Twilight, was, for a lack of a better word, confused.
Perplexed actually might have been even better, but her brain couldn’t exactly muster another synonym. She hadn’t quite known how to exactly take what was happening to her right now, and she almost considered ignoring it all together.
But that wouldn't have been fair to the other person in the equation, the other person on the other end of her phone, right now, currently awaiting her answer to a confession she hadn't even anticipated.
She could hear Sunset’s breathing, it had quickened a bit after a moment. She was nervous. Air intake increases during moments of stress. Fight or flight response.
“You there?” Sunset asked, her voice soft, and almost shaky.
“Yeah,” Twilight responded, still going over everything in her head. She still couldn’t exactly articulate her feelings, or at least a coherent response to the matter at hand.
She couldn’t keep Sunset indefinitely waiting in silence; anymore and she was sure Sunset would have imploded from anxiety.
But she still couldn’t exactly answer the other girl yet, and because of that, she added, “It’s a lot to take in, you know? I’ve never had someone confess to me before. I wasn’t exactly popular at Crystal Prep,” she winced, glad Sunset couldn’t see her face right now.
Twilight could almost hear her nod. “No, yeah, right. Of course,” Sunset’s voice was now cool. Collected. Leveled. Twilight could tell she was attempting to hide her emotions.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Twilight told her, fully aware of how she must have been feeling in that moment. “It’s natural for you to be perspiring after a calculated risk. I just need time to think of an appropriate response,”
There was some shuffling on the other end, and then, “Sure. And don’t think you have to say yes because we’re friends, okay? I want your answer to come from your heart. Talk to you later?”
Still cool. Still calm. Still collected. Though the tone was a little lighter now. Hopeful.
“Technically the answer wouldn’t come from my heart. It would come from the part of my brain that controls emotions,” she blinked.
“But yeah, talk to you later,” Twilight said, hanging up. She sat there, pondering what her next move should be. She stared at her phone, her contact picture for Sunset of the redhead holding up Spike staring back at her.
How long has Sunset felt this way? And why did she choose now to tell her? What exactly was love, anyway? And why did people feel it so much? Especially at her age?
Getting up, Twilight pulled her hair back into a bun and rolled up her sleeves. If science has taught her anything, it's that you could get the answers to anything through research. Pulling a piece of chalk from her drawer she drew on her chalkboard, ‘What is Love?’
She had never been in love. She was always too busy studying and experimenting to make proper conversation enough to have someone to fancy and vice versa.
She knew it was an emotion. She knew it was something you felt. Something that wasn’t tangible, but was there all the same. It was something that made people do the craziest of things, and something that bonded two people, sometimes for life.
But why?
Why do people fall in love?
She had stayed up all night searching the internet for something, anything, and couldn’t find anything concrete.
It was time for her to go out into the field.
Twilight had decided that the best way to answer her questions was to do a live case study. The next day at school she tried to interview couples, get a feeling of the emotion from the people who experienced it the most.
Twilight didn’t know of a lot of couples in school, she never really cared for the social hierarchy of high school, nor did she care to gossip. The only couples she knew were the ones she interacted with, which weren’t a whole lot.
There was Lyra and Bon Bon, who, while happy to help, couldn’t quite exactly formulate the words she was looking for.
When asked her hypothesis, Lyra promptly responded, “Baby don’t hurt me,” which earned her a jab in the side from Bon Bon.
“Sorry Twilight,” Bon Bon told her apologetically, as Lyra rubbed her side. “We don’t exactly know the answer ourselves.”
She had nodded, thanked them for their time, and walked off.
There was Vinyl and Octavia, who politely declined. Well, Octavia did at least, It looked like Vinyl couldn’t hear what was going on at all—or seemed to care, for that matter.
There was Curly Winds and Wiz Kid, who swore her to secrecy on their relationship, but did tell her that if she wanted a true and reliable answer, to talk to her friends closest to her.
Problem was, no one in her close friend circle was dating anyone.
At least, she thought they weren’t.
“What exactly did you need to speak with us about, dearie?” Rarity asked, putting her hand over Twilight’s. “You sounded absolutely dreadful over the phone,”
“Somethin’ bothering you sugarcube?” Applejack added, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Twilight had called both girls to Sugarcube Corner to question them, much like she had attempted to do with the couples she sought in school earlier that day. She was hopeful that they’d have some answers for her, because she was seriously running out of considerable candidates.
“I wanted to ask you both a series of questions for....my current project,” she coughed. Twilight couldn’t exactly tell them exactly what she was working on, even if they were two of her closest friends.
“Oh,” Rarity blinked. “Well, I’m not sure if we’re the right ones for a science project, but we’ll try to help any way we can! Isn’t that right, Applejack?”
Applejack nodded. “Yep, we’re here for ya, Twi.”
Twilight pulled her clipboard and pen from her backpack before adjusting her glasses. “So, when did you two fall in love?”
Rarity blinked for the second time that evening. “Pardon?”
“Oh, is that too much of a touchy subject?” Twilight babbled, flipping through her papers. “We could talk about the first time you kissed, or you know, we don’t have to talk about that if you don’t—”
“Twilight, darling,” Rarity called to her sternly, cautiously, causing the nerdy girl to cease her actions. “Applejack and I are not dating.”
Twilight stared at her, perplexed. “You’re not?”
“Of course not, darling!” Rarity laughed. “We’re just really good friends!”
Applejack nodded again, but there was a slight blush across her freckled cheeks. “Eeyup.”
“What would ever cause you to ask us such a thing?” the fashionista asked, eyebrows knitted slightly.
“It’s for my project. I’m trying to find out the meaning of love.” Twilight admitted sheepishly. “I had assumed you guys were dating because you’re so close.”
Rarity seemed even more confused. “We’re no closer than you and Sunset,”
The mention of the fiery haired girls name made a blush spread across Twilight’s cheeks and she could see that Rarity suddenly understood.
“Darling, did she confess to you?” Rarity asked in a low hushed whisper, so as not to embarrass the girl across from her. (Which Twilight greatly appreciated.)
“How’d you know?” Twilight whispered back, genuinely curious as to how Rarity could infer that from a simple bodily function.
“Darling, it’s written all over your face. The moment I mentioned her name you became as flushed as a tomato!” Rarity tittered behind a hand as Twilight puffed out her cheeks.
“As much as Applejack and I would like to help you, we don’t have the answers you’re looking for. You’d have to look inside yourself for the answer to your hypothesis.”
Distraught, Twilight gathered her things and stood up from the table. “I understand. Thanks anyway for the help guys,” she said, about to walk out the door.
Rarity caught her hand before she did. “Trust your heart, Twilight.” she told her before letting her go.
Twilight arrived back home defeated, her question still unanswered. All her attempts so far had failed her, and she was beginning to give up hope.
She didn’t want to keep Sunset waiting; the poor girl was probably freaking out right now. She hadn’t seen her in the hallways or at lunch, so she assumed that Sunset stayed home that day.
Was it because of her?
Twilight didn’t exactly want to think about that. She rolled over on her bed to stare at her trash bin full of crumpled up papers.
Would she just have to give up? But what about Sunset? She was expecting an answer. Even if Sunset was willing to let it go, Twilight wasn’t. Things between them would be weird, intentionally or not, until the elephant in the room was addressed.
There was a knock on the door, and too tired to put up resistance she said, “Come in!”
Twilight felt the edge of her bed dip with the added weight of who she looked up to see was her sister in law, Cadence. “Cadence? Why are you in here?”
Cadence laughed. “Why? You missed dinner. It was an hour ago. Mom told me to come up and check on you. I figured you were probably still nose deep in some book or experiment,” She nodded towards the crumpled papers not only in the trash bin by Twilight’s desk, but all over the floor. “So, what’s the hypothesis for this week?” she asked, turning towards the chalkboard by the window.
Twilight buried her head in her hands. She should have known better than to leave that up there, especially with how embarassing of an experiment this was.
“Oh,” Cadence said, trying to hide an obvious giggle. “So this is what you’ve couped yourself up with the past two days.” seeing how mortified Twilight was, she put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Twilight, it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just teasing,”
“I-I was trying to find out the meaning of love because someone close to me confessed to me, and...I wanted to know for sure how I felt about them before I gave them a definite answer.” Twilight blurted, her words muffled by her hands.
“I see,” Cadence responded, clearly not exactly up to speed. “I admire your work ethic Twilight, but love isn’t exactly a physics equation,” she pried Twilight’s hands from her face and forced the younger girl’s eyes to meet hers. “It’s so much more complicated than that.”
“How exactly? I’ve solved equations that even the highest qualified teachers at Crystal Prep couldn’t. Why can’t I figure this out?” Twilight asked exasperatedly.
“Because you’re still thinking with here,” Cadence said poking Twilight square in the forehead, her hand then moved to Twilight’s chest. “Instead of here.”
“You want me to think with my breasts? That’s highly illogical,” Twilight told her, eyebrows furrowed.
Cadence rolled her eyes. “No, Twilight. I meant your heart.”
“My heart?” Twilight frowned. “Rarity told me almost the exact same thing. The human heart has no conscience nor does it have the cognitive ability to think, let alone guide a person. Metaphors are not adequate at the moment, I need actual advice.”
Cadence laughed, ruffling Twilight’s hair. “It may be a metaphor, but your heart is connected to your brain, isn’t it?”
Twilight nodded.
“There’s different kinds of love, Twilight. The love I have for you, Mom and Dad, is different from the love that I have for Shining,” she said, smiling. “And I’m sure the love you have for your friends and for us is different from the person you’re in love with.”
Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wha—I’m not in love with anyone! They confessed to me! That’s the reason why I’m doing this experiment in the first place! I have no idea how I feel about them!”
“Do you?” Cadence asked. “Close your eyes and think about that person in your mind. Think about how they make you feel every time you see their face, or when they laugh, or smile. How does your body react to that?”
Twilight closed her eyes, forcing herself to envision Sunset’s face. She thought about her smile, the way it reached all the way to her dimples; her laugh, the way it was loud and contagious. And then she thought about the moment Sunset had saved her from the brink, the moment their hands touched, and how through friendship and kindness, she had guided her to where she was now.
She thought of Sunset’s tall frame, and how her gold and red hair fell over her shoulders. She thought of her amazing math skills, her musical ability, and the way her singing voice, or, just her voice in general, sometimes sent shivers down Twilight’s spine.
When Twilight opened her eyes, there was a light blush on her face, and her heart was beating just a little bit faster. She looked to Cadence, who’s smirk was motherly and knowing. “My heart solved the equation.”
Cadence giggled. “Did it now?” she looked over to Twilight’s bedside table and picked up her phone, handing it to her. “Guess it’s time to let them know the answer then.” She stood up, kissed the top of Twilight’s head, and walked out the room with a wink.
As soon as Twilight was sure she was gone, she hurriedly unlocked her phone to find Sunset’s contact. As the phone rung, her heart thumped in her chest.
Love wasn’t just dopamine and serotonin, love was taking a calculated risk to receive the desired end result. It was so much more than an emotion, it was something you gave to people. People you cared about.
And Twilight cared about Sunset.
“Hello?”
“Sunset!” Twilight shouted, then coughed to lower her volume. “I’ve done some experimenting,” she started, twirling her hair nervously. “And through rigorous contemplation, field study, and input from an outside source, I’ve come to my conclusion.”
Sunset seemed a little confused. “What’s your conclusion?”
“Yes.” Twilight answered breathlessly. “Yes, I would love to go out with you.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Sunset spoke again. “Twilight are you sure—”
“I’m sure,” Twilight cut her off sternly. “I’ve spent the past two days trying to contemplate love, to figure out what it is.”
Sunset laughed. “You would. So what is it then?”
Twilight smiled. “It’s what I feel when I see you.”
Author's Note
This fic is very close to my heart. It's based on two people very close to me and the love they share. I admire them so much and wish them so much luck in the future of their relationship.
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