//------------------------------// // [16] [S4E14]-Filli Vanilli // Story: Another Displaced Human Dilemma // by The Grey Pegasus //------------------------------// Another Displaced Human Dilemma By: Another Ponyville Regular < 16 > Filli Vanilli Page flip. "Okay, well you still haven't convinced me that your cutie mark isn't related to cheating in some form." Twilight and I were taking a walk around Ponyville, out and about getting some fresh air instead of conducting our research session cooped up inside the library. She had her notepad and pencil held in her magical grasp, taking notes and re-examining notes as usual. "I'd like to hope it doesn't," I answered back. She tapped her pencil against the paper thoughtfully. Then she sighed. "You know, Stardust, my trust in you has been built up a lot these past few months, but this cutie mark—which Discord made appear, mind you—is really causing me a whole lot of discomfort ever since you got it." I scratched the back of my head. "Sorry, but I wish I could help more." Twilight sighed again. "Maybe if I just had more tangible proof of your background, it'd put me at ease. Something to corroborate your entire story that you've told me." "Well, what do you want to do about it?" I asked her. Internally, I was a bit worried. Should she actively pursue evidence, I'd be in trouble, and there were only a few ways out of that one. And of those ways, even fewer that would keep me on good terms with Twilight and her friends. I mean, I'm sure I could make it fine on my own elsewhere in Equestria, but I just don't like the idea of befriending others only to have to leave them on poor terms and in a negative light. Twilight put the pencil and pad underwing as she thought about it. She must've really been hit by the question to put her writing utensils away. "Hey, guys!" Oh, that was Rainbow. Thank god. We turned to see not just Rainbow, but with her, Applejack. "Hey, you two!" Twilight greeted. "What are you two up to out here today?" Applejack asked. "Eggheads doing egghead things, probably," Rainbow teased. I looked at Rainbow smugly. "You want to say that again directly to me, Rainbow?" She just returned an equally smug look. "Stardust and I are still trying to figure out what his cutie mark means," Twilight answered. "We still can't tell if it has positive or negative connotations." "I mean, he seems like a nice enough pony," Applejack said. "Hasn't really given me any reason to distrust him, and you know how I am, Twi." Just then, we all heard a bush rustle off to our side. "Or maaaybe he's just really good at hiding deep, dark secrets!" Pinkie suddenly jumped in to join our group. "Pinkie..." I said. "Let's not... jump to conclusions," Twilight said. "You sound like you've been thinking it a while though, Twi," Rainbow said. Geez, it felt like walls were pushing in on me. This is pressure I didn't want, but frankly, should have eventually expected to face somewhere down the line the longer I stayed in Ponyville. "Pinkie, why are you even here?" I asked, hoping to shift attention away from the topic of my unprovable past and current motives. "Oh, you know why, Dusty!" "I do?" "Well, maybe not!" Help? ... Oh. "Hello there, everypony!" Well, there was Rarity. So... the gang's all here except for Fluttershy. "Well didn't you notice which way we're going, Dusty?" Pinkie asked. "I, uh..." I knew where we were, but didn't figure it had any significance up until now. "Well, I guess that answers that." Wait, so are we going in this direction for a predetermined reason, or did everyone just manage to meet up walking in the direction of Fluttershy's place? I looked over at Rarity, who was now walking with us. She was the only one here carrying a saddlebag. "~And there's music in the grass, and the music makes your heart soar in reply...~" Everyone's ears perked up at Fluttershy's singing voice, and we rounded the corner to see her amongst her animals, cheering her performance. "Oh, thank you so much." Fluttershy giggled, still talking to her animals. "You're too kind." "Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed. Fluttershy jerked her head in our direction, startled. She looked down shyly. "Oh... You... um... you didn't hear me... um..." "Singing in the most beautiful voice ever?!" "Uh, yeah, we did!" Rainbow agreed, flying up to Fluttershy. Fluttershy shrank down and hid behind her hooves. ... What? "Wow, I've never heard you sing a solo like that before!" Twilight smiled. I raised my brow. "Wait, you haven't?" But they've had plenty of songs on this show by now... "It was like a little slice of heaven," Applejack said. "With ice cream on top!" Pinkie added. "Melodic," I described it simply. "... Why are we all here again?" "So... I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time we've heard Fluttershy sing, right?" "Well, not like this though," Pinkie said. She leaned into my ear. "Just take my word for it!" she whispered. Driving a plot. Got it. "Exactly!" Rarity knelt down next to the shy pegasus. "Fluttershy, I cannot believe your spectacular voice isn't part of the Pony Tones quartet!" Fluttershy looked away. "Um, well, I—" "Especially since you're having us perform for your Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser tomorrow night!" Using her magic, Rarity pulled out a promotional poster for their performance. "Well, you see, I—" "This simply must be rectified." Rarity rolled the poster back up. "You must share that stunning voice at the event!" "Yeah!" Pinkie agreed. "It'll be so amazing! You'll be there on stage, basking in the hooflights! The center of attention! A shining star! Everypony staring at you, judging you, jealously noting how they could be way better than you!..." Gee Pinkie, sometimes I wonder... "... Why wasn't it them? Why wasn't it them? And then, when you choke, they'll turn on you, becoming a seething, angry mob, and you'll be horribly humiliated, never able to show your face in Ponyville again!" ... Why they write you to do pushy things to Fluttershy when you clearly know she's not like that. "Pinkie Pie!" Rarity yelled. She whacked the pink pony with the rolled up promotional poster. "Don't be ridiculous!" "Aw, but I'm so good at it!" Unfortunately. Rarity sighed. "Come, Fluttershy, you will join the group, making the Pony Tones quartet the Pony Tones quintet!" "No," Fluttershy stated. "Pardon me?" Rarity looked a bit shocked. "I love the Pony Tones, I'm one of their biggest fans, but I do not want to perform with them." She looked scared at the prospect of it. "Why not, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "Well, you see... I... I have... um... I... I have..." Fluttershy struggled to get it out. "She has stage fright," I answered for her, plainly. Anyone could assume just from knowing Fluttershy that that's what was going on inside of her head. Fluttershy nodded meekly. Pinkie jumped into a bush... for some reason. "Is it contagious?!" Oh, that reason. Twilight rolled her eyes along with everyone else. "Stage fright isn't a disease, Pinkie. It just means that Fluttershy is scared to perform in front of everypony." Fluttershy smiled at everyone understanding. "I'm very thankful the Pony Tones are singing at the Pet Center fundraiser, and I'm really looking forward to the performance, but I'll be watching safely from the audience." Rarity sighed. "Well... I think it's a terrible waste of an exquisite talent, but I understand that you're not comfortable." "Thank you." Angel, Fluttershy's secret murder bunny, tugged on her mane. "Oh! Angel's right. We'd better get going. There's a lot of work to do before tomorrow's event." Well, I guess us being here has served its plot purpose. Let's go. "Right!" Pinkie bounced past me, already headed back towards Ponyville. ... You know, I still don't know how I feel about that, with Pinkie able to invade my thoughts because it's part of the narration. That's when mostly everything that matters happens though... <<+>> I returned home to see Lucky in the living room on his couch reading a book. "Stardust!" he greeted. "How goes the session with Twilight today?" I shrugged. "Same as always. Got nothin'." He waved me over. "Sit down, maybe we can try something." "Hm?" I looked at him inquisitively, but had no reason to refuse. He pulled out a deck of cards from a drawer in his coffee table. "So you say there's a possibility that it's about you being a cheater of some sorts—" "No—... well—... yes," I interrupted. "But I also said it could mean I just, you know, know how to play my cards right." "Okay, fine, fine, fine," Lucky said. "But maybe we'll discover something anyways." I rolled my eyes. "They say the house always wins." "And I'm the luckiest pony around," the earth pony added. He began shuffling the deck of cards. How ponies do it with hooves, I have no idea, but I'm capable of doing it too, so maybe I just shouldn't think about it too hard. I looked at Lucky blankly. "So what exactly do we learn if I win?" "If you win, then we can at least tell if you cheated to do so or not." I suppose he made a good point. "Start with something simple, eh?" Lucky said. "Play some Blackjack. Then maybe something else." I shrugged. "Name of the game is 21. Let's go, I guess. Only one deck?" "I'm not running a casino here, Dust. Besides, don't want you to get dealt your cutie mark—that'll just be weird." Lucky started dealing out the cards, and I was rather uninterested in whatever was going to happen. "I would've thought that for a pony so lucky and barred from enterin' casinos, you'd want to recreate the experience," I said. "I do, sometimes," Lucky replied. "But today just isn't that day. Besides, more decks just give me the advantage anyways." A few rounds went by, and, I don't know, maybe Lucky had a slight edge in wins? I really wasn't sure if this whole exercise was going to prove anything, leaving me pretty uninvested in the game. Heck, there wasn't even anything on the line, so it's being no-risk, no-reward didn't help either. But maybe there was still a point to be made here. After a few more back and forth, maybe going onto ten minutes of this, Lucky spoke up. "You're looking pretty bored there, Dust." I looked up from my the two cards he had just dealt to me. A jack of clubs and a seven of spades. What a decision. "Hit." I mean, damn, I'm now remembering that one night I spent in my college dorm's cafeteria writing a simple program that played Blackjack. Time really flew by then. Though, I guess a lot of that was also bug fixing, so... Lucky slid over a five of diamonds. I flipped the jack. "Bust. You know, why don't you run a casino of your own, Lucky? Bet you'd make a killing from it." "I've thought about it," Lucky said. "I still do. Of course, I'd have to face the opposite problem then, with the house probably winning more than it should. Besides, casino's are such finicky business. Not sure it's something I want in anyways." Lucky collected my cards and shuffled them back into the deck. Then he started dealing himself his cards. He started with a two of hearts and a three of diamonds. Then a five of spades. Then the ace of spades. "And that's twenty-one," Lucky said, declaring his victory. "Huh, the ace of spades seems to be coming out often today, don't you think? I shrugged. "Maybe?" Lucky chuckled. "Maybe it's because of you. Might be your lucky charm or something." He changed the subject. "Want to play something else?" "I've always been a fan of 500 Rum..." I said. Lucky chuckled. "You'd like Rose and her two flower friends. They play those games a lot." Suddenly, the front door opened. "Speak of the devil," Lucky said as Roseluck entered our sight. "Heeey there boys!" Roseluck greeted. "Ooh, cards?" "We were just about to start a game of 500 Rum," Lucky replied. Roseluck came over and put her saddlebags down. "You know what? I'm feeling hold 'em. Let's play some hold 'em!" "Uh..." Lucky looked at Roseluck's quietly enthusiastic expression as she sat at our table. My eyes darted between them. "Am I missin' somethin' here?" Lucky kept his suspicious gaze on his marefriend as he dealt out cards. "Every time we play, she's always up to something..." Roseluck reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a bag of bits. She distributed an equal amount to each of us. It wasn't a large amount, but it was still a decent sum that added up to a few day's worth of food. "Just out of your pocket?" I asked. "I'm feeling generous today," Roseluck smiled. "No, you're just up to something," Lucky said. "What are your special victory conditions, Rose?" "If you win," Roseluck said to Lucky with a smirk, "You get to keep the bits, but it's my way tomorrow night for a few minutes before we call it a night." ... Oh. I rolled my eyes. I get stuck in a game of this? Roseluck's smirk turned especially sinister. "... If I win, the bits are mine, but we can have some butt fun and whatever you'd like for as long as you've got." I saw Lucky's eyes go a bit wide. Meanwhile, I just looked at the mare very oddly. "And if I win?" "You get to keep the bits and decide on which of those terms Lucky and I spend tomorrow night," Roseluck grinned. "... What?" us two stallions both said. I considered it. "You know, I don't really see a losin' option here." Lucky squinted his eyes towards me. "Of course you do." "Oh, right, the one where I don't win anything." "You know, I like doing this to Lucky," Roseluck said. "It can screw with his luck. Let's play!" She grabbed the deck from Lucky and started dealing out the cards. "Hey, they call it 'getting lucky' for a reason," Lucky said with a growing grin. I quickly peeked at my two cards before rolling my eyes. "Is your idea of 'gettin' lucky' a win-win, or a loss-win?" "You know what I'm talking about, Stardust." The round went by uneventfully, with Lucky winning the pot first. It was his turn next to deal, and I went about my detached way of basically checking and calling whatever bet was put down. The deck came to me, and I suppose that made me pay some attention to the game. Not enough to stop playing so passively this round, but I had mentally prepared myself to start playing with a more serious mindset. After all, there was some interest to be had in the game. Poker was an interesting game of psychological wits. Besides, free money was on the line, so why say no to winning free money? Roseluck got the cards next and the round began. All seemed normal, and I raised the pot a bit. It was called by both, and afterwards went swiftly to the fourth card. I saw a flash of red behind Roseluck. And again, but this time, I saw it more clearly as the hairs of her tail. She was otherwise pretty still, poker face and all. I threw my cards on the table. "I fold." Lucky took a moment, but then did the same. Roseluck looked at me. "... Are you cheating somehow?" Her unamused expression remained for a few seconds, before she followed our equally unamused gazes towards her flank. Her expression changed to match ours. "Oh, right. I forgot..." She hopped up and sat on her tail. I looked back at Lucky, who now had the deck. He got back to shuffling the deck. "Well it's probably more fair now..." The next round started, and three cards of the flop went down on the table. I started thinking about it for a bit, and by the time the fourth card landed, I figured that extra bits in my own pocket wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, I was the only one at the table playing a normal game of poker, where there was only one winning way out. I was feeling pretty good about this round. "Raise." They called it, then the fifth card went down. I saw a flush. Again, the round started with me. I tapped a hoof on the table, checking. Roseluck scrutinized me. "Raise." Lucky called the bet. I looked at both earth ponies in the eyes, feeling out their intentions. "Raise." A pause. "Fold." "Fold." I'd have won the round anyways, it seems. I very slightly raised my brow at the turnout as I collected my bits. I traced their eyes to my back. It was then that it hit me. I slightly extended my wing out to look at it. "Being a little too easy to read there yourself, Stardust?" Roseluck said. I just grumbled. It had just occurred to me that I had to be mindful of another pair of potentially twitchy appendages now. Just another mental load I guess... With everyone at the table mindful of tells now, we settled in for a game we didn't know how long it was going to take. And so we did, round after round... And no one was playing too aggressively with their bets. Lucky's luck didn't seem to make an appearance here either, because he wasn't anywhere near winning. Roseluck seemed to have the most bits at the table right now, with me trailing not far behind. To be honest, I was getting a bit tired of the game now. I kind of just wanted to leave and go lie down. Lucky dealt out the cards, but I didn't bother seeing what mine were. Leave it to fate. The three cards went down. Ace of hearts, jack of clubs, ace of diamonds. Betting round went around. I check. Then a raise, call, call, raise, call, call... then checks. Fourth card went down. Ten of clubs. Ugh, I really think I'd had enough of this. I could feel the air around the table intensify though, as Lucky raised when it got to him. Geez, fine. Call it. Call, check. Fifth card went down. Ace of clubs. I raised to see if anyone would call, but in reality looking for a discreet out from the game. Roseluck all-in'd, definitely more than either of us two stallions had bits left, without any waver in her actions. So the two of us also put our bits in the center. Well, if I was going to be out, I might as well see how. I finally took a peek at my hand... or hoof? Geez, terms are confusing. ... Two aces of spades?! Really?! Well, I'm sure they would let me win with this hand, but I don't know how fair this kind of five-of-a-kind was. I mean, I guess one could argue that a second ace of spades is a wildcard, but... The round came to me. I looked at the pot, with all those bits. I looked at the Luck couple, darting my eyes between them silently and inconspicuously. I flipped my cards on the table. "I fold." The two of them looked at the twin aces in bewilderment. While they resolved the scene in their head, I stood up to leave. "I'm going up to take a nap." That much amount of money wasn't worth the potential trouble of getting between those two. "... Hey, Rose, did you and the other girls play Canasta the other day when they came over?" "Maaaybe..." "And didn't check to see if you put the two decks back together correctly?" "Well... Didn't you check before you two started playing?" "No, because I didn't think I needed to. How the hay hasn't this turned up in our play until now? Geez, Rose, now I'll actually have to check to see if there's anything else wrong in this deck." "Whoops!..." "Explains why we seemed to get the ace of spades so often earlier. Also, straight flush beats your full house..." Whatever was going to happen to Roseluck's, and I suppose by extension, Lucky's plans for tomorrow night, I leave firmly in their hooves. Not from my point of view. And I will still leave them to handle their own bedtime activities. <<+>> The next day, I was out and about looking for things to do around town. Though I didn't win extra bits to add into my savings yesterday, the idea got to me that perhaps I should consider finding some actual work to do around town. Twilight paid well per scheduled session, but the sessions had been reduced to only a few times a week. "Hiii, Stardust!" The greeting came from none other than—"Hey, Pinkie." She bounced up next to me. "What'cha doin'?" I considered my answer, and decided to just play it straight. "Lookin' for a job, I guess." "Coool!" Pinkie explained, hopping beside me as I walked. "So what exciting things did you do yesterday, Dusty?" "Uh... I forfeited a game of poker then took a nap," I answered. I motioned with my hoof, "And it was a great nap." "You decided to lose at something?!" Pinkie gasped. "Well I won Ponyville's twelfth annual turkey call yesterday!" She made this gobbling noise that I suppose was a turkey call. "I broke Big Mac's six win streak! Hey, look there he is now!" I looked off to the side and saw the stage set up for the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser. Oh, right, ongoing episode, right? Pinkie split off from me and bounced over to them. "Just skip to the fun part, Grey!" <<+>> Somewhere around ten hours later, and I found myself roughly in the same spot. "Stardust!" Twilight greeted me. "You're here!" "Sure am," I answered. "Felt like getting out of the house, you know, find something interesting to do." "Heeey guuuys!" Pinkie greeted. With her was Rainbow. "This is going to be great!" "I'll say." Applejack joined us from behind. "Hey, hey, they're starting!" Rainbow exclaimed. Rarity appeared from the curtains on the stage. "Good evening, citizens of Ponyville! I want to thank you all for coming out tonight and generously supporting the Ponyville Pet Center! Thanks to your kindness, pets are finding loving homes, and we're sure to meet our fundraising goal!" Twilight looked around. "Where's Fluttershy?" Applejack rolled her eyes. "Probably hidin'. You know how much that pony hates the spotlight." Rarity continued. "So, with no further ado, please welcome the Pony Tones!" The crowd cheered. Then it subsided, and Rarity blew a pitch pipe. Their song started with this bass voice which I assumed was Big Mac. "~... Bum, bum, bum-ba-da ah...~" Then the rest joined in. "~... Bum, bum, bum-ba-da, ba-da...~" "~... Oh, ah-ah-ah-ah...~" After the opening, Big Mac sang again. "~Trot outside and you see the sunshine, something's in the air today...~" The song continued, with the Pony Tones singing this great sounding song about finding the music in yourself. I let myself bob to the beat. "~Got the music in you, got the music, got the music in you!~" Upon finishing, the crowd cheered again, and ponies rushed to the stage. "Pony Tones! Pony Tones!" The six of us—Spike was here too—waited a bit for the crowd to die down until we could approach the stage and talk to them personally. "Pony Tones!" Twilight exclaimed. "That was truly amazing!" "And you sounded better than ever, big brother!" Applejack added. He seemed to take the compliment well, as did the other three of the ensemble. Pinkie found Fluttershy lurking backstage. "Fluttershy, you were on the wrong side of the curtain! You totally missed the show!" Rarity stepped in. "Uh, just like a true professional, Fluttershy was backstage making sure everything ran smoothly!" She whispered something to Fluttershy. This pegasus came up to us with his filly. "That was fantastic, Pony Tones!" "My new puppy and I thought it was super-duper crazy good!" the filly added. Rarity beamed. "Why, thank you!" "And we were wondering if you would consider performing at my daughter Zipporwhill's cute-ceañera," the stallion asked. "Will you? Will you?" Zippowhill asked enthusiastically. "We'd love to!" Rarity said. "When is it? Next week? Next month?" "Tomorrow!" both of them said. Huh. Talk about last— "Oh, gracious, I'm terribly sorry, but that's much too last minute," Rarity frowned. The little filly looked downcast. "Oh, no..." "Well..." her dad also frowned, "I understand." Fluttershy whispered something to Rarity, and it appeared that they came to some sort of agreement. Rarity chased after the two pegasi. <<+>> "So, Stardust, how did you enjoy our show?" I was heading back with Rarity once the group had all split up from the event. Rarity lived nearby Lucky's place, so I figured I'd just tag along with her so that neither of us were walking back alone. "I liked it," I said. "Been a while since I heard a good acapella group." "Why, thank you," Rarity smiled. "We have a lot of pride in our little quartet, and it's we love seeing ponies admire our music." We arrived in front of the Boutique. "Until next time, Stardust!" Rarity waved and started walking to her door. Then I just remembered something. "Wait!" Rarity stopped. "What is it, Stardust?" "Do you... do you mind if I come in for a bit? Coffee or tea maybe?" "Hm?" Rarity looked at me with a bit of surprise. "Why so?" I looked in the vague direction of Lucky's house. "Just rather keep my distance from home for a little bit longer..." Rarity paused, then smiled. "Well, no matter. I've no reason to refuse. Come in!" Welcomed in, I followed Rarity through the doorway. She made some coffee in her kitchen, and we sat around for a bit. Rarity looked at me thoughtfully. "I'm curious. What's your singing voice like, Stardust?" I looked into my cup of coffee. "Uh... hasn't been used in a long time," I decided to admit truthfully. "I was much more of an instrument kind of guy than a singing one, too..." Rarity seemed surprised. She put her hooves on the table and straightened up. "Well! Maybe we should have a listen to it?" "I'd rather not..." Rarity smiled. "Oh, come on now, Stardust. It can't be that bad. I bet your singing is still better than Twilight's dancing. Come on now, I made you coffee. Now I want a little something back." You know, probably still better than just going straight home. The coffee was pretty decent... Eh? <<+>> "Stardust! You didn't come home the other day?" Lucky greeted me as I came down the stairs. It had been two nights ago since I went and saw the Pony Tones sing. "Sorry," I said. "Came home late both nights. Was dead tired. Woke up early yesterday though and just spent the day out." "Huh." Lucky pushed over a small bag on the table where he also had breakfast set. "Well, here, Rose said to give this to you." I raised my brow as I reached over to the bag. It was full of bits. Lucky shrugged, but smiled. "She said you won it. I tried to argue that your hoof was just a four-of-a-kind, but nah. She insisted." "Huh." I dragged the bag over to my edge of the table. "So how was your night two nights ago?" Lucky chuckled. "I still won. So did she." I shared his chuckle. "Everyone wins. Always nice." "Hey, let's go out to town today," Lucky said, changing the subject. "Mayor has a ribbon-cutting ceremony." "Sounds interestin'. Let's go then." "Also, you're buying lunch." "Hey!" <<+>> "~... Sky is clear and you're feelin' so fine, everything's gonna be a-okay...~" And what do you know, the Pony Tones were singing again. However, there seemed to be something... off about Big Mac's voice. It didn't... sound like it was coming from his direction. It sounded like it was coming from slightly to the side, and with some reverb. Weird. I really couldn't put a hoof on it. Aside from that though, they were as pitch-perfect as they were two days ago. "Wow, what great voices," Lucky said after the performance was over. "I think they have a scheduled performance at Sugarcube Corner in a few days. Would be great to hear them again." I looked back at the stage as we left. The two spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus Blossom, had approached her. "They seem to have a pretty busy schedule this week." "Mm," Lucky agreed. "I didn't even know they were performing today. Guess Rarity's feeling generous." "Maybe." "Now let's go get lunch- and it's on you, remember?" "Dammit, Lucky." <<+>> A few more days later, and we were lined up with other ponies outside of Sugarcube Corner. "Not on the list?!" Lucky exclaimed. "There's no way I'm not on the list." "Sorry," Spike said, peeking up from behind his sunglasses. "But we've got to stay within the occupancy limit. And that's why we have an invite list." "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'm on this list..." Lucky mumbled. I stepped past him. "Spike, just let him in." "Come on, Stardust," Spike said. "The list has spoken. He's not on." "If this is because of a mishandlin' of sign-ups, I'll make sure Twilight hears about it." "Mhm..." Spike said, disinterestedly. "Look, Stardust, you can head on in, but otherwise, you're holding up the line." "I'll tell Rarity." I saw the dragon jump up a bit. "... Okay fine." Us two gray stallions stepped inside. "Gee, am I lucky to have you around, Stardust." I rolled my eyes. "Just your luck..." We settled into the crowd, and by chance, behind— "Stardust!" Rainbow greeted. "What's up?" I shrugged, smiling. "Not much," I greeted back, waving to the other three mares of the group. "Great night for a show, ain't it?" Applejack said. "They're starting!" Twilight whispered excitedly. The spotlight focused in on them, and Pony Tones started singing their main song. As the song went on though, something seemed wrong with Big Mac. There was this growing dissonance between him and what was being sung, and the other three of the ensemble knew it. At one point, he almost even fell off the stage. Then the curtains fell. And by fell, not the show way, but actually falling from the ceiling. And there was Fluttershy, flying up in the air, singing. With a smooth, jazzy voice. "~... Yeah, yeah, I love the music, ye—" "Fluttershy?!" the mares around me exclaimed. My eyes bulged at seeing the pony at the same time as hearing the voice, and only one thought came to my head. "Damn, Fluttershy, did you get your nodes removed?!" I exclaimed with a wide grin and hooves to my head. Twilight and her friends looked at me oddly for a moment, but quickly looked back at their now-exposed friend. Fluttershy, now in plain view to the crowd, cowered behind her tail. As she dropped down to the stage, the spotlight followed. Everyone around us erupted into a happy cheer. Lucky even poked me in the side, motioning towards the stage. He clearly enjoyed the music. Up on the stage though, Fluttershy looked like she was getting crushed under pressure. Then she started shedding... uh, manly tears, maybe? When Fluttershy ran out, we got on stage with the Pony Tones. Applejack went straight up to her brother. "Big Mac, you got some 'splainin' to do!... Turkey call?" Big Mac leaned away from his sister, but answered. "Eeyup." "Trash your voice?" "Eeyup." "Zecora remedy?" "Eeyup." "Not quick enough?" "Nnope." "Needed a deep voice?" "Eeyup." "Poison joke?" "Eeyup." "Flutterguy?" "Eeyup." "Better now?" "Eeyup." "And that shy filly was livin' her dream in the shadows because she couldn't bring herself to come into the spotlight?" "Eeyup." God, I love the Apple family. Or at least these two. So straight to the point. "Well, for corn's sake!" Applejack exclaimed. "Let's go!" <<+>> We went all the way out to Fluttershy's cottage trying to find her. "Fluttershy?" Twilight called out from the first floor of the cottage. "You in here?" Fluttershy walked out from her bathroom on the second floor. "Yes... I'm here," she answered, voice back to normal. Pinkie crawled up the wall to get to Fluttershy. "That was totally unbelievable! I mean, the curtain came up and there you were, singing in front of everypony!" This... didn't seem like it was going to go anywhere good. "Okay, Pinkie—" Pinkie continued waving around while hanging onto the second floor railing. "—And you know, I don't think anypony was jealous, 'cause there certainly wasn't an angry mob!—" "Pinkie—" I uselessly called out again. "But it must have been horrible standing there on stage, all eyes glued directly on you!" "Pink—" She practically tackled Fluttershy down. "It's like you were living your own personal worst nightmare!" I sighed. Fluttershy began crying again. "It was." No one at all was amused with Pinkie. "What?" Pinkie asked. "Too much?" The pegasus slid out from under the pink pony, headed right out the door. Again. I ran out after her, only to see her already some distance away. "Oh geez, I think she's flyin' all the way back to town." Twilight shoved up behind me, yelling after Fluttershy. "What Pinkie meant to say is that you were really great!" She squeezed past me to chase after the pegasus. Pinkie came up behind me. "Wait! Didn't I say that?" I lightly hit Pinkie over the head for her antics, before flying after Fluttershy. Rarity ran past her also. "Hardly!" "You were great!" I heard Pinkie exclaim behind us. <<+>> Fluttershy's lead and the dark of the night was enough that it took a bit to find her. But I did, because yellow is quite a vibrant color that stands out against the ground. I swooped down and landed in front of her. She was still crying, but I think she was running out of energy. "You know, Fluttershy," I started, "the only way to get rid of stage fright is to just keep goin' out there until you're used to it." She took a pause to get herself under control, not seeming to expect straight talk. Through her tears, "B-but... it's so hard!" I looked at her with hints of dissatisfaction, as she began flying away again. "I want to say it gets easier, but I guess some ponies just adapt better than others..." Fluttershy landed on a bridge, facing away from me. "Do you know anything about it, Stardust?" I smiled at her lightly, even if she couldn't see it. "Yeah. I used to be a performer. Used to play instruments when I was young. It was really scary the first few times, but over time, I knew that I had the ability to put on the performance. With a lot of practice, you get to know how rounded out your talents are, and when you know where your talents stand, you can be confident in how you'll perform. From that point on, it's just about gettin' rid of the uneasiness of gettin' in front of a crowd." "O-o-oh," Fluttershy said with a wavering voice. "I guess so. But I don't think I can get over the last part so easily." "Well, if that's you, Fluttershy, then I guess we can't really push you too hard." I looked away, rubbing my chin. "... Mom did always tell me I have to get out of my comfort zone, though..." "I just don't want to dive too far out of my comfort zone all at once." Fluttershy sighed. "It's just not in me to be able to do it." "Well, you should still try to. It would be a shame to let your talents go to waste. I don't think that's worth your own fears. Don't... don't use fear as an excuse to not try to be the best you can be." Fluttershy paused, just looking at me. "... Little by little then." I put a hoof to her shoulder, then looked at the others, who had finally arrived on scene. "They'll hold you to that." Fluttershy seemed mostly calm, but still tensed up as if preparing to continue running as the other mares closed in. Interestingly enough, we now found ourselves where it all began, at the stage where the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser was held. It seemed that from this point, there could be no further running away. The otheres arrived to continue their shower of complements, as if that would help build up Fluttershy's resolve, when clearly her resolve wasn't the barrier here. At least, not the first one needed to be overcome. Oh, and then Pinkie started opening her mouth. In a wingbeat, I was already over to her, pushing her away. I pointed a hoof at her and gave her a simple, "No." "Fluttershy," Rarity said, now standing in front of her timid friend, "I know what happened back there was hard for you. But you're the one that wanted the Pony Tones to sing for every silly thing that was requested of us." "You mean, you knew I really wanted to perform?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course I knew!" The pegasus looked down. "Oh..." "And, for all her babbling, Pinkie Pie was right about one thing," Rarity added, somewhat unsure. "Only one?!" Pinkie exclaimed from beside me. "When that curtain fell, and everypony saw you singing, you lived your worst nightmare!" Rarity exclaimed, having gotten up onto the stage to recreate some of the feeling. "Was it really that bad?" "Yes!" Fluttershy hid behind her hooves. "Well, what was so bad about it?" Twilight asked. "The thunderous applause?" Rainbow suggested. "The praise for your fantastic singin'?" Applejack added. "The screaming fans?!" Pinkie added in, unsubtly, as per usual. Fluttershy jumped up in surprise, joining Rarity on the stage. "Maybe the fact that everyone saw her singin' but she sounded like a guy?" I said. I felt a metal object hit me over the head. I heard it too, actually. That muffled metallic 'ping'. I looked up to see Rarity, unamused and putting her pitch pipe back in her coat. "And you've been so helpful up until that, Stardust..." Rarity said. I rubbed my head. "I mean, I was just sayin' what could've been an actual reason..." <<+>> And so, that's the story of how we all got invited to a private performance the next day, featuring the Pony Tones plus Fluttershy. And how I said the lesson of the episode, only half-realizing that I did. "Stardust, are you trying to cheat me out of the box by not directly having me in the final scene?!" "Watch me work, Pinkie."