The alarm pierced the thin fabric of Twilight's dream with a shrill ring loud enough to wake even the deepest sleeper. She awoke with a start, forgetting momentarily where she was and why it was so dark. Alarms always had that affect on her; that's why she rarely used them. She needed it today, though; she didn't usually get up so early.

As they'd planned the week before, Twilight would be heading over to Rarity's boutique in the early morning. It was the only time that she felt safe and alone, as though she couldn't be seen by anypony.

She promised she'd keep Rarity updated, but, as she hurriedly and quietly forced uncooperative strands of hair down and smoothed out her bedraggled coat, she wondered to what extent. How much did she feel obligated to tell her friend? Absolutely everything, or should some matters be kept... personal?

By now, since Rarity was the only one she'd felt comfortable opening her heart to, Rarity was the only one she'd actually felt compelled to open her heart to. If she needed to say something about her... situation, she went to Rarity, who seemed happy to talk to her no matter what time she dropped by.

However, the two unicorns had planned this meeting that Sunday, so that she'd be able to talk to Rarity about the night before and so she wouldn't be made a liar by saying she had plans on Wednesday. (She didn't know why she said it; it may have just seemed natural to her. Didn't seem at all strange at the time.)

In any case, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Twilight was briskly on her way to the boutique, thinking over how she might go about asking her questions. Of course, Rarity would probably be the one asking questions; maybe she should stop worrying. She'd caught herself doing that more and more recently.

She trotted up to the elegant double doors of the shop and knocked a few times, glancing around her to detect any unwanted onlookers. The door was surrounded momentarily by a rich bluish glow, and swung open to allow Twilight entrance.

Twilight graciously stepped inside, and turned to her left, walking into an always-impressive sunroom that had been converted into a veritable workshop. More like a design studio, really.

"Good morning, Rarity," Twilight began, addressing her friend who was seated behind a writing-desk carefully measuring out a length of fabric. "Sleep well, I hope?"

"Oh, darling, still with the niceties," Rarity replied, in mock exasperation. "I'm sure you don't need to know how I slept. But -" she spun around in her chair "- I want to know how last night went."

Twilight swallowed nervously. Right down to business, huh?

"Tell me," she said, bringing a length of yarn over to Twilight (who often assisted Rarity in her work while they talked), "how was it?"

"It was great - I mean, you know, it was good like last time. It was nice." She smiled, unconvincingly trying to play herself off.

"Now, stop for a moment, darling, I heard 'great'. Why was it so great?" She'd stopped working for a second, and smiled over her shoulder to the quickly-blushing Twilight.

"I mean, it was... see, I just..." She sighed, and began wrapping the yarn into a tight ball. "You wanna know the truth, Rarity? I liked it a lot. Like, more than just fun."

"Ooh! Is something... developing?" she asked mischievously.

"Hey, hey, now, you're prying a bit too much," Twilight joked, and both laughed for a few seconds. When she calmed down, she began again.

"Really, though... I dunno. I'm not sure what's happening, you know?" The yarn hovering above her began to pick up speed. "Throughout most of the dinner, I felt something, like, in my chest, and I can't explain it." The yarn quickly became a blur of lemon-yellow in midair as Twilight's breathing began to shallow. "I'm just - just not sure - I don't - I mean, I wanna make the right choice, before - but I'm still not sure whether -"

Rarity rose from her seat and walked over to her friend, as she finally released the yarn, a good-sized ball of thick yellow thread falling to the ground in front of her. She was breathing heavily and flushed red; magic so quick and calculated took a bit of effort.

She picked up the ball and turned her head to the side, moving it over to a large wooden chest and closing the lid after it. She turned to face Twilight again. "You shouldn't get so upset after something like this. Really, darling, I know you should be conflicted, I understand, but -"

"You - it - you can't understand!" Twilight shouted, her voice reverberating around the room. She remained silent until the echo faded away. "I barely understand," she went on quietly. "I keep seeing Pinkie Pie as I've always known her, as my friend, but then she goes and changes into a Pinkie Pie I haven't seen before... I mean, she's the same Pinkie, but there's something else."

Rarity was listening quietly. After she was sure her friend was finished, she clicked her tongue. "Oh, you're right, of course; I couldn't understand. But I'll always be here for you, whether I understand or not."

A smile came quickly to Twilight's lips, and then to Rarity's. Twilight reached a hoof around her for a hug. "Thanks, Rarity. It's just confusing sometimes, and I don't like things I don't understand. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, and began walking around the room, moving a few stray ribbons and shreds of fabric from the floor and sweeping them into the rubbish bin near the door. "I'm glad you're okay with this. I wouldn't think, last week, that I'd be able to talk to anypony about this so casually and confidently. And here we are." She paused again, moving a mannequin to its original spot. "I'm just so confused about... I mean... well, Pinkie's not just my friend. She's a mare. And I... I never even thought of this happening. I'd heard of it, but never dreamed that i might be a... you know?"

"Ah, well, c'est l'amour." Seeing the look on Twilight's face, she clarified, "It means 'such is love'."

"I know what it means. I'm just really happy that you're so okay with it."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno. But I have a feeling that if I told anypony else, they might not be as accepting. It's a scary thought, really; sort of a fear-of-the-unknown type of deal. Like, I don't know how it'll turn out, I don't know whether I want it to, and I definitely don't know how the others will react if it does."

Rarity invited her friend over to a large couch, and sat down next to her. "Now, although I haven't been in any situations like this, I will always be here for you. And I'll always try to help. But for now..." She leaned more over to her friend eagerly. "...How'd it go?"

Twilight blushed, remembering back to the night before. "Nothing much happened."

"Nice try, darling, I can see the blush. What did she say to you?"

"Nothing! Really!"

"Well, what's the blush for?"

This direct question turned Twilight a deeper shade of red. Should she withhold this? She kinda wanted to tell somepony; it was kind of a milestone for her. "Well... I... um... I kissed her goodnight."

"You what? What kind of kiss?" Rarity's tone quickly changed from one of teasing to one of worry.

Twilight was still feeling rather shy after her revelation, and this question took her far out of her comfort zone. "Why's that important?"

"Well, because, darling, relationships depend on timing! That kiss may have been way too early! You know the saying about the second date!"

"What the... no, I... what does that mean? I mean, come on, it was just a kiss on the cheek!" her voice had adopted a pleading tone.

"Nonetheless, darling, the actions on your next date will be crucial to your relationship's survival! She'll be expecting it again, but with more... how should I put it? Firepower. That's usually how it works." She was standing now, pacing in front of the couch where Twilight was sitting awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so worried about the entire thing now," Rarity said, pausing where she was and turning to look at Twilight. "Usually one doesn't kiss on the second date."

"Still, it wasn't too much, just a kiss on the cheek," Twilight said, still sounding upset. "Why would it cause so much of a problem?"

"See, you can't do the same thing on the next date, and you can't do nothing, now," Rarity replied, putting a front leg to her head almost despairingly. "And if you don't want to progress any faster, you wouldn't give - well - any more firepower, like I said. I heard you say you wanted to take it slow, and really, darling, that's just not the way to do it."

She stopped when she saw the look on Twilight's face. She sat down next to her again. "I'm sorry if I worried you, Twilight. You should just do whatever feels right. I promise it'll all work out in the end."

Twilight stood. "...Thanks, Rarity," she said softly, and walked quietly out of the sunroom. Rarity was left alone on the couch near the door, Twilight's visibly worried face still fresh in her mind.

She was overcome suddenly with a feeling of emptiness; for the first time since their meetings started, Rarity felt like she was unable to help her friend. She felt like she let her down.

She also realized how skewed her perspective on the situation had become; she had thought Pinkie was convincing Twilight, but now it seemed like Twilight was actually - like she was falling for Pinkie. It was all dreadfully confusing as it was, and she forced herself to lie down.

She repeated to herself that it wasn't her job; it wasn't her business; it wasn't her responsibility. She couldn't pry; that would be positively rude. But she still felt like she should help.

She sighed, and remained prostrate for a little longer before returning to her desk and to her work.

Twilight returned to the library as quietly and inconspicuously as she could, but attracted the attention of her most diligent assistant anyway.

"Morning, Twilight!" Spike said from the doorway got he kitchen as Twilight stepped slowly into the treehouse. "You're up early... and you were out early, too," he said, but didn't seem to be talking to her anymore. He stared off into space for a minute before returning to the other room.

Twilight watched him disappear behind the wall and sighed. She wasn't sure how long she could keep this from everypony - and definitely not from Spike. After all, Spike would be in the library when she left and would still be there when she returned. That could be for anything, from her conversations with Rarity to her actual dates. Spike might piece something together, and, whether he was right or not, Twilight didn't want him to get the wrong impression.

She hesitated to follow Spike into the kitchen, and more than hesitated to begin speaking. He was standing on tiptoe, peering into the cabinet.

"Hey, Twilight, you want breakfast?" he asked, leaning out of the cabinet and shaking a box of cereal.

"No, I - I already ate," she lied. "Spike-"

"Speaking of, we need more milk. I noticed that earlier this morning -"

"Spike," she repeated gently but firmly.

He turned to face her, and closed the cabinet behind him. Twilight walked over to the nearby table and sat down, leaning on it and laying a hoof across her face. Spike easily sensed that she was upset and hurried over to her. "Twilight, are you alright? What happened?"

"N-Nothing. I just... I just wanna talk to you," she said softly, still piecing together what she would say in her head. Her mouth went dry suddenly and she took her hoof off her face, keeping her eyes closed.

"Spike," she began, opening her eyes and steeling herself, "can you keep a secret?"