No Bravery in her Gaze

by ThistleZoey

Rating: teen
Tags: Misty, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Zipp Storm, Sunset Shimmer, Slice of Life, Sad, Romance
Length: 1971

Zipp realizes she may have feelings for Misty, but every time the unicorn looks at her, she seems to melt.

Standalone story in the Empathetic Heart series

Zipp realizes she may have feelings for Misty, but every time the unicorn looks at her, she seems to melt.

Published 2024-04-24 23:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-24 23:00:00 UTC

No Bravery in her Gaze

Zipp sat at her desk in the brighthouse, trying her best to stay focused on her research into Alicorns. She had managed to catch herself most of the time, but this time she wasn’t so lucky. She had been staring over at Misty, who was quietly humming along to her headphones as she bobbed her head, drawing something on a paper pad. After a few moments, Zipp registered that Misty had stopped head bobbing was now looking at Her. Zipp had maintained eye contact for a little too long, got flustered and quickly looked back at the screen.

Zipp had always had reservations about Misty moving into the Brighthouse.

Initially, she thought she still didn’t fully trust her. After all, Misty had lied for almost the entire time that she had known her. About everything. And even when she had finally cracked through, Misty only told a half truth about not having the cutie mark.

But all of that was out in the open now. Misty’s rebellion against Opaline had proved that. ‘No more lies’, she had promised and she had no reason not to believe her. Plus, when she had recently burst into the Brighthouse with a brand new element of harmony she had met after an encounter with a strange fiery unicorn, there wasn’t much of a doubt that she was on their side. Still, being the suspicious pegasus she was, Zipp was still a bit on edge when she was around her. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on why.

But as the pair sat one evening on the balcony, a few nights before Misty finally moved in, Zipp realised what was happening.

The two horses sat there, watching the sun set on the shimmering ocean. Golden hour. Misty was laughing at a dumb joke that Zipp had made at her sister’s expense. As she finished , she looked over and gave Zipp a big smile. The way the sunset illuminated her suddenly made Zipp’s stomach twist.

Misty was beautiful.

“Zipp I… wanted to thank you so much. For forgiving me.” She said, and before Zipp could respond, Misty had hugged her. Zipp felt her cheeks start to burn up as Misty embraced her, gently hugging back as her logical brain tried to rationalise these feelings she was suddenly and violently having.

“N-No problem, Misty!” She managed to get out, before quickly standing up.

“I-I uhhh g… g-gotta go and… uhm… u-update my investigation logs!” She said, and hastily headed back inside.

“Oh… ok! No worries! See you later!” Misty said, happily waving.

As soon as Zipp was out of sight she exhaled a huge big breath. Ignoring Pipp asking how she was, she flew straight into her bed and hid under the covers.

What the hell was that!?

She had never had feelings like that for anypony before, especially a mare. Throughout most of her childhood and adolescence she had been actively rebelling against her mothers notions of ‘finding a Prince Charming,’ and she wasn’t too sure what she’d do if she found out she liked a mare. But then there was that naive unicorn…

She felt her wings lock to her side in discomfort.

This was going to become a problem, wasn’t it?

And that’s where she was left now. With a problem. Zipp was good at fixing problems, and she enjoyed getting all the variables together and figuring out how to solve the equation. But there in lay the issue. In this equation, Zipp was the X.

Shoot.

Zipp closed her Laptop a little too hard, and shut her eyes. The first step to dealing with a problem was identifying the root cause. The second step was to tackle the problem head on.

Was this stupid?

She looked over at Misty, who was back so smiling down at her drawing.

Even if it was, it was worth it.

Zipp sighed, and gently clip clopped over to Misty. Misty’s face lit up and she waved, taking off the headphones.

“Hi Zipp! Everything good?” She said, smiling wide.

“Yeah! Well, uhm- no. You see, I kind of-“ she glanced around. It was just them. She let out a small sigh, and hopped up onto the bed next to her. Misty tilted her head.

“Misty, you’re good with emotions, right?” She began.

“Oh! Uhm… yes, I guess so!” She said with a small nod, happy to be praised. “I-I’m still learning, though! But if you have a problem, I’ll do my best to help!”

“Good. Because the problem is you.”

“M-Me!?”

Misty looked immediately devastated. Zipp cursed herself internally.

“N-No! Well, yes! It’s…” she said, panic rising in her voice. She took a few breaths to steady to herself.

“Misty, I think I have some sort of… I don’t know. That’s the problem! I can’t get you out of my head! I-In a good way!”

Misty perked up a little, but seemed more confused than anything.

“Uhm… do you know… why?’ She asked slowly, head tilted.

Well, I think you’re so pretty and funny, and I want to be around you at all times.” She said very formally.

Misty’s expression went to one of shock, then of confusion.

“Well… uhm-“ she blushed a bit. “T-That… sounds like a crush.” She rubbed the back of her mane with a hoof as she awkwardly looked away.

“It does, doesn’t it.” Zipp replied and sighed. Both of them sat there awkwardly. Zipp couldn’t take it. She had to say it.

“Do you… feel anything towards me?” She asked.

Misty looked at her, which made her pulse quicken a little. It seemed that despite being the element of bravery, all of that seemed to melt in her gaze.

“I…” Misty sighed. “I… think so?”

Zipp’s ears perked up. “Y-You… think so?”

“I’m not sure. I think being alone for so long has warped m-my view a little bit but… I just want to be around all of you at all times!” She said with a lil smile. “And you are very pretty and cool! I love your cool wings and pretty feathers, and the way you soar through the sky is amazing!”

Zipp could feel her cheeks burning up.

“So… to answer your question… yes, I think so! But… I don’t know how different it is to how I feel about the others. I want to be around them all the time too” She said with a twinge of guilt.

Zipp nodded slowly, glancing away. “I… I see.” That was… a much more complicated answer than what she had been hoping. She could feel a few tears welling up in her eyes, but she was doing her best to repress them.

“… I can, uhm.” Misty said quickly, to try and patch over this awkward sadness. “I could try and figure it out too?”

Zipp sighed. “Misty… I don’t want to be a…” how did she word this. “I don’t want you to try extra hard for something that you don’t really feel just to make me feel better.”

Misty nodded slowly, looking away, awkwardly rubbing her hoof. The internal conflict was showing on her face.

“Sorry-”

“Please!” Zipp snapped. “Don’t! Apologise. Ugh-” She cursed at herself again. “I didn’t… that was… at me, not…”

She could hear misty moving closer, and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I… I think I have an idea.”

Zipp looked back, tears starting to roll now.

“H-How about… you tell me what things that you would want to do with Ponies you have crushes on?” she suggested. “And then we can maybe do some of the things! I love you and all of the other ponies here, and I’d love to help make you feel good! A-And even if I figure out that I’m… not really into anypony that way, we can still be special friends?”

Zipp considered it, her heart fluttering a little. Misty was really putting her all into trying to make her feel better. But would it just end up with her feeling worse when Misty possibly shut her down in the future?

…

It was worth the risk.

“W-Well…” She said, smiling weakly. “W-When I think about you i…” she rubbed the back of her neck. “The main thing I think of is just… Cuddling as we watch the sun set on the balcony.”

Misty smiled wide. “That sounds great!” she said, and glanced at the clock. “That’ll be… in an hours time?”

“Y-Yeah, I… I think so.”

“Hehe! Cool! I’m excited! I’ve never been on a date before!”

“A Date!?” Zipp was slightly taken aback by her choice of wording. Misty nodded.

“Yeah! I… uhm, I think that this what this is?”

“U-Uhm…” Zipp blushed. “I G-Guess it does!”

Misty giggled a little, and Zipp could have sworn that she could see a little blush on Misty’s face too.

This completely flustered her. She had been managing to keep her bravery as they had spoken, but now that it had gone well, she was back to melting as she looked upon her.

“I… I’ll see you later!” she said, and zoomed back over to her bed. Misty understood what was going on and laughed playfully as the pegasus dove under the covers.

Zipp couldn’t get the smile off her face. It wasn’t what she had been hoping for exactly, but one thing was for sure.

She had no bravery whilst in her gaze.

—

Hi Sunset! I had a strange day today.

Strange? How so?

Misty sat under the covers, scribbling away in her spellbook. After the had said bye to Sunset Shimmer, a new page had appeared that appeared to be some sort of two way communicator. She would write a line, and then she could see Sunset writing another line under it! It never seemed to run out of space, either!

Well… Zipp confessed that she had a crush on me

Really? Wow! Do you like her back?

Well yes! I love her! But I also love all of my other friends just as much… It feels strange to just single out one.

Ah… I see. So… what happened?

Well! We went on a little date. It was very fun! We just sat and watched the sunset!

You watched me!? How DARE you?

WHAT! NO! WE DIDN’T! I PROMISE! OH HOOFNESS WERE YOU BRUSHING YOUR MANE OR SOMETHING I’M SO SORRY I’M SO SORRY IM SO SORR

Relax! I was just messing with you!

Oh! Haha! Sorry, not so good at… talking to anypony yet.

So… how did it end?

Well… I told her that it was loads of fun! And that I’d definitely like to do it again?

Thats great! Do you think you like her? As in a crush way?

I’m not sure. But even if I don’t, it doesn’t matter! We still love each other, maybe just in slightly different ways! Plus, the kiss was nice!

You KISSED!?

Yeah!

Misty??

What? Was that the wrong thing to do?

No! No, it was fine! I’m just a little surprised that you did that on a first date!

Oh… maybe I AM good at this whole crushes thing then!

~~Better than me, that's for sure.~~

Misty paused. What did she mean by that? She tilted her head as she saw the words being hurriedly scribbled out.

I guess you must be! Anyway, It’s getting late, and I have to sleep for now. I will write to you again tomorrow!

Misty smiled a little. She knew better than to pursue this.

Ok! Goodnight, Shimminer!

Goodnight, Misty Morning!

Misty closed the book, and hugged it tight.

The date had been fun.

She wondered if she’d have any more.