Chapter Text
Fluttershy sat alone on her couch, Angel sleeping next to her in his own little bed. The overall mood in the cottage, and across her whole plot of land was peaceful. The day was coming to a close once again. The animals in Sweetfeather Sanctuary were well fed and steadily winding down, retiring to their dens. The sun itself sat lazily on the horizon, slowly lowering into the blanket of hills it would rest behind until the dawn came around again.
It took its time, however. The summer months meant the sun would linger over the horizon longer than normal. Years ago, Fluttershy would find comfort in the long daylight hours. But as time had passed, she felt as though the days would overstay their welcome. It gave her too much time to be alone with her thoughts.
While the mood on Fluttershy's land became sleepier with the setting sun, the overall disposition of Ponyville was already rather drowsy. Things around the town—and Equestria itself—became quiet. On evenings such as this, Fluttershy found herself sitting alone; yearning for the time when every day was an adventure. At one point in her life, the placidity she experienced day to day would be all she could ever ask for. But after all the time she shared with her friends, the tranquility gave way to monotony.
When her and her five best friends defeated Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis and Tirek, it felt more climactic than everything they experienced before that point. And with that climax came changes that would cause herself and her friends to go their separate ways. Had Fluttershy known that would be their last adventure together, she might have cherished it a little more, as chaotic and terrifying as it was.
It wasn't as if any one of them wanted things to go this way. The circumstances surrounding that day along with the flowing passage of time caused them all to drift apart. Each of them were now wrapped up in their own personal affairs. Applejack took on more responsibility around the farm after her big brother's marriage. She tended to the orchard and spent plenty of time mentoring her little sister Applebloom, just as her brother had once done for her.
As the leader of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash was always in Cloudsdale training herself and her recruits every day of the week. Even with that being the case, Rainbow Dash still found the time to visit Fluttershy, more than the rest of her friends could. Being friends since childhood, their bond was unshakable.
Rarity had finally achieved her dream of opening a boutique in nearly every major city in Equestria. She often traveled between locations. If not that, she'd be running fashion shows, doing presentations, making deals with manufacturing companies, and so much more. She was as busy as she was successful.
Pinkie Pie worked around the clock either helping the Cakes run their shop or looking after their twin children. While she still lived in Ponyville, she often found herself too busy with her duties, or babysitting. Aside from those things, she spent much of her free time with Cheese Sandwich, who had recently moved to town to be closer to Pinkie.
And then there was Twilight Sparkle...
Fluttershy exhaled a deep sigh, looking up at the framed picture of her and her friends hanging on the wall. It began to feel like a habit. At the end of the day she'd sit alone in her cottage, eyes affixed on the portrait of her best friend. She loved all of her friends equally, but there was something about Twilight. The months she spent alone gave her much time to think and reflect; on her experiences, on her feelings, on herself.
From their earliest days together she could tell the way she felt about Twilight was different from the rest of her friends. Something she grappled with internally for years while they were close, but nothing she ever had the words to describe. On these evenings, however, her own thoughts were the only thing she had to converse with. And the conversations she had were both melancholic, and illuminating.
That indescribable feeling she felt towards her friend was one she came to realize was love. In their days together, the chaos of everything around them rarely gave her a moment to think about her own feelings. So much time spent in crisis meant her attention was constantly diverted elsewhere. It wasn't until recently that she became so sure it was love. It was hard to call it anything else.
Even so, she struggled to call it unrequited. How could love be unrequited when she'd never told Twilight how she truly felt? It wasn't like Twilight didn't know Fluttershy loved her. All of their friends loved her, and each other.
But love is such a layered emotion. Even if Fluttershy had the opportunity to share her feelings with the princess, would she be able to properly convey them? If she could, would Twilight even reciprocate? Were these feelings even appropriate towards her best friend? Towards another mare? Was any of this even worth considering now that Twilight was the busiest, most powerful being in all of Equestria?
All of her questions, thoughts and feelings continued to swirl together until they all became white noise. Even with how much it all weighed on her, it all became such a regular occurrence that she grew accustomed to dealing with. If anything, it was only tiring, and almost a welcomed sensation. The weight of her feelings would become less apparent in her head and more in the lids of her eyes. Before long, she'd drift off into the embrace of dreamscapes once again, only to be greeted by the morning sun hours later, ready to begin the same day as yesterday again.
* * * *
* * * *
The night was completely still. The moon began its descent from the crest of midnight only an hour or two ago. Fluttershy was sound asleep on the couch. It wasn't hard to guess what she was dreaming about. Not just because of how her nightly ritual would dominate her thoughts before sleeping, but she was also a vocal sleeper. She would occasionally mutter Twilight's name in varying tones. Some nights her tone would be vaguely romantic, and others—like this night in particular—she would sound distressed.
Her body twitched and fidgeted on the couch. This particular dream was so intense that her hoof slammed into the small bed basket Angel had been sleeping in for hours. This sent him flying into the wall with a SLAM! He shook his head and looked back at his owner, a scowl on his face. He hopped up onto the coffee table in front of the couch, ready to return the favor of a rude awakening. Right before he did, he noticed the look on Fluttershy's face as she slept. It was clear whatever she was dreaming about wasn't any fun for her. He rolled his eyes, figuring a more effective revenge would be to let her sleep through whatever was happening in her unconscious mind. His bunny feet landed on the floor once more as he bounded up the steps to the bedroom on the second floor, where he settled into his other bed next to Fluttershy's.
A few minutes went by, and the peacefulness of the night returned. While the outside remained still, Fluttershy's head was caught in a chaotic swirl of thoughts and emotions, just as it was before falling asleep. If she were awake, she would find it impossible to describe what was happening. The pace of her dreams matched the racing speed of her waking mind. Perspectives changed, landscapes flipped and shifted. It was not unlike the tumultuous nature of Discord's realm, but the chaos incarnate was nowhere to be found here. The details were vague and indiscernible, but one thing was certain: Twilight was there, and Fluttershy needed her. Not only did she need her, but Twilight needed her just as much.
Another loud SLAM! erupted, this time disturbing not only the stillness of the night once more, but Fluttershy's slumber as well. The front door swung open with a bang and slammed shut with yet another immediately after. The sounds startled her to such a degree, she jumped up high enough to bang her head on the ceiling. The impact of the bump carried so much momentum that the bed Angel slept in on the floor above shot straight up into the air as well, launching him and causing the bunny to land flat on his face; his bed to landing directly on top of him. Angrily, he hopped towards the window and opened it, determined to find a quiet place to sleep even if it meant sleeping outside with the other animals.
When Fluttershy fell back down, she landed behind the couch. Not only was she dazed from such a sudden awakening, but the bump she suffered made her head spin and her vision double. Quickly, she shook her head to try and regain composure. Within seconds her vision returned to normal, and her surprise was replaced with fear. She quickly scooted under the couch, trying to look out for whatever had found its way into her home. It wasn't a great vantage point, but after a few moments of her eyes darting around the unlit room she spotted a pair of hind legs. They were shrounded in darkness, and standing at the window near the front door. It was clearly another pony, but who on earth would make such an explosive entrance into her home at such a late hour? Her friends would know better than to barge in like that, so whoever it was they couldn't be friendly.
But what could she do? She wasn't a fighter. And even if she was, there was no way to know how powerful they may be. In her mind the only logical choice was to continue to hide and hope that whoever was there didn't see her. If they were looking for her, she could wait for them to go upstairs and then make her way out the door. But what about Angel? He wasn't in his bed in the living room, so he must be upstairs!
Fluttershy began to sweat as her thoughts raced far faster than anyone's should at such a late hour. The room was completely silent and still. The clock on the wall ticked away. Every tick felt like a minute by itself. Fluttershy found herself counting along with each one as she stared at the unmoving pair of legs standing in her living room. A full minute passed, the tension making it feel as though it had been an hour. Still, no movement. More ticking. More counting.
After about half a minute, the clock chimed and startled both Fluttershy and the mystery pony at once. They both shrieked, Fluttershy jumping high enough to push the couch into the air which landed on its back. The other pony shrieked again from the thud of the couch on the floor. Fluttershy once again found herself dazed and splayed out on the floor. Even in her blunt trauma induced stupor, she realized the scream she heard from the other pony was familiar to her.
It was then the shroud of darkness over the room was cast aside, and a brilliant purple light filled the room. The mystery pony walked over to Fluttershy, who at this point was too incapacitated from the second bump she suffered to be afraid or try to run away. She rubbed her eyes, the light being too bright for her unadjusted eyes to make out who was wielding it. Suddenly the fear began to well up in Fluttershy again. There was nowhere to run, nothing she could do. Whatever was about to happen, she hoped it would happen quickly. The mysterious figure finally spoke.
"Fluttershy? Are you okay? What were you hiding under your couch for?"
It was Twilight Sparkle! Relief washed over Fluttershy, but quickly she was splashed with a second wave of confusion, and a third wave of embarrassment. Sitting up and shaking her head once more ,she stood up from the ground.
"Well I was asleep on the couch, but then I heard you slam the door, and it startled me so bad I jumped, and when I landed I was behind the couch. I couldn't tell who you were, so I hid."
Twilight's expression changed from perplexed to bashful. "Eheh, right. I did just kinda break into your house unannounced." Twilight gave her a brief hug. "I'm really sorry, Fluttershy. I thought you'd be asleep upstairs."
Fluttershy smiled at her, "It's okay! If anything, I'm just happy to see you!" That was an understatement. Internally, Fluttershy was squealing. She was so excited, the turbulent dreams she was having and the scare from her breaking into her cottage had evaporated from her mind.
Still, she had to remain calm. Especially considering she had no clue what brought Twilight, the princess of Equestria, all the way out to her little plot in the middle of nowhere at such a late hour. That, and why was she looking out the window like that?
"Umm, Twilight, is everything okay?" she asked. "I saw you looking out the window. Are you being chased? Oh no what if it gets both of-"
"Fluttershy, I'm okay. There's nothing chasing me," she interrupted, then paused with an empty chuckle. "Well, unless you count literally everypony in all of Equestria."
Her answer only further mystified everything, but Fluttershy remained quiet expecting a follow up. Twilight silently wandered around the room, looking at all the pictures and knick knacks that lined the shelves and walls of Fluttershy's cottage. Right as Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask her to clarify, Twilight spoke up once more as she looked at the picture Fluttershy had gazed at so longingly hours ago.
"When Celestia and Luna retired and left me in charge, I was really nervous, but so excited," she explained. "As stressful as I knew the job would be, I wanted it. I thought I could handle it..." Her voice became choked up for a moment as she looked up at the photo. All six of them—Twilight and her five best friends in the world together, like they thought they would be forever. Her hooves clopped along the floor as she began to slowly pace around the room.
"But recently it's all gotten to be too much," Twilight continued. "My days are constantly busy from the moment I wake up to the second I collapse in bed. I never have a moment to myself. Somepony always needs me some place for some reason, and I have to go where I'm needed, because there's no one else who can do it. I'm the princess of friendship, yet I feel just as friendless as when I lived in Canterlot, studying under Princess Celestia. Only, back then, I didn't think I needed friends. That was before I met you, and everypony else."
Fluttershy felt her own emotions buckle. She wanted to burst into tears and tell Twilight how much she missed her too and how lonely she had been. It wouldn't be right to make this about her, though. Twilight needed her, and she needed to be there for her. Instead, she nodded to silently signal her to keep talking.
"It might seem silly to complain when you're in the most powerful position in all of Equestria, but my position is so lonely. Everypony says they love the princess, but really what they mean is they love the things she does for them. No one actually cares about my well being. No one asks about how I'm doing. And I understand why, but that doesn't make it feel any less alone."
As Twilight paced around the room, Fluttershy finally noticed how tired she looked. Sure, she had arrived in the wee hours of the morning, but it was a look of exhaustion that ran deeper than one night of sparse, poor sleep. It looked like she hadn't been sleeping for a while.
"I can't imagine what a job like that must be like, Twilight. I'm not sure I could ever manage in your position. So many people paying attention to me would drive me to panic... but, why come here?"
Twilight let out a dry chuckle. "I understand if you're afraid I'll bring unwanted attention here, Flutter. If you want I can go and-"
"NO WAIT DON'T!" Fluttershy shouted. Twilight's expression shifted. She was shocked by her friend's uncharacteristic outburst. "I-I mean, i-it's not like I mind you being here! I just... I guess I don't understand why, out of all our friends, you came here to me." she corrected.
"It just made sense. Dash, Rarity, Pinkie; all of them are in places I could easily be spotted by anypony. And once one pony sees me, everypony will immediately know where I am. Applejack's farm is pretty out of the way, but it gets pretty hefty traffic on the weekend. You're the only one I know in a place anypony is unlikely to look. That, and..."
She paused, and with that pause Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. And then another. Her speech left her heart in a state of suspension. What else could it be?
"I love all of our friends equally, but out of all of them, I've always felt like you cared for me the most. If I went to any of them, they'd probably be asking me so many questions like 'How's Canterlot?', 'What's it like being the princess?', and so on. But I knew if I came to you, you would listen and try to understand."
Fluttershy's heart began beating faster. One part of pining over her relationship with Twilight was that she could never truly know how Twilight felt about her. Not just about her as a pony, but how she felt about the way Fluttershy treated her. Hearing that made her heart soar. Could this really be the opportunity she'd been waiting for? No, she had to put those feelings aside for now. As much as she wanted to shout it was because she was in love with her, she needed to be thoughtful. Whether she would get her chance would remain up in the air, but it was all for Twilight's sake. And that felt more important than her own needs.
"Gosh, I don't know what to say. I'm more than happy to listen and let you stay here as long as you want." Twilight smiled at her, and her heartbeat got even faster. Even with the dark bags and crimson veins surrounding them, her amethyst eyes shined brighter than Fluttershy remembered. Even if the past few years had been stressful, time had only made her more beautiful.
"But maybe we should talk after you've had some rest. I mean, if you want to. I'm not sure how long you can stay being the princess and all."
Twilight nodded, "I can stay at least until tomorrow afternoon. I wrote Spike a note and left it on my bed, so he'll be able to cover for me for a little while."
Fluttershy nodded back, and the two climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Upon entering, Fluttershy noticed Angel's overturned bed and the window left ajar. A slight pang of worry came to her, but she reasoned it away. She would probably find Angel asleep outside in the morning. The two mares got under the covers next to each other. After just a few moments, Twilight's eyes became too heavy and she quickly fell asleep. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile lovingly at her. That was probably the fastest she'd fallen asleep in days, maybe even weeks. She wished sleep would find her so easily, but she had a feeling she'd be up all night. After all, it's not every night the love of your life comes crashing through your door at 2 AM just to fall asleep in your bed next to you an hour later. It was a dream come true. In the morning she would find the time to tell Twilight how she felt. But that was a problem for tomorrow's Fluttershy. Right now, she was going to bask in the moment.
Eventually, sleep would find Fluttershy just as it did the princess next to her, but not before she had a chance to cherish this moment she'd been longing for since they drifted apart.
* * * *
The sun rose over the horizon from its blanket of green hills. A stray beam of light made its way through Fluttershy's bedroom window directly into her eyes. She squinted as it did, sitting up and stretching to avoid the blinding light invading her space. She couldn't have slept more than 4 hours, but considering how long she slept before her midnight awakening she felt plenty refreshed. She could only hope Twilight felt just as rested when she woke up. Fluttershy opened her bleary eyes and looked to the side of the bed her friend fell asleep on. After a few moments it finally registered that Twilight was gone. "Oh no..." she thought. Had she missed her opportunity? Was Twilight already on her way back to Canterlot? Did she have to leave early to tend to something she forgot about? Would she ever be back? What if she still hasn't left but is about to? All these questions and more flashed through Fluttershy's mind before she leapt out of bed and down the stairs.
"TWILIGHT, WAIT!" she shouted. In her hurry, she stepped right on the edge of one of the stairs, tumbling down each step while trying to cushion the impact with her wings until she crashed right into the wall at the end of the stairs.
"Oh, good morning Flutters! Wait for what?" Twilight responded. Her eyes looked much less strained, the bags under them having disappeared. She hadn't left yet! There was still time. It seemed like Twilight was cleaning up around her cottage. It wasn't particularly messy, but there were always things she needed to do that she never got around to. And of course, last night left a pretty big mess in the living room.
"I-I'm sorry, I thought you had left already." Twilight chuckled, helping Fluttershy back up to her hooves. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have gone without saying goodbye first. That'd be rude! Are you alright, though?"
Fluttershy nodded, looking around at all the work Twilight had done. She could see out of the back window that the animals outside had already been fed too. She must have slept in, but thankfully Twilight remembered their feeding schedule from when she used to help her around the sanctuary some years ago.
"Gosh Twilight, you really didn't have to do all my chores for me. You could have slept in more, you know." Fluttershy remarked.
"It's okay! In my position you adjust to sleeplessness pretty quickly. When I came in last night I hadn't slept in days. But now I'm feeling great!"
Fluttershy was taken aback by how genuine she sounded. She couldn't have slept any more than 3 hours at best. And if Fluttershy was feeling as lagged as she did from having her sleep interrupted, she couldn't imagine being that energetic after only sleeping 3 hours after days awake. Twilight continued around the house as Fluttershy stood and stared at her. Once again she was smitten by how beautiful her friend was. She could spend a whole day watching her do anything. It was just a shame this wouldn't last. The realization that her time was limited took the wind out of her sails once more. She still had time, yet she could already feel herself missing Twilight again. How long would it be before she came back? Would she even? And she still had all those feelings she wanted to discuss with Twilight. Is now the right time? If she waits too long, she runs the risk of not letting Twilight give a good response, but if she tells her now she could feel awkward and leave early. In the span of a minute her mood shifted from elation to anxiety. What should she do? Should she even do anything?
"Fluttershy? You okay?" Twilight asked, noticing she had been staring at her for a while now. Fluttershy's heart began to accelerate again. She wasn't sure how, but she needed to talk herself out of this. There would be a time for her to confess, but it couldn't be now. She wasn't ready. Thankfully, Twilight elected to ignore how weird her friend was acting and the two continued about their day together. Fluttershy made them both breakfast and they dined in the living room, sitting next to each other on the couch.
They both ate slowly, spending most of their time chatting. Catching up with one another, talking about their friends and what they knew about what they were doing, reminiscing over their past adventures together. An hour felt like a minute to both of them. Both of them could spend the entire day doing just this, and maybe the next day too. But of course they both knew that wasn't possible.
As the morning flew by it soon became noon. The clock which had startled them both in the wee hours of the morning struck 12 and chimed once for each hour. Fluttershy knew that her window was closing and fast. But the idea of confronting her feelings for Twilight was so frightening. It took so much mental energy for her to put those thoughts away, but as the time quickly evaporated it became harder to tuck that away into the recesses over her mind. Worst of all, she could tell Twilight was starting to notice. At first, she ignored it just to be polite. But at a certain point it became apparent that Fluttershy was bottling something up.
"Fluttershy, I don't mean to push, but are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Fluttershy feigned surprise at this question.
"Wh-Why do you ask? Am I acting weird or something?" If she could slap her hoof against her face without it looking suspicious, she would. Her ability to hide her nervousness was only matched by her confidence.
"Well, a little bit? You keep staring off into space. Is there something you want to tell me?" Twilight prodded. This was bad.
"I just... didn't sleep all that much! That's all!" she lied rather unconvincingly. Twilight cocked an eyebrow. She had known Fluttershy long enough to know when she was hiding something from her and Fluttershy knew this. "Are you sure? You seemed like you were in a hurry to tell me something when you came down the stairs this morning."
Fluttershy's mind began to race once more. There had to be something she could say to get out of possibly having to confront her feelings for Twilight. But the more she thought, the less it seemed likely she was going to be able to talk her way out of this. Nevertheless, she tried to lie again.
"I-I just wanted to make sure I said goodbye if you were leaving, th-that's all! Honest!" Not even Fluttershy could believe what she was saying, and the look on Twilight's face certainly didn't give her the impression she did either. Twilight's expression softened as she approached Fluttershy, wrapping a wing around her.
"Look, I know this probably doesn't make a lot of sense considering everything I was complaining about last night, and how we haven't been in close contact for a while, but you can still talk to me about anything. And especially now, considering I'm not sure when I'll get a moment like this-"
Twilight stopped herself. Fluttershy hid her face in her own wing and let out a quiet sob. No, no, no. She can't react like this. This was her one chance and she was blowing it by letting her emotions get the best of her. But she knew she was cornered. What was she even afraid of? It was hard to narrow it down to one thing, or even a handful of things for that matter. And there was no time to ask herself more, let alone answer herself. Twilight was waiting on an answer.
"I love you..." she mumbled into her wings. Despite the low volume of her voice, Twilight still heard her.
"Well I love you too, Fluttershy. You're one of my best friends!" she responded cheerily.
"No, I..." Fluttershy began, but stopped to swallow. Her voice sounded choked, much like Twilight's had the night before. Twilight was confused, but waited for her to continue. It was now or never for Fluttershy. She had to come clean, regardless of what the outcome might be.
"Ever since you left, since all of us went our separate ways, I've had a lot of time to think. I've been by myself out here most of the time." Fluttershy walked off from the embrace of Twilight's wing, walking closer to the picture hanging on the wall. The one she had spent all night looking at, and the same one Twilight had looked at when she woke her the night before.
"In the evening, after all the animals are taken care of and I'm winding down, I look at this picture. Sometimes I stare at it for hours." She took it off the wall, looking down at it to avoid looking Twilight in the eyes and swallowing to keep her tears down just a little bit longer. "I miss these days so much. I enjoy the peace now, but I'd give it up in a heartbeat if it meant we could all regularly be together again." Twilight tilted her head, as Fluttershy paced around the room. A long pause followed as Fluttershy put the picture back up on the wall and straightened it out.
"Ever since you and I met, I've always felt like there's something special about you. I love all our friends a lot, but... the love I feel for you has always been different. And when we were always on our adventures, I was so distracted by how much was going on that I never had a chance to ask myself why it felt different." She continued to face the wall, away from Twilight. She could hardly stand to look at her as she knew what she had to say next.
"I love you, Twilight. Not just as a friend. As something more. A lot more. Last night, you said you thought I cared about you more than the others. I know kindness has always been my thing, but it goes beyond that. I do care more about you. More than anypony. And it's because I'm in love with you."
Twilight's mouth hung open yet she remained speechless. Part of her felt compelled to say something, but words were lost on her. Instead, she felt it was best to let Fluttershy go until she was finished.
"Last night, before you came, I dreamt about you. It was such a chaotic dream that I don't remember any of the details, but the one thing I remembered is that you needed me, and I needed you. And when I figured out it was you who flew through my door, it felt like fate." Another pause. Another swallow. Another deep sigh. Her voice sounded more choked with each word. She was reaching her limit.
"I don't want today to end. I don't want you to leave. I don't want to sit here another night wondering if I'll ever get to see you again!" The tears flowed down her face and the volume of her voice steadily increased. It was the only way she could be sure her bawling wouldn't drown her voice out. "I'm so sorry Twilight! I know things are already hard for you. I don't want to make them any harder! I know you're so busy! Everypony depends on you enough as it is! But I need you to know I love you and I can't-"
Twilight ran over to her and wrapped her wings tightly around her, and in her warm embrace the rest of her words died in her mouth. There wasn't anything left for her to say. There were only tears. Years of bottled up pining, yearning, longing all poured out of her eyes like a surging river. She sobbed into Twilight's chest as Twilight silently held her tight, Fluttershy's tears staining her coat as they flowed. There were no words from either of them. Only Fluttershy's weeping, and the faint sound of the clock on the wall ticking away.
After a few minutes of letting her emotions out, Fluttershy's attention was drawn to the slow breaths of her companion. She would inhale slowly, hold for a few seconds, then exhale from her mouth. She could feel Twilight's breath move through her pink mane. She began to mimic this breathing to the best of her ability. In slow, hold, out. Steadily her weeping subsided, and the quiet stillness of her cottage set in once more. The ticking of the clock became louder and seemingly slowed down. Much like the night before the seconds began to feel like minutes. Only now the tension came from her anticipating Twilight's answer to her emotional outburst. She felt like she should be more nervous, but also felt as though she had reached an emotional capacity. Whatever would happen next would happen, and when it did she would react then.
Twilight pulled back, her face meeting Fluttershy's. The rested look that adorned her face this morning had faded; the bags under her eyes returned and her eyes were once again bloodshot. Her face was highlighted by streams of tears that fell from her own eyes. Fluttershy was afraid of what that meant, but waited for Twilight to say something before trying to find any more words. They stood there, staring back at one another. Occasionally another tear would fall from one of their eyes. Twilight was smiling at her, and Fluttershy returned that smile. They both gently and nervously laughed. Eventually, Twilight broke the ice.
"I'm sorry I'm short on words. I've just... never had anypony say anything like that about me. And I don't think I realized just how badly I needed to be told I'm loved." Another pause, more staring. Twilight wiped her eyes and sat back, looking out the window she frantically looked through the night before. "I said I came to you because I knew no one would look for me here and that's true. But there are a couple other reasons. One is that... I felt like the rest of our friends would be mad at me for not visiting or keeping up with them. And out of everypony in our group, I knew you would be the least likely to be upset with me." Fluttershy nodded as Twilight continued. "But when you talked about that dream..." She sniffled, "I had a very similar one. That's what made me decide to come here."
It was almost hard for Fluttershy to believe. Was she telling the truth, or just trying to make her feel better before rejecting her? Or maybe this was Luna playing a trick on both of them. So many irrational questions raced through her head, but much like Twilight waited to respond before, she held her tongue.
"After I had that dream, I couldn't sleep. I didn't know what it meant. I was afraid to have it again. So I stayed up for days. Until finally I couldn't take it anymore. I thought maybe if I came to see you, I'd finally be able to sleep again and things would be normal. And I did! I do feel more rested, but three hours is not enough for anypony, even me."
Both girls looked out the window to the front yard. Another few seconds of silence followed. "I'll be honest, Fluttershy. It's hard for me to say where things will go from here. If I could, I'd stay here as long as you want me too. But we both know I can't. And I can't ask you to leave your sanctuary and all the animals here alone." Fluttershy's heart sank. This was the rejection she knew was coming. She braced herself as though she was about to be struck.
"But I think..."
This was it.
"...I think I love you too. And while I don't know what to do about it, I know I want to try something. Anything." Immediately her heart rose right back up so fast she felt lightheaded. It was hard not to burst into tears once more, but she waited.
"I have to head back to Canterlot soon. If I'm gone any longer, I'm sure Spike will freak out. But... I'll be back. And it'll be a lot sooner than 3 years this time. Promise."
Instead of words, Fluttershy responded by hugging Twilight with the force of a tackle. She began to sob again, but it was different this time. She believed Twilight, and knew they would work something out. Whatever the future held, the two of them would get through it. Together. Again.