Songs of Innocence

Chapter 17: One Left

Sun's house, the next morning

Twilight was standing in Sun's doorway, in the middle of a lecture that the unicorn couldn't care less about. She actually wished she could care about it, but she was feeling too distracted by a burning feeling to tell Twilight something.

"So, you may know that the princess of Vanahack, the illustrious Blue Moon Quartz, is coming to Ponyville later today. To be honest, she's a little uptight, and I know that she would completely lose it if she saw you summon a demon. So, could you try not to do that again until she leaves?"

It was becoming increasingly obvious that Sun wasn't paying attention. Her face was tired and lifeless, staring off into space, looking like she was both not thinking at all, and being completely lost within her thoughts. 

"Sun, is something wrong?"

Upon the question being asked, Sun was finally brought back to reality, a spark of life coming to her face. Although she spent Twilight's entire short lecture thinking of a way to say what she wanted to say, she struggled to find the words. But she tried her best.

"Uh, kind of... Can I be super honest with you?" she asked, with a tone of reluctance in her every word. Because of what the unicorn had to tell her last time, Twilight instantly dreaded what it was that Sun was going to tell her, but it could never be as bad as her last confession... right?

"You didn't go out drinking again, did you?" Twilight asked, eyes atwitch with the very idea.

"No. But, somehow it's taking a lot more strength for me to admit. I need to tell someone this, and telling Avalonia isn't enough. I've just never had this happen before, and I don't know how or what to feel. It's nothing important, but I still can't get the strength to say it for some reason..."

Every inch of her knew Twilight would understand what she was going to say, and yet, she just couldn't say it. She wanted to turn back, but in her mind, she was already way past the point of doing that. She felt like she was going to fall apart from the pressure, but all she needed to do was to say it.

"I like Fluttershy."

And as the words finally left her lips, she felt a wave wash over her, mixed with relief and a sensation of complete cringe. Even saying the mere name of the pony filled her mind with thoughts, all of which were screaming at her, wondering as to why she had to say it. And even a brief glance at the eyes of her pony teacher, widened with surprise, didn't make her anymore confident. The ensuing silence didn't help, either.

"But you've only known her for two weeks." was all Twilight responded with at first.

"I know. It's ridiculous, but it's true. I don't know what it is, but for some reason, I just like her, and I just needed to get that off of my chest. A-anyways, do you mind repeating what you were saying before?"

"Well, never mind that - Are you going to tell her?" Twilight asked, suddenly ignoring all initial awkwardness, much to Sun's surprise.

"No, I couldn't do that. Kinda like you said: it's a bit early..."

"It is, but... Well..." The alicorn was subtly going back on what she said, and not-so-subtly trying to convince Sun to confess her feelings. And somehow, it seemed like it might work.

"Actually, when I do... How do you think I should do it? I think you generally know a lot more about her than I do, so maybe you could give me some advice or somethin'."

Twilight grinned at the suggestion. A plan began to form in her head that would both distract Sun from all this demon-summoning stuff during the princess' visit, and, although it would be through a bit of force, she'd help Sun admit her feelings. Twilight would be completely lying if she said this wasn't entirely fueled by her own self-interest, but really, how bad could it go?