confessions

Today was a new day and with it, a new feeling that burns ever brighter in your chest. You finally recovered from the nasty cold that plagued your poor body for the past week and a half. By this time, you'd be mumbling and chewing on your tongue if it weren't for Celestia and her friends spending their time with you and banishing the boredom away with games and stories.

In addition to Honey Aurora, a pink earth pony filly with a mane colored with violet, rose and gold streaks and light purple eyes; there were also Chrysalis, Daring Blitz, and Star Swirl. A changeling, a pegasus, and a unicorn, respectively.

Chrissy was a midnight black changeling with a dark cerulean mane and green eyes. Daring Blitz was a light gold, almost brown pegasus with a rough, greyscale mane and moderate rose eyes. Star Swirl was a light grey unicorn with a simple brown mane and brilliant gold eyes.

The six of you have been through a lot in the past week. In this brief time, not only you warmed up to them, you also saw Celestia in a whole new light. Usually, when she's with you, she's relaying on every word you say. But around her friends, she was much more assertive and expressive with her ideas, in a good way. In fact, it kinda reminded you of yourself.

Today though was special. You told your friends about your crush with Feather Curls and they all agreed to help you to set up the perfect moment for you to ask her out.

"That's so romantic…" Chrysalis swooned as she looked over you with half lidded eyes "I can already imagine the two of you, looking over the setting sun on the beach, holding hooves- err, I mean… limbs together. And then, you lean closer to her and give her a big kiss…"

"Eww…" Was the collective response of the rest of you, minus Celestia and Honey Aurora.

"Chrissy, really? That's disgusting, mares have cooties." You declare, finishing your statement with a fake gagging sound.

Chrysalis simply rolls her eyes and then looks at Daring Blitz "You don't think it's disgusting, right Blitz?"

Daring Blitz shakes his head "No way! You'd never catch me kissing a mare!"

Chrissy frowns a bit but quickly recovers, changing her attention to Star Swirl, looking expectedly "And what about you, Swirl?"

"I believe that I lack enough knowledge on the subject to form a valid point at the moment." Star Swirl finishes his sentence by shooting a smirk towards Chrysalis, who looks more annoyed then anything.

"Colts…" she simply says.

"Tell me about it," says Celestia as the three fillies roll their eyes at the same times.

"They just don't understand romance and the matters of the heart as well as WE do," Honey explains with playful tone.

You smile nervously as the fillies talk with themselves about stuff for dates, romantic dinners and marriage! Freaking marriage! You only want Feather Curls as your special somepony, but obviously, it wasn't enough apparently.

You quickly interject when the talking reaches names for the babies "Guys, guys, relax. I just need you to help me so I can ask Feather Curls out. Not all… this."

The three fillies look at you for a moment and then shake their heads at the same time. Celestia approaches you slowly "Brother, brother, brother. You really don't have a clue, do you."

"Apparently not…" you hesitate.

"Don't worry big brother, we'll help you. Chrysalis, Daring Blitz, you two take care of the clothing, we need something fancy but not overwhelming. Aurora, Star Swirl, you're in charge of the settings, pick a good place and make it as romantic as possible. I'll make sure to turn big brother into a mares wooing machine by tonight. Are you ready!"

"Yeah!" you all shout together, though you have a bad feeling about it.

A few minutes later you sit on your rump in your room, Celestia is standing in front of you near a blackboard with a crude drawing of yourself and a pony inside a heart.

"So, first lesson will be; how to greet a mare."

You raise your hand.

"Yes, brother…" Celestia groans.

"Remind me again why I need to do this."

"I already told you… In order to impress your mare you must first act like a gentelcolt. You can't just go running around like a brute and expect her to fall in love with you instantly."

"Fine, fine, continue…"

"Okay… so the first step is how to properly greet a mare; you start by giving her a compliment. You must flatter her, but you also must be sincere. Compliment on either her appearance or her personality. Some mares prefer one over the other…"

Oh boy, that's going to be a looooooong day indeed…

Next stop, outfit… It took all your brain space to memorize everything Tia told you. The sheer amount of things to remember almost made your brain go haywire. Luckily, that part of the day was behind you, and it's only going downhill from now.

Chrissy and Daring Blitz are arguing over the tie pattern as you and Tia enter the room. The two stop their yelling match and turn to look directly at you.

"Let's let him to decide, then." Daring Blitz takes both ties, presenting them to you. One is a mint one with purple strips and the other one is plane pink.

"Well…" Chrissy urges you.

You feel something nudge at your side and turn to see Tia, looking at you with a warm smile; you smile back and point your finger.

"That one." Your finger lands on the striped tie. Daring Blitz frowns while Chrissy shoots him a smug grin.

"There must be more than this, right?" Tia asks.

"Sure, sure, follow us…" Daring Blitz turns around and trots towards a closet of some sorts. He opens it and steps inside, coming out with an outfit in his teeth.

"Wow, Daring! It's… beautiful, where did you found this!" Tia exclaims as she examines the outfit. You must admit, it sure was fancy looking. The entire suit was made out of black silk, not a single loose thread or a wrinkle could be seen, it was in in exquisite condition, but most importantly, it was made for you, not ponies.

"I made it myself," said Chrissy proudly "Daring brought me some silk and other accessories and I made it especially for you."

"But how did you have my measurements?" you ask, truly bewildered.

Chrissy rolls her eyes "I'm a changeling dummy, I simply transformed to look exactly like you." she bopped your nose with her hoof and smiled.

"I… That's… This… Wow…" You look at the outfit and try to find your words. After a few failed attempts at forming coherent sentences you let your body speaks for itself as you wrap Chrissy and Blitz in a bear hug "Thank you such you guys."

The three of you remain together as Tia looks over a watch and gasps "Brother, we need to hurry, put the tuxedo, quickly!"

Without missing a beat, you dress up quickly and run with the other three towards the dining hall. It's where Aurora and Star said they'd be preparing something. You, being faster than the rest, reach first to the door and are about to open it. Unfortunately, the others couldn't stop in time and all three of them crash into you and sending all of you sprawling into the hall.

You all gasp as your eyes finally open. The entire hall was almost completely dark, the curtains are blocking the sunlight from outside and the only means of lighting are a few candles on the dining table and a chandelier full of lit candles, bathing the room with a gentle glow.

Aurora and Star Swirl were in the process of spreading a few rose petals around the table when you came crushing and tumbling.

"Guys… you need some help?" Star Swirl asks as he notices your dazed faces.

"This is amazing!" Tia whispers.

"It is, isn't it," Aurora says as she hops down from the table and trots towards you. You finally untangle yourself from the rest and stand up by the time Aurora reaches you.

"Wow, you look amazing." Aurora circling you, examining every detail with admiration.

"Thanks, I like what you did with the dining hall."

Aurora blushes "Thanks, but it was Star Swirl's idea to use candle light."

"That was nothing, really. I simply remembered a book about courting; it stated clearly that candle light is the best source of light for romantic situations." Star Swirl smiles as he levitates a few more candles and places them around the room.

Tia looks out into the hallway and quickly turns around "She's coming! Everypony, out!" within seconds, everypony in the vicinity slips away through a back door, leaving you alone as you start to sweat.

'What am I doing?! She's going to reject me, or laugh at my face or-' your rambling is cut short when the door to the dining hall opens, revealing Feather Curls in all her beautiful glory.

She looks around in surprise before her eyes suddenly falls in you "Umm, what's going on here, your highness? And what's with this outfit?" she giggles.

You take it as a good sign and step forward "I- uhh, I… I really like your eyes…" you blurt out, clamping your hands over your mouth.

Feather Curls looks at you curiously, one eye brow raised "Are you sure you're well?" she comes closer and puts her hoof on your forehead "My goodness, you're burning up!"

"N-No, I'm fine, really…"

"Then what is this about?"

"I… Oh shoot, Tia said it would be easy…"

Feather Curls looks at you even more deeply. Suddenly, her mind forms all the pieces together as she darts her eyes from you to your surroundings.

"Oh, sweetie…" she sits in front of you "I know what you are trying to do."

Your eyes lit up as you look straight into Feather Curls' eyes "You do?! So that means that-"

"We can't do this…" she interrupts you.

"W-What…"

"We can't do this your highness… You're way too young, and besides, I'm a married mare." She points at a small ring necklace around her neck.

"But I… But you…" You try to find words, but your mind fails you. After all what the others did for you, after all you did.

"You must realize it couldn't have worked between us. You're too young to understand now."

You face falls as you look downwards, a few tears threatening to fall from your eyes "You're right, I don't understand…"

"Ohh… sweetie…" Feather Curls comes closer to give you a comforting hug, but you simply pushed her away and run back to your room. You didn’t stop for a second, not even when Feather Curls shouted your name.

As you reach your room, you immediately slump in your bed and cry your eyes out onto the sheets. You cry and cry for seamlessly hours. In fact, it wasn't until that you feel something rubbing your back that you dared turn around.

Around you, all your friends are sitting in your bed, offering comforting smiles. Aurora stands next to you, rubbing your back in a comforting matter while Tia gently wipes away your tears with her hoof.

"You guys…" you stutter before you pull them all to a hug…

Author's Note

OH DEAR GOD PLEASE FORGIVE ME...