“Well…not really.  But I want to help!” Fluttershy eats another cookie with excited determination.  “Why do you think you aren’t in love?”
“Well…” Twilight scratches her chin.  “When I first started dating Cheerilee, I was definitely in love.  I could feel it.”
“Like a warm, glowing feeling in your heart?” Fluttershy says, her eyes twinkling.
“Uh…yeah, kind of.”
“And you just felt wonderful every minute of the day?” Fluttershy smiles rapturously, flaring her wings out.
“Yes.” Twilight smiles.
“And you can’t stop thinking about him and you just want to be with him all the time?” Fluttershy clasps her hooves together, staring off into space.
“Um…Cheerilee’s a girl.” Twilight says.
“Huh?  Oh…right.  I knew that.” Fluttershy deflates, her wings drooping.
“But you still like Cheerilee, don’t you?” Pinkie says.  She looks like she’s more concentrated on her batter than their conversation.
“Of course I do.  She’s wonderful.  I just don’t feel the same as I used to.”
“Oh no…” Fluttershy gives her a grave look.  “What if…what if…I’m really sorry to say this, but…what if Cheerilee isn’t your one true love?”
“My one true love?” Twilight says.
“Yes!  You know…your perfect partner!  Your soul mate!” Fluttershy explains.
Twilight creases her brow.  Given her recent doubts, she had been wondering something along those lines.  Even if she didn’t use the same words as Fluttershy.
“Well…how do you know?” Twilight asks.  “If someone’s your soul mate, I mean.”
“Gosh, I’m not sure.” Fluttershy frowns with unknown doubts.  “I thought you would know.  I thought maybe you had found yours.  But now I don’t know what to think.”
“Pfft.” Pinkie Pie rolls her eyes.
“Excuse me?” Twilight turns on her.
“Oh, you girls…” Pinkie Pie shakes her head, sliding her batter bowl away.  “Here’s how it is.”
Twilight and Fluttershy exchange another look of pure confusion.  Pinkie pulls out a tray of cupcakes, then pops one free.  She sets it on the counter in front of Twilight.
“Here’s a cupcake.  Doesn’t it look good, Twilight?” She says.
Twilight stares at it.  It’s chocolate, with yellow frosting and red sprinkles.
“Sure.  It looks delicious.  Your cupcakes always look delicious.”
“Okay then.  Eat it!” Pinkie says.
Twilight raises an eyebrow.  Pinkie Pie is coiled up, ready to pounce.  She nods at Twilight.  Twilight raises a hoof, and sticks it out towards the baked treat.  Before she even gets near, Pinkie slaps her hoof away.
“No, wait!” She yells.
“What?!” Twilight shrinks away.
“Oh my?” Fluttershy shrinks a little as well.
“You don’t want to eat THAT cupcake!” Pinkie yells.  “Somewhere out there, all alone in Equestria, just waiting for you, is your perfect cupcake!”
“…What?” Twilight frowns at her.
“The perfect cupcake!  The most perfect, most wonderful cupcake ever.  You’ll never need another cupcake!” Pinkie says, batting her eyes and looking off into the distance.
“Ooooh!” Fluttershy nods.
Twilight looks back and forth between them, then down at the cupcake.
“It’s just a cupcake, Pinkie.” She says.
“Is it, Twilight?” Pinkie leans forward, glaring, pounding a hoof on the counter.  “Is it?”
“…Yes?” Twilight says.
“Anyway!” Pinkie forges on.  “You don’t want that cupcake.  You’re worried that it isn’t your perfect cupcake.  So you don’t eat it.  You are cupcake-less.  Sans cupcake!  Tragic.”
“That’s okay.  She can wait as long as she needs to.  Right, Twilight?” Fluttershy says.
“No.  No!  It’s just a cupcake.  There is no such thing as a perfect cupcake.  Even if there was, there’s no guarantee I would ever find it.  There are millions of cupcakes.  It’s just…mathematically unlikely.” Twilight says.
“Nope!  You’re going to pass on this perfectly good cupcake.  Or, wait…maybe you used to like cupcakes.  But you’ve been eating cupcakes for months.” Pinkie Pie sweeps the cupcake away, grabbing some of Fluttershy’s cookies.  “So now you want a cookie.  Even though cupcakes are still pretty good!”
“Okay, okay, I get it.  Enough with the dessert.” Twilight grabs the cookies with magic and hovers them back over to Fluttershy, much to the pegasus pony’s delight.  “But what if my feelings really have changed?  What if I just don’t like cupcakes…er, I mean…her as much as I used to?”
“Don’t be silly, Twilight!  You still like her, don’t you?” Pinkie waves a hoof.
“Of course I do.  But the feelings Fluttershy was describing are gone.  The love is gone.”
“Those feelings aren’t love!” Pinkie Pie laughs, like it’s the most obvious thing ever.
“What?!” Twilight and Fluttershy say in unison.
“That’s just what being IN love feels like!  But that isn’t love.” Pinkie says.
Twilight and Fluttershy give her completely blank looks, more lost than ever.
“Okay…imagine the first time you try a brand new kind of cupcake…” Pinkie says.  Twilight groans.
“No more cupcake metaphors…please…” She moans.
“The first time you try it, it’s sooooooooooo good!  But after you eat it a few more times, it isn’t so exciting.  It’s old news.  But it’s still special and delicious.  Right?” Pinkie raises her eyebrows, gauging Twilight’s face.
“Maybe I should be getting back to the library.  Thanks for all your help, though…” Twilight starts to get up.
“NO!  Listen!” Pinkie grabs her face, pulling her back to the counter.  “You have to listen!”
“Okay, okay, fine!” Twilight pulls Pinkie’s hooves away, settling down again.
“You love your friends, don’t you?” Pinkie asks.
Twilight stares at her, then at Fluttershy.  They both just smile at her.
“Yes.” She says.
“Would you stop being our friend if you found better friends?” Pinkie asks.  Fluttershy gasps quietly.
“Of course not!” Twilight scoffs.
“Why not?” Pinkie says.
“Well…hypothetically speaking, of course.  I don’t think I could find better friends.” Twilight says.
“Of course.” Pinkie Pie nods.  Fluttershy nods along.
Twilight takes some time, her mind scanning back through pages and pages of reports written with her own quill.  This is her thesis, her final conclusion, the sum of all she’s learned on her long assignment.
“I would never just stop being friends with you girls.  Our relationship is too strong.  We’ve shared so many experiences…I just couldn’t.  Even if some hypothetical perfect friend did come along.”
“Exactly!  That’s what’s important.” Pinkie Pie beams at her.
“But…” Fluttershy raises a hoof, like they’re in a classroom.  “Isn’t love different?”
“Why would it be?” Pinkie Pie gives her a quizzical look.
“Yeah, why…” Twilight trails off.
Why would it be different?
Twilight stares off into space, her face blank.