Another day, another Friendship Problem solved, Twilight thought. Throughout the trip back home, Twilight began to imagine up scenarios that’d require all six of the ponies to solve. Though most of them had a clear lack of “friendship”.
“Maybe we might have to clear out another dragon cave, or perhaps fight off some new threat! Ooooh… A threat sealed for a thousand years. That’d be cool.” Twilight talked the whole ride as Fluttershy simply took the controls for the hot air balloon.
After the conflict with Starlight Glimmer, Twilight taught her friends how to pilot the balloon, in case the map called for ponies other than Twilight to go to a far off place with it. Fluttershy giggled. Such a situation hasn’t come up and will likely never come up, but given Twilight’s nature, it’s no surprise that she would have thought that. She could still hear Rainbow Dash bemoan at the idea of having to learn to fly a balloon despite being the fastest flier in town.
Fluttershy looked at the sky and noticed how dark it was getting.
“Um… Twilight, it’s going to be nighttime soon…” Fluttershy said. For the first time since they got on the balloon, Twilight stopped rambling and actually spoke to Fluttershy.
“Oh! Really? That conflict must have taken the entire day.” Twilight sighed. “We should probably stop for the night. I don’t think we’ll run into trouble, but it can’t hurt to play it safe, right?” Twilight asked Fluttershy. She smiled and nodded. Fluttershy liked it when Twilight paid attention to her and her personal fears. Had she not proposed, she would have begged Twilight to stop and rest.
It didn’t help that she was trembling as the night got darker. Twilight peered over the basket and spotted an inn.
“Hey, look at that!” Twilight exclaimed. She rushed over to the ropes and pulled the balloon down to the place. As it landed, she got out and secured the balloon to a rock. Fluttershy also got out. She looked for a couple of animals in the woods nearby. She sang out a few notes, just some random ones she know would attract them, and a couple of squirrels came to her.
“Um… Excuse me, but could you, um… watch over our balloon for the night? I’ll pay you greatly!” Fluttershy went over to the basket and took out some trail mix for the squirrels to eat. Not a whole lot, but just a bit to wet their appetite. The squirrels saluted her and rushed to the balloon to form a guard post.
Twilight looked at Fluttershy commanding the animals and she sighed. Fluttershy noticed that Twilight trotted more sluggishly than usual. Especially for right after all the chatting up she had. Fluttershy followed her into the inn.
Inside, they saw a pretty old pony with a gray coat and a gray mane sitting behind a moldy oak desk. Twilight looked around and saw the place was similarly rotten. She shuddered. She was a fan of old-fashioned stuff, yes, but not old to the point where it was falling apart. But, what other choice did they have, right?
“Hello, how may I help you?” She asked.
“Hi, we’d like a room.” Twilight said.
“Alright… one bit per night.” The old mare answered.
“Perfect.” Twilight tossed a golden bit onto the desk. The old mare handed Twilight a key.
“Enjoy your stay.” She said. Twilight and Fluttershy headed off to their designated room.
“Oh my…” Those were Fluttershy’s first words upon seeing that there was only one bed. Twilight almost groaned, but she stopped.
“No, we can make this work. I brought sleeping bags in case it’d take us days to solve the problem.” Twilight nearly got out of the room before Fluttershy spoke up.
“N-no. It’s okay. We can share the bed.” Fluttershy said.
“Fluttershy, repeat that to yourself. ‘Share the bed’. I only shared my bed with Spike during the winter and he’s almost like my little brother.” Twilight said. “… Then there’s those times as a filly where I slept with my actual brother, but that was a time where I was afraid of such nonsense like the Pony of Shadows.”
“But… Um… wouldn’t it be more effective and efficient if we just used one bed instead of getting a sleeping bag or taking up another room?” Fluttershy asked.
“…” Twilight made a muffled groan. “You have a point.” She walked over to the bed, but mumbled something quietly: “You always do.” She hopped onto the bed and covered herself up. Fluttershy went over onto the bed as well.
The bed mattress was obviously made for one pony in mind. Both Fluttershy and Twilight couldn’t be on the bed without being uncomfortably close to the other, to the point of touching. Moving away from the other would result in being dangerously close to the edge, where one turn in their sleep could mean an abrupt and rude awakening. So they huddled. Although it was dark, Twilight could obviously see the redness in Fluttershy’s cheeks.
“What did you mean, 'you always do'?” Fluttershy asked.
“… It’s… just…” Twilight exhaled. “I was prepared to handle the Friendship Problem with almost every trick in the book, and yet all it took was you to talk to an animal and relay the story it told to the others.” Twilight said.
“Oh… Well… Um… your ideas were good and were worth a shot.” Fluttershy said.
“No they weren’t!” Twilight catapulted off the bed and was now sitting up. “You saw what it did. All it did was cause some stupid back and forth and made the situation worse! Had you not talked with those animals, I’m pretty sure they would have destroyed the Smokey Mountains!” She said.
“Well, who knows?” Fluttershy sat up as well. “I actually thought you managed to handle the problem by yourself before that whole cake thing happened.”
“… Oh yes, the cake thing. …” Fluttershy could see Twilight’s face scowl and wince before she slammed her head back against the pillow. She took it and muffled her scream. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGG! How could I have been so stupid?! That was the oldest trick in the book! An entire empire fell to that stuff and it almost brought two more to an end! I should have seen it coming!” Fluttershy heard Twilight’s voice crack.
“… But you didn’t. But that’s okay. We needed all the ponies in one place, right?” Fluttershy said. Twilight pulled the pillow off of her face.
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure somepony was going to maim another pony if we hadn’t stopped them. We could have solved everything by just going to the animals first.” Twilight said.
“Well, to be fair, we had no idea that the animals were being affected that badly…” Fluttershy said.
“No! We saw the animals when were over at the forts! You saw them scrape for food and seek shelter! But all I noticed is stubborn ponies who don’t listen to a word I said and would only want to beat the other… I’m so stupid for not thinking of your special talents and how would they apply. The map had a reason for you to go after all! Aaah… I’m such a buck-up!” Twilight began to cry. Fluttershy couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t bear to hear her berate herself. Fluttershy quickly got on top of Twilight and held her.
“NO, YOU’RE NOT!” Fluttershy stared into Twilight’s eyes with the same amount of anger she would give when scolding an animal. Twilight stopped, only because she could see and feel Fluttershy’s tears now. “You’re… not a buck-up. You are a brilliant pony with a beautiful mind. You just made a mistake is all… We all… make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Fluttershy collapsed into Twilight’s chest and wept.
“B… beautiful?” Twilight asked.
“… Oh my…” Fluttershy’s face turned red as she got up. “S…sorry…” Fluttershy muttered.
“Don’t be. You think I’m… beautiful? Or just my mind?” Twilight asked.
“E-everything! Everything about you is beautiful! Your eyes, your mane, your personality…” Fluttershy laid down next to Twilight. “I… I think it was after you became a Princess that I fell in love with you. By that point… you became exceedingly beautiful.” Fluttershy said.
“… All I did was grow a pair of wings. How would that make me more beautiful?” Twilight asked.
“… I… hadacrushoncelestia.” Fluttershy murmured.
“W-what?!” Twilight asked.
“I had a crush on Celestia, alright?” Fluttershy said.
“What the hay does that have to do with anything?” Twilight tossed around to look at Fluttershy. The two were so close, their noses could be touching.
“She’s so kind and graceful… Almost every Princess was. So you being just like them made me think of you as Celestia and… then I realized that… I loved you.” Fluttershy said.
“… You love me… because I now resemble my teacher. Look, Fluttershy, I’ve read into this before. A sort of complex one pony could develop where they have feelings towards ponies who have traits similar to their mother-”
“It’s not like that! I just… worded it wrong. After you became a Princess, I imagined and played out every conversation we had by that point, but with you being a Princess… It reminded me of an old crush I had as a filly and I couldn’t help but see you in a new light.” Fluttershy frowned. “… It didn’t help that you were gone for a full hour when the Elements zapped you… I thought you… that you…”
“… And it was at that point where you found out you loved me.” Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded. Fluttershy held Twilight.
“I often wrapped myself in my wings, pretending they were yours. I always wondered what they would feel like…” Fluttershy said. Twilight smiled and wrapped her wings around Fluttershy. Fluttershy instantly cuddled underneath them. The feathers were incredibly soft. She had felt her own feathers to know there was a distinct difference. Whereas her feathers were slick and smooth like a blanket, Twilight’s wings were cushiony, more like if a pillow had been thrown over her.
She moved closer to Twilight and nuzzled her.
“You are so lovely, Twilight. You always cared for my feelings and knew what I would like. Whenever you notice me, my heart would simply stop. I was so relieved when I found that you were my partner for the problem. You’re the smartest and kindest pony I know… Please don’t feel bad over today’s events…” She said.
“… I won’t. Thank you, Fluttershy.” Twilight grabbed Fluttershy with her legs. “I love you.” Fluttershy wrapped Twilight up with her own wings.
“I love you too.” Fluttershy said. The two went fast asleep. By morning, the two ponies emerged, not as friends, but as lovers, and they whisked off back to Ponyville, back to their normal lives…
Or to another adventure. It all depends on what would happen.
