Chapter Text
It had been exactly three weeks since Twilight Sparkle had officially become Pinkie Pie's girlfriend. Of course, since she was the Princess of Friendship, that was more than enough time for word to spread all around Ponyville, and probably outside it too. In fact, when Starlight Glimmer returned from her week out of town, the first thing she said to Twilight was, "So I hear that you've gotten yourself a girlfriend?"
Twilight confirmed with a nod. At that point, it'd only been a few days since it happened, so she still wasn't used to talking about it.
"Well, I'm happy for you and Pinkie Pie," Starlight had added with a smile. "Are you, er...alright, with the fact that everyone's gossiping about it?"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Twilight had replied, despite the heat filling her face. "It's just something new. And I'm a princess now, so of course there'll be talking. I'm just worried about somepony holding malice toward us."
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Homophobia wasn't a problem at all in Ponyville, so Twilight hadn't expected anything particularly bad. Canterlot was a different story. Of course, Princess Celestia was around to ensure no sorts of hate crimes were committed, but there was still quiet bigotry amongst some of the more uptight ponies. Those types of ponies were usually pretty easy to figure out.
Maybe that was one reason why Twilight had been so antisocial up until her move to Ponyville. As a filly, it was harder to tell the difference between good and bad ponies, so maybe she'd subconsciously decided it'd be easier to not make any friends at all. That was probably the case with Moondancer, too. That poor girl had encountered a lot of closed-minded neighbors in her childhood, and she hadn't even realized it until she grew up.
"At that party you helped me put together for her," Twilight had mentioned to Pinkie on a date, "she told me she was gay."
Pinkie shrugged. "Well, yeah, who isn't?"
Twilight giggled. "I guess most ponies don't care. But for some reason, the ponies Moondancer grew up around do. Or did. Hopefully they've become more accepting."
"How are they gonna be like that when they live in the same city as Princess Celestia?" Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Are they gonna try to overthrow her because she doesn't hate ponies for no reason?"
"I don't understand either."
Maybe it was just because she'd lived in Ponyville for so long now that it seemed unfathomable that there were ponies who might glare at and despise her when she nuzzled Pinkie and kissed her on the cheek. Well, maybe not entirely unfathomable. Of course, no one would see any shame in the idea of two girls being in love. It was extremely common in a friendly village like this. Twilight never worried about that.
It was how her friends would feel that bothered her.
Pinkie Pie denied seeing any change in their behavior, but Twilight caught it. The fleeting, awkward glances they were given when they were beside each other. The very brief hesitation before they were spoken to. The growing distance between them and their friends.
Starlight Glimmer said she was just being paranoid. "Why would they shun you over something like this? That wouldn't be like them at all. You haven't been missing your anxiety medication or anything, right?" Twilight didn't blame her. If Pinkie didn't notice it, she probably was just being paranoid. But fear just couldn't listen to reason.
Just ask them. Just come out and ask them. No, that's so manipulative. "Hey, just wondering, have I ruined our entire friendship by falling in love with her?" How is anypony supposed to answer something like that?
Twilight decided it would be a good idea to try and distance herself. Just for a little while. Maybe a week or so. Just to let her friends get used to this new relationship around them. It wasn't very considerate of her to show affection for Pinkie Pie right in front of them before they had a chance to be comfortable about it.
On the other hoof, Pinkie was absolutely delighted with how everything was going. She loved to be romantic with Twilight. It was understandable. Pinkie had confessed that she'd been infatuated with Twilight for a very long time, even before she'd realized it. It would be so cruel and selfish to force her to repress that again, wouldn't it?
On Saturday night, Twilight tucked herself into bed earlier than usual. She found it easier to think with the freshness of bedsheets wrapped around her. Also, she was doing a really good job fighting her habit of pacing everywhere and she didn't want to ruin it.
She found herself feeling a little lonely, though. Ponies usually slept beside their loved ones. Thinking about that made her miss Pinkie sometimes at night. But it couldn't be helped. It would be too inconvenient to live together; Pinkie had her work at the bakery and with her party planning, and Twilight was, well, a princess. They could spend the night with each other sometimes, but it was unrealistic to ask for that every single night. Maybe it was for the better, anyway, that Pinkie wasn't here to distract her.
Maybe I can spend more time with her this week, but...only in private. I should've known not to be so overwhelming. But how am I supposed to ask her to distance herself from me?
They could easily meet up and talk tomorrow. Somewhere private. They had to start getting used to restricting themselves. Even if some part of Twilight, blinded by affection, was desperately crying for her to handle it some other way. Pinkie would understand, definitely. It would be hard for them both, but Twilight had faith that they could work together so that everypony was happy in the end.
That's all it comes down to, isn't it? Making everypony happy. Even if it meant holding off what she really wanted, it was better than being selfish and overbearing and making her friends feel awkward.
It was so simple. And it was the responsible, mature thing to do. So why did dread creep its way into her heart anyway?