A long moment passed, and Fluttershy waited patiently, her soft gaze resting still on Sweetie Belle's face.

The filly was a little surprised, but not shocked. Sure, her parents told her they loved her often, and even Rarity told her from time to time. Sweetie had known Fluttershy for a while, and the time they'd spent together yesterday and today had sparked something special between them, but it was, again, a little odd, wasn't it? She wondered. Being young, however, meant that Sweetie's preconceptions were ready and, in this case, willing to be changed.

Fluttershy had seen the filly's eyes widen momentarily and her smile relax while she considered what the pegasus had said. Sweetie's gaze lost focus, and the corner of Sweetie's mouth twisted briefly. The small blush that had faded from Sweetie's cheeks returned.

“I—I love you too, Fluttershy!”

Sweetie truly did love Fluttershy the way she loved her big sister. Though it was new to her, and felt a tiny bit awkward, Sweetie reciprocated happily. The intensity of Fluttershy's statement left the filly feeling unsure whether something else had been expected in reply, though what exactly—if something more had been expected—Sweetie couldn't guess. Everypony in her family said “I love you” in a slightly different way. Maybe, she guessed, somepony outside her family would say it even more differently. Maybe this is just Fluttershy's way of saying it, Sweetie dismissed her uncertainty.

Fluttershy had half expected the exact response Sweetie Belle gave—would have honestly been surprised if the foal had known exactly what she meant by it. The thought crossed Fluttershy's mind then that she could still turn back. She could simply enjoy the newly strengthened bond they shared. The conflict she feared could be avoided, and she would be safe another day. Romance might even still come later, and, again, Fluttershy thought, she would have time to prepare for it.

Moments passed, and Fluttershy's gaze broke as she contemplated what to do. ... Moments became several seconds, and, despite the determination Fluttershy had felt at first, she doubted. Despite her hurry and concern with not letting the opportunity pass, she stalled. Maybe it was worth it to think it through after all, the hesitant pony decided. (It would seem less abrupt anyway if she waited before going on to explain exactly what she meant to Sweetie Belle—if she explained it at all—she thought. Abrupt things were frightening, and she didn't want to frighten anypony.)

Fluttershy turned her head and rested it on the ground next to Sweetie Belle's hooves.

The sounds of the forest edge filled the silence, and seconds turned into a minute. Sweetie Belle took advantage of the pause to observe her surroundings more closely, but quickly wondered at her friend's distant expression. “Fluttershy? What are you thinking right now?”

The mare shifted her eyes to look up at Sweetie. The filly didn't seem to judge her odd behavior, but she was understandably curious. Fluttershy remained enigmatically silent in response and hoped for Sweetie Belle's patience to hold out until her natural caution had been satisfied. Cautious was certainly a good word for Fluttershy, but what she wanted with Sweetie meant throwing caution to the wind, either now or eventually. Waiting, she thought, meant she would either live in anticipation of facing her fears someday or back out entirely and never know whether she and Sweetie stood a chance together.

“Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy raised her head again to look into Sweetie's eyes then close them as she spoke. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle.” Her heart beat wildly and her mouth felt dry. The pegasus swallowed, took a calming breath, opened her eyes, and answered. “I'm a bit nervous because—what I'm about to tell you. I just ... want it to come out right, and, whatever you think I ... I don't want it to make you feel scared or uncomfortable.”

Sweetie wondered what could possibly make Fluttershy nervous and started suddenly, quickly turning her head to check along the forest edge for dangerous creatures. When she saw nothing, she turned back, confused. What could Fluttershy could say that might scare her? She'd never noticed the mare act very nervous when they were alone before, and she'd never been scared or made uncomfortable by anything Fluttershy had ever done ... with the exception of her stare, she noted, when she'd first seen it.

“Fluttershy, we're friends! We—” the filly's voice shook a little on the word, and she paused to push away her embarrassment at the mushy sentiment “—love each other. ... You don't have to be nervous.”

“Thank you, Sweetie.” The pegasus smiled, though she wasn't much encouraged. “I ... um ... I—” she struggled “—Sweetie, I'm ... not like other mares, really. You see, I ... um ... well—you understand that most mares like stallions for their very special someponies.”

The filly nodded.

“Well ... I think s—” Fluttershy was interrupted by the thought of how, she feared, others might look upon a pony outside of a foal's own family discussing sexual attraction with her. She reminded herself that there wasn't really any other way if she wanted Sweetie to make an informed decision. Sexuality, Fluttershy thought, was sometimes treated with far too little respect and, at other times, approached with far too much hesitation.

“I ... like stallions alright too, but ... I like other ponies as well. ... Sweetie, what I mean is ... I like ... you.” It was almost poetic, thought Fluttershy, that “like” had been the word that Sweetie used initially, and, now, like Sweetie had done with the word love, Fluttershy had flipped her word's meaning in return.

Fluttershy watched as Sweetie's eyes widened, then, in what she thought might be denial, turned to confusion.

“I—” the fear that Fluttershy had tried to keep from showing in her features now began to slip through, and she could no longer face Sweetie directly, much less hold eye contact “—I'd like to—I mean, I know you're much younger than I am ... and your family might not approve because we're so different in age, but ... um—” she swallowed again “—I'd really ... like to date you, Sweetie Belle.”

Fluttershy's eye's flicked to the side at Sweetie Belle and away several times. The filly was open-mouthed with surprise. She had understood, finally. Now all there was to do was wait and hope.

“Y-you want to date me?”

Fluttershy simply nodded.

“You ... want to date me?”

Fluttershy blinked, her pupils small, and nodded once more.

“I-is that ... okay?” Sweetie asked. Something about it seemed off to her, no matter how she looked at it.

Fluttershy felt the filly grow tense next to her, and she prepared for Sweetie to move away, to reject her. Sweetie nearly did just that, but, at the last moment, stopped herself. She really did care for Fluttershy. She had, only seconds ago, just told her that she loved her like family. Moving away when Fluttershy clearly seemed distressed was definitely not what such a good friend would do. Despite not knowing yet how she felt about this information, Sweetie Belle stayed. Fluttershy meanwhile closed her eyes and waited for the storm to hit her, ignoring Sweetie Belle's question.

“Fluttershy?” Sweetie addressed the pegasus with a concerned expression. “It's ... alright.”

The winged pony opened her eyes in surprise and looked at the filly, still miraculously next to her. Really?! “R-Really?!” she repeated the thought out loud.

Sweetie Belle nodded. “I'm ...” Sweetie considered how best to describe what she felt, “really surprised, and I don't really know what to think, but ... you're still my friend, Fluttershy.” Sweetie shifted anxiously, however. “Y-you, um ... d-don't want me to ... kiss you or anything, do you?”

“Oh, no! No, of course not, Sweetie!” Fluttershy’s response came immediately, relieved that the worst of her fears were proven wrong, eager to preserve their friendship and re-ingratiate herself to the surprised filly. “I'm sorry, really! I don't mean that I want anything ... w-well ... not right now, a-and ... if you don't ever want to date me, I completely understand! I just ... wanted to let you know that, um ... I'd like to, if you want to, as well, and, well,” she stipulated for clarity’s sake, “it really isn't something that mares and little fillies ever do, s-so, um ... I'm afraid we'd have to keep it sort of secret if we did.” He voice trailed off on the last word.

Sweetie Belle frowned at the ground in concentration. Having prepared herself for the worst, Fluttershy was relieved now to see that their friendship would remain intact. Sweetie Belle's calm seemed to mean that the filly might even respect her wish for secrecy on the matter. Fluttershy's spirits rose significantly. With her initial worries resolved now, Sweetie relaxed and began to ponder Fluttershy's proposition. There were a number of issues, but her first concern still needed attention.

“Secret ...” she thought aloud. “So ... if we went on a date ...” the very thought made Sweetie almost reel with the implications, “then it would be ... something to hide?” Something to be ashamed of, something bad, she worried. “Wh—How is it okay, then? If everypony else shouldn't know about it?”

Fluttershy's relieved smile grew wider and sadder at the question. Her filly really was purehearted and innocent. She took pride in her intelligence. “It is and it isn't okay, really.” Fluttershy answered with an odd mix of caution and eagerness. “Ponies are afraid of things that are new or different. Do you remember how everypony used to treat Zecora?”

Comprehension dawned on Sweetie's face. “Ohh! I see!” Fluttershy had been ready to explain a lot more. Any mature mare or stallion would have been thoroughly unconvinced, she thought. “Well,” Sweetie continued, “why do you want to date me, then? If you think stallions are alright too, then ... why date somepony like me? I am just a filly, and I thought, well ... fillies are supposed to be cute, but not ... special-somepony-cute, you know?”

“W-well.” Fluttershy paused to consider her answer. “I'm not really sure I know why I'm different this way, to be honest, but, um ... maybe part of the reason is that ever since I was littler than you, I've, um—” Fluttershy blushed. She didn't think she should spring the sort of personal information on poor Sweetie Belle that she was thinking “—let's just say I've wanted a very special somepony to date since I was very little. So, maybe now I just think that fillies whose age is close to what mine was back then are very, um ...” Fluttershy's blush persisted as she thought of what she found attractive in Sweetie Belle, “cute ... that way ... a-and, well,” Fluttershy looked down, away from Sweetie, “y-you especially.”

As Fluttershy's blush deepened, Sweetie Belle noticed her friend's a bright shade of pink beneath the yellow coat on her face. She herself turned almost crimson at hearing the compliment, but seeing how genuinely Fluttershy was affected by the confession was what made her young heart begin to beat rapidly. At first, Sweetie wondered whether something was wrong. Maybe she was getting sick. Despite the butterflies in her tummy, she didn't feel too bad. For the time being, she tried to ignore it.

“I, um—thank you ... Fluttershy.” Sweetie tried to come up with a suitable counter-compliment. “I, uh ... r-really like your ... m-mane.” Though she actually meant it, the compliment fell decidedly short of what she'd hoped. Fluttershy had looked back when she heard the filly stammer. Had she actually flattered her?

As the filly muttered the half-baked compliment in return, Fluttershy couldn't believe her fortune, having succeeded not only at somehow overcoming the creepiness factor—as her own worst critic, she often thought it seemed insurmountable—but also at having Sweetie Belle reciprocate on some level. It wasn't a yes but, try as she might not to, Fluttershy couldn't help but get her hopes up a little.

“Th-thank you, Sweetie.” She smiled wide. “I've, um ... always really liked your eyes, and your coat, and your mane as well, and, well ... a lot of other things about you.” She would have gone on much longer, but now she didn't want to risk overwhelming the filly.

“You ... you really do like me that way.” The filly absorbed this incredible fact. “So ... then what happens now?” What was Sweetie supposed to do about it?

Fluttershy would have liked to say many things. In her fantasies she would have said and done them in a heartbeat. Now, she simply inhaled, breathed out the tension she felt, and smiled peacefully. “Well ... first, I want to thank you, Sweetie.” Gratitude like she felt at that moment couldn't be kept inside. “Thank you for understanding and staying by my side as my friend, even though I'm different. It takes a very kind and loyal friend to do that.” She should know, having befriended Discord.

“Second, um ... If you say yes to going on a date, it doesn't mean that you have to like me the same way I like you, yet, but, since it is a date, after all, it would be best to maybe do something together that helps you decide whether you might come to like me as a very special somepony, hopefully some day soon.

Sweetie Belle's ears perked at this. “You mean, dating doesn't mean we'd automatically be each other's very special someponies?” Sweetie recalled her and her friends' attempt at sparking a relationship between Ms. Cheerilee and Big McIntosh. There was so much they didn't know! Though Sweetie had tried not to assume anything, it was no wonder they'd failed.

“That's right. Some ponies know right away, even before they start dating, but others take time. There's no hurry at all.” Fluttershy’s body spoke contrary to what she'd just said. She felt an exigent need to be with Sweetie Belle, but a part of her refused to let the urge rob both of them of a traditional courtship. She wanted to ask Sweetie again whether she would accept the offer to go out, but on the filly's face she saw more questions, for which she held back patiently.

“I-if we—” the thought made Sweetie glow brighter “—if we did end up being very special someponies, then what would that mean, exactly? I mean ... w-would we get married?”

It was almost too much for Fluttershy to see the filly so bright red and to hear her talk so innocently of her greatest fantasy. “Not all very special someponies get married in the end. Some just stay friends after one or both of them decide they wouldn't be happy getting married. Sometimes they realize that, even though they like each other, um—” the subject of sex would have to be broached eventually, and Fluttershy seemed to be on a roll. She went for it “—sometimes two ponies may like each other physically, but they don't always get along in other ways.”

Sweetie Belle looked lost.

“For example, um ... Mr. and Mrs. Cake, well ... they like each other physically s-so they ha— Um ... have your parents explained to you where new foals come from, Sweetie?”

“No.” Sweetie drew out the syllable thoughtfully. “Not exactly. They kind of just told me when a mother and a father love each other they choose to make a baby. I figured the rest out on my own, and Apple Bloom helped. Living near animals and everything, you know—she told me basically how she's seen it happen in the spring and summer, and how Granny Smith explained it to her.”

“I see. That's good! Um ... why don't you tell me exactly what you know, and I'll see if I can't tell you anything else.”

“Well—” Sweetie Belle let out a nervous giggle suddenly “—um ... when the filly pigs come into season, the um ... colt pigs smell them and then they get on top of them and they ... um—they rut.” She giggled again, embarrassed at having said it.

Fluttershy smiled reassuringly when Sweetie looked up to see if she'd made any mistakes. The yellow mare felt the initial stirrings of arousal as the filly explained. Her shade of pink had faded, but now began to return. “That's right, Sweetie. And do you know what happens exactly when they mate like that?”

The filly's features turned even redder. “T-the, um ... colt puts his dongle—” another giggle “—i-into her hoo-ha a-and he ... pushes it deep so his seed will be, er ... planted, um ... right?” Fluttershy swallowed and tried to ignore the mad tingling along her back and beneath her tail at hearing the innocent little pony relay her understanding of sex. Sweetie looked up, her a rosy muzzle turned down in embarrassment. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle softly with her when the filly had finished the explanation, simply to relieve her own nerves a little.

“Yes. Very good! You see, when two ponies like each other physically, you could say, then they might share some private time together doing what some of the farm animals do, and, if they're mare and stallion, they make a foal.” Fluttershy proceeded to clarify. “You know, not all ponies are always married when this happens, but marriage is a beautiful thing that's meant to help the two ponies feel safe with each other and know that they'll never leave each other, even when times get hard or maybe they argue a little. They promise to eventually forgive each other if they accidentally hurt each other's feelings, and they promise to try and be nicer next time because they love each other very much. This is also really wonderful for their foals since they'll be more likely to have both parents to love and take care of them.”

Sweetie grinned happily, thinking of her own family. Fluttershy waited to see whether the filly had any questions and wasn't disappointed.

“But, two fillies? I mean ... there's nothing to um ... I thought that um ... sex,” the whole conversation was destined to be spent blushing for both ponies, and Fluttershy secretly wouldn’t have had it any other way, “was only possible between a mare and stallion.”

“Umm—” The rosy hue on the pegasus’s face persisted. Fluttershy was really at a loss. She had thought about introducing Sweetie Belle to the delights of sexual pleasure probably hundreds of times, but to actually be asked about it in real life was so—no! This was an innocent question! Fluttershy chastised herself. She remembered her determination to love Sweetie stronger than she lusted for her. Gulping dryly, she wrenched herself away from the world of fantasy yet again. She would do it as often as need be until—not now, was all she could think, or she feared she'd begin to spiral out of control.

“Fluttershy? Did I ask a bad question?” the filly asked timidly upon noticing Fluttershy's reaction.

“I—n-no, Sweetie.” She would just have to stumble through it as best she could, thought Fluttershy. “F-fillies have sex i-in lots of ways: Tongues, hooves, f-feathers ... horns.” The yellow mare trailed off almost to a whisper at the last word.

Sweetie Belle looked on in fascination at Fluttershy's muttered response.

“But—” Sweetie wasn't sure, but she thought she got the gist “—why would a filly want to put her tongue i-in another filly's ... hoo-ha? Or why would a filly want somepony else to, um ... put her horn and things down there?” Something odd was happening again to Sweetie Belle as she imagined these things. Butterflies again began to tickle her insides, and a growing warmth was spreading throughout her body, concentrating on her fillyhood. A growing urge much like an itch there caused her to squeeze her hind legs together in response. Doing so reminded her of the times she had lain in bed with a pillow between her stifles. It was a comforting feeling that she'd always enjoyed, but now it seemed more intense. Something dawned on Sweetie Belle then. “O-oh!” Was all Sweetie could say.

Through an increasingly cloudy haze of conflicted arousal, Fluttershy vaguely noticed the small unicorn tense and shudder while she asked the innocent, fantasy-inspiring question, followed by her short exclamation. “A-are you alright, Sweetie?” Fluttershy voiced her concern. The foal focused on nothing in particular and said nothing right away, but a relaxed, half-lidded expression and open mouth answered Fluttershy's question. Being adept at interpreting body language played a large part in Fluttershy’s special talent. Now it served another purpose. This really was too much for the already flustered young mare.

Slowly, Fluttershy rose to four hooves and, with controlled breaths and not a word, she stepped several paces away from Sweetie Belle. Feeling her heart ache at leaving the filly's side, she comforted herself with the knowledge that she did it for love's sake. Her self-restraint would make it all the more meaningful when—if—the right time finally came.

“Hu- Fluttershy?” Sweetie Belle snapped back to her senses quickly as she felt the mare move. Did she want her to follow? Sweetie Belle wanted to follow her—felt antsy without her and wanted to stay close to her right now, but, before she managed to get to her own hooves, Sweetie noticed an odd scent and saw, beneath Fluttershy's involuntarily raised tail, an unmistakable glimmer and bright pink color around her nethers.

“Fluttershy your—” Something clicked again for the filly, and, despite how openly they had communicated until then, Sweetie Belle stopped herself. She still didn't understand completely, but instinct and logic told her that what Fluttershy was doing had to be out of politeness and respect for her. Sweetie would reciprocate by not pointing out what was, she thought, maybe a shared condition between them. The pegasus turned about and rested delicately again on the grass. She managed still to smile before she faced the filly, but her eyes were slightly pained.

The filly surprised herself suddenly by giggling, then stopped herself with a hoof to her mouth. Now, perhaps, wasn't the time to be amused, she worried, but, to Sweetie's relief, her laugh made the pegasus brighten and look back inquisitively. “I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I—” she let herself giggle a little once more “—I think I got a couple of answers just now, and you didn't have to say anything.” Her smile stretched wide and the laughter reached her eyes above the still rosy muzzle and cheeks.

Instead of apologizing and attempting to explain her movement as she’d intended, Fluttershy couldn't resist smiling back and asking, “Oh?! What answers would those be ... i-if you don't mind me asking?”

“Well,” the unicorn was happy to share her discoveries but a bit nervous she would commit some social taboo, “I think I know why two fillies would want to, um ... touch each other. I think ... the feeling, maybe, is what makes rutting ... something that ponies in love would do.”

Fluttershy was struck by how quickly the little pony understood, simply from what she’d felt and—though the mare had tried to be discreet—what Sweetie must have noticed about her backside. She was rather relieved that she wouldn't have to face the temptations that came with explaining it herself to Sweetie Belle. “O-oh! That's great, Sweetie!” She giggled now too. “I was um—well ... I'm sorry that ... I sort of got tongue tied.”

Brushing off the unnecessary apology, the filly looked back at Fluttershy, suddenly focused on her with a suggestive look that caught Fluttershy pleasantly off guard. “I figured something else out too,” the unicorn sang teasingly and paused to let her friend's curiosity build.

“W-what else, Sweetie?”

“I figured out that, whether or not I like colts,” Sweetie paused and turned her muzzle down, slightly bashful, “I know, at least, that ... I like you too, Fluttershy.”

The pegasus had heard every word clearly, but she couldn't believe it. Her mouth agape, Fluttershy responded. “Y-you mean ...” Fluttershy couldn’t stop herself from asking again. “Does this mean ... you'll agree to go out with me?!”

“I—I guess it does! Yes!” Sweetie Belle beamed at her admirer whose smile, in turn, slowly spread so wide she thought it could have gotten stuck permanently on the pegasus's face.

Fluttershy's whole body tensed, her eyes shut tight, and for a moment she thought she might ruin the mood with raucous cheers like the ones she'd made for Rainbow Dash when she performed her sonic rainboom. Instead she let escape an unintelligible squeak of pure joy, and small mist gathered at the corners of her eyes. In a high pitched tone, Fluttershy managed to express herself. “Thank you, Sweetie. You've made me so very happy!”

Seeing her friend's expression match her words and having somepony whom she thought might be her first—though highly unanticipated—very special somepony, Sweetie Belle was almost every bit as happy as the mare in front of her. Taboo or not, polite or impolite, the filly didn't care. She immediately rose, bounded to Fluttershy's side, and leapt into her, tumbling with the petite pegasus several trots' distance before she rested on top of her, clinging to her barrel.

Fluttershy let out a startled yelp but quickly recognized her attacker, her dream filly. Overwhelmed with happiness, she embraced the filly more firmly than she'd ever dared pretend to do in her loneliest fantasies. It was the filly's turn to squeak this time, and Fluttershy loosened her embrace. “Oh! I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle! I ... just love you so much, and I got carried away and—”

Sweetie Belle made an unexpected approach to Fluttershy's muzzle and quieted her instantly with a timid but affectionate peck on the lips. The world stopped, and the young mare's heart went from beating overtime to complete and utter meltdown. Sweetie Belle turned a brighter red at her first real kiss and giggled at Fluttershy’s reaction. “I hope you squeeze me like that again sometime.”

Fluttershy looked up at Sweetie Belle with glistening eyes. Tenderly, she ran her hoof up to her mane and stroked it once before leaning forward, lowering her eyelids halfway, and planting another kiss—a slower kiss—on the filly's lips. Sweetie responded, becoming tense then limp. After a few seconds Fluttershy laid her head back against the grass again and looked dazed back at the foal whose surprise showed through the distant look and leftover pucker from this different kind of kiss.

“Th-that too.” The little filly grinned widely and released a dreamy sigh. Overcome with the sensation of having both given and received her first romantic kisses, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and rested her head against Fluttershy. The sunny pegasus positively glowed with happiness.

“Yes! Yes, you can count on it, Sweetie Belle!”

The two held each other silently for several minutes, sunlight warming their embrace. Finally living part of what she’d dreamed for so long, Fluttershy felt at peace with what she’d struggled through to that point and with what she knew must come. For now, she simply relished what she had.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle contemplated everything their new relationship might mean. “Fluttershy?” The little unicorn spoke, still nestled against Fluttershy's barrel and neck.

“Yes, Sweetie?”

“What kind of date will we have if we can’t let other ponies know about us?”

“I was thinking we might have a private picnic for starters. And, well, almost anything outside of town or, if we don’t, um ... get too close, then almost any place in town too.”

“That sounds good.” The filly tightened her embrace momentarily, happy to think of the time they’d continue to spend together.

Fluttershy allowed her hoof to return to stroking Sweetie’s mane. Despite the sensuality of the gesture and her recent arousal, she felt well in control at the moment, her bodily urges greatly calmed with the intense satisfaction of knowing that she’d been accepted by her little dream pony.

At the back of Sweetie’s mind, Fluttershy’s comment about getting too close brought some of her concerns back to the surface. “Um ... about ... having sex ... um ...”

“It’s alright, Sweetie. You and I don’t have to worry about that until ...” Fluttershy wished she could say “marriage” but instead she finished, “until we’re both sure we’re ready.”

“O-okay. It’s just ...” Sweetie snuggled into Fluttershy’s coat, “I’m ... excited for it, but I’m also, well ... a little nervous.”

Fluttershy's heart palpitated to hear that Sweetie already anticipated the event. She pushed away the incoming fantasies. She certainly understood. The young mare tilted her head down at Sweetie Belle, and the foal lifted hers to meet her gaze.

“Me too,” Fluttershy empathized, “but we’ll have each other. When it happens—if it happens, I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure we have nothing to worry about.”

Though Sweetie probably meant she was nervous about the act itself, Fluttershy thought also of the social implications. She wished she could guarantee their happiness, but making promises she couldn’t keep would only make matters worse. It felt stressful, but being needed, being relied upon to be the strong one for once with another pony, was something that Fluttershy had dearly wanted and now deeply enjoyed.

Sweetie rested her head again in the nook beneath Fluttershy's chin. “Mm ...” the little filly tensed and tingled as she thought again about the possible future. The thoughts came easily, and she received them willingly. With any other pony, Sweetie thought, it would feel wrong, but being with Fluttershy that way was something she felt she wanted naturally. Though her inexperience prevented her from understanding why and she felt surprised by the suddenness of her own intense emotions, the more she thought about it, the more Sweetie wanted it.

A number of things continued to nag at the foal. Others wouldn’t accept them. Her parents wouldn’t approve. What’s more, her mother had told Sweetie that she shouldn’t let other ponies beside doctors or her parents touch her special areas until she was married—that even playing with herself there was naughty. Were those all just misconceptions like Zecora's reputation had been? Could those “misconceptions” change like they had for Zecora? Would there be a happily ever after for her and Fluttershy? Could there be marriage if that's what they wanted together? Sweetie simply wanted to ignore all of this, to trust Fluttershy, to be led into the new and wonderful experiences she was imagining, but a foalhood spent being taught to feel shame was enough to make her doubt.

“Fluttershy, did your parents ever tell you that it was wrong to let somepony else touch you in your special areas ... or that you shouldn't touch yourself there?”

The mare nearly answered “yes” on first impulse, but, when she stopped herself to really think about it, that wasn't quite true. “Kind of. ... My mother told me it was wrong to let others touch me, but ...” Fluttershy tried to conjure the specifics, “she told me that, um ... touching myself wasn't appropriate in public, and, well, I honestly um ... I figured out later on that ...” this, Fluttershy hoped, still wasn't too much information, “doing it by myself felt really good, but I also felt embarrassed about it, even when I was alone.”

Fluttershy flashed back briefly to when her mother had caught her once with her teddy and remembered how, despite her feigning that she didn't notice anything, she'd felt mortified. Sweetie understood quickly, and Fluttershy continued to answer the implied question. “I think ... your parents are right about not touching your special areas, at least without being married.”

Sweetie Belle felt reassured that her mother's advice matched her friend's, but, “You ... still did it, though?”

Fluttershy's expression turned guilty. “Y-yes ...” She wished she could justify herself, but her mind was blank as to how.

“Why did you? Why shouldn't we?” the filly begged to understand.

“I—” Sorrow revisited Fluttershy's eyes. She felt suddenly like releasing Sweetie Belle. She felt like she didn't deserve to be close to somepony that brought her so much happiness while telling that pony about something that made her feel ashamed. Her body ached with protesting emotion as she began to withdraw her forehooves. This time—for once—she gave in and continued her relaxed embrace with Sweetie Belle. It wasn't totally her fault after all, she thought to herself. Despite not seeing the pegasus's face, her head still nestled beneath the mare's chin, Sweetie sensed the change and began to worry that what she said might have hurt Fluttershy's feelings. She was about to take back her questions, but Fluttershy spoke before she could.

“I didn't know any better at first, I guess.” The note of sadness confirmed what Sweetie Belle had feared. It was too late to take back the question now, she thought. She simply hugged her friend more tightly. “And I was ... lonely. By the time I realized it didn't help, well, I had already been ... changed.” Fluttershy paused as her mistakes flashed before her. “And, as for why we shouldn't ...”

Only one answer held much weight for Fluttershy personally. She trusted the doctrine taught to her. She'd believed in Harmony fervently since those days of her foalhood shortly after she'd fallen from flight camp. It was the kind teachings of Mr. Waddle, Ponyville’s clergypony, that had shown her what she'd done was wrong. Though she wasn’t sure she’d be able to convey the conviction she felt, the pegasus spoke candidly, explaining to the best of her ability why she felt her own secret actions were worth condemning. Maybe, she thought, she’d be able to help keep Sweetie from making her foalhood mistakes, to prevent the unicorn from struggling consequently with the compulsive urges and behaviors that the pegasus wrestled with to this day.

“The feelings it gives you are very powerful, so powerful they ... they’ll change you in ways that are very difficult, maybe impossible, to change back. Touching yourself ... well, y-you know what it’s like, sort of, just to think about being touched by another pony. Don’t you?” Fluttershy dreaded what corruption she might have sewn in the foal simply by her abbreviated explanation minutes prior.

Sweetie felt her face grow warm again, and she nodded against Fluttershy. “Mm-hmm.”

“It's a very very special feeling to be touched that way, and, if it's not shared with somepony just as special, well, the magic of love can't be there, and, instead,” she struggled to admit it to herself, to put into words the consequences of her own transgressions, “that feeling—the special feelings from ... sex will only end up making any negative feelings you have stronger. ... If you're lonely, you'll feel more alone. If you're often scared, you'll feel more like ... there's no way to be safe. I think ... the feelings from sex are so strong that if you take them yourself without doing your best to give them to the right somepony, it's like stealing, but”—Fluttershy didn't want to dwell on the negative, no matter how true she felt it was—“if you give those feelings to somepony you trust to share their whole life with you, you'll bring them so much happiness!” Fluttershy gently squeezed the filly more tightly against her. “And they can also bring you the same happiness if you let them. ... You'll both feel closer and braver and stronger if you share those feelings, and that's part of the true power of love, I think.”

The little unicorn's soft response was no more than, “Wow!”

Sweetie received everything so willingly, trusting Fluttershy implicitly as a mentor. It baffled the pegasus just a little that Sweetie should so readily accept not only her feelings, but her guidance, even taking into account her youthful naïveté.

After giving the foal a minute to contemplate, Fluttershy couldn't resist trying to understand what was going through her mind. “Sweetie, can I ask ... what are you thinking right now?”

It took the young filly a moment to try and collect her thoughts, as they were all over the place. “I don't—I mean ... I guess I'm thinking a lot of things, and it's hard to say, but ... what really matters is that, I think ...” Something had been building in the young filly ever since she’d realized she reciprocated Fluttershy’s romantic interest—a feeling that might only have grown so quickly in a filly so young, yet Sweetie would have insisted her age had nothing to do with it.

For a moment, Sweetie hated how young she was. Being young meant that what she thought or said wasn't usually taken seriously by adult ponies. Even her friends dismissed what she said sometimes. But what she wanted to say now was something that felt too important to let it be brushed aside. She knew from experience that Fluttershy would listen to her better than other ponies might, but would she believe that a foal like her was serious if she said what she was feeling right now?

The filly squeezed Fluttershy one last time before shifting her body, and Fluttershy released her, unsure of what was happening. Sweetie planted her back hooves on the ground, then her front hooves, and stepped away to look seriously at the young mare. Fluttershy rolled over to face her and saw what seemed like an almost grave expression. At first she feared Sweetie had bad news. When the filly spoke her name, however, the tone calmed Fluttershy's worry.

“Fluttershy ... I think I want to marry you.” She paused, and Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. “And ... I know I'm young and inexperienced, and I may not fully understand love yet, but ... what I feel right now about you is something I've never felt before, and I want to keep feeling it.”

The yellow pegasus was dumbstruck. What she was hearing now seemed almost surreal. She certainly did doubt as Sweetie anticipated. Certainly, the pegasus believed, the filly could want more of the love they shared. She herself had wanted romantic love at a young age. She’d even told herself as a little filly that marriage was what she wished for, but she didn’t know then that marriage was much more than love. It was daily self sacrifice for the sake of unity. It was love compounded on itself. Sweetie admitted she didn't understand love fully, but did she understand what it would take to learn about it? Could a filly who doesn't even know her life talent come to comprehend lifelong commitment to another pony?

Despite the fact that Fluttershy had been the one to initiate this, to open them both up to the possibility of such a relationship, hearing the filly say she wanted to marry her within the very same hour that Fluttershy had confessed to her made her think that the filly might just be caught up in the moment, caught up with new sensations and new information. Fluttershy would have been sure that this was the case, in fact, but for how Sweetie Belle addressed her now. The way the filly had separated herself from Fluttershy, her expression, and the steadiness of her tone and posture all struck Fluttershy.

Sweetie watched as Fluttershy's surprise turned to uncertainty and then what seemed almost like pity. It was a sort of pity, truth be told. Fluttershy pitied them both, wishing but failing to believe that the filly knew what she was saying, and thinking that it would be years before the filly would understand.

“Oh, Sweetie, I look forward to that someday as well. Maybe in a few years.” The mare smiled kindly, but the smile faded when Sweetie didn’t return one to her.

“I—I meant sooner than that, Fluttershy.” The filly’s reply was nervous but insistent. “I mean, I want to marry you now or very soon. I—I want to be your,” the next word got caught on her lips, “w-wife.” Fantastic images flooded the filly’s mind from the royal wedding in which she'd participated not long ago. She doubted that—if ponies wouldn’t accept her being so young—she’d enjoy anything remotely similar, but simply imagining the mare in front of her belonging to her and she herself belonging to Fluttershy was all she needed to drive her to press the issue.

Fluttershy frowned. She’d long harbored a desire to marry the dream filly at a much younger age than was acceptable by any modern standard. She was unhappy now to have to deliver what she knew would be a difficult reality call, not only to the filly, but to herself. “I—I'm sorry Sweetie. It's just that I honestly don't think you understand how difficult ... very difficult it would be to ... to get married so soon.” The mare struggled to admit the improbability of her own fantasy. “And beside ... maybe you'll change your mind tomorrow or a week from now or some time next month or next year. I love you, Sweetie, but ... you're still very young.”

Fluttershy cringed inwardly at the harsh truth, but Sweetie only felt spurred on by her love's misunderstanding. She had to say more, try harder to get her to believe her. “I know that marriage is supposed to last forever, and I'm, well ... I don't even know what I'll be doing when I'm grown up. I'm just a ... a blank-flank.” It hurt to admit it, especially now, but doing so, Sweetie Belle hoped, might give her that much more credibility. “I know it might be really hard because of how other ponies could see us, but I don't care how hard it is or what I have to do.” Sweetie's eyes filled with tears that she couldn't explain—of mixed frustration and longing and intense conviction. “I want to spend my life with you, and”—tears began to trickle slowly—“I've never wanted anything more—ever.” her tiny voice cracked.

“I—” Sweetie sobbed a little before toughening up. Fluttershy started to go to embrace and comfort the filly but the foal held up her hoof to stop her. The little unicorn was surprised at the intensity of what she felt but was too determined to let it derail her or to let Fluttershy interrupt her. Sweetie took a calming breath.

“Can I—will you ... please marry me soon, Fluttershy?”

The filly's proposal betrayed her foalishness to Fluttershy, asking permission rather than consent, but the pegasus felt the genuineness behind her words. Without trying, Sweetie Belle's eye's grew large and her lips pouted. The pegasus was caught off guard again by both the expression and the earnestness of her proposal.

“I ... Sweetie, I'm really ... happy that you want to be married, and I want it too ... someday.” She ended sadly. The kind mare tread carefully, trying not to hurt the filly's feelings. “For now, will you please ... please be my very special somepony until we—until I’m ready?”

For once the excited part of being nervouscited won out for the shy pony as she heard herself ask the question that would define their relationship. Though it wasn’t as much as Sweetie Belle had asked for, now, probably, thought Fluttershy, they would be more than just friends and even more than friends who would date. It wasn’t marriage by any means, but it was as much as she felt she could offer the filly without making false promises.

Sweetie Belle’s features drooped in disappointment at first. It felt like rejection, but, as she considered the counterproposal, she was comforted by the words very special somepony. Fluttershy hadn’t said ‘no’ outright, and it was normal, after all, to start out first as very special someponies before becoming engaged.

At the thought of being engaged Sweetie took a step back from what she was thinking and feeling to look at their situation more objectively. Part of her was embarrassed at how silly she’d been to even think about getting married so quickly, but she also couldn’t ignore the intensity of her desire and how simply right it felt. In spite of not satisfying her desire for the promise of haste, the filly smiled a little at the thought of officially having her first very special somepony.

“... Yes.” Her smile grew wider for a moment with sudden excitement, and Fluttershy’s expression quickly matched, but suddenly again the filly’s face grew stern, and the petite pegasus recoiled. “But I still want to get married, and I won’t be changing my mind. Do I make myself clear?”

Fluttershy shrank a little at the filly’s unconscious imitation of her mother, but she couldn’t help smiling at the demand, adorable as it was to hear coming from the little unicorn, cracked voice and all.

“Y-yes ... D-darling.”

An even bigger smile grew as Fluttershy thought to address the filly by the new term of endearment, and Sweetie Belle’s stern face broke into an impossibly wide grin before she leapt forward to throw her forelegs tightly around the mare then pull back to kiss her repeatedly on her cheeks, muzzle, head, and, finally, where Fluttershy reciprocated eagerly and at length, her lips.

Author's Note

Last revision published: 28 January 2015
- for punctuation and flow

Original Note:
Good gracious that chapter was harder to finish than expected.
You'll notice some religious overtones. This may or may not rustle some jimmies. Oh well! There's a reason I chose this title after all.
At least there's not so much of a cliffhanger this time right?

Also notice I've added an (((Optional Listening))) playlist to the story description for those who might like to hear songs that have served as my muses (or else are simply Flutterbelle-themed).

If I listen to anything while I write it helps me focus if I loop a single song without a distracting beat.

Edit - 12/25/14 : Revised for punctuation, flow, and detail.