Cadance stopped in her tracks as she turned back towards Twilight. “Oh, I don’t know. I think it might be cold enough as it is,” she joked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Please?” Twilight begged. “It’ll just be a quick bite.”
They both knew very well that it would be more than just a quick bite, especially if that four-course lunch break at the mall food court was any indication. Not that Cadance would complain, as she has been enjoying the extra splurge of food in the recent months. All the food she could eat with none of the guilt to hold her back…
Plus, it’s hard to resist whenever Twilight goes wide-eyed like that. It reminded her too much of the countless times she got to babysit her. Even after 12 years of knowing her, it still works too well. Now even better thanks to her chubby cheeks.
“Okay, but we shouldn’t stay for too long.”
***
It was a little over an hour later.
The two girls sat across from each other, with Cadance needing two chairs to feel somewhat comfortable. The table between them was filled with more than half a dozen cups and spoons. They just finished up the last of their yogurt and were now just sitting and chatting away.
“So, then what happened?” Twilight excitedly asked.
“Well, I already had to leave for work, so I asked Shining to unload the washer for me when it was done,” Cadance explained, trying her best to get her story in between her own laughing fits. “About 30 minutes later, I was already walking into my office when I got a text from him. He said ‘Good news, I found out where my red tie went’, followed by a picture of some of his button-up shirts covered in pink splotches!” She suddenly burst into joyous laughter as Twilight joined in. “It was in the washer the whole time!”
“Oh, my gosh! Please tell me he kept them!”
“He did! I said I was sorry, and he said that he looked good in pink anyway!” The giggling and laughing continued on for about a solid minute before they had a chance to catch their breaths. As things quieted down a bit, Cadance spoke up again, “Sorry if it seems like I’ve been rambling on a little too much.”
“It’s totally fine. I love hearing all these stories you two have.”
“Well, what about you and Timber? I’m sure you two have plenty of stories.”
“Oh. It’s been going great.” Twilight’s tone suddenly shifts a bit as she looks down at an empty, mindlessly twirling a spoon around the edge. “You know, we’re away from each other pretty often, but yeah, we sorta have to make the best of it whenever we get together.”
Cadance didn’t feel very convinced of what Twilight had just said. In fact, it was quite jarring seeing her go from a jovial mood to just outright distancing herself. “Is everything alright?”
Becoming aware of how she must seem at the moment, Twilight quickly sat up. “Oh, no. Don’t worry! Everything’s fine!” She chuckled nervously. “Really, it is. It’s just that when you brought up Timber, a lot of things suddenly came to mind.”
“Like what?”
“Well,” Twilight hesitated at first, but she pushed herself to continue. “This is my first real relationship with someone, but I just don’t know if I’m doing things right. Like, are we going too slow? Or will everything pick up when we go to college together? And then what’s even going to happen after that? Will I even be able to catch up or…”
“Twilight,” Cadance calmly smiled as she reached out, resting a reassuring hand onto her friend’s shoulder. “Relax. There’s really no need to rush things.”
“I just feel I should be doing something… more. Do you know what I mean?”
“Oh.” Pulling her hand back, Cadance leaned uncomfortably back into her seats. “Oh, I see. Um, he’s not pressuring you into anything, is he?”
“Oh, no! Of course not! It’s just… well… I don’t know. I’m sorry, just forget I brought this up.” Twilight blushed awkwardly as she turned away.
“Twilight, you don’t have to apologize. I understand where you’re coming from. Just trust me when I say that you’ll know when the time is right for…uh… certain things like that.” She paused, waiting for Twilight to respond. But, when after a few seconds, Cadance continues, “And if you ever want to talk about these kind of things, and you don’t want to deal with your parents, I’m here for you.”
Still blushing for even letting conversation get weird, however brief it was or however long it felt, Twilight quickly and clumsily stood up. “Uh, I think we should get going now,” she said with a nervous grin.