My heart raced as I waited for her to arrive. There were still a few more minutes before the time we'd decided on, but I knew that I could add a few more minutes to that. She was always fashionably late. She was always fashionably everything, so it went with the trend, I suppose. And she was trendy too, so that worked as well. She was everything good, a spectacle to behold. I could never tell her that, of course. But that didn't make it any less true. It just made me a coward, but that was nothing new.
I stared at my sandwich for a moment. It was a wonderful sandwich; peanut butter and bananas on white bread. A very simple sandwich, but deliciousness was not hindered by simplicity. I'd made sure to make it to perfection. Just enough banana to detract from the stickiness of the peanut butter, but not so much as to overwhelm its taste. Even though it was perfectly made, though, it still stood in front of me as a constant reminder of my unintentional rudeness. I had been so distracted by the gophers that I'd recently taken in that I didn't even think of making a second sandwich. Of course I had to go and be selfish when I was meeting with the most generous pony I knew. I had to finish the sandwich before she arrived and erase any evidence of it. I took a bite, thankful for the knowledge that she was always slightly late.
Except for today. My wings stood at attention as I watched her make the first timely appearance that I'd ever seen her make. I stared at her, then managed to tear my eyes away from her splendor for a brief moment to look at the sandwich. I detested it in that moment. It baffled me how such a tasty treat could display so many of my insecurities. My selfishness compared to her generosity. My simplicity compared to her extravagance. Never had a single sandwich said so much, and I wished so badly that it hadn't.
She greeted me in her usual singsongy tone. I responded, barely above a whisper. Why was it so hard to speak to her? We had been friends for so long, yet lately, she'd begun to take my voice away; a simple task, considering she’d already robbed me of my breath. I stared down at the snack that had betrayed me, trying to fold my wings back to my sides as she sat down next to me on the bench. We still had some time before we needed to be at the spa; hopefully she wouldn't mind sitting in the sun for a bit.
She glanced down at my sandwich. I watched as her eyes drifted from me to the offending delicacy. I couldn't believe that I'd brought it. Why couldn't I have just left without a meal? She was judging me silently, she just had to be. Wondering why I brought something for myself, but nothing for her. Or perhaps why my choice of snacks was so immature and childish. She ate nothing but the finest foods; delicacies worthy of her beautiful tongue. My sandwich...it was worthy of nothing. A basic fillies' meal. In that moment, I despised the unworthy creation that rest in my hooves. It was plebeian, disgusting...and messy, as I felt a little bit of peanut butter on the corner of my mouth. Now I looked messy. Slovenly, filthy, and childish. None of these were qualities that she would find attractive. The sandwich was ruining everything. Why couldn't I have just skipped it? I wanted to throw the vile, offending treat across the park, just to be rid of it. Littering was almost worth it to expunge the source of all this anguish.
"That looks delicious, darling. May I have a bite?"
I stared at her. If it was somepony else, I might have thought that she was subtly mocking me. But she wouldn't do that. The look of interest in those big, blue eyes was genuine; it had to be. She was too wonderful to taunt me like that. I looked down at the sandwich, planning on giving her a very polite and elegant answer to her request. Instead, I found my mouth opening soundlessly as I reached out with a hoof to pass her the sandwich. Suddenly, the sandwich was no longer vile and detestable. Her approval of it had cleansed it of its flaws, returning it to the state of favor that I had held it in before she had arrived. I waited for the soft blue aura of her magic to surround the sandwich, but instead, I felt her hoof gently brush against mine. Her immaculate white hoof, briefly initiating contact, then disengaging just as quickly, leaving mine unencumbered. It wasn't like we'd never made contact before, but something in my mind wanted me to believe that she'd eschewed her magic so we could share that little moment together.
I watched her take the sandwich in her hooves, inspecting it. I instantly regretted the bite I'd taken before she arrived. It could have been a perfect creation, the flawlessness of its design making up for its modesty. She would have appreciated the symmetry, even if she did not find the flavor to be particularly appealing. All of that was dashed by that one ugly bite, that big blemish that ruined what could have been an impeccable morsel. I sighed lightly to myself, ready to face her judging.
She opened her mouth to take a bite, but something seemed wrong. She could have chosen any part of the sandwich to bite. The sides, where the peanut butter overflowed over the edge of the banana slices. The corners, where the fillings were least concentrated. All were valid choices. All virginal bread, untouched and ready to be tasted.
Yet she chose differently. She raised the sandwich to her mouth, traveling down the same path I'd explored. She could have approached it from any angle, yet she chose to venture down my path. I watched her pearly white teeth sink into the sandwich, right where I'd bitten. She detested germs and dirtiness, and yet there she was, her mouth touching the place that mine had. I frequently dreamed of her lips upon mine. This wasn't quite that, but it still felt magical. It was like she was kissing me by proxy. She had to know it, too. The way she set her lovely blue eyes right upon me as she chewed...she knew what she was doing. She had to. I watched her chew that sandwich, lips still keeping contact with the bread, each little chew causing my heart to flutter, her eyes on me the whole time. We were sharing a moment through that sandwich. That wonderful, amazing sandwich, that joyous creation whose presence had already made this day better than I had imagined.
"Is everything alright?"
I hadn't even noticed her swallow. I hadn't even noticed my wings standing up once more. Nothing had been able to permeate my concentration on that singular moment. I answered her with some manner of response. I believed it to be a yes, but I couldn't be quite sure. Everything but her and the sandwich was very fuzzy at the moment, their details nowhere near as important as the ones I was focusing on. She smiled, and my eyes shot to a single breadcrumb on the corner of her mouth. I tried to alert her, but as I watched her tongue dart out and gather the morsel up, I supposed I didn't need to. She held the sandwich out for me, and I felt my foreleg move of its own accord. It had to be of its own accord, because I certainly didn't remember thinking about moving it. Our hooves brushed against each other once more.
"Are you going to finish it, darling?"
She smiled her adorable little smile. If she hadn't said anything, I might have just held that sandwich between the two of us forever.
"We'll head to the spa after you're finished with your lunch, darling. Is that alright?"
Words betrayed me again, so I simply nodded. I stared down at the sandwich, then attempted to pull it forward, wishing to continue the path the two of us had set into it. My nervousness would not allow such a thing, however, and I watched helplessly as the sandwich tumbled out of my hooves and onto the ground. I stared down at our special moment, a quiet murmur escaping my lips.
"Oh, I'm sorry, darling. Perhaps we could stop for a meal after the spa? My treat."
I couldn't think of anything I wanted more.
