Romantic Meetings

Chapters

The news
The return
The assignment
The party
The advice
The confession
The slip-up
The talk
The reconnection
The solution

The news

It had now been two and a half years since I left Ponyville, the first town in Equestria I had been to. I had been all around, seeing sights and new, interesting creatures. After all, I could only stay in one place for so long, no matter how joyous. And trust me, Ponyville was by far the most joyous town I’ve seen here.

This was my fourth year here in Equestria, after being pulled here by...interesting circumstances. Upon my arrival, I attracted much attention, as a two-legged creature such as myself was all but unknown at the time. I still remember how friendly the creature that found me was. She was a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, and despite scaring me out of my mind the first time I saw her, she would go on to become my best friend. It took me a while to become used to the fact that the primary species in Equestria were ponies, but I became used to it after seeing how similar the ponies of Equestria were to the humans of Earth. After the fact, Twilight introduced me to her friends, and although they were a bit hesitant and suspicious at first, they eventually came to accept me as one of their friends.

Ever since, I hadn’t thought much of my old home. Twilight offered to help me return, but I told her that there was nothing for me to return to. After all, my parents were dead, I had no friends, and I always felt so unwelcome no matter where I went. It was the exact opposite of Equestria, so I decided to take permanent residence here in Equestria, and that had ended up being the smartest decision of my life.

However, after I had been here for two years, I decided to do a little exploring. My friends were all shocked by my decision to leave; Twilight was obviously not okay with me leaving, despite what she kept telling me. Regardless, I made a promise to return. Leaving in the first place, however, was probably the dumbest decision of my life.

I don’t know why I thought I’d be as happy anywhere else as I was in Ponyville. Sure, some of the other cities such as Manehattan or Canterlot were sights to behold, but they couldn’t compare to the friendly, quaint mood of Ponyville.

I was currently in Baltimare, writing a letter to my friends. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure they would remember me, but I was writing to them to let them know that after my two and a half years of absence, I was returning to Ponyville...to stay.

After finishing my letter, I left my motel room and went down to the lobby. There, I paid the concierge a few extra bits for his service, and made my way out the door. I dropped my letter off at the post office and headed toward the train station, where the ticket master, a colt with a grey coat and a monocle, greeted me with a warm smile. I returned it and said, “One way ticket to Ponyville, please.”

“No problem, sir. However, there are going to be several quick layovers on your way, so the trip might take around four to five hours,” replied the ticket master.

“That’s no problem. As long as I get there right?”

The ticket master chuckled at my comment. It’s amazingly rare to see a pony like this in a good mood. They’re usually just grouchy and waiting to get off work.

I took my ticket and boarded the train. I took a seat and pulled out my favorite book as a child: The Trumpet of the Swan. It still fascinates me that such a similar book to one written on Earth exists here. As the train began to leave the station, I couldn’t help but smile harder than I was before.

In a few short hours, I was going to be with my friends again.

I just hope they still remember me after all these years.

Starlight Glimmer didn’t deserve to be where she was. She deserved to be in a dungeon in Canterlot. Or maybe even Tartarus. Not too long ago, she had tried to end the friendships of Princess Twilight Sparkle by traveling back in time and stopping the Sonic Rainboom, which would keep the Elements of Harmony from earning their Cutie Marks. Unfortunately, that created many alternate timelines where Equestria was either on the brink of destruction or under the rule of some evil being. Luckily, Twilight had managed to talk her down by offering her a second chance to start over rather than punishing her, which she had believed she deserved.

Regardless, she was currently in the kitchen of the Castle of Friendship, chatting with Spike about how Twilight hatched him from an egg. Ironically, this was also how Twilight earned her Cutie Mark.

“After that, I was pretty much part of the family. I’ve been with Twilight ever since,” Spike concluded.

“And to think I tried to stop that,” Starlight said with a sad sigh.

Spike rolled his eyes before responding. “For the millionth time, Starlight, all’s forgiven. You just gotta forget about all that.”

“I know, but it’s hard to move on when you know you’re responsible for destroying Equestria a number of times. But still, you’re right,” Starlight admitted.

Before Spike could respond to that, there was a loud shriek throughout the castle. Spike and Starlight ran out of the kitchen and into the library to find Twilight holding a letter in her magic and bouncing up and down excitedly.

“What is it? What’s happened?” asked Spike.

“We got a letter!” Twilight said, the excitement clear in her voice.

Starlight and Spike both let out groans. “Don’t do that! We thought there was something wrong,” said Starlight.

Spike walked up to Twilight and pulled the letter out of her magical grasp. “What’s the big deal? We get letters all the time.”

“But this isn’t just any letter, it’s a letter from Jake!” Twilight responded.

Spike’s face lit up with excitement. He began hopping in a fashion similar to Twilight. “Really?! What’s it say, what’s it say?!”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t read it. I’ll be right back. I’m gonna get the others. Do not read it until we get back!” Twilight said before teleporting out of the castle.

Starlight walked up to Spike with a confused look on her face. “That was...interesting. Quick question: what was that all about?”

Spike stop bouncing and faced Starlight. “That’s right, you weren’t here when Jake left.”

“Who’s Jake?”

“Jake is the only human to ever enter Equestria. We all got along great, until he left a few years back.”

“Human?”

“Imagine me, but taller, tan colored, hair, and always wearing clothes. Also, no tail.”

“Oh, but if you all got along so well, why did he leave?”

“He said he wanted to see more of the world he was living in. Now that I think of it, he doesn’t even know about the castle. He left about a week before the whole Tirek incident, so he’s used to Twilight and me living in Golden Oaks Library.”

“Twilight seemed really excited.”

“Makes sense. She always had...a bit of a...soft spot for the guy, if you know what I mean.”

“You mean like...a crush?”

Before Spike could answer, Twilight and the rest of their friends ran into the castle. Spike slowly and subtly nodded, and Starlight’s eyes became wide as plates.

“You didn’t read it yet, did you Spike?” accused Rainbow Dash.

“Of course not,” Spike responded.

“Good. Cause we all miss Jake as much as you two,” said Applejack.

“I can’t believe we’re hearing from him. It’s been so long,” said Rarity.

“I wonder if he knows about the castle,” said Fluttershy.

“Either way, I’m throwing him a party when he gets back,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Hold on, Pinkie. We still haven’t even read the letter yet. We don’t know if he’s coming back,” said Twilight.

“What makes you think he’s coming back anyhow?” asked Spike.

Pinkie put on a knowing smirk. “Oooooh, just a hunch.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Read it already!” said Rainbow.

“Alright alright,” said Twilight. With that, she levitated the letter in front of her and began reading. “Dear all my friends in Ponyville, I’m not a hundred percent sure if you remember me, but I still felt the need to write this letter. As you all know, I left Ponyville to see more of Equestria two and a half years ago. This was easily the dumbest decision I’ve ever made. Not that Equestria has been bad, just not quite as exciting as I expected. Ponyville has been by far the most friendly town I’ve been to, and no other town has brought me nearly as much joy. For this reason.” Twilight paused as her eyes grew even wider with excitement. “I will be returning to Ponyville to stay!”

Everyone in the room, save for Starlight, cheered and shouted at what they just heard.

“Hold on, there’s more,” said Twilight.

Everyone settled down for Twilight to finish the letter.

Twilight cleared her throat and continued. “By the time you receive this letter, I will be on my way back from Baltimare, so don’t bother writing back. I look forward to seeing you all again in a few hours. One more thing, tell Pinkie that despite how much I love her parties and knowing that some sort of return party is inevitable, I don’t want anything too big. A small party with all of our friends is fine. Signed, Jake Taylor.”

Twilight felt like she was going to explode with excitement when she finished.

“That’s great. It’s been way too long since we last saw him. I wonder if he’s changed much,” said Rarity.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get started on planning a party,” said Pinkie.

Before Pinkie could dash out of the room, Twilight grabbed her by the tail with her magic. “He just said he didn’t want anything too big.”

“I know, and I don’t plan on doing anything too big. Just a smallish housewarming party with the nine of us. And I’m still totally going all out with the decorations and food,” Pinkie responded.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. “Okay, but nothing that might scare him off. We don’t want him leaving again.”

“Oh please, I don’t think he’ll leave again just because of an overwhelming party,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, the letter said he was coming back to stay. And we all know for a fact that Jake isn’t one to go back on his word,” added Applejack.

Twilight sighed. “I guess you’re right. But I’m still going with you to plan this ‘party’, Pinkie.”

“Be my guest.”

With that, Twilight and Pinkie exited the castle.

Starlight looked back at everyone else.

“So...”

“Yeah, Jake’s one of our closest friends. Sorry if we overreacted a bit there,” said Rarity.

“Oh no, it’s fine. I’m just a little...in the dark here,” Starlight responded.

“Right, we didn’t know you at the time. Anyhow, Jake’s a-“ Rainbow was cut off by Spike.

“She already knows he’s human, and I tried explaining what a human is to the best of my ability,” said Spike.

Everyone looked back at Starlight. She nodded before asking, “Did Twilight really have...a crush...on Jake?”

Everyone looked to Spike, some with glares.

“You told her about that?” asked Rarity.

“Y-Yeah,” Spike answered sheepishly.

“So it’s true?” asked Starlight.

“Yes, darling, it is,” sighed Rarity.

“But the only reason we know is because of old Gossip Queen here,” joked Rainbow, nudging Rarity.

Starlight looked at Rarity expectantly, who confessed “I forgot about my romantic expertise when I told them.”

“Twilight was surprisingly subtle about it though. That’s why we didn’t notice until Rarity let it slip,” said Applejack.

“Did Jake ever find out Twilight had a crush on him?”

“Nope. None of us were gonna tell him, and like we said, Twilight was surprisingly subtle about it. He never noticed before he left,” explained Applejack.

“Does Twilight know you know?”

“Not that we know of,” said Fluttershy.

“Wait, I’m confused,” said Rainbow.

“So am I,” said Spike.

Fluttershy chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna love him.”

“I hope so,” said Starlight.

Little did any of them know how literal that sentence would end up becoming.

Author's Note

I will leave a blog post telling why I am doing this story

The return

I looked out the window of the train I was sitting in. Although I couldn’t see Ponyville quite yet, Canterlot was in clear view, which had to mean I was nearing my destination.

I found myself thumping my foot in excitement. I looked at the stallion sitting near me, who was giving me a confused yet playful look. I blushed in embarrassment and looked away.

“Excited for something I see. Anypony in particular you’re waiting to see?” the stallion asked.

“Yeah, seven actually. My old friends from Ponyville. You?” I responded.

“No one in particular. Just heading to Canterlot on business,” the stallion explained.

We chatted for a minute about Canterlot until I saw Ponyville coming into view. I squinted as I saw what looked like a giant crystal sticking up from the ground.

“Next stop: Ponyville,” said the conductor.

“Well, that’s me,” I said as I stood up with my pack. I extended my hand to the stallion. “It was nice talking to you. I’m Jake, Jake Taylor.”

“Oh, I know who you are. After all, you are the only known human in Equestria. I’m Spec, short for Spectacle,” the stallion responded, extending out his hoof. I shook his hoof because ponies can’t really ‘shake’ hands.

With that, I began to make my way off the train. On my way out, I looked out the window at the station, and sure enough, all seven of my friends were outside, waiting for me. Twilight was even eagerly hopping in place.

I guess that means it’s safe to say they remember me.

Among them, I also saw another unicorn I had never seen before. She had a lilac coat, purple...no persian blue eyes, and a purple mane with a light blue streak that ran through it that was brushed from one side of her head to the other and ended in a curl.

Wonder who she could be?

But I would have to wonder about that later, as I was nearing the exit. Before I walked out, I took a deep breath and braced myself for the greetings I was about to receive.

Sure enough, not two seconds after stepping foot on the ground, I was tackled to the ground in a hug by a familiar lavender alicorn. Ponies were shorter than me, since I stood on two legs, but they still stood right above waist-level with me when standing on all fours, and up to my chest when standing on their hind legs. Luckily, I was able to get my arms out quick enough to be able to hug her back, and there was nothing too fragile in my pack, so I didn’t have to worry about anything being broken.

“I missed you so so much. Don’t you leave ever, ever, ever, EVER again!” Twilight said, tightening the hug with each “ever”.

“Don’t worry, Twi, I’m here to stay. I promise,” I said, running a hand up and down her straight mane, which she always used to enjoy whenever we hung out.

After a few more seconds of lying there, I took notice of her friends, specifically Rainbow Dash, who was trying her best not to lose it.

“Um, Twilight, you know how much I love our hugs, but...can I get up now?” I asked, giggling.

Twilight blushed and released me and stood up for me to get up. “S-Sorry,” she stuttered. She looked just as cute when she was embarrassed as I remembered.

“It’s fine, I know you all missed me. I wasn’t even sure if you would remember me,” I admitted.

“What?! How could we forget you?” asked Applejack, walking up to us, shock clear in her voice.

“Yeah, you’re literally the coolest ‘person’ we know!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

I chuckled at Rainbow’s comment and walked up to the rest of my friends.

First was Spike, who jumped up to waist-level, and we fist bumped. “Great to have you back,” he said.

“Hey, you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I joked.

Next was Rainbow Dash. She flew up to me and we hoof/fist bumped as well. “How’s the fastest flyer in Equestria doing?”

“Better than ever,” Rainbow responded.

Then I walked up to Fluttershy, who I wrapped an arm around and gave a quick hug. She blushed and looked even cuter than I remembered.

Rarity was next. I lowered my hand down to meet her head. She looked horrified as my hand neared her beautiful mane. But right before I made contact, I balled my hand into a fist and rubbed her cheek, making her blush and giggle.

“Don’t worry, Rares, I know never to touch your mane,” I teased.

Next to approach me was Applejack. We fist/hoof bumped like Rainbow and I did.

“Hey, AJ, how’s the family?” I asked.

“Great! Applebloom an’ her friends even got their Cutie Marks!” Applejack exclaimed.

“That’s great! Now you don’t have to put up with them trying all sorts of crazy things to earn them,” I joked. Applejack rolled her eyes at my comment.

“Let’s see, that just leaves one,” I said. And of course, Pinkie Pie jumped up to my chest and wrapped her legs around me, dangling off and burying her face in my chest.

I stroked her mane a few times as she stayed there.

“Okay, Pinkie, I missed you too. You can hop down now.”

She remained there.

“Really, you can let go. I’m not going anywhere.”

She still didn’t budge.

I sighed and rolled my eyes before poking her in her sides with one finger each side. I made sure to be firm, but gentle.

She let out a squeak/squeal and let go.

She looked up at me with those big, blue eyes and said, “Jake, you silly billy, you always get me with that!”

I couldn’t resist laughing at that cute face of hers.

Twilight walked past me and up to the unicorn I saw while getting off the train.

“Jake, this is Starlight Glimmer, my personal student,” Twilight said.

“Heh heh, nice to uh...m-meet you,” the unicorn said sheepishly. She waved a hoof and wore a sheepish smile. I could tell she was nervous. Either way, I’m not gonna lie, she looked kinda cute.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m sure Twilight’s told you all about me,” I responded.

“Um, no actually, not before we got your letter,” Starlight said, turning her head to face Twilight.

I looked at Twilight as well with a mock expression. “Reeeally?”

Twilight chuckled nervously, showing signs of her old adorkable self. “It’s not that I forgot about you...just that...um I was gonna get to it, but-“

“It’s fine,” I chuckled. “So, I’m assuming Pinkie planned at least something?”

“Yeah, we couldn’t stop her,” said Rainbow.

“Don’t worry. I watched her plan the whole thing. It’s nothing too big, just like you wanted,” said Twilight.

“That’s good. Although, is it alright if we do it tomorrow? I’m kind of tired from the long train ride,” I said.

Pinkie’s mane looked like it was about to deflate, but she stopped herself at the last second. “That’s even better! That way we have the whole day!”

I sighed at the party pony before yawning. “I wouldn’t suppose my old house is still in one piece.”

Twilight bit her lip and wore a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s just that...it was kind of destroyed in an attack that took place right after you left, along with Golden Oaks Library,” Twilight admitted.

My eyes went wide hearing that. “That’s terrible! Where do you and Spike live now?”

“Oh, we live in that castle over there,” Twilight responded, pointing to the giant crystal I saw earlier. Looking closer, I was able to tell that it was indeed a castle.

“Huh, I saw that on the way here, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Is it really yours?” I said.

“Yep! You’re welcome to stay with us until a new home for you is built,” Twilight offered.

I turned back to Twilight with a shocked expression. “What?! No way, I couldn’t possibly ask for that.”

“Oh come on, swallow your pride,” Spike said.

I wanted to protest further, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince Twilight otherwise, so I accepted.

Twilight jumped up and clapped her hooves in excitement.

“Only until I build a new home,” I reminded.

“R-Right, of course,” Twilight said, a blush clear on her face.

With that, the others said their goodbyes and made their way home, leaving Twilight, Spike, and Starlight, and me.

“I’m assuming you live in the castle as well, being the student of the princess?” I asked Starlight.

Starlight answered sheepishly, “Oh, uh, yeah, I do.”

With that, the four of us made our way to the castle, Spike walking at my side, Twilight a little ahead of us, and Starlight trailing behind.

Once we arrived, I marveled at the inside. It was pure crystal, save for a carpet on the floor. And it wasn’t like that bright silver crystal you’d see in the Crystal Empire; this was dark blue and purple crystal, and it looked amazing!

“I think I’m gonna turn in for the night. Starlight, can you show Jake where the spare bedrooms are?” Twilight asked.

Starlight blushed nervously before she answered, “Um, sure.”

“Thank you, I’ll see you guys in the morning,” Twilight said, before taking her leave to what I assume was her room.

“I’m gonna hit the hay too. Night guys!” Spike said as he gave me another fist bump before walking away, leaving Starlight and me by ourselves.

I looked down at her and gave her a friendly smile. Her blush nullified, and her nervous look from before turned into one of relief.

“Um, follow me, and I’ll show you where the other bedrooms are,” Starlight said, making her way down the corridor. I followed her in silence as she looked around, murmuring to herself about directions.

“Everything okay?” I asked, getting her attention.

She looked at me, clearly embarrassed, and responded, “Yeah, I just get lost in here a lot.”

“How do you get lost in the same castle you live in?”

“It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and I haven’t been here that long.” She sighed and looked to the floor with a frown. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna find my way around here.”

Her sad face pulled on my heartstrings a bit, and I gave a sympathetic smile, resting my hand on her mane as well. “It’s alright. Just take your time and try to remember. I’m sure you can do it.”

She seemed to calm down and took a deep breath. She looked around a bit more before pointing to a door before saying, “Here,” in a determined tone.

I opened the door to another corridor with a bunch of doors on either wall. Starlight seemed excited as she pumped her hoof in the air, shouting, “Yes!”

I smiled at her again and told her, “I told you that you could do it. All you needed to do was concentrate.”

She gave a friendly smile. “Thanks Jake, you seem great.”

“I’m sure we’ll get to know each other in due time. After all, I am here to stay.”

Starlight walked up to one of the doors. “This is my room. I don’t think Twilight would mind whichever one you took.”

“Alright. I think I’ll take this one,” I said, pointing to the door right next to hers.

“See you tomorrow, Starlight,” I said, closing the door. Right before I closed it all the way, I saw Starlight smiling to herself a little. I chuckled a bit as I thought about how nice she could be once she opens up.

I turned to the room I was standing in and noticed a bed and a window. I put my pack down, took off my shoes, placed them next to the bed, took off my jacket, lay down on the bed, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

I honestly can’t believe this story did as well as it did, especially compared to my previous stories. And to think some people *cough my proofreader cough* suggested that I put this on hold (just kidding, man, I totally appreciate the input). Expect the next chapter by Wednesday

The assignment

Starlight poked her head into the Map Room, where Twilight was waiting for her. “Spike said you wanted to see me?”

Twilight looked up from the parchment she was holding in her magic and faced her. “Yes. Come in.”

Starlight walked all the way inside and closed the door behind her.

“As you know,” Twilight began, “we have a small ‘party’ planned for Jake later today.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, even though he knows about it, Pinkie wants the party to be set up in secret, so he can, quote ‘enjoy its full intensity’. That being said, we need to keep Jake away from the castle for a couple of hours while Pinkie sets up,” Twilight explained.

“Let me guess, you want me to do it,” Starlight assumed.

“Well, yeah, but I was planning on asking you to spend some time with him anyway. And you did look pretty shy yesterday when you met him. Think of this as a friendship lesson.”

Starlight rubbed her chin with her hoof and answered, “I...guess I can do that.”

“Thanks, and don’t worry. I know Jake’s appearance can be a bit...strange at first, but he’s a really great guy once you get to know him,” Twilight added.

Starlight began to leave as Twilight turned her attention back to the parchment she had earlier. But before she left the room, Starlight noticed the parchment and asked, “What’s that for?”

Twilight looked back to Starlight and blushed. “T-This? This is nothing. Just a little...something I’ve been working on lately.”

Starlight tilted her head in suspicion, but still walked out of the Map Room, leaving Twilight to the parchment she had.

“Okay,” Twilight muttered to herself. “How can I say this?”

She levitated a quill to the parchment, but didn’t write anything, instead levitating it back.

“I have to get this right. He’s meant so much to me; I couldn’t bear it if this wasn’t perfect for him.”

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, before coming up with an idea.

“Pure honesty that comes from the heart!” she exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one heard her when she realized how loud she had been.

Once she had confirmed no one had heard her, Twilight began to write her letter.

I woke up with the sun peering through the window directly in my eye, causing me to groan. Why is it that whenever I wake up after sunrise the sun is always shining directly in my eye?

Regardless, I rolled over and opened my eyes further, fighting the urge to close them again. I wasn’t usually one to sleep in, unless I had nothing going on that day.

But today was the ‘mini-party’ Pinkie had planned due to my return. I still remember the first party she had thrown me. At the time, the majority of the citizens of Ponyville were a bit suspicious of me, but Twilight and her friends had actually warmed up to me. I was still a little sad that most of the ponies in Ponyville didn’t trust me, so Pinkie threw me a party, which I would soon find out was her go-to move when it came to cheering other ponies up or just making them happy.

I remember walking into Golden Oaks Library to find the lights were off, only for them to be shot on, and all of my friends jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” I actually jumped from how shocked I was. It was my first surprise party. My parents and I celebrated my birthday, but never with an actual party, and it’s not like I had any friends to plan one for me when I got older.

Anyhow, I literally jumped from the surprise. Unfortunately, I was still standing in the doorway to the library, so I hit my head on the low roof. Everypony rushed to my aid to see if I was okay. My head hurt a little, but I actually started laughing at the whole situation. Soon, everypony joined in, and I had the time of my life.

I snapped myself out of my daydream and got a change of clothes. I looked for some soap in my pack; I didn’t really want to make Twilight share with me. I found some and made my way to the door.

When I opened it, Starlight was standing there, looking as if she were trying to decide whether or not she should knock.

“Oh, morning, Starlight. Did you sleep well?” I asked.

Starlight blinked a few times before she responded, “Um, yeah. Listen, um...I was thinking...you know what? I’m just gonna say it. Twilight asked me to get to know you a bit more as a friendship lesson.”

“That sounds nice, but I was hoping to take a shower real quick,” I told her.

“Alright. I’m pretty sure you take a left and two rights then another left to get to the bathroom. I think. I’m not sure,” Starlight admitted.

I chuckled a bit at her, causing her to laugh a little in embarrassment. I had to admit, she looked pretty cute at the moment.

“I trust you,” I told her.

“I’ll be in the library,” she said.

I followed her directions and opened one of the doors. Sure enough, it turned out to be the bathroom, but it was already occupied by Spike, who was posing in front of the mirror. I wanted to say something, or to close the door, but my arms and feet didn’t want to move. I simply stared with a confused look on my face.

After a few more seconds of posing, Spike turned his head just enough to notice me standing in the doorway. He chuckled nervously and said, “H-Hey, Jake.”

“That...that’s not...that’s just weird. I’m sorry, but it is,” was all I told him.

Spike sighed and slouched a bit. “I know, but I just kinda...I don’t know, need a way to know I’m maturing at least a bit.”

“Well, that is not a way to do it. But if it makes you feel any better, you were a baby dragon when I last saw you two and a half years ago, so you’ve gotta be at least an adolescent by now,” I assured.

Spike seemed to cheer up a little. “Thanks, man. You always know what to say to cheer someone up.”

“No problem. Now, can I use the bathroom to take a shower?”

“Oh, uh, right, of course,” Spike said, walking out of the bathroom. “Also, can you not tell Twilight about what you just saw me doing?”

“I, uh...sure.”

After I did what I had to do in the bathroom, I found Starlight sitting in the library with a straw basket.

“Hey, I was thinking maybe we could have a little picnic to get to know each other,” Starlight suggested.

“Alright, sounds good. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think I know the perfect spot,” I said.

“Lead the way.”

The two of us made our way out of the castle and I led her to the spot I always used to go if I wanted to be alone. It was a hill nearby where my house and Golden Oaks use to be. If you looked one way, you could see through all of Ponyville, including Twilight’s castle. If you looked the other, there was a lake that the sun hit just right, so it glistened as the air caused small ripples.

I helped Starlight lay out a carpet, and we sat down. Starlight opened the picnic basket and pulled out a few daisy sandwiches. She had brought the food, much to my gentlemanly dismay. Regardless, I took a sandwich and bit into it. It wasn’t the first daisy sandwich I had tried, but it was definitely the best. Starlight clearly knew what she was doing when she made them.

“I hope you like them. They’re one of the few things I can make without making a mess,” Starlight said. I noticed she still seemed a little shy around me, albeit a bit less than yesterday.

“I love it. You really know your way around a sandwich,” I complimented.

She simply let out a laugh with hints of nervousness. I sighed on the inside. I was really hoping she would come to be more comfortable around me here, but the way this was going, it looked like the exact opposite.

“You know, I don’t usually enjoy a daisy sandwich this much,” I said, hoping that would lighten her mood.

She seemed to loosen up a little, but not as much as I wanted. For some reason, I felt a little bit of annoyance toward the situation.

I looked to the ground when something in the basket caught my eye. I couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but I knew it wasn’t a sandwich.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Starlight followed my gaze to the basket and blushed with embarrassment when she saw what I was talking about.

“That? That’s my, uh...kite,” she said in a sheepish voice. I tilted my head a little. “I just really like kites. They help distract me.”

“Oh,” I said, getting an idea that might help Starlight loosen up. “Why don’t you give it a fly?”

“Really?”

“Go ahead.”

Starlight levitated the kite out of the basket. It was a triangular pattern of lilac and purple, kind of like her. She held it up to the air and slowly let out the string. She seemed so focused on what she was doing, she probably forgot I was there. She positioned her body a little until she felt comfortable and let the kite fly.

In that moment, I finally saw what I was hoping for. For the first time since we met, Starlight didn’t seem embarrassed, shy, or even nervous. Right then, she was finally, truly happy. She had a smile on her face. Not a forced smile, or a nervous one. This was a true smile.

It made me smile too. But in that moment, I felt something different as well. I was happy, but there was something more to it. It always made me smile when I made ponies happy, mostly because they just looked so darn cute, but with Starlight, things felt different.

However, as much as I was enjoying this moment, I felt like exploring it a bit further.

“What got you so into kites?” I asked Starlight.

She didn’t take her eyes off the kite, but answered, “I guess it all started in my fillyhood. It was always really hectic, but kites...kites were just the one thing I had that-“

“Went with the flow,” I finished.

Starlight’s smile widened just a bit. “Yeah.”

I scooted a little closer. “I know what you mean. My childhood was never very calm either. Getting passed from orphanage to orphanage.”

Starlight looked at me with a shocked expression. “Orphanage?!”

I blushed a little, realizing what I had said. “Y-Yeah. My parents died when I was only four. I was outside playing with toys while either my mom or my dad left the stove on. The house caught fire, but since no one noticed until all the exits were blocked, they couldn’t get out.”

“That’s so sad,” Starlight said.

“It’s fine. Well, actually, no it’s not, but that was way back when. I’m way better now,” I said.

Starlight started to look a little sad when I said that.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, not wanting her to return to her former state.

Luckily, she seemed to cheer right back up. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Hearing that, I looked back up at her kite. It was still soaring high. I couldn’t help but look back at Starlight again. She wore another smile as she too looked at her kite.

“You know, I say this to a lot of ponies, but you look really cute with a smile on your face,” I said.

She blushed with embarrassment upon hearing that. “R-Really? Y-You think I’m...” Her face suddenly scrunched up with seriousness. “Wait, you think ponies are ‘cute’?”

Upon realizing what I had said, it was my turn to blush with embarrassment. “W-Well, um...I-I mean...y-yeah. C-Compared to humans at least,” I stuttered.

She looked me in the eye with a mix of curiosity and anger. I looked back with a hint a fear surely showing.

However, much to my surprise, she actually started laughing. It started with a simple chuckle, before turning into a cute giggle, and then becoming a full-on laugh. I couldn’t help but join in as well. We laughed for what must have been at least a few minutes.

After we finally calmed down, I managed to let out a satisfied sigh.

“You know, I’m really glad Twilight gave you this assignment. I had a really great time...friend,” I said, looking out to the horizon.

I waited for a response, but heard nothing but silence. That is, until I heard faint sobbing coming from Starlight. I looked back at her to see her neck craned down, a hoof over her mouth, and tears flowing freely through her eyes. She was now full-on crying.

I scooted even closer than before and rested a hand on her mane.

“Woah, what happened? What’s wrong?” I asked.

She looked at me with teary eyes before breaking into louder sobs and more tears. Her display of sadness wrapped around my heart and made it ache. I couldn’t bear to look at her like this.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Starlight sniffled and began to calm down a little from her fit. “No, you were great. Perfect, even. It’s just that...I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your kindness. I just don’t deserve to be your friend.”

I was shocked. “What?! What in Equestria makes you think that?!”

She took a deep breath before speaking. She spoke in what seemed like a forced manner, as if she didn’t want to, but knew she had to.

I’ll admit, what she told me was very shocking. She had taken a village’s worth of Cutie Marks simply because she thought it was right. Then, when that didn’t go the way she wanted, thanks to Twilight and her friends, she tried to change it permanently by stopping the event that caused them to get their Cutie Marks.

By the time she had finished, her mane was sticking out, and her eyes may as well have been public pools with how teary they were.

“Now you know,” Starlight said, her voice still shaking. “I don’t deserve to be able to call you a friend.”

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into a hug. I rested my other hand on the back of her head, rubbing it ever so gently. She buried her muzzle into my chest, and I could still feel her sobbing a bit.

“Don’t. You. Ever. Feel like you can’t call me a friend. I don’t care about what you did in the past. That’s not the Starlight I’m with right now. The Starlight I know is trying her best to make up for what she did, but she’s just too afraid to do it. Well, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. You understand me?” I said with clear authority.

She looked up at me, her frown from earlier now a teary smile. “T-Thank you, Jake. You’re a really good friend,” she said, wrapping her hooves around me before resting the side of her head on my chest.

“What are friends for?” I responded, running my hand up and down her back. I still felt her sob just a bit, but I could tell these were sobs of joy. I’m not sure if it was her head on my chest, or the knowledge that I had just really helped her feel better, but I felt my heart warm, even more than before.

Starlight Glimmer felt something she hadn’t felt in a really long time while in the arms of Jake Taylor. It wasn’t just friendliness, she had felt that plenty with her friends. No, this was something else. Something she unknowingly needed. Something she had unknowingly longed for.

She felt safe. Safe from judgment, anger, even fear. Between the embrace and the words of comfort Jake had given her, she felt complete and utter safety.

“We should do this again sometime. Just, you know, without all the crying,” he said. All she could do was nod.

She tightened her hooves around him just a little bit, and he tightened his arms around her. She never wanted this moment to end. Unfortunately, that was when she remembered something.

“The party! I completely forgot!” Starlight said, getting free from his grasp.

Author's Note

Hey guys,
We’re finally getting to the cute part. I hope your having as good a time reading this as I am writing it. I’ll hopefully have chapter four up by Friday, but I’m not making any promises

The party

Starlight Glimmer and I ran as fast as we could through Ponyville. She still couldn’t believe she forgot about the party Pinkie had planned and thought we were in some kind of trouble, even though I kept assuring her that it was alright. We finally got to the front steps of the castle. Starlight was about to open the door when I stopped her.

“Why? We’re already late as it is,” Starlight said.

“Because we don’t want to look like we just ran a marathon. Plus, your eyes are still a little red from earlier. Trust me on this one,” I responded.

Starlight shrugged and walked back down the steps and stood at my side.

“Let’s just catch our breath,” I said. I looked down at her to see her panting. I thought about what happened during our picnic, and it put a smile on my face as I looked back to the doors to the castle.

Starlight looked up at me. “Whatcha smiling about?”

I looked back down to her to see her smiling as well. I chuckled a little. “Nothing.”

We walked back up the steps to the door, and I put my hand on the doorknob. I silently counted down from three, and opened the door. Sure enough, my seven best friends jumped out of various hiding places and yelled, “Surprise!”

Pinkie came bouncing up to me. “Were you surprised? Were ya’? Were ya’?”

I tried to hold back a laugh, but Pinkie’s big blue eyes and energetic smile got the best of me. I broke out in a laugh, and everyone else joined in.

After a few minutes, we all started to finally calm down. “Well, were ya’?” Pinkie still asked.

I sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Pinkie, you know how much I love you and your parties, but considering that I was the one who asked that we do this today, no, I’m not surprised.”

“Oh yeeeeeah. I forgot about that,” Pinkie said.

I stood back up, and this time, I managed to stifle a laugh. I looked around the room. There were streamers along the ceiling and windows. Balloons were tied to anything sticking out far enough to hold them. There was an entire table dedicated to food, which included mostly cupcakes, and drinks, which consisted of punch and cider.

I looked back at my friends, who were all facing me with some of the biggest smiles I had ever seen. I couldn’t and didn’t even try to hold back a smile of my own.

“This...this is great. You are the best friends I could ever ask for,” I told them. When I said that, Twilight turned her head away from me and covered her face with a hoof, still smiling. I could’ve sworn I saw her blush. “But what are we waiting for? Let’s-“ I started to say until I heard what sounded like steam coming from a teapot. I looked to the source of the noise and saw Pinkie shaking and holding something in. It didn’t take me long to figure out what. “Go ahead, Pinkie, you look like you want to say it.”

“LET’S PARTY!!” Pinkie screamed. I actually flinched from how loud she was.

About an hour into the party, I was having the time of my life. We were all standing in a circle with Rainbow Dash in the middle, who was doing her quote awesomest moves she knew. Combine that with the boom box Pinkie somehow pulled from her mane, and I just knew Dash would say this party was twenty percent cooler.

Rainbow just pulled off a flip without the use of her wings, which I found particularly impressive, and was now spinning on her back with her hooves tucked in as tight as she could hold them. We were all cheering “Go Dashie,” in a repeated fashion as one would at this kind of event.

Dash finished spinning and rested her head on one of her front hooves, and we all cheered for her. After that, we all broke off into separate activities. I made my way to the “refreshments” table, and poured myself a cup of punch. I would’ve gone with the cider, but I once found out the hard way that cider was the Equestrian equivalent to liquor in my world.

“Hey, Jake,” said Twilight, walking up to me.

“Hey, Twi. Pinkie really outdid herself with this one,” I responded.

“Yeah,” she agreed. She looked like she had something to say, but didn’t.

We stood there for a few minutes, before I decided to break the silence. “Hey, Starlight told me about how you all met, and I think what you’re doing for her is great.”

Twilight looked a little surprised. “Oh, she already told you about that. You didn’t get mad at her, did you?”

“Of course not. The way she described it, it sounded like all she ever needed was a good friend. Besides, I couldn’t possibly get mad at someone as cute as her,” I said.

Twilight’s expression saddened a bit. “You think...Starlight’s...cute.”

At first I thought it was a question, so I blushed with embarrassment. “Y-Yeah, I think a lot of ponies are cute. Compared to humans I mean!”

Twilight blushed a little when I said that and laughed a little to herself. “O-Oh really. I-Is there...anypony else you think is...cute?”

I matched her laugh and blushed with even more embarrassment. I looked down at Twilight, who wore a sheepish look on her face. I controlled my face heat and reached down to scratch behind her ear, which she always used to love whenever we hung out. “Well, I think you’re cute.”

She leaned into my hand and gave a cute little laugh as I scratched the bottom of her ear. She closed her eyes and smiled as well, increasing her cuteness.

“Why do you ask?” I asked.

Her eyes shot open, and she moved away from my hand. “N-No reason! None at all!”

I could tell there was something she wasn’t telling me, but before I could ask what it was, she turned away. “It was nice talking to you. We really need to catch up sometime,” she said, walking away from me.

“A-Alright. See you later then,” I said in a confused tone.

I didn’t take my eyes off of her when she stopped, took a deep breath, and turned back to me with closed eyes and a somewhat serious expression on her face.

“Jake, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Shoot.”

“I...” she sighed before she continued, “For a really long time now-“

Twilight was cut off by Spike, who came running up to us and jumped with his claw in the air. I stuck out my hand at waist-level for him to slap, but he jumped too high and actually hit my arm in an awkward spot.

We both laughed. “Let’s try that again,” I said, raising my hand a bit higher. Spike jumped again, and we high-fived. “Told you that you were getting bigger.”

“Thanks, Jake,” said Spike.

“Sorry about that. What did you want to tell me, Twi...light,” I said, only to realize that Twilight was gone. I looked back at Spike, who simply shrugged.

I walked away from the table to try to watch a hoof-wrestling match between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but I tripped on something. Luckily, I stuck a hand out fast enough to catch myself. I shuffled my feet up to quickly stand up, so it really just looked like I had tried and failed to do the worm, not that I could anyhow.

I looked back to see what I had tripped on, and I found Starlight leaning on her back hooves with a shocked expression on her face.

“Uh...ta-da?”

Starlight chuckled. “S-Sorry about that. Nice move.”

I started to laugh as well, and we both broke out into an all-out giggle fest. When I finished, I saw a smile on her face that warmed my heart. I noted how cute she was right then, but I realized that she didn’t just look cute. No, she looked far beyond cute. Something I haven’t thought of a mare ever since I arrived in Equestria. Right at that moment, I thought that Starlight had looked...beautiful.

“You okay?” she asked, snapping me out of my dazed state.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, shaking my head. My face was extremely heating up, but I wasn’t sure whether or not I was visibly blushing. If I was, Starlight didn’t seem fazed by it.

I spent the rest of the party trying to figure out what I was feeling and what it meant.

That night, I lay awake in my bed, thinking about the time I had spent with Starlight. It always made me feel happy when I made other ponies happy, but there was something different with Starlight. Once she opened up during our picnic...no before that even, when I first met her, I’ve been feeling something, something...unusual. Something entirely new to me. I’ve never felt this way, before or after I entered Equestria. It was warm, fuzzy, and just plain overwhelming.

Could it be? No...maybe. Then again...why not? I’ve been around mostly just ponies for the last four years of my life. It made sense, but...part of me still tried to deny it.

But I knew...I had a-wait, did I really?

I sighed.

Yes, I did.

I had a crush on Starlight Glimmer.

Twilight was pacing in her room, reprimanding herself. She marched right up to her mirror and looked at her reflection.

“What is wrong with you?” she asked her reflection.

Her reflection simply stared back with that same frustration.

“Ugh, I know. I’m just as much to blame as you.”

Her reflection’s expression softened a bit.

“It’s just so hard. Why? It’s not like he’ll judge me.”

Her reflection had a puzzled expression, as if trying to find an answer.

Twilight blinked and realized what she was doing.

“Why am I talking to my reflection?” she asked herself. ”Because you’re the only one who gets it.”

Jake’s words from earlier replayed in her head.

’I couldn’t possibly get mad at someone as cute as her.’

“He thinks she’s cute,” Twilight said to herself, feeling somewhat defeated.

But then, more of Jake’s words replayed in Twilight’s head.

’I think a lot of ponies are cute.’
’I think you’re cute.’

Twilight shot up on her hooves.

“But that might not mean anything! He thinks everypony’s cute. He even thinks I’m cute,” she assured herself.

Twilight repositioned herself in front of her mirror.

“Jake does not have feelings for Starlight,” she told her reflection. “But I do have feelings for him. I’ll just tell him, and he’ll keep an open mind. And I’m gonna do it right now!”

Twilight was about to march out of her room to go find Jake, when she looked out her window to see the moon was in the sky. On top of that, Twilight let out a long, unexpected yawn, signaling how tired she was from the party.

“Or, first thing in the morning. Yeah! I’ll tell Jake how I feel the second I see him tomorrow!”

With that, Twilight leapt onto her bed, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

Author's Note

Hey guys,
I am tying really hard not to rush the romance here, while also not getting too cheesy. Either way, the love triangle’s more or less gonna start coming into play here, so prepare yourselves. Next chapter’s gonna be out on Monday at the latest

Yours truly,
Donnnnnnn

The advice

I rolled out of bed and threw on a decent set of clothes. I drank some water to freshen my breath a little. I made my way to the bathroom and cleaned myself up a little. I peeked my head out to make sure no one was there and quickly went back to my room.

What am I gonna do?

I’m pretty sure I like Starlight.

Do I?

I don’t know.

Maybe I need a second opinion.

Let’s see. Which one of my friends has a knack for this sort of thing? Who can recognize love without even trying? And who can do that as well as help me proceed?

I facepalmed and let out an annoyed groan.

“Rarity, duh. Who else?” I said to myself.

I made my way down to the foyer. I was about to walk out the door when I smelled the unmistakable scent of Spike’s cooking. And he was even making pancakes.

I nearly turned back, but stopped myself. I put my hand on the door when my stomach grumbled. I tried to open the door, but my hand just wouldn’t move. And looked back and practically started drooling at the smell.

Oh who was I kidding? I was hungry.

I sighed and reluctantly made my way back to the kitchen, where, sure enough, Spike was making pancakes.

“Morning, Jake. You hungry?” Spike asked.

“Yeah, but I gotta be quick. I have somewhere I need to be,” I told him.

“Where could you possibly need to be? You’ve only been here a day and a half,” Spike pointed out.

“Okay, I don’t really need to be somewhere, but you remember what I used to tell you and Twilight whenever you asked me about something I didn’t want to tell you?”

“You have your reasons?”

“Attaboy.”

“Okay, but at least have something before you go,” Spike enticed.

I took a look at the pancakes he was finishing, and I couldn’t resist grabbing a fork and plate. Spike chuckled as he helped me get the hot pancakes onto my plate. I ate them pretty quick, which turned out to be a really bad idea because they were hot. After I finished, I thanked Spike and made my way out the door to Carousel Boutique.

Twilight yawned as she made her way to the kitchen.

“Morning, Spike! Pancakes I see. What’s the occasion?” she asked.

“I meant to make them yesterday, but we didn’t have all the ingredients. You seem in a good mood,” Spike commented.

Twilight smiled. “Thanks, and I am.”

It was at this time that a barely awake Starlight wandered into the room with a smile. “Morning,” she said.

“Morning, Starlight. You’re up early,” Spike told her.

“Jake accidentally woke me up, and I didn’t feel like going back to sleep,” Starlight explained.

Twilight seemed to light up when she heard what Starlight had said. “So Jakes up?! Where is he?!”

“Calm down, he said he had to go somewhere,” Spike told them.

“Why?” Twilight asked.

“Remember what he told us when he didn’t want to tell us something we asked him?”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

“He said he has his reasons,” Spike deadpanned.

“Oh,” Twilight said.

“Why do you want to see Jake?” Starlight asked her mentor.

Twilight visibly blushed. “I...just had something I really needed to tell him. Anyhow, Starlight, Jake told me you already told him about your past. That was pretty bold of you.”

Starlight’s checks took on a red hue. “Y-Yeah, I was really hesitant at first...but he just made me feel so...safe. You were right, he’s great.”

“S-See, told you. I think I’m just gonna go eat these in my room,” Twilight said, following up with some nervous laughter.

“Okaaaaaay then,” Spike said, preparing three plates of pancakes for himself and the two mares.

“I-I think I’ll just take these and eat them in my room,” Twilight said, picking up her plate with her magic.

Twilight exited the kitchen in an orderly fashion, and flew hurriedly back to her room. She shut the doors and leaned back on them, hyperventilating.

“I can’t do it. I can’t...I just can’t,” she said to the empty room.

Twilight looked down to see her pancakes had fallen off their plate and onto her carpet. Twilight manifested some cleaning supplies and cleaned up her little mess. She then jumped on her bed and ducked her head under her pillow.

“I can’t...I can’t.”

Twilight stood back up on the floor and smacked herself in the face with her hoof.

“What am I doing? I haven’t even seen him and I’m already freaking out. Maybe I should ask my friends for help.”

Twilight perked up with an idea.

“Yeah, I’ll tell them what’s going on, and ask them what I should do. It’s not like they’ll judge me. Well, Rainbow Dash might tease me, but that doesn’t matter.”

Twilight faced her reflection in the mirror.

“What matters is that I do something instead of just cowering back here every time I get nervous.”

I knocked on the door to Carousel Boutique and waited. I shivered as I realized I wasn’t wearing a jacket.

Of course I wasn’t.

Luckily, the door opened pretty quickly. I looked down to see not Rarity, but her little sister Sweetie Belle.

“Jake?! You’re back?!” she asked in a cute, excited voice.

I knelt down as she stood on her hind legs. Although most fully grown ponies could reach my chest while on their hind legs, fillies and colts only stood at my knees on all fours, and at waist-level while on their hind legs.

“Yeah, Sweetie Belle, I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere this time,” I said, wrapping her in a hug. I looked to her flank to see a pink shield with a small musical note in it. “And I see you got your Cutie Mark while I was away.”

We broke our hug, and she backed away with a big smile on her face. “Mhm, so did Applebloom and Scootaloo. They’re nearly identical to mine!”

“That’s great! You guys are gonna have to show me sometime. Anyhow, is your sister around? I need to talk to her about something,” I explained.

“She just woke up. I’ll go get her for you. You should come in, you look cold,” she offered.

“Thanks.” I walked into the boutique as Sweetie Belle ran off to get her sister. I took a seat on one of the couches and looked around. As much as the boutique had changed since I left, I could still recognize it.

A few minutes later, Rarity and Sweetie Belle both came out to greet me.

“Good morning, Jake. What brings you by today?” Rarity asked.

“I-I need your expertise,“ I said sheepishly.

“Okay, Sweetie Belle, why don’t you go play with your friends?” Rarity suggested.

“Okay,” Sweetie Belle said in a tone of voice that forced me to smile, despite how much I tried not to.

“So, what exactly do you want to ask me? Is it about making you some new clothes? Or do you need me to fix your old ones?” Rarity asked.

“N-No, Rarity...actually, yeah, that would be nice, but I was talking about your...romantic expertise. See, I think I might have... a crush on a mare,” I said, quietly and quickly as possible.

Rarity took a second to figure out what I said, and when she did, her eyes grew wider than I had ever seen. I could tell she was containing some level of excitement.

“I-I’m sorry, Jake. You’ll have to say that again. I didn’t quite catch that,” she said. I could tell she was definitely excited.

“I...have a crush...on a mare,” I sighed.

“Hmm, yes, one moment please,” she said, standing up. She walked in a brisk pace over to the door and closed it. I furrowed my brow until I heard a screech coming from the other side that made me flinch.

Rarity walked back out in a much more awake pace and a big smile on her face. “That’s just wonderful, darling. I was wondering if you would ever fall in love in Equestria, but I didn’t know if you could see mares that way. And now here you are, in my boutique, telling me you have your first Equestrian crush-“

I quickly cut Rarity off before she broke into an all-out rant. “I said I might have a crush. I don’t know for sure, I’ve never had a crush before.”

“Oh, I see. And you wanted my opinion on whether or not it is a crush?” she asked.

“Exactly.”

She took a seat on the red sofa she usually uses for fainting. “Now, if you don’t mind my asking, whom is it exactly that you may or may not have a crush on? Perhaps somepony you met during your travels?”

“No, it’s someone who lives here in Ponyville, but I’d honestly rather not tell you who it is, in case it turns out I don’t have a crush,” I explained.

“Alright. Now, what would make you think you have a crush on this mysterious mare?”

“Well, very recently, when I was with her, I could feel myself blushing. And while I think most ponies in general are just cute, I actually thought she was...beautiful. And her smile...it just warms my heart to see that mare smiling.” I trailed off as I started picturing Starlight’s smile during our picnic.

Rarity simply smiled and nodded her head. “Well, it sounds to me like you have a certified crush. No doubt about it.”

“Really? Well that answered that question. But you don’t think it’s weird for me to have a crush on a mare?”

“No, of course not. Jake, you’re my friend. I would never judge you for something as silly as love. Besides, it’s only natural. You have been living among ponies for a long time now. Although, I do think it is a tad strange that you think ponies are generally cute, however,” Rarity responded, ending in a teasing manner.

I sighed and rolled my eyes playfully. “Just because ponies are the Equestrian equivalent to humans where I come from, doesn’t mean that I think of you the same way in all purposes. You ponies are cute by comparison to humans.” I felt like I’ve been explaining that a lot lately.

“Well alright then. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Is there anything else you needed to ask me?”

“Yes. Now that we’ve established that I do have a crush on St-this mare, how exactly should I proceed?” I asked, hoping that Rarity wouldn’t be able to guess who I had a crush on.

If she did, she didn’t show any signs of it. “I can’t tell you how to proceed unless you tell me how you want to proceed. Do you want to tell her? If you do, how do you plan on doing so?”

“Well, of course I want to tell her. But I was kind of hoping you would help me with that,” I admitted.

“Okay, but considering that you won’t tell me who it is you’re crushing on, all I can tell you is to spend some time with her. Get to know her, and try to make her feel special. And when you feel the time is right, which you shouldn’t need anypony to tell you when it is, tell her how much she means to you, and confess your feelings to her. But make sure you aren’t too nervous when you do it. You have to seem confident.”

I thought about it for a second, and I realized that Rarity’s advice would probably work. “Thanks, Rarity. I think I’ll go for a walk through Everfree to clear my thoughts.”

Rarity gasped at my statement. “The Everfree Forest? Why would you ever want to go there?”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled a bit. I forgot the majority of ponies were afraid of going into the Everfree Forest. I, however, was not.

“I’m not afraid of the Everfree Forest. Not during the day at least,” I told her.

“Alright, if you insist. It was nice to see you,” she responded.

“No problem. And thanks again for the advice,” I said with a smile.

With that, I exited the boutique and made my way to the Everfree Forest.

As I wandered through the forest, I couldn’t help but wonder why ponies were so afraid of this place during the day. Sure, at night it was extremely dark, and it always felt like there was something watching you even during the day, but I’ve never actually seen anything remotely scary during the day.

In the day, the sunlight poured through the trees, making it look like a bunch of tiny little flashlights were shining down upon the ground. The air was fresh, touched only by nature. It was quiet, making it an ideal place to think and relax.

I allowed myself to become lost in my thoughts as I kept walking. I was alone, undisturbed, and at peace.

That being said, what happened next was the last thing I expected to happen.

I ran into something that moved when I bumped into it. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I tripped onto the ground. I swore I heard a little “squeak” as I fell. I looked back to see what I had tripped over.

Of course, as fate would have it, it was none other than Starlight Glimmer.

Author's Note

I am just cranking out these chapters left and right here. Sorry about the false pretense in that last chapter :twilightblush: , I know a lot of you were looking forward to the love triangle. Don’t worry, I’ll get to it. That being said, this chapter is out a day early to kind of make for that

The confession

“S-Starlight! I-I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I said, trying to hide my blush.

“That’s alright. I...usually come here if I feel overwhelmed and I need some time to myself,” she responded, rubbing her hooves together in a nervous fashion.

“S-Same here,” I said.

We both stood there in silence for an awkward amount of time. I tried thinking of something to say, but my mind went blank.

What did Rarity say to do?

’Spend some time with her. Get to know her and make her feel special.’

Well, I’m spending time with her. How do I make her feel “special”?

“Umm...I-I like your mane,” I tried.

She blushed furiously, and her eyes became pinpricks. “T-Thanks. I...try to make it look nice.” She followed up with some nervous laughter.

“So...what brings you out here today?” I forced myself to ask.

“Nothing...in particular. Sorry for making you trip...again.”

I realized I was still on the ground from earlier.

“Let me help you up,” she offered.

I half-ignored her and started to get up myself. She still came over to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up, and my face was mere inches from her muzzle.

I froze, so did she. I could feel my legs quivering and threatening to give out again. I quickly stood up, but she still had her hoof on my shoulder, so I accidentally turned her over onto her flank. She gave a cute little squeak as she hit the ground. I couldn’t help but blush at the adorable sight.

I knelt down and helped her up, and she smiled bashfully and looked away.

It was now or never.

“H-Hey, Starlight? There’s something I should-“

I was interrupted by a loud roar. I covered my ears and winced. When the roar ended, it was replaced by a low growl.

I looked over, expecting to see a timberwolf, but what I saw was even worse. It was a manticore.

For the second time that day, Rarity heard a knock at her door.

“Another guest, who could it be this time,” Rarity mused to herself.

She opened the door to see Twilight standing there with a sheepish smile.

“Twilight, how are you today?” Rarity asked.

“Fine, Rarity. I could use some advice though,” Twilight answered.

Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes. “Come in.”

Twilight walked in and took a seat on Rarity’s smaller couch, so Rarity would have her fainting sofa at the ready if she needed it.

“So, Twilight, I’m assuming it’s romantic advice you need,” Rarity assumed.

Twilight sat straight up with a shocked look on her face. “How did you-“

“Oh please, darling, you know I have a keen eye for these sorts of things,” Rarity interrupted.

Twilight chuckled. “Right, so anyhow, I have...this crush, and he just means so much to me-“

“Let me guess: it’s Jake,” Rarity interrupted again.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, how did you know that?”

“I’ll give you the same answer as before. I have a keen eye for these sorts of things,” Rarity responded.

Twilight sighed. “Okay, yes, it’s Jake. I’ve had feelings for him for a long time now, but you probably already know that. Anyhow, with him being back in town and all, I really feel like I need to tell him.”

Rarity rubbed her chin. “I see, but what exactly is stopping you?”

Twilight bit her lip. “I...I don’t know what he’ll think of me if I tell him.”

Rarity put her hoof up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Twilight, we both know that Jake isn’t one to judge ponies on their likings, let alone you.”

“I guess you’re right. But what if he doesn’t think he can love ponies?”

Rarity scoffed. “Oh, let’s just say I have personal assurance that he does.”

Twilight became suspicious. “What do you mean by that?”

“I guess I may as well tell you. He came here earlier for romantic advice as well. He said he believed had a crush on a pony, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were you,” Rarity explained.

Twilight’s face lit up like a candle. “Really? Jake might have feelings for me too?”

“Well, I wouldn’t get too ahead of myself. Either way, you should have a talk with him and tell him how you feel. Even if he doesn’t like you, you’d be on his radar.”

“Right. Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight said, leaving the boutique.

“I should start giving romantic advice as a side job,” Rarity said to herself.

I grabbed onto Starlight’s hoof and didn’t waste another second standing there. I bolted with Starlight and never looked back. We ran around a few trees until we were positive we lost it.

I knelt down to face Starlight. She didn’t seem to be hurt in any way. Regardless, I asked, “Are you alright?”

She panted a little before she responded, “Y-Yeah, a little shaken up though. That thing came out of nowhere.”

I looked back to where the manticore was chasing us. “I know right. I’ve never seen one up close like that.”

Also out of nowhere, Starlight seemed to blush. “T-Thanks...for not leaving me there. Most stallions I know would leave me behind without a second thought.”

My brow furrowed. “Are you kidding?! I would never leave you in a situation like that. Why would I ever?”

“I know you wouldn’t. That’s what makes you special,” she said, still blushing.

I blushed as well upon hearing that. She thought I was special?

Now was my chance.

“Starlight, I-“

I was once again interrupted by the manticore, who peered its head around the tree we were hiding behind.

I let out a groan and took Starlight’s hoof again. We started running again, but this time, the manticore kept up. I turned around tree after tree until I felt my grip on Starlight’s hoof let go. I looked back to see Starlight had one of her hind legs caught between some roots. I ran back to help her, but the manticore lunged at me.

Luckily, I ducked out of the way and got Starlight unstuck.

Starlight fired off a spell that dazed the manticore, giving us time to get our bearings. The tail was waving around furiously, trying to find a target. Eventually, it tripped Starlight onto her flank. The manticore turned its full attention to Starlight, who was trying to back away. It slowly crept up on her until I threw a rock at its head.

The manticore swung its tail at me, causing me to trip, and turned back to Starlight. Starlight fired another spell to temporarily blind the manticore and ran over to me.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said before getting hit by the tail again and sent flying into a tree. She slumped to the ground, unconscious. I ran over to her, and she didn’t seem to be moving. I was filled with anger. I grabbed a large, nearby stick and charged back at the manticore.

The manticore was still blinded, so I didn’t have to worry about getting eaten. I started wailing on the manticore with the stick, making it flinch with every strike. Eventually, it ran off.

“You’d better not come back!” I yelled. I turned away and saw Starlight, still unconscious. I ran over to her and knelt down.

“Starlight! Wake up! You have to wake up!” I briefly checked her pulse, but I couldn’t look for long because I was worried about another attack.

I held her close. This couldn’t be happening. No, not now. No way. I was not letting her go that easily.

I picked her up and ran as fast as I could to the castle, not caring if anyone saw me. I bolted inside and ran past Spike.

“Sorry!” I yelled back without stopping.

I finally found her room and got in. I laid her down on the bed and put my finger up to her neck once again, this time taking my time.

My heart sank when I didn’t find anything.

“Why? Why did it have to be you? It should have been me,” I bawled.

“What happened?!” I heard a voice behind me ask.

I wiped my eyes and looked back to see Twilight, standing in the door with a concerned look on her face.

“W-We were in t-the Everfree Forest, a-and there was a manticore, a-and I tried t-to...” I couldn’t go on.

Twilight wrapped her hooves and wings around me as I calmed down.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m sure you did all you could,” Twilight assured me.

“No, it’s not okay. I-I looked as hard as I could...I-I couldn’t f-find a pulse,” I told her.

Twilight let go of me and looked me in the eyes. “What do you mean ‘you looked as hard as you could’?”

“I-I put my fingers up to her neck vein, I-I couldn’t feel anything.”

“Well, she’s unconscious, so it would be weird if you did find anything.”

“What!?”

“Ponies’ pulses tend to drastically weaken whenever they go unconscious. So much so, that they wouldn’t even be able to be found without medical magic,” she explained to me.

“Are you serious? Does that mean you would be able to find her pulse?” I asked desperately.

“Well...I don’t know much about medical magic...but I guess it’s worth a shot,” Twilight said. She walked to the side of the bed and lit her horn. She hovered it over Starlight’s body. After a moment of scanning, Twilight’s horn fizzled out.

“Well?”

“She’s gonna be fine. She’s a little bruised, but I found a heartbeat and she should wake up in a few hours,” Twilight assured me.

I didn’t need to hear another word. I wrapped my arms around Twilight in a big hug. I could feel her body stiffen as I hugged her.

“Thank you...so much,” I whispered in her ear.

She shook a little. “N-No problem.”

I let her go, and I saw she had a nervous smile on her face. I also could’ve sworn she was blushing.

“I-I should go. Or we should go! I-I mean, w-we should...let her get some rest...heh-heh,” she said sheepishly.

I looked back at Starlight, who showed no sign of waking up any time soon.

“No, I-I’m...I’m gonna stay with her until she wakes up,” I responded.

Twilight’s expression sank. “What? W-Why?”

“Because I was with her when she got hurt. I would never forgive myself if something happened,” I explained.

“I-I understand, b-but you staying with her isn’t gonna make her wake up any sooner,” Twilight insisted.

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving her side until she wakes up.”

Twilight dipped her head a little bit. “A-Alright then. Just tell me if you need anything.” She sounded like she was on the verge of crying.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“N-Nothing. Nothing at all.” With that, she dashed out of the room.

Twilight ran to her room as fast as she could. She knew her tears were gonna start running free any second now, but she wouldn’t let anyone see it.

Once she made it to her room, she slammed the door and dove for her bed. She let the tears run and started crying, hoping Spike wouldn’t hear her.

“I’m too late. Jake does have feelings for Starlight. And now it wouldn’t make any difference whether he knew how I felt or not,” she sobbed to herself.

She lay there for what seemed like hours, crying and self-pitying.

“No! One way or another, Jake will know how I feel, even if it is too late for him to love me back,” Twilight told herself. She got up, only to feel completely drowsy. She looked out her window to see the moon in the sky. She had been in her room, crying almost all day!

“No, not...now,” she said, as sleep enveloped her against her will.

I sat at Starlight’s bedside for hours. Spike had checked on us every once in a while to see if she was okay, but thankfully left us alone mostly.

I knew she would wake up, but that didn’t ease my dread. And even though I knew this whole thing wasn’t my fault, I still felt partially responsible.

The sun had set by now, and it was getting cold. I tucked Starlight under her blanket, and held her hoof in an attempt to keep her warm.

Then the worst possible thing that could happen happened: I began to get tired. I couldn’t let myself fall asleep, not until Starlight was awake. I felt my eyelids becoming heavy, and it was hard to keep them open.

“Jake?”

My eyes shot open to see Starlight was finally awake. Any drowsiness I had felt was instantly gone. I scooped her up in a hug. I could feel my face heating up, but now wasn’t the time to care.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I told her.

“W-What h-happened?” Starlight asked.

I moved to face her. She looked pretty shocked. “The manticore knocked you out. I chased it away and brought you back here. How are you feeling?” I prodded.

“F-Fine, I guess. How long was I out?”

“Since we got back. It’s nighttime now, so almost all day,” I answered.

“Wow, where’re Twilight and Spike? Do they know what happened?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re asleep. Spike’s been around every now and then to check on you, but I haven’t seen Twilight in a while,” I explained.

“Wait, w-were you here t-the whole time?”

I blushed as I realized just what I had done. “Y-Yeah, I-I couldn’t live with myself if...if...something...you know.”

Starlight’s face went redder than I had ever seen yet, and I felt like my own face was gonna explode.

“I-I guess I should go. G-Goodnight,” I said, getting up.

“Wait,” Starlight said, holding my hand in her front hooves. “Don’t go.”

“What?” Somehow, my face got even hotter.

“D-Don’t leave. I-I want you to stay...w-with me. I f-feel...safe with you here. Please?”

I slowly sat down at the foot of her bed. “A-Are you s-sure?”

She nodded. “Please,” she said again. She looked at me with worried eyes.

I couldn’t have said “no” if I wanted to. “A-Alright, if you want.” I could feel my body shaking as I moved under the covers and lay down. I clutched my arm nervously.

We both lay there, a few inches apart, in complete silence. I was still shaking and couldn’t look at Starlight.

Suddenly, she scooted a lot closer to me, right up next to me even. She took my arm in her hooves, and I nearly exploded right there.

“C-Could you...c-cuddle me?”

“What?!” I asked, nearly yelling.

She let go of my arm and scooted back away. I could almost see tears in her eyes. “S-Sorry.”

My heart punched me in the face. What was I doing? This very well might have been my only chance to do something like this with Starlight.

I rolled over to face her and put my hand on her. She stopped moving and looked over at me. I smiled and pulled her back. I put one arm under her body and ran it down to the middle of her back. I rested my other arm over her and did my best to embrace her in the position I was in.

She nuzzled under my chin and buried her muzzle in my chest. She brought her hooves up to my lower chest. Starlight felt warm and soft. I played with her mane just a little, making her giggle. I moved my head down, right next to her horn. Her mane was really soft against my face, and it even smelled sweet, like cherries.

Slowly, but happily, I drifted off to sleep.

“AAHH!”

I shot awake due to a scream. I sat up and saw Starlight next to me, sitting up as well and panting.

“Starlight, are you alright? What’s wrong?” I asked.

She took one look at me before quickly wrapping her hooves around me and breaking into a cry.

“I-I had a nightmare...you were *sniffle* k-killed by that manticore,” she sobbed.

I stroked her mane slowly. “Shh, shh, it’s okay. Just let it out. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

She sobbed for a minute into my chest. “I-I just couldn’t bear it i-if s-something happens to y-you.”

“It’s fine. Nothing’s gonna happen to me. Just let it out,” I cooed.

Starlight spent another few minutes bawling while I comforted her by stroking her mane and telling her, “I’m here,” much like one would to a child.

She seemed to calm down after a while and looked at me, still sniffling a little. “T-Thank you.” She had the cutest smile on her face I had seen yet. I couldn’t resist smiling back.

“What are friends for?” I asked sarcastically.

She broke her smile and looked at me with shining, pleading eyes. “Jake, I don’t wanna be friends anymore,” she said really quickly.

Just like that, my smile fell, and I was on the verge of tears myself. “W-What?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I promise! I-I meant...I wanna be more than just friends!” she said even faster.

My heart caught fire. “Y-You mean-?”

“Yes, please, I-I want to be with you...I-I love you,” she said, her breathing faltering non-stop, and her eyes clenched shut.

I took a second to go through all she had just said. Then, I took action.

I put a hand under her chin and lifted it a little. She opened her eyes again. They were shining beautifully.

Then, I finally did it. I leaned forward and kissed her, wrapping my arms around her in the process.

When I broke it, she was panting, her eyes wide as dinner plates. “D-Does that mean-?”

“Yes, I want to be with you too. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Just like that, we hugged again. I could feel her smile as mine grew as well. There just weren’t words to describe how happy I was.

“I love you too, Starlight Glimmer,” I whispered in her ear.

We stayed there for a while, not moving an inch. I realized then how late it really was.

“Heh, guess we should try to get some sleep,” I suggested.

Starlight gave a small laugh as well. “Y-Yeah, good idea.”

We lay back down, her muzzle tucked into my chest, and my arms wrapped around her. I kissed her below the base of her horn and held it for a while before drifting back off to sleep.

The slip-up

As per usual, the sun shone directly into my eye, waking me up. I felt my arms wrapped around something soft and warm. I looked down and saw Starlight.

I was about to do something stupid, like sit up, when the events of last night came back to me, and I smiled. Looking back to Starlight, I saw she was smiling too, but still asleep.

I couldn’t believe it. I was...we were...together...like a couple or something. I don’t know. Now wasn’t the time for labels.

I shifted a little and tightened my embrace around the mare. She shifted as well. She opened her eyes and looked into mine. As soon as she saw me, she smiled.

“Good morning,” I cooed, lightly stroking her mane.

She gave a cute little giggle. “Morning.”

“Sleep well?” I asked sarcastically.

She giggled again. “Of course. It couldn’t have been better.”

I looked away and blushed. She shifted a little in my arms and moved her head up to mine. She moved her head forward and nuzzled the side of my neck.

...

Jake.exe has stopped responding.

She was just too cute.

Unfortunately the moment didn’t last long, as both of our stomachs loudly grumbled, so much so that we actually felt it.

Starlight stopped nuzzling my neck and looked me in the eyes. It wasn’t long before we both started laughing hard.

“Guess we should get some breakfast, huh?” I suggested.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Starlight responded, still giggling.

“Just give him the note, just give him the note, just give him the note,” Twilight said as she neared the corridor Jake was sleeping in, her note held near in her magic.

Once she arrived, she looked at how many doors there were. There were at least twenty. One of them was Starlight’s room, and Twilight knew which, so that was one door down. Unfortunately, she wanted to simply slip the note under the door and leave, so she had to choose wisely.

Then she heard a door open.

Twilight bolted through the closest door and hoped Jake wasn’t in there. Luckily, he wasn’t.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a much better spot.

Twilight opened the door ever so slightly and looked out to see both Starlight and Jake exiting Starlight’s room.

“Not to go into semantics, but what exactly would you call your significant other in a relationship?” Jake asked Starlight.

“Well, the stallion would be referred to his other as her ‘coltfriend’, and the mare would be the ‘marefriend’. Why do you ask?” Starlight responded.

“Where I come from, it’s known as boyfriend and girlfriend,” Jake answered.

Twilight backed away from the door for a second. ’Maybe he’s just curious. That doesn’t mean anything is happening. Even though they spent the night together,’ Twilight thought to herself.

She forced herself to look back out to the hall.

“So, I guess you’d be my ‘boyfriend’, but I’d still be your marefriend, if you want to put a label on it,” Starlight said.

Twilight’s heart dropped. ’Who am I kidding? He does like her. Figures, I got my hopes up for nothing.’ She tried to blink the tears out of her eyes before teleporting herself to her room.

She landed on her bed. Her legs gave out, and she started sobbing.

“Twilight? Are you okay in there?” she could hear Spike ask on the other side of the door.

“Go away, Spike. I don’t feel so well,” Twilight responded, hoping Spike wouldn’t notice she was crying.

There was a moment of silence before Spike responded.

“I can hear you crying in there. What’s wrong?” Spike asked, concerned for his friend.

“Nothing. Just leave me alone,” Twilight insisted.

Another pause.

“I’m coming in,” Spike said, opening the door.

“No!” Twilight shouted, slamming the door shut with her magic. “Just please leave me alone!”

“Fine, sorry for making you mad,” Spike said in a sad tone.

Twilight sniffled before calling out again. “Spike! Wait, I’m sorry for yelling at you. It’s nothing you did, I promise. I just really need to be alone right now. Please don’t tell the others.”

“A-Alright, I hope you feel better,” Spike responded. With that, Twilight heard the noise of claws moving on the crystal floor.

“So do I, Spike. So do I,” Twilight said to herself.

“Do you think we should tell our friends we’re together?” I asked Starlight.

“Of course! Speaking of which, have you seen Spike or Twilight? I want to tell them I’m okay,” Starlight responded.

“I haven’t seen them,” I confessed.

Starlight stopped walking. “Seriously? You really didn’t leave my side did you? You must be starving.”

I looked back. “What? Cut me some slack, I was really worried about you.”

Starlight raised her eyebrow before breaking into a laugh. “Alright, you big doofus.”

I laughed a little as well, and we continued our journey to the kitchen.

Once we arrived, we found Spike trying to make omelets. The poor little guy couldn’t find the eggs.

“Hey, Spike, how’s your morning going?” I asked in a cheery attitude.

“It would be better if I knew we were out of eggs yesterday. I was in the mood for an omelet. Now I’ll have to settle for cereal,” he complained without breaking his concentration.

“That’s alright, Spike. I’m sure there are some eggs around here somewhere,” Starlight spoke up.

Spike looked at us with an utterly shocked expression. “S-Starlight! You’re not usually up this early.”

“Well, what can I say? I got a good night’s sleep,” she said, smiling up at me. I smiled back, signaling that I got what she meant.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay. You were out cold after that manticore attack yesterday,” Spike said.

“Thanks, but have you seen Twilight?” Starlight asked.

Spike stopped what he was doing for a second, but resumed shortly. “No, I haven’t.”

Spike suddenly looked at us suspiciously. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing,” I said about as convincingly as a five-year-old who just got caught taking cookies from the jar.

Spike shifted his gaze over to Starlight, who gave a not-at-all convincing smile.

“You guys can tell me anything. I’m not gonna judge,” Spike said, chuckling under his voice.

I looked down at Starlight, who looked back at me. “You wanna tell him?” I asked.

She simply nodded in response.

“Tell me what?” Spike asked.

I knelt down and put my arm around Starlight. She leaned into me and put her hoof around my back. I held out my free arm as she held out her free hoof, as if we were cheering for something.

“We’re a couple!” we both said in unison.

Spike’s eyes widened as his jaw and arms dropped. “A-A couple? As in, m-marefriend and coltfriend?”

“Well, if you want to be technical, Jake’s my ‘boyfriend’, and I’m his marefriend,” Starlight corrected.

Spike looked back to me with the same expression.

“Yeah, what she said.”

Spike closed his mouth and slowly nodded. “T-That’s great. Say, h-how about I just go and get some eggs from the market?” he suggested in an uneasy tone, making his way toward the door.

“Everything okay, Spike?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah, totally. I’m totally happy for you two,” he said with an unconvincing smile.

With that, he went out the door, leaving Starlight and me.

“Well...that was...strange,” I said.

“I hope everything’s okay,” Starlight agreed.

We both looked around at the kitchen. Spike had left nothing unturned while looking for the eggs.

“You wanna just have cereal?” Starlight asked.

“Sure,” I answered.

Spike ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. He was feeling a mix of remorse and frustration.

On one hand, Starlight knew Twilight had feelings for Jake. But on the other, Jake did seem to like Starlight back.

The whole situation was just way too confusing.

Luckily, he was finally at help’s door.

He knocked profusely on the door of Carousel Boutique until Rarity opened the door.

“Spike, what in Equestria are you doing here so early?” Rarity asked, clearly a little peeved at being disturbed so early in the morning two days in a row.

“Sorry...Rarity. Meet me...at Twilight’s castle. I’m gonna go get the rest...of our friends. We have...a big problem,” Spike panted.

“Nonsense, I’ll give you a ride. You can only run so far. Now, why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?” Rarity insisted.

Applejack moved the bucket of apples into the barn and wiped the sweat off her brow.

There was nothing like an honest day’s work.

She heard panting as well as hoofsteps coming up to the fence. She looked to see Rarity with Spike on her back.

“Spike? Rarity? What’re you two doin’ here so early?” Applejack asked.

“Meet us at Twilight’s castle. It’s urgent!” Spike assured.

“Now what can possib-“ Applejack started.

“HE SAID IT’S URGENT!” Rarity yelled through gritted teeth.

“Alright, alright.”

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash fell out of a tree, in between them.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?” asked an annoyed Applejack.

“I promised you I would help out today, so I slept here,” Rainbow explained.

Applejack chuckled. “Well, at least ya’ kept yer word.”

“Umm...okay, just get to Twilight’s castle,” Spike said.

“Why?” Rainbow asked.

“Don’t ask,” Applejack said.

Fluttershy set out the food for her animals as Angel kept thumping furiously.

“Just give me one second please, Angel. I need to find the rest of the ingredients for your breakfast salad,” Fluttershy said.

Angel crossed his tiny arms and gave a cross look.

“Oh please don’t give me that look. You know I’m running low on oats.”

There was suddenly a loud knock at the door that made Fluttershy jump and bang her head on the cabinet, which opened to reveal the oats.

“Huh, would you look at that?”

Fluttershy poured the oats into Angel’s bowl and went to answer the door. Standing there was Rarity with Spike on her back.

“Oh, hello, I wasn’t expecting company this early, but you’re welcome to come in,” Fluttershy offered.

“There’s no time! Get to Twilight’s castle, now! It’s an emergency!” Spike said.

“O-Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Fluttershy responded.

Pinkie Pie flipped the table over onto its legs. She then zipped to the door to look at her handiwork. Everything was in line. That was, until a knock at the door caused the giant stack of cups to tip over.

“Nooooooooo,” Pinkie cried continuously as Rarity stepped into Sugarcube Corner with Spike on her back.

Pinkie was still saying “No,” as Spike said, “Pinkie, meet us at Twilight’s castle. It’s an emergency.”

Pinkie suddenly stopped saying “No,” and said, “Okie Dokie.”

With that, the pink pony zipped out of Sugarcube Corner. Rarity looked at Spike with a confused look, and Spike simply shrugged in response as Rarity carefully stepped over the fallen cups and exited Sugarcube Corner.

Pinkie suddenly appeared in the Map Room, seemingly from out of nowhere.

“Did Spike and Rarity ask you guys to meet here because it’s an emergency too?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Yeah, they wouldn’t tell us what’s goin’ on. Ah hope it’s nothing too big,” Applejack said.

“Well, if it were just Rarity, I would chalk it up to Rarity just overreacting. But if Spike’s on her back, something just tells you it’s really serious,” Rainbow added, earning a few deadpan looks from her friends.

Seemingly on cue, Spike and Rarity walked into the Map Room, Rarity panting.

“Alright, what’s this ‘emergency’?” Rainbow asked, earning a few more glares.

Spike stepped up to answer. “Starlight and Jake...they’re kind of...you see-“

Rarity cut him off. “STARLIGHT AND JAKE ARE A COUPLE!”

After we ate, which took a lot longer than it should have, considering we only had cereal, albeit a lot of it, Starlight and I sat in silence, not taking our eyes off each other.

“So...what now?” Starlight asked.

“Not sure. Is there anything good to read in the library?” I responded.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to look through it.”

“How about it?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, you go ahead. I’ll clean up here and meet you there.”

With that, Starlight ran out of the kitchen, giggling to herself. I just couldn’t help but wonder how I managed to woo such an amazing mare.

Starlight had trouble remembering where the library was exactly. She couldn’t keep her mind set. No matter how hard she tried, it always wandered back to Jake.

He was amazing. Whenever she was with him, she felt happy...safe...warm. It had taken her awhile, but she eventually figured out why she was in love with him.

But even though he told her that he didn’t care about what she did in the past, a part of her told herself that she would simply be shunned.

But as it turned out, Jake felt the same way about her. Well, not the exact same way, but it was still love.

Starlight snapped back to reality and realized she was just standing in the middle of one of the many halls.

She continued her journey to the library when she heard yelling.

“Fer the millionth time, Rainbow, we’re not telling Jake to break up with Starlight!” she heard Applejack yell.

Starlight’s body froze, her neck snapping straight up, and her eyes widening to their limits.

“I still don’t see why?” she heard Rainbow say.

Starlight managed to get her body to move far enough so she could stick her ear up to the door of the Map Room.

“Well, for starters, Jake would hate us. If those two are a couple, Jake would no doubt love her,” Rarity answered.

“Not to mention Starlight would hate us too,” Spike added.

“Oh, I think she’d be too heartbroken to hate us,” Fluttershy countered.

“But it’s not like we can just let Twilight sulk while those two ride off into the sunset, or whatever couples do together,” Rainbow retorted.

Starlight backed away from the door and silently gasped. ’Twilight likes Jake too. How could I forget about that? I’m such a bad friend.’

Starlight ran away from the room in tears. She didn’t know where she was going, but she didn’t want to hear any more.

I made my way through the castle, trying to remember where the library was. I had been meaning to check the library out, and Twilight was probably in there too, so Starlight and I could tell her about our relationship.

I made a few turns and retraced my steps until I heard yelling. I moved toward the source. It turned out to be the Map Room. I opened the door just a bit to see what was going on.

“Well then what are we gonna do?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I don’t know, but we’re not going with any of your ideas,” replied Rarity.

I had no idea what they were talking about.

“But why? I’m the only one that’s coming up with any,” argued Rainbow.

“Because all of yours end with ‘Jake breaks up with Starlight to be with Twilight’, and that just isn’t happening,” said Spike.

I was filled with anger at Rainbow, but I held my temper.

Wait, what do they mean ‘be with Twilight’?

“We have to consider everypony in this situation. Twilight’s had feelings for Jake for a long time, but he ended up being with Starlight. That was his decision. If we somehow manage to get Jake to end his relationship with Starlight so he can be with Twilight, which would probably never happen, Starlight would be left heartbroken,” reasoned Rarity.

“But if we do nothing, Twilight will be heartbroken instead,” Fluttershy added.

For a few seconds, it felt like time itself had stopped moving. There was a loud ringing in my ears. I couldn’t move, and my breaths were shaky. I felt everything go completely numb.

Twilight liked me.

And despite all my years of knowing her and being her best friend, I had never noticed. I hadn’t even entertained the thought.

I was filled with guilt. I was such a bad person.

But then I realized, I couldn’t exactly do anything about it. I loved Starlight. I’ve never felt so happy with another mare. But thinking back, after everything Twilight’s done for me since I wound up in Equestria, and how amazing a friend she’s been to me ever since we met, I realized that I kind of loved Twilight too.

I was screwed.

“This is a no-win situation. Why can’t we ever catch a break?” Pinkie pouted.

“I don’t know. I just wish there was a way we could do this without hurting anypony,” agreed Rarity.

“I still think we should convince Jake to go with Twilight,” Rainbow interjected.

“What is your problem?!” asked Applejack.

“You’re clearly biased here. Why is that?” asked Rarity.

Rainbow looked at all of her friends, carefully considering what to say next. “Fine, if nopony else will say it, I will. Due to what she’s done in the past, Starlight doesn’t deserve to be with Jake.”

I clenched my fists. I was ready to go in there and beat the daylights out of Rainbow.

Luckily, Applejack felt the same way. She smacked Rainbow in the back of the head with her hoof. Rarity walked over to Rainbow and slapped her in the face as well.

“What is the matter with you, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked.

“You didn’t seriously just say that?” Spike said.

“What? I’m not wrong. Twilight and Jake have history together. Starlight’s known Jake for like, three days, tops!” Rainbow countered.

Applejack sighed. “All those in favor of ignoring anything and everything further Rainbow Dash has to say on this matter.”

Four hooves and a claw went into the air. “Aye,” they all said in unison.

Rainbow groaned and slumped in her chair.

Spike turned his head just enough to see me standing there, watching them. “Umm, girls?”

“We need to get those three to get together so they can just talk the whole thing out,” said Fluttershy.

“Girls,” Spike tried again.

“That’s the best idea Ah’ve heard all day,” said Applejack.

“Girls!” Spike yelled.

“The problem is, how are we going to do it? Twilight’s not gonna come out of her room, and I doubt she’d let Starlight in now,” said Rarity.

“Hi, Jake!” Spike yelled, getting the girls’ attention.

Feeling it was my cue, I opened the door and stepped inside, my eyes filled with tears of guilt.

All my friends’ eyes slowly drifted over to me. They all had horrified expressions on their faces.

“What have we done?” Rarity whispered just loud enough to be heard.

“I-Is it true? Twilight...likes me?” I asked.

Author's Note

The love triangle is now in full gear. As for Rainbow acting the way she was, that’s just how I picture her in this scenario.

Also, is it weird that I wrote this chapter while listening to Motley Crue?

The talk

I stared at everyone in the Map Room with disbelief, save for Rainbow Dash, who I looked at with anger.

“W-We didn’t hear you, Jake. H-How’s your day?” Fluttershy asked, trying to change the subject.

“Don’t,” I started angrily before calming down. “Don’t play coy with me. Tell me the truth, right now. Does. Twilight. Like me?”

They all shared glances and slightly nodded.

“Yes, Jake...she does. Twilight’s had feelings for you for a really long time now. When you came into my boutique yesterday for romance advice, I had assumed the mare you liked was her,” Rarity answered.

I fell back against the wall as tears began to flow through my eyes.

“How much of our conversation did ya’ hear, exactly?” asked Applejack.

I glared at Rainbow. “Right after where Rainbow’s ideas all ended with me dumping Starlight to be with Twilight.”

Rainbow sheepishly tried to hide behind her chair.

I threw my head back and groaned. “What am I gonna do?”

Everyone exchanged sympathetic looks as Spike approached me. He rested a claw on my shoulder.

“We’re sorry, Jake. We shouldn’t have been trying to figure out how to solve your problems behind your back,” Spike said.

I looked him in the eye. “Spike, all of you, none of you have anything to be sorry about. Well, except for Rainbow Dash, but everyone else is fine. This is my problem, and you were just trying to help. If anything, I’m the bad friend here.”

“What in Equestria makes you think you’re a bad friend?” Rarity asked me.

I sighed. “Twilight’s been my best friend since I got here. In fact, she was the first creature that wasn’t related to me to ever show me any form of kindness. And I couldn’t pay her back by noticing that she might want to be more than friends.”

“Jake, it’s not yer fault fer fallin’ in love with somepony else,” reasoned Applejack.

Well, great. I was only worried that I was a bad friend to Twilight. Now, I remembered that I have another mare to worry about hurting.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” I said.

“I’m sure we can think of something. There has to be some way for everypony to be happy,” Fluttershy reasoned.

“How? If I go with Twilight, Starlight will be hurt. If I stay with Starlight, Twilight will be hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hurt either one of them,” I countered.

“There has to be another way. I’m sure if we think really hard, we can find it,” Pinkie said.

“No, I don’t want any of you burdening yourself with this. I appreciate the effort to help, but this is my problem. Don’t...think about this any further, please,” I told them.

With that, I began to make my way out of the Map Room.

“Wait, what are you gonna do first?” asked Spike.

“First, I’m gonna have a talk with both of them, Twilight and Starlight,” I answered.

I finally left to gather my thoughts.

As I wandered through the halls, trying to figure out who to talk to first, I heard crying coming from the library. I opened the door to see Starlight curled up like a ball on the couch, bawling her eyes out.

“Guess that answers that question,” I said to myself as I walked over to her. I took a seat next to her and rested my hand on her head. She looked up to me and buried her head in my leg.

“J-Jake, there’s something I need to tell you. Twilight...she-“ Starlight started.

“I know. At least, I know now. She has feelings for me. But I never noticed,” I cut her off.

She looked back up to me, her eyes still filled with tears. “I-I love you...but you should go with Twilight.”

“Hold on. What about you?” I asked.

“I-I’ll just have to find a way to be okay with it,” Starlight responded.

“No, you say that to yourself, but I know it’ll never be true. I know that every time you see me with Twilight, you’ll be dying on the inside. And I love you too much to let that happen,” I countered.

“B-But you and Twilight have history together. And I...I don’t deserve to be with you a-after everything I’ve done,” Starlight let out with a sob.

I stared down at her with authority. “Don’t you think like that, you understand me? I don’t care what you did before; I love you now.”

She sat up next to me. “But what about Twilight?”

I thought about it for a second. “Honestly, after everything we’ve been through, I guess I could love her too, but...I just-“

“Then go be with her. I don’t want to stand in your way, especially not with everything Twilight’s done for me. I’m such a bad friend for doing this to her.”

I leaned in and hugged her. “You listen to me. I don’t know how long it’ll take, or how I’ll even do it, but one way or another, I’m gonna find a way where no one is hurt. And even though I can’t promise much, I can promise you this. If, in the end, we aren’t together, I will always be your friend. And don’t you think otherwise. Okay?”

Starlight nodded.

“And in return, I want you to make me a promise. While all this is going on, I don’t want you thinking that you’re a bad friend to Twilight. You understand?”

“Yes. But either way, I think we should at least...put our relationship...or, whatever it is now...on hold for, until this whole thing is solved,” Starlight told me.

“I-I think that’s a good idea,” I agreed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk to Twilight.”

I walked through the castle, trying to find Twilight’s room. Starlight was right. This castle is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

After a while of searching, I heard someone following me.

I stopped and turned around to see that Rainbow Dash was behind me with a sheepish smile on her face.

“What do you want?” I deadpanned.

“Look, I just wanted to apologize for what I said before,” she responded.

“I don’t really wanna hear it right now,” I said back.

“But I didn’t really mean-“ she started, but I wasn’t having it.

“Let me ask you this. Would you say what you said again, knowing Starlight was listening?”

“Umm, no.”

“And would you say it, knowing I was listening?”

“N-No,” she stuttered.

“But you would say it in front of your friends,” I finished for her.

“Y-Yeah,” she said, shrinking back.

“Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Her expression became confused. “N-No, I-I don’t.”

“You would say it to your friends, but you wouldn’t say it in front of me. Connect the dots, Dash!” I nearly yelled.

It took her a second, but her face became filled with shock and sadness. “A-Are you saying-?”

“Say it,” I ordered.

“Are you saying that...we a-aren’t friends anymore?” she asked, a tear forming in her eye.

I calmed down just a little when I saw how sad she got. “No, I’m not saying that, but it will take a while for me to get over what you said in there and accept your apology. For now, I suggest you go find Starlight and apologize to her too,” I said firmly.

With that, she flew away. I heard her sniffing as she flew.

What was I doing? I can’t push my friends away at a time like this.

“You didn’t have to be that harsh, you know,” I heard Spike say behind me.

I looked down on him with remorse. “I know, but...I’m just so confused, and I just took it out on her.”

“I know. I wish there was a way I could help you,” Spike said.

“That’s really nice of you, but like I said, I don’t want you burdening yourself with my problem. But if you want to help, you can tell me where Twilight might be,” I offered.

“She’s probably still in her room. Come on, I’ll take you to it.”

Spike eventually brought me to two large doors that I could only assume were the doors to Twilight’s room.

“If she’s anywhere, she’s in there. I’ll leave you two so you can talk this out,” said Spike.

“Thanks, Spike. Oh, and can you give my apologies to Rainbow Dash?” I requested.

“Sure. And just so you know, I’m not on either mare’s side here,” Spike assured.

With that, he rounded a corner, leaving me to face the large doors to Twilight’s room. I felt like they were looming over me with judgement and hate.

After a few seconds of silent hyperventilating, I knocked on Twilight’s door.

“Go away,” Twilight said from inside. I could tell she had been crying.

“I-It’s me. C-Can we talk?” I said.

“I don’t feel like talking right now, Jake,” she responded.

“Okay then, just listen.” I was silent in case she protested, which she didn’t. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t notice your feelings for me.”

There was silence within the room once again.

“I...You’ve been my best friend for years, and I just completely ignored you. I didn’t even think of the possibility of you having feelings for me. And to make things worse...I fell for your student instead.”

I paused again as tears started forming in my eyes. Twilight stayed quiet.

“Now...I don’t know what to do. Starlight thinks she’s a bad student, Spike and the others are arguing about how to solve this, and...I’ve pretty much treated you like dirt. I-I’m so sorry.”

I paused one more time in case she wanted to say something. She didn’t.

“I-I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I promised Starlight I would find a way so no one gets hurt, and I want to extend that promise to you as well. No matter what happens, I hope we can still be friends.”

She was still silent.

“Oh, and so you know, you won’t have to feel weird around Starlight and me. We’ve put our relationship on hold until I figure this-“

The door suddenly opened to reveal Twilight. Her eyes were bloodshot, her wings were ruffled, and her mane was sticking out.

“No,” she said.

“No?” I repeated.

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault for falling in love, even if it hurt me at first. You didn’t know about my feelings, and that’s not your fault. I just want you and Starlight to be happy. It’ll take me a while, but I promise to find a way to be alright with this. One way or another, I will be okay.”

I shook my head. “No, I won’t stand for that. You’re my best friend. I’m know you. I’m not gonna let you sulk in here forever.”

“It won’t be forever. And why? Why do you care that much? You love Starlight, don’t you?” Twilight said, pointing a hoof up at my chest.

I sighed. “Yes, I do-“

“Then go be with her. She’s lucky to have you...any mare would be,” Twilight cut off.

“But I....I love you too. You’ve always been there for me, I’ve always been able to come to you, and...I didn’t realize how much you really meant to me until very recently,” I finished quietly.

“But you obviously love Starlight more. If that weren’t true, you wouldn’t be with her,” Twilight countered.

“If that were true, I wouldn’t still be here, would I?”

Twilight was silent for a moment. “You fell in love with Starlight first. That’s what matters most. I’ll be fine. Just go to her. I’ll be okay.”

I stood up. “No, you won’t! Look at yourself, Twilight! When was the last time you actually talked with someone? When was the last time you came out of your room? When was the last time you even ate anything? You’re eyes are all red, you’re mane is sticking out, and no offense, but you stink!” I said with anger.

Twilight looked down. She was dumbstruck. “I-I don’t know what to say.“

I took a deep breath. “Just...let me finish. I don’t know how all of this will end, but I don’t you think about that. Take care of yourself. Have something to eat, read a book, and seriously, take a shower. In the meantime, let me worry about all of this. I will figure this out. I don’t know how long it’ll take me, or even how I’ll do it...but I’ll find a way where no one gets hurt. I promise.”

I could hear her starting to cry again.

“Twilight, I’m sorry-“

She looked up at me with a teary smile, much to my surprise.

“You’re a good friend. You know that?”

“Really?”

“Of course. That was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you,” she said.

I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her. In return, she wrapped her hooves and wings around me.

“Don’t mention it.”

Author's Note

Sorry if it seemed a little rushed toward the end there. It’s all out there now. The next chapter will be out I don’t know when, but I just kinda wanted to get this one out there now

Shout out to A Man Undercover for sort of helping proofread this chapter

The reconnection

Twilight slowly poked her head into the Map Room, where her friends were all hanging out. When she walked in, they instantly surrounded her.

“Twilight! It’s great to see you out of your room!” exclaimed Spike.

“Yeah, Jake told me I should be taking care of myself instead of just crying in my room all day,” Twilight responded with a tiny smile.

“That’s great to hear. How are things going between you two?” asked Applejack.

“Better. He said he would find a way where no one gets hurt, even though I told him just to go with Starlight. Either way, we’re doing just fine,” Twilight answered.

“I feel I should apologize for leading you on like I did,” Rarity confessed.

“Don’t. You had no way of knowing.”

“Well...Ah feel ya’ should know that we kinda knew that ya’ had a thing for Jake,” admitted Applejack.

“What? How?”

All heads in the room turned to Rarity, who’s face took on a bright shade of red.

“Oh, right. Anyhow, has anypony seen Starlight?” Twilight asked with a sigh.

“We haven’t seen her all day, sorry,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight let out a breath of relief. “Well, I guess that’s okay. There’s no doubt she’s gonna be avoiding me for a while if she also knew about me and Jake, which I’m assuming she does.” She paused and got a nod from Rarity. “Right. Anyhow, if any of you see her, please don’t make her feel...uncomfortable. We’re gonna have to clear the air eventually, but I don’t think either one of us are looking forward to that.”

“Twilight, darling, you’re not...mad at her are you?” asked Rarity.

Twilight grimaced a little. “Well...I guess not, but it’s hard not to be jealous. In fact, I think it’s better if we don’t run into each other for a while, at least until I’m positive there’s no chance of me getting angry at her.”

Applejack looked at all her friends, and they all nodded to each other. “That’s probably a good idea. We’ll be here if you need us, but Rainbow Dash here needs to go apologize to her,” she said, glaring at Rainbow Dash.

Twilight was confused. “Why would Rainbow Dash need to apologize?”

Rainbow had a nervous smile on her face. “Well, you see...I may have-“

“She said a few things she really shouldn’t have,” Rarity said, matching Applejack’s glare.

It took Twilight a moment to figure out what that meant. When she did, she glared at Rainbow as well. “Are you serious, Rainbow? How could you say something like that?”

“How do you know what she’s talking about?” Rainbow asked in shock.

“When it comes to saying things you shouldn’t about Starlight, it’s all pretty much the same. Applejack’s right, you need to go find her and apologize,” deadpanned Twilight.

“I know, I know,” said Rainbow, flying out of the room.

“See, that’s good, what you just did,” said Spike, giving Twilight a nudge in the side.

“What do you mean, Spike?”

“Standing up for Starlight like that. It shows that you’re still her friend,” explained Spike.

“I guess you’re right. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get cleaned up. Jake says I stink.”

Rarity, ever so curious, leaned in and took a whiff of Twilight’s scent, only to flinch in slight disgust. “Well, no offense, darling, but he’s not exactly wrong.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’m going.” With that, she left the room as well.

“I’m gonna go get lunch started. You girls want anything?” Spike offered.

He was simply met by a few murmurs of agreement and a few rumbling tummies.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Starlight looked through the hallways before running to the kitchen. Once there, she opened the door just enough to fit her head inside.

“Psst, Spike. Is Twilight around?” she quietly asked.

“No, Starlight. Twilight’s taking a shower. Why are you sneaking around?” Spike asked.

Starlight walked all the way into the kitchen. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“I guess, but you don’t need to avoid Twilight. She’s still your friend, even if you...you know,” Spike replied.

Starlight sighed. “That doesn’t mean she won’t be mad. Spike, don’t you know what it’s like to have a crush on somepony really close, only for them to fall for somepony else, a close friend at that?”

“I don’t know about that last part, but I know what it’s like to love somepony without them noticing. Look, we all talked with Twilight, and she said you two are gonna have to talk about it at some point. And besides, Twilight wouldn’t get mad at you for falling in love, even if it just happened to be with the one she had a thing for.”

“It wouldn’t be that big a problem, but the thing is, I knew Twilight liked Jake when I fell for him!” countered Starlight.

Spike rolled his eyes. “You’re over thinking this. Sure, Twilight is a little jealous-“

“Understatement of the century,” Starlight interrupted.

“-But she’s made it pretty clear that she’s not gonna stop being your friend over this. Seriously, you don’t need to avoid her,” Spike finished.

“I know...it’s just hard, knowing you broke your friend’s heart.”

“Twilight’ll be fine. In fact, she tried to tell Jake to forget about her to be with you.”

“Yeah, I did the same. But Jake just told me not to worry about it. He said he’d-“

“Find a way to solve this himself,” Spike cut in.

Starlight chuckled. “Exactly.”

Spike laughed a little as well. “Jake’s like that. He always tries to make sure his friends are okay, sometimes without regard for himself. I just hope he finds a way out of this quick. I’m not sure how long you can avoid Twilight.”

“Yeah.” Starlight paused to make sure no one was listening. “Can I get your opinion on something?”

“Of course,” Spike responded.

“I told myself I’d be okay if Jake just went with Twilight...but part of me still hopes he goes with me. Is that a bad thing?”

Spike thought for a moment before our he responded. “I don’t think so. But just out of curiosity, what made you fall in love with Jake in the first place?”

Starlight gave Spike a deadpan look.

“What? I’m curious,” Spike defended.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll tell you. I guess it sorta started the second day he was here. Twilight assigned me to get to know him, so we went on a little picnic. It took a while, but I started to feel really comfortable around him. He opened up about his childhood, how he lost his parents when he was four-“

“What?!” Spike exclaimed.

“Y-You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t. I guess Jake took a bit of a liking to you too,” Spike replied, nudging Starlight in the side. “Anyhow, please continue.”

“Okay. So after he told me about his childhood and how he moved on from that...I don’t know...hearing talk about his past like that just made me think I didn’t deserve him as a friend. But he reassured me...he told me I could always call him a friend. I just felt so...warm, a-and...safe with him. He...makes me feel safe...from my past, from my mistakes...from judgement,” Starlight finished.

Spike simply stared at her, his expression well hidden.

“What?” Starlight asked.

“Nothing. Just...nothing,” Spike replied.

Twilight backed off from the door. She had no idea Starlight felt this way. Now, Twilight felt bad about being jealous. Starlight obviously needed Jake a lot more than she did.

“Thanks for the chat, Spike. I’m gonna be in the library if you need me for some reason,” Starlight said, exiting the kitchen.

Twilight panicked. She looked around as fast as she could, but there was nowhere to go. This was gonna be very uncomfortable.

Starlight looked down the hallway and locked eyes with Twilight. She froze, not sure what to say or do. Twilight simply froze as well.

After a moment, Starlight dipped her head and quickly moved past Twilight, trying her hardest to avoid eye contact, mumbling, “Sorry,” as she passed.

Twilight felt a chill go up her spine. She looked back at her student. Starlight still had her head down and was shaking as she moved.

Twilight felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She may have been jealous, but she still felt bad that she was responsible for causing her student distress.

“Starlight,” Twilight called out.

Starlight froze, mid-stride. Her head shot straight up, and her body was shaking.

“We’re gonna have to talk about this eventually, you know,” Twilight said.

“Y-Yeah, I-I know that,” Starlight said, not facing Twilight.

Twilight paused a moment. “Well...we may as well get it over with now.”

Starlight’s neck scrunched up. She slowly turned her head to face Twilight. “S-Sure, w-why not.”

“To the library then, I guess,” Twilight suggested.

Starlight nodded and slowly made her way to the library, Twilight close behind. The walk there was slow, quiet, and uncomfortable. One would easily be able feel the tension between the two.

Once they finally arrived at the library, Twilight closed the door. She thought about locking it, but she didn’t really want to scare Starlight anymore than she had already.

The two mares took seats and faced each other.

“You wanna-“ Starlight began.

“You go ahead,” Twilight interrupted.

“A-Alright.”

Starlight closed her eyes and took as deep a breath as she could without passing out, although that might’ve actually helped her at the moment.

“I-I’m sorry I took Jake from you,” Starlight said. She waited in case Twilight was gonna say something, but the other mare stayed silent. “I-I knew how you felt about him, but...I still *sniff* fell in love with him before you had a chance to tell him. I-I don’t deserve to be your friend.” Starlight’s eyes were filled with tears, and she was unable to face Twilight.

Twilight, for her part, stayed silent, her face not showing any emotion.

“Well?” Starlight asked.

Twilight looked away from her student, still not saying anything.

“C-Can you say something? Something that can at least give me a clue as to how mad you are?!” Starlight yelled, her voice trembling.

Twilight got up and moved toward her student.

Starlight stayed silent.

Twilight stopped and looked up at Starlight. Then, all of the sudden, Twilight wrapped her forelegs and wings around Starlight. Starlight’s eyes became wide as her mentor hugged her.

“You have absolutely no reason to be sorry. If anything, I should telling you I’m sorry,” Twilight whispered into Starlight’s ear.

“Y-You’re sorry?” Starlight asked.

Twilight nodded. “I shouldn’t have been acting like you should avoid me. I caused you so much sorrow over something so little, and I’m sorry for that.”

“S-So you aren’t mad?”

Twilight actually chuckled. “Well, jealous sure, but I could never get mad at you for simply falling in love.”

Starlight brought her hoof up to Twilight’s back and returned the hug.

“Just promise me one thing. No matter what happens, no matter what Jake decides to do, we will always be friends,” Twilight said.

“O-Of course!” Starlight said, almost on the verge of laughing.

The two of them stayed like that...until a familiar sound roared through the library. Twilight’s and Starlight’s stomachs rumbled in unison.

Twilight and Starlight looked each other in the eye...until Starlight broke into laughter. It took a moment, but Twilight joined in as well.

“I was even in the kitchen a few minutes ago to get something to eat, but I never did,” Starlight said in between giggles.

“You wanna go see what’s Spike’s making for lunch?” asked Twilight, wiping a tear from her eye.

“S-Sure,” replied Starlight.

With that, the two friends made their way to the kitchen, still laughing and holding each other close.

Author's Note

First chapter without another proofreader. Tell me if there are any grammar errors in the comments, but please don’t be a jerk about it.

HUGE thanks the ThePinkedWonder for convincing me to write more than just one more chapter after “the talk”. Seriously, this was originally gonna be the last chapter, just with different events, but I thought it would be a good idea if I dedicated a chapter to Twilight and Starlight as they make up. Next chapter will be the decision Jake has made. Judging from a few comments in the first few chapters, many of you will be pleased by the decision.

One more thing. I do plan on writing a prequel that shows how Jake originally came to Equestria, but first, I plan on doing a different story that is also inspired by another story on this site.

The solution

I had dug myself into a hole I didn’t know how to dig out of.

I told my friends, specifically Starlight and Twilight, that I would solve this problem myself, so they wouldn’t go burdening themselves with it.

Now, I had no idea what to do. I just couldn’t think of a way where no one gets hurt, no matter how hard I tried.

On the one hand, there was Twilight. We were best friends, but I had no idea she had feelings for me. We had history together, so it wouldn’t be hard to build a relationship with her. But then Starlight would be heartbroken. I could tell she was extremely fragile, and if I ended up with Twilight, I knew I wouldn’t be helping her on her path to redemption.

Then there were the positives of going with Starlight. We had become friends really fast. Ever since she told me about her...checkered past, I always felt like I should try to help her. I can tell she’s really nice once she opens up. But then Twilight would practically be shattered. I knew her. She could say she would be fine, and she would get over it, but I knew better. Every time Twilight saw Starlight and me together, I knew she would be dying on the inside.

Right now, I was lying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I was thoroughly screwed. If only Princess Cadance were here. She always had the answers to these sorts of problems. At least, I’m assuming, what with the whole “Princess of Love” thing going on.

Maybe a little bit of sleep would help my situation. I was feeling drowsy anyway, so I decided to close my eyes and let the sweet feeling of sleep wash over me.

I walked out into the library, where I found Twilight and Starlight waiting for me. Twilight seemed to be shooting silent daggers at Starlight, who looked like she was being physically hurt by them, which made me tense up.

“Girls,” I started. “How have you two been doing?”

“Fine,” said Twilight, shooting a small scowl at Starlight.

“G-Great,” Starlight said in a tone that said anything but.

I sighed. “You two...haven’t been...fighting...have you?”

“No. In fact, we haven’t even seen each other since yesterday,” said Twilight.

I looked to Starlight, who silently shook her head. I could tell she was on the verge of crying, and I almost started myself.

“A-As you know, I took it upon myself to decide what to do about our little...dilemma,” I told them.

“And...w-what did you come up with?” asked Starlight. Twilight shot her a look that made her flinch.

“Well...I-“ I stuttered.

“Yeah? What did you decide?” asked Twilight.

I took a deep breath before I continued, “Look, I really care about both of you. You both know I would never do anything to hurt either of you...but-“

“Just say it! Which one of us do you choose?” Twilight interrupted, raising her voice just a little.

“I...I could never choose between the two of you. My answer is...none of the above. I choose neither of you. I-It’s just not worth you two losing your friendship,” I stated.

Starlight clenched her eyes shut and her breath became shaky. It didn’t take long for the sobbing to start. She opened her eyes just a little to look at me, and they instantly filled with tears. She ran out of the room, breaking into a loud cry in the process.

That was exactly what I had feared would happen.

“Are you kidding me? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Twilight said.

I turned to face her. She was now wearing a full on scowl. “What did you want me to do?”

“At least choose one of us. Even you going with her would’ve been better than this,” Twilight responded loudly.

“It’s...just not worth it. You two are friends. If I had chosen one of you, the other would hate whoever I chose,” I countered.

“So? I’d rather not be friends with Starlight if it meant I could have you! I’m your best friend, Jake! You didn’t even notice me! Now, all of the sudden, someone else comes into the picture, and you feel like you get to call the shots!” she screamed at me.

“B-But Twilight-“ I tried to reason.

“I don’t wanna hear it! Gee, some friend you are!” With that, Twilight stormed out of the room.

I fell to my knees, and tears began to fill my eyes. I had no idea things could possibly get this bad.

I slammed my fists into the ground in front of me, looking down. It felt like the room was growing around me, filling with hate for me from Twilight and Starlight.

“Well, a-at least they hate me...and not each other. That’s what I was going for,” I told myself.

All of the sudden, I felt a new presence was with me. “I urge you, human, be honest with yourself. This cannot possibly be what you want for your friends.”

I looked up. My vision was blurry at first, but I quickly recognized the dark blue figure before me. “P-Princess Luna?”

“Indeed, Jake Taylor, it is I,” Luna responded.

I stood up to face her. On all fours, she was at about chest-level with me. “I-It’s nice to see you again. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed it has. I remember the last time I came to visit,” Luna answered.

I grimaced as I remembered the nightmare I had that she was referring to. That was not pretty. “But...what are you doing here now?”

“Judging by your most recent dream, I would say my presence is needed. Tell me, what is your predicament?” Luna pried.

I shook my head. “N-No, I don’t want you to be worrying about my issues.”

“Perhaps you are correct, but tell me, what is it that caused this nightmare? Perhaps the weight of a decision you must carry? Or the guilt of an action you must carry out?”

I looked away from the princess, processing her words.

“Perhaps it may help to speak about the issue with an unbiased form,” Luna offered.

“A-Are you sure? Really, I don’t want you worrying about someone as insignificant as me,” I insisted.

“Nonsense. No pony is insignificant in my eyes, even those who are not ponies. It is my job as Princess of the Night to tend to those in need,” Luna countered.

I knew there was no convincing her otherwise. “If you insist. Is there anything to sit on though? It’s a pretty long story.”

Luna’s horn glowed, and two chairs appeared for us to sit on. We both sat down.

“So, as you know, I took a two and a half year journey around Equestria. When I returned to Ponyville, a few things had changed. For instance, Twilight had her own personal student.”

“Starlight Glimmer; I am aware,” Luna interrupted.

“Right. So anyhow, Twilight asked her to spend some time with me to get to know me, which she did, and we quickly became friends. But all of the sudden, I started getting this weird feeling whenever I was with her. It was...a warm feeling. I realized...I had a crush on Starlight. So I talked to Rarity, and she gave me some advice. Then, Starlight and I ran into each other in the Everfree Forest a bit later, and we were attacked by a manticore. We scared it off, but Starlight got knocked out. I stayed with her until she came to, and she asked me to stay the night with her. Then, in the middle of the night, she told me she felt the same way about me that I felt about her, so we...hooked up.”

“I’m having trouble understanding. What exactly is your problem?” Luna asked.

I sighed. “Well, it turns out that after all these years of knowing me, Twilight’s had a crush on me too. Her friends let it slip by accident, and now I just don’t know what to do.”

“I see. You are worried about hurting your friends,” Luna assumed.

“Exactly. I don’t want to hurt either of them, but it looks like it’s getting to that point where I have to hurt both of them. If I go with either one of them, their friendship will dissolve. It’s better they hate me than each other,” I admitted.

“You tell yourself this, but your nightmare says otherwise,” Luna pointed out.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You are just as worried about your friends hating you as much as fear them hating each other. I understand your predicament, however. You don’t know how to choose between them,” Luna said.

“Yeah. I-I’m really at a loss here,” I sighed.

Luna rested her hoof on my shoulder. “I believe I may have a simple solution.”

About a half an hour later, I busted into the library, a bit louder than I expected. Sure enough, all my friends, Twilight and Starlight both included, were in there, reading different books.

I smiled sheepishly and tried to laugh it off.

“T-Twilight, Starlight, can I talk to you two?” I asked.

The two mares shared a glance at each other.

“Sure,” said Twilight.

“What’s up?” asked Starlight.

“Well-“ I turned to the rest of my friends. “Um, do you mind?”

They all stared blankly back at me.

“Can you, uh...give us a minute...alone?”

Rarity rolled her eyes before standing up. “Fine, come along, everypony. We don’t want to get in their way.”

Everyone stood up, save for Spike. “Okay, you go, and I’ll get back to you.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shared an annoyed glance before pulling Spike along with them with one hoof each. They all exited the library, but I didn’t hear the door close.

“One second,” I said, walking over to the library door and closed it.

Twilight and Starlight sat next to each other, facing me as I took a seat across from them.

“Well, to start, I hope you two are okay,” I started.

To my surprise, they both actually chuckled a little. “We’re fine, Jake,” assured Twilight.

“Good. Now, the hard part,” I muttered.

“Before you tell us your decision, we both had a talk, and we told each other that no matter what you came up with, there will be no hard feelings, whatsoever,” Starlight told me.

I sighed with relief. “That is great to hear. Now, you two both know that I love you. Starlight, I found out pretty fast, and Twilight, I took a lot longer than it should have been. Regardless, I told you I would find a way so that I wouldn’t hurt either of you. You know that I really care about you, but there is just no way I can choose between you two.”

“So, you choose neither of us. I guess that’s fine, right, Starlight?” said Twilight.

“Yeah, we couldn’t make you choose between us,” Starlight agreed.

“Hold on, that’s not it. My answer is...I choose both of you,” I countered. Both of them became visibly shocked.

“I wasn’t aware that was an option,” Rarity said from the other side of the door. I rolled my eyes as I heard her.

Twilight shook her head. “Wait, what?”

“My answer is both of you,” I repeated.

Starlight shook her head as well. “Wait a second. If you’re just trying to spare our feelings-“

“Just hear me out,” I cut her off. “You’re right. I was ready to come and turn you both down because I thought it would be better if you hated me instead of each other. But then I had a dream. I turned you both down, and you both hated me. At first, I thought it was a good thing, but Princess Luna came to me and told me that it wasn’t what I really wanted. Then after I explained the whole thing to her, she told me that a long time ago, before she was banished to the moon, mares would often share stallions, sometimes to court with each other, sometimes just to share the stallion, but it almost always worked out.”

Twilight and Starlight looked at each other, then back at me.

“So you’re saying that...we have the option to share you?” asked Starlight.

“Exactly. You don’t have to love each other, or at least, not in that way, but I’m still willing to give it a shot if you two are. And...if you happen to meet a stallion you like more than me, I won’t even hold it against you if you wanted to be with him instead,” I explained.

The two mares looked at each other again.

“I-I think that can work,” said Twilight.

“Me too,” agreed Starlight.

“So you really wanna give this a shot?” I asked.

The two looked at me again.

“Of course,” said Starlight.

“Definitely,” said Twilight. She then turned to Starlight again. “And I couldn’t think of a better pony to share you with.”

Starlight blushed. “Aww, thanks, Twilight. And who knows, maybe there might actually be a point where you look at me like and I look at you like that.”

I leaned forward and took them both in a hug. They were a little surprised at first, but they returned it.

“I promise to be the best boyfriend for you two that I can,” I told them.

“That wouldn’t be hard. We couldn’t dream of being with anyone else,” said Twilight.

“Ditto,” agreed Starlight.

We held the hug for a while, and I was sure the others were still watching. I didn’t care. Four days ago, I saw an unrecognizable face and an old friend while getting off the train. Now, I...I just don’t know how to describe this feeling.

Luckily, I didn’t have to try because almost in unison, we all let out big yawns. We broke the hug and broke into laughter.

“Guess that means we’re tired,” I said.

“Yeah. I’m gonna turn in for the night. I’ll see you two in the morning,” said Twilight, making her way toward the door.

“Wait a second. I think you and Jake should spend the night together,” suggested Starlight.

Twilight’s face had looked like it was dipped in red paint, and my face felt like it was in a furnace.

“W-What?” stammered Twilight.

“I don’t mean like that; I just thought that since Jake and I spent a night in the same bed, last night in fact, that you and Jake should do the same,” Starlight explained.

“I...guess that makes sense,” I agreed, my face still burning.

“S-sure, sounds good,” said Twilight. I could tell she was embarrassed, but a little excited at the same time.

I pulled on my nightshirt right as Twilight came into her bedroom. Her face was still red, but I had managed to calm down a little.

I sat on the bed, and she sat next to me, albeit a little distant.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah, I just...haven’t really shared a bed with anypony since I was a filly,” Twilight confessed.

I tilted my head. “That’s alright. Nothing really happened between me and Starlight; we just kinda...cuddled. You’ve done that before, right?”

“Sort of, but it wasn’t really a cuddle so much as a hug I fell asleep during,” she admitted.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt really tense. She faced me, and I gave her an understanding smile. She smiled as well and chuckled a little in response.

“It’s fine. We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do something,” I told her.

“Well, of course I want to cuddle with you, don’t get me wrong. I’m just a little...well, nervous,” she countered.

“About what?” I said with a chuckle of my own.

“Like, what if I do something wrong? Or what if you don’t like it?”

In response, I rolled my eyes, put my hand on her cheek, and kissed her. At first, I felt her shaking with a mix of nervousness and excitement, but she quickly melted into it. It felt...different from when I kissed Starlight, but still just as good.

After we broke apart, I looked into her eyes. They were sparkling. No wonder they called her Twilight Sparkle. Her smile was wide, and her blush was back in full force.

“Still nervous?” I asked with a small smirk.

“No...just excited now,” she said. With that, we got under the covers. “But I’m still not really sure what to do.”

“Simple,” I replied. I pulled her close and put one arm under her. I put my other arm over her and held her there, stroking her mane.

“Sh-Should I do anything?” she asked me. She had her hooves at my chest, much like Starlight did, and her wings folded up.

“All you have to do is enjoy it,” I responded. I used one of my hands to continue stroking her mane, specifically the back of her neck, and the other to scratch behind her ear. She nuzzled my chest, giving a low hum that quite literally warmed my heart. I bent my head down to hold a kiss on her forehead. “So how does this feel?”

“G-Good. You feel warm,” she answered dreamily.

“And you feel soft,” I replied. It was true. When I was with Starlight, I still had pants and a jacket on, so I couldn’t really feel her coat. Now, I was wearing shorts and a thin shirt which I usually slept in, so I could feel Twilight’s soft fur against my rough skin.

“I’m glad we get to do this, Jake,” Twilight whispered to me.

“So am I, Twi. I’m still sorry it took me so long to want to though,” I replied.

“It was worth the wait.”

I chuckled and planted another kiss on Twilight’s forehead. “I love you, Twilight. I really do.”

“I love you too, Jake. You’ve meant so much to me ever since we met,” she responded.

She let out a yawn with her muzzle still resting against my chest, so it made my chest vibrate a little. My eyes began to slowly close, and with one last shift to hold Twilight even closer, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up, but something was missing. I looked down to see Twilight had left my embrace. I got up and looked around the room, finding a note on her desk.

Dear Jake,
Sorry about my absence this morning, but I promise the reason why is worth it. Come to the dining room to see what it is.

Much love,
Twilight <3

I turned the note over a few times before shrugging and deciding there was nothing more to be learned from the note. I came out of Twilight’s room and walked to the dining room. As I came closer to my destination, the scent of pancakes, french toast, and other breakfast delicacies filled my lungs. By the time I got the the dining room, I was practically drooling already.

I opened the door to see that there was in fact a table full of food, from fruit to muffins. There was even scrambled eggs, just the way I liked them.

And standing in front of the table were Twilight and Starlight, both of them with bright eyes and with the biggest and brightest of smiles.

“I-I don’t know w-what to s-say,” I stammered out.

“Don’t. We wanted to show you how much we really cared about you. Obviously, Twilight here had to contribute a lot,” said Starlight.

“Don’t sell yourself too short, Starlight. You did manage to make the eggs all by yourself,” Twilight said, giving Starlight a small nudge.

I walked up to both of them and knelt down to meet them at eye-level. I reached out my hands and put one on each of them. “I love you, both of you.”

They both hugged me in return.

“We love you too, Jake,” said Twilight.

“More than anything,” added Starlight.

I pulled back a little to face them. “I just can’t believe how lucky I am.” I turned my head to face Twilight. “I don’t just have one amazing marefriend.” I kissed her on the forehead and looked at Starlight. “I have two.” I kissed her as well. “I couldn’t possibly ask for anything more.” I gave them both a little *boop* on their noses, making them both giggle adorably.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Try it,” said Starlight.

With that, I nodded and stood up. I decided to try the pancakes first. Those have always been my favorite. I took a bite, and it tasted amazing. Sure, I could always kill for a plate of Spike’s pancakes, but knowing they were made by Twilight and Starlight was enough for me to love them.

“Well?” asked Twilight.

“It’s amazing. You have to try them,” I told them.

They both shrugged and got themselves a couple of plates. With that, we sat down to eat. Apparently, Spike had a long day yesterday, so he was sleeping in.

As I ate, I thought about my current...state. It was strange. I just knew there were people from my old home that would do almost anything to be in my type of position.

I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen, or how this relationship was even gonna turn out, but there was one thing I could say for sure.

This was gonna be interesting.

Author's Note

And...BOOM. Story finished. Nothing like a good old fashioned power ballad to get the romantic juices flowing. So yes, as some of you guessed, it ended with a herd. I mean, come on, how else could I have it end?

Also yes, there will be a story telling how Jake came to live in Equestria, but I have plans to write another inspired story, so be on the look-out for that tomorrow (I already know it’s gonna get a lot of controversy).

Huge thanks to anyone who read and liked this story. This is by far my most popular story, and I’m glad it was so widely enjoyed.

Shout-out to ThePinkedWonder for proofreading and making suggestions to the story. Not half of you that like this story would if weren’t for him