“Day one,” Pumpkin Cake said as she entered her room. She looked at Zenith and noted his sleepy expression. He was cute when he was sleepy. It always made him look a little off, perhaps like he was drunk. But Zenith had never been drunk.

“Say again?” Zenith blinked and looked at Pumpkin.

“Day one,” Pumpkin replied. “The first day of your crisis, where we figure out what to do… hopefully as a couple, otherwise, after everything that happened last night, I’m gonna have to drag you out into the Everfree and show you how I got my cutie mark.” She saw Zenith’s eyes go wide. “And don’t forget your glasses. They’re on my bedside table.”

“Do you think your mom knows?” Zenith picked up his glasses and placed them on his nose. Pumpkin was in perfect focus now, and Zenith could not help but think that something had changed about her appearance, but he couldn’t put his hoof on what it was. He saw Pumpkin shrug.

“I dunno.” Pumpkin rolled her eyes. “I have my room soundproofed.” She strode forwards, looked Zenith in the eye, and then pressed her muzzle into his. She kissed him, a gentle kiss, and then, to let him know how much she cared, she slugged him, putting everything she had behind it. The effort showed that she cared.

“Ow! That’s gonna leave a bruise!” Zenith stepped away. He saw Pumpkin batting her eyelashes at him. She wasn’t wearing makeup yet, and her mane wasn’t mohawked. She still looked like she tripped and fell into a tinkerer’s supply box, though.

“Train leaves in about forty five minutes. Up for breakfast?” Pumpkin asked.

“Pumpkin?” Zenith cleared his throat and he stepped forward, his nose touching Pumpkin’s, and he could feel her nose piercing between them. “About last night… I have something to say.”

“Yes?”

Zenith could see the fear in Pumpkin’s eyes. It made his heart hurt. He didn’t like seeing it. Her eyes were inches away from his own. “Last night wasn’t a mistake. I don’t have any regrets… but I need time Pumpkin, I need time to clean this up and to try and make things right. I feel like I need to tell Princess Celestia what I’ve done. I don’t know why.”

“I understand,” Pumpkin replied, feeling little tingles as Zenith’s lips moved against hers as he talked. “We’ll keep our relationship on the down-low for now and act like nothing has changed.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Zenith smiled.

“Oh, you know it… I might not be an alicorn, but I am waaaaay out of your league.”

“So modest too.” Zenith took a step backwards.

“Zenith…”

“What?”

Pumpkin squirmed, stretched out her neck, and planted a kiss on Zenith’s nose. “I really do love you. It’s been a long time… I mean, a very, very long time for me. I wanted you to be happy… I wanted you to succeed and become Princess Celestia’s consort. I really was rooting for you… but I was also selfish and I wanted you for myself. I really hope that you’ll never grow to hate me for jumping on you.”

Sighing, Zenith stared down at the floor. “I’m glad it happened.”

“Really?”

“It’s like a relief. To be honest, I think the pressure was getting to me. Part of me still really wants her… I think it is because we all want something we can’t have. I dunno. I need to think about it I guess… I lived with a constant fear that I would never be good enough to make her happy, and it was eating at my insides.” Zenith looked Pumpkin in the eye. “With you, I know I can make you happy and there is something about that… it’s a relief.”

“I think I understand. Now let’s quit jabberjawing so we can go downstairs and get breakfast,” Pumpkin said. She planted another quick peck on Zenith. “I just want to touch you so much right now. I’m so happy.”

“Mister Cake,” Zenith said, pausing just inside the kitchen door. “How are you?”

“Swamped,” Mister Cake replied as he pushed his way back out into the store through the bat wing doors. “Grab whatever you want, just make sure you eat something before school, Pumpkin.”

“Okay Daddy, I will.” Pumpkin looked around the kitchen. It was messy. It was always messy in the morning. The early morning rush was on.

A pink blur flew through the kitchen, moving like a whirlwind, snatching up a tray of sticky buns and departing, but as she passed she managed to say:

“Ohmygoshyoutwomakesuchacutecouple!”

There was a loooong gasp, and then:

“Don’tworryyoursecretissafewithme!” she said as she departed.

Pinkie Pie pronked back into the kitchen a moment later, kissed Pumpkin, winked at Zenith, and then went zooming off once more, leaving behind a faint pink outline that smelled like cinnamon and raisins.

“Iloveyoubuhbye!”

Standing there, confused, bewildered by Pinkie Pie’s passing, Zenith derped, losing most of his cognitive functions. Somehow, once again, Pinkie had injured Zenith’s well defined sense of rationale, just as she always managed to do.

Waving her hoof in front of Zenith’s face, Pumpkin tried to reach him. “Hello? Hello? Anypony in there?”

Pinkie Pie’s faint pink outline tapped Pumpkin on the shoulder and made a suggestion. “Try pulling his tail.” And then, the pink outline dissipated, the last of Pinkie’s helpful nature vanishing with a laugh.

Unaffected by Pinkie Pie’s weirdness, Pumpkin took her suggestion and gave Zenith’s tail a yank. She heard him sputter and his eyes underped, but his muzzle remained crinkled in confusion.

“My brain hurts!” Zenith muttered as his eyes threatened to derp again.

Sitting on the train, Zenith watched and listened as Pumpkin and Twilight talked. He said very little, speaking only when spoken to, and when he wasn’t looking at the pair, he glanced out the window. He felt self conscious, as if Twilight Sparkle could stare into his soul.

Twilight had once had a crush on Princess Celestia and had outgrown it. At least, that is what Zenith had been told. He looked at her, wondering, curious if Twilight still felt anything. Perhaps she was the right pony to talk to. Maybe he should say something to her. There was a chance that she could sort him out.

His gaze fell upon Pumpkin. She was beautiful. He thought about Mrs. Cake and what she had said, about how staring at the sun could blind you. How long had he ignored Pumpkin and her beauty because of his fixation… his obsession? A powerful feeling of burning shame overtook Zenith. Yes, it was an obsession. It still was an obsession, and would continue to be until he faced it somehow. He thought of Luna, and how Luna had led him on. Had Luna been trying to help him or torment him? He didn’t know. Luna had teased him for a long time, and there were times when the teasing became unbearable.

Zenith, a pony not prone to angst, was feeling it now. He tried to tear his eyes away from Pumpkin and found that he couldn’t. She had never bothered putting on makeup this morning, and her mane hung down around her face and neck. He was overcome with the sudden feeling of wanting to take her face between his hooves and tell her how sorry he was for being stupid. It was almost painful to look at her.

“Zenith?” Twilight waved her hoof. “Zenith, you okay?”

“He had an encounter with Pinkie Pie,” Pumpkin said to Twilight.

“Oh.” Twilight nodded in a knowing way. “Did she make his brain hurt?”

“Uh huh.” Pumpkin nodded and squirmed. Her ass was sore and the places where she had piercings were tender. She didn’t dare mention this to Twilight though. Nope. This was a time where it was better to suffer in silence. She looked at Zenith and took note of his blank expression, feeling a growing sense of worry as she looked into his eyes.

“Sometimes, our friends don’t always measure up to our expectations. Sometimes, we build up elaborate scenarios in our minds of how we think a situation will turn out. We place a lot of hope into it. Like when we touch a friend in an intimate way and expect them to reciprocate. When real life doesn’t measure up to the scenarios we’ve created in our heads, it can lead to all sorts of trouble,” Professor Twilight Sparkle said.

“This is why good communication is so important,” a filly pointed out.

“Correct!” Twilight nodded.

Zenith could not help but feel that the lesson was hitting home for him. He had elaborate scenarios. All of them were shattered now, his dreams broken and gone. He glanced at Pumpkin. He had to make new dreams now. Realistic dreams. The pain in his heart intensified and he hunched over his desk.

“Sometimes, the friend that we want to make a move on, the friend where we attempt to move up to the next level of friendship, sometimes, they just aren’t interested, for whatever reason.” Twilight Sparkle paused, unaware that her words were inflicting terrible torment on Zenith. She looked around the class for a moment, noting all of the bright eyes and smiling faces looking back at her.

“It can be a real test of friendship having to face rejection or admitting that you had built up your expectations of what might have been. It’s easy to feel humiliated when facing your friend after the fact. It’s easy to feel foolish.” Twilight shook her head and for a moment, she looked down at her own hooves. When she looked up, her smile was gone. “It is important to try and repair these relationships though. It’s not fair to your friend if you cut them off just because they didn’t live up to your expectations. The hurt will fade in time, and you’ll just be friends again, but only if you work at it. It’s really, really hard though.”

Unable to bear hearing another word, Zenith Zephyr bolted, running out of the classroom.

“Zenith?” Princess Celestia’s voice was full of soft concern. “Zenith, are you okay? Twilight said that you shot out of her class like you had a manticore on your heels.”

Unable to look his mentor in the eye, Zenith stared down at the floor instead. “I’m fine,” he lied, hating himself even as he did it. “It’s nothing.”

“It certainly seems to be something. Would you like to have lunch with me? Maybe we can talk.” Celestia looked around the small, somewhat private study that Zenith had retreated to, an almost motherly look of concern upon her face, an expression that Zenith did not see.

“No… I’m not hungry… I’m… just… just a little under the weather, that’s all.” The first lie had been painful, the second lie was agonising. On the inside, Zenith wanted to crawl under the nearest rock and die. He had always been so honest with Celestia, pouring everything in his heart out to her, revealing every feeling he had, hoping that his sincere honesty and earnestness would impress her.

Now, now he just felt stupid. He shook his head and looked at his pile of books. “I’m hanging on by a thread in Moondancer’s class. I’ve got to study. I’m feeling the pressure.” The third lie set his soul on fire. He had extra credit in Moondancer’s class, and while his grade was far from perfect, he was in no danger.

“Zenith…”

He could not look her in the eye. He doubted if he could ever meet her eye ever again. All of Twilight’s words echoed in his head. All of the fantasies, all of the daydreams. The wonderful dream of making her happy, if only she would let him. He would have found a way to have stood out. He would have found a way to be special. He would have found a way to endear himself to her, some way of impressing her with who he was, and he would have remained in her memory as somepony special that she loved.

It was all just fantasy. A daydream. The realisation was crushing. He had trouble breathing. He crammed it all down inside, gritted his teeth, and put his best face forward. He looked at Princess Celestia, but did not meet her gaze.

“I’m fine.” The words that came out his mouth were his best effort yet. He almost sounded okay. He tried once more, this time with feeling, throwing all of his charisma and his charm behind it, producing a fourth lie. “My stomach hurts from being so nervous and worked up from my studies. I’ll be fine. Skipping a meal won’t hurt me.”

Shaking her head, Princess Celestia blinked, maintaining her perfect composure. Zenith wasn’t looking her in the eye. His teeth were gritted in a forced smile. He looked miserable. And he had just lied to her four times. With an ache in her heart, she drew in a deep breath.

“Very well, Zenith. Perhaps we will talk later.”

Author's Note

Zenith Zephyr - perk added: LIAR! It is now time to invest in some nomex pants.

Pumpkin Cake - perk added: Soft Touch. You can now stop scaring other ponies away with a mohawk and spooky goth makeup. You have your heart's desire and you no longer need to be as cuddly as a cactus. Other ponies will find you far more approachable.