Blank Flank!

Twilight sat at the foot of her bed, studying as usual, allowing her mind to drift and every now and then, she would think of Dusty and sigh, We haven’t spent much time together… Twilight thought, it seemed as though every time a month passed, their time they would spend together dropped by about five percent, but Twilight was grateful they still actually saw each other, and that was enough for her, Mrs. Cake assured her that this was going to happen and the best thing to do would be to either wait for him to confront her, or for her to confront him which was the more risky option, and Twilight wasn’t willing to risk jeopardizing their relationship, but today was different, she has waited too long and has long since gave up waiting, she just couldn’t find the time to confront Dusty as she had already made plans for the entire week, and today, Twilight had to go down to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack out with the harvesting of the orchard.

After what seemed like an eternity, a knock came from the door, Twilight went downstairs expecting to see Spike answering the door for her, then she remembered that he said he was doing a “special task” given to him by a friend, and she wouldn’t lie, she missed her little dragon, partly because she would ask him for guy advice, which half the time was successful but Dusty didn’t need to know that, Twilight opened the door and saw Applejack, “Ready to go Twilight?” she asked,

“Yeah,” Twilight answered blindly, not really paying attention,

“Somethin’ on your mind, sugar cube?” Applejack asked suspiciously,

“It’s just…” Twilight took a deep breath, “It’s about Dusty and me…”

“Did he cheat on you?” Applejack growled, “Tell me where he is, I’ll take care of him personally!”

“It’s not that!” Twilight shouted, at least, she hoped it wasn’t,

“Well then, what’s the matter?” Applejack eased up slightly,

“I feel like Dusty’s avoiding me about something,” Twilight admitted

Applejack froze and began snickering about something, “I think he plans on asking you to marry him.” Twilight was just about to slap Applejack when she thought of the possibilities, and Twilight began to freak out with excitement, “Now hold on there, sugar cube.” Applejack commanded, “There may be a chance that he’s tryin’ to take advantage of you.” She leaned her head toward Twilight’s ear and whispered, “Do it before he does, see if he’s the real thing.” Applejack whispered, The real thing? Twilight wanted nothing more than to lecture Applejack saying that no pony could fool her, but she thought about it, and the more she did, the more pleasant the idea seemed,

“Alright, Applejack, I think I will.” Twilight smiled,

“Good, now come on, it’s time to harvest the orchard.” Applejack practically pulled Twilight out the door, and lead Twilight to the orchard, as they neared the orchard, Twilight noticed a blue streak across the sky, “Rainbow came to help, too.” Applejack explained when she noticed Twilight staring at the sky, “Doubt she’s going to stay long.” Applejack spat, those two always seemed to be at each other’s throats when it came to seeing who’s better, but whenever Rainbow and Dusty would compete, they would be laughing and having a good time, “C’mon now, let’s get buckin’ pronto.” Applejack fetched buckets from the barn and all three of them began bucking apples until Rainbow finally said, “I’m bored, I’m out of here.” And flew away, which only made Applejack scoff and start muttering to herself about how lazy Rainbow was, finally, the sun was just about to set and the two finally finished harvesting the orchard, “Thanks for your help, Twilight.” Applejack trotted off leaving Twilight to go and find Rainbow, as she kept walking, the sound of laughing children and adults became apparent, Twilight noticed a skate park and saw Dusty and Rainbow as well as the Cutie Mark Crusaders on roller-skates, she sat and watched a while smiling, it reminded her of those rare childish parents taking their kids to a park or something, finally after a while, the two friends collapsed and decided that they all should head home, Dusty didn’t seem to notice her as he passed her, Is this what it has come to? She thought sadly,

“You’re pretty good at roller-skating, Dusty.” she commented, Dusty turned to face her, gasping,

“So, you decided to go roller-skating with the fillies?” Twilight asked, frowning at Dusty, he was just about to respond when the Crusaders appeared out of nowhere,

“Yeah!” Applebloom laughed,

“It was so much fun!” Scootaloo replied,

“And none of us got hurt…much.” Sweetie Belle giggled,

“Well, I’m glad you three had Dusty to watch you.” Twilight chuckled, Oh, Dusty, you are so childish, she thought as she gave Dusty a kiss, “Thanks for watching them.” She said warmly,

“It was my pleasure.” Dusty blushed,

“Ew…” the three fillies wailed, leaving Dusty and Twilight giggling,

“Oh, girls,” Twilight began, “One day, you’ll understand.”

Dusty chimed in, “I would love to stay, but I need to pick up some things from the market.”

Oh no you don’t… Twilight thought,

“That’s alright, may I join you?” Twilight offered,

“Of course!” Dusty replied, That went well… Twilight thought,

“So, how was your day?” Twilight asked as they were walking,

“It was pretty good,” Dusty replied, “At first, it was me and the fillies, then Rainbow decided to join us.”

“Oh, she did, did she?” Twilight replied, You better not have tried anything, Rainbow… Twilight thought, He’s my stallion…

“Oh, come on, Twilight.” Dusty chuckled, “Nothing happened between us.” And he gave her a peck on the cheek,

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Twilight sighed, “We never spend as much time together as we used to.” How could you not see that?She thought,

“Well, in that case, that will change.” He nuzzled her playfully, Twilight giggled as she gave him a shove, Dusty shoved back a bit harder, Twilight shoved him so hard he went flying and she galloped off laughing,

“Come back here, you!” Twilight heard from behind her, Twilight slowed to a walk again as Dusty made his way back to her side again, “Anyway, how was your day?” Dusty asked,

“Well, I helped Applejack with her harvesting of the orchard, Rainbow Dash was there too but said that she wanted some fun and took off.” Twilight gave a slight chuckle, “And that’s when I found you here with Rainbow and the fillies, you two looked like a mother and father on vacation with their kids.” She joked; Dusty blushed slightly and chuckled,

“If it were me and you, then that would make sense.” Dusty replied, making Twilight’s face turn red,

“You aren’t talking about…” Twilight stared at him, Don’t fall for it! She shouted in her mind, “Oh, look, here’s the market!” Twilight suddenly said,

“Thanks for coming to help, Twilight.” Dusty nuzzled her as they went inside, Twilight waved back at a few ponies as they waved at them,

“It’s good not having to keep our relationship a secret.” Dusty commented, giving Twilight a smooch on her cheek,

“Yeah, but let’s not get dirty if you know what I mean.” Twilight gave a dirty look at Dusty, causing his face to glow bright red,

“O—of course not!” he stuttered, “That just isn’t…appropriate since we’ve only been going out for…”

“A year.” Twilight finished for him,

“Right.” Dusty wiped is forehead, he stopped in some places to grab something, but each time, Twilight would carry it with her magic.

After they finished their shopping, Dusty looked a bit depressed, “I guess this is goodbye?” Dusty asked,

“Not if I can’t come over.” Twilight giggled,

Dusty’s face lit up, and he nearly jumped with joy, “Well, of course you can!” he laughed,

“It’s a date.” Twilight responded, followed by short laughter, Perfect, I can ask him when we get there. She thought,

“Spike?” Dusty called as he opened the door, Twilight came up behind him looking back toward the library noticing the lights were on, Spike’s home,

“Spike came home a few hours after I left.” Twilight explained,

“Ah, I see.” Dusty replied, and sat on the couch, Twilight sat next to him, both staying quiet with nothing to say I have to ask him! She kept opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out, finally, Dusty started to speak, “Twilight?”

“Yes, Dusty?” Twilight looked at him with hopeful eyes, Is he going to ask?

Dusty looked down embarrassed, “I…” Dusty began to talk but he stopped mid-sentence, Oh, forget it! Twilight thought, as she knocked him on his back, “Twilight? Are you okay--” Oh, quiet, Dusty! She shouted mentally as she jumped on top of him and kissed him, No more games! she felt the tears stream down her face as she pulled away,

“Dusty,” Twilight forced out, You can do it…

“What’s wrong?” Dusty asked, obviously confused, Just four words…

“Will you marry me?” Twilight asked, Dusty’s eyes shrank; I knew it was a lost cause… Twilight thought as she began to pull away, she felt Dusty pull her back down,

“Of course I will my dear unicorn…” YES! Twilight cheered internally, she let herself collapse on top of him and slowly drifted off into sleep, You’ve made me the happiest mare alive… she thought, then chuckled, How cliché of me…