Beyond The Friend Zone

by YetAnotherBrony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance
Length: 5851

A meaningless kiss creates a great deal of confusion for the mane six.

While practicing for an upcoming play, Rarity gets too in character and kisses Twilight. The most logical thing for her to do would be to just let this go, but for some reason she can't. Yet trying to figure things out just creates more confusion for the six mares. They must now figure out the answer to a question they have long been avoiding. When does friendship end and something more begin?

As for which pairs will be shipped a better question is which pairs won't be? Further which couples will make it through to the end? There's only one way to find out.

Published 2012-10-09 02:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-19 16:07:39 UTC

Crossing the Border

Inside Rarity’s boutique, there were ribbons and fabric strewn about. Twilight had arrived a little earlier than she usually was, and so Rarity had still been working on her latest dress when Twilight arrived.

“If it were but so simple, would I not forsake even the sun and moon to be with you,” said Twilight plainly without looking up from the text she was examining. She had read through the whole thing several times already and memorized it to ensure she was prepared, yet she still could not lift her eyes from the page just in case.

“Let me show you how simple it could be,” said Rarity convincingly while she walked over to Twilight. Twilight’s eyes darting across the page to follow along all the while.

Then the characters kiss and my next line of dialog is... Twilight’s mind froze. Rarity’s lips quickly but gently pressed against her and just as quickly pulled back.

My next line is... is... no matter how hard she fought it Twilight couldn’t focus. When rehearsing, wouldn’t ponies normally just give a vague motion indicating such things or perhaps even read the action aloud instead of doing that?

Did it mean anything? No of course not. And she couldn’t think about this now. Rarity was counting on her. But she had inadvertently dropped the script she had been looking at and couldn’t remember the next line. Even if she picked it up it would take her awhile to find her place.

“You're right it could be simple.” Twilight found herself muttering. Was that the next line? How did this scene end? They were supposed to get together in the end but was that supposed to happen yet? Twilight knew all of this moments ago yet somehow now it eluded her grasp.

“Twilight dear, are you alright?” asked Rarity.

“I’m fine,” muttered Twilight absently.

“You look positively pale. Perhaps we should try this again later,” said Rarity.

Twilight didn’t want to disappoint her friend, but with it becoming increasingly difficult to focus, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. “I’m sorry Rarity. I just got... distracted. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“This doesn’t have to do with the kiss does it?” asked Rarity a slightly worried frown shining through her beautiful face.

This was her perfect opportunity to tell Rarity exactly what was wrong. But then again it was probably nothing, and what would Rarity think if she said yes? “No!” said Twilight a little too emphatically. “I mean no, it has nothing to do with that,” added Twilight sheepishly.

Rarity eyed her suspiciously for a moment and then said, “Alright. In that case I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yep, see ya tomorrow.” said Twilight while pushing open the front door.

She was just rehearsing for the upcoming play in Canterlot. The kiss was just part of the scene; it didn’t mean anything. Twilight kept reminding herself of this as she trotted back from the front of Rarity’s boutique back to her tree house.

Rarity really enjoyed the atmosphere the theatre had to offer, but seldom had the opportunity in Ponyville. That was one of the reasons she had always dreamed of living in Canterlot that Rarity discussed when they first met.

However this year the fashionista somehow squeezed the frequent trips to and from Canterlot into her schedule. Naturally, after designing costumes for them for a while, Rarity became so fascinated by the performances she decided to audition and got the lead part. Twilight had just been helping her practice.

If Angel didn’t have a fever Rarity surely would have kissed Fluttershy. She just didn’t want to break the mood by saying something like “and then we’d kiss” before moving on to the next line of dialogue.

Twilight stopped for a moment, breathed in, and breathed out. She had convinced herself, yet her heart was still racing. Why did she even need to convince herself of that? The kiss hadn’t been particularly drawn out, nor had Rarity expressed any interest in a mare before. All available evidence was that it was meaningless, yet she had forgotten the evidence.

She forgot everything but the soft press and coconut flavor of her lips. It had been so short, she could barely remember it. If only she had time to prepare, her mental snapshot wouldn’t be so hazy. Regardless it had created a warm feeling that filled her chest and made her forget her next line.

It was odd to admit, but there was no way around it. Twilight enjoyed it. But was that really so odd? After all, Rarity was a good friend, and did friends not usually enjoy any affection they shared with each other? Friends don't normally kiss, but perhaps it wasn’t strange to enjoy it on the rare occasion they did.

Where Zecora comes from, friends kissed all the time. It was only ponies who made such a big deal out of it. It wasn’t as though she wanted to cuddle up against Rarity and never let go...

Well okay, maybe that wasn’t the best example, but if they could get past the awkwardness who wouldn’t enjoy being close to a friend?

No land she knew of did anything like that with friends, but that was because it simply wasn’t appropriate, not because they wouldn’t enjoy it. Her feelings were perfectly normal. It didn’t mean that she had a crush or Rarity or even that she liked mares. Stallions were great. The fact that she had never actually been out with one didn’t mean anything. She had been busy with her studies.

Who wouldn’t be attracted to those repulsive bulging muscles or their untidy inelegant shape and mannerisms. Not that muscles always looked that way. Applejack’s for example glistened with raw power, yet somehow fit unobtrusively into her curvy figure.

So maybe stallions didn’t look as appealing or natural to to her, but, considering how much more frequently she was around mares, that made sense. When she was a filly she mostly spent time around her parents and brother. Stallions didn’t look bad back then.

Now her mentor, friends, and even many of the visitors to her library were mares. She had become accustomed to a certain look. There was nothing unusual about that.

Nor was there anything unusual about appreciating her friends gorgeous silky white coat. Further it was reasonable to admire-- How did she get to Sugarcube Corner? She must have gotten so caught up in her thoughts she went the wrong way.

She was scheduled to pick up a cake in an hour for her book club meeting later today anyway. Maybe they would be done early. Since she was here it couldn’t hurt to check.

Twilight walked in to find an unusually empty bakery. Even Mr. and Mrs. Cake didn’t seem to be around. The only pony in sight was Pinkie Pie.

“Are you running Sugarcube Corner by yourself Pinkie?” asked Twilight.

Pinkie replied while excited bouncing up and down, “Yes indeedy! I’ve wanted a chance to run this place single-hoofed for a while, but now I’m actually doing it! After how well things went last weekend with Applejack’s help they decided to give me a chance. My Middle name might not be responsibility. Nope, it’s Diane. But I won’t let them down.”

Twilight briefly wondered if it was really such a good idea to leave Pinkie Pie in charge, especially since she had a habit of eating the items they were trying to sell, but Pinkie Pie had surprised her before. Twilight had underestimated her when she had looked after the Cake’s foals. Further the place seemed to be in order.

“I know I’m early, but is my cake ready?”

“Yeppers!” chirped Pinkie Pie while pulling a box out from underneath the counter and passing it to Twilight. Now she just had to open the box and exam the cake.

It wasn’t because she distrusted her friend, she just always made sure a product was suitable before leaving. It was part of her mental checklist, that used to be part of an actual check list before Spike started getting too many claw cramps.

Twilight gently opened the box with her magic, and she immediately spotted something peculiar. Twilight spun the box to get a better look at it and saw there was a bite missing from the cake. Not only that but there was a cupcake in the spot where the bite was missing. Even the cupcake looked to be missing a small chunk.

“Pinkie what happened to my cake?”

“Well first it was just a puddle of eggs, flour, sugar, baking soda, and water. Then it was stirred into batter and then...”

Twilight raised an eyebrow an interrupted, “I meant, why is it missing a bite?”

“Well duh! With the cakes trusting me with Sugarcube Corner I have to make super duper extra sure that everything tastes yummy.”

“And the cupcake?”

“I thought you’d be sad if you got less cake.”

“And the bite out of the cupcake?”

“What if the cupcake didn’t taste like bite of cake it was replacing?”

The small twinge of guilt Twilight had been feeling for not trusting her pink friend with the bakery vanished. Thankfully Twilight had accounted for spending time with Pinkie Pie in her schedule. She had learned that if she was going to Sugarcube Corner for any reason she better allocate at least thirty minutes for it just in case. This meant she still had plenty of time.

Her thoughts quickly returned to the fair Rarity. She wanted to return home quickly to study the matter privately, but the moment she opened a book she’d be on the subject for at least a few hours. She didn’t have that kind of time. Further her friends had proven they could be amazingly insightful.

Pinkie Pie wouldn’t normally be her first choice for advice, yet for some reason her sense of fun made her seem like the perfect mare for the job. After all, what Twilight had experienced had been fun, it just wasn’t supposed to be. The fact that she was the origin of the “Pinkie” promise was also immensely reassuring, as this wasn’t something she wanted anypony knowing about. At least not until she figured it out.

“Pinkie, have you ever enjoyed something you weren’t supposed to?” asked Twilight.

“Why should a pony not enjoy something?” puzzled Pinkie. After a brief pause she continued, “Unless somepony got hurt.”

“Nopony got hurt. It’s just well, what if somepony did something they didn’t mean to do, and they never planned on doing it again, but you really enjoyed it?”

“I smile. What is it that happened to me again?

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead and began to rub. Pinkie’s responses were perfectly reasonable for how vague she was being. There was no way around it. She had to invoke the Pinkie Promise.

“Pinkie promise me you won’t repeat anything we are about to say or anything you learn from the following conversation to anypony,” pleaded Twilight.

Thankfully this time she didn’t do any complex motions indicating moving into a house on top of a hole where the key to her sealed lips is buried, but instead simply said the usual incantation while pressing a hoof lightly against her closed eye.

Twilight glanced over both her shoulders to make sure the bakery was still empty. “Somepony who has no interest in being my special somepony kissed me and I liked it.”

“How do you know he has no interest in being your special somepony?”

Twilight again looked over both her shoulders. Still nopony had entered. “Because he is Rarity.”

“I don’t know any mares in ponyville name Rarity. He must be from out of town. I still don’t see how being from out of town means he doesn’t like you.”

This time Twilight didn’t even give the illusion that she raised her hoof to her face to rub her forehead nor did she bother to raise said hoof to her face at a reasonable pace. It was unmistakably a face hoof. “She’s not a mare. She’s our friend Rarity.”

“So...”

“So she’s obviously not interested. Remember when she had that awful time with Prince Blueblood.”

“You used your magic to make Prince Blueblood at like a jerk on their date?”

“No of course not.”

“Then why haven’t you asked Rarity to be your special somepony?”

Twilight was sure why she had expected this to go better, but Pinkie was completely missing the point. Even if Rarity did like her, Twilight wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual. Sure she enjoyed the kiss but what did that mean? She had never kissed anypony else so she had no control group. It was impossible to tell.

Then an awful idea occurred to Twilight. She knew it was terrible the moment she thought it, yet it was hard to ignore. What if she kissed Pinkie Pie? Then she would know whether or not she was actually attracted to Rarity or if she just liked kissing.

Twilight sighed. It was the only idea she had, but it would be unfair to her and might even damage their friendship. Yet Pinkie Pie was really good at taking things in stride and what damage could it really do? Rarity had kissed her and no harm had come from it. Admittedly there had been some context, but Twilight hadn’t been expecting it.

Worst come to worst she could just lie and say that she too was practicing for a play. It wasn’t a very good lie, but Pinkie usually didn’t question them unless she was lied to too much in a row. But wouldn’t this just be using her friend for her own gain? No, this was for a better understanding of herself and friendship.

Then Twilight realized she was overlooking the obvious solution.

“Would you ever be upset at somepony for kissing you?” asked Twilight.

“Only if they were a changeling. You aren’t a changeling are you?”

Twilight ignored her question and took a step closer to the counter and pulled her head in to within a foot of the confectioner’s.

“So you changed your mind about personal space?” said Pinkie Pie bouncing.

“Um... Temporarily.”

How was she supposed to make her move with Pinkie hopping up and down like that? She could do it really quickly, but what if she missed?

Thankfully after a couple of seconds she stopped. Twilight moved her head forward a couple of inches. She knew she should have just gone for it, but she couldn’t. This was not nearly as easy as Rarity had made it look. Besides, what was she supposed to do about their noses. They were bound to collide before their lips ever did.

Hadn’t Rarity tilted her head? It was so quick it was hard to be sure, but that seemed familiar. Regardless it made sense. If their noses were at an angle to each other they wouldn’t get in the way. Twilight inched in closer.

“Are you okay Twilight? You look uncomfortable.”

Twilight blushed. Had Pinkie picked up on what she was doing? She hadn’t exactly been subtle about it. What if somepony walked in right now? She panicked. Twilight yanked her head back to look over her shoulder. Nopony was there, but she had undone all that progress she had made.

“It’s been great talking to you, but I have some cookies to bake.” With that Pinkie Pie leaned in and kissed Twilight. She didn’t pull away immediately like Rarity either. She kept her lips pressed against Twilight’s for a few seconds. Her lips had a unique yet familiar flavor that was vaguely reminiscent of bubble gum and cotton candy. But they didn’t have that glossed over feel that came either from lipstick or chapstick -- Twilight wasn’t sure which Rarity had used. The kiss was sloppy, disorganized, and perfect.

Afterwards she bounced back toward the back of the shop.

“Why did you do that?” asked Twilight Sparkle with a voice soft enough to be a passable Fluttershy impression.

“It’s what you wanted isn’t it?” called Pinkie from the other room.

“Yeah it was,” admitted Twilight. She felt light and she had the sudden impulse to run a marathon, yet she didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to run as she had during the running of the leaves but with reckless abandon. There was so much excess energy coursing through her veins she needed to do something with it, but she didn’t want to encourage these strange feelings. Besides, she had plans.

Pinkie’s kiss had been alluring in a completely different way. Twilight didn’t have a control group but two experimental groups. Twilight left the bakery now contemplating two different kisses.

Pink Polyamory

“Pinkamena,” called the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie’s father.

Being called Pinkamena was never a good sign. Pinkie had been so busy throwing parties, that she hadn’t harvested any rocks all week, so she knew this was coming. But after seeing her family smile after that first one, how could she be expected to stop? Her family had seemed less pleased by subsequent parties, but she couldn’t go back. She loved smiling and she wanted everyone she knew to feel the joy she had discovered.

But they were her parents; what could she do? She slowly trotted back from to her house. Once she got there she nudged open the door, and saw her father sitting by the fireplace in his usual rocking chair.

“I’m super sorry! I’ll find a way to get my rocks harvested and throw parties; I promise! Please, just don’t take this away from me! I’ve finally found something I’m good at!” pleaded Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, I would never make you give up what makes you happy. Please have a seat.” remarked the tan stallion with grey sideburns. As he said it, he gestured to the rocking chair opposite him.

“So I’m not in trouble?” she puzzled.

“No, we just have a serious matter to discuss.” said the stallion taking the pipe he had been holding with his other hoof and putting it to his mouth.

Though Pinkie never liked work on the rock farm, the one thing she had been able to appreciate about it was it didn’t involve sitting still. She was not fond of sitting, but she obeyed her father.

Were they banishing her? She was very different from the rest of her family. She didn’t even look the same. This didn’t bother Pinkie, but what if now that she had discovered her special talent, and it wasn’t rock related, they didn’t want her anymore?

“Pinkie, we choose to live a simpler life than most folks, because your ma and I are too different to fit in out there,” he said motioning toward the door.

“This has worked out well for your sisters as they are like us. You however are different,” he continued.

It was just as Pinkie had feared. Her family couldn’t love a pony as sophisticated as her. She hadn’t meant to be sophisticated. She had tried to like rocks. Maybe if another rainbow appeared it could grant her a different special talent.

Pinkie opened her mouth to object, but before she could say anything her father extended a hoof to silence her.

“Your mother and I are proud of you Pinkie. But that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t belong here. You have a rare gift for making ponies smile. You need to be somewhere you can share that gift with more than just the four of us.” frowned Pinkie’s father.

“Where are you sending me?” asked Pinkie still unsure whether or not she was being banished.

“We have some friends named Mr. and Mrs. Cake. You met them when they stopped by the farm, but you were only a year old. They live in a town called Ponyville, and they have agreed to help you in a way we can not,” said the tan stallion with his frown becoming more pronounced.

“You’re giving me away?!” squeaked Pinkie Pie, her eyes flooding with tears, as she leapt out of her chair.

“We would never...” began Pinkie’s father.

“Then go with me!” said Pinkie on her knees with her hooves pressed together in her father’s lap.

He sighed. “If it weren’t for your sisters we would, but that world is no more a place for them than this one is for you. We will still visit.”

“Please don’t make me go! I don’t even like parties anymore!” whined the pink filly.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but your ma and I agree that it’s for your own good,” he said finally.

Pinkie’s mane fell flat as she declared, “Nopony loves me!” while running to her room. She slammed the door behind her.

“She’ll come around.” the tan stallion muttered to himself.

~~~

“We’ll see you in a month Pinkie,” said a grey mare while hugging the pink filly.

In the four day interim Pinkie’s mane had returned to its usual style. She eventually realized her family still loved her, but she still wasn’t thrilled about the idea of leaving. Even the long walk to the nearest train station ended too quickly.

“What if nopony likes me?” asked Pinkie as her mom let her go.

“Pinkie, do you remember how Granny Pie taught you to deal with fears?” asked her father.

“Laugh to make them disappear,” recited Pinkie Pie.

“That’s right. Can you do that for me?” he asked.

Pinkie couldn’t manage a laugh but she did smile.

“It’s a start he said.” briefly nuzzling his daughter with a smile on his face.

“What about when I miss you?” asked Pinkie.

A blast of smoke from the train told him he couldn’t spend more than a few seconds reassuring Pinkie.

“Every time you miss us, make a new friend. Then when we visit you can introduce us to them all.” he said smiling widely.

With that Pinkie turned around and boarded the train. The doors closed seconds later and her family quickly disappeared from view.

Where the trip to the train station had seemed abnormally short, Pinkie was not so lucky with the trip to Ponyville. It took several hours to get their, and every time an hour passed she thought for sure she was nearly there, only to abandon hope twenty minutes later.

When Pinkie finally left the train, she marvelled at the size of the town. She knew that cities consisted of several houses and other buildings in a small area, but never would she have guessed there would be more than five or six, or that they would be so close together. There was one place within view of the train station that seemed more her speed. The buildings weren’t nearly as crammed together as the rest of Ponyville.

As she drew nearer she saw that the sign read, “Sweet Apple Acres.” She knew she was supposed to be looking for somewhere called Sugarcube Corner, but given the sweet smells that emanated from it, Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder if that wasn’t another name for the same place. Everything about it made it seem like the sort of place friends of her parents would own, except for the red paint, but she supposed not everypony’s favorite color could be grey. After all, her’s was pink.

“Can ah help you pardner?” said a female voice.

Looking down toward where she heard the voice, Pinkie saw an orange filly who looked the same age as her. Pinkie Pie ran up to her so they could have a proper conversation and asked, “Do you know where Sugarcube Corner is?”

“It’s down that way,” said the orange filly pointing a hoof toward the mass of huddled buildings. “I’m not so good with directions though and ah have a moment to spare, so ah could walk ya there,” she continued.

Everything looked so cramped. Was she really expected to live there? Perhaps this was all a test to see how long it would take her to go back home. Maybe if she went back to the train station she could go back and forget this ever happened. Yet looking back at the train station, she could see her train had left. She was alone.

“Are you alright?” asked the orange filly.

“Can I stay here for a little while?” asked Pinkie weakly.

“Ah thought you were lookin’ for Sugarcube Corner,” said the filly.

Pinkie Pie shook her head. “I don’t know what I want. Everything is just so different than the rock farm.”

“Where are my manners? Mah name is Applejack. What’s yours?”

“Pinkie Pie”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Pinkie,” said Applejack extending a hoof.

Pinkie stared back at her and her hoof. “Yeah. It’s a pleasure.”

“Don’t be shy now. Put ‘er there.”

At first Pinkie had thought the extended hoof had been a coincidence but now it couldn’t be. She hadn’t met many ponies and not one of her home school lessons about how to interact with other ponies came to mind. What did come to mind were parties. She remembered taking her mother’s hoof and dancing.

“Other ponies like parting too!” exclaimed Pinkie instinctively bouncing in place. She had never hoped up and down like that before, but something about it felt right. Why not bounce everywhere?

She then not only took a very stunned looking Applejack’s hoof but began to wiggle around and move about erratically.

“You’re a funny one.” Applejack laughed.

Pinkie wasn’t sure what she had done that was funny, but she could barely contain the excitement of hearing that rare sound again. She had heard it briefly at one of her parties and couldn’t get enough of it, yet this orange mare was giving out something as rare and valuable as a chuckle freely.

“What’s a rock farm anyway?” asked Applejack.

“It’s basically like this farm except with rocks instead of apples.”

“What do you do with rocks?”

“Rotate which field they are in of course,” chirped Pinkie.

“Why?” asked Applejack.

Pinkie thought about this for a moment. “I have no idea,” she answered.

At this Applejack started laughing again and Pinkie’s smile grew wider. If all the other ponies were anything like Applejack, maybe she could get used to Ponyville after all.

“If you’re going to be stayin’ fer a while, ah need to go buck some trees. But if ya wanna keep talking, feel free to lend me a hoof.”

“Ookie Dookie Lookie.” said Pinkie saying the first thing that popped into her head.

“Pardon?”

“It’s a phrase I just invented. It means yes!” said Pinkie resuming hoping in place.

“We’ve already done the main harvest, but it’s Heart’s and Hooves Day and we’re outta apples to sell. So we’re gonna scrounge up whatever remaining apples we can. This means we probably won’t have to hit too many trees as apple season’s comin’ to a close, but it also means we’ll have to hit em harder than usual,” said Applejack as they walked behind the barn to the orchard.

They both stood in front of a tree. “Now on the count of three will both hit it with our rear legs at the same time. One. Two. Three!”

Whack! With a single attempt the tree shock mightly and a single apple dropped from the tree into a bucket underneath.

“Your pretty strong Pinkie. The two of us will make quick work of this.”

Pinkie was enjoying being with Applejack and relished the excuse of work to spend more time of her. Consequently she was troubled that they were completing the work so quickly.

They moved on to the next tree, but when Applejack said “three” Pinkie didn’t kick.

“Applejack, will you be my friend?”

Pinkie immediately felt stupid for asking. Who ever became somepony’s friend just because she asked? It was supposed to just happen naturally, yet she had just ruined any chance of that.

“Why of course sugar cube. You’re a little different, but in a good way an’ ah always respect a fellow hard worker.”

At this Pinkie couldn’t help but bounce all around her fellow earth pony shouting “Thank you!” the whole time. She had only been in Ponyville for less than an hour and she had already made her first friend, and she was the nicest pony ever! She couldn’t wait to introduce Applejack when her parents arrived.

The two continued to work, talk, and laugh for an hour. To Pinkie’s delight some of the trees were harder to wrangle another apple or two out of then the first one. They had collected the needed ten apples and were walking back toward the barn.

“So what is this ‘Hearts and Hooves Day’ that you need these apples for?” asked Pinkie.

Applejack laughed. “Good one Pinkie!”

When Applejack noticed that Pinkie wasn’t laughing with her she stopped. “You're serious aren’t you?”

Pinkie nodded.

“I’m not sure I’m the right pony to tell you this, but Hearts and Hooves Day is when ponies ask somepony to be their special somepony.”

“Special Somepony?” puzzled Pinkie with a raised eyebrow.

“You really are clueless aren’t ya? Special somepony’s are ponies who really like each other a lot.”

“You’ve had fun today, right Applejack?” asked Pinkie blushing slightly

“More fun that I can remember having ever before,” said Applejack with a smile.

“Will you be my special somepony?” asked Pinkie.

Applejack froze. Not only did she not continue walking toward the barn but even her breathing stopped.

“Pinkie. Sit down for a moment.” said Applejack after several seconds.

When Pinkie complied she continued, “Ya gotta be careful what you say sugarcube. I understand that you are just naive but not everypony will. Ponyville is a nice town mostly, but it does have its share of biggots. Look, a mare can’t be another mare’s special somepony.”

“Why?” frowned Pinkie.

“It’s just the natural order of things. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll meet a stallion you really like some day.”

“But I really like you right now.”

Applejack sighed. “I’m just telling you this for your own good. If you can’t find a stallion you like, then don’t bother with Hearts and Hooves Day or special someponies. Promise me that.”

“I promise.” resigned Pinkie still frowning.

“I’m gonna need more than just a regular promise. We’ll have to devise some sort of secret hoofshake or something.”

The idea of a secret hoofshake intrigued Pinkie. She had never heard of one before, but by the sound of it, it involved secrets and a friend’s hoof. What was not to like?

“What sort of hoofshake?”

“I don’t know. Something that involves motions and saying you’ll do something unpleasant if ya break the promise.”

Thinking of one of the most unpleasant experiences in recent memory, Pinkie remembered accidentally getting some cupcake frosting in her eye at her most recent party, and how it burned. “Promise or I’ll stick a cupcake in my eye.” said Pinkie Pie carrying out the motion of putting an invisible cupcake in her eye.

“The wordin’ could use a little work, but ah guess that’ll have to do.”

~~~

The confectioner’s wandering mind had returned to the bakery only to find that it was still completely empty. It was almost as if the Cakes had intentionally left Pinkie to look after it on a day they knew there wouldn’t be much business.

One thing did strike Pinkie as rather odd about these recollections though. Back then Applejack had so willingly accepted help, yet many years later, when she needed it far more than she did back then, she refused Twilight’s request to help her multiple times. It was as though needed the help made her not want it. Applejack could be a funny pony at times, but that was part of what Pinkie liked about her.

But more importantly, ever since that day she had assumed that ponies for some reason couldn’t handle the concept of a mare liking another mare. Yet Twilight had come in here contemplating her feelings for Rarity, and even wanting a kiss from Pinkie. These feelings then couldn’t be nearly as out of place as Applejack had made them sound. This changed everything.

Given her obvious feelings for both Pinkie and Rarity, Twilight even seemed open to polyamory. Pinkie liked words, and so she would often read a dictionary just to see how the different words sounded, and so she could appreciate their subtle differences. She had rarely seen the word “polyamory” anywhere else, yet she had discovered it was highly frowned upon.

But why? What was wrong with loving multiple ponies? Shouldn’t that be a good thing? Pinkie had wondered this for several years, yet she knew bringing it up was only likely to bring frowns. Satisfying her curiosity wasn’t worth the cost.

If Twilight was willing to be herself, why should Pinkie be afraid to do otherwise? There were five mares who brought her heart joy unlike any others and it was high time they knew!

Then one of those mares entered the bakery. A cyan pegasus with flowing rainbow mane trotted over to the counter.

“I swear some days I don’t know if I’m in charge of a weather team, or if I’m foal-sitting a bunch of kindergartners,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Rough day?” inquired Pinkie. There was nothing in what Dash had just said to be happy about yet Pinkie couldn’t help but smiling widely. It felt good being around a pegasus she cherished and not worrying about holding anything back. Not that she wasn’t always glad to be around her friends, but this was better.

“I don’t know what Thunderlane did, but he needs a swift kick in the flank. I put him in two different groups, and both times there was drama.” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“We just don’t have time for that crap. Can’t ponies set aside their differences for a day in order to get things done? We had tons of clouds to clear up from the storm earlier and we barely managed to move them in time.”

“At least you’re done now. I’m sure things will go better tomorrow!” chirped Pinkie.

Dash smirked at Pinkie’s optimism. She wasn’t sure if she believed Pinkie’s claim but she couldn’t help it. When Pinkie smiles, you smile. It’s just how things work. Pinkie proceeded to lean over the counter toward Dash.

“Remember that talk we had about personal....” began Dash, but her lips were cut off by Pinkie’s. Normally, even in shock she was a pony of action, but this was too much. This was beyond dream territory levels of impossible. By the time Dash regained enough composure to remove herself from their lip embrace, Pinkie beat her too it.

“Did you just... Why... Friends don’t...” Dash started many sentences but couldn’t finish one. The moment her mind put the word kiss in the sentence she couldn’t continue saying it. Dash then ran out of the bakery, and took to the sky the moment she cleared the doorway. Some really fast flying in the opposite direction ought to clear her head.