“So… we kinda got distracted about the whole ‘us datin’’ thing…” I quietly and uncertainly said as we trotted back to the tree house.

“As I’m aware…” Twilight plainly retorted.

“Any ideas on how we're gonna deal with that?”

“Hmm… no, none. As far as I see it, the only thing we can do now is to let the rumor ride itself out. Given how much happens around this town, it’ll probably be old news by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Right…” We were silent for a few minutes before something spontaneously popped up in my mind. “Hey, can I ask you somethin’?”

“What’s up?”

“Before we ran into Fluttershy earlier today… You looked like you was really lost in thought. What was it you was tryna tell me?”

“O-oh! That? I was just… wondering about how Pinkie’s party would’ve gone if Rarity wound up telling everypony that we’re together… which happened anyway, evidently. I couldn’t tell you then because it was supposed to be a surprise…” I was a bit skeptical about Twi’s response, given that I remember her blushing and refusing to look me in the eye, coupled with the fact that Rarity said she’d be too busy making a dress to talk to anyone except Spike… but then I thought that I was just being paranoid. Plus, that party sure was quite the surprise.

“Oh, alright. Since we're on that topic... do... you mind pickin' up where we left off at the party?" I uneasily asked.

"Sure... what'd you want to discuss?"

"Um... what... uh..." I stuttered, unable to bring an orderly form to my question. "What... is so unusual about...?"

"...talking about significant others?" she finished for me.

"Y-yea, that..." I bashfully confirmed.

"It's just... I have so much going on all the time on a daily basis... Studying, running the library, taking care of Spike, solving minor issues around town... That I... it never really crossed my mind."

"Huh..."

"I... I guess I've grown rather... complacent with my current relationship status... with being single... at least, until now..."

"Oh... I-I'm sorry..." I felt the need to apologize, figuring that she'd probably never had to deal with this sort of social pressure very often, which only meant that it was more of a headache for her to deal with when issues DID arise.

"Why?" she asked, bringing her gaze to me.

"Well... if... if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't-a had t' deal with that rumor... I really shoulda stood my ground when Rarity FIRST thought we were um... together..."

"You don't need to apologize... I probably wouldn't have been able to convince her to drop it, anyway. Knowing Rarity, even if we WERE to convince her that you and I weren't seeing each other romantically, she'd likely keep trying to push me into it."

"Ah, I see... She's that kinda girl who thinks you don't get out enough, so she tries draggin' you along t' someplace you don't wanna be, throwin' you int' social situations you don't need t' be in, despite you already provin' you have the brains necessary t' communicate at your own discretion?"

"Precisely... How'd you know?"

"Trust me: I know the experience. And I mean I KNOW the experience..." I dramatically enunciated, bugging my eyes out. Twilight found it in herself to let out a chuckle.

"Wow... It's odd how we share a lot of similar qualities and experiences despite being from two separate worlds..."

"Heh, yea..." I agreed, smiling as I lost myself in the gaze of the unicorn. She in turn, stared back, smiling. Soon, however, another silence passed over us... One that seemed to last ENTIRELY too long; the only noises being Spike's snoring, the crickets chirping in the distance, and the clopping of our hooves as we walked back to the library/tree-house. Within seconds, our smiles faded, but not our mutual stares... The longer I focused on the features of the unicorn's face, the more I suddenly felt my heartbeat intensify... My throat also became inexplicably dry, to the point where I'd involuntarily swallowed air.

"MAYBE we should... I dunno... talk about somethin' else??" Catching myself staring, I decided to break the silence.

"*AHEM!* Uh, sorry... Kinda zoned out there..." I shakily apologized after briefly shaking my head to bring myself back to the physical realm.

"Y-yes, I did too..." Twilight sheepishly admitted, turning her gaze away as her cheeks took on a rosy pink hue.

"Um... what exactly did she tell you at the party? If i'ss okay t' ask..."

"Nothing important... Some things here and there about how nice you seemed and how much it would benefit me to have somepony to come and visit me on a regular basis and to rescue me from my... 'Ocean of Books' as she put it... If I wasn't mistaken, she sounded more like SHE would've wanted a chance with you if we were to convince her we aren't actually dating..." At that, I nervously chortled.

"Her? With me? Somehow, I find that HIGHLY unlikely. Even if I WAS actually a pony, she seems too... prim, proper, an'... how you say, theatrical for somebody like me. In case ya haven't noticed, I'm one o' those types who prefers the simpler things... T' sit back an' relax when the chance arises, but still very much willin' t' put in work or help somebody when I'm needed or wanted. Rarity's nice an' all, but... she does NOT seem like my type."

"Heh, yeah... I don't think you two would work out so well, either," she readily agreed. "If anything, it sounds like you'd be better off with me of all ponies than her..." she passively remarked, although her statement sent a wave of butterflies swarming through my stomach. Seeming to realize what she'd just said, she quickly turned away from me yet again, her cheeks a brighter pink than Fluttershy's mane. "I-I mean... if hypothetically, we gave one another the chance, of course... Which I'm sure is highly unlikely to happen anyway, because we DEFINITELY don't see each other that way. Not at all... R-right?"

"Wow... She's even more flustered about that comment than I am... an' SHE'S the one that made it..."

"U-uh, yea... *AHEM!* What’s on the list of things to do for tomorrow?” I asked, attempting to change the subject to something more comfortable.

“Um... Oh! As for our schedule, I’ll need you to look at the notebook a little more and maybe answer some more questions. After that, we could go to Canterlot to meet Princess Celestia, depending on her schedule. If she’s too busy, then I guess we could just knock all the questions out with the time we have. From there, if there’s time, we could take another walk around Ponyville while you ask me any questions you might have.” I was amazed to see that she’d planned out everything in a matter of seconds.

“Sounds like a plan. I been wantin’ t’ see this Sun Goddess o’ yours… But seein’ as she rules this land, I won’t get my hopes up about meetin’ her for sure tomorrow.” On that note, we finally reached the library and went inside. I followed Twilight to her room and watched as she laid the sleeping Spike in a basket-bed and laid a blanket over him.

“I don’t suppose you have a couch or a guest room here?” I asked quietly.

“Unfortunately, no,” Twi responded. “This is a library, so this doesn’t exactly accommodate for guests. As a matter of fact, I’ve only had one sleep-over in this place. Buuuut, there IS an extra bed right over there that you can use… unless of course, you want to sleep with me,” she suggested nonchalantly. I was unreasonably caught off guard by that statement.

“…what?”

“I said—!”

“I heard you… but still…”

“What’s the problem? You’ve slept with me before.”

“Well, yeah… but I’m a pony now, an’ you’re a pony, an’…”

“And…? What’s your point?”

“Well… y’know… biology…” I tried to keep it as vague as possible.

“What are you talki—?” she began to ask, but gasped in disbelief as she finally realized my lewd thought mid-sentence. “Ty! You… you didn’t think I meant—?”

“N-no!” I hurriedly answered. She gave me a deadpan 'Don’t you lie to me' look. “Okay, yes, sort of…” I admitted with shame. “But i’ss because this time, we’re the same species an’ I uh… I dunno how that would carry over from us sleepin’ together when I was a human…”

“Oh, well I don’t see how it would be too different unless…” Her eyes widened. “…Unless what you’re implying is… is that you being a pony for a day has already changed how you feel about me…?”

“What? N-no, of course not.” I brazenly fibbed as turned my head away, towards her window. I didn’t want to admit that... that I actually did start to feel some type of new way for her… There were so many thoughts racing through my head. Like how it would be wrong. How I wasn’t actually a pony. How I’m human. How we don’t even live in the same universe. As a human, Twilight and I bonded quickly back in my world. But the bond was purely platonic... or so I thought. I had no reason or motivation to see her as anything more than a friend or a pet of sorts... well, maybe not a 'pet' per se, given that she's proven to be just as intelligent and capable of speech and emotion as a human being...

Maybe being turned into the same species as the unicorn began to toy with my mind, even though I’d only been like this for a day... which reminded me; I wouldn’t be here in Equestria forever… I refused to develop or acknowledge any unusual feelings for anypony for the indefinite, yet severely limited amount of time I was here… even Twilight. Doing so would only make my departure and our eventual separation from one another THAT much more difficult.

“Oh, okay…” she said. I expected her to be relieved by my response, but the look I saw on her face when I turned back to face her… it seemed to be one of slight disappointment. That killed me inside.

"Now I feel like an ass..."

“*sigh* Listen… I’m just overreactin’ to a foolish— or should I say ‘foalish’ assumption I made… I’ll sleep with you… if you’re alright with that,” I offered with a sympathetic smile. She brightened up a little and smiled herself. We climbed into her bed and lay juxtaposed with each other.

“So… how’s this gonna work?” I asked.

“We’ll just turn our backs to each other, I suppose.” She answered.

“Sounds good.”

“Alright. Good night, Ty…”

“Good night, Twi…” I tried to go to sleep, but something was eating at me, keeping me awake. I knew what it was, but I didn’t know why it was bothering me like this. Much as I tried to ignore it and go to sleep, I eventually figured it would keep me up all night if I tried to push it to the back of my mind. “Hey… Twilight?”

“Yes…?” She tiredly asked, although she didn’t move, indicating that she was still awake.

“Now or never…”

I sighed quietly and swallowed hard, gaining enough courage to sit up, turn around and place a small, tender kiss on the unicorn’s cheek. Although she didn’t move from her original position, I saw her horn flicker with magic for an instant.

“Sweet dreams...” I said as I turned back around and shut my eyes. My heart was racing, but that didn’t keep me from finally finding peace as fatigue instantly overtook me. I shifted myself into a more comfortable position (as comfortable as I could get with all my limbs bending in moderately dissimilar ways than what I was used to) as I was drifting off into a much-needed slumber. Sometime after I’d lost myself in a comfortable night-long ride to the infinitely vast land of dreams, I swear I felt something softly touching my own cheek and holding itself there for a few seconds. My eyes sprang halfway open, but slowly closed once again as a calm smile crept onto my face. The foreign object attaching itself to my cheek felt wet, yet… warm. It also felt like there were two of them. The objects removed themselves with a quiet pop.

“Sweet dreams, Tyshawn…” a familiar voice whispered.