Up until this scene, G. M. Berrow's novelization of the movie followed the original script rather closely. In the first chapters, in fact, she barely strays from the movie's dialogue, except for a few internalized thoughts that obviously were not portrayed in the movie.

The "Fountain Scene," as it has come to be known, was the first created apparently out of whole cloth by Berrow for her novel (though some early drafts of the script apparently include references to a fountain scene, there is no evidence it was the basis for what you see below). It is markedly more mature than the movie, dealing with themes of separation and desire that, at first blush, would not seem appropriate for the pre-teen girl audience the book is ostensibly marketed for.

In this scene, Twilight realizes that she has only hours left to spend with human Flash Sentry, and must wrestle with herself over how to spend them.

Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry dance in a fountain on the eve of her departure

Book 1, Chapter 3, pp. 62

Twilight laughed as she twirled in Flash's arms. The cool water, though only up to her knees, splashed about the two of them as they danced in the fountain's basin. It was the loudest sound in the night.

"I've never done anything like this," she murmured. Her head swam, and she leaned against his broad chest to steady herself. The rapid thunder of his heartbeat drowned out her thoughts. "Can we stay here forever?"

He lowered his head, and she felt the hot touch of his breath upon her forehead, against the naked skin that withheld nothing of itself from the world. She started to blush, and she silently thanked the night for its concealing darkness.

"Not forever, no." She felt the words rumble in his chest as much as she heard them. "But for a while, at least."

She leaned closer, her eyes closed. His lips were just inches away; she could dart in and steal a kiss, snatching it from him like a heron plucking a fish from the stream. He would not object. He would smile, and his lips would feel as soft as cotton and taste like the apples she smelled on his breath, and she would steal another kiss, and another, and they would kneel down in the fountain, and they would touch each other, and they would complete each other. She raised her eyes to see those lips just inches away.

No! She pulled away from his embrace and turned to face the empty courtyard. Her lungs ached for air, and she heard his shuddering exhale behind her. For long minutes, only silence filled the night.

Something small and cold shifted beneath her bare feet. Desperate for a distraction, she reached down into the water and plucked it from the fountain's rough cement floor. It was a coin – a quarter, she dimly recalled. Age had worn smooth its textured rim, but it still shone as bright as new under the moon. She looked down again, and saw hundreds of similar coins scattered beneath the water.

How odd. Why would anyone cast away money?

"It's for luck," Flash's voice sounded in her ear. His strong arms encircled her, and his fingers wrapped around hers, trapping the coin within their combined grasp. "They say if you toss a coin in a fountain, you get to make a wish."

Twilight felt herself blush again. She hadn't even meant to mumble the question aloud. "A wish, you say?" She felt him nod in reply, his cheek brushing against the wet hair cascading down her shoulders.

"Well, then." She let out a long breath, closed her eyes, and let the coin fall back into the water. Again they were silent.

When Flash spoke again, the moon had begun its slow descent toward the horizon. "What did you wish for?"

"I..." She let out a trembling breath. The warm trails running down her cheeks were not tears; she was not crying. "I'll tell you in a few hours. Come on, let's go get dry."