The long piece of parchment floating before Twilight was filled edge-to-edge with a nearly-indecipherable scribble. On the left side was a list entitled Pros; on the right, a list entitled Cons. She blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face and laid the parchment over the small stack that had accumulated next to her on the desk.

She'd begun after she finished her friendship report earlier that evening; she retreated to her room and began writing all of her thoughts down so she wouldn't lose them. It turned out to be a list about everything she'd been thinking about for the past week or so, all written down and organized neatly. Once she'd finished the first list, though, she took out another sheet and began writing it again, repeating everything the exact same way and slipping in a few thoughts when she had them.

There was plenty on the Pros side; that was good for Pinkie. But, there was also plenty on the Cons side. In fact, numerically, they were equal once she hit the twentieth list or so. So she'd spent the last few minutes writing more lists and thinking about what really meant something to her.

She opened her desk again and levitated another sheet of parchment towards herself, staring at it for a few seconds before laying it on the desk in front of her. She plucked the quill out of the inkwell tapping it twice on the rim to release any excess.

The first thing she always found herself writing was the pros. Additionally, she found herself usually starting off with 'Funny', mainly because it was true and because Twilight really liked that aspect of Pinkie. But that could also apply to normal Pinkie, not just to the new Pinkie Twilight had gotten used to seeing.

Afterwards came 'Kind' and 'Generous', because she could really see these aspects in her. Often, memories of their first few dates were dragged up in the back of her mind. She had always been complimentary to her, always told her that she looked nice or that whatever she may have been wearing really suited her. It was odd to hear it coming from Pinkie, with Pinkie's voice, but she'd grown to like it; it made her feel warm inside.

'Ecstatic' was the last answer she could sum up in one word. Pinkie seemed to be so happy around her, but not in her Pinkie way; she seemed to be calmed by Twilight; maybe she was kept from being hyperactive because she was shy? After all, she'd already professed her feelings; maybe she just felt uncomfortable around her.

Even thinking this made Twilight feel strange. It brought her back to the confusion she felt that one afternoon in the library. She remembered what Pinkie had said about her and blushed openly; after all, who was going to see her?

This was followed by tons of sentence entries, things that Twilight couldn't think of one word to describe, like 'Seems to really enjoy my company' and 'Second personality'. That last one added quite a bit of weight to the Pros side; Twilight had quickly come to like the new Pinkie.

As she hit what she thought to be the bottom of the list, a new thought hit her with gradual force. She moved her quill down one line, and slowly formed the letters one by one.

The feeling I get.

Why else would she keep asking Pinkie out? Why else would she have kissed her goodnight twice? Why else would she have felt a fluttering in her chest when Pinkie kissed her back last time? Why else had her thoughts been drawn to Pinkie multiple times and why else would she feel that small degree of nervousness when she met her sometime during the week, on the street or at a picnic or in a party?

It was that little feeling she'd had ever since day one. That little, nagging thought in the back of her mind that she couldn't define until now. She couldn't help but feel disappointed at herself as her brain immediately went to the scientific phrasing.

It's most likely love.

No 'I think I'm in love with Pinkie' or 'Maybe I love her too', just 'it's most likely'. A myriad of emotions swam through her mind; happiness that that feeling was defined, frustration that her mind didn't seem capable of emotion, and... something strange, something that actually had to do with what she just discovered. She tried saying the phrase she came up with out loud, to test the emotion.

"I think I'm in love with Pinkie."

It didn't sound right, but after what she'd been through in the past week or so, there was comfort in it. She still didn't feel like she was a fillyfooler, though; she really felt nothing (except, maybe, to some degree, jealousy) when she saw a particularly attractive mare. Then again, she rarely felt anything when she saw a particularly attractive stallion. Maybe it was true. She said the other phrase, further testing herself:

"Maybe I love her too."

The words barely left her lips when she felt a tingle in her spine, something she hadn't ever felt before. The thought, again, hit her with quite a bit of power. It was true; there wasn't any other explanation for it. She was falling for Pinkie.

But then she muttered 'fillyfooler' aloud, albeit quietly, and almost winced. It was a strange word; she didn't like it right off the bat, but when she thought about it, she began to realize she may be one. It just confused her, beyond anything else she'd ever studied. She just couldn't wrap her mind around her own sexuality... it almost made her laugh before she realized how stupid she must be.

An idea began to grow in her, an idea that she was sure Rarity would protest against. She'd thought about it enough to consider it safe, though.

It had already become night outside, and she finally realized she was staring at darkness, the letters she'd written illuminated only slightly by the glow of the magic surrounding the quill. She laid it down gently and walked over to her bed, ready to turn in early.

Results would be in tomorrow night.

Pinkie hummed to herself as she tried to keep herself busy at work the next morning. As always, she woke early and came in to work early, to begin filling previous orders and to get the ovens going.

She was a bit shocked when her coworker walked in the front door, moving part of her mane out of her eyes with her hoof. Usually Trixie never came in this early. She greeted her with a smile nonetheless. "Hi, Trixie!"

"Um, yeah, good morning, Pinkie," she said, yawning. "Oh, I sooo didn't have a good night. Seriously, when somepony's trying to sleep, others should be respectful and not stay up all night singing! I mean, really, singing? At night?"

Nothing could ruin Pinkie's mood today. "Hey, Trix, you wanna stay at my house for a while?" she asked suddenly, much to the bewilderment of her coworker. "It's pretty quiet in the cul-de-sac."

Trixie moved her mouth, but no sound came out. She looked around the room, as though expecting somepony to tell her what to do. But then she turned back and sighed. "No. I couldn't do something like that. I'll just stay where I am. Thanks, though," she added, smiling briefly before setting off to work.

The day... well, it didn't speed by, but it wasn't crawling. She had a little conversation with Trixie and a lot of conversation with herself. She muttered and hummed tunelessly as she kneaded and pinched and poured and squeezed and formed. The last few minutes were absolute torture, though. When the clock finally sounded, she threw her apron onto a coat hangar and dashed out madly, shouting a quick goodbye to Trixie and Mrs. Cake.

She smiled, feeling the wind and sun in her face as she galloped home. As always, she started getting a tingling in her chest as she imagined what could happen.

Without further ado, she showered and combed and brushed and made herself pretty until she deemed herself presentable. The entire time, she was giggling, the thought of spending some not-too-casual time with Twilight making her happy beyond anything else.

Then, of course, she remembered how she usually acted, and calmed down. To have a nice date, she had to concentrate and think. Of course, she also had to be herself, but she also had to be somepony else. Then again, wasn't she that somepony else?

She giggled again as she thought this, realizing that it was beyond her grasp and putting it out of her mind. She just had to do what came to her. Unless, you know, it was...

She felt that warmth in her chest again; the same kind of warmth she'd been getting when she was around Twilight. A serious, but happy warmth... well, it was hard to describe. Love is always hard to describe.

It was a quarter till when she decided to leave for the park. She wondered what Twilight had planned, the thoughts running rampant through her mind drawing her mouth into a smile.

There was still a good hour of light left, and the sun was hovering contentedly over the horizon when Pinkie skipped happily into the park gates. She continued skipping past the lavender unicorn waiting quietly on the small white marble bench, before realization dawned and she stopped where she was, turning around with embarrassment clear in her face.

"I - I -" she began to stammer nervously before Twilight stood and began to approach her. Her blush became slightly darker as Twilight giggled.

"It's okay, Pinkie," she assured the pink mare. "I don't want you to be nervous. Not tonight. I just want us to have a good time."

Although the blush remained where it was on Pinkie's face, she quickly regained her composure. "Oki-doki-loki!" she replied, and grinned. Tonight would be good.

The park was one of the most pastoral places in Ponyville. Well, not technically in Ponyville, but lying right off the border. Nonetheless, it was really quite a tranquil place, especially right before sunset. As the pair walked, the shadows of the trees flickered by them and the birds were speaking in ambiance as they fluttered from tree to tree.

"You know, Twilight, I've never seen the same in books that you do. What's so super-amazing about words on paper?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, I guess..." Twilight began, unsure of how to go on. "It's like - it's - well, I suppose it's like they're transporting you to a different, more interesting world straight from somepony else's imagination. If it flows right, it just carries you along until you lose yourself in the words and in your own imagination."

Pinkie smiled, remembering back to the first few dreams she'd had about Twilight. "I thought so," she muttered to herself. "Well, I think art is better. Like, you know, paintings and stuff."

"Oh, like visual art? 'Cause, you know, literature is another type of art. Literary art. Like culinary art." She paused. "Speaking of, have you made any more of those really good apple cupcake things yet?"

"No. Why? Do you like them?" Pinkie asked, almost teasingly.

"Definitely! I would pay for those things, Pinkie! I mean, I would literally - I mean, seriously!" Twilight seemed to actually be excited about her and Applejack's creation. "I don't know, Pinkie. Those aren't normal cupcakes. They're, like, super-cupcakes. How do you make them?"

"Ha! I can't tell you, silly," Pinkie laughed, patting Twilight's head. "This could become, like, a family secret, or - or something," she trailed off, realizing the gravity of what she just said.

Twilight stopped speaking for a few seconds, a light red showing up on her cheeks. She stopped walking and pointed to her left. "Hold up a second, Pinkie," she said, and turned. "Here's what I wanted to show you. Seriously, I think this is really cool."

Pinkie followed Twilight to the top of a rather steep hill. She paused at the top, looking behind her at the path they followed. She turned her head back to Twilight and began, "What's -"

She stopped, and her eyes opened wide. "That's... it's beautiful," she breathed. The hill dropped off suddenly to a rocky slope that led into a sparkling blue body of water, surrounded by deciduous trees and wide plains. It was breathtaking.

"I - I didn't think we were anywhere near the sea," she commented.

"We're really not. This is more of a lake, but it has a tributary that leads into the sea." She sat down, inviting Pinkie to as well. "Isn't it beautiful?" she sighed. "Things like this, especially at dusk -"

"Twilight," Pinkie interrupted with a giggle.

Twilight paused for a moment. "Oh. Oh, that was good! I didn't think of that," she said with a short laugh. "Anyways, lakes and other stuff like this never ceases to amaze me."

Pinkie sat down next to her, gazing out at the natural perfection Twilight had led her to. "How could I not know about this? I've been in the park before, and I've never even heard of it."

"I don't know. I probably wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't have stumbled upon the map of Ponyville when cleaning up the den two weeks ago."

She looked over at Pinkie, who was still mesmerized by the sparkling lake in front of them. In a minute or two, though, she looked back over at Twilight and smiled. Twilight smiled back, and leaned her head forward to put her plan into action.

Pinkie didn't understand what was happening at first; she looked in front of her at Twilight's closed eyes and down at her hooves before she finally grasped the situation. She closed her eyes and leaned back, savoring everything. Twilight... had kissed her... on the lips! And it wasn't just a - it felt like - it was totally on purpose!

She could feel the tingling in her cheeks as they quickly flushed a deep maroon. She didn't know what to do with herself; nervousness screamed at her from her mind before she finally told herself to calm down. Just be yourself. I think she likes you.

Twilight finally pulled away, her eyes remaining closed for a few seconds. Pinkie opened her eyes slowly to the lavender unicorn blushing almost as furiously as her, her mouth open slightly. She looked back over the shimmering lake, and back to Twilight, who was smiling shyly.

It'd been a few minutes before Pinkie began to speak. "Does this mean... are we..."

"I think I like you, too, Pinkie," Twilight said softly.

Pinkie couldn't suppress the grin that spread quickly across her features, and she could feel a stinging behind her eyes. Twilight was shocked by Pinkie's quick hug, but soon returned it as Pinkie's tears of joy slowly rolled down her cheeks. "I... I... thank you," Pinkie whispered, never wanting to release her grasp.

They remained at the top of the hill in their quiet embrace, as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon and the lake became dark and still.