The Gentle Touch of Romance (Full Story)
It was a normal day for Twilight Sparkle. The sun was shining, and she was getting ready for a nice picnic with her five best friends. She was in charge of getting food for the picnic, and she decided to bring lettuce sandwiches and vanilla cupcakes. They all liked lettuce sandwiches and LOVED cupcakes. She also made sure that there was enough for all of them to have two sandwiches. And there was. So, she waited for everypony else to come to her castle so they could leave. First came Pinkie Pie, then Rainbow Dash, next came Applejack, and Rarity. Fluttershy was the last to get there, and for some reason she just seemed extra-shy that day, like she had something to get off her chest. Twilight thought about asking what was wrong, but figured that if Fluttershy wanted to tell anypony about it, she would. And so off they went to their day out.
******
The six friends had a great time at the picnic. They all loved the sandwiches and had their two. When they got to dessert, it was discovered that Twilight had actually gotten the cupcakes from Pinkie!
“These are the Cupcakes you ordered from me a couple days ago,” She exclaimed.
“Really? I had totally forgotten,” Replied Twilight.
The rest of the picnic went great, but Fluttershy was quiet. Even for her. Twilight was going to try to help her out after lunch. When Twilight looked at Fluttershy, though, she just looked away and blushed. She really seemed out of sorts that day, and it worried Twilight so much that she ended the picnic early and asked Fluttershy to come to her castle with her for a talk. Although Twilight didn’t know it, that talk was going to be important.
******
“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?”
Twilight and Fluttershy were in the former’s castle, having the talk that Twilight had wanted to have since the morning, when Fluttershy had entered looking nervous before the group’s picnic.
“N-nothing,” Fluttershy stammered in reply.
“Really? Because it sure seems that way.”
“N-no, It’s really nothing!”
Twilight held Fluttershy’s hoof and said, “You can tell me anything, Fluttershy. It’s okay.”
Fluttershy blushed a bright red, took a deep breath, and finally revealed the secret that she had been keeping all day.
“Okay. Don’t freak out, but I have a crush on you.”
Now it was Twilight that was blushing. “Really?” She asked in a whisper, “You really have a crush on me?” Fluttershy nodded.
“Oh.” Twilight sat back in her chair and sighed. What was she going to do about this? She had heard many others say that she was beautiful, but a crush? That was totally different.
“Um,” said Fluttershy, “should I leave now?”
“Yeah...sorry,” replied Twilight. She really needed some alone time right then.
******
Twilight was having some difficulties adjusting her mind to the fact that one of her friends could very soon be something more. She had been wandering around her castle distractedly, and bumped into Starlight Glimmer more than once.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Starlight asked one time.
“No, I’m not,” Twilight replied truthfully, “Fluttershy has a crush on me, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Oh. Sounds like you’ve still got a lot to learn about friendship, too?”
“Evidently,” Twilight laughed. But it was true. Despite being the Princess of Friendship, she didn’t know it all. There was still a ton to learn, and she had a feeling that this particular lesson was going to be one of the most difficult yet.
A bit later, it was almost time to wrap it up for the day. “Already?” Thought Twilight. For some reason, that day had felt really short to her. But when she looked outside, she saw the sun setting! It really was time for bed. She discovered that she also felt really tired. Before she went to bed, she made sure she ate dinner. hen she got into her bed, Twilight had fallen asleep within the first minute.
The next morning, the sun shone on Twilight’s castle, making it gleam brightly. Starlight was up and about long before Twilight. Indeed, the princess wasn’t up until almost noon. The day before had been hard for her, but today was another story. Hopefully, it was going to be a normal day for Twilight. Maybe Fluttershy was just going through some kind of weird phase, and she would be over that crush by today. Twilight was confident that she was right to think that. She was going to go to Fluttershy’s cabin today and ask about her feelings. She just wanted to be friends. If they were anything more, it would be awkward with the rest of the group, and she didn’t want anything to be awkward.
******
Later on, Twilight was sitting with Fluttershy, drinking some tea. She really hoped that Fluttershy’s feelings for her were just a temporary thing.
“Fluttershy?”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“Do you still…have a crush on me?”
Fluttershy blushed again. “Well, um, yes…”
“Oh. Um...okay…” Just then, something clicked inside Twilight. She wasn’t quite sure why, but a little piece of her heart found that she also had feelings for Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, can you keep a secret?”
“Well...yes?”
“Okay. I have a crush on you, too.”
“Oh! Uh...yay!” The two mares didn’t have much else to say, so they just stared at each other. It was just so weird that their relationship had taken another step forward. They didn’t quite feel ready yet, but at the same time they did. It was such a awkward feeling. After a little while, they looked away.
“So...should I...leave now?” Said Twilight
“Um...It’s...your choice, I guess…”
Twilight chose to leave. Both mares felt that there was something between them that there hadn’t been there before, but would stay there forever from now on.
*******
Twilight was distracted. She walked in random patterns and bumped into some foals playing. But she didn’t seem to notice. In fact, Applejack had called for her multiple times, and Twilight only responded when Applejack whistled loudly.
“Oh, hey Dashie,” Twilight said, not even checking to see who it was.
“Um, I’m Applejack,” she replied.
“Woops! Sorry. I’m just so…”
“Distracted?”
“That’s it.” The two mares laughed, but Twilight’s was more nervous than amused.
“What in Equestria is wrong, Twi?”
“It’s really not much.”
“You sure?”
“Honest as you, AJ.”
“All right then. I’ll see ya later, ‘kay?”
“‘Kay. Bye!”
Twilight continued walking home, but this time taking great care not to veer off course.
