Fluttershy trotted up to the door and took a fortifying breath to calm her nerves. She looked behind her to Spike down the hall, who gave her an encouraging thumbs up. She gave half a smile then turned to the door and knocked.
“Come in?” asked a voice from inside.
The Pegasus gulped and opened the door enough to poke her head inside. Twilight was sitting with her legs tucked in on the sofa, magic levitating a book before her. The pages turned at a rate that Fluttershy was always impressed at.
Seemingly coming to the end of one of the pages, Twilight looked up and smiled. “Oh, hey Fluttershy. Want to come sit with me?” she asked.
Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and nodded. She trotted over and nestled in next to Twilight. The alicorn lifted one wing and draped it over her once she was in place. For such a small, feathery thing, it felt like a warm blanket to Fluttershy, and comforted her as such.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Fluttershy said softly, glancing at the tome Twilight was reading. A quick scan proved it was beyond her comprehension, so she settled for settling closer.
“Oh, you’re not,” Twilight said, taking the time away from her reading to lean over and kiss Fluttershy atop the head. “I was just doing a couple of chapters on healing spells. Could come in handy sometime.”
Fluttershy beamed through her blush and nodded. She rolled around what she wanted to say on her tongue, but every time she glanced up at Twilight, she saw how engrossed she was with the book. So she swallowed the words for the time being – they weren’t going anywhere.
“So, did you need anything?” Twilight asked, glancing down at Fluttershy. It wasn’t unkind, but instead distracted. Fluttershy had noted the tone whenever her marefriend was busy.
“Oh! Um, actually… I came in to tell you that lunch is ready,” Fluttershy said, hoping her words didn’t seem rushed.
“Is it noon already?” Twilight blinked in surprise as she slipped a bookmark into the book and shut it. Just as she sat it down, her stomach growled at her, making Fluttershy jump slightly.
Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “I guess I lost track of time. Lunch sounds great,” she said, hopping off the couch. She waited for Fluttershy to hop off before they headed out of the library together. “So, what’re we having?”
“You’ll see. It’s something special,” Fluttershy said, putting on a warm, brave smile.
“Oh?” Twilight tilted her head. “Oh no! Did I forget our anniversary? Your birthday?”
Fluttershy giggled softly and shook her head. “No, you didn’t.” She lightly patted Twilight on the back with her wing as they headed downstairs. “I just wanted to make you something special.”
Twilight’s eyebrows raised. “You made it? Fluttershy, you didn’t have to—“
The Pegasus cut her off with a raised hoof. “No, I did want to. I wanted to make you something to show how much I appreciate my friends—and especially you—helping me get over my fears.”
Twilight blushed softly, looking away sheepishly. “Wow… I don’t know what to say…”
As they approached the kitchen, Twilight sniffed the air. “Huh. I don’t smell anything. Did you make us sandwiches or something?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” Fluttershy replied, opening the kitchen door and letting Twilight go first. As Twilight stepped in, her nose caught whiff of something familiar and she stiffened like a stone Discord.
There they sat, a dozen or so jagged triangles like a shark’s maw, ready to pounce on her. They oozed with an orange and white substance like viscous lava. Their seasoning burned her nostrils with its kick and spice.
Cheese quesadillas.
She jumped when the door slammed shut behind her, Fluttershy on her hind legs barricading it. Heavy breathing came over Twilight as she looked around for another escape. That’s when she saw Spike covering the other entrance, wearing a strainer on his head and wielding a wooden spoon.
“I sure hope this works, Fluttershy!” he called.
Twilight ran around the kitchen, shying away and glancing at the quesadillas, as if they were just waiting to pounce, waiting for an opportunity to go for an eye, or a wing, or maybe her horn—
Her horn! Twilight concentrated magic at lightspeed and thought of someplace, any place: Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres, even Rainbow Dash’s house. Each time the magic coursed through her, and each time she cracked open an eye to find she was still in the kitchen.
“Wha… How is my spell not working?” she asked frantically, looking to her horn.
“That would be because of me, Twilight.”
Twilight whirled around and her jaw dropped through the floor. Princess Celestia stood next to Fluttershy, her horn burning with golden magic.
“Pr-Princess Celestia?” Twilight spluttered. “Even you?”
“Yes, my faithful student,” Celestia said with a regal nod. “It’s an anti-magic bubble, nullifying teleportation. I’ve cast it over this entire room.”
“B-But why?” Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes as she looked on, heartbroken, between her mentor, her (basically) son, and her marefriend. “Wh-Why would y-you do this to me?”
Fluttershy stepped forward, looking saddened but head held high. “Twilight,” she said softly. “You and the other girls have helped me so much with my fears and with standing up for myself. As my marefriend, I want to help you the way you helped me.”
She reached out and took one of Twilight’s front hooves in both her own. “I know this is difficult, and it pains me to see you like this, but as I learned with the Breezies – sometimes to be kind, you have to not be nice.”
Celestia nodded in approval. “To be honest, Twilight: I wasn’t sure this plan was a good idea. But when I saw how much resolve Fluttershy had to help you, I knew it was from a place of love.” She set a hoof on her chest. “I know this is a tortuous experience for you, maybe one of the more difficult things you’ve faced, but you can get through this.”
“We can get through this, together,” Fluttershy concluded, face alight with a hopeful smile and sparkling eyes.
Twilight swallowed, looking between Celestia and Fluttershy, and then around to Spike, who hadn’t lowered his guard.
“We care about you, Twi,” he said. “So please, let us help you… and also, don’t shoot us with magic lasers.”
Twilight smiled softly, but a shudder ran through her as her eyes glanced over the quesadillas. She turned to Fluttershy, and nodded. “Ok… I’ll try…” she said softly.
Fluttershy pulled her into a warm embrace, which Twilight welcomed, burying her muzzle into Fluttershy’s mane. It always had a calming effect on her, like lavender.
“Um…” Twilight pulled away, rubbing one hoof against her foreleg. “Could… Fluttershy and I do this… alone?” She flushed with embarrassment as she risked a glance up at Celestia.
“Of course,” she said kindly. “We’ll just be outside. Come along, Spike.”
She turned and walked through the kitchen door, holding it open for the waddling dragonling—who gave Twilight a reassuring pat on the back as he went past—before shutting it behind her.
Twilight swallowed again and turned to the quesadilla’s. Fluttershy noticed the slight tremble in her body and her shaky breath, so she held onto one of Twilight’s hooves. With her other hoof, she stroked it softly.
“Twilight, why is it you’re afraid of quesadillas?” she asked kindly.
“Well… I know it sounds silly, but—“
Fluttershy cut her off with a firm shake of her head. “No fear is ‘silly,’ Twilight. Not with the way it has this effect on you.” She planted a soft kiss on the hoof she was stroking. “Now, tell me what happened.”
Twilight nodded, eyes falling on the quesadillas and growing distant. “It was back when I was a little filly, living with my parents in Canterlot…”
Twilight bounced eagerly around her mother in the kitchen. “Whatcha making? Huh? Huh? Huh?” she asked excitedly.
Twilight Velvet giggled and patted her on the head. “Well, I thought I’d try something different for dinner tonight,” she said. She crouched down to little Twilight’s height. “How does ‘quesadillas’ sound?”
Twilight wrinkled her muzzle and tilted her head. “Case-uh-dee-uhs? What are those?”
“That’s my girl, always asking questions,” Velvet said with a nod. “Quesadillas are from Southern Equestria. They aren’t much—a flour shell, some gooey cheese, and a little bit of seasoning—but I’ve been told they taste wonderful.”
Twilight nodded eagerly and tilted her muzzle into the air, inhaling and sighing. The smell her mother had described was overflowing in the kitchen. “They smell wonderful.”
“Don’t they?” Just then, the oven dinged. The smell enveloping the kitchen tripled as Velvet removed the baking sheet with her magic, loaded with dozens of little cheese-filled wedges. Twilight watched in awe as they were set on the counter.
“I’m going to go set the table – you go get your brother, Twilight,” Velvet said as she got out the plates and headed for the table.
“Okay, mom,” Twilight said. She turned to leave, but stopped. Captivated by the smell of the quesadillas, a clever smirk crept over Twilight’s muzzle.
Scooting a stool over, she clambered up to their height, eyes sparkling in awe at their crispy flour shells and gooey cheese stuffing. She licked her lips as she plucked up on in her magic – surely one little taste wouldn’t hurt?
She huffed and puffed, blowing on it a few times, before taking a nibble out of one of the corners, where just a teensy bit of cheese was leaking out. Twilight hummed with delight, swooning at the flavor.
Unfortunately, said swooning caused her to lose her balance on the stool. She fell off, looking up to see the stool smack into the edge of the baking sheet on the counter. It wasn’t a strong tip, but it flung the quesadillas enough for them to fly straight at her.
Twilight gasped in horror before her vision was blocked out by the cheesy wedges.
"A-And then.” Twilight sniffled. Fluttershy had both hooves wrapped around her at this point, though it wasn’t helping Twilight’s shaking. “It was just so… hot. Like my face was getting burned off. They were only there for a second—I used my magic to blast them off me—but it still hurt. My parents took me to the hospital, and I barely got burned, but… after that, I couldn’t even look at a quesadilla, couldn’t even smell one, without feeling it all over again.”
Fluttershy nodded in understanding. “It’s alright, Twilight,” she said soothingly. “That does sound like a very traumatic experience. And you were so young, I’m sure you were terrified.”
Twilight nodded, wiping at the tears running down her face. “B-But I feel like such an idiot now… look at everything we’ve faced, and I’m here scared of a snack.”
The Pegasus shushed her. “It’s a snack that hurt you, even if it was an accident,” she said. “But look at them now, now that you’ve gotten it all off your chest. Do they seem scary to you?”
Twilight looked up at the plate of quesadillas, now lukewarm at best. For the first time, she realized not only was she at their height on the counter, she was taller than them. They didn’t jump at her, and they didn’t look ready to.
“N-No. I guess not.” Twilight wiped at her eyes.
“Alright then, confront them. Show them who’s boss. They can’t hurt you.”
Twilight looked to her. Fluttershy’s eyes gleamed with determination and she firmly nodded. Hesitantly, the alicorn approached the quesadillas and ever so carefully lifted one up in her magic.
Now that it was up close, the flour shell and cheese looked harmless. She turned it this way and that in examination, but nothing happened.
“Go on, try a bite,” Fluttershy encouraged. “I’m sure it’s cooled off by now.”
Gulping, Twilight hesitantly craned forward and took the ever so slightest bite out of one of the corners.
Her eyes shot open as the taste hit her. A wave of sensation that harkened back to that fateful day lit up her taste buds. She hummed with delight and swooned all over again as she chewed.
Fluttershy walked over to her, looking up to her marefriend hopefully. Twilight was in her own world of delight as she took bite after bite of the quesadilla until it was all gone. She clapped her hooves together joyfully, startling Twilight out of her euphoria.
“You did it, Twilight!” Fluttershy cheered. “How’s it feel to get over your fear?”
Twilight blushed, realizing the quesadilla was in fact gone, and the others were not bent on burning her. She swallowed the last bite, amazed even at herself. “It feels… good,” she said, smiling down at Fluttershy.
The Pegasus let out a little squeak as Twilight hugged her tightly, nuzzling against her mane. “Thank you, Fluttershy. You’re the best marefriend a pony could have.”
Fluttershy turned a shade of pink reminiscent of Pinkie Pie’s mane, and nestled against Twilight’s neck and shut her eyes. “You’re welcome,” she said quietly.
When they finally pulled apart, Twilight levitated up a quesadilla for Fluttershy, and then one for herself. They each took a bite.
“So, how are the quesadillas?” Fluttershy asked, before swallowing. “This is my first time making them.”
“They’re great, but…” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “They’re a little cold.”
Fluttershy giggled. “Well, we can always heat them up a little in the oven.” She craned up to grab the plate in her mouth, flushed slightly, and smiled sheepishly at Twilight. “Not too hot, of course.”
Twilight giggled as Fluttershy plucked up the plate, deposited its contents on the recently used baking sheet, and carried that over to the oven.
Outside the kitchen door, Spike tapped his foot impatiently, arms crossed. “How long is this going to take?” he asked Celestia.
“Have patience, Spike. All good things come to those who wait,” Celestia said kindly.
“I know, but its lunchtime. And I’m a growing dragon.”
Celestia hummed, then nodded. She walked over and opened the kitchen door enough to peek inside.
Twilight and Fluttershy were giggling together, Twilight with her wing draped around Fluttershy to hold her close. The two were seated in front of the oven, the warm smell of cooking quesadillas wafting from the kitchen. A plate sat on the counter by the oven, littered with crumbs and gobs of melted cheese.
As Celestia shut the door and returned to Spike, she had a warm smile on her muzzle. “Well, I don’t think well be needing the bubble anymore,” she said, dispelling her magic.
Spike perked up. “Are they done?”
“Yes, Spike, but I’d give them a few more minutes alone together. Just let them know I’ve returned to Canterlot… and tell them both how proud I am.”
And with that, Celestia vanished in a burst of golden light. Spike crossed his arms and plopped down on the floor.
“I sure hope they saved some quesadillas for me.”
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 4/20/20
I wrote "All's Fair in Love and War Games" before I wrote this one. I wanted a story that'd sort of counterbalance it. I swapped Twilight and Pinkie's partners from the batch of stories I did for Hearts and Hooves Day: so where "All's Fair in Love and War Games" focused on Rarity and Pinkie Pie, I decided to make a story focusing on Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. Also, someone on the Quills and Sofas Discord wanted TwiShy.
The song I listened to while I wrote this was, I believe, was "Home" from Undertale. I honestly don't remember, but that feels the most right.
I don't know about you people, but I was sure hungry for a cheesy quesadilla after I finished.
-yours truly,
The legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast
