Twilight faced herself in the mirror and breathed out slowly, inhaled, breathed out again. Nothing she did was a lasting remedy to the too-fast beating of her heart or the racing thoughts running through her mind. Sitting on Twilight's bed with arms crossed was Spike, a bemused expression on his face. "My tongue tastes funny," Twilight said to her reflection. This made the baby dragon lift a scaly brow.
"How can your tongue taste funny? How can it taste like anything when it's the thing that does all the tasting?"
"It just does," she said, perhaps a little too sharply. Her ears dropped. "Maybe I'm coming down with something. And if I am I certainly shouldn't be leaving the library and exposing other ponies to whatever it is I potentially have." Cheered by this conclusion, Twilight's ears perked once more. "Looks like a night in bed with some soup and a good book are my new plans for the evening."
"We don't have any soup," said Spike, hopping down to the floor to stand beside the lavender unicorn. "Which means you'd either have to go out and get some or order some to be delivered." A devilish grin tugged at the edged of his lips. "Either way..."
"I'm doomed." Once more her ears fell and Twilight looked down at her baby dragon.
"You're not sick, Twilight. You're just nervous."
"Nervous?" Her right eye twitched. "How could I be nervous? What's to be nervous about? I know what I'm doing and precisely what to expect. I've read every single book in Equestria on the subject; nothing can surprise me and it certainly can't make me nervous!"
"Clo-"
"WHERE?!" With a speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous, Twilight dove for her bed and buried herself under the covers, not even a stray strand of hair from her tail sticking out. It made Spike giggle.
"I was going to say close your eyes."
Twilight slowly peeked her head out, mane a disheveled mess. The smile she offered was sheepish. "I knew that." With a deep, calming breath in she did as instructed, but half a second later opened one eye to look at Spike. "Why am I closing my eyes?"
"It's called Visualization. You imagine the situation and all the worst possibilities, realize you'll more than likely live through them all, get over yourself and leave the library so I can finally take my nap!"
"That doesn't sound very helpful to me. In fact, I think it's rather counter-productive. If I imagine all of the horrible things that could go wrong I'll just spend all night trying to make sure they don't happen and I'll be so preoccupied that the night will already be invariably ruined!"
Spike slapped his hand to his forehead. "I'm taking a page out of Dash's book and going to find a tree to sleep in."
Twilight jumped from the bed, eyes wide. "What? No! Spike, you can't leave me now! Not in my hour of need!"
Placing his hands on Twilight's withers, he looked up at her with a tired expression. "It's just a date." Letting her go, he grabbed his pillow and his blanket and headed downstairs.
"Just a date?" Twilight barked, following him. "Just a date? It's my first date. Ever!"
"I'm not tagging along so I can hold your hoof. That'd be really weird." Out into the main part of the library, the baby dragon looked at the books scattered around on the floor, piles of them with open pages, bookmarks, notes scribbled on extra parchment beside them. "Besides, I thought you said you read all about dates and are completely prepared."
Twilight stopped, closing her eyes. "I never thought I would have to say this...but there are some things books can't teach a pony." She opened her eyes to the sight of Spike's tail disappearing though the doorway just before the door closed. "Spike!" She hurried forward and yanked open the door, only to find a tall gray stallion standing there, his black mane and short tail spiky and seemingly in a constant state of unruliness. His blue eyes widened in clear surprise upon suddenly being face to face with Twilight. "Clover!" she exclaimed, backpedaling slightly. Spike stood just a ways out and laughed behind his hands, unaffected by the quick glare Twilight threw his way. Returning her attention to the stallion, she forced as big a smile as she could muster.
"Sorry," he said, slightly confused. "Am I early?"
"Yes. I mean no. You might be? Why don't you come in?" She pulled the door open further and stepped back to let the stallion pass, but as she did so one of her book piles caught the corner of her eye. She gulped. "No, don't come in!" Now Clover took a step back and froze. Twilight tried to play it off with a coy laugh the way Rarity would have, but only succeeded in sounding half crazy. "It's just that the library is so cluttered. I hate ponies seeing it in such a mess."
Clover chuckled, relaxing his stance a bit. "I think I can handle a few books on the floor."
"We have termites."
The earth pony blinked, clearly uncertain what to say until he settled on, "Oh. Well that kind of sucks since you're living in a giant tree."
"Zecora! I am going to get Zecora to help me. With the termite thing. Do you want to take a walk?"
"Yes," he said, smiling slightly. "I would love to take a walk."
The unicorn gave a sigh of relief and joined her date outside, locking the door behind her. There were very few instances in Twilight's life where she could recall being so nervous, and to some degree they didn't really come close to this. On the day of her exam, the day she first met Spike and got her cutie mark, she'd felt so nervous that she swore nothing could ever make her feel so anxious. Had she only known back then.
"So how was your day?" asked Clover casually. They walked side by side through Ponyville, their pace slow.
"It was fine. I...did a lot of reading."
"Reading's good. Learn anything interesting?"
Twilight looked up at him, a wry smile on her face. "Nothing of much use, I'm afraid. What about you? How was your day at the cafe?"
"Busy as usual. Rarity and Sweetie Belle came by for lunch and Sweetie Belle asked if she could try waitressing. Figured it might get her a cutie mark."
Laughing, Twilight could easily picture the scenario as Clover talked about it. She loved hearing his unashamed love for the little filly in the way he spoke of her and the obvious respect he had for Rarity. She knew the stallion had been their neighbor for many years but never really realized how close he felt to them. It was almost as though he was protective of them and that alone was enough to help Twilight relax. Her laughter came easily when he said something humorous or sarcastic, which was quite often, and before long she was adding her own amused snark to the conversation.
"So we only ended up with half a dozen broken dishes or so. All in all, not bad for half an hour of waiting on tables."
Twilight laughed. "I don't know how many times those girls have to be told to try something they enjoy or that their good at."
"You know kids," said Clover. "They think you know everything when their little, question how much you actually know when they're a little older, think you know nothing when their teenagers, then come back to you for all the advice when they're grown."
"Why does it sound like you're talking from experience?" asked Twilight, quirking a brow.
Clover chuckled. "I have two nephews and a niece who are in the first three stages. But my mother has said that on more than one occasion when I ask her opinion on something."
"Are you close with your mother?"
"Not as close as I used to be. I'm kind of the baby of the family and she hovered a lot. It was part of the reason I moved here from Fillydelphia, so I could figure out who I was away from my family."
So this was what it was like, getting to know somepony in a normal way. The relationships she'd formed with her best friends were sudden and forceful in the best way possible, but they didn't form a bond by way of simple conversation and time spent getting to know one another. Sure, that came later, but it was very different. Clover was a pony she knew mostly by face for the longest time and nothing more. He was one of the two stallions to pull their carriage to the Gala that first year she'd been in Ponyville, Rarity's neighbor, the owner of her favorite place to eat. He was always polite, a little quirky and awkward at times, but always charming somehow. He often visited the library to borrow books, played hoofball with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Luna, and was known for his bad timing and lack of luck from time to time which Twilight found amusingly ironic given his three four-leaf clover cutie mark.
"Where are we going?" she asked when there was a pause in the conversation.
"In circles." He smiled down at her. "You seemed wound a little tight so I thought maybe a walk would be nice before I make you dinner."
Twilight felt her cheeks redden. "Was it that obvious?"
"Only a little." He winked and Twilight blushed deeper. "Honestly, I'm flattered that you were nervous. Better than being turned down."
She looked up at him sharply. "Why would I turn you down?"
"Because I'm the goofball, the stallion who puts his hoof in his mouth more often than not. I'm just the cafe guy."
"You are not just the cafe guy."
Ace passed them and waved enthusiastically. "Hey, cafe guy!"
Clover waved back, then looked at Twilight with a raised brow as they continued on. "You were saying?"
"Wow, good timing." She grimaced. "You've never been 'just the cafe guy' to me. I'll be honest, outside of the girls I really don't know a lot about anypony in Ponyville but I do know who everypony is. Sometimes I think ponies only know me because of all the craziness that sounds me and my friends."
"That's absolutely the only reason everypony knows who you are," Clover agreed with dry humor. It made Twilight laugh.
"Gee, thanks. So what are you making me for dinner?"
The question brought a light to Clover's eyes. "How do you feel about stuffed noodles?"
"Depends on what they're stuffed with."
"Cheese, spinach, and mushrooms."
In response, Twilight's stomach gave a loud rumble. She giggled. "I guess that's your answer."
"Then let's go."
Assuming they were eating at the cafe, Twilight merrily headed in the direction of the restaurant and stopped only when she realized Clover was no longer beside her. She turned back to see him standing in the place she'd left him, a half-smile on his face. "What's wrong?"
"My place is that way."
"Y—your place?" Suddenly all the nerves came back. She raced through everything she'd read, trying to remember proper date etiquette. One book said going back to a stallion's place on the first date was a huge no, another said it was fine if there were others present so that you weren't alone, one altogether different encouraged the alone time. Twilight had put aside her books after that, more confused than when she'd begun her research.
Correctly reading the frozen blank look on Twilight's face, Clover tilted his head. "Is that okay?"
"Yes," she managed, her squeaky voice a little to reminiscent of a nervous Fluttershy. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Yes. Of course."
"No funny business, I promise."
She laughed somewhat fanatically. "I wasn't even thinking about that!"
"Good," said Clover as they began walking together again. "I really didn't want to have to worry about you trying to take advantage of me tonight. It's been a long day and I'm in this really vulnerable place in my life right now."
Twilight blinked and looked up at him. Though his expression was very serious it was impossible to miss the amusement in his eyes. She laughed and shook her head, playfully hitting his foreleg with a hoof. "You're a piece of work."
"You don't know the half of it," he agreed.
Once again he diffused her nerves in the quickest of moments. She'd never known a pony who could get her so worked up one second and perfectly calm and giggling the next. Maybe his cutie mark stood for his luck with uptight mares, because each second that passed had Twilight warming up to him more and more. Nerves were replaced by excitement the closer they got to Clover's place. She'd had his cooking many times from the cafe but this was different. This was something just for her.
They passed Carousel Boutique and were only briefly delayed by an over-excited Rarity who simply had to stop them to say hello, then moved on the the apartments just behind the unicorn's shop. They were in good humor by the time they reached Clover's front door and when he stopped before it, he was smiling comfortably. "I have to warn you, this is the epitome of a bachelor pad."
Twilight lifted a brow. "Cider bottles everywhere, dirty dishes, unmade bed?"
But Clover made a face. "Oh my gosh, no. Hoofball trophies, ridiculously heavy weights, and posters of seductively posed mares everywhere. Oh, and mirrors above my bed. Of course."
"Of course," Twilight replied, catching on easily to his sense of humor by now. She chuckled as he opened the door and led her inside. Having never been to a stallion's home before, she didn't really know what to expect but what she saw certainly wouldn't have been it. The hardwood floor gleamed in the light, his furniture was plush and looked inviting. Book cases reached high and were filled with volumes on a vast array of subjects, and the kitchen that could be seen from the doorway was large and immaculate. "Clover," she breathed, stepping inside. "This is really nice."
"Thank you," he said proudly, closing the door behind himself. "Honestly, I'm at the cafe more than I'm home so it probably stays this clean because no one is ever here." He walked past her into the kitchen and called, "Can I get you something to drink? I have a nice bottle of raspberry mead from Honeybuzz to go with dinner."
"I'm all right for now." As he busied himself in the kitchen Twilight wandered the apartment. There were no posters or empty cider bottles to be found but there was a beautiful fireplace with a mantle above that was crowded with pictures. She paused before them, looking at the ponies she didn't know with Clover at various stages in his life. When her eyes fell upon one of him with a little filly on his back she couldn't help but smile.
"That's Juniper," Clover said behind her, quietly so as not to startle Twilight. "My niece."
"She clearly adores you."
"Yeah," he said fondly. "She and my mother are the only ponies who can still get away with calling me Lucky. I miss Juniper more than any of the rest of them. I think it's why I like having Sweetie Belle around so much." He turned from the pictures to look down at Twilight. "Dinner should be ready fairly quickly. I made everything this morning so now it just has to cook. Want a tour?"
"Yes, please."
The rest of his apartment was as clean and well put together as the downstairs, though he wouldn't let her see his bedroom for some reason. Still, Twilight didn't let herself think on it for too long. She just wanted to concentrate on the things she was learning about Clover and the things she was letting him learn about her in return. As dinner was served and the mead was poured, she could almost laugh at herself for being so nervous. No pony had ever treated her so wonderfully, yet was able to joke around with her the way he did. She laughed easy and often, that is when she was not eating more of his delicious food or drinking the mead.
"I have to tell you, Twilight Sparkle," Clover said over a dessert of chocolate mousse and berries, "I don't think I've ever known a mare that intimidated me more but also drew me in as you have."
Twilight's eyes widened slightly. "I intimidate you?"
"Of course you do. You're the prized pupil of Princess Celestia, you and your friends have saved Ponyville, probably all of Equestria how many times now?"
She gave a little shrug. "That doesn't make me any different from you or anyone else, though. I still have the same fears and worries. I still want the same things every other pony wants." She lifted her gaze to slowly look at him, her stomach fluttering as the last part of what he said finally sank in. "I...drew you in?"
"Inescapably."
Maybe it was the mead or the late hour, but Twilight felt the room grow a little warmer.
"Since that night Caramel and I pulled your carriage to the Gala I have wanted nothing more than to get to know you better. And while we haven't really been friends I have had the joy of seeing you in the cafe quite often. You always seemed to make it a bit brighter."
"Clover..." It was the sweetest thing anypony had ever said to her and she felt like she'd never stop blushing. "I always figured everyone wrote me off as the egg-head, as Dash likes to call me. Good for solving problems, bad for hanging out with."
"Intelligence scares some stallions. You laugh, but it's true." He got up to clear away the empty dessert dishes, the nodded toward the living room. "I'll start a fire." Twilight waited until he had left the kitchen before downing the rest of her mead.
The evening continued on in the comforting lull of quiet conversation. Twilight shared moments from her childhood, anecdotes about her friends and Spike, and Clover was a perfectly attentive listener. She found it easy to talk to him and loved that he was an active participant in conversation rather than letting her talk all the time or doing all the talking himself. During brief moments of silence she'd find herself lamenting not getting to know Clover sooner, and praying the night wouldn't end. For the first time in her life she could feel stirrings of something, stirrings that friendship never brought, and she wanted to hold onto it for as long as she could.
"You seem sad," Clover observed during a brief comfortable silence.
She smiled slightly. "I guess I sort of am. I've had such a good time tonight, Clover. I wish it didn't have to end."
They were lying side by side in front of the fire, their sides touching. He seemed to hesitate a moment before leaning closer to her and gently nuzzling the side of her face. "It doesn't have to."
A wave of electricity ran through her body and she shivered. Without thinking she leaned into him, her cheek pressed gently against his forehead. Her knowledge of dating was slim at best, but Twilight knew sleeping with a pony on the first date was definitely not a good idea. "I don't know..."
"Do you trust me?"
He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, and Twilight knew without a doubt. "Yes."
Getting to his hooves, Clover reached down to help her up and nodded to the stairs. When she gave him a look of reluctance he bent his head and kissed her nose. "You said you trusted me."
"I do, but..."
"No buts. Except for yours moving up the stairs."
All the alarms in her head were going off, the voices of all five of her best friends and Spike in her brain telling her what she was about to do was so very wrong. So why couldn't she stop her hooves from moving? Even as they approached Clover's closed bedroom door together she was torn between staying and running for the front door. Clover smiled at her, then pushed the bedroom door open.
"Oh, Clover!" His bed was tucked into a corner of the room, perfectly made and with no mirrors above it. But what had stolen Twilight's breath from her was the large half-moon window on the other side of the room, taken up by a telescope that rivaled hers. Below it on the floor was a blanket with several pillows and a multitude of star charts. She looked up at him, so surprised and excited she felt like crying. "You had this planned all along, didn't you?"
"I was kind of hoping you'd be able to teach me a bit more about what it is I'm looking at up in the sky at night. And I said no funny business, remember?"
Moved by a tumult of emotions, Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Clover's neck and kissed him. The moment of her first kiss could not have been better if she'd planned it, even if that was a hard thing to admit. Warmth flooded through her as Clover kissed her back and she wondered briefly if it was possible to fall in love on a first date.
"Whoa." Clover broke the kiss but didn't pull away from her embrace. "I told you I was vulnerable. You totally took advantage of me just now."
She giggled and touched her nose to his. "Just shut up and kiss me."
"Yes, ma'am."
He pressed his lips to hers once more and Twilight felt herself melt. Only when they needed to come up for air did they separate. With smiles on their faces they headed into the bedroom and got comfortable on the blanket, ready to delve into star charts and constellations.
