Hidden Love

by Starlight Fan

Rating: teen
Tags: Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Romance, Spike, Discord, Twilight Sparkle, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 8643

Starlight and Twilight have been going out for quite a while now, which is great but unfortunately, Twilight’s not ready to go public yet, for she has a bunch of worries preventing her from coming out.

Starlight and Twilight have been going out for quite a while now, and they are very happy together but due to Twilight’s paranoia, she’s not ready to go public yet due to her having concerns about how it will affect not only her but Starlight too. Will Twilight eventually come clean? Will Starlight be able to handle her girlfriend’s and her own emotions?

Published 2022-08-02 01:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-08-20 00:05:02 UTC

Keeping the secret

If you told Starlight Glimmer when she was defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, that not only would she end up supporting Twilight’s views of friendship but also end up dating the Princess Of Friendship, she would’ve laughed in your face, and if you were a close friend of Twilight, she’d have subsequently stolen your cutie mark.

But now she has grown to appreciate Twilight after everything she went through with her, she would believe you without a second thought.

Over the course of her friendship with Twilight, Starlight had begun to fall for her due to her kind and caring nature and how she’s passionate about the things she cares about. When she ended up confessing to Twilight, it turned out she felt the same way and so they started dating. It was great, Twilight and Starlight both felt like equals in their relationship despite the fact Twilight was a princess and both of them made sure their partner felt loved.

There was just one tiny problem though…

Twilight wanted to keep the relationship a secret.

Starlight understood to an extent why Twilight wanted to keep it a secret. She wanted to keep their relationship on a low profile for a while, and since she’s a Princess so the rumor would spread quickly and they’d probably never get a moment’s peace.

However when Twilight said she wanted to keep the relationship a secret, she also wanted to keep their relationship a secret from their friends due to the fact one of them like Rarity or Pinkie Pie could end up spreading the word due to not being able to keep the secret for an extended amount of time.

It was annoying for Starlight, and she was certain it wasn’t a picnic for Twilight either but it was worth it she supposed, Twilight just needed some time to ease her nerves about the whole situation, Starlight was certain they’d tell the girls and Spike eventually.

Currently, Twilight and Starlight were kissing each other on Twilight’s bed. It was really relieving for both of them as the two had been in an intimate mood for a while, and they haven’t really gotten many chances to show their love for each other so they figured now was the perfect time since they were now home from their day after working at the School Of Friendship, and Spike wasn’t around the area so they felt it was safe.

But suddenly a knock was heard from the outside of the room, Twilight and Starlight immediately stopped kissing and despite not sharing any words, they both knew that Spike was outside.

“Hide.” Twilight whispered fearfully to Starlight who sighed but complied nonetheless, she immediately put up a cloaking spell around herself, like the time she had to spy on the changelings with Trixie. It worked before and it would work now although it was kinda draining.

Twilight immediately opened the door to see Spike in front of her.

“Sorry to annoy you Twilight but I just heard some sort of moaning from outside and was wondering if you were okay.” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Twilight began to sweat a bit with a blush on her cheeks, and chuckled a bit nervously, “Oh, well I appreciate the concern Spike, but I was just a little winded from my responsibilities as the princess as well as working at the school. That’s all there is to it.”

Spike soon raised an eyebrow and put a finger to his chin, “Are you sure Twilight? If anything’s bothering you, you can tell me.” He spoke in concern.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You have a busy day collecting gems with Rarity tomorrow so you should probably get some rest.” Twilight said while darting her eyes around a bit.

Spike sighed but relented, “Okay Twilight, as long as you’re okay, I won’t press you on it.”

Spike soon walked away from Twilight’s room, though he still held onto some doubt. ‘What was really going on in there?’

Meanwhile back in Twilight’s room, Starlight had stopped using her cloaking spell and panted as that spell took some energy out of her.

“Sorry about that Starlight. Are you okay?” Twilight asked in concern.

“Not really.” Starlight looked a bit annoyed at Twilight, “Why couldn’t we tell Spike about us? He lives with us for Celestia’s sake.”

“Starlight, I know this is tough, but I can’t risk us being found out yet, Spike is a great friend to me and all but I’m not sure how long he can keep a secret for, I mean I figured out his crush on Rarity before he even told me himself, in fact everypony does, the only one who doesn’t is Rarity herself.” Twilight began rambling, “It’s kinda surprising she hasn’t figured it out already.”

“You’re getting off topic Twi.” Starlight spoke with a bored tone.

“Right. Sorry.” Twilight giggled nervously before speaking again, “The point is, Spike will likely spill the beans, whether it be best case scenario, Rarity, or worse case scenario, Discord, and it’s only a matter of time before we end up being public.”

“But why does that matter so much to you?” Starlight asked sadly, “If you’re worried about us not being accepted, you really shouldn’t be. Hardly anypony in Equestria is a homophobe and I sincerely doubt our friends would reject us for our relationship.”

“Look, I just don’t want ponies to start hounding us. We both remember what happened when I published that Friendship Journal. Some ponies are just unreasonable.” Twilight explained before embracing Starlight, “Come on Starlight, you know that I care about you.”

Starlight softly smiled as she returned the embrace. “You’re right. I’m sorry for getting upset.”

“It’s fine. I understand how you feel.” Twilight spoke comfortingly before they released each other, “You should probably get some sleep too. That spell seemed to drain you quite a bit.”

“Yeah, I am starting to feel a bit tired. Good night Twi.” Starlight began leaving Twilight’s room and once she was gone, Twilight sighed sadly, she did love Starlight she really did. Though she wasn’t sure about how she could go public to all of Equestria. People would begin questioning her, and there would be some homophobes. Though, if Twilight was really being honest, homophobes were the least of her worries.

Author's Note

Ooh, first chapter and things are already starting to get tense. Before we move onward, I just wanna clarify that Twilight and Starlight will get a happy ending, mark my words.

Spike’s Suspicions

As Spike flapped his wings away from Twilight’s bedroom, he contemplated the conversation he just had with his sister figure. He knew Twilight since he was a baby, she did use her magic to hatch him after all, well that was the Rainboom but either way, he and Twilight have been by each other’s side since then, even when she made new friends in Ponyville so he likes to think he knows her pretty well.

Twilight had been acting more jumpy two weeks ago, and tonight he heard some sort of moaning come from her bed, Twilight played it off as just being tired but Spike was suspicious something else was going on, Twilight acted too nervous and acted like she couldn’t wait for him to leave. She was definitely hiding something.

As he began heading back to his room, he wondered what he should do about Twilight, he wasn’t going to pry, well not too much anyway, but he at least wanted to make sure he knew some idea of what Twilight was going through.

Spike would probably have to talk to Starlight about this to see if she noticed anything, after all she lived with him and Twilight so she probably noticed something. Maybe he’d voice his concerns to Rarity tomorrow, as she might have an idea on what Twilight is going through.

All he knew now is that he was tired and he needed to start brushing his teeth before heading to his room, he headed to the bathroom door and opened it to see Starlight brushing her teeth with toothpaste in her mouth, her eyes widened a bit when she saw him.

“Uh… seems our roles have reversed, huh?” Spike asked awkwardly.

Starlight spat the toothpaste out of her mouth although some of it was still on the corners of her lip, she laughed good naturedly however, “Seems so, though next time you should knock, I could’ve been doing my business here.” She added advisingly.

“I was just ready to brush my teeth but yeah, next time I’ll knock.” Spike explained, he then remembered that he planned to speak to Starlight about Twilight and figured now was the perfect time to do so given she was alone, he probably wouldn’t get much of an opportunity after this given he mostly just sees her with the group, in her office, or with Twilight.

“Hey Starlight, I was actually meaning to talk to you anyway.” Spike told the lilac coated unicorn.

“You have?” Starlight asked, starting to sweat a bit.

‘Did I do something to make him suspicious, I’m pretty sure he didn’t see me.’ Starlight thought worriedly, Starlight knew she’d have to play it cool though. Spike probably wants to talk about something else, maybe it involved wanting her opinion on something Rarity involved. She levitated a paper cup to the sink and let the sink pour water into the cup so she could rinse her mouth.

“Yeah, I was talking to Twilight back at her room, I heard her moaning in there for some reason. She claimed it was work but I think she might be lying. She was acting way too nervous and wanted me out of her mane as soon as possible.” Spike explained.

Starlight spat out the water as soon as she heard that, maybe it was too fast but given what Spike said, it sounded like he was catching onto her and Twilight.

Spike noticed how Starlight seemed to spit out the water in such a fast pace, which was a bit odd, could she know what’s going on with Twilight?

“That does seem strange, but unfortunately I don’t really have an idea on what’s going on with Twilight.” Starlight said with a smile, which seemed a bit nervous in Spike’s perspective.

“Okay, though I’d probably keep an eye on her, she’s been acting weird for a while now.” Spike said with a bit of a raised eyebrow.

“Got it. By the way Spike, you can have your turn now, I’m pretty much done.” Starlight said as she began walking nervously to her room.

“Okay then, good night Starlight.” Spike said with a friendly smile.

“Good night to you too.” Starlight said happily as she left the bathroom.

As Spike began using his toothbrush to brush his teeth, he wondered why Starlight acted so nervous, he definitely had to admit, she did a better job at containing it then Twilight did, but he still found the way Starlight acted pretty weird. He figured that whatever was going on with Twilight had something to do with Starlight.

Starlight plopped down on her bed with a groan, if Spike wasn’t suspicious earlier, he probably was now. It’s not that she didn’t want Spike knowing about her and Twilight, she wanted to tell Spike everything that was going on, she wanted to tell all their friends in fact but she didn’t want Twilight to be upset.

Twilight said that there could be risks to their friends knowing so soon about their relationship, such as the rumor spreading across Equestria, but why did Twilight care so much about that? Equestria is pretty open with homosexuality and she doubted Celestia would be disapproving.

Regardless, whatever concerns Twilight had were probably justified, and maybe she’d figure out what those concerns were eventually and help Twilight through them, until then, she’d keep the secret of their relationship for a little while longer.

Author's Note

I knew Spike would get suspicious of Twilight’s behavior since he practically lives with her, so I incorporated that into the story.

A very awkward breakfast and visit

Spike was currently getting out of the kitchen with the haycakes he made, he was about to head to the dining room where Twilight and Starlight would be waiting.

Spike was going to analyze Twilight and Starlight’s actions during breakfast today. And he knew just how he was going to do it.

He was going to mention what he heard in Twilight’s room. Spike didn’t want to pry that much but he figured it was the only way he would get anywhere with Twilight and most likely Starlight too.

Meanwhile back in the dining hall, Starlight was sitting next to Twilight, the former looking nervous, which Twilight picked up on.

“Starlight? Is everything okay?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Twilight. I think Spike might be catching onto us.” Starlight told the Alicorn truthfully.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“He told me you acted too nervous when you were trying to lead him away.” Starlight explained, “And he also seemed suspicious of my behavior too when he asked me if I knew anything. He didn’t say it but I think he knows I have something to do with it too.”

“Starlight, this isn’t good. We have to divert his suspicions. He can’t know our secret.” Twilight said in a frenzy.

“Twilight. Maybe we should tell him. I think it’s time he knows at the very least.” Starlight suggested with a sigh, “Then we can work our way into telling everyone else.”

“No. It’s too risky. I still think we should make sure my lessons about respecting creatures’ different views and opinions is getting through to the students so there’s less of a risk, and like I said, Spike can be a blabbermouth.” Twilight declined.

“Twilight. Other than Cozy Glow, I’m sure most of the students in the school respect you enough to value the lessons you’re teaching them.” Starlight argued in a reassuring tone.

“I know, but… I just want to make sure. You understand where I’m coming from right?” Twilight asked with a sad frown.

Starlight sighed, she could understand Twilight’s point of view of trying to set a good example for the students.

“Alright alright, you make a good point. I guess we can keep it from him a little longer.” Starlight smiled with a roll of her eyes.

“Thanks Starlight. I knew I could count on you. If it makes you feel better, we do have the castle to ourselves since Spike’s gonna be with Rarity for a while, so we can spend some time together while he’s gone.” Twilight smiled back.

“Yeah. That does make me feel better.” Starlight admits happily.

Soon Spike made it to the entrance to the dining hall, flying with the hay cakes on the plate, he wobbled a bit before placing them on the table.

“Spike. I told you to wait till your more experienced with your wings before carrying stuff that heavy. No wonder you took a while.” Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Sorry Twilight.” Spike grumbled, though Starlight noticed it seemed a bit bitter.

“It’s fine Spike, but please be more careful. I tend to worry about you sometimes.” Twilight spoke softly to the little dragon.

“Well, I guess I can’t blame you.” Spike sighed with a shrug.

Spike then sat next to Starlight, who looked at him a bit guilty, Spike knew exactly why.

Spike wasn’t an idiot, he never actually tried flying out of the kitchen to the dining hall with something heavy, he made a mess last time he did that.

He actually needed a cover story as to why he took so long, and pretending to fly to the dining room was the perfect excuse. He was actually listening in on Twilight and Starlight’s conversation when he got closer to the entrance, he now knew they were dating and were keeping it a secret for some reason.

“So, what are you two gonna do today anyway? I have my plans with Rarity, but I’m just curious on what you two are planning.” Spike asked in a seemingly innocent matter as they are, he hoped he would get some sort of information out of Twilight so she could tell him why she and Starlight were keeping their relationship from him and the others. If he got it out of Starlight it would probably be easier but he’d prefer to hear it from Twilight.

“Well… I’m not sure that there’s much we will be doing, though I do have plans to help Trixie with her magic later today.” Starlight said with a nervous smile, Spike could tell she wasn’t completely lying but it wasn’t exactly true either.

He did spot Twilight grumble a bit when Starlight mentioned Trixie, he let himself smirk a bit, it was kind of funny to see Twilight get jealous in small doses.

“What about you Twilight?” Spike asked with the same amount of fake innocence he gave out earlier.

“Oh me? Well I finally have a day where I can relax, so I guess I’ll just do that.” Twilight shrugged with a smile, “I’ll probably hang out a bit with Starlight when she’s not with Trixie, but not much other than that, not much.”

Spike let himself frown, though he made sure it looked neutral, he wasn’t gaining anything out of this.

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna go. Rarity might be waiting for me, and I don’t want to keep her waiting too long. Bye girls!” Spike told his roommates and close friends, before he began flying out of the dining room and subsequently, the castle.

Starlight turned to Twilight as soon as Spike was out of hearing range, “Alright. Now that he’s gone, what do you want to do?”

“I was thinking we could play a board game or something, I know you like Dragon Pit so we could play that, but I should probably wash the dishes. Spike normally does this but, eh, he already does a lot.” Twilight answered as she picked up one of the purple plates.

“Oh, I can do them. You and Spike already do a lot for Equestria. so I think I should pitch in a bit, even if it is minor.” Starlight offered eagerly, she felt it would be a nice thing to do for Twilight, she knows how stressed she can be.

“So long as you’re sure. Okay.” Twilight smiles at Starlight before levitating the three plates to Starlight who took levitated them with her magic.

“I’ll go get the game, meet me in the library.” Twilight grinned giddily before flying off.

Starlight sighed in content, even if things were tough with keeping their relationship a secret, Twilight was happy, she was happy, and everything seemed fine.

Starlight took a look at the plates and noticed a difference between them, one of the plate’s faces seemed to be a darker shade of purple than the others.

“That’s odd. Aren’t all of these plates supposed to be the same color scheme?” Starlight asked with narrowed eyes.

The plate’s face soon turned brown and gained yellow eyes with red eyeballs, white long eyebrows, and a chaotic grin she was all too familiar with.

“Oh. You figured out the difference. Very clever. Give the pony a prize.” Discord said with a smirk.

Starlight yelped a bit and her magic fizzled out due to the shock, but fortunately the plates disappeared than reappeared on the table, but now Discord was in his true Draconequus form sitting on the dining table.

“You really need to be more careful with that horn of yours. What would Twilight think if those plates broke? I doubt you’d be getting any action tonight.” Discord spoke teasingly before making kissy faces.

Starlight’s face blushed crimson before she spoke in annoyance, “First of all, what are you doing here? And second of all, me and Twilight aren’t at that level of intimacy yet?”

She and Discord were on decent terms but she was still a bit salty at him for making her time as temporary Headmare of the school a living nightmare for her, and for the fact that he sent Twilight and the others on a fake Friendship Quest no less.

“Just came to drop by.” Discord smiled with a chuckle before his face morphed into that same smirk he always wore, “And I certainly hope you haven’t reached that level yet. Clearly you aren’t ready if you and Twilight haven’t told us all about your very close relationship.”

Starlight looked away in sadness which Discord picked up on, “Oh but you do want to tell the others don’t you? What’s the matter? Does Twilight have you on a leash?” Discord continued.

Discord then snapped his fingers, and a collar appeared on his neck, with a leash attached to it, he then spun the leash around, “Hmm, I don’t think that role suits you.”

“Oh shut up Discord. You know Twilight has her concerns about going public since you clearly have been spying on us.” Starlight rolled her eyes angrily.

“No. Not really. I only spied on you and Twilight because you were starting to act different around each other so in one of the moments when you two were alone, I overheard you talk about your secret relationship. That’s all I really know, I didn’t want to invade your privacy too much.” Discord admitted as he took off the collar and dropped it on the floor.

“Wow. How very noble of you.” Starlight rolled her eyes with a scathing look.

“Surely you must be wondering why Twilight is going to such lengths to keep you two a secret.” Discord floated over to Starlight so they were at eye level with each other, “After all, she has friends who will support her decision. What does she have to hide? In fact I say why not just tell every creature ourselves, and let you get your wish.” Discord suggested with a smirk before he began to head towards the exit but Starlight grabbed onto his tail.

“Discord no! I do want to tell our friends. I really do, but I don’t want Twilight to be upset! She probably has a good reason for why she’s doing this.” Starlight pleaded as she latched onto the Draconequus.

“Pfft. You seriously think that Twilight has a good reason for this. She might be acting paranoid over nothing, you don’t know the full reason do you? She’s just been giving you the excuse that she’s afraid of potential homophobes isn’t she?” Discord asked sternly as he shook Starlight off of him.

“So what? That could be what she’s worried about.” Starlight said in annoyance.

“Oh Starlight. We both know Equestria does not have many homophobes, are you sure it isn’t more than that?” Discord asked as he conjured up a magnifying glass and looked at her with it.

“M…Maybe.” Starlight smiled sheepishly, Discord’s stern frown remained, clearly he didn’t buy it.

“Fine. I also believe it’s more than that, though I’m not sure how to figure it out. It’s a lot of pressure keeping this from everyone so I’d appreciate if you don’t tell any of our friends yet. Twilight should be able to do so when she’s ready.” Starlight ranted, looking stressed.

Discord could see this was affecting Starlight a lot so he sighed, “Fine. I was bluffing, I won’t tell any of our friends, but riddle me this Starlight. How long are you willing to wait to tell them yourself? I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

Starlight looked thoughtful at what Discord said but then he spoke up again, “I’ll take care of the dishes. You should probably go before Twilight gets suspicious.”

As Starlight began heading to the library where Twilight was waiting, she began to think more about what Discord said.

‘Why is Twilight trying so hard to hide our relationship?’

Author's Note

I had too much fun writing for Discord. Giving him the role of being a chaotic neutral is so hilarious.

Seeking Advice

As Spike was in the cave, gem hunting with Rarity to help her with her fashion designs, he thought back to the breakfast with Twilight and Starlight. Spike was aware Starlight wanted to tell the secret of their relationship to their friends, but clearly Twilight was forcing her not to. He doubted Twilight meant anything malicious about it, but why did she want to hide it from them?

Did Twilight think they had internalized homophobia? Did she not want to ruin the group dynamic? Or worst of all, was she embarrassed about being with Starlight?

“Spike?” Rarity’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, “Are you alright? You seem to lack enthusiasm which is unusual for you. Is something amiss?”

‘Should I tell her? She’s just trying to help, but this is Twilight and Starlight’s business’ Spike thought to himself, before he saw the sincere look in Rarity’s eyes.

‘Screw it. I need to tell someone. I should ask her to keep it at a low profile though.’ Spike decided.

“Rarity, what I’m gonna say right now stays between us.” Spike told Rarity in a serious tone.

Rarity was a bit shocked to hear Spike speak in such seriousness, obviously what he was going to say was important.

“My lips are sealed.” Rarity nodded reassuringly.

“Okay, I just recently found out that Twilight and Starlight have a secret relationship.” Spike explained.

“Wait wha-“ Rarity began to shout before Spike covered her mouth, “Keep it down, remember the bats?”

“Oh right. Sorry.” Rarity blushed in embarrassment before looking bewildered, “But I can’t believe that Twilight and Starlight are dating and didn’t tell us. How did you find out anyway?”

“I overheard them talking about it, though I already suspected something was going on. They wanted it to be a secret, Twilight more so than Starlight, if I’m being fairly honest. Starlight wanted to tell all of us but Twilight has some concerns. She doesn’t want the public to know due to some concerns about homophobes.” Spike answered.

Rarity figured that explanation made sense, she believed Starlight would have willingly opened up about their relationship, she definitely doubted Twilight had bad intentions about hiding their relationship.

“Hmm, knowing Twilight, she’s likely concerned about something more than homophobia.” Rarity hummed in thought.

“Well, I did have a few theories but they might be stupid.” Spike admitted sheepishly.

“Well, it could help us have an idea on what Twilight may be thinking.” Rarity admitted as she levitated the last few gems she needed into her basket, “Go ahead and share your theories.”

“I was thinking that Twilight may be concerned about how the group dynamic would change now that she has a girlfriend, I also have this other theory, it may not be the most accurate one, but what if Twilight is embarrassed about Starlight?” Spike confessed as he and Rarity began heading out of the cave, “I know it sounds stupid, but Starlight’s not the most… uh normal pony, and while Twilight definitely likes her, maybe she’s a bit worried how ponies will react.”

“The first theory sounds a bit more plausible. Though you might be onto something with the second theory, I doubt Twilight would be embarrassed about Starlight herself, I mean she is dating her after all, but more or less concerned about what it could do for her reputation.” Rarity guessed.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked in concern.

“Well look at it this way Spike. Twilight’s an Alicorn Princess, while Starlight’s more of a common pony who isn’t exactly normal but definitely has good qualities but unfortunately, others might not see it that way. We both know how some ponies are, especially since the whole Friendship Journal fiasco.” Rarity explained as they finally made it out of the cave.

“Yeah, but what should we do? We need to help Twilight and Starlight somehow.” Spike said sadly.

“Well Spikey Wikey, like it or not, we’ll have to confront Twilight on this. Starlight doesn’t really need us to confront her since she seems to want to talk about their relationship, if we can get through to Twilight, I think that would be all we need.” Rarity sighed, knowing this would be difficult for Spike to do.

“Are you sure, then she’ll know I spied on her and was gossiping about it.” Spike said, worried about how Twilight would think of him after this.

“Spike, if she knows you’re doing it out of the goodness of your heart, I think she’ll be less hard on you, it’s not like you invaded her privacy to spread rumors.” Rarity said comfortingly.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Spike relented with a soft smile, starting to feel better, he did remember something though.

“Though shouldn’t we finish your dress first?” Spike asked curiously.

“Oh yes, of course. Twilight doesn’t have any plans so I think we should be fine.” Rarity snickered, “After all, Twilight may be our friend but we can’t just drop what we’re doing to help her with her romance problems. Well not yet at least.”

Rarity and Spike chuckled a bit at this remark, Spike felt a little better now that he talked with Rarity, even if she didn’t return his feelings for her, she was still one of his best friends.

Meanwhile Twilight and Starlight were playing still Dragon Pit in the castle library, while Discord’s words still were fresh in Starlight’s mind, she still found it in her to enjoy the game with Twilight and push her worries aside, after all Twilight did love her so it’s not like she needed to be too concerned.

“So Sunburst really squirted apple juice out of his snout when his dragon got trapped?” Twilight asked with a joyful grin.

Starlight snickered at the memory, she was currently telling Twilight one of her past memories with Sunburst, she found it a good way to pass conversation.

“Yeah, he was so confident that my dragon was gonna get trapped, that he didn’t even bother to look as he drank the juice but then his dragon got trapped and he spat it out due to shock, it came out of his nose too.” Starlight said before Twilight found herself giggling, that was certainly funny.

“I’m assuming he found it funny afterwards too.” Twilight asked with a smile.

“Don’t worry, he wasn’t upset, just surprised. He found it funny afterwards.” Starlight told the Alicorn, with a grin of her own.

“Ah. I figured.” Twilight said before she began rolling the dice, getting a five. She moved her dragon five spaces with her magic, she and Starlight’s pieces were now on the spaces where their dragons could get trapped, so the mini volcano began to erupt and the plastic lava ball popped out and bounced around the corners of the volcano.

“Uh oh, somepony’s dragon’s gonna get trapped. Should I hold the board down so you don’t flip it over if you end up getting trapped?” Starlight asked with a smug smirk.

“Very funny Starlight. I may find it funny to see my dragon get trapped, but I have matured since then.” Twilight smirked with a roll of her eyes.

Soon the lava ball, rolled down to the space where Twilight’s dragon was, bumping into her piece and causing the space below Twilight’s dragon to open, letting it fall.

“Ahahahahahahaha!” Twilight began laughing before she began to flip the board over but Starlight caught it with her magic before she did.

Starlight smirked at Twilight, who blushed with an embarrassed smile.

“Hmm, Sunburst was right. It is adorable.” Starlight said good-naturedly which made Twilight giggle and embrace Starlight, “Oh this has been amazing.” The Alicorn said, clearly in content.

“Same here. I love you Twilight.” Starlight sighed in content.

“I love you too Starlight.” Twilight said happily.

The two stayed like that for a little longer before Starlight released Twilight, “Well, today certainly was fun, but I should probably head over to Trixie’s wagon soon. I think it’s almost time for me to see her.”

“Of course it is.” Twilight sighed with a roll of her eyes.

“Aw don’t give me that Twilight. I have to make time for her too, besides you know Trixie and I only see each other as friends.” Starlight said with a comforting smile.

“I know, but she acts so needy when it comes to you.” Twilight admitted.

“Well to be fair, given my shifts at the School Of Friendship and her magic shows, I can see why.” Starlight chuckled, “See ya later Twi.”

“You too Starlight.” Twilight said before she and Starlight kissed, after that Starlight used her magic and teleported out of the library.

Twilight smiled before sighing sadly, she loved Starlight, she really did. It was hard to keep that a secret from the rest of her friends but she didn’t know how Equestria would react to her dating Starlight.

Twilight knew how some upper class ponies were, if they heard that she was dating a former criminal like Starlight, she’d never hear the end of it, and she thought that some ponies might share the same views, especially her admirers who would likely be jealous that somepony like Starlight had Twilight but they didn’t.

That’s why Twilight was so concerned with revealing their relationship, she didn’t want anyone to hurt Starlight and if she had her way, hopefully they’d be able to come out without much trouble. Until then, she’d have to keep their relationship a secret.

Author's Note

And now, I finally reveal Twilight’s motive for keeping the relationship a secret. Hopefully you all find it a sympathetic reasoning as to why she’s so wary of telling everyone about her and Starlight.

Confrontation

Twilight was seen reading one of her many books back at the map table, she wanted to try and clear her head about her ordeal with Starlight, so she figured reading a book might help. And it sort of was, she still needed to find a way for her and Starlight to go public at one point without much backlash but right now, she felt it was best to take her mind off that issue.

She then heard a knock on the wall, she turned to see Spike and Rarity were together at the entrance to the map room.

“Sorry for knocking on the walls. I wanted to get your attention. I know how you are with books.” Spike explained with a good natured chuckle.

“Oh welcome back Spike. You’ve been gone a while, I checked the windows earlier, the sun’s about to set.” Twilight said happily.

“It took a while to get the dress perfect but I think it went well.” Rarity smirked in pride.

Twilight chuckled, it was nice to see Rarity so proud of her work, “Nice to see you Rarity. How come you decided to drop by? Not that I’m complaining.”

Rarity and Spike gave each other some nervous looks which Twilight found odd before Spike spoke up, “Actually Twilight, we came to talk about you.”

“Me?” Twilight asked in shock, “What do you mean?”

“To put it bluntly dear, we know about you and Starlight being an item.” Rarity admitted truthfully, she felt it was best to cut to the chase, it would help them in the long run.

“What?! H-How did you figure us out?!” Twilight asked, clearly nervous about what they were saying, she did not plan for them to know about her and Starlight yet.

“I overheard you two talking about your secret relationship at the table this morning.” Spike explained, “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell us though. We are your friends after all, we would have supported you.”

“Of course, I know you all would have, but eventually we would have went public and I don’t think some ponies in Equestria would be happy I’m dating Starlight, like upper class ponies who would see Starlight as some common pony or some jealous admirers who would probably be annoyed I’m dating somepony who used to be a threat to Equestria.” Twilight said as she began pacing around the room.

“And why do you care about that? Starlight’s a good pony, I don’t get why such a thing matters.” Spike asked with an annoyed tone, he normally would support Twilight, but he really didn’t get why she’d care about some other ponies’ opinions about Starlight.

“It’s not that I actually care about what they have to say about me dating Starlight. I just don’t want Starlight to get hurt by some jerks who think they’re better than every creature.” Twilight said as she dropped her head a bit low before Rarity walked up to Twilight and picked her chin up so they could be at eye level.

“Twilight darling, I’m sure these worries you have are not as bad as you think.” Rarity said reassuringly, “I’m sure things will be fine if you two go public.”

“I don’t know Rarity. I just don’t know if it’s such a good idea to let some ponies know that I’m dating a former criminal.” Twilight said nervously.

Twilight soon heard Spike gasp and looked over to him in confusion.

“What are you gasping about?” Twilight asked the small dragon.

Rarity turned to look where Spike was looking and then pointed her hoof at the entrance to the map room, “Uh I think I know why.”

Twilight turned around to see Starlight, wide eyed in shock, there was no doubt about it, Starlight had heard what Twilight just said.

“St…Starlight. Look, I know it seems bad but it’s not what you think it is.” Twilight flew up to her girlfriend in fear.

“I-I think I heard enough Twilight.” Starlight said solemnly as tears began to pour from her eyes, she wiped them quickly but Twilight saw them regardless.

Starlight’s voice shook as she spoke, “So that’s why you wanted to keep our relationship a secret, so you wouldn’t have to worry about it being known you’re dating somepony like me.”

“Starlight please, I didn’t mean it like that.” Twilight said frantically.

“Really, because that’s what I just heard, you just said that it wouldn’t be a good idea for everypony to know about us since I’m a former criminal.” Starlight said, starting to cry.

“I mean technically I said that, but…” Twilight said, clearly sweating.

“It’s fine Twilight, I’m not mad at you. I can understand why it might not go well for you, you being a princess and all.” Starlight waved it off, before continuing, “Look, if this relationship is gonna hurt you in the long run, then we should probably break up. I just hope we can just stay friends.” Starlight tried her best to smile, but it was clearly shaky and her eyes were brimming with tears.

Twilight’s eyes widened, that was the last thing she wanted to hear in her life.

“Wait Starlight, please, I don’t want this to happen to us! I want you in my life, please don’t do this!” Twilight began begging.

“You’ll still have me Twilight, but as a friend. Besides, you’ll probably get over me eventually.” Starlight tried to sound reassuring but her voice came off as broken, “I’m gonna go fly a kite or something. I need some time alone.”

Starlight soon lit up her horn and she teleported away.

That’s when Twilight let the tears flow out, “What have I done?!”

Rarity and Spike just stood there with sympathetic glances, they both felt bad for what both Twilight and Starlight were going through. It was clear that Starlight was just as heartbroken as Twilight was about this mess.

“I’m gonna go find Starlight. It’ll be easier for me to find her since I can fly. You stay with Twilight, they both need a friend more than ever.” Spike told Rarity.

“Understandable. We can still fix this mess.” Rarity nodded.

Spike soon took off to fly, while Twilight wiped her eyes, “I appreciate your guys’ help Rarity but it’s clear I screwed things up with me and Starlight. I’m just hoping we can stay friends after this.”

“If I’m being honest Twilight, you aren’t wrong but surely you can explain the true reason about why you wanted to keep your relationship a secret to Starlight, she’ll understand. After all, she did seem to be understanding about what she thought she heard.” Rarity said comfortingly.

“Well it still won’t change anything. Even if I tell her the true reasoning, she still might not want to get back with me because I’m too afraid to go public.” Twilight argued sadly, before sighing, “It’s probably for the best, Starlight needs a pony who she can date publicly with no problem.”

Before Rarity could say anything else, another voice was heard, “Okay, I’ve heard enough.”

Suddenly the book Twilight had, opened, and out of the book came Discord with a stern frown.

“What do you want Discord? I already feel awful about what happened, you don’t need to rub it in my face.” Twilight said bitterly.

“For your information, I’m here to help you.” Discord rolled his eyes, “I know about your relationship with Starlight.”

“Who doesn’t know at this point?” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Besides Rarity and Spike, no one else knows, but if I’m being honest Twilight. Me and Fluttershy have sort of been in this position before.” Discord spoke up.

“You and Fluttershy never dated Discord, me and Starlight were.” Twilight said sadly.

“That’s true but me and her have always been close, Fluttershy did get some weird looks from some ponies due to being friends with me however. She was a bit concerned about hanging out with me in public for a while, but we talked it out and figured it would be best to not let anypony else ruin what we have.” Discord explained.

Twilight looked at Discord in shock, she never knew this about him and Fluttershy, but with this new information, she began to rethink her thought process on going public with Starlight.

“So, basically what you’re saying is, that me and Starlight should not let other ponies’ views on us affect our relationship no matter what.” Twilight summarized.

“Bingo.” Discord smiled as he stamped five squares on a bingo board in a horizontal order.

Twilight sighed sadly, “I wish I had that mindset sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have turned so messy.”

Rarity took this as her chance to speak and put a hoof around Twilight’s back, “Twilight, you may be the Princess Of Friendship, but when it comes to love, you are still learning about how it works. It’s only natural that you’ll make mistakes. Besides you still want Starlight as your girlfriend right?”

“I wouldn’t have been sobbing on the floor if I didn’t.” Twilight answered.

“Then let her know that, as soon as Spike is able to find her, explain why you did what you did, and work things out with her. I know it won’t be easy but it’s for the best you two let your relationship be known.” Rarity told her with an encouraging smile.

Twilight smiled, she began to feel some hope again, maybe the road ahead would be bumpy but in the end, it would be worth it.

“You’re right Rarity. Me and Starlight have been through so much for me to give up on what we have. Thank you, I needed this.” Twilight gave Rarity a hug before turning to Discord, “And thank you Discord, your advice was also very helpful.”

“No problem Twilight. As chaotic as I am, I do care about you and Starlight.” Discord smiled before snickering, “You know, maybe since Cadence is already the Princess of the Crystal Empire, maybe I should take the title as the Princess Of Love, I mean my relationship advice is astounding…”

“Didn’t Spike say you only started believing in love last Hearts and Hooves Day?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Eh. Worth a shot.” Discord rolled his eyes with a cheeky grin.

Author's Note

For those who aren’t aware, Starlight walked in after Rarity said she thought not much would go wrong about Twilight and Starlight going public. She didn’t hear anything else before that.

Mending a Broken Heart

Starlight stood at her favorite little hill as she flew her kite, and sighed.

‘I should have known it was too good to be true.’ Starlight thought.

Starlight felt like she would never find somepony who would love her, other than her father in a familial way of course. Sure she had friends, but she doubted someone like her could find a special somepony until Twilight appeared into her life, she felt whole, she felt like a missing piece from her life was found.

And just like that, it was over.

‘Why I thought I could ever date somepony with a princess status is beyond me.’ Starlight laughed bitterly.

“Starlight!” She heard a high pitched voice call out, she turned to see Spike fly up to her before standing where she was.

“What do you want?” Starlight asked sadly.

“Look, I know what Twilight said sounded bad, but you gotta give her another chance. She never meant to hurt you.” Spike began pleading.

“Spike, I’m not cutting Twilight out of my life, she’s too important to me. However I can’t get back together with her. I’ll probably just cause her a bunch of problems if we go public. She said so herself.” Starlight said, she wiped her eyes a bit before turning back to her kite.

“Starlight, how much did you hear from me and Rarity’s conversation with Twilight?” Spike asked curiously.

“All I heard was Rarity say that she didn’t find much wrong with me and Twilight going public and then I heard Twilight say how she felt going public would be a bad idea because she didn’t want Equestria to know she was dating a former criminal!” Starlight said with a sniff.

“Yeah, I kinda figured. What you didn’t hear is that Twilight didn’t want anypony to know about your relationship is because she didn’t want you to get harassed by a bunch of upper class ponies who will find you a commoner or her admirers who will be mad that they lost her to a former criminal.” Spike explained, “Trust me, Twilight had good intentions.”

“That’s why she wanted to keep it a secret?” Starlight asked curiously as she let her kite drift to the ground.

“Yeah. In truth she could care less about other ponies’ opinions on her love life, she just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt.” Spike nodded.

“I…I didn’t know.” Starlight said in shock, “She could’ve told me that. I would’ve understood and tried to help her.”

“I’m sure she has a reason for that too, though you won’t find out unless you give Twilight another chance.” Spike said as he began flapping his wings in the air again.

Starlight began to think, Twilight had hurt her by not putting enough faith in her to know the reason why she wanted to keep their relationship a secret, and there were still risks for them if they were to go public, but if Twilight didn’t actually care about what those ponies thought, it was likely worth giving her another chance.

“If I’m being honest. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to talk to her about the ordeal. Alright, I’ll give her a chance to explain.” Starlight shrugged with a smile.

“Awesome! You won’t regret it!” Spike embraced Starlight happily before Starlight rolled her eyes with a smile and teleported herself and Spike away from the hill.

Soon she and Spike popped up back at the map table where Twilight, Rarity, and Discord all were waiting.

“Hey Starlight. You decided to come back Huh?” Twilight smiled nervously.

“Yeah… I needed some time to cool down. Spike was able to get me to come back.” Starlight admitted.

Twilight then turned to Rarity and Discord, “Could you two and Spike give us a minute? I need to speak with Starlight without interference.”

“Of course darling. Let’s go boys.” Rarity smiled before she and Spike exited the map room with Discord floating behind them.

“Spike made me realize I didn’t really give you a chance to explain. I was too heartbroken from what I heard that it clouded my better judgement. I’m sorry Twilight, but I’m ready to hear you out.” Starlight began.

“Okay, so the reason I was so afraid of going public was because I was afraid how other ponies would start treating you. Whether it’s because the upper class ponies would treat you as if you are beneath me or if my admirers would be salty because you became my girlfriend despite your past actions.” Twilight explained sincerely.

“Twilight, I don’t care about what some snooty jerks or bitter fan ponies think about me or us, I only care about what you think.” Starlight said softly.

“I know that now, and I’m sorry I didn’t let you know this sooner.” Twilight apologized.

“I just have a question. Why didn’t you tell me the real reason about why you wanted to keep our relationship a secret?” Starlight asked curiously.

“I thought that if you knew the risks were higher than just homophobia, you would want to back out of the relationship for my sake even though I don’t want that, I love you.” Twilight said, hugging Starlight tightly, but enough so that she could breathe.

“I love you too Twilight. It doesn’t matter to me what anypony else thinks of us, as long as you think I’m good enough for you, that’s all I need.” Starlight hugged Twilight back.

“So, does this mean we can start over?” Twilight asked as she released Starlight from the hug.

“You even have to ask?” Starlight snickered before she kissed Twilight, who kissed back.

Little did they know, Spike, Rarity, and Discord were listening in on their conversation and smiled at what they saw. They were glad that Twilight and Starlight worked things out.

As soon as they stopped kissing, they decided to reenter the room.

“Are you two gonna keep making out in there or should we get you a room?” Discord said with a smug smirk.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Starlight laughed good naturedly, “But no, me and Twilight are alright.”

“Glad to see you’re back together, even if I only knew about the relationship just now.” Spike said happily before chuckling.

“So, what are you two gonna do now?” Rarity asked curiously.

“Well, given everything that’s happened, I’m done keeping this relationship a secret from the girls. I’m content with going public now and they deserve to know how much I care about Starlight anyway.” Twilight smiles as she wraps a wing around Starlight.

“You realize Applejack’s gonna be mad when she finds out that you two kept this from all of us.” Spike smirked.

“Oh she’ll be furious, but I think we’ll be okay.” Starlight said, as she smiled at Twilight who smiled back.

Starlight never thought she would come so far, and she was surprised to have fallen for Twilight, but she was not complaining, she would never trade Twilight for anything in the world.

Twilight was also surprised with how far she came, she didn’t see much need for friends at first, much less a girlfriend but now she has Starlight, and she was happy to have her in her life.

Author's Note

I had extra time on my hands so I figured I could get this done tonight. This was a lot of fun to make, and I consider this one of my better stories.