//------------------------------//
// 2. Neapolitan Ice Cream (with Pickles) 
// Story: Compersion 
// by Etolia 
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Perhaps it would be better played marcato? There would be more leeway for expressivity.

Viola scribbled a few notes on her score with a pencil before backing away from the stand and playing the section again. She loosened her tempo, slowing down and swelling in volume as she progressed to the more dramatic movements of the song and speeding up again as she left them.

No no no, the second movement is adagio for a reason, and I can't expect everypony to match pace exactly. A fermata perhaps?

A few more scribbles and a few erasures later, Viola was back to playing the same section again, slightly modified. Her ears were filled with the dulcet treble tones of her violin as she played. And when she finished, her ears detected the decidedly less musical sound of a door opening. Viola put down her violin and turned to greet her visitor.

"Back so soon?" Viola said levelly, her right brow cocked ever-so-slightly higher than the other.

Buffy dropped her saddlebags unceremoniously onto the floor once she made it inside. She kicked the front door closed with a hind hoof. "Yeah, just a little," she said. "He had to leave early, but we had a great time. He's really fun to talk to, and he knows a lot about all kinds of stuff, like air-ee—air-in—aeronautics? Is that how you say it?" Buffy stuck her tongue out. "That, and carpentry, and hoofball." She leaned in closer to Viola and whispered, "A lot of hoofball."

Viola rolled her eyes and gave Buffy a little shove, distancing themselves again. "Do you see this working out any better than the last one?" she asked. It was an odd little ritual Buffy had, and part of her polyamorous nature. Even though she was already going steady with herself, she went out with other ponies semi-frequently, either in an attempt to make new friends or new "partners to bring in," as she called it. Viola didn't do it herself; she just let Buffy have her little fun.

Buffy stuck her tongue out again, looking up and off to the side. "Ehh, maybe. I mean, he's still fun to talk to, but he just likes hoofball so much. He keeps talking about rules and teams and scandals, and I have to pretend I'm interested." She shrugged. "I don't know anything about hoofball."

She knew what that reaction meant. An invite here, a dinner there, maybe a weekend trip if they were at it for a few weeks. The ponies changed, but even so, their relationship stayed the same. Polyamorous she was, but Viola wondered whether she would ever find somepony else interesting enough to partner with for more than a week or two.

Buffy continued. "But when he gets off hoofball, then he's fun again. And he's really good at folding these awesome paper airplanes, if you'd believe it." She went back to her saddlebags and flipped them open, retrieving a folded piece of paper from a pocket and tossing it into the air. Viola tracked the aircraft as it caught a breeze from an open window. Instead of swerving, it gained altitude and seemed to accelerate, ending its flight perched on a hanging ceiling lamp on the opposite side of the room.

Viola turned back around to Buffy. She was looking at the lamp, hooves over her mouth. She slowly raised a hoof to point at it. "Oops. Can you get that?"

Viola rolled her eyes again but acquiesced. "Only you," she grumbled. She opened her wings to take to the air and retrieve the rogue aircraft. And when she returned to the ground, she found Buffy had returned to her saddlebags and apparently shoveled out its contents, a half-dozen assorted paper airplanes of different shapes now scattered on the ground.

As she dug through her bag, a few more planes came flying—some of them literally—out. "So yeah, he's pretty fun to spend time with," Buffy said, voice slightly muffled. "I don't know if we—watch your head—we could be partners, but he's pretty special. A new friend, definitely."

Viola looked up just in time to get out of the way of a falling needle-nosed paper bomber. Its nose crumpled as it crashed into the ground.

Apparently finished retrieving her new toys, Buffy took her head out of her bags and closed them up. She retrieved all the paper airplanes (all the ones she could reach, at least) and arranged them side-by-side in a little display. She looked back to Viola, head cocked a little, a little smile on her face. "See, I don't think he's as special as you."

Despite herself, Viola couldn't stop a snort of mirth from escaping her muzzle or a tiny smile from taking hold of her face and curling up the corners of her lips. She barely had time to take another breath before she found herself nearly choked by a pair of pink fores tight around her barrel.

"Oh my gosh, Vi! You look so cute when you laugh like that! You need to do it more often!" Buffy gushed, a gigantic toothy smile on her face. "You're so tough and cool all the time, but you're super nice and pretty when you smile!" She took a hoof and pried open Viola's mouth a little. "Lemme see some teeth!"

"Buffy! Viola hissed as she turned her head away and clambered out from under Buffy's belly. "Have I told you before not to hug me like that?" She got to her hooves and brushed herself of dust, a small frown now firmly on her face.

Buffy shuffled from hoof to hoof, wearing a not-well-suppressed smile, her face looking like that of a foal up to mischief and with no intention of listening to her parents. "Sorry?" she said in a clearly-not-sorry voice.

Viola tried very hard to keep frowning. But Buffy behaved like a cute and silly foal much of the time, and looking like a silly foal just made her cuter. Buffy always had a way to make her laugh, and she both hated and loved her for it. "Just don't do it again," she said, eyes averted, though the gravitas in her words was betrayed by the criminal smile again coloring her face.

Buffy's smile turned into a toothy grin again, and her hooves were squishing her cheeks. Just as Viola was sure she'd be attacked again, she was saved by the doorbell. Her smile vanished, and Buffy's countenance turned curious. Buffy turned to answer the door.

"Oh, Azura! I didn't know you'd be visiting! Come inside!" Buffy said, admitting the marginally familiar mare.

"Buffy, it's awesome to see you! Yeah, I just had some free time after work, and I decided I'd pop by for a visit."

"Sure, sure! I'm always happy to have you around. How's the radio doing?"

"Oh, y'know, the usual. Hosting a talk show isn't the hardest thing, though I find it a little funny that I have an intern already. I mean, I haven't been hosting here for that long yet, but I'm still showing other ponies the ropes of oratory."

"That is so awesome; you should be really proud! I could never . . ."

After a few exchanges, it was clear their discourse didn't include her, so Viola found herself quickly tuning out the conversation. It did, in fact, feel like a harkening back to the movie she went to with Buffy, Azura, and Viridian. It was a private showing, but she couldn't say what the film was about; Buffy and Azura's conversation drowned it all out. Yet their conversation moved so fast that she didn't know what they were talking about on the side, either.

It was a bit odd to see Azura at Buffy's apartment, though; they had only met about a week ago, after all. Silly as Buffy was, she didn't seem the type to flaunt about her address to everypony she met.

It was clear that she'd find no more time to practice in the near future, though, so Viola busied herself with putting her violin back in its case and folding up her music stand. She'd normally also prepare a pot of tea for the three of them, but of course, tea was not exactly the first beverage Buffy had chosen to stock her apartment with. Soda and fruit juice were . . . not ideal to hold conversation over.

"That's weird. Every time I listen to your show, you're always so talkative and fun and prepared with all these ponies you interview."

"Thanks, Buffy! But I mean, it gets a little awkward when you've got this pony you're interviewing, he talks about the Baltimare Botanical Gardens like he owns the place, and you need to nod and say 'uh huh' like you know whatever the heck he's talking about."

"No way! You've never been to the Gardens before?"

"No, not at all. I just got here, remember?"

"Oh, that's it then, we're going to the Gardens right now! They're not closed yet, but we need to hurry! Actually, come to think of it, I don't think Viola's been to the Gardens, either."

For the first time since they'd started their conversation, Buffy took her eyes off Azura and looked back to Viola. Her ears perked up. "Hey, Vi, we're going to the Botanical Gardens. You wanna tag along?"

Viola blinked a few times. It was, again, odd that she was the one being asked to "tag along," when traditionally, it'd be the other way around. Even so, she had truthfully never been to the Gardens before and had been meaning to go eventually. "Sure," she said levelly.

Buffy pumped a hoof into the air. "Triple date!"





"And then he just grabbed the mic and got so close to it, he started peaking! Makes me wonder whether he's actually hosted a talk show before, 'cause that's not how you use a microphone, am I right?"

"Wait, that's not how you use a microphone? All those rock bands use their microphones like that."

"No, it's not! I mean, it works with mics on stage, but not in a studio! A pony's voice gets all deep and distorted, and it's a pain to fix. Even worse if we're broadcasting live! It's because we were that I didn't push him back and tell him to keep his distance. Seriously, some ponies . . ."

Viola walked with Buffy and Azura through Baltimare's Botanical Gardens, though it was hard to tell whether they were really appreciating the considerable scenery. Whatever they were talking about, it was probably not about the Gardens.

She sighed. There was quite a lot that they were missing if that was the case. Terraces were filled with more colors than she thought possible, and walkways were nearly invaded by curious trees and bushes spreading their branches wherever they could. Flowers released their pungent aromas and combined with those of the trees and other flowers to create a near-intoxicating bouquet. It seemed to simultaneously lull her to sleep and fill her with energy.

The Botanical Gardens seemed like nature's sanctuary in a universe of concrete and asphalt. If she lived here long-term, Viola would have liked to spend some time here in a secluded corner, practicing, only the sounds of her violin, the rustling leaves, and the chirping birds to demand her attention. And that was not even mentioning that the scenery itself and its sheer variety could be a tremendous source of inspiration.

This was when Viola leaned against her dear Buffy and sighed again. And this was when she would have liked nothing more than to rest on a bench with no one else, doing nothing else but taking in nature's greatest glories.

"Do you have a thing for cream cheese or something?"

"Of course I don't have a thing for it, I just like it a lot! You can never have too much cream cheese on a bagel!

Of course, it was a bit more difficult to do that when Buffy had her own friend to chat with. Truly, Azura was certainly not unpleasant company, but she did wish at times that she didn't command so much of her Buffy's attention during a time which would otherwise be quite romantic. There was a whole world of sights and sounds that Buffy seemed to be missing just because there was a friend around to occupy her attention.

"So, I guess Viola is a good friend of yours, huh?"

"Yeah, really good! We're partners!" Buffy reached a hoof around Viola's forebarrel without warning and gave her a squeeze. She grunted.

"Partners? You mean, like, tennis partners or something?"

"No, silly! Romantic partners!"

"No way. You two, together?"

Finally, Viola heard something consequential to comment on. But just as she was about to say something concerning their romantic status, she was cut off by a pair of lips against her mouth. And just as she realized what Buffy was doing, Viola grunted loudly and slipped out from under her hoof, retreating away a few steps. "I thought I told you not to do that, either," she groused.

Buffy made no attempt to close the gap, but once again, she wore that same sorry-not-sorry expression. Viola rolled her eyes.

"Geez, alright, I get it. You two are together," Azura said, fanning the air with a hoof. "Still, I guess I didn't expect it, is all. You two are just so different that I don't see how you two can get along. Buffy's real interesting and always has something to talk about, but . . . I don't know, Viola, you're just so dang quiet." She looked over to said mare.

Viola avoided making eye contact and bit her lip. She'd heard that before, though perhaps not quite as frankly as Azura put it. But however it was said, it never made her any more talkative.

"Eh . . ." Buffy waves her hoof in a circle. "We find our ways. Vi is so sweet once you get to know her, and she's just so good at playing the violin and the cello and just making music. She talks through gestures. And she's an awesome singer, too."

Viola's ears perked up. She had a suspicion where this conversation was headed, and she didn't like it. "Buffy . . ." she warned.

"I mean, I don't know why she gets all cagey whenever I say that, 'cause she's really good. She could seriously melt your heart just by singing 'Happy Birthday.'"

"Buffy!"

"She plays in string quartets, but she just never sings in them, even though I've asked her so many times. Vi could be as big as the Countess if she just went at it." Buffy turned to Viola. "Really, we should go out to a karaoke—"

Buffy words were arrested by a flying blur of wings and fur, and both of them ended up on the ground. Viola's cheeks, normally a demure purple, were now a fiery pink. "Goodness, Buffy, do you honestly feel the need to just . . ." She couldn't finish the sentence.

Despite having just been tackled, Buffy was giggling, a hoof on her mouth, cheeks lightly colored. And despite Viola's embarrassment, she couldn't stay angry at a face like that. She found her desire to chastise her marefriend and cuff her on the shoulder quickly drowning in a sea of contagious laughter. Before long, she was chuckling as well.

Once her giggles were calmed, Buffy, still on the ground, turned her head to look at Azura, smiling. She pointed at Viola. "See? Sweet."

Quickly, Viola clambered off her marefriend, allowing her to get up. She brushed the dirt off her fur and tried to wipe her smile off her face. "Every time . . ." Buffy was something of a lovable, inappropriate fool, but she also had the infuriating ability of drawing the most inappropriate behavior out of herself. And Buffy asked why she wouldn't bring her to formal functions.

"Mhm, I don't know if you guys are sweet or just plain weird," Azura said, shaking her head.

Buffy, having since recovered, made her way back to Viola's side. She was still smiling. "Viola isn't a conversation starter or anything, but she's sweet and kind and talented and . . ." Buffy paused. She reached a hoof up and ruffled Viola's mane, disheveling it and making it appear as though she just woke up. "Cute!" Buffy finished in a high squeak, hooves at her cheeks.

Viola looked up at her hair and tried to fix it to where it was before. She tried not to look back at Buffy, lest she start laughing again. The fool.

"Weird. Definitely weird."

Buffy mock-pouted. "Aww, but everypony's a little bit weird." Faster than Viola could react, Buffy clambered on to her back and rested her chin on her head. "Except Viola. Which makes her weird!"

The fool! "Oh, you little—"

Just as Viola was about to buck her marefriend off and ruffle her mane in revenge, she lost the chance as Buffy scampered off and away to get closer to Azura and ruffled her mane instead. Buffy coughed. "Or we could also be weird together? I mean, you're pretty cute, too." In contrast to earlier, her smile was quite a bit more restrained and modest, and she shuffled from side to side.

Azura was caught off-guard by the sudden onslaught on her mane and Buffy's oddly-worded request, but she recovered quickly with a smirk. She raised her chin and bared her neck. "Heh, you really think so? I mean, you're a pretty mean looker too. Haven't really been on the dating scene for a while now, but that doesn't mean I don't have a hankering to restart."

Viola, despite having just recovered from the surprise ponyride, froze and took interest. This was no alien scene; she had been witness to a few of these interactions as well. Buffy expressed her interest in some other pony, and that pony reciprocated the interest. Then the dating began, only to end a week or two later. And here was Azura, falling into the same trend: surely just another suitor.

She rubbed at her breastbone.

Buffy lifted a forehoof and wrapped it around Azura's neck, pulling her closer. "Then this is our first date!"

"Hey, I guess it is! Guess Viola ought to watch out, then, 'cause there's only one of you to go around."

"Oh, Azura, you're so silly." Stopping and using Azura as support, Buffy lifted her other foreleg and reached to capture Viola, eliciting from her a startled "Uwah!" With no more forehooves on the ground, Buffy was dependent on her two hug-mates to keep her standing. She pointed her face to the sky and declared jovially, "There's plenty of love for everypony!"

"Um . . ." Azura looked to her companions. Viola was looking back, her face expressionless. Gesturing to ask a question, Azura pointed her chin towards the pony between them and raised an eyebrow.

It was the same lecture she'd been given when she and Buffy first decided to pursue romance, and it was the same lecture Buffy gave to every suitor who wanted to court her. She could recite it by heart. But Viola averted her eyes, refusing to answer. Certainly, everypony deserved a chance, and Buffy had made it very clear to her that their relationship was, as of yet, not closed. At the same time, Viola wasn't going to be the pony to hold the door open.

Buffy, finally noticing the long silence, looked back down and saw the perplexed look Azura was giving her. "Oh, sorry!" She took her hooves off her companions and returned to all fours. "What I mean is, I'm polyamorous. Like, I feel like having just one romantic partner is just so . . . limiting. So I don't limit myself, y'know?"

"Really?" Azura kept her eyebrow raised but drew a little closer. "That's a little strange, isn't it?"

The smile which seemed so permanent on Buffy's face dropped for just a moment. "Strange isn't how I'd put it . . ." But just a moment, and it was back in force the next. "It just makes more sense to me, I guess. It'd be like if somepony said I had to choose between pickles and ice cream, and I could only eat one or the other. There's no reason why I can't have pickles and ice cream on the same day, or in the same meal, or just in one big bowl if I really want to!"

"Pickles?"

"Pickles," Viola responded grimly in a low voice. She had never bought so many jars of the nasty green things before. Half sour, not dill, not sweet! was becoming a catchphrase of sorts for her.

"So yeah, I'm dating Vi, and I wanna date you, but I'm not going to pick one of you over the other. And it's totally okay if the two of you wanna date other ponies, too. Or maybe even each other! So, if you're okay with this, we can give this a try?" Buffy sat in front of Azura and gave her that big-eyed, hopeful smile that Viola had seen too many times before. Whenever Buffy asked her for anything.

And like so many ponies before her (including herself), Azura fell like ninepins. "Aww, sure thing, sweetie!"

"Wee!" Buffy jumped up and gave Azura a massive hug, standing on two legs and forcing Azura to the same.

Viola looked on and smiled at their machinations, though she wasn't sure if she was doing so out of social necessity or true compersive joy. She was always happy when Buffy found another friend to share her silly tendencies with, and the occasional romantic dabble wasn't anything new either. Azura was definitely a friend of Buffy's—quite a fast one, in fact—and Buffy had made it very clear that there should be no holds on more relationships.

So she smiled and looked on.

Meanwhile, beyond conscious control, her left forehoof rubbed at the scruff on her chest.