Matchmaker Matchmaker

>It's official, you have a problem.
>It started as a small thing, not really harmful. You would look at your friends and see certain compatibilities.
>Sometimes you would get overly excited about things that weren't worth getting excited for.
>Over time it became worse and worse, and now you're at a stage you never thought you'd reach.
>This little problem of yours can be hard to keep a secret if you're not careful. You keep all your worst musings in a small red notebook in the drawer of your night stand. When Twilight helped you get a house you decided it would be the best place to hide such a thing.
>Having it close at hand is less of a risk than having it in a more accessible place.
>As for what's in the notebook.
>Well...
>You write stories about your friends.
>These aren't just any stories though. It's pretty romantic stuff. Nothing too graphic, but if your friends found it you would either die a horrible death or be an outcast for the rest of your life.
>They would probably send you off into the desert or something.
>Every night before you go to bed and every morning you wake up you check the night stand to make sure your notebook is still there.
>However, this morning presents a slight problem.
>You roll over and smack your alarm when it goes off, just like every morning before this.
>You grumble, yawn, and sit up, just like every other morning.
>Then you turn and dangle your legs off the bed and reach over to your night stand.
>Opening the drawer, you're surprised to find that the notebook is gone.
>No, surprised isn't necessarily the right word. The feeling you have now is more akin to panic. An outside observer would probably think you're about to have a nervous breakdown.
>You pull out the drawer all the way and stand from your bed, leaning your head down to try and get a better look into the depths of your night stand.
>All two square feet of it.
>You start going through your memories.
>When was the last time you had it?
>The living room?
>That's usually where you write.
>Trying to keep calm, you make your way out of your room, closing the door behind you and scanning the living room as you walk into it.
>It's not on the couch, it's not on the coffee table, and it's not on top of the TV, either.
>Okay, calm down. Try to remember.
>Yesterday you did quite a bit. First you went to the bakery because Pinkie needed help with setting up a party, and after that you went to help Rarity do some heavy lifting for some bits. After that you went and hung out with your bro Dash for a while.
>What else?
>At the end of the day you went to the library to see if there were any new books that looked interesting.
>That's it, the library!
>Not caring if you stink or not, you rush out of your house.
>You don't even bother to lock the door behind you.
>No time for crap like that, all you can do now is run to Ponyville as fast as your legs can carry you.
>You reach the library in what has to be record time for you and knock on the door hard.
>There's the sound of some stumbling, a few whispers, and then the door opens in front of you. Twilight's standing there, looking up at you with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey Twi. I know I'm early, it's just..."
>Her look of confusion gives way to what you can only assume is understanding, and your blood goes cold.
"Uh..."
>She clears her throat, "Spike, fetch Anon's journal, would you?"
>You see the dragon run past behind Twilight. When he returns he has your red journal is in his claws.
"Thanks, I guess."
>You're muttering like a teenager. It makes sense considering how low and busted you feel right now.
"I'll be back later."
>She nods slightly, "Yeah."
>When she shuts the door you let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding. It's not as bad as you expected. She's not mad from what you just saw, but it was still extremely awkward.
>The walk back to your house is a long one, and your head is down the entire way.
>Putting the journal away where it belongs you make your way back to the library, walking even slower than before. You're not looking forward to this talk, that's for sure.
>Eventually it's time to face the music, and you're knocking on the library door for the second time this morning.
>Twilight answers again, immediately gesturing for you to come in.
>She closes the door behind her and leads you up to the second floor, then her loft. Spike is working downstairs, so you can only assume that she wants this conversation to be private. She draws the curtains open and turns to you, "So, I'm sure you can guess what I want to talk about."
"Yeah, I'm sorry."
>"No, I..." her face goes red, and she scuffs the ground with her hoof, "I didn't mean to read it. Spike and I were working and I put it up on a book shelf until you came to get it. I ended up knocking it down when I was rushing by. It uh... landed on a page with a picture."
>You try to swallow the lump in your throat, but it's to no avail. You feel like the entire world is coming down on you.
"I can stop. I know it's rude and I know I shouldn't be poking my nose into other peoples' business. It's just a really bad habit of mine."
>"About that," she says softly.
"Yeah?"
>"Can you really see us together like that? I mean, I know Dash comes here to read a lot lately."
>wut
"Uh... I guess. I may be jumping the gun here."
>"So then what's the reason?"
"Well, you guys actually have a lot in common."
>She hesitates for a moment before asking, "Like what?"
"It's not that hard if you're keeping an ear to the ground. You both love to read, you're both loyal to absurd degrees, Dash is smart as hell even though she'll never admit it, and a lot of other stuff."
>"I'm not an athlete or anything. I couldn't keep up with her if I tried. Besides, I've been too busy for this stuff so I haven't really thought about it. It doesn't help that she's another mare."
"Ugh. You're right, I'm stupid. I'll get rid of the journal."
>"W... wait!"
>You raise an eyebrow. What's she stopping you for?
>"I mean... there's no reason to do that. I'm not mad about it or anything. Just be more careful."
"Okay?"
>"Anyways, you probably have stuff to do so I shouldn't keep you up. We'll talk later."
>She politely but urgently rushes you out of the library, slamming the door just as your past the threshold and causing you to jump.
>You take a deep breath and figure you might as well go about your day.
>Who knows what that girl is thinking?
------
>You are Twilight Sparkle, and you have no idea what you're thinking.
>Anon left ten minutes ago, and you've been pacing the library since, doing menial tasks that you didn't really need to apply yourself to.
>Spike has called to ask several questions already, and you've barely been able to answer him coherently.
>To put it simply, your mind is somewhere else completely. You can't stop thinking about what you saw in the journal and what Anon said to you before he left. Every time you're about to get your mind off it, it pops right back up.
>It's almost like having a song stuck in your head.
>In fact, you're so distracted you almost don't hear it when there's another knock at your door.
>Finally snapping out of your daze, you shake your head hard and go to answer. It's probably someone who wants to check out a book, and you don't want to be off in lala land when you should be helping a customer.
>When you open the door whatever breath you had hitches in your throat.
>"Heya Twi. I'm here to pick up the new Daring Do. Did you get it in? Scratch that, I know you did, you're great when it comes to that stuff."
>It's Dash, and she has her book bag on her back.
"Um... hi Rainbow."
>A moment of silence.
>"You gonna... let me in?"
>You nod dumbly and step to the side, letting Dash into the library.
>Dash goes right to the fiction section and starts browsing the area with Daring Do. She starts humming a little song to herself as you shut the door. If what Anon had said was at the forefront of your mind before, it was now bursting at the seams.
>"Twi, you okay?"
>You didn't even notice her walk up to you.
"Huh?"
>"I asked if you were alright. You seem like you're staring off into space or something. Maybe you should take a vacation. Oh! I know this totally awesome spot near Cloudsdale. I go to this place whenever I get some time off. There's this huge lake, and there's this Mom and Pop place that has the BEST hay you've ever tasted."
>The entire time she's talking all you can do is nod. You're much too preoccupied with your inner thoughts to fully understand what she's saying.
>"Anyways, I guess I should get out of your hair, huh?"
>Dash reaches into her book satchel with her mouth and comes back out with the Daring Do book. You take it with your magic, pulling a pen and paper from a nearby desk. After marking the paper with the title and book number you float it back into Dash's satchel.
>"Oh, speaking of Cloudsdale, are you still on for Saturday?"
"Saturday?"
>Dash rolls her eyes, "Don't tell me you forgot! 'Rainbow, I would like some tips on flying please.'"
"Oh, right."
>"What's up with you today? Did you have a bad breakfast or something? You should probably go see the nurse."
>You hold up a hoof and take a deep breath.
"No Rainbow. I'm fine. It's just... I'm distracted today."
>"This isn't another one of those tardy things, is it?"
>You can hear the worry in her voice, and that only makes you feel worse about lying to her.
>Maybe you should just come clean.
>No. Ponies have secrets, and just because you didn't have a problem with Anon's journal doesn't mean everybody else wouldn't. It isn't like he's going around showing it to everyone and talking about it all the time. It's harmless.
>Or at least that's what you think.
>But what about Dash? Would she freak out? Her and Anon are awfully close, and you wouldn't want to get in the way of friends like that.
>No, best to keep it as a secret. That's the way it's meant to be.
"I'm fine Rainbow, really. I'm just having a weird day."
>She looks skeptical, but she has no choice but to buy it.
>If it was a real problem you wouldn't hesitate in consulting your friends about it. If there's one thing you've learned during your time in Ponyville it's that confronting things on your own leads to disaster rather quickly.
>Finally, Dash nods, "Alright, but if anything's ever bugging you..."
"I know. Thank you Rainbow. I appreciate it."
>"Alright. I'm gonna get going. I need to get to work soon. There's supposed to be a huge storm outside Canterlot today, and those clouds aren't gonna get there by themselves."
>She trots around you and opens the door, making to leave.
>You turn to her.
"Hey Rainbow?"
>She stops at the door, turning to face you, "Yeah, what's up?"
"That thing this Saturday is more you tutoring me than anything else. We haven't just... gone out together in while."
>"What you mean just to hang out?" She frowns, as if she's trying to think of something, "Yeah, you're right. I can't remember the last time we just relaxed. I've mostly been hanging out with Pinkie lately."
"How does Sunday sound?"
>She shrugs, "Sounds good to me. Might as well since it's the same weekend. I'll see you then."
>Before you can say anything else she's gone.
>Then the panic sets in.
>What the hell did you just do?
>You weren't thinking straight.
>You sit on your haunches and your brow furrows. This is bad, isn't it?
>It can still be salvaged. It's not like you outright asked her out on a date.
>The whole thing can just be two friends. Yeah, that'll work.
>Feeling better, you set back to work on the library, trying to push the more annoying and persistant thoughts out of your mind.
------
>You are Anonymous, and you've had another long and fulfilling day.
>Most of it was spent helping Applejack and her brother cart around more apples than you've ever seen before. Apparently this year has been particularly kind to the Apple family.
>Muscles still aching, you plop down on the couch.
>You put a hand over your eyes and take a deep breath.
>Honestly, the day could have gone a lot worse, and you're grateful that it didn't.
>The last thing you need right now is for your friends to be mad at you, especially since you're just starting to get used to the place.
>Closing your eyes, you can't help but think how much of a bro Twilight is.
>You fall into slumber with your assurance that nothing could possibly go wrong.