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A WONDERFUL SECRET

By Jaunty Scribbles

It was another sunny, beautiful day in Ponyville, and Twilight Sparkle was once again busy organizing the library (or rather supervising Spike as he organized the library). Just as she was getting ready to put on a pot of tea, there came a knocking at the door.
“Come in!” Twilight called as she walked towards the opening door. It was Fluttershy, looking as timid as ever.
“Hello Twilight, how are you today?” she asked as she walked into the library.
“Oh, hello Fluttershy, come on in, I just started making some tea. I’d love to have you join me!” Twilight Sparkle smiled in greeting.
“Oh thank you, but I wouldn’t want it to be too much trouble...” she blushed ever so slightly.
“Don’t think anything of it!” Twilight interjected, heading back towards where the teapot was sitting.

“So what brings you here today, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
“Well, you see...that is...we’re friends,” Fluttershy stammered.
“Of course we’re friends!” Twilight beamed from where she was pouring the tea into two cups.
“And if I...had something...that I didn’t want anyone to know, I could trust you not to tell, right?” she asked.
“Naturally,” Twilight replied. “Is there something you want to tell me, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, somewhat excitedly, as she brought the two cups of tea over and sat down with her friend. Fluttershy nodded.
“Yes, yes there is something...” she began.
“Oh, this is wonderful!” Twilight once again interjected. “I’ve never had anyone tell me a secret before!” her face lit up in delight as she snuggled into her chair. “So, what is it? Do you have a crush on somepony?” she gasped then, and leaned slighty over the table towards Fluttershy who naturally leant away from her. “Don’t tell me you’re already seeing somone!”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no, no! It’s nothing like that at all...” she insisted. Twilight Sparkle slumped in her chair, slight disappointed but still anxious to hear the secret.
“So what is it?” she asked.
“Do you remember the old ‘My Little Person’ stories?” Fluttershy began. Twilight nodded.
“I remember reading them when I was a little filly,” Fluttershy blushed brightly.
"I...I was a really big fan of those stories...I loved them so much!" she slowly started warming to the subject, becoming just a little more animated. "I was even part of my school’s fanclub once!” Twilight listened to her go on for a while about the characters and the more memorable moments of the series of short stories they’d both grown up on, until finally she felt she had to ask the question that had been on her mind.
“Fluttershy, what’s My Little Person have to do with your secret?” Fluttershy now became as embarassed and awkward as she ever was.
“I...I still love My Little Person, Twilight....I have all the stories in my cottage!” she whispered as quietly as she could. “And sometimes, sometimes...I like to imagine what it would be like if I could go there....”

Twilight Sparkle chuckled a little. “What’s so wrong about that?” she asked.
“Oh, I couldn’t just go around saying things like that! Everyone would make fun of me!” Fluttershy squeaked. “My Little Person’s a little filly’s story! I can’t just say I like it when I’m a full-grown pony! What would everyone think?” Fluttershy asked hopelessly.

Twilight wrapped a hoof around her friend’s shoulder and gave her a sympathizing pat.
“Don’t you worry, Fluttershy. You can trust me, I won’t tell a single pony about it.” she said warmly.
“Oh, thank you Twilight! Maybe sometime you could come over to my cottage and we could read one of the stories together!” she smiled back as she got up to leave.
“Uh....right, that would be...nice!” Twilight grimaced awkwardly as she followed Fluttershy to the door.
“Thank you again for listening to me, you’re a good friend Twilight Sparkle.” Fluttershy said as she left and the door swung shut.

“Whew! Finally done!” Spike heaved a tired sigh as he came walking in. “What’d Fluttershy want?” he asked Twilight, who was beaming from ear to ear.
“She told me a secret, Spike! Oh, this is wonderful! I can’t wait to tell...oh, no, wait...I can’t tell anyone about this, Fluttershy trusted me to keep her secret!” she said with a little less enthusiasm. “What do I do with a secret, Spike?” she asked the young dragon.
“Well, you could always tell me,” he replied.
“No, no, can’t do that Spike. Fluttershy trusted me!” she insisted, then perked up. “I know! Spike, do we have any little filly books in the library?” she asked. He looked puzzled.
“Well...yeah, we do. Why?” Twilight was even more excited now.
“Where? And do we have any of the My Little Person series?” she asked more enthusiastically.
“Over in the young colts section, you can’t miss ‘em Twi, they’re all pink!” Spike replied as Twilight Sparkle hurried off. “But why are you...oh, never mind. I’m going to go take a nap.” he said in resignation and walked off.

The next day, Fluttershy came over again with a saddlebag.
“Twilight? I brought you one of my My Little Person books to...oh, my!” she gasped as she walked into the library. There sat Twilight Sparkle, surrounded by a pile of small pink books, looking as if she had not slept at all that night but nevertheless appearing in high spirits. She was giggling to herself as she looked through one of the many pink books.
“Oh, Candy Corning, you are SO! RANDOM!” she giggled as she looked up, her expression brightening even more. “Fluttershy!” she called out as she jumped up from her reading, upsetting all of the books and causing them to crash to the floor. Twilight paused for a second to look at what had just happened, and blushed. “Oops...” she said as Fluttershy came walking in.
“Twilight, are all these...?” she began.

“The My Little Person series!” the young unicorn proudly stated. “And I think I’m just about caught up with you on them!” she proclaimed. Fluttershy had a look of concern on her face.
“Did you sleep at all last night?” she asked.
“Nope, I was up all night...uhm...researching!” Twilight replied, from the haggard look on her face it was quite obvious that she had indeed. “At first I thought they really were just little filly books, but it turned out they just had such a great story that I couldn’t stop reading them! It’s just like you said!” she said in that excited voice you only get when you’re exhausted but too excited to care.. Fluttershy looked a little less worried, but still was concerned for her friend. She put a hoof on her shoulder and began guiding her to the bed.
“That’s nice, but I really do think you should get some sleep, Twilight...” she insisted.
“No, no, I’m fine!” Twilight argued.
“Twilight, please...” Fluttershy replied.

By now she had Twilight crawling into her bed and there was no stopping her eyes from drooping.
“Just...one...more...story....” Twilight muttered as she passed out at last. Fluttershy smiled gently as she turned to leave.
“Take care of her, Spike,” she called to the dragon as he came walking in from the kitchen.
“Oh yeah, sure thing Fluttershy!” he replied. Before she could leave, Spike called out to her again. “Hey, Twilight said you shared a secret with her!” Fluttershy stopped and turned around.
“Oh, don’t you worry, she hasn’t told me a thing about what it is! I’m just happy she’s got a friend who actually trusts her enough to share a secret with her is all!” he continued. Fluttershy smiled shyly once again, and nodded her head as she walked out the door. Spike turned and looked at the pile of My Little Person storybooks scattered across the library floor and heaved a sigh.
“But what in the world is Twilight doing reading all these little colt’s books for?” he wondered as he began picking them up and putting them back on the shelf.

END OF PART ONE

PART TWO OF A WONDERFUL SECRET IS COMING!

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