Moondancer stood outside of Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle in Ponyville. Her hoof froze an inch away from knocking on the door. In her bag was a box of chocolates and a wrapped gift. In her hoof was a bouquet of roses. She grumbled to herself, realizing only now at the last minute that she looked like a walking Hearts and Hooves Day cliche.

"Stupid," she chastised herself. It had taken all of her courage to get her here from Canterlot, only to fail at the finish line. She lowered her hoof and was about to turn to leave. The door opened.

"Moondancer?" Spike asked, surprised to see somepony just outside the door as he opened it.

"AH! Oh! Uh, Hi. Spike," Moondancer greeted nervously. Spike looked at the flowers in her hoof. It was Hearts and Hooves Day. He didn't need to be a detective to arrive at the reason for her visit.

"Are those for me?" he asked with a cautious amount of sarcasm.

"Uh, no. Sorry. Actually, um, is um, uh-" Moondancer stuttered.

"I'll go get Twilight," Spike said.

"No wait, I uh- Spike!" But it was too late. He had already gone to get Twilight. Moondancer thought about just running before it was too late.

"Moondancer? Moondancer, is that you!?" Twilight Sparkle said from inside. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you!" She grinned as trotted down from the stairs. She ran over to greet her at the door. "I'm sorry I haven't been back to visit you in Canterlot, I've just been-"

"Busy. I know," Moondancer said. "You're a princess. I get it. You're busy. You're a princess, and I'm just a-"

"Moondancer, what are these?" Twilight asked, looking at the bouquet of roses in her hoof.

"Uh, these? Um, these are Rosa-Gallica, a member of the Rosaceae flower genus. They're commonly found-"

"Are these for me?" Twilight asked with a hopeful inflection in her voice, and a twinkle in her eye.

"Uh, they uhm, um, if... you want," Moondancer said. Twilight took the bouquet of roses and smelled them.

"These smell wonderful! Thank you so much!" Twilight said, giddy as a school filly.

"You're welcome."

"Oh, look at me!" Twilight scoffed, "Keeping you on my doorstep like this! Please come in, I was just making tea."

"...Okay." Moondancer walked inside. It was her first time in Ponyville since she'd heard about the castle appearing. It was impossible to miss when she arrived at the Ponyville train station. It towered over everything around it. Its crystalline structure sat in stark contrast to the simple wooden structures of the rest of the town. And as she sat at the coffee table in the brunch foyer, it seemed to be even larger on the inside. Twilight trotted in, levitating the tea kettle and a couple of cups with saucers.

"Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!" Twilight said, acknowledging the holiday while taking a seat at the table.

"Hehe," Moondancer chuckled, shuffling her hooves beneath the table. "Oh, I um, I brought you these too." Moondancer opened her bag and put the chocolates on the table for Twilight and gave her the wrapped gift.

"Chocolates! And a gift!" It was Twilight's turn to get giddy. She opened the present. "Ooh a book!" She flipped it over to look at the cover. "Oh, Moondancer..." she breathed. Moondancer turned beet-red and she hid her face with her hooves. "The Pony Sutra!?"

"I'm sorry! It's stupid, I know! I don't know what I was thinking!" she apologized.

"No! It's not that. I just..." Twilight paused. "I just didn't realized that you felt this way about me." Twilight's hoof pulled Moondancer's away from her face and looked her in the eyes. "Thank you."

"Really?" she asked. Twilight nodded. She opened the book and flipped through a few of the pages.

"It's certainly the most... interesting book I've ever received," Twilight said, blushing herself. "I was never brave enough to buy a copy, myself," she admitted. "But I was always curious..." Twilight smiled. "Thank you."

"You're- you're welcome," Moondancer said.

"I'm- I'm glad to see you today," Twilight said, still holding Moondancer's hoof. "I've been thinking about- well, hoping that somepony would consider choosing me as their special somepony this year." Twilight leaned over closer to her, pursing her lips slightly. Moondancer closed her eyes and leaned toward Twilight-

"Twilight! I've decided that this Hearts and Hooves Day is the day!" Starlight Glimmer said, from upstairs. Twilight and Moondancer stopped immediately, snapping back to a neutral seating like foals caught being naughty. Starlight trotted down to the lower level of the foyer, over to Twilight. She got down on one knee and revealed a small jewelry box, preparing to open it. "Twilight Sparkle, would you make me the happiest mare in the world? Would you-" Starlight trailed off, looking at the flowers and chocolates on the table. "What's all this!?"

"Hearts and Hooves Day gifts," Twilight said.

"Oh my gosh!" Moondancer cried suddenly, hiding her face in embarrassed shame, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were already spoken for!"

"Actually, neither did I," Twilight said indignantly, giving Starlight a strange look.

"What!? Are you kidding me!?" Starlight scoffed. "I've been living with you for over a year! All those things I've done for you. The hoof massages. We've bathed together for pony's sake!"

"Yeah, but all this time I thought you were just my friend and student. My roommate at most!" Twilight said. "Besides, I thought that you were, you know, 'best friends' with Trixie!" Twilight said with a wink making air quotes.

"That doesn't automatically mean that we're lesbians with each other!" Starlight said.

"Oh PUH-lease!" Twilight laughed. "Lyra and Bonbon are 'best friends' and they're HUGE lesbians!"

"Hey Bonbon,"

"Yeah Lyra?"

"What do you want to do for Hearts and Hooves Day this year?"

"I dunno. Lesbian stuff, I guess."

*sigh* "Alright. I'll get the strap-on"

"And besides," Starlight continued, "I've been taking the route of subtlety. I've been playing the long-game. I've put in my time being your friend first, and then being friends with Trixie to try to make you jealous," Starlight said, and then pointed at Moondancer, "And then she just decides to show up one day with flowers and chocolates and expects a relationship!?"

"Hey!" Moondancer yelled.

"Alright, just CALM DOWN! Both of you!" Twilight yelled louder. She rubbed her temples with her hooves. "Look, I didn't expect this today, just give me a second here. For starters, Moondancer didn't just 'show up'! She was- she is one of the first friends I ever made. We have a lot of history. And you are a good friend of mine too now, Starlight. Maybe you should have been less subtle, or maybe I should have been paying more attention to your hints. But jumping straight to a marriage proposal is incredibly abrupt!"

"What about those times we practiced kissing?" Starlight said.

"It was practice!" Twilight defended.

Twilight," Moondancer gave her a dubious look.

"What? I really thought it was!"

"Twilight..." Moondancer raised her eyebrow, "Even I'm not that naive."

"Give me a break!" Twilight said "I just didn't think I would have two mares propositioning me on the same Hearts and Hooves Day."

On the far side of the room, the enchanted mirror glowed to life. The reflective surface rippled and shined as a yellow unicorn, with a red-striped mane stepped through. From standing her hind legs, Sunset Shimmer fell forward, spilling flowers and chocolates onto the floor. She blushed and became acutely aware that her clothes from the other world did not accompany her return, returning her to her natural pony state. After struggling for a moment to remember how, her horn glowed and she levitated the gifts, bringing them over to Twilight.

"Twilight! I decided to come back to Equestria after all this time, on Hearts and Hooves Day, because there's something I need to tell you!" Sunset Shimmer said.

"Oh no," Twilight muttered.

"I'm- I'm in love with you Twilight," Sunset confessed. "And I have been for a long time."

"But what about the other Twilight?" Twilight asked.

"She's not you. I could never really love somepony that wasn't, well, a pony," Sunset looked at the other two mares in the room, the other chocolates and flowers and engagement ring. "Am I... am I too late?"

"Yes!" Starlight and Moondancer said together.

"No!" Twilight said louder. "I mean, I don't know! I..." Twilight shuffled her hooves for a moment in confusion. She let out a defeated sigh, on the verge of tears.

"Twilight?" Sunset asked, moving closer to comfort her best friend. "Twilight are you okay?" Twilight just stared at the floor in silence. "Twilight, say something. Say anything."

"Why don't you have a seat?" Twilight suggested. "I'll go make some more tea for everypony. We have a lot to talk about" Twilight turned and walked upstairs to the second floor. She had three mares now! This was madness. But at least it couldn't get any worse.

♫ In your eyes
♫ The light the heat
♫ In your eyes
♫ I am complete
♫ In your eyes

"What the hell!?" Twilight said. She could hear music blaring outside. She trotted over to the door leading out to the second floor balcony. As she got closer, she could hear the music getting louder and louder until she stepped outside.

♫ In your eyes
♫ I see the light and the heat
♫ In your eyes
♫ Oh, I want to be that complete
♫ I want to touch the light
♫ The heat I see in your eyes

.

.

.

"Fine," Twilight huffed, "Come on in."

.

Author's Note

Image courtesy of Egophiliac