Despite All Odds

As Twilight was rereading one of the many book written by Starswirl the Bearded, a memory rushed through her studious mind, shocking her. 'You two would look really cute together.' The unicorn looked around the room as if expecting the see the other unicorn, but found it completely empty aside from herself.

“Why did that thought come up? I haven't thought about it since she said it and there was no reason for me to think of it.” Twilight shrugged and went back to reading.

'...cute together.' A frown formed on Twilight's lips.

“Yes, I get it; Lyra thinks Fluttershy and I would make a cute couple.”

However, the words would not dissipate from her mind, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself. She sighed and walked away from the book and hopped onto her bed with an audible “Oof”. As she laid there and contemplated the words, her thoughts began to drift into the unfamiliar territory; affection and love. As studious as the unicorn was, this was one of the few subjects she absolutely could not wrap her head around.

She read the occasional romance novel (not that she would ever admit it) and had learned absolutely nothing about love other than “love is a beautiful thing and must be nurtured”. Naturally this bothered Twilight; something was confusing to her and she couldn't just open a book and solve it. She wanted facts and it wasn't like her own personal experiences would help.

“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me...” She mumbled bitterly. The unicorn closed her eyes to help herself think, but ended up drifting off to sleep. When she awoke, she felt groggy and slow and the world seemed like it was a large blur. However, as she was slowly walking down the stairs, a knock at the door made her snap out of the post-nap trance and she cantered over to the door, where she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there.

“Wow...Rainbow Dash is actually KNOCKING on the door instead of crashing through it or flying through a window? I must still be asleep.” She said with a laugh. Rainbow just rolled her eyes and walked in. “So what brings you here Dash? The new Daring Do book isn't supposed to come in for another week or so.”

Rainbow looked around, as if waiting, then said, “Well I-” She was cut off by a very distraught Fluttershy as she burst through the door.

“Please Rainbow Dash, don't tell Twilight!” The yellow pegasus stopped for a moment, then slapped her hooves over her mouth.

“Don't tell me what Fluttershy?” She waited patiently for the yellow pegasus to reply.

“I...um...Oh! I didn't want her to um, tell you about the upcoming meteor shower and I...I wanted to ask if you would maybe...join me? I mean, if you aren't too busy that is.” The last few words were barely audible, but Twilight had heard them and beamed.

“Of course I would! When is it?” The unicorn was now inches away from the pegasus, causing the flier to freeze.

“Umm...it's...soon...” Was all Twilight got. She gave a small frown, but quickly hid it.

“Oh, well alright. When you figure out when it is, can you tell me?”

“Oh of course Twilight. I'd hate for you to miss it.” Then, the unicorn hugged her and after a moment, Fluttershy hugged her back. She subtly rubbed her muzzle against Twilight's neck and softly inhaled her scent. It was a faint citrus sort of smell, coupled with an even fainter smell of literature. She reluctantly let go after Twilight did and stood there, unsure of what to say or do. Finally, Rainbow Dash reminded them of her presence.

“Hey Fluttershy, why don't you stay the night here since all your animals are gone?” Fluttershy wanted to jump happily, but managed to control the urge.

“Only if Twilight doesn't mind.”

“That would be just fine. I haven't had a slumber party since Rarity and Applejack stayed here during that storm. It'll be nice to have another one. Come to think of it, would you like to join us Rainbow...Dash...” She looked at where Dash had been not even a second ago and swore she saw a faint outline of where the mare used to be before it disappeared.

'Thank you so much Rainbow Dash' Fluttershy thought gratefully.

“Well, shall we get started?” Twilight asked, walking into the kitchen with the timid pegasus behind her (who was trying not to stare at the way the unicorn's hips swayed). “What would you like to drink?”

“Water would be nice.” Within moments, they were both comfortable in Twilight's room, laughing as they reminisced about their past adventures.

“I still can't believe you've stared down an adult dragon AND a cockatrice. You really are a brave pony to be able to face such fierce creatures.” Fluttershy couldn't help but blush at the praise, and it probably didn't help coming from the pony she loved.

“That's nothing compared to when you moved that Ursa Minor from Ponyville all the way back to it's cave. I wish I could've been there to see you being so...cool.” Now it was Twilight who was blushing. “That reminds me-” Twilight said quickly, eager to move the conversation off herself. “Where DID you go when Trixie came to town?”

“Oh, I umm...I had to go back home. One of my birds told me that some bears were around and were causing trouble. Turns out they were all just really sore and needed massages.” Fluttershy smiled sheepishly and Lyra's quote once again jumped into Twilight's mind. As the thought came and went, the unicorn couldn't help but look her friend over.

'She's more intelligent than she lets on, likes to read, is understanding, compassionate...those are all good qualities for a romantic partner...right?' She was promptly brought out of her train of thought when she felt Fluttershy's hoof on her shoulder.

“Umm...Twilight? Is there something wrong? If so, I can come back at another time.” The thought of Fluttershy just leaving left a strange emptiness within her.

“N-no! I'm sorry, I was just...uh...thinking of a spell is all.” Twilight lied.

“Oh? What kind of spell?” Twilight hadn't expected that. Usually whenever she got onto the topic of magic, everypony around quickly adopted a gaze of boredom. Even Rarity, who was also a unicorn, tended not to listen, (unless it had something to do with her directly).

“Um...well...Oh! It's not really a spell per say, but more like a sort of side effect. You see, I'm trying to figure out why a unicorn's aura takes on a certain colour. For example, some unicorn's magical aura is the same colour as their eyes while others are the dominant colour of their cutie mark. You see, I think that...”

As Twilight continued on, Fluttershy listened to every word. She loved to hear Twilight's beautiful voice, even if she was explaining something. She did of course do her best to keep up, only asking a question or making a comment when she felt that it was appropriate. Finally, she managed to ask a question that made Twilight stop and think.

“If all of that is true...then could you discover an imposter pony if they assumed someone else's form? Like if another pony took your form, would their aura match their usual one or would it shift to fit the disguise?” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again.

“I'm...not too entirely sure myself. Not too many unicorns use illusion magic like that, and if they do, it's just for an act or something. I just can't believe that you listened to my rambling long enough to figure something like that out.” The praise didn't fail to make Fluttershy blush as usual.

“O-of course. I wouldn't miss a word you say Twilight. That's what friends are for.” Fluttershy immediately wished she hadn't said friend. It left a bitter taste of her mouth that left a hint of depression in her mind as the thought of rejection crept into her mind.

“Anyway, I think that's enough talk about that. Shall we play a game?” The unicorn asked, smiling.

“Okay, but what should we play?”

“How about...Truth or Dare?” Fluttershy swallowed a lump in her throat.

'This could be my chance to get a kiss! Or at least find out how she feels about a relationship with two mares...' Though, she couldn't help but favour the kiss outcome a tiny bit more.

“Okay Fluttershy...truth or dare?”

Fluttershy desperately wanted to say dare, just to see what would happen, but of course she said, “Truth...” Twilight thought for a moment, then grinned.

“Okay, is it true...that you've kissed Rainbow Dash?” The yellow mare's jaw nearly hit the floor in shock and her cheeks flared with embarrassment.

“W-where did you h-hear that?!” She managed to ask the laughing unicorn.

“Dash brought it up one time when she came to pick up a Daring Do book. I just figured I'd get a confirmation from you.”

“Oh...well...yes. We did k-kiss...It was in Flight School and she wanted to try it to impress her marefriend back then. It didn't exactly work out well for either of us...” Twilight tried to hide her laughs, but it didn't work very well and Fluttershy just continued to blush.

“Alright Fluttershy, your turn.” Twilight said after her giggles had died down.

“Oh, right. Um...truth or dare?”

Twilight was quiet as she thought which to pick, then said, “Dare.”

'Oh my...should I do it now? No, I'd seem too eager and she'd get suspicious. But if I don't do it now, I may not be able to work up the nerve to do it later. Oh...what should I do?' As Fluttershy mentally battled herself over what to do, a knock sounded at the door.

“Huh...who could that be? And at this hour no less...” Twilight mumbled as she cantered down the stairs. Fluttershy stayed behind, taking deep breaths and releasing them quickly. However, this made her become light headed rather fast, so she fell backwards onto the pillows she had been resting on.

“Oh...now what should I do...” The canary coloured mare sighed. Twilight came back into the room a minute later with a grin on her face.

“That was Princess Luna! She said that the meteor shower is tomorrow night!” The unicorn made a cute “squee” noise before sitting down.

“She also said that neither of us would forget, especially me. I wonder what she meant by that.” She turned her bemused gaze on Fluttershy, who simply shrugged with a faint blush.

“I'm not sure, but hopefully it will be fantastic.”

Twilight smiled warmly at her friend and said, “Well, we had better get some rest. Don't want to be tired for the shower tomorrow.” Fluttershy chuckled at the lavender mare's excitement. She let Twilight crawl into the bed before joining her. “Sorry about this Fluttershy. I still haven't got around to getting another guest bed yet after it got ruined when Rarity and Applejack stayed during that storm.”

“Oh, it's no trouble Twilight. Thank you for letting me sleep with you. In your bed! I mean...um...” Fluttershy was crimson by this point and Twilight's stifled chuckles weren't helping.

“It's okay, I understand.” With a final good night, they both closed their eyes and began to dream of the upcoming shower.

When Twilight woke up, she didn't immediately open her eyes. She was comfortable in staying in the state of warmth she was in and seeing her teacher's bright sun right now would've ruined it. However, as her senses sharpened, she realized that she was much too warm from just being under the blanket, so she risked cracking her eyes open and relieved to see that the sun had yet to rise very high.

She opened her eyes all the way and looked to her right, only to very lightly press her muzzle against Fluttershy's, their lips mere centimeters apart. She looked down a little more and saw Fluttershy's arms wrapped around her, easily drawing the two together. 'Statistics show that usually when two ponies are this close they're supposed to...'

Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat as her face became warm. 'Maybe...maybe it'll be different this time. Perhaps I'll feel that tingle you're supposed to feel when you...kiss...the pony you love...' Twilight hesitated, knowing that it was risky to get her hopes up like this again. She had been quite devastated last time she had been in a situation like this. She frowned and in her head nodded. 'It's different this time. I'm not some infatuated school filly. I'm a mare now. I can do this!'

She took a quick breath then released it and got a tiny bit closer. It wasn't until now that she registered that she could feel Fluttershy's breath and hear a nearly silent snore coming from her. Twilight closed her eyes and closed the distance. In that moment, the world seemed to stand still for her. Twilight's senses seemed to elevate even higher in the state she was in.

She could feel the softness of Fluttershy's lips, hear the sound of their hearts beating in sync, everything seemed to be perfect. However, it was shattered when she heard a light gasp come from the pegasus. Instead of panicking like she wanted to, she simply kept her eyes closed and waited. Fluttershy moved her head away, but kept their bodies close. The lavender unicorn faintly heard her talking.

“Oh my...did I kiss her in my sleep?” Followed by silence. Then, she felt Fluttershy's breath on her face again. “It doesn't seem right to try when she's asleep...but...this may be my only chance...” Twilight was confused.

'I don't understand...does this mean she likes me? As in...love?' This time, it was Fluttershy who kissed her. It was different this time; Twilight felt a surge of happiness run through her as she just laid there, allowing Fluttershy to kiss her. 'Is this what love is supposed to feel like? I mean...here's a mare who could take care of me and I could care for her. We could make it through anything together as long as we had each other...'

Sadly, the kiss was short-lived as Fluttershy reluctantly pulled away. “I can't believe I did that...hopefully I'll be able to do it again soon...” It was this that caught Twilight's attention the most.

'Soon? Does she mean to ask me out?' On one hoof, Twilight was incredibly happy at the thought of having somepony to love and love her back. On the other hoof, her past experiences made her weary and cautious. 'No! I mean, this is Fluttershy...she wouldn't, no, couldn't hurt another pony even if by accident. She's much too sweet for that...and for me. Who am I kidding...I wouldn't be able to care for her like she could for me. She could easily find somepony else who is better for her...' Twilight sighed mentally and figured now wasn't the best time to reveal that she was awake, so she just drifted back into a fitful sleep.

When Twilight awoke again, the first thing she noticed was that Fluttershy was gone. The next thing she noticed was that the sun was on the horizon, but was a dull orange instead of being a bright yellow. She rolled out of bed and groaned, her mind a jumbled blur. She brushed her hair as she allowed the haze to clear from her mind and eyes and tried to figure out what had happened.

When she remembered, she wanted to just crawl back under the blankets. However, the prospect of stargazing cheered her back up (though not as much as she had hoped) and she started down the stairs. When she reached the bottom step, she couldn't help but smile at what she saw. Fluttershy was humming a melody to herself as she rearranged some of the books that Spike hadn't gotten around to yet, hovering just above her normal height.

Below her on the couch was a picnic basket, a telescope, and a blanket. 'Wow...' Was the only thing Twilight could think. She simply stood there and watched Fluttershy. As she did, she noticed how graceful the timid pony was in the air. 'Not that she isn't normally, but it's different when she's flying.' Twilight shook her head.

'No. You can't start thinking like that now. You don't deserve her so don't even think about it Twilight Sparkle.' She mentally reprimanded herself and she must've done something to make noise because Fluttershy spun around, a startled look on her face.

“Oh! Twilight, I didn't hear you come down the stairs. Are you alright? You've been asleep all day.”

“Er...yea. I'm alright. Guess my body figured that since I wasn't really going to do much during the day that it could catch up on some of the sleep I usually miss when I'm studying.” She said with a smile.

“Oh, that's good. You really don't get enough sleep with all of your studying. I'm not saying that's bad! I mean, um...” Fluttershy mumbled and tripped over her words trying to explain what she meant, causing Twilight to chuckle.

“It's okay Fluttershy, I know what you meant, and you're right. I need to sleep more, but I just can't help myself whenever I get into reading.” Fluttershy nodded, lowering herself down onto the floor and walking over to the picnic things.

“Well...are you ready to go?” Twilight nodded and grabbed the telescope with her magic as Fluttershy grabbed the basket and blanket, then the two headed out the door.

“So, did you have a spot planned for this? If not, I know of a few good stargazing spots around Ponyville.”

“Oh, I wouldn't doubt it, but I do have a spot in mind. That is, if that's okay. If you want to go to one of your spots, that's fine too. I'm sure any of the places you pick would be much better anyway.”

“No, it's quite alright Fluttershy. And who knows; maybe the place you picked is one of my favourite spots, or it could be an even better one.” The unicorn said, quickly getting her friend off the trail of thought she was on. 'Why does she always think negatively of herself? She's a great pony if only she herself could see that.' Twilight thought with a frown. She hated to see Fluttershy contradict herself like that, especially when there was an underlying tone of inferiority in it. It made Twilight feel like giving somepony a serious talking to about how it wasn't right to make a pony like that.

“Twilight? We're here.” Twilight lightly shook her head, then gaped in awe. The clearing that Fluttershy had chosen was just outside of Ponyville, but it overlooked a cliff that seemed to make the night sky that much larger. The ground was soft and flat, perfect for this kind of nocturnal pursuit.

“Wow Fluttershy...this is perfect! How did you find this place?”

“Oh...well, I like to come here to think sometimes...” Fluttershy was hiding her face behind her mane, but Twilight only smiled. She had seen the blush that was creeping onto her friend's face. 'Don't encourage her! You don't want to break her heart do you? Do you really want to hurt her more than she already will be?'

Twilight cringed at the harshness behind her words, knowing that she was right. 'This is going to be the worst night of her life...and it's going to be all my fault. Maybe coming wasn't such a good idea after all...'

“Twilight, could you please help me unfold the blanket?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She gripped the other half of the blanket within her teeth and they quickly set the blanket and picnic up.

“This is going to be a wonderful night.” Fluttershy said happily, grabbing things from the basket.

“Er...yea.” Was all Twilight said. She sat next to Fluttershy and thanked her for the glass of cider that was offered. She took a large sip and just waited.

“Are you okay Twilight? I mean, I figured you'd be a lot more talkative about this kind of thing.”

“Sorry, I just got caught up thinking about it...Oh look! It's starting!” Fluttershy turned away from her and looked upon awe as colourful streaks graced the clear night sky, illuminating the land with beautiful hues of green, red, violet, and white. As the two mares watched, neither of them noticed the pony coming up the hill behind them. “Umm...Twilight? Can I tell you something important?”

'Oh no...here it comes...' Twilight took a few deep breaths before answering. “Of course you can Fluttershy.” The pegasus pawed at the ground while she hid her face with her mane.

“Well...you see...um...well...What I mean is...” She looked up and Twilight saw determination and affection in Fluttershy's eyes. “I love you.” Twilight expected a whisper, but it came out in her normal speaking voice. “I want to be with you Twilight Sparkle. I want to be the pony who helps you through troubled times. I want to be the pony you see when you wake up in the morning. I want to be the pony who gets to say 'I love you' to you every day. I want to be your marefriend...I mean...if that's okay.”

“Fluttershy...I-”

“Hello ladies.” Both Twilight and Fluttershy leapt into the air out of fear from the unexpected voice.

Twilight was the first to recover. “Star Bright? Is that you?” He just smiled.

“Twilight Sparkle! It has been much too long.” He said with a smooth tone. He walked up and looked between the two of them. “Umm...is your friend going to be okay Twilight?” She gave him a questioning stare, then looked over to Fluttershy. What she saw nearly killed her. The pegasus was doing her best not to let the tears in her eyes flow, her whole body was trembling and her wings were actually drooping.

“Fluttershy, are you-”

“I'm fine!” Was the teary reply she got as Fluttershy got up and ran off, flapping her wings and taking to the sky within seconds.

“Fluttershy wait!”

“Last time I checked, it was you running away, not the other way around.” Twilight spun, her brow furrowed and a scowl on her face.

“Why are you here Star Bright?” He laughed, holding up a hoof.

“My my, such aggression. Is that really the way the protege of the princess should behave?”

“I asked you a question.” Was all the lavender mare said, never taking her eyes off the unicorn before her. His coat was a lightish grey colour with a wavy pale blue mane and golden eyes that seemed to speak to anypony that looked into them. His cutie mark was of a telescope.

“I'm here because I heard of the meteor shower that was happening tonight.” Twilight simply continued to scowl.

“Well, it's over so you can go now.” She hissed, stomping her hoof in annoyance.

“You can't seriously still be upset with what happened those six odd years ago.”

“Six is an even number, and after what you pulled? How COULD I forgive you?”Her voice was dripping pure venom by now and she saw a shift in his eyes.

“By Celestia you are just as bitter now as you were back then. At least I tried to give you an out; a way to have fun.”

“You did no such thing! You just wanted to say that you had been with the Princess's personal student is all.” His grin changed into something that made Twilight want to gag just from looking at it.

“So? Is there anything wrong with wanting to bed a mare as...distant as you? Ask any stallion and I'll bet they all say the same thing.” He adopted a fake voice and said, “Who, Twilight Sparkle? Yea! She's always alone and such, she must be such a freak in bed!” He sneered at her and she simply rolled her eyes.

“That's why I don't associate with too many stallions Star Bright.” She said, saying his name as if spitting out a vile liquid (but to her it was basically the same thing).

“One of these days Twilight, you come out of your “fillyfooling stage” and realize that I'm probably the best thing for you. But until then, you know where to find me.” He laughed and walked off, leaving behind a furious Twilight Sparkle. She wanted to scream aloud, but she didn't dare give him the satisfaction.

“I didn't then and I won't now.” She packed up the picnic things and teleported home. When she appeared in the library, she heard Spike scream in terror and drop something, causing a loud crashing sound. “Spike, it's just me.” She said, quickly placing the things on the couch and walking into the kitchen where he had been. He was sitting in the middle of a large pile of broken dishes with a look of exasperation.

“What's going on Twilight?”

“I have to find Fluttershy, so if I'm not back in an hour, go to bed. Got it?” He just nodded. He had seen that look in her eyes before and knew better not to argue. Her eyes held that strange look of fear, doubt, and determination that she got when something was seriously wrong. He wanted to ask; to see if he could help in any way her could, but by the time he had gotten back up, she had rushed out of the library, leaving the door hanging open. 'Please Fluttershy, please be home!'

(Author's Note: Alrighty, part 2. I'm honestly kind of surprised at how many people have read this already. I figured it'd be one of those stories that just kinda sat around, but I'm rambling. Umm...Oh! According to a good number of people, I have terrible formatting skills and I apologize. I'm still trying to figure everything out so I apologize.
However, if it's still bad in this chapter, leave me some tips to help fix it to make it more readable mkay? Also, someone pointed out that I was moving a bit fast in the beginning. I'm trying not to make it too fast, but not too slow. I've read a good number of stories that people complained about it being too slow to get into anything so...yea. Anyways, I'm just babbling now so...bye ^^)