Time with Twilight

Once work was done with, the time of day I always looked forward to would come. Visiting the library was more or less a daily event now, with the frequency of my visits rising over time as my motives changed. It was first for knowledge of this new land I had somehow found myself in, then it was for the company of a new friend I could relate to and seek out for help. Then, finally, it was for the want of someone I had slowly grown to desperately want as more than a friend, enough to disregard speciation, among many things.

Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. As if a mantra, her name would continuously ring in my mind the moment I allowed it to idle, followed by the slow but sure formation of her image in the imagination. Of her adorable face and the lovely expressions they crafted, of the soft, silky sheen of her hair, of whatever I could smell of the faint scent of her bath soaps (though she seems to have switched to using a more expensive variant as of late), of the lush quality of her purple coat, star-shaped brand adorning her sides, of her alluring tail and horn.. all of it crafted an all too vivid form that teased me with longing through the days and nights. Such thoughts haunted especially as one lay alone in bed, in the small room of one's rented apartment, beckoning dreams that, while sweet, were all too unattainable and only made the mind wander more.

Knocking on the door of the great hollow tree was no easy task on my first few visits, but as I familiarised myself with the librarian such an act became trivial, Of late, however, it became more difficult than it had ever been, with the fretting that goes on in those eternal few seconds as I waited for a reply. Was I at all presentable? Was she in a good mood to receive me? Oh dear, what if something happens and she never wants to see me again, that would be-

"Oh, um... hello! Just.. looking to read more for today, right? Come in, come in, eheheh..."

Twilight was standing in the doorway, greeting me with the odd grin she usually wore nowadays. Of late, she had been taking far less time than usual to answer my knocks, which certainly helped prevent me from agonising over my thoughts too much.

"Oh, uh, hello, Twilight. Yeah, I-I'd really like to finish off the book from yesterday.."

I followed Twilight in, trying not to pay undue attention to her bobbing tail as both of us entered. Spike was where he usually was, tending to one thing or another.

"Hey there!"

"Hmm? Hey there, Spike."

"You know, you've really been coming over a lot lately. Twilight seems to be pretty happy about that."

I began to wonder if the library had so few patrons that a daily regular was so special, just as Twilight turned away from me to face Spike, who after a few seconds sighed and left for another room, but not before seemingly suppressing a grin as he looked at me.

"Right then! Here's what you were reading yesterday, I had that page bookmarked for you, would you like anything to drink? I happen to have some of that tea you said you really liked lying around, if you would like any-"

"No, no, tea will do, Twilight, thank you so much, I mean, it's quite a bother having to look for a book you want to read and even more to find the exact page you left off, so, uh, this is really great..."

Twilight went into the kitchen and immediately retrieved two steaming mugs, filled with a particular blend of tea that I mentioned to Twilight a while ago. I wasn't aware that she was even a fan of tea, I had never seen her drink any, but at least I had something good to drink as I seated myself in my usual corner, book in hand that wasn't as interesting as the purple pony who sat beside me, seemingly focused intensely into her own book as well.

Soon, our usual conversation began, with one of us making an offhand comment about something while the other replied, until banter between us that I so loved to while away time with had returned as it did whenever Twilight was with me. Difficult as it was, I made sure not to get lost in idle chat watching Twilight's face as she listened to stories of my home, or eagerly explained some concept I was unfamiliar with. I had to remember what I came here for.

"Say, Twilight? Would.. would you be free tomorrow?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, I think I should be, but why?"

For some reason, Twilight seemed a lot more tense than she was seconds ago, straightening herself slightly and perking up her ears.

"You see, I've got nothing on tomorrow, so I was thinking, do you feel like having lunch? I have somewhere in mind, a outdoor cafe of sorts, it heard it was pretty good, and, um.. yes, Twilight. Do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Even with the time I had spent rehearsing, being in Twilight's presence made it all quite useless.

"Tomorrow? Yeah, yeah, sure, I'd love to- yeah, I don't mind having lunch with you tomorrow, I don't have anything on, so that would be nice-"

"Oh, great! Well, then, guess I'd better get read-, um, it is a little late, so I think I'll be going home now, I've finished reading this anyway, so, um.. see you, Twilight."

Twilight walked me to the door and saw me off, hopefully oblivious to the slight spring in my step that broke into outright skips the moment she gave me a "See you tomorrow, then!" and closed the door. Never mind the stares a few bystanders gave me or the odd commotion I heard just as I was leaving the library, Twilight had agreed to go out with me! Increasingly hopeful scenarios played out in my mind, as fantasies on how the outing would end with us professing our heartfelt feelings for each other, to be concluded with a tender moment in one of our homes, and perhaps future dates would end in even better ways...

The only thing stopping me from further indulging in the imagination was the fact that I had to return to reality if I was to retrieve my keys and unlock my door. Even after being in the comfort of my own apartment, free from the eyes of others to delight in fantasies, I had to decide just what I was going to do tomorrow. Just what was I to wear, and just what was I to do? Oh, my...

As it turned out, it didn't matter much that I had stayed awake late into the night deciding on my outfit and fretting over what to do, because even when I finally got into bed it was a long while before I got any sleep. Still, the thought of being out with Twilight was enough to keep me well and wide awake, waiting anxiously for her to answer the knock on her door.

"Oh, there you are!"

Twilight opened the door, revealing just how she'd prepared herself for today. Her mane was well maintained, the sheen and scent even more expressive than ever, with a deep blue ribbon near the top. The dress on her was a simple yellow one hemmed with white and decorated with a pink ribbon , one she seemed to like very much if the well worn state of it was anything to go by.

"Hey, Twilight. You.. look really good today."

"Oh, um.. thanks, you too. Where are we going, though?"

Twilight let her eyes run over my suit, from the polished shoes to the dusted black blazer, all masterworks of the seamstress friend of Twilight's. Only here did I wonder just what I was thinking, wearing this when all we were going to was a cafe. At least Twilight seemed to be similarly overdressed.

"The cafe near the park, I've been wanting to try some of their things for a while, now."

Thank goodness the day was quite cool, or both of us would have been struck down by even the slightest of warm weather. Idle banter found itself among us again, as Twilight voiced her concern about the incompatibility of a lot of pony cuisine with myself, but I assured her that it was why I was interested in the cafe in the first place. More things found their way into our talk until we reached our destination, where Twilight and I seated ourselves opposite each other.

A strange, mutual silence grew between us, each seemingly having run out of things to say. I was content with stealing glances at Twilight every now and then while I pretended to look around the cafe, an outdoor one with large mushrooms serving as tables, bales of hay as seats. Doing my best to ignore the odd looks the other patrons gave us every now and then for our choice of wardrobe, I turned to steal another glance at Twilight, just as she turned to face me. An odd warmth grew in my cheeks just as her own began to grow a little red, and I turned away at the same time she did.

A few more rounds of this and finally food came, giving us an excuse to not communicate. Yet, still, for some reason or another I my occasional glances at her kept meeting her eyes, spurring me to continue pretending to focus on eating, the quality of whatever I was consuming was long since forgotten and disregarded. All too soon both of us were done, though I would have barely remembered eating anything at all were it not for the empty plates on the table. Still.. was it to end like this? I had mustered the courage to invite her out, took effort in dressing, and barely had I-

"Umm.. do you want to go have a walk in the park?"

Twilight managed to break the apparent vow of silence between us.

"I mean, it's healthy to have a walk after you eat, and we've got some nice weather today, so..."

Thank goodness, I still had a chance to turn things for the better.

"Hmm? Oh, sure, Twilight. Yeah, like you said, the weather's good and all, so..."

Once payments were done with, Twilight and I walked towards the park in Ponyville, one of us occasionally bringing about a thread of conversation, but such a thing never did mature beyond a few replies to each other's. Even when we reached the park, filled with ponies determined that we should never enjoy a moment of silence, the awkwardness persisted. Somehow we could ignore this quandary, walking by each other's side, but never really speaking much or even looking at each other (while the other was looking at them, at least for myself, though I did catch her quickly turn away a few times).

Upon spotting a bench shaded well under a large tree, far away from the crowds, I asked Twilight if she would like to rest for a bit. She agreed, and we made our way and seated ourselves. Doing my best to act as normal as I could, I let a hand move close to her on the seat, until finally I just touched her foreleg with a little finger. No response. Feeling a bit more brazen, I shifted slightly, enough for two fingers to easily brush her leg. Twilight just kept looking forward, though one could catch a glimpse of red from my position.

Somehow, Twilight and I found ourselves back into animated conversation. Each of us used our forelimbs to gesture as we spoke, though for some reason she refused to move the leg touching my hand. Twilight asked me how much I'd adjusted to Equestria, and I replied very well, that having her to help me was the key behind it.

"Really, Twilight, I don't think I would have turned out as well as I did without you. Honestly, I can't thank you enough!"

"It's.. it's no problem at all, really! I really liked helping you out, you always tell me so many wonderful things about your home, it's just so nice having you around..."

"It's.. great to have you around, too."

Her hoof seemed to press against my fingers slightly. I shifted my hand a bit closer to her.

"So then I decided I'd ask you out on a date to thank you! Ahahaha..."

The words came out before I realised it. Even while planned to seem like a comment in jest, the only way I could get it out was to not think about it at all.

"Is.. is this a date, then?"

Twilight turned to face me, eyes wide.

"Well, I suppose, if you want it to be. I mean, I don't mind."

I couldn't really look her in the face at that moment.

"I mean, if it's you... well, I really don't have a problem with it. I-I.. I do quite like you."

The few moments of silence seemed to last forever.

"Oh, that's fine, that's alright! Because, um..I-I like you a lot, too."

A few more seconds passed. Then, as if to symbolise the great weight lifted off our minds, both of us began to giggle. Soon enough it grew into a laugh, her voice making it all the more beautiful. How long we kept it up, I didn't care to know, but the sheer relief was a marvel of ecstasy if anything. Eventually, we ran out of stamina, and collapsed back onto the bench, a broken pile.

Twilight yawned.

"Could we rest here a while more? Goodness, I suppose I shouldn't have stayed up all night trying to figure out what to wear for today..."

"You too? Yeah, I'm tired as well."

Lack of sleep had caught up to me, as finally I found my own eyelids drooping, the comfort of having a reciprocal Twilight Sparkle near me only encouraging them.

.........

Even before I opened my eyes, I could feel myself leaning on a warm pile of some sort. Opening them yielded the sight of a setting sun, while sitting up and looking to the side yielded the sight of Twilight, busy resting herself, and apparently quite concerned that my weight was no longer on her.

"Oh, you've woken up! Good evening, then."

Twilight picked herself up from her laying posture and greeted me.

"Good evening to you too, Twilight. Just how long were you awake?"

"Eheh.. about an hour or so."

The way back to Twilight's home was once again filled with our banter, whatever it was that had stifled it for so long seemingly gone in the span of a few hours. What seemed like a few seconds later, we were already back outside her home.

"See you tomorrow then, Twilight?"

Twilight smiled, in a manner more beautiful that I had ever seen her perform.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."