Wounds Aren't Scars
Moondancer walked into her small home and closed the door with a morose sigh. She'd just gotten back from the party she'd thrown. The one that She hadn't deigned to attend. She dumped her books on the couch, promising herself she'd pick them up later, and staggered towards the stairs, her hooves thumping an uneven rhythm into the floorboards. Celestia, she was tired. Parties were never really her thing to begin with since they always left her feeling drained rather than elated afterwards, but as her Mom had always said, "If you want to make a friend, throw a party or attend." The cheesiness of it had made Moondancer groan whenever her mother said it, but that didn't stop it from being true.
As she passed by the kitchen, she paused in the doorway, considering getting a snack before bed. Her stomach protested loudly, still gorged on the excess of food she'd put out in expectation of additional guests, and she quickly decided against it. As she walked up the stairs, the faded sections on the walls where paintings should have been hung leapt out at her like snowballs against the slush colored wallpaper. Each one used to have a portrait, before the pony it belonged to had moved away. Stopping at the top of the stairs, Moondancer gazed exhaustedly at the five remaining pictures. Her five remaining friends, or at least ponies she wanted to be friends with.
Minuette. Twinkleshine. Lemon Hearts. Lyra Heartstrings. Twilight Sparkle. Moondancer's horn glowed, and Twilight's picture, a snapshot taken of her with her nose in a book, completely unaware of the camera, glowed in a matching hue, and floated slightly off the wall. It hung there in space, rocking up and down like a ship on calm seas, the bobbing something Moondancer had never understood about levitation. With a sigh, Moondancer released her grip, and the picture fell back into place, only this time slightly askew. Feeling less than motivated to straighten it, Moondancer entered her room and collapsed on her bed. Rolling over onto her stomach, she gazed out the window for a long minute before she slowly closed her eyes. This didn't change anything, she thought to herself, she'd try again tomorrow. It wasn't like Twilight was going anywhere.
88888888
The door to Moondancer's house slammed open and shut in the space of two seconds, allowing entrance for only a single mare before shutting out the voices pursuing her. Moondancer, the mare in question, ran up the stairs, not even bothering to take her saddlebags off, past her neat and clean living room, the freshly scrubbed kitchen, the dusted portraits, over the mopped floors and swept carpets, and sank into the comforter her mother had made for her as a going away present.
She didn't mean to start crying, but that's what happened, the salty drops of water trailing over her bedspread. Why? That was the only question she could handle at the moment, as it had driven out all others. Why would she do this? Why would she go away? Why would she just leave without saying a word? Without as much as a note?
Moondancer already knew the answer, although she was reluctant to admit it. Twilight simply didn't care. She was always busy, even when Celestia hadn't given her something special. Always reading, much like Moondancer, only she was even less interested in making friends. And so she'd left, just moved to a distant town without looking back. And now Twilight would never know. She'd never know just how important she was to a pony she'd barely even spoken to.
Moondancer lay there for an unknown amount of time, although it was long enough that the voices at her front door had given up and gone away. Finally all cried out, Moondancer stood, and walked into the hallway, tripping slightly over the threshold. Staring up at the picture of Twilight, her eyes red and puffy, Moondancer, pouted, then scowled, then glared, then finally let out a scream of rage and ripped the picture from the wall, snapping the string suspending it from the nail. The frame crumpled in her magic, then burst into flames, although the picture itself was unmarked as Moondancer had enchanted it to be fireproof, in addition to a lot of other things. She vented her anger on the effigy of her hopes and dreams, ramming the poor image into the walls and ceiling, before she galloped to her desk and prepared to slam it into the garbage.
It hovered just above the trash can for one second, then two, then ten, before Moondancer sighed, tossed the piece of paper into the corner of her closet, and locked the door. Her anger spent, she went out into the hallway and started taking down the other pictures. She'd given friendship a try, and something much more than that, and the heart she'd offered up for approval had been dropped on the ground, walked on, and then had dirt scuffed over it like it was a piece of solid waste. If She didn't want Moondancer's friendship, then Moondancer had no friendship to give.
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Moondancer let out a grunt of disgust and slammed the door in her former friends faces. She stomped across the floor into the kitchen, being careful to avoid the scorch marks, dents, and stains she'd never felt like cleaning up. Why were they bothering her again, hadn't she made it clear she wasn't interested? And hadn't Twilight made it clear she didn't care either? It didn't make sense. Pulling open the icebox, she took one look inside and slammed it shut again. Oh yeah, there was a reason she always ate out. Instead, she grabbed an apple off the counter that was still mostly good and sat on her couch. That one spring in the rightmost cushion poked up into her rear, and she shifted about in an attempt to get comfortable.
Taking a bite of apple and spitting out the bad piece she'd accidentally stuck in her mouth, Moondancer stared at the wall of her living room. The blank, empty wall. It had silhouettes where paintings used to hang, but each one had been sold over the course of the year to fund her studying. She knew she had to get a job at some point, but books kept her mind occupied, away from thoughts best not thought about. A pang of loneliness echoed through her heart and out into the room, bouncing off the empty chairs, the dirty carpets, the cobweb infested corners. She used to keep this place scoured clean, but after Twilight had, well... you know, she just couldn't find the energy. By Celestia, she needed a book.
Pulling her latest acquisition out of her saddlebags, she settled in to read. Whenever she read, she might not feel happy, she hadn't managed to catch that elusive emotion in a long time, but at least she was numb. Numbness was always better than pain.
88888888
Moondancer opened the door with her hoof, as she was too tired to use magic, sticking it neatly through the hole Twilight had punched when she'd come back a few days ago. For the first time in over a year, Moondancer was smiling, a soft, contented smile that implied all was right in her world more than that she'd just heard a funny joke. She wasn't wearing saddlebags full of books, not today, but she was carrying a box of leftover baked goods and a picture, both balanced smartly on her back.
She levitated the box into the kitchen and opened the icebox, then wrinkled her nose at the smell that wafted out. Her horn flared, and the gunk of a year's worth of rotted food and mold lifted out of the container and into the overflowing garbage, which was then taken to the dumpster. Her nose now satisfied with the cleanliness of the icebox, Moondancer placed the leftovers inside and closed the lid. Walking up the stairs, she hung the new picture on the wall outside her bedroom, then frowned, picked it up, and moved it to the right of her door, where she'd see it every day whenever she went out. It was good to be reminded of her friends, now that she could have them again, and it wouldn't do at all to slip back into the state she'd been in while Twilight was gone.
Returning to her room, she paused in front of her closet, the one she'd locked the day Twilight had left, then opened it and retrieved the picture she'd thrown away. It was a little crumpled, and slightly moldy in the bottom right corner, but still intact, and the time spent in the darkness had done nothing to dim the colors. Pulling a few stray pieces of wood out of her dustbin, she made a makeshift frame for the picture, and stuck it back on the wall outside her room. The other pictures she'd thrown out months ago, but this one she just couldn't let go. Now she was glad she hadn't. The smile she directed at the picture was warm, then dopy, before it turned sultry and she blushed heavily. With a quick shake of her head to drive the naughtiness away, she went out to fetch some cleaning supplies. She couldn't exactly invite Twilight over for dinner with her house a total wreck, and if she did she'd be way too embarrassed to even consider proposing what she'd just imagined. Now if only she could get rid of that dragon for the night...
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So, I guess what you're saying is... LOVE WINS!!
Well shoot, you beat me to the punch. My version of this topic is currently in the approval stage, so I guess we can let the best story win!
I do like your take on this, though. It's very similar to my own, but mine takes some very different paths as well. Nicely done!
In case you wanted to check out the competition, I'll link you to my fic. No Longer a Doppelganger
6171749 Just finished reading it. Good stuff.
Dang, you beat me to it. Still a cute pairing.
It is a normal reaction for people with aspergers, though. She didn't act like she had it, but I am saying people with aspergers usually view one person as their friend, and the rest as acquaintances. If that one person they thought was their friend suddenly bails on them, well, they can take it pretty hard.
I am only one person with aspergers, so it can be different, but from what I have read other people like me have similar feelings.
It bothers me that Moondancer doesn't have a tag... yet
6173474 I agree with this guy.
Moondancer was hurt, hurt way more deeply by Twilight's indifference than would be reasonable for a mere friend.
OH WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GIRLS?!!! ahem, sorry, it´s just.............that happened to me with a friend and.........
6174732 I may not know girls all that well, but I do know shutting myself off. I'm not the most social guy to begin with, and what few friends I do have I met when I was little. I know what's it like to cut yourself off from the world, to spend all your time studying and not go to any social gathering. And I know that it took being romantically turned down to do it. You have to stick your heart out to form a relationship, and when it fails it can hurt on a level that a mere friendship could never reach. My referring to books being like a drug that numbs the pain is completely intentional, and fairly accurate.
If Twilight was Moondancer's friend, and nothing more, she'd be hurt, for certain, but it would be much less likely to cause her to break down crying in front of everypony like that. It's possible for them to be just friends, but her actions become far more believable under the microscope of romance.
In other words:
A friend causing this reaction: possible.
A crush causing this reaction: highly probable.
It can happen with friends, but it's far more common with crushes.
6174838 oh.yeah, u r right.apologies, I guess I had my own little break down back there.maybe Moon Dancer and I are just......special cases. the story itself is pretty good, I guess I should thank u 4 that
6174869 You're welcome.
I sure hope to see more of this ship future, and I don't mean from you directly, but... I saw the same thing you did in that episode.
that
This was a really nice story. Short but fluffy. I liked it.
I've had the same thought myself, but I'm not sure whether or not Moondancer's fixation was sexual. What's obvious is that Moondancer considered Twilight a Kindred Spirit, however, and that this is why Twilight's rejection hurt so deeply -- it meant that even Ponies who were like Moondancer didn't really like her.
Now, if Moondancer is lesbian or bisexual, then if she considers Twilight a Kindred Spirit it is extremely likely that she's sexually-attracted to her. Though note: for this to have a chance of success, Twilight must also be lesbian or bisexual. A point that a lot of slash shippers miss is that most people, in any species with a reproductive system similar to humanity (slow-birth, high-maintenance, k-centered, roughly 50-50 sex ratio) will be heterosexual.
I find your theory plausible because Moondancer reminds me strongly of Marcie Fleach
1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTDUryHTv50/U7MTzgSajQI/AAAAAAAAO44/1NNBJo1Azkw/s1600/tumblr_m9on0rc86F1rebinfo1_1280.jpg
who IMO was definitely lesbian and attracted to Velma Dinkley, who was in turn definitely bisexual.
I don't, however, think that Moondancer is poor. You're missing something signficant about her -- she owns, or her family owns, a large house in Canterlot. The capital city, partially delved out of a mountainside and partially canterlevered out over an abyss. Property values there must be immensely high. Like Twilight Sparkle, she obviously comes from money -- and probably old money, given her name. As in, her family probably traces its tree back over a thousand years.
6177596 Please read my post regarding Pegasister107.
It's all about predicting outcomes based on evidence, and right now the evidence points more strongly towards romantic than platonic interest. Also, I follow the "skewed gender ratio" theory.
As for her level of wealth, all I saw was a tiny house in a poor state of repair owned by a pony that didn't seem to have a job. Again, based on the evidence, I concluded that it's likely she's been selling her stuff as required to pay her bills. Actually, being from a rich family reinforces this, since it means she has more stuff to sell in the first place.
In any case, thank you for spending so much time on a lengthy comment.
6177759
Oh, I can very easily see Moondancer having a crush. What's less likely is Twilight Sparkle returning it. First, she has to be bisexual or lesbian (even with a skewed gender ratio, I don't think most mares are, and Twilight comes from a class background and is personally of high enough status that monogamy with a stallion would be realistic expectation even in an Extreme Stallion Dearth Equestria. Note that her parents are in a monogamous heterosexual marriage, and so is her fellow Princess, Cadance.
Secondly, she has to return it to Moondancer. Twilight almost forgot her existence. This does not sound like true love to me. When she realized how much she'd hurt Moondancer, she sympathized with Moondancer and went far out of her way to help her, but that was at least as much her sense of honor and duty (and general niceness) as it was any personal attraction to Moondancer. There are several characters to whom she is already canonically closer and/or romantically attracted (she's closer all other five members of the Mane Six and romantically attracted to Humanoid Flash Sentry).
It's more likely that Twilight has realized that Moondancer is enough of a Kindred Spirit that she's worth befriending than that she's falling in love with her. And that would be true even if Twilight was bisexual or lesbian.
Moondancer, on the other hand, if bisexual or lesbian probably is falling for Twilight. So you could get unrequited love. From a barely-sane mare with some interesting fields of study.
6177773 At no point have I said anywhere that the feeling is mutual. If I ever write a followup to this story, I'll get into that.
Excellent oneshot! I'm working on my own TwiDancer fic. This was a joy to read.
And I agree. For putting so much stock in Twilight showing up, she clearly meant something more to Moondancer than Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine.
s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg
Not too shabby, but what's with that 88888 thing?
6181155 A relic from my time on fanfiction where a simple *** scene change got deleted as it was being uploaded. Using a couple of 8's wouldn't be removed, so that's what I used instead. Combine that with being a fan of Homestuck, and those few 8's turned into eight 8's. I could switch back now that it's a not problem anymore, but I happen to like this version.
6181445 Ohhhhhhhhhh!
Great story. A good amount of feels as well. You are definitely right about there obviously being more than just friendship there at least in Moondancer's eyes. Who knows how it will go from here. I hope it goes well for her at least
.
I will admit one thing I find odd is how little love Moondancer has received so far from the fandom. I figured she would get a good bit of it. Maybe it's because people see her as a little too much like Twilight or something.
Regardless this was a really well done story. I hope it continues to be a 'stealth' hit. Also don't be too disappointed it isn't featured. That is something really hard for one shots from what I have seen. Unless it is clop or the author who wrote the story already has thousands of hardcore followers on the site.
6182354 I'm not that disappointed. It's actually really fascinating to watch the like count grow without getting the attention of the site algorithms. Also don't worry about Moondancer love, there's a group for her, and the episode isn't even a week old.
6173474
6173474
I also have aspergers. There are five people dearest to me, and the rest are people I know but have no interest in. I feel devastated when one of my friends implies that I'm not as loved by them as they are by me. And I keep loving them anyway, because I never consider that friendship with other people might be easier.
Late to the episode, but as soon as I watched it I came here looking for this and wasn't disappointed.
*contented
Little bit of trivia here. The original Moondancer from G1 was married to a mare named Glory. Not even joking; Hasbro had a special porcelain figurine of the two of them as a married couple http://mylittlewiki.org/w/images/5/50/Wedding-prance.jpg So canonically Moondancer is in fact gay.
6248734 Wow, that is cool.
Finished reviewing this story for the Goodfic Bin. Whilst I think it was a bit of a close call (for reasons I've explained here) I think it was good enough for me to let into the bin.
Have a ribbern!
i.imgur.com/GizVyc0.png
spoken to
hole
Good story, like the limited perspective.
Wait wait wait they actually did that? Wow Hasbro, you got guts!
Personally I think Moon Dancer looked up to Twilight and that was the reason she reacted so strongly.
6174838
As a girl, with Asperger's... I agree with you. Moondancer's reaction was completely implausible if Twilight was just a friend (and given that Twilight claimed to have no time for friends, and never once considered the fates of her "friends" in Canterlot until the fifth season of the show, they were not close friends by any means.) A girl could react this way to being dismissed by a best friend, but Twilight obviously wasn't that. A person with Aspergers' could react this way to being dismissed by a close friend, but Twilight couldn't even have been all that close to Moondancer. Twilight is someone who, when introduced to close friendship, took to it very, very strongly... which suggests that she couldn't have had any close friendships before. Certainly not with Moondancer, or she wouldn't have forgotten.
Moondancer having a crush on her, though, makes it much more plausible. Moondancer probably also strongly identifies with Twilight, but even that all by itself wouldn't have been enough if it had been fully platonic. Moondancer might not have a sexual crush -- it's possible to have romantic but non-sexual feelings for someone (I wrote love songs to a friend I hardly ever got to see, when I was 6. Pretty sure that was not sexual, given my age. But it sure as hell wasn't platonic either.) But I think it does have to be a romantic crush at least, to explain Moondancer's overreaction.
I definitely got the same feeling of MD having feelings for Twilight. I mean, I have felt extreme hurt like MD, but it has only been because it was a close friend, and it's pretty clear that they weren't that close. It makes sense that MD felt a lot more hurt because she liked Twilight as more than a friend, and I think this story perfectly captured that. The limited perspective really pulls it out, too.