“Huh?”
While historically Twilight has never been good at dealing with situations she didn’t understand, especially when it comes to Pinkie pie—something evident by the large number of times she’d strapped her up to machinery, or spied on her in a definitely not creepy way—she was always able to articulate her views at least.
Not this time though. She just sat in the Cafe—sitting opposite her Pink friend; surrounded by the rest of her group—with a dumbstruck expression plastered on her face, making the situation increasingly awkward.
‘Huh’ had been where years of studying social sciences had gotten her in the art of conversation.
“I know, we were all equally surprised,” Rarity chipped in, saving Twilight from her own ineptitude.
“You were?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Rarity.
“I don’t know why,” Pinkie giggled. “What’s so surprising about me finding a boyfriend?”
“It’s hard to explain,” Applejack joined in. “Ah guess it’s just a bit hard to picture you in a relationship. That and Rarity’s probably upset that you beat her to it.”
Rarity shot Applejack an annoyed look before returning back to Pinkie with a friendly one. “Nonsense, we’re all happy that you managed to find someone. I was just surprised that I’ve never heard of this mystery man.”
Twilight, for her part, had transitioned into a mode of deep thought. Her mind was desperately trying to sort out the contradicting information she was now confronted with.
Pinkie’s new ‘boyfriend’, as in male human she’s in a relationship with, was giving her brain a field day. Because, while Twilight had a hard time understanding many things about Pinkie, one thing she understood very well was that Pinkie is indeed gay. Very Gay.
“Wait, is boy and man the same as a colt or mare?” she said with the optimistic idea she may have just got the words of this dimension mixed up.
“Man is male, so that’s colt I believe,” Rarity said, unsure where the question was coming from.
Rainbow snorted. “Wait, did you think that Pinkie was going out with a girl? Well, that explains why you looked so confused. Don’t they have that in your dimension?”
Twilight unintentionally glanced at Pinkie. “No, we definitely have that.”
“What’s going on guys?” Sunset Shimmer had returned with everyone's drinks and this dimension’s Twilight, or human Twilight as they referred to her.
While the Princess hadn’t personally gotten used to having another one of herself around, it was accepted pretty quickly by the gang. And despite an initial worry that they couldn’t be seen together, random people seemed to assume they're twins, so there’s no need to act discreet.
“We’re just telling Twilight about Pinkie's new prince charming,” Rarity explained. “It would seem she’s just as shocked as we were, if not a bit more.”
Twilight, who had not managed to move her face away from the perplexed expression it then had, tried her best to give an innocent smile, something that just ended up looking slightly creepy.
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Come on girls, it’s not that hard to imagine Pinkie with a guy.” It was, actually, very hard for Twilight to imagine that. “I think we should be happy for her.”
“Oh darling we are,” Rarity interjected before returning to give Pinkie an encouraging look. “I, personally, was only surprised because you never mentioned him before.”
Pinkie, for her part, was beginning to look slightly awkward. Partly out of all the attention placed on her romantic life, and partly from Twilight’s still confused reaction. Something that wasn’t helped by another creepy smile.
“That’s a fair point.” Sunset was doing her best to not to be put off by Twilight, “When do we get to meet the special guy?” She sat down with the other Twilight, beginning to hand out drinks while Pinkie thought for a second.
“Erm, well,” Pinkie finally said, lacking her charistaristic confidence, “I don’t think it can happen too soon. I’m not sure if it’s serious enough for that yet. I’ll be seeing him this afternoon, so I can talk to him about potential friend meetings then.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Just don’t rush into something if you feel it’s too soon.” Rarity quickly glanced at Twilight, then ‘subtly’ flicked her straw from her drink and onto the floor. “Oops. I’m sorry Pinkie, but could you quickly get me another straw, seeing how you're the closest.”
“Sure thing.” Pinkie gave her a blissful smile before getting up to go to the till.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Rarity gave Pinkie a little wave as she walked away. When she was out of earshot, Rarity immediately turned to Twilight with a firm look. “What on earth are you playing at!”
Twilight looked up a Rarity, startled at suddenly being pulled out of her train of thought. With her eyes wide open, she stared at Rarity for a second, unsure exactly what to say.
“Um,” was what she eventually went with. Another victory for her years in the social sciences.
“I get that Pinkie having a boyfriend is big news and all, but you’re acting like it makes no sense at all. Not only is that stupid, it’s definitely hurting Pinkie’s feelings.”
Twilight glanced around, noticing that everyone else was giving her looks of either annoyance or concern.
It made her realise she had been acting incredibly inappropriate. So much so, she’d probably hurt a friend's feelings. She knew the best cause of action was to accept Pinkie's new relationship and move on.
But then again, she needed answers.
“Fluttershy,” she said, turning quickly to face her quiet friend, “can I talk to you for a second?”
Fluttershy, who had remained silent the whole time, suddenly looked almost scared when all the attention shifted to her. That attention then immediately returned to Twilight, with everyone giving her an even more confused look.
“It will be quick,” she persisted, ignoring everyone's gazes.
“Ermm… sure.”
“Great.” Twilight quickly got up and headed for a little corner in the cafe, taking Fluttershy with her by the arm as she did so. She left with only a little wave goodbye and another unintentionally creepy smile to Pinkie when they passed her.
Sure, right now she looked like a complete crazy person to all her friends. But if her adventures had taught her anything, is that your friends thinking you’re crazy normally works out okay in the end.
Being alone with Fluttershy, Twilight could now dig for some much-needed information. Unfortunately, this meant very quickly deciding on how best to get said information.
The issue was that the info Twilight had set out to get didn’t involve Pinkie, it was more a cross reference kind of thing. As one way Pinkie having a boyfriend in this dimension would make sense is that sexuality doesn’t necessarily stay the same between dimensions. So, she just needed to see if other people’s sexuality stay the same.
This is where Fluttershy came in. While Twilight has had her suspicions about pretty much all of her friends, the only two that were openly out in her universe were Pinkie and, surprisingly to some, Fluttershy.
The only problem being that Twilight had no idea if she was out, or even to grips with her sexuality in this world. Meaning, if she said the wrong thing, Twilight could unintentionally cause the easily panicked girl to, well, panic.
“So,” she began, deciding to try a subtle approach, “this whole Pinkie dating someone thing, pretty wild, huh.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. She was already struggling to get her head round this situation or why she had been singled out, and the weirdness of question only made her more uneasy.
“Erm, Twilight,” she eventually found the courage to say, “are you okay?”
“Huh, why?”
“It’s just ever since you found out about PInkie you’ve been acting really... off. It’s like there’s something you’re not telling us.”
Suddenly being confronted with the bluntness of Fluttershy’s questioning, she gave up on her attempt to be subtle.
“Are you gay?”
Twilight immediately put her hand over her mouth, realising that may have been a bit too blunt. Fluttershy, who was already uncomfortable, became very red in the face, as she fell straight into panic mode.
She stammered, trying to get the oxygen for her now fast breathing. Twilight instinctively went in to try and help her but Fluttershy pushed her away, giving her enough room to make a sudden dash towards the toilets.
Twilight felt herself begin to go after her, but froze. A good couple seconds passed, as Twilight just stared at where Fluttershy had been standing, wishing she had thought that through just a little bit.
Well that could have gone better
Upon glancing around, Twilight realised that the little incident had caused some commotion in the cafe. What made it worse was when she turned to the group, she was confronted with looks of shock, meaning they had all most likely seen what had happened.
“It’s all fine.” Twilight managed to say. “She’s just a little… can you give me a minute?”
Intent on not letting this get anymore out of hand, Twilight ran in after Fluttershy.
In the toilets, she found a girl with a confused expression, staring at a cubicle. Twilight gave them an uncomfortable smile, and concluded that Fluttershy was hiding in there.
Knock-knock
Twilight waited for a reply, but only heard faint sobs. “Fluttershy, are you alright?”
She knew that probably wasn’t the best start, but it was a start. Unfortunately, she still didn’t get any reply.
Realising that she needed a smarter approach, she moved away a couple steps away from the door. And with a couple seconds of frantic thinking on Twilight's part, she came up with just that.
After checking that all the other cubicles were slightly ajar, she motioned the girl who saw Fluttershy to leave, as she had been standing there awkwardly.
Moving her head right up close to the door, she did her best to speak in a calming and friendly tone. “Come on, please Fluttershy, talk to me. We’re the only two ponies in here.”
There was a beat of silence.
“... People.”
“What?”
“Uhm, you’re the only one of us who is a pony.”
Her voice was weak, but Twilight smiled knowing she wasn’t in too bad a shape not to have a joke with. “Sorry, I forget some of the people words sometimes.”
Twilight was equally happy to hear a light giggle. “I’m not sure if ‘people words’ is the correct term.”
“I could really use a translation book then. The time I said ‘oh for Celestia’s’ sake led to some of the most confused looks I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something.”
There was another beat of silence.
“Why did you say for the sake of our Principal?”
“That’s… a really long story.” Twilight cursed herself for making the same mistake twice.
“Erm, Twilight.” Fluttershy’s voice had gone shaky, prompting Twilight’s full attention. “About what you said earlier...”
Twilight sighed. “I guess I was right then.”
“How did you know?”
“You told me.”
“But I—”
“Well, not you exactly, pony you that is,” she backtracked. “In our universe, you’re out of closet and quite open about your sexuality.”
“Really?” There was a mix between surprise and curiosity in her voice. “Is it more accepted in your world?”
“I think a little bit, Ponyville especially, but it doesn’t seem that different to here. It’s definitely less excepting in Canterlot, where I grew up, but luckily my brother had a gay friend, so I’ve always been okay with it.”
“Oh.” Twilight heard a heavy sigh from behind the door. “I can’t even imagine being open to my friends here, let alone generally.”
Twilight went to reply, but was at a loss for words. She knew Fluttershy was clearly in some sort of distress, but couldn’t think of anything she could say to help.
“Hey Fluttershy,” she finally said, “Do you want to open up now.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry.” The door slowly opened, revealing a slightly more shaky version of Fluttershy wiping the remains of tears from the side of her eyes.
Twilight gave her an encouraging smile before stepping aside to let her out fully.
“Twilight, I know it’s a bit weird to ask,” Fluttershy began timidly, “but can I have a hug?”
Twilight's smile went from encouraging to plain old happy. “Of course you can, silly.”
They move in to share a tight embrace. Twilight found enjoyment in comforting her friend, and was only made happier by the technique of comfort. While Fluttershy just desperately needed something to hold onto, and was glad that something could be Twilight.
Granted, it wasn’t nearly as nice as it could have been if they weren’t in a toilet.
“You know,” Fluttershy began as there embrace came to it’s natural conclusion, “saying ‘silly’ like that makes you sound a lot like Pinkie.”
Twilight shook her head slightly, suddenly remembering why all this started. “Oh, right. I’m sorry about this, but there was actually a big reason I asked you that, and I may also need your help.”
“Are you sure this is the best way of going about this?”
“Yes,” Twilight quickly replied, moving slightly so she was sure the bush hid her completely. “I’ve done this many times with Pinkie.”
Fluttershy peered over the bush she and Twilight were hiding behind, getting a good view of Pinkie sitting on the park bench waiting. “Erm, that’s a bit…”
“A bit what?”
“... Nothing, forget I said anything.”
Twilight was too busy to pay much attention to Fluttershy’s hesitations. “Now, we just need to wait for him to show up and then… I’ll think of something.”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Twilight hated being this unsure of what the plan actually was or should be, especially since her improv today hadn’t been too successful. But at this moment in time, it would have to do.
“Are you sure this is a good place to hide?” Fluttershy asked with a worried glance behind her. “What if someone comes from behind us?”
Twilight continued to focus on watching her friend. They were directly behind where the bench and Pinkie were facing. “Relax, we’re in a perfect place not be seen from the path.”
“But what if he comes through the entrance behind us?”
Twilight pricked up slightly. “What entrance?”
“There’s a little gap in the fence over there.” Fluttershy pointed to a spot directly behind their hiding space. “People use it as a short cut all the time if they’re coming from that direction.”
Twilight froze for a second. “We have to run.”
Keeping low, Twilight began to sprint as best she could, while still staying quiet, towards the entrance Fluttershy had pointed out to her.
Fluttershy, while initially against such a sudden change in plan, quickly followed when it became evident she would instead be spying on Pinkie by herself.
Just as Twilight was closing in on the exit, she realised she needed to start walking normally when she noticed two figures coming through it. That normal walk almost turned into a backwards sprint when she recognized the figures.
“Hi guys, what are you both up to?” Sunset asked upon seeing them.
“Nothing much.” Twilight was doing her best to seem casual despite the panting. “What about you two.”
Sunset glanced at her company, human Twilight, who developed a shy, little blush. “Just out for a walk,” Sunset replied.
“T-Twilight.” Fluttershy had managed to catch up and was panting heavily. “Please warn me before you do that next time.” She looked in front and noticed their new company. “Oh, hello.”
“Hi Fluttershy.” Sunset raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Did you two go for or run or something.”
“Something like that,” Twilight replied, regaining her breath.
“You’re not exactly dressed for running,” Human Twilight commented.
“Well, you know, I don’t really have a change of clothes here. All I have is what appeared when I came through the portal.” Twilight frowned. “Something I still don’t understand now that I think about it.”
Sunset and Human Twilight shot each other worried looks before looking back. “Are you two okay?” Sunset asked in a concerned tone.
Twilight gulped. Questioning was the last thing she needed at that point. “Yeah, why?” She immediately regretted the ‘why’.
“It’s just you were acting really off in the cafe. And after all that commotion with Fluttershy, you two just kind of left without saying another word.”
Then hid in the fast food place opposite the cafe until they saw Pinkie leave, at which point they followed her around all her errands until she headed to the park. It wasn’t the best plan by any means, and Twilight didn’t need reminding of that.
“Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but we’ve got some more errands to do around the park so—”
Twilight just casually glanced behind her, but froze as she did so, stopping to get a good look.
“He’s here!”
“Who’s here?” Sunset questioned, but it was too late.
Twilight had already made a run for it. Doing the low and ‘stealthy’ run she was using earlier. Fluttershy sighed before running after her.
Twilight dived for her previous hiding spot. She widened a gap between the bushes so she could get a good look at Pinkie and him.
And that ‘him’ looked surprisingly normal. Not exactly sure what she was expecting, but certainly not Pinkie going for someone so normal. A plain red hoody, jeans, average height, short and spiky black hair. It was like he was trying to look easy to describe.
And yet, the more she stared at him, the more familiar he looked. It was as if she’d seen him before, but just couldn’t quite place where the memory came from. Granted, it may have just been he looked so normal that she must have met at least three people who looked similar.
“Please… Twilight,” Fluttershy managed to make out between heavy breaths. “Next time… ask Rainbow to help.”
“As soon as Rainbow comes out in one of our universes I’ll be happy to,” she muttered, doing her best to not to concentrate on this ever worsening plan. “Now look, that’s him over there.”
Fluttershy turned to get a good look at him. She raised an eyebrow at the sight, one she also gave to Twilight. “Are you sure?”
“What? Why? Who else would it be?”
“It’s just they don’t look very close. Pinkie’s been going out with her boyfriend for a couple of weeks now, but she doesn’t look at all comfortable around him.”
Twilight examined the scene more closely, and quickly realised she was right. There was a notable gap between them, no physical contact—not even hand holding, and despite being mid-conversation, they weren’t facing one another.
“That certainly is weird,” Twilight concluded. “Though, this may be caused by her subconscious gayness.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Is that a thing?”
“I’m not sure. Is it?”
Fluttershy went to respond, but then thought for a second. “... maybe.”
“What are you two doing?” Sunset asked, standing above them.
“Shhh, get down, can’t you see we’re hiding?” Twilight hissed.
Sunset groaned, but complied with Twilight’s demand.
Squatting down with human Twilight and next to her two friends, she gave them an expectant look.
“Okay, yes, we’re spying on Pinkie,” Twilight admitted.
“I can see that. I want to know why you’re stalking Pinkie.”
“Spying.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Sunset stated with a glare.
Twilight gulped, realising that spying on your friend is not something that all people would approve of. To be fair, she wouldn’t normally approve of it, but this was an important matter. And, you know, she was in too deep to start questioning if it was morally wrong to spy on Pinkie.
“Is that her boyfriend?” Human Twilight asked, peering through the leaves.
“We think so,” Fluttershy replied.
“I know who he is.”
Everyone turned to face her, prompting her to an explanation.
“His name is Star Hunter. He’s my—”
“Star Hunter?” Twilight interjected
“Yes.”
“Star Hunter, my brother's friend?”
“Yes”
“My brother's gay friend?”
“Ye-wait, what?”
“Star Hunter, what are you doing!?” before anyone could react, let alone stop her, she was up and shouting.
All the frustration Twilight had gone through that day was being vented out, and directed at the suddenly concerned looking Star Hunter.
“Twilight?” Both he and Pinkie said in unison, prompting Pinkie to turn to him.
“How do you know Twilight?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you how he knows me! Or, more importantly, I can tell you how I know him. Or, even better, I can tell you what I know him as.”
Twilight shot out her arm to point at him, so aggressively it caused him to jump back slightly. “He is Star Hunter, my older brother's childhood friend, kind, generous—I remember him best because he always gave me some of the snacks he brought round, and most importantly, he is very, very, very gay!”
Star’s mouth hung open. His mind unable to fully comprehend what exactly was going on. In fact, it couldn't comprehend anything that was going on.
“And I’ll tell you exactly why that is so important. I—the small, stupid child I was, reading classical philosophy before I went to bed—needed someone there to explain to me that being gay doesn’t change anything, that it’s okay to be that way. Because Celestia knows my parents would have done the opposite.
“I needed to be sure it was okay because when I was questioning if I… I could have easily been ignorant to these things, damn it. So this isn’t you. You’re not closeted. You were the incredibly brave, enter a room just to ‘shout I’m gay’, stallion that I looked up to. It’s not right that you aren’t him here.”
Star just stared at Twilight, whose breathing was fast and chaotic, without so much making a movement. They stood like this for a good while, with everyone else exchanging glances between the two.
Eventually, Star’s mouth began to move, trying to produce some kind of sound. “Stallion?” Was what he finally said.
Twilight’s frustration fueled adrenaline was beginning to wear thin, and in its place grew the crushing realisation of exactly what she said.
Finally, at the end of what she could physically think her way out of, she slowly in knelt down and curled up into a ball. In the middle of the park. With everyone staring at her. She was done.
Star managed to regain some control of himself. He slowly looked around, scanning the whole situation he found himself in. That was when he saw the other Twilight.
She gave him an awkward wave. “Hey Star.”
“H-hey.” His voice had gone croaky. He slowly, and shakily, got up from the bench. “I’m gonna just go now,” he said, beginning to stumble back down the path.
They all watched him for a couple seconds. Eventually, the other Twilight decided it would be best to go after him to make sure he’s okay.
“... So...” Pinkie began, ending the awkward silence, “my boyfriend was gay, that’s a bit—”
“You’re gay too Pinkie,” Twilight snapped, still in her ball.
Pinkie stiffened up, her face turning a darker shade of Pink. She went to try and say something, but she stopped when a hand rested on her shoulder. Turning her head, she was greeted by Fluttershy’s calming smile.
“Hey Pinkie,” she said, “Can we talk for a bit, alone.”
Pinkie stared at her for a second, but then simply nodded. She got up and they walked off down the opposite path together, leaving Twilight and Sunset alone.
Sunset decided to sit down next to Twilight, feeling bad for her more than anything else. They didn’t say anything for a while, but eventually Sunset gave her a playful nudge. “Rough day.”
Twilight groaned. “Tell me about it.” She was exhausted, but forced herself to sit up slightly. She considered it less rude, even if she still remained in her ball state. “I’ve never had such bad plan improvisation in my life.”
“It seemed to work out okay though,” Sunset chuckled. “I think so anyway. You may have given Star some kind of mental scarring.”
“I’m sure he’ll thank me for it someday.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty wishful thinking.”
“Probably,” she admitted. “I just couldn’t believe he was closeted in this world. I mean, I’m sure he had his reasons, and I don’t blame him for it. But just seeing the one who made me confident that your sexuality shouldn’t matter like that, it just got to me.”
Sunset shuffled up to Twilight a bit more. “I get that. I also grew up in Canterlot, so I understand how the ponies that helped you feel comfortable with yourself are important to you.”
Twilight jumped out her ball slightly. “No, it’s not like that,” Twilight rebuked. “I mean, yes, I did go through a stage of questioning myself, and knowing him did help me through that, but I came to the conclusion I’m straight eventually.”
“Huh?” Sunset gave her a confused look. “I thought your actions just now were because sexuality stays the same through dimensions.”
Twilight’s face went pale. “They do.”
“Well, I have it on pretty good authority that the Twilight here is gay.” Sunset shot her an almost proud grin. “Very gay.”
“Oh… Oh Celestia.”
