as I jumped onto her. "Great!" Twilight conjures a quill and paper from nowhere, and starts to write things down. "So, how about Thursday, at one o' clock? That's two days from now." I nod. "I can do that." Twilight stands up and gives me a hug. "So, I'll be seeing you." As she walks away, the shy violet inside my chest transforms into the most extravagant of blossoms.