The days sped by. Friday was fine; Pinkie inquired with the Cakes about an open slot, and they said they might be able to squeeze one in. By chance, she caught Spike leaving a supply shop and asked him to deliver a message to Twilight.

Saturday was fine, too. She went on a few errands, and ran into Applejack on the way. Of course, in conversation, she had to leave out a lot to avoid revealing Twilight's secret, but she was still able to get a bit off her chest. Throughout the rest of the day, all her stress eventually left her. Summer always brightened her mood.

Sunday, though... Sunday seemed nearly nonexistent. It wasn't terrible, but she stayed in all day, which was, of course, quite unlike her. Perhaps it was due to the weather; it had recently become relatively hot out, which induced a lethargy in most of Ponyville. Even the Element of Laughter had little energy that Sunday.

Lastly came Monday. Monday morning, a few painful thoughts entered her mind, which plagued her throughout work. Nonetheless, she tried to be amicable to the familiar yet new employee. Pinkie would have to be training her all week, anyways, so she tried to get off on a good hoof.

When it came time to clock out that day, Pinkie felt that she'd learned a lot of things about Trixie. She was willing and filled with stamina; and, although it was difficult from time-to-time for her to follow directions, she seemed to be trying her best to fulfill any expectations of her. Pinkie had no idea what inspired such a dramatic change, but she felt good about it. It wasn't every day that somepony turned their life around.

A little later in the day, Pinkie decided to pop in and visit with Fluttershy, who she felt was one pony she could trust above any others. It wasn't like she couldn't trust Rainbow Dash (after all, loyalty was kinda her thing) or Rarity, but she had been rather focused on Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy since... well, since two weeks ago.

At about three in the afternoon, Fluttershy heard a few brisk knocks at the door. She gasped and jumped, and her already-red face turned a deep shade of maroon. She jumped up off the couch, excusing herself, and went over to the door, opening it embarrassedly.

"Oh, um, afternoon, Pinkie."

"Yes, it is," the pink mare joked, grinning. "Just wanted to drop by, no reason. Just to say hi." She paused, and looked at Fluttershy. "Hi."

"P-Pinkie, it's really not a good time, I have company over, and I just - I -" she stopped, unsure of how to continue. She'd been trying for days not to rush over to Pinkie's apartment and open up her heart, and tell her about all of the wonderful things that had been happening to her. She didn't want to hurt her friend by rubbing her own life in her face.

Pinkie smiled again. "Oki-doki-loki! If it's not a good time, then I'm out! Peace!" She turned (with a bit of a swagger) and proceeded to walk away.

"But... I didn't want to... you don't... oh!" she cried out in frustration, and stomping her hoof on the ground lightly. She had just realized how rude she must've seemed. She sighed, and turned back to the couch, a smile coming back to her face.

"Now, where were we?"

Tuesday couldn't have crawled any slower. Watching the seconds tick by as she sat at Sugarcube Corner and continued helping her trainee was agony. At least she caught on quickly, or it would have been frustrating agony.

When the final order was complete, a huge grin spread across her face and she dashed out of the bakery, trotting speedily down Mane Street, making a left on Strawberry Lane and another left onto the Sunshine cul-de-sac. Her velocity only broke momentarily as she quickly unlocked the screen door and burst up the stairs. They'd agreed on six... there wasn't much time.

She combed herself and washed herself and dried herself and groomed herself and combed herself again, until her mane and coat were as shiny as the sunlight glinting off of a cupcake tray as it was pulled from the oven.

She knew by then that mental preparations weren't what Twilight was looking for, but screw it, she was nervous enough to need them. She recited a few lines in the mirror before taking a deep breath and checking the clock. Ten 'til. She should be heading to the library.

She'd already asked herself multiple times where she'd planned for them to go; she didn't want to go anywhere too expensive or too cheap, so she settled as close as she could to the middle with a little family-owned restaurant on the east side of town: Mary's Roses. She had to do a little research to find it, but hey, whatever worked.

Of course, she had to leave it open, in case Twilight had a different idea, in which case they'd go there instead. She set out on the road, and before long reached the library. Before she could step up and knock, though, Twilight slipped out of the heavy door, letting it shut quietly behind her.

Like on Thursday, she was beautiful... Pinkie could see from here that she really worked on presenting herself, and had even worn a small amethyst necklace. No doubt it was picked out by Rarity.

Speaking of, Pinkie had noticed that Twilight seemed to be spending a lot more time with Rarity since she'd approached Pinkie last Monday, if not even earlier. But there was no room to wonder. The last time she assumed... well, it didn't end nicely.

Twilight approached Pinkie, and smiled. "Ready to go?"

Pinkie tried to control herself, but just couldn't help it. She smiled back, an ear-to-ear type of smile that came not from etiquette but from true happiness. "Do you already have somewhere in mind?"

"Well, I mean, I considered all kinds of places, but if you already have one in mind, we should try that one."

"You sure? It's a bit of a walk."

"I'm up for it," Twilight said, putting a hoof over-dramatically in the air. "Let's go for a walk!"

Pinkie giggled, and walked off, motioning for Twilight to follow.

The walk there was filled with conversation, joking, and laughing. Both were in great moods, for reasons undisclosed; but despite the mystery of the happiness, it was still happiness, and they reveled in each other's company.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, their stomachs were audible. It was rather busy at 6:30, and the pair had to wait to be seated. Eventually, though, they were, and they placed their orders before they began their conversation again.

Pinkie heard herself slip twice into embarrassingly flattering statements, but Twilight didn't seem to notice. If she did, she was too polite to point it out. At this thought, Pinkie smiled again. Twilight was always so good to her.

However, Twilight, actually, made the statement that most tripped Pinkie up, and she accidentally responded to it. Near the end of a comment Pinkie made, Twilight commented after a bit of laughter, "Oh, Pinkie, you're wonderful."

She wasn't sure of the motive behind this statement, but she replied as though trying to play it off. "Well, thank you, Twilight, you are too." Just when the sentence had left her mouth, she felt a terrible sense of faux pas. She felt even more like a moron when Twilight flushed a light red, and stopped talking for a few moments.

She didn't know how to apologize or respond without saying something worse, so she tried to start a new topic. It took off well, and the two were soon talking again as though nothing had happened, but stopping every now and again to take a bite of food.

It was going perfectly, or, at least, semi-perfectly, for Pinkie, and Twilight seemed to be having a great time, too. By the time the bill came (they each paid for themselves), Pinkie found herself falling for Twilight more than ever.

It wasn't Pinkie's fault; it couldn't have been. Twilight was just so easy to fall for. She was smart, kind, understanding, caring, polite, and generous. Not to mention really... really, really pretty. Pinkie sighed and blushed at the innocent little thought.

The walk back was quieter, although it was still peppered with random comments and bits of conversation. It was barely 7:30, but it felt like they'd spent such a long time talking.

Pinkie felt that she hadn't been too much of an annoyance tonight. At last she hadn't made any major mistakes: maybe if she tried, next time could be even better. Almost just as she thought this, the library rose into view, the stately tree trunk rising above all the roofs of the nearby houses, dwarfing them against the slowly-darkening sky.

When they came to a reasonable distance from the door, Pinkie turned to face Twilight fully. "That was fantastic," she began, not a hint of falsity in her voice, "and I'm so, so glad you agreed to this. I had a lot of fun tonight."

Twilight smiled. "I did, too. I think we should do this more often. Can we do this again on, say, Saturday? Maybe I meet you at your apartment at six?"

Pinkie nodded vigorously. "Definitely." She was beginning to loosen up around Twilight; after all, friends who are dating are still friends, right?

Twilight nodded again in response, then, in a quick, premeditated, confident action, she leaned forward and kissed Pinkie gently on the cheek. It wasn't too passionate, obviously, but Pinkie could tell it was totally sincere, and definitely out of... could it be? Was it out of...

As Twilight disappeared silently behind the thick wooden door of the library, Pinkie concentrated hard on not jumping for joy. She didn't need to, though, because by instinct she turned and walked in the direction of the apartment, albeit blushing profusely.

Even in the cool night air, Pinkie could still feel the warm spot on her cheek. She could still remember the experience, no matter how quick it was. She could still remember the unicorn's soft, warm lips pressed against her face for that one amazing, beautiful moment. She still had a vivid memory of the emotion she felt Twilight was giving off; it felt like love. It really did.

This thought gave rise to an unbelievable surge of happiness in her. She bounced and skipped and laughed aloud the rest of the way home.

Twilight was seated again on her bed, reading. By now, she'd put away all the advice books that were given to her and that she'd checked out, and was getting back into her daily routine of study.

But no matter how she tried, she couldn't concentrate on the copy of Transcendental Mathematics lying in front of her. It just wasn't possible. She was thinking too much.

She looked lazily over the page again, but found herself reading the same line twice, as she did when distracted. She looked lazily over the page again, but found herself reading the same line twice, as she did when distracted. 'All real transcendental numbers are irrational, because all rational numbers are algebraic...'

She sighed and closed the book, laying a hoof across her face. Was it the right thing to do? Did it give Pinkie the right impression? Why did I do it in the first place?

There weren't too many possibilities. The most likely was the one she least wanted to hear: that she actually had feelings for Pinkie. Maybe she did. She did feel something throughout the entire dinner; something deep in her chest that she couldn't explain. But then she thought back to what happened a few minutes ago, and bit her bottom lip.

It wasn't too far-fetched, but it was still hard for her to grasp. She hadn't even considered the possibility of this kind of relationship before, not even during the first date. But now, now that things seemed to be turning out so well... truthfully, she was beginning to get frightened.

At least tomorrow she had plans. Maybe she'd be able to get a few things off her chest then.

For now, she should get some sleep. She wanted to be alive, awake, alert, and enthusiastic tomorrow.