One Day Can’t be Far Enough
Love him do, love him not, love him do, love him not…
Rose was sitting in someplace she’d never been. A path behind the school, school which she had opted to ignore for today.
She sat picking the petals off a flower, her namesake. It was a dumb foals’ game, it didn’t say anything about anypony. She’d come up with an even dumber reimagining, a reimagining that also said nothing about herself. The only other thing she had was a hope that she could get some ideas on anything at all. A sudden moment of clarity that she was trying fruitlessly for, tossing petals into the breeze.
“Love him do…” she muttered, the last petal blowing away. She discarded another thorny stem and picked up a new rose from the pile beside her.
She stared at it blankly, before setting it down again, her small pile becoming almost as disheveled as her mane was, a side effect of sitting outside all day.
She did love him… right?
A unicorn a golden shade of yellow, and a personality usually brighter than anything Rose could conjure up. Taking a hoofful of petals and tossing them off, she watched them drift away, over the lake beside the school.
But there was that pegasus too, wasn’t there?
Rose picked up another rose.
Love her do, love her not, love her do, love her not…
The pleasant purple pegasus with a reserved personality, but a heart so big you could easily create a cave inside it. That pegasus was always willing to help come Tartarus or total destruction.
Was there any way she could love them both? How could she?
A teacher’s words resurfaced in her mind. A class discussion.
”I don’t see how you could love more than one pony at once.”
They were discussing the meaning of love. Rose knew this, and she knew what he was saying… but did she really? What did love mean to her?
Another hoofful of petals scurried off with the breeze, she wondered where they’d land.
Before she knew it, another rose had lost its last petal. Still nothing was revealed.
She let her hooves fall to the ground, and sat dejectedly, watching the clouds float lazily across the sky.
What did that teacher say the meaning of love was?
”My definition of love, is that it’s the act of putting your loved ones before yourself.”
It was so simple. So… obvious. Rose still wasn’t sure, though.
She agreed with the definition, but did she actually love those two ponies? If one was getting bullied would she stand up for them? Would she take their place should anything worse happen? How many threats would she be willing to accept?
If you can’t love two ponies at once… the burden with one must be enormous by itself.
”Can a king love his country, as a good king should, while also loving his partner?”
“Love her do…” Rose whispered, as another pitch of petals disappeared.
She silently sighed as she eyed up the flower pile beside her. She couldn’t decide between one or the other. Did she really want to love either of them?
Well, once upon a time she may have said she didn’t want a partner. Then she got one.
The memories made were some of the happiest of her life. Did anypony need a relationship? No. She didn’t even need one, but she wanted one.
Was it selfish to want a partner? She doubted it, so long as she loved them.
But what was love? Was it putting your partner’s needs above your own? Rose was compelled to agree. She at least tried to help her partners, at least she thought so.
”Hey Bunny what’s the flavor?”
“If you feel like a mare you probably are one.”
”Hey Dice, are you suffering from burnout?”
“Do you think you’re stallion-esque?”
She thought she tried.
The smiles she saw were worth it.
Did she love them both?
Rose didn’t know if she had a concrete answer to that, but she certainly felt like she did. Were feelings concrete? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t know if she didn’t try.
Rose thought she did.
Snow crunched beneath their feet. “I have to show you something cool”. Fireworks, a kiss.
A battered guitar playing out a melody. Laughing. Hugs.
…She thought she did.
The petals off a new flower flitter away, almost like a butterfly, taking flight, discovering themselves when Rose couldn’t.
Then again, there was the teacher’s words to contend with. She had to figure that out before she could say. She needed to know how to love.
What was love?
Laughing, friendship, an unbroken bond, a sense of familiarity.
Friendship, humor, loneliness, help.
Rose sat and thought about the qualities she admired about them. Both those ponies, the times she’d shared. There was an attraction there. But, there was a difference between love and attraction.
Ponies weren’t magnets, attraction could certainly develop love, but it is not love. Rose was attracted to them… but there was love there too.
Would she take a punch, or a kick, or anything of any other nature for them? She didn’t know, for she hadn’t needed to. But thinking back to the times they’d spent together… she would definitely do it. In a heartbeat, maybe even less than one.
But for two ponies?
Rose sat and looked over the lake. She wondered what exactly got to her in that lecture.
Love was putting your partner above yourself, she genuinely agreed with that. There was nothing saying she didn’t, and she didn’t have much reason to disagree. It succinctly described how she felt.
But you could do the same with two, right?
It was tying for first after all, not tying for second.
All she needed to do was put the two ponies in front of herself. It’s not easy, but it is simple.
The school bell rang, and ponies started shuffling out. Keeping a low profile, Rose joined them, as if she hadn’t just skipped class to discover herself. No teachers were out, so they wouldn’t call her out.
The only thing she needed to do was tell her partners she loved them.
Petals came to rest in the lake, floating carelessly.
Love them do…