TWILIGHT POV
 
>It's been tireless work for the both of you, but it's almost complete.
>You couldn't've asked for a better partner, even if there was someone else you could ask to help complete It.
>A thesis to end all theses. 'Romantic Interactions with Humans and Ponies'.
>"Hugging, kissing, cuddling, flirting, dining, dating, marriage..."
>Each tested for flukes until they were certifiably proven to be possible.
>Almost all possible interactions have been covered, except...
>E-except...
>You look at the last, untested interaction on the list, a nervous excitement welling within your chest.
>You turn your head to your partner, who is busy checking the equipment is ready for the test.
>"One large bed: Two fluffy pillows, one soft duvet, a supple, comfortable mattress...Looks like we're all set."
>He turns to look at you, and smiles.
"A-anonymous...We're ready?"
>"I know I am." His lab coat sweeps dramatically as he turns. "Are you?"
>He strides towards you, slowly, but with purpose.
>You observe his approach with baited breath, as he scoops you up in his arms, awaiting your answer.
>You pause, but only to remove your spectacles, and place them on the side of the table, safe from harm.
"I am now."
>He grins, and pulls in close to settle a gentle, brief kiss upon your lips.
>You try to use your magic to remove your lab coat, but he rests his hand on your shoulder.
>"Keep it on."
>He then carries you toward the bed, softly stroking your side with his hand as he walks.
>You can hear the quiet thump of his heart, calm, and steady, almost synchronized with the gentle bounce of his gait, almost lulling you to sleep.
>But you dare not close your eyes, for to miss a single second of this moment would be-
>"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, TWILIGHT!"
>A shrill voice cruelly wrenches you from your subconscious.
>A voice you know all too well.
 
"PINKIE!"
>She seems as happy as she usually is, regardless of the pure contempt laced in your voice.
>"Phew! You're AWAKE! So, I saw you asleep on this bench, and I was like; 'Wow! I was totally asleep outside too, yesterday!' So I started jumping up and down and saying your name a bunch of times, but that didn't wake you up, so I started SHOUTING instead, and that worked! Hi!"
>You barely caught any of what she just said, but you're NOT going to ask her to repeat it.
"Pinkiiiie, I was sleeping!"
>"I KNOW! And OUTSIDE, too! Isn't it great how IN SYNC we are?"
>If you really were in sync, she would still be asleep, and you would be conducting an important romantic experiment with Anonymous, instead of listening to a loud, excitable pony go on about how she fell asleep outside yesterday.
"Pinkie, what are you even doing he...Where IS here?"
>"You're on a BENCH, silly!"
>You are, as so acutely observed, lying on a bench.
>How on earth did that happen?
>The last thing you remember, Anonymous was cradling you in his arms, his body's warmth ushering in a world of rapturous, never-ending bliss that rippled throughout your whole being.
>He...Didn't dump you on this bench, did he?
>No, Anonymous wouldn't do that! Especially considering how close the two of you are.
>Something important must've come up, that he'd have to selflessly dedicate his time to. And being a good friend and not wanting to wake you, he settled you down on this bench.
>Well, either way, what time is it?
>...Dare you ask Pinkie?
"Uh...Pinkie-"
>"Yeeeesss, Twilight?"
"P-pinkie. What time is it?"
>"I have no idea!"
>You're not certain what you were expecting.
>Well, you'll just have to find out yourself.
>Flying into the air with your wings, you scour the skies for the sun.
>It's dawn.
>DAWN.
"It's DAWN, Pinkie!"
>"Great!"
"It's NOT great! What...What are you even doing here?!"
>She whinnies incredulously. "I'm ALWAYS awake at this hour, Twilight!"
>Does she even have a body clock at all?
 
>Well, you're not sure what you're supposed to do.
>Prehaps go back to the castle, and see if you can get some work done.
>You yawn just thinking about the hour that you're up at.
>How can Applejack get up at a time like...
>Anon. Anon goes to the farm at this time.
>Maybe, you'll be able to catch him on the way there, and save him the trip!
>...Or prehaps watch him work.
>This IS great!
"Thanks, Pinkie!" You set off in the direction of Anon's house.
>"Okay!"
>You're not sure she heard you correctly.
>Oh, to heck with it. You need to take this oppertunity while you still can.
>You're so EXCITED!
>Your heart is beating fast, and it's not just because you're flying as fast as you can.
>...Today shall be the day.
>Yes, it shall! You'll ask him TODAY!
>It's as good a time as ever. The Gala is just a couple of days from now.
>You'll need to impress him, so you'll have to wear something beautiful.
>You are definitely going to talk to Rarity about this.
>But priorities! You need to find Anonymous posthaste!
>What shall you say? How will he react?
>You're not ready at all, but...You don't care!
>Never before have you felt so happy to be unprepared.
"I'm coming, Anonymous." You whisper to yourself.
 
ANON POV
 
>You wake up, and stretch your arms.
>Argh.
>It was more comfortable than the last time you had to sleep on the couch, you guess.
>You push against the cushions, and lift yourself up.
>Well, today is the day you do some REAL work, for a change.
>Even if there's some stupid reason for you to take a day off, AGAIN, you're insisting on doing your job this time.
>Your memories of yesterday sleepily return to you, and you're suddenly very aware of your guest.
>Did she sleep alright? Does she want breakfast?
>What if she got sick from last night?
>Damnit, you need to know.
>You lift the covers off of you, get up off of the couch and walk to the stairwell.
>You reach the top of the stairs, and you can hear a groan behind the door.
>Sounds like you woke her up.
"Hi, Dash. You OK?"
>"What do you think?"
>You can hear the sound of her shuffling around under the bedclothes, and of her falling out of bed, which makes you laugh.
>"Oh, shut up."
>Her hoofsteps approach the door, and it opens.
>She definitely looks tired, and her mane is in more of a mess than usual.
"You want any breakfast?"
>She yawns and rubs an eye. "Yeah, thanks." She smiles. "Not pie, though."
"Oh, yeah. Pie is off the menu."
>"You wanna carry me?" She puts her front hooves on your belly. "Y'know, considering you're always doing it."
"Hmmm..." You rub a finger on your chin.
>"Alakazam?"
>You can't help but laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, OK. But you asked this time, and don't forget it."
>You scoop her up and carry her downstairs.
 
>You reach the the bottom, and bend down to put her on the floor.
>Just when her hooves touch the ground, though, she wraps her front legs around your head.
>"Gotcha!"
"Aaah!" You yell in feigned surprise, laughing. "Come on, Dash, let me get breakfast ready."
>"Nu-uh. This idiot's mine. I'm not letting him go."
"If you don't, I'll do...THIS!"
>You blow a rasperry on her belly, causing her to writhe in a fit of hysterics.
>"S-s-stooop!" You pushes weakly at your head in a vain attempt to stop the tummy-focused onslaught.
>You sigh.
"OK, but only because I've got to make you breakfast."
>You ruffle her hair, which, strangely enough, seems to improve it, and head to the kitchen.
>"Y-yeah, you'd BETTER run!" She's still laughing. Blushing a little, too.
>You get some pancakes out of their packaging and start to cook them.
>RD eventually stops laughing and takes a seat at the table.
>"Put some ice cream on 'em!"
>Oh, yeah, you do have some ice cream left.
"I will."
>It'll take a bit for them to cook, so...You might as well hazard a risky question.
"Hey, uh, Rainbow?"
>"Yeah?"
"You...Like me, right?"
>She seems taken aback.
>"Well, y-yeah, stupid! If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now."
>That's a fair point. Not what you meant by the question, though.
>Why are you even asking it? She might get the wrong idea.
>"D-do you like me?"
>You feel tight in your chest as a part of you takes that the wrong way.
>Come on, hold back.
"Yeah, a lot, actually. You're, like, my best friend."
>"...Th-that's what I thought." She looks slightly disheartened.
>A part of you REALLY wants to ask if she'd like to be something more.
>Focus on the pancakes.
 
"Here we are!"
>You bring the pancakes to the table, as RD watches with her tounge lolling out.
>You put them down on the table. Giving Rainbow the bigger stack.
>You're not even certain how she'll eat all of them, but she seems down for it.
>She begins to dig in to them before you do, skillfuly shoveling some in from the lower part of the stack first, to make it smaller.
>Nice to know that despite over-engorging herself on pie last night hasn't affected her appetite.
>You have to say, it looks freakin' delicious. Ice cream melting down the sides.
>You help yourself as well.
>Rainbow seems to have made the pile much smaller, the one with the ice cream on still on top.
>Assessing the size, she attempts to stuff the whole remaining stack into her mouth at once.
>Suprisingly, she succeeds in not only doing so, but swallowing them, too.
>"Done." She burps.
>You've barely even started yours.
>Being up for a challenge, you spear the remaining pancakes with your fork.
>Biting around the edges to make it smaller, you fit them into your mouth, chew, and swallow.
>"Eh, not bad, I guess. Take more in, though, next time."
>You're not sure you could ever manage such an impressive display of gluttony.
"You really shouldn't eat so much, Dash. You might get fat."
>"If I could get fat, I'd be fat by now." She sticks her tounge out at you.
>Guess she's used to eating this much. Must be great for competitive eating, not needing to suffer the after effects.
>Although, considering the shape of her flank, some of that fat must go somewhere.
>Not that you're complaining, of course.
"Well, I've got to go to work." You get up. "Come on, Blue."
>She reluctantly follows you to the door.
 
TWILIGHT POV
 
>He's not at the farm, as you've checked there.
>So it's only natural to assume that he's in his house!
>You're currently hiding in a bush.
>Not exactly...Dignified, for a princess, but you've got to make it look like it was a chance encounter.
>You can't just go up and knock on the door, asking if he'd like to be teleported to work today. He might get suspicious.
>Ah! The door's opening! It's OPENING!
>There he is!
>OK, now all you need to do is keep an eye on his-
>Wait.
>Is that...Rainbow Dash?
>They appear to be talking about...Something. You're not close enough to hear.
>She looks like she's about to fly away.
>What?! Did she just HUG him?!
>OK, OK, keep it together; it's probably just a big misunderstanding.
>She's gone now.
>You'll ask him!
>You teleport out of the bush, and into a blind spot, so you can approach him without him seeing you re-appear.
>Now you can approach him, and it'll be fine.
>It'll be FINE!
"Oh! H-hello, A-ann-Anonymous!" You give him the friendliest greeting you can muster.
>He turns around.
>"Oh. Hi Twilight. What are you doing here?" He gives you a small smile.
"I-I was, uh, jogging!"
>"Jogging, huh? I never took you for the active type."
"I am! B-being cooped up in a study all day r-ruh-really takes it out of you. A-anyway! I, ah, saw Rainbow Dash exit out of your house just now, a-and-"
>"Oh damn, you saw that?" He rubs his head sheepishly. "Well, uh, don't get any wrong ideas or anything. She was just tired, and had to stay the night."
"Oh, good, good! Of course!" You laugh, nervously. "Nothing wrong with that!"
>See? She was just tired, that's all.
>She wouldn't've LIED TO YOUR FACE yesterday, that'd be absurd! A-and Anonymous wouldn't lie to you. Ever.
>You're getting worked up over nothing. Nothing at all!
"A-anyway, I better get on with, uh, jogging! A-after-" You stop yourself, sticking to your plan. "W-would you like, uh, some help getting to the farm again? It'd be like yesterday, but in reverse!"
 
ANON POV
 
>Well, what are the odds?
>Guess you're taking the magic express train again.
"Sure thing. I'll just need to lock up the house, first."
>"O-oh, right. OK." She smiles, patiently.
>You probably should've done it before you said goodbye to RD, but...
>Some thoughts took precedence over others.
>Oh, wait. You forgot to check your mail, too.
>Maybe Pudding sent you another letter.
>You enter your house and take the mail off the floor.
>One...Particular letter catches your eye.
>It's closed with a seal.
>The insignia looks like a sun, so...Wait, it's from Princess Celestia?!
>You received a formal letter like this before when you first arrived here, so you'd recognise it.
>Quickly, you open it and read its contents.
>"Dear Anonymous,"
>"You are, quite possibly, surprised to hear from me. This letter isn't of a serious nature, so there is no need to be alarmed."
>"You have been a special resident of Ponyvile for a few years, now. Despite this, I had only experienced your personality through rather, expressive, letters of approval from Twilight Sparkle, my student and Princess of Friendship. Our first, informal meeting was rather recent, in fact. Although, you might not remember it, considering the circumstances."
>"I, for one, despite continued concern from my peers, thoroughly enjoyed the time that I spent in your company. I would be honoured if you would attend this year's Grand Galloping Gala, using the ticket enclosed within."
>"You shall be provided with an official escort on the day the Gala is held, access to free drinks and nourishment and an audience from both me and my sister, Princess Luna, should you choose to accept the invitation."
>"I am looking forward to seeing you again."
>"Sincerely - Princess Celestia"
>"P.s. Feel free to drink as much as you like~"
>...Drunken self, you are TOO kind.
>You look inside the envelope, and take out a golden, shining ticket.
>After work, you get to tell Rarity the good news.
>Easy in, easy out.
>Who says you can't win 'em all?