The Princess and The Penis

“Have you seen my earrings?”

“You put them on the vanity, dear.”

In a flash of light, a pink blur shoots past the stallion. While total chaos happens behind him, he looks calmly into his mirror, fixing his bowtie until it’s completely perpendicular to his neck.

“Oh, no! Where’s my necklace?”

“On the dresser, dear.” Again, another pink blur soars behind him, but the white stallion never once takes his eyes off of the image in the mirror. “How does this look? Do you think it looks straight?”

Finally, he looks in your direction, showing you a less-than-confident smile while you try to ignore the flashing colors at his back.

“Uhh, yeah!” you say with similar confidence--or lack thereof. “If 180 degrees had a picture in the dictionary, it would definitely be that bowtie!”

Shining Armor tries to smile past the obvious cringe on his face, but before he can react, the roseate blur finally takes the shape of an alicorn mare, tilting her crown as she takes her husband’s place in front of the mirror. “Thank you again for coming so last minute, Anon!” she says, imitating the exact scene her husband was doing just a moment ago. “You probably had plans tonight, but we just barely got message about the new yak coronation, and you know how unreasonable their standards can be sometimes, plus you’re Flurry Heart’s favorite foal-sitter, and--”

“Don’t worry!” you say, holding up your hands before Cadence can talk herself into an even bigger panic attack. “I promise I didn’t have anything going on tonight. You just worry about getting to Yakyakistan before they start without you!”

As Cadence finishes the final touches on her crown, however, Shining Armor breathes a sigh of relief before placing his hoof on your shoulder. “Thanks, man. I know I can always count on you in a pinch, especially since Flurry asked for you specifically.”

You rub the back of your head and blush. “I didn’t realize I was that good at foal-sitting.”

“I guess she’s just more comfortable with you than one of the royal servants.” The stallion chuckles, looking off into the distance. “It seems like just yesterday when we first introduced you to her. Remember how she used to call you Uncle Nonny?”

“You know, I was just thinking about that.” Shining Armor lifts a curious eyebrow. “Do you really think she needs a foal-sitter? I mean, she’s already ten years old, after all.”

The white stallion blinks like you’re telling a joke, then leans in closer with a look of concern. “Anon, I appreciate that you think Flurry Heart is responsible enough to take care of herself while we’re gone, but we’re not exactly going to a play where we can come back after a couple hours. We’re going all the way to Yakyakistan. We’ll be gone for three days bare minimum. Can you imagine what would happen if Flurry got hurt while we were away?”

Suddenly, Cadence’s ears perk up. “What? Who’s hurt? Do we still have the number for that surgeon in Canterlot?”

With a soft chuckle, Shining Armor places a gentle hoof onto his wife’s back. “Don’t worry, honey. Everything will be fine. Anon has everything covered, don’t you, buddy?”

“Of course!” you say, giving the couple a thumbs up, and in all actuality, you’re not the least bit concerned. You must have foalsat for Flurry Heart a good twenty times by now, and the only thing that makes tonight different than any other night is the fact that you’ll be staying over for the night…. sleeping in their bed… not weird, right?

With a deep sigh, the princess of love places a hoof onto her chest, giving you a smile to contrast her previous panic attack. “Thank you, Anon. I don’t know what we’d do without somepony--er, creature--as dependable as you are.”

You’ll probably never get used to ponies calling you that.

“Hey, you guys have a train to catch, don’t you?” As soon as the words come out of your mouth, though, the two ponies in front of you tilt their heads in confusion. “Uh… You do take a train to Yakyakistan, don’t you? You know what? I’m just going to stop pretending like I know Equestrian geography. Where’s Flurry, by the way?”

“Oh, she’s just taking a bath right now,” Cadence answers. “She said she wanted to get freshened up before you got here.”

Now you’re the one tilting your head to the side. “Is that normal? Like does she do that for all of her foalsitters?”

Before they can answer your question, however, a nearby clock begins to ding throughout the crystal castle, filling the corridors with a loud echo. Just as soon as Shining Armor and Cadence had stopped panicking, the anxiety from before returns with just as much severity as earlier, leaving the two of them jittering nervously again.

“Shoot! We’re going to be late!” Cadence exclaims. “Make sure Flurry Heart eats her carrots and brushes her teeth before bed. We’ll see you in a few days! The first aid kit is in the pantry if you need it!”

Shining then grabs Cadence around the waist, gently leading her towards the front doors before she can find something else to worry about, and with a silent wave to send them off, you find yourself alone in the crystal castle. The door shuts with a loud clang that could only be made possible by double doors made specifically for royalty. You still can’t believe that out of all the ponies that exist in this world, you happened to become best friends with probably the most famous couple in all of Equestria!

That enthusiasm quickly fades away, however, as soon as you realize that you need some snacks.

“Gonna get me some creampuffs, some soft, sugary crea-hee-heempuffs,” you sing giddily as you dance your way over to the kitchen pantry. The compensation is nice for how little work you have to do, but probably the best part of your job is the open access to all of their delicious treats. At least, they’ve never said you couldn’t eat all their food. “Let’s see… Cereal, rice, peanutbutter--Huh. Yep, there’s the first aid kit. They definitely put it in a place I would remember, but where are those--”

“Heyyyy, Nonny~!”

You suddenly turn your head to see a light pink foal with a multicolored mane standing behind you, fluttering her eyelashes. Half of your mind is wondering if she’s actually wearing makeup, but the other half of you is still stuck on where you’ll be able to find those snacks in their enormous kitchen.

“Hey, Flurry! Done with your bath already?”

“Maaaayyyybeeee.” She then approaches even nearer, leaning her face towards yours at an almost intimate closeness. “You know, the water’s still warm if you wanted to take one yourself.”

“Hmm? No, I’m good. I took a shower last Tuesday. Say, do you know where your parents put all the junk food around here?”

The alicorn’s cheek immediately puffs out as her eyebrows furrow in agitation. “I’m right in front of you and all you can think about is food?!”

Your giddy grin begins to disappear just as quickly as it came. You completely forgot that even though she’s not exactly a misbehaved foal, she’s still a princess, with all the bells and whistles that come from a high-maintenance filly with a need for constant attention. With a sigh, you ignore your sugar cravings just long enough to squat down to her eye level, giving her the biggest smile in your arsenal.

“Sorry. You’re right. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my favorite filly, hasn’t it?”

Finally, her apprehensive scowl begins to soften, once again turning into that girly smirk that she loves to show off. “Too long! How come you never come over anymore? You haven’t found a girlfriend yet, haaaave yoooouuu?”

Flurry Heart leans forward to put a hoof on your chest, coming in just close enough for you to smell the lavender-scented body wash from her recent bath. With your cheeks turning a soft shade of red, however, you casually back away, rubbing the back of your head.

“Uh, n-no, I haven’t quite met the right pony yet.”

The filly snickers. “So you’re available, then.”

‘Alone’ was more like what you had in mind, but you like Flurry Heart’s idea better.

“Listen,” you say, “I think I might have an idea that could make us both happy.”

“You marrying me?”

“...Or you could tell me where your parents stash the creampuffs and I won’t mention how I let you eat sweets before dinner.” The alicorn’s smile fades again, this time giving you a blank, annoyed expression that you should have seen coming. “Plus, we can eat them together and have one of those… conversation thingies you like to do.”

Suddenly, her demeanor does a complete 180 to the point where you can practically see sparkles in her eyes. “You mean my open-heart confession sessions?! Yes! Oh, and my mom put the creampuffs on the top shelf where only somepony who can use magic will be able to reach them. She hid them up there so you wouldn’t keep eating all our food.”

You blink in surprise, ready to curse out that stupid horse lady right in front of her daughter until you see a box of creampuffs being lowered by a golden glow. This filly always finds a way to warm your heart, probably just because she knows that it’s the only way you’ll actually talk to her, which is sort of weird in your mind. When you were a kid, you wanted the babysitter to leave you alone so you could play videogames while your parents were away, but Flurry Heart can’t seem to get enough of you.

“Come on!” she shouts, grabbing onto the hand that isn’t holding onto a box of sweets. “Let’s go to my room! You can see all the redecorating I’ve done!”

“Oh, did you reorganize your doll collection?”

You’re totally serious, but Flurry Heart gives you a look of disdain. “Quit being a butt and let’s goooo!”

Honestly, even after spending as much time with her as you do, you still haven’t quite mastered the art of saying the right things to her yet. You somehow always manage to say things that offend her in some way, but for some weird reason, she never holds it against you. Even growing up with a castle and servants, she never acts the least bit spoiled or bratty. She just wants you, flaws and all, and even though you don’t see why, she always seems so happy just being near you.

You half-follow her/half-get tugged away as she leads you up to her bedroom. Just so long as she’s happy and safe, this job will be a breeze…

...or so you thought.

“Nope. I’m leaving.”

“Waaaaiiittt!”

As soon as you turn back towards the hallway, Flurry Heart grabs onto your hand, flapping her wings as hard as she can to keep you from leaving. You can just barely outpower her, but you also know that she could easily just put you in a magical forcefield if you struggle too hard. Finally, you stop where you stand, let out a long sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose.

“Honestly, what did you expect me to say when I saw this?”

“That you love me?”

Not exactly the phrase you’d normally say to a filly when you walk into her room and see rose petals scattered everywhere. She even has candles lit up in various places, making you wonder who would ever think it was a good idea to let her use matches.

“How did you even get this all set up?” you ask.

“Oh, I just had one of the royal servants take care of this for me. She supports our love.” You give her a dull stare, but she either ignores it or is too dense to notice. “So what do you think? Pretty romantic, huh?”

“...I’m telling your dad.”

“NO!” Flurry Heart then falls onto her stomach, reaching up to grab your hands as she pleads dramatically. “I’ll do whatever you want! Just please don’t tell him!”

You lift an eyebrow in suspicion. You know that she’s serious about not wanting you to tell her dad about this, but you also know that the longest she’d be able to keep herself from bringing it up again would be around eleven seconds. You breathe heavily, wiggling one hand out of Flurry Heart’s grip to run your hand through your hair.

“Fine. Let’s just have one of those talky obsessions sessions you mentioned earlier.”

“Yes!” Flurry heart quickly blows out all the candles and turns on the lights to her bedroom, using her magic to pull out chairs, a table, and a tea set on top. “You can sit here, Anon. Since my parents are gonna be gone for a while, that means the two of us can have a looooooong discussion this time.”

“Oh. Cool.” You take your place at the table across from her, but you’re more focused on eating as many creampuffs as you can than having an actual, enjoyable conversation. Maybe if you bore her enough, she’ll leave you alone and start watching cartoons or something. “So--munchmunchmunch--what jij you wanga kalk about?”

Flurry Heart’s pupils turn into hearts for some unknown reason as she rests her chin in her hooves, which gradually fall weakly on the table. “Oh, Anon. I thought you’d never ask! I wanted to talk to you about how you met my daddy.”

You gulp a hard creampuff down your throat before lifting an eyebrow. “Seriously? Have I never told you that story?”

“You probably have. Sometimes I stop paying attention and just stare into your eyes.”

“...Yeah, you’re gonna have to stop that. Anyway, we actually met through Sunburst.”

Flurry Heart tilts her head as she pours herself a glass of tea. “My magic teacher?”

“Yeah. When I first came to Equestria, Princess Celestia sent me over to the Crystal Empire so that Sunburst could see if humans had any possible magical capabilities in this world.” You take another bite into your creampuff, washing it down with chamomile as Flurry listens with interest. “Turns out we don’t, but that’s how I met your dad. Since Sunburst is your magic teacher, I ran into your dad a lot while Sunburst was running analysis projects. Then we just kinda hit it off, and you know basically everything that happened after that.”

“How did you end up in Equestria, anyway?”

“One of Twilight’s spells went wrong.”

“Ah. Always a good trope.”

You’re about to take out another creampuff and begin digging in, but you notice that Flurry Heart is just sitting there with a smile on her face, eagerly awaiting for you to talk more about yourself. Finally, you put the snack back into its box and place the box on the table, leaning in with a smile of your own.

“How about you, Flurry? I feel like we talk about me all the time, but I don’t really know what’s going on in your life.”

The alicorn practically spits out her tea, her pupils turning into stars as she smiles from ear to ear, immediately making you regret your decision. As quickly as her face turns to pure excitement, though, her grin fades as she places a hoof to her chin, looking off into the distance.

“You know, now that you bring it up, I don’t really know what to talk about. You know my parents, you know I’m a princess, you’ve seen my house…”

“How about your friends?”

The filly suddenly cringes, not like you said something weird, but more like you brought up something she doesn’t want to talk about. Then, to make things worse, she looks down at her table, her ears folding down as her smile droops further. “I… I don’t really have any friends. I have ponies my age at school that I talk to, but it’s different when you’re a princess.”

You lean back in your seat, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean none of us are really friends. Can you imagine how awkward it would be for our parents if I got into a fight with a friend at school? These aren’t dentists and librarians we’re talking about. Our parents are all nobles, politicians and diplomats. We’re just supposed to behave in the meantime so that they can all do their jobs without having to worry about their foals screwing up public relations.”

“Public relations? How do you even know those words?”

“It’s just the common vernacular we use at Crystal Prep. Why? Are you impressed?! Please say yes!”

To be honest, you are, but you can’t let her know that. Just the idea of how she would act if she found out that she could impress you would lead to a slippery slope you don’t feel like going down right now. Still, though, when you were her age, the only thing you learned at school was how to breathe with two pencils shoved up your nose.

“Sounds rough.”

“Yeah… but that’s OK! You don’t have any friends either, right, Anon?”

You furrow your eyebrows while your mouth hangs in offense. “I’m literally only here because I’m friends with your dad.”

“No, you’re here because we’re soul mates, but I guess my daddy still counts as at least one friend.”

“...Can we get off this topic? Like can we play a game, or something?”

Flurry Heart’s ears immediately perk up. “OK! Let’s play truth or dare!”

“.................How ‘bout no?”

“Yeah, I didn’t really have much hope for that one. Can we play with my dollhouse instead? It’s always more fun when there are two of us playing.”

As much as you feel your masculinity leaving you just from the idea of playing with dolls, you’d happily do anything to get out of another one of her awkward confession sessions. Of course, there’s still more than likely the chance that this will turn into a reimagination of your wedding day with Flurry Heart, but at least it will take her mind off of how many friends you have.

After you nod your head, Flurry Heart squeals happily, surrounding her environment in a bright gold aura that eventually swaps places with her tea table and playhouse. It’s something that only the most affluent ponies would be able to afford, taking up half of her carpet and towering up to basically half your standing height. Then, getting down onto your knees, Flurry Heart levitates a stallion doll into your hand, beaming wide as she sets up the scene.

Finally, it hits you. This girl probably doesn’t get the chance to play with anypony but her servants. This is probably one of the few highlights she has to look forward to: getting to play just like a regular kid her age. You still hate that you have to spend your night playing with dolls, but seeing that smile on Flurry Heart’s face makes you completely forget about everything except for her. Then, before you know it, you’re smiling along with her, having just as much fun as she is pretending out an imaginary scene where the two of you can be whoever you want to be.

“Unf… Urk… Ugh.”

You twist and turn on the bed beneath you, unable to find a comfortable position that horses somehow use to fall asleep. Back at your place, you were given an exact replica of your bed from your home world, but this is the first time you’ve ever tried sleeping in a bed made for a pony. It’s weird how similar the two are, yet for some weird reason, it just feels off somehow. Maybe you’re just overthinking it, though, and there really is no difference from what you have back at home.

“Nguhh.”

You turn over again, but nothing is different. The only thing you’re accomplishing is making funny grunt noises, which you’re glad nopony is around to hear… right?

*Creeeeak!*

“Anon, you’re too loud.”

You then weakly lift your head up to see Flurry Heart in yellow pajamas standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with her hoof while levitating a teddy bear. Either she was sleeping outside your bedroom just now, or you’re pretty sure you’ve woken up half of the royal servants without realizing it.

“Sorry, Flurry. You should go back to bed. I’ll try to just pick a position and stay there.”

“No way! You obviously need some help falling asleep, and your auntie Flurry Heart is here to assist you!”

Before you can even vocalize your disapproval, though, she leaps into the air and lands onto your bed, flopping down with a grunt. Again, you open your mouth to tell her to go back to bed, but she’s already managed to lift up the blankets and snuggle herself into the sheets beside you, nuzzling her face into your shoulder. She’s so soft, like a giant stuffed animal made to help grownups fall asleep. Before you can let her trick you into letting her stay, though, you sit up and pull the covers off of her, watching her shiver theatrically.

“Come on. Get up.”

“Zzzzzzz…”

“You know, saying the letter z over and over again doesn’t--”

“ZZZZZZZZ!!!!”

You palm your face, groaning defeatedly before turning back towards the filly pretending to sleep. “Come on, Flurry! What would your parents say if they found out you were trying to sleep in the same bed as me?”

“Oh!” she blurts out as if she wasn’t sound asleep two seconds ago. “I asked my mom if I could sleep in the same room as you if I had a bad dream. She said it was fine so long as you didn’t mind.”

“But you didn’t have a bad dream!”

As soon as the words come out of your mouth, though, a small tear falls down her face, and as much as you want to believe she’s just faking it, you can never be sure with this girl. “Are you saying…” she sobs, sniffling as she wipes away her tears, “...that you really do mind?”

Yes. Or… at least that’s what you thought you were going to say. As surprised as you are that Cadence gave you a green light to kick Flurry Heart out of your bed, you’re even more shocked knowing that she gave her permission to sleep in the same room as you in the first place. It’s not like a princess could just sleep on the floor, and Cadence knows that you’d never give up your bed. Then by that logic… she knew that Flurry would want to sleep in the same bed as you?

You shake your head in a vain attempt to clear your mind. You’ve got to be reading into things too much. Still, though, while you’re debating semantics in your head, Flurry Heart is busy weeping beside you, and even if she is faking it, you can’t help but feel bad for the girl. Finally, placing your hand on the filly’s head, rubbing your fingers through her mane, you silence her tears, smiling down at her with a grin that hides how bitter you are on the inside.

“I guess… that would be fine.”

Flurry Heart sniffles again, trying to smile but obviously hesitant about the possibility of having her dreams crushed. “You mean it, Anon? I can really sleep with you?”

“Platonically speaking, yes.”

“Yaaaaaay!” She doesn’t waste a second, capturing the blanket with her magic and pulling it over both of your bodies, placing a hoof over your chest as she coos happily. “I’m so glad I have you as my foalsitter.”

That sentence, however, brings up a question you’ve had in your mind for a while. “Hey, Flurry…”

“Yes, husband?”

“I’ve been wondering… What is it exactly that you like about me?”

Finally, Flurry unburies her face from your shoulder to look into your eyes with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” You look up at the ceiling, feeling her hoof hold you closer as you try to find some way to phrase your next statement without killing the mood. Wait… Why do you care about ruining the mood again? “You seem to really like me, but I don’t get why. I’m just some random guy that your dad just happened to run into while he was taking you to your magic lessons. I’m not rich or royal or even the same species as you. What could you possibly see in someone like me?”

You wait silently for her response, but she doesn’t move a muscle and doesn’t make a sound. She just continues to stare at you with a quizzical look. You feel like you’re in a comedy routine where there’s something on your face that nopony will tell you about, and you spend all day seeing ponies stare at you with no idea why they’re so obsessed with you. No, that’s never happened before. Shut up.

Suddenly, though, she starts to burst into laughter, wrapping her hooves around your arm while she starts crying for a completely different reason. Yup. Turns out you were part of some comedy routine.

“Sorry, Anon,” she says, getting out one last chuckle. “It’s just funny that you would ask that.”

Now you’re the one with the quizzical look. “How is that funny?”

“Because you’re perfect!” You open your mouth to speak, but she quickly places her hoof on top of your lips. “No. Don’t try telling me you’re not, because I won’t believe it. You’re not like anypony else in the entire world. You care about me for me, not because I’m the daughter of a princess. You listen to me, even when you know I’ll never stop talking. You play with me even though I know you don’t want to sometimes. Plus, even when you’re mad at me, even though I know I annoy you, you never make me feel like you don’t want me around. How could I not like you?!”

The moment her hoof falls from your lips, you open them again, but this time, you can’t think of anything to say. You want to retaliate with something, anything, but there’s no response that you can think of that’s worth saying. Instead, you feel your heart beating more rapidly, your hands shaking, your breathing pick up, and for some reason, you can’t look away from her big, cyan eyes. Have you always felt like you could fall into them like this? Have you always felt like you could blue skadoo into the sea of her irises, just to end up wrapped up in her warm embrace? Just thinking about it makes your cheeks sizzle. Wait, why are you blushing? Wait, what’s going on?!

You quickly turn onto your side, squeezing your eyes closed just to keep yourself away from the temptation of looking back at her again. You’ve always thought she was cute, but just now… that was on an entirely different level. You can’t let her get away with something like that! If she finds some kind of weakness, a chink in your loli armor, then she’ll be able to get anything she wants out of you. Just the idea of her finding a way to get you to spend another afternoon doing one of her stupid open-heart confession sessions makes your whole body shiver instinctively.

“Aww, are you cold, Nonny?” Right when you thought things couldn’t get more awkward, though, she pulls you in as tight as she can, resting her chin on your shoulder so close that you can feel her breath against your neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you warm.”

“...You were waiting outside my room this whole time, weren’t you?”

“I’m not going to answer that, and you can’t prove it either way.”

You could probably find some way to get the answer out of her, and it probably wouldn’t be a hard thing to do, either. At the same time, though, you’re happy just using your imagination for now. In fact, you can finally feel your body getting lighter, suddenly much more comfortable now than you were just a minute ago. You’re afraid to think of why you feel so different now, but before you have the chance to question it any further, you feel your eyelids close gently as your mind slowly begins to wander into the dream world…

“Thanks for waiting, Nonny~!”

“Nonny?”

As soon as Flurry Heart leaves Sunburst’s weirdly wizard-themed house, she jumps into the air and flies into your arms, wrapping her hooves around your neck while Sunburst lifts an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s just what Flurry has called me since she was little,” you explain, rubbing her mane with a fake smile as you subtly try to push her off of you. “I guess it just kinda stuck, you know? Anyway, I didn’t realize you still lived in the Crystal Empire after you got offered that job at Starlight’s Friendship school.”

“Oh, I’m only there during the days when Starlight is on official business. Otherwise I’m still here. Just because I’m not Flurry Heart’s crystaller anymore doesn’t mean she’s out of my life forever, you know?”

“Trust me. I get it.” By this point, Flurry Heart is hanging around your waist, holding onto you like her life depends on it. “Thanks for helping her out with her magic lesson, by the way.”

“No problem! Oh, and the two of you should probably get home quick. It looks like there’s about to be a thunderstorm!”

You quickly look up at the sky, seeing a beautiful, sunny day just like when you arrived at Sunburst’s house. “Thunderstorm? What are you talking--”

“MOVE IT, LADIES! PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT!”

Of course, one key detail that you forgot about this world is that the weather is actually controlled by its inhabitants rather than by science. It probably has been a while since the last time you’ve seen rain in the Crystal Empire, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less bitter about the weather team choosing this exact moment in time to bring out the storm clouds. You shoot a quick glare towards the team leader, although she’s more fixated on actually doing her job, something that you should also be doing.

“Come on, Flurry,” you say, finally managing to slip your legs out of her grip, albeit while still holding onto her hoof. “See ya, Sunburst!”

The orange unicorn barely starts waving goodbye the moment you feel the first droplet of rain land on your nose. By the time his door closes, however, your shoulders are practically dripping from the sudden downpour.

Finally, you lead Flurry Heart back home, fast-walking while holding your hand over your head, helplessly attempting to block as much rain as possible from hitting your face. Even though you’re tempted to run, the last thing you want is to get sweaty when it’s 100% humidity outside. Looking back at Flurry, though, you see her holding her wings above her head, leading you to unconsciously pick up your pace.

“Let’s hurry before we get totally drenched out here,” you say, pulling the filly harder.

“You really didn’t have to wait for me,” she responds. “I would have been fine going by myself. I’ve done it plenty of times before!”

“Yeah, maybe when your parents are home, but when you’re under my supervision, you’re not leaving my sight!”

The filly cackles, making you roll your eyes as to how she could possibly misinterpret what you said. “You must really care about me, then.”

“What I meant was if something happened to you while you were under my supervision, your parents wouldn’t just be traumatized. I would be the one responsible. It would be my fault!”

Flurry Heart then slips her wet hoof out of your grip, now suddenly walking even faster than you are. “Then I’ll get better at magic! I’ll be a better flier! I’ll make sure that nothing will ever happen to me, just so you’ll never have to worry!”

You stop in surprise, but as Flurry Heart’s pace continues without you, you find yourself running to catch up with her. “I would still worry, Flurry. Even if you were the best flying magician that Equestria has ever seen, I’d still want to be with you, just to make sure I was at least there for you.”

“I don’t get it, Anon! You’re so impossible to figure out!”

The rain is beginning to pour down harder, making it even more difficult to hear, not including the occasional bursts of thunder. Still, though, you manage to catch up to her just in time to hear what she says.

“What do you mean?”

“Like you say that you want to be here for me, like you’re trying to protect me, even though you know I’ll be fine! Are you saying that just because you don’t want to get in trouble, or do you honestly want to keep me safe?”

You look down at her to see if her face can give you any clues to how she’s thinking, but she keeps her stoic face forward, fast-walking through the rain like you aren’t even there. How do you answer her now? Of course you want her to be safe, but that’s just because you don’t want to incur the wrath of her parents, right? Or… at least that’s what you thought. The rain dripping uncomfortably down your neck isn’t exactly making it easy to concentrate right now, especially when you’re trying to keep up your pace with Flurry Heart’s unreasonable speed.

What are you really thinking? If you were to blurt out the first thoughts that came to your mind, just whatever your heart told you to say, what would you tell her?

“Why can’t it be both?” you finally get out. “Why is it that I can’t care about you and be afraid of getting in trouble?”

“Fine! Whatever! If that’s really how you feel, then let’s just move on.”

Why is she getting so angry at you all of a sudden? It’s not like she didn’t know how you’ve felt about her from the very beginning. She’s your best friend’s daughter. Just imagining anything more than that makes you scared… yet for some reason, now you can’t stop thinking about it.

This whole time, have you really been holding back your emotions because you were scared of the possible consequences? If she really was the best in the world at being both a pegasus and a unicorn, would you still be worried about her? After all, there would be no chance of anything ever happening to her… but at the same time… you’d still want to be there to make sure. You don’t want anything to ever happen to her, and just the thought of her ever getting hurt scares the crap out of you, even if you know she’d be safe. You’d still want to be there to protect her, even if you knew you wouldn’t do any better than she would, but why?

The rain pours down harder, now coming down on the both of you like the air itself is made of raindrops. You’d have to yell just for her to hear anything you say, but you have no idea what you could even transition the next topic to. You wait for Flurry to say something to help get your mind somewhere else, but she just keeps walking, never looking back or speaking.

Then your mind comes back to her dad. If he wasn’t such a prominent part of your relationship with her, how would you look at her? Would she still be the annoying little girl that you keep telling yourself she is, or would you be able to look past that and see her playful sense of humor, her dazzling laugh, her optimistic enthusiasm, her selfless compassion, her baby blue eyes?

Finally, you stop thinking, stopping dead in your tracks with your fists clenched. “Alright! Fine!” you project loud enough for the filly to hear you. “I care about you, OK?! Are you happy now?”

Suddenly, Flurry Heart stops as well and slowly turns around, her jaw slightly open and her eyebrows raised. “You mean it? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“Yes! I mean it! This isn’t just about your parents. You’re important to me, Flurry Heart, and I want to make sure there’s always someone looking out for you. I’m probably gonna regret saying this, but… I promise I’ll always be here for you! No matter what happens, I’ll always be there whenever you need me!”

“You mean… forever?”

“Yes! Forever and ever!” You put your hand to your forehead and groan, feeling a little embarrassed for the sudden confession that you hope you won’t feel sorry for later. “Now can we please go home and forget this conversation ever happened?”

“Wait a second!” Flurry then puts her hoof to her chin, dropping eye contact while you put your hands to your hips, leaning backwards and moaning at an annoyed volume only you can hear. You already regret having this conversation when she finally looks back at you with mournful eyes. “Anon… I’m sorry!”

You lift one eyebrow, shaking your head in confusion with your mouth agape. “Huh? Sorry for what?”

“It’s just… My heart’s beating really fast right now, and I don’t think I’ll ever get this chance again.”

“Flurry Heart, what are you talking ab--”

Before you can finish your sentence, though, Flurry Heart races towards you, flutters herself up to your level and places her hooves against both sides of your cheeks, planting a soft, passionate kiss against your lips. Her eyes squeeze together, holding you as close to her body as she can, but you, on the other hand, are completely frozen, your eyes wide in the shock of what’s happening. Her lips come apart to realign themselves on top of yours again, but you’re too busy trying to understand what’s happening to know how you’re supposed to react.

Do you kiss her back? Do you push her off of you? All these questions, though, are too much of a shock for your brain to handle right now, and with your eyes gently closing, you allow the soft, awkward feeling of her first kiss pressed against you while the pouring rain fills the background.