True friendship is hard to break, no matter how dire the situation is. Not even the prospect of the world ending right before their eyes could damage the bond that is shared between true companions, such as the trio known as The Three Maresketeers. Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer and Moondancer had been through many personal tragedies and even the literal brink of destruction, but their friendship survived and grew even stronger. Nothing could possibly set them apart.
Nothing, except one thing...
"I don't need to remind you to sign up for group projects in pairs." Said Professor Silver Scroll, while wrapping up his last class on friday. "Which is two ponies, no more, no less."
... the trivial thing!
Those who know Moondancer knew that there were few times when she wanted to be away from her roommates. Unsurprisingly, during intercourse with another pony wasn't one of them (they had different opinions). She sighed deeply, knowing full well what was coming up next.
"Moonie, do you--?/Moondancer, let's--!"
Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle stopped and turned to each other, glaring with their utmost contempt in silence just long enough for Moondancer to curse having an even number of besties, slam her forehead on the desk and groan without anypony noticing.
"I asked her first!" Both mares announced at the exact same time, with the exact same tone. Their eyes twitched in the same manner. "No you didn't! Yes I did! Stop copying me! I'm not copying you, you're copying me! Stop that! No, you stop that! Think of something original to say! Wha-- how? GRRR!
Every. Single. Time.
This is why she wished they had a fourth member. It all started when Sunset Shimmer joined them, so obviously she teamed up with her, since she was a new, not yet fully cherished part of her life. It was supposed to be just a friendly cooperation, not operation 'Destroy Sparkle To Prove We Are Superior'. Back then she realized just how much of a grudge Twilight can hold, when she just stopped talking to her at all for a week straight! She was silent, but deadly. Poor choice of words, I know.
Sunset wasn't any better. With her it wasn't the silent treatment, though she wished it was. For a self-proclaimed 'Ice Cold Bitch' (again, SELF-proclaimed), Sunset was surprisingly pouty and unbearably guilt trippy. Not a word. Shut up, brain! Constantly accusing her of choosing her old friend instead of her; which she deemed not good enough; leaving her alone, in a class where everypony hated her. Moondancer wasn't stupid, she knew it was all an act and a large over dramatization. But it was still very effective. Like seducing a happily married stallion. Sure, he won't fall for it, but watch those sweat beads fall.
Not that I would ever do that!
Sadly, the only ponies that could fill that place were unavailable. Moon Sky took very few classes and this wasn't one of them, while Trixie, despite being offered a chance to resume her studies, politely refused for her own reasons. That left a bunch of mares that despised either Sunset or herself for prejudice and jealousy, respectively. Then there were stallions that Moondancer already had contact with or the ones that avoided her for some reason. They probably hated fun or something.
Except for one. Moondancer's eyes narrowed on the lone, red coated stallion whose name escaped her. She remembered him being near the top of most of their classes, just below Twily and Sunny. One quick glance at her two besties was enough to tell that nothing had changed. The two were still at each other’s throats, growling, possibly waiting for Moondancer to take a side.
Never again!
Faced with two equally awful choices, she made herself a third one, hoping it wouldn't backfire too badly.
This was his chance. He knew it was a long shot, but if he wasn't going to try now, then when? There were very few windows of opportunity when dealing with the fairest of all the mares. And the most common one, at least according to his fellow members, was the two pony group project, when the trio had to go their separate ways. He just had to somehow tip the balance in his favor. And he was in luck! According to his inside sources, it was Twilight's turn last time to team up with Moondancer, which meant that the odds of her pairing up with Sunset Shimmer were high. If there was a time to act, it was most definitely...
"Hiya!"
"GAH!"
CRASH!
Pain. But more than that, trauma from remembering old times, the so called innocent pranks that his peers subjected him to, definitely not over jealousy for his grades or contempt to anypony that stood out from the stereotype of a typical Trotsawian drunken brute. A feeling he almost forgot while attending the most prestigious school in Equestria.
"Uh, whoops?" The red maned mare smiled sheepishly at him, shrugging her hooves. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. You okay?"
Red groaned and managed to roll his eyes, while lying on his back, with his hind hooves on an overturned chair. His neck ached and the mild concussion made his vision blurry. "I've been worse."
Trotsawian youth was THE worst.
"Sorry. No hard feelings?" She offered him an innocent smile and a helping hoof. Red groaned, but few seconds of eye contact made him realize that he couldn't stay mad at her, so he grabbed the offered hoof and had a little easier time getting back up.
"So, now that the ice, and hopefully nothing else, is broken," Moondancer continued "do you have a partner for the project?"
His eyebrow raised. "No, but why--"
"Perfect!" She beamed. "That means you won't reject me immediately when I ask you to join me, eh Red?” Pause. “Can I call you Red?"
"Uhh, sure."
"Awesome! Look, I know what you're thinking right now."
Blink. "You do?" He deadpanned.
"Yep. You look at me like 'oh great, another cute face with no brain' and stuff to which I say you're only half right," she winked at him seductively, but since his heart knew its place, he ended up with only a small blush, instead of the usual heart melting that happened when she approached young stallions. "I'll let you know that every other group that had me always placed first." Mostly because she was with either Twilight or Sunset, but she wasn't going to let that little detail stop her. "I promise I'll work hard and I won't fool around. That is, until we finish the work, if you catch my drift?"
Red's face turned red, as he was fighting the urge to do something inappropriate, like gently shoving her away. Nothing else. He was a Trotsawian, but he was no brute. The brief pause was slowly rotting into awkwardness. Moondancer's smile was slowly wilting away.
He cleared his throat and looked slightly away. Breaking eye contact made communication slightly easier. "L-look, it's not that I doubt you..."
Her smile soured. "But?"
"A-aren't you supposed to, I don't know... team up with Sunset Shimmer?" Small pause. Realization that he might've spilled the beans by being too precise with his question hit him. "Or, T-twilight Sparkle? Like you always do?" Nice dodge!
At the sound of her friends' names, Moondancer smiled wider and started laughing slowly and quietly, until she stopped entirely. She glanced to her back, as if to confirm she wasn't being watched or listened to, then turned back to Red and looked at him with pleading, desperate eyes.
"Please don't make me do it!"
Red was taken aback and couldn't say or do anything other than raise an eyebrow.
"Please don't make me choose between them! I-I don't want to go through this all over again, I know how it'll go. It'll either be silent and awkward, or pouty and pissy!" She swallowed as her head lowered. "'How DARE you go with the other'? 'What about the years of our friendship'? 'You're ditching me cause I'm the new girl'(it's been years)? 'Don't you want to get the best grade'? 'Everypony else hates me, why do you leave me too'? GAAAH!" She slammed her head over Red's desk. "I can't take this anymore!"
Red stepped back, but couldn't quite turn away. He wasn't sure if Moondancer was crying over his desk, but it definitely looked like it from the distance. He scratched his head, not sure how to react with this situation. He moved forward to her and tried to pat her head, maybe calm her down a little, when she suddenly grabbed his hoof.
"You're the only pony left," she pleaded with him, tightly hugging his hoof "I'll do anything! Any page of Ponysutra, just name your price! Toys, friends, ropes, jello, pineapples, whips, I don't care, anything is better than that!"
"Pi-pineapples?" He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but he had every right to blush.
"Pleeaaaaaaaase!" Some ponies say, that the older you get, the less effective your puppy eyes become. Some ponies are just plain wrong. "You're my only Hope!"
His viable options were:
a. Run away as fast as possible.
b. Hug her.
c. Join her.
d. Bang her.
e. Call for reinforcements.
Before he could determine the winning move...
"MOONDANCER!"
"Meep!"
Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle walked toward the pair, both glares aimed at their red maned friend, who did not dare turn toward them. Red couldn't blame her. He wouldn't want to be seen wide eyed, eyebrow twitching and covered by sweat either.
Sunset Shimmer started. "This is no time to flirt with some random buck," she turned to Red "no offense."
Red rolled his eyes and waved a hoof. "None taken."
"Moondancer, could you tell Sunset that you will join my group? Because she can't take a hint."
"Wha-- No! She's with me this time!"
"No she's not!"
"Yes she is!"
"On what basis?"
"Because it's my turn!" She (delicately) shoved Twilight away, glaring her deep in the eyes. "You were with her last time!"
Twilight's eyebrow twitched and she made an irritated grimace. Red made a fascinating discovery today. Contrary to popular belief, Twilight Sparkle was cute even when she was angry (here's proof).
"Moondancer is not an object! You don't take 'turns' with her!"
The sheer fact that Moondancer didn't follow up on that should've clued them that something wasn't right..
"Uh, puh-lease..." Sunset rolled her eyes so violently, it was a miracle they remained in her eye sockets.
"And she'd rather team up with a pony that accepts her for who she is!"
Sunset gasped. "On no you didn't! I accept her! Why do you think I let her sleep in my room?"
"Uh-huh. Then what about that 'strangling her with a rope, if she didn't find it kinky' thing you told me just yesterday?"
"It's called 'sarcasm', Sparkle. Look it up!"
"Ugh, you just want her because nopony else will team up with you! Unless you threaten them or something!"
"I don't 'threaten' ponies anymore, it's not my fault I have a bad reputation around!"
"Yeah, sure, summoning demons from Tartarus was totally not your doing."
"That only happened once and we agreed to never talk about it again! Besides, look who's talking?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I don't know, Miss-Never-Talks-To-Other-Students, what AM I talking about?"
"I-I have plenty of friends... I just hang around you so often that... you know..."
"Name one." As Twilight was about to open her mouth, Sunset quickly added. "Spike doesn't count!" Pause. "Neither does your brother. Or Cadance."
"Oh sure, namedrop the rest of the Canterlot while you're at it! See what I did there? Sarcasm, I don't have to look it up!"
"Nah-uh, don't change the subject! Name one friend."
"Oh, that's simple! It's uh... uhm..." She swallowed, covering herself in sweat, while Sunset and Red observed her nervous breakdown. Which, in case anypony's interested, was still pretty darn cute. "Uh... L-Lime Heart?"
"Lemon Hearts."
"I knew that!"
"Pfft, yeah, you two are besties, alright."
"W-what does it matter! Moondancer is better off with me!"
"How about we let her choose? So she can make a 'proper' choice?"
"For once, I agree!"
While Red could stand there and listen to their bickering all day, he couldn't help but notice the distressed look on Moondancer's face. She still hadn't turned away and neither did sweat stopped pouring all over her. As their eyes met, Moondancer opened her mouth, but no sound came in. She repeated it a few more times, until he finally deduced that she was trying to secretly say something to him without alerting the others.
Save me!
This was his chance. He wished for it for who knows how long. The perfect opportunity to separate The Three Maresketeers and have an excuse to hang out with Twilight Sparkle. It would surely be awkward at first, neither saying a word other than things related to their project, which he would let her choose, to let her know that he accepts her as an intellectual equal and was willing to share the glory. Of course, awkward only to him, because she was blissfully unaware of his feelings, which was good, because two awkward people in a group could spell disaster. But over time he would start breaking the ice, try out a few topics during their breaks, order some seemingly random food which happens to be her favorite (thank you, S.A.S.S. databanks!) and before they know it, they would be friendly and open to each other. Then, after the project ends, he'll be sure to borrow a book from her, just so they have a reason to meet up again. Then ask her for ice-cream, as totally platonic friends of course, so they could talk about it. Rinse and repeat a few times, the relationship would blossom over time and eventually they would hook up for good, after which he didn't make plans. Yet. All of this half-year plan (give or take a month or two) would start right now.
Help. Me!
All he had to do is become a middle-stallion for this debate, use some convincing arguments to note that it was indeed Sunset's turn and that this sort thing wouldn't break their friendship in the long run.
Save. Me!
Then, after they part ways, he can come to the rescue and join with Twilight Sparkle, seeing as they are the only ponies left without a pair. She'd be a little salty for a while, but she was bound to go back to her old self once they reach the library.
Save. Me!
Only a fool would pass up on this perfect opportunity.
"If I may..." He raised his hoof and got their attention. He swallowed, opening his mouth to enact his plan. "... uhm, you see..." He glanced at Moondancer.
Save. Me!
"...actually, I... I already asked Moondancer to be my partner!"
STUUUUUUUUPIIID! YOU ARE SOOOOO STUUUUUUUUUUPIIIIID! I know Brain, I know. STUPID!
Sunset's eye twitched. "W-what the... are you bucking serious?"
"Moondancer, is that true?" Twilight asked.
A golden opportunity, lost. Forever. Gone. Thrown away like a golden apple into a shredder, never to be seen or enjoyed ever again. Moondancer's emotional rebound, from a crying, wallowing mess back to her old, cheerful self, made him feel a little better. But only a bit.
"Yep, he did!" Moondancer turned back to her friends, making sure her tears were gone by then. "And you know me, I can't say no to a handsome face. Especially when he asks nicely." She turned to him and gave him a grateful wink.
Jaws were dropped, feelings were (seemingly) hurt, as Twilight opened her mouth for a moment, but decided against saying a single word. Sunset Shimmer wasn't this merciful.
"Seriously? I can't believe you, Moondancer! You promised me last time!"
"Actually, I said 'maybe next time', soooo..."
"And all for some stallion in our class? Well," she turned away, Twilight doing the same. "I hope this week's buck is worth breaking a heart of your best friend!" She humphed, while Twilight gave her an 'I'm still here!' glare. "No offense."
"None taken."
"Come on, Sparkle! We'll show her what happens when she passes a chance to team up with a genius! Good luck with your new play thing!" Pause. "Uh, no offe--"
"None! Taken!"
The two mares walked away, holding their heads up high. While Twilight Sparkle remained silent all the way to the door, Sunset Shimmer mumbled something barely intelligible, which Red had no desire of finding out. Once the two (and apparently the rest of the class) were gone, Red allowed himself for one, deep, regretful sigh. He looked at Moondancer, as she looked at him. Her smile intensified and she started shaking. He had a bad feeling about this.
“Why are you loo—“
GLOMP! CRASH!
His head, and rest of his body for that matter, got hurt again, as she tackle-hugged him. In hindsight, he should've seen it coming.
"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Her embrace strengthened with every syllable, to the point that Red couldn't move or voice a complaint. Not that she'd listen in this state. "You're my hero! Forget one page, I'm so hot for you right now I'm all for the whole thing!" Her embrace weakened slightly, so she could move her mouth to his ear to whisper. "And some pages are very... rereadable."
Red wasn't sure what was hotter right now, the mare above him; his cheeks; or the notion of exploring parts of Ponysutra some stallions only dream of, while others get in exchange rate of a diamond per page. More legends and myths about Moondancer were confirmed with every second.
"Oh, but where are my manners?" She unhugged him, raising herself a bit higher, creating a much safer distance between their faces. "I don't even know your name yet. Which happens way too often lately, actually..."
Red's first words turned out to be different than he imagined. "Y-you don't?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. Let's start over. I'm Moondancer."
He blinked. "Red Hope. Uh, pleasure to meet you, I guess?"
At this point, Moondancer froze her jaw dropping almost to the ground (or his chest, to be precise). "W-wait, are you...?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Your name's really...?"
"Yes."
"NO WAY!"
"Yes. Way."
Moondancer giggled. "Well then, Red, I have a feeling," she lowered her face "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," and lower "a really, really hot one."
He couldn't help but swallow, trying very hard to look away. Curse you double standards, if roles were reversed she'd already be gone with a restraining order!
"M-moondancer..."
"Yeeees?"
"C-could you..."
"Hmmm?"
"...could you... get off of me? Please?"
Moondancer blinked. She covered herself with blush. "Huh, I don't hear that too often," she shrugged, but at least did what she was asked to "so, your room in two hours? I don't think I'll be welcome back in my room for a few more hours."
"Yeah, sure. I live in..."
"I know where you live." One creepy, awkward pause later. "I-I mean, you're Con's roommate, right? I've been there a few times."
"Oh... kay." Note to self- get new bedsheets. Just in case.
They waved to each other goodbye and Moondancer took her cue to leave first, giggling along the way, happy for her little victory even if she was going to hear a lot of complaints and silence back in her room. Can't be that bad, right?
"Moondancer!" She turned back to Red, who caught up to her just as she left the class. "There's something I need to ask you. I can't stop thinking about a thing you said..."
Her ears perked. This was bound to be interesting. "What's bugging you?"
His cheeks burned bright red, as he looked around to confirm nopony was listening. “… Pineapple?"
Silence. Now it was Moondancer's turn to burn red. "I-I... I'd rather not talk about... it..." Sweat drops the size of acorns started dropping from her head.
"Okay, then I wo--"
“I-I got curious and I lost the bet, and... uh, they made it look more... pleasant..."
"Okay, I get it--"
"I'm not perfect, okay? I make mistakes! And that book is overrated anyway!"
"Moondancer..."
"It's over two hundred years old anyway! Time to move on!"
"You're not listening anymore."
"And technology progressed, we have better things to stuff in..."
Red covered his ears. "Nope, can't hear you, nuh-uh!"
"...and where did they even get pineapples two centuries ago?"
Red took his hooves of his ears a minute later, once she stopped to take a breath.
"You're done?" He asked.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"No pineapples, got it."
"Cool. Triple cool." She nodded.
A moment passed.
"U-unless," she covered herself in another shade of blush, looking away, scratching her head "y-you really insist--"
"No."