I lay awake in bed for several hours after the party. I racked my brain to try to comprehend what had happened. It was one thing for me to pretend to accept the choice Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had made, but for me to actually accept it, I needed to first understand it. I was like a lot of ponies - I tended to fear what I didn't understand. I decided to start from the beginning.

So they were both...experimenting? And if so, when did this start? What made their fondness for each other transcend ordinary friendship? I thought back to what I knew about them. The first thing that came to mind was when they first met in flight school. Rainbow Dash had stood up for Fluttershy. When I thought about it, that seemed like a reasonable place to start out - that would be a point where Fluttershy may have started to admire Dash. That admiration could have led to...what would you call it...a mare-crush?

Then another thought occurred to me. Why did Dash stand up for Fluttershy in the first place? Could it be that Dash had felt some attraction to Fluttershy from the start?

I pushed all those thoughts from my mind. It wouldn't do me any good to think through something I didn't even grasp the concept of. Unless somepony spelled it out for me, I'd probably never understand how a mare could be attracted to another mare. Trying to understand would only serve to make me more confused.

On top of that, a simpler solution presented itself - just ask them. It's not like they were alien life forms just because I found out something about them I didn't know before. They were the same as ever. The same Rainbow Dash I had always known. The same Fluttershy I had always known. They hadn't changed. I had just learned something new about them, is all.

Then and there I resolved to ask them the next morning. With that in mind, I turned over and drifted off to sleep...

The next morning, I was woken by a sharp knocking at the front door of the Ponyville Library. Hastily getting up, I quickly shook out my mane so it would at least look mildly respectable. I blinked a few times to clear away any residual drowsiness, and then opened the door.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood there, smiling hesitantly. Dash stepped forward.

"Hey, Twilight, uh...can we talk?"

As the meaning of her words dawned on me, I tried to suppress a huge grin. This proved difficult, however, so I raised a hoof to my mouth and pretended to be yawning. Truthfully, I was absolutely ecstatic. They were both here, wanting to talk. Given the circumstances, they clearly wanted to talk about the events from the previous night's party. In other words, not only did I not have to go through the awkwardness of asking them, but I'd be guaranteed to get the answers I was looking for.

I invited them inside with little hesitation.

"Would you like anything? Coffee? Tea?"

"I could probably go for some coffee," Rainbow Dash said as she worked out a kink in her neck and took a seat on the floor.

"I'm fine...thank you, though..." was all Fluttershy had to say.

I wandered off to the kitchen to get some water boiling. But as I prepared the coffee, thoughts consumed my mind again. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash seemed exactly the same as before. With every passing moment it became clearer that I was the one who had changed.

A moment later, I brought back a coffee for Rainbow Dash, and a strong brew of Zebrican Chai for myself.

"So you wanted to talk?" I said, sounding a bit more excited than was probably prudent.

"Er-yeah, well...so, you know about us now, then?"

"Yep!" I said, still forcing back a grin.

"Well...we kind of need your advice."

My heart sank. That was the one thing I wasn't prepared for. I was in no position to be giving answers; I was the one looking for answers.

It was my fault, though. In my self-centered search for understanding I had completely overlooked that perhaps they themselves didn't understand what was going on.

At that point, helping them was the least I could do .

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, it's like this...see, we actually don't know what's going on."

Upon hearing this I missed a step and nearly lost my balance. I was expecting something slightly more concrete.

"It started kind of without warning. About a week ago I woke up, and Fluttershy was all I could think about. It was weird, really weird. So I decided to stop by the meadow, just to talk. I was pretty confident, I knew doing something brave like this would be pretty cool-"

"In other words, she was terrified," Fluttershy interjected with a grin.

"Was not! Anyway, at first I just wanted to talk, but then I found out Fluttershy had been thinking about the same thing."

"So we took it slow," Fluttershy contributed, "at first we were just hanging out more. Yesterday was really when it all became official."

"Yeah...but now that we're to this point..." Dash paused, looking rather introspective, "...it seems like the emotions aren't real. There's no rhyme or reason to it, it's like the thought was just suddenly there one day, and it turned into a tangible emotion."

"...an idea," I said softly. I didn't realize at first that I had said it out loud.

"What?" Dash inquired, and with a sigh, I decided to expound on my thought.

"An idea is the most resilient parasite. Once an idea has found it's way into your mind, there's no getting rid of it. My guess is that both of you happened upon the idea simultaneously. Was there any time prior to a week ago that the two of you were together and were perhaps exposed to something that might trigger this idea to take hold?"

"...I can't think of anything."

"No, nothing."

"Hm," I hated to admit that I was completely stumped, "I don't know if I can be of too much more help, then. There's really just not enough information for me to draw any further conclusions. For now, I'd suggest not worrying about it too much. I'm not entirely familiar with how, er...this kind of romance...is supposed to work," I hoped my wording wasn't as tactless as I thought it was, "but I think you should stick to what your emotions have to say. They may seem foreign, but in no way does that make them 'not real'. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...go for it."

Dash lowered her head for a moment, then looked back up to me, smiling.

"Thanks, Twilight. That helps."

A short pause. Dash stretched, then yawned, then after a moment stretched again.

"Well...I think we should probably get going. Thanks again for all your help." Dash flitted outside rather nonchalantly.

Fluttershy stayed back a moment, and said, smiling warmly,

"Thank you, Twilight."

And then she left as well. With a sigh, I turned to my tea and took a sip. The thoughts began to swirl again.

It didn't matter to me anymore; I didn't really care what their preferences were, it just bothered me that I didn't know why...

It felt horrible to not understand my friends.