Cream Jade ran home from school at the end of the day, her heart fluttering and her body feeling as if she could take flight with every bounce of her hooves. Her diary was in her saddlebag and she clutched it tight as she thought of her greatest inspiration
 
Her Equish teacher had announced a mandatory poetry competition. “Test your skills and write as if you are addressing your most admired one,” he had said. Cream knew just what to write, but her mind wasn’t on the competition at all. Instead it was on a very special stallion…
 
She barreled into her bedroom and scrambled onto her back, her heart thumping so hard she thought it would burst. “Shiny is gonna be there when I read my poem! But what’ll I right?! It has to be intelligent!” She whispered to herself as she grabbed a thesaurus and a dictionary.
 
She looked through the books for any complicated words she could find, such as “pulchritude”, “grandiloquent”, “doublure”, “bioluminescent”, “insolent”, and many more. She didn’t understand what any of them meant but that didn’t matter to her. Big words would surely win the heart of an intelligent stallion like him!
 
She kept her list close by and picked up her quill. Her calligraphy was at a competitive level and she knew the judges would notice! She put her hair up to move it out of her face and began:
 
“My longing for you is so insolent, it makes my fanciful heart feel magnificent.  
Your great pulchritude makes you the culprit who stole my heart.  
You are oh-so grandiloquent, making me oh-so ever vigilant to every word you speak.  
Your eyes are bioluminescent doublure, innocent in the blur.  
My heart wants to jump from my chest but stays placid, too distracted staring through rose-colored glasses which the light of you is refracted.”
 
Cream looked over the poem once more. It was heartfelt, well-written, and full of advanced vocabulary. Surely it would win his heart! She sighed dreamily as she imagined his reaction to her poem.
 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%~
 
Today was the day. The long-awaited poetry competition had finally arrived. Cream scanned the audience; her family and friends were there to see her, but none of that mattered. She was looking for HIM. Her ears drooped as she wasn’t able to spot him in the crowd.
 
Still, Cream clung onto the hope that he was just late and would surely arrive soon. She sucked up her worry and fakeed a smile. She presented her poem to the judges so they could study the form and penmanship before she took it back to read to the crowd. Cream cleared her throat, her eyes cascading once more across the crowd. She let out a shuddering breath as she began.
 
When her poem came to an end, Cream smiled wide as she was clapped and cheered off of the stage. Instead of taking her seat, she rushed out into the hall and frowned, sitting against the wall as she wiped the tear rolling down her cheek. She could hear hoofsteps approaching from down the hall.
 
“Cream!” a voice called out. It was none other than Shining Star, panting and running towards the young mare. “Блядь, I’m late! I really needed to pass that exam! What are you doing out here?”
 
Cream’s ears perked up as she smiled gleefully with her poem pressed to her chest. “I’m here for the academic poetry competition! I thought you would be there. I…I wrote my poem for you. If I’m keeping you I could show you later; I already read for the judges so I came here to…think!”
 
Star was mildly intrigued. “A poem? Hm, interesting. I’d like to hear this. I could use a break from my exams, anyway.
 
“Come on!” Cream wanted to burst with joy as Star conveyed interest, interest in something SHE made! She held his hoof tightly and blushed softly as the two of them ran to her home. They found themselves alone together as she gave him the poem.
 
Star read over the poem intently. The diction was something he would never expect from a mare such as Creamy. She didn’t even use all the words correctly. The expressions of love were so cheesy, so cliche…yet he was impressed. Impressed by all the effort she put into this, and all for him. “It’s nice,” he smiled at her.
 
Cream felt as if she were drenched in sweat as she anticipated his response, her expression one of terror yet utter love and devotion. A huge wave of relief washed over her as he responded. Her face flushed as pink as her mother’s mane. There were so many things she wanted to say to him in that moment.
 
“You clearly put a lot of heart into your writing,” he remarked. “If you’ll allow me, I can help you channel your raw talent into professional work.”
 
Cream pulled him into a tight hug, having to restrain herself from peppering his cheeks with kisses “I’d love that! I’d love that!”
 
Star awkwardly put an arm around her, not used to being hugged like this. “Well, you have a lot of potential that I’m sure you wouldn’t want to go to waste. As he looked at her, his eyes widened. “Cream, your cutie mark!”
 
Cream pulled away and stared at her flank. On it was a dollop of whipped cream with a cherry on top, and beside it is a pastel bubblegum feather quill. She began tearing up and shrieked excitedly, her face flushing even harder.
 
As Star watched Cream bounce in glee and felt her tight hug against him, he felt something he had never felt before. It was like…a spark, deep within him. He only felt that way around her; the joy he felt reading his books or even spending time with Flurry couldn’t compare to this. He didn’t know exactly what to call this feeling; it could have been respect, or admiration, or even…love. Whatever it was, he liked it. Star was snapped out of his thoughts by a kiss on his cheek.
 
Cream kept her lips pressed against his cheek for what seemed like a whole minute before pulling away and wiping her tears “Thank you so much! I-I wouldn’t have gotten my mark without you Shiny!”
 
Star smiled softly as she went back in for another hug. There was that feeling again. For the first time ever, he decided to return the favor and embraced her, feeling her warmth against him. Maybe…just maybe…this was destiny for both of them.