“And then what did she say?” Rarity said, sipping her coffee.
“She said it was just an emergency study sesh,” Marsha said, pulling up the strap on her purse. “But then I saw her in class the next day, and I saw her wave at Bryan, and he waved back!” She shook her head, typing on her phone. “Something’s going on, I just know it.”
“Well, I suppose I should warn you not to do anything rash,” Rarity said, wrapping both her hooves around her coffee cup. “I, ahem, have something of a history of acting quite irrationally over boys.”
“I checked his phone and went through all his messages.”
“See, that’s a little much.” Rarity pursed her lips. “And, now that I think about, something I would do. So don’t do that.”
Marsha shrugged. “I had to do something.”
“Perhaps try talking to him about it? And try not to be accusatory. Try to emphasize that you’ll both feel better about it if it’s out in the open. Make him feel like confessing will be a relief, which it will, in a way,” Rarity said. “If he’s been more emotionally distant lately, or spending less time with you, he may simply not be interested anymore—”
“Oh my God, guess how many likes our picture just got.”
“Speaking of losing interest…” Rarity muttered. Her voice rose to a normal volume as she smiled. “How many, um, likes?”
“Too many,” Marsha said, turning her phone to Rarity. Underneath the picture of the two of them was a heart symbol and the number 138. “I never get that many. Must be the Hefe filter. Defs using that again.” She took the phone back and swiped her finger a few times. “Do you have an Instagram? I’ll follow you if you follow me.”
Rarity shook her head. “No, but I might get one. I keep hearing all about this ‘social media’. From the sound of it, I think it’d be a great way to attract interest for my business.”
Marsha typed away on her phone. “You mean the café?”
“No, we don’t actually own this establishment. We simply came here one day and sat down at the tables here. Business picked up and the owners said they were happy to have us. They even set up the ropes to help manage the lines.” Rarity looked out the window at the queue of people still overflowing out the door and down the sidewalk. “When I said business, I meant my business. I hope to open a boutique here in your world.”
Marsha’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re opening a boutique? I thought you ponies were leaving after your portal thing was fixed or whatever.”
“Well, we were thinking that when the portal is fixed, we’ll probably come back. The café is so popular, after all.” Rarity took a sip of coffee. “Did you know the number of crimes in this area have dropped since we came here?”
“Huh,” Marsha said. “No, I didn’t.”
“Well, they have, and we think it has something to do with this café of ours. Besides, we’ve had such positive reception in general. And I thought, while we’re here, I might as well open a boutique. Humans almost exclusively wear clothes, after all. It’s a much broader market here, and I’ve already got a foot in the door with publicity.”
“Mmm,” Marsha said, still focused on her phone.
Rarity tossed her mane. “You’re free to start petting me anytime, you know.”
Marsha looked up. She stared at Rarity’s back. “You sure? I mean, is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay, dear. It’s called The Platonic Petting Café for a reason.” Rarity flipped her mane, tilting her head to the side to showcase her neck. “As long as you signed the waiver, you’re free to pet me. But! Do watch the mane, dear. It takes a half an hour to do up this mane.”
“Oh, yeah, I totally understand.” Marsha put her phone down and looked over Rarity, only briefly glancing at Rarity’s eyes. She set her hand gingerly on Rarity’s neck, petting with barely any pressure. She withdrew her hand, though, when Rarity turned her head to look.
“Is something wrong?” Rarity said.
Marsha rested her hand on the table. “It’s just that I’ve never pet an animal that could talk. It feels weird.”
Rarity smiled and rolled her shoulders. “Just pretend it’s normal. It’s normal to me, now, after all. I’ve been pet by talking animals all day long.”
Marsha tried again, pressing her hand against Rarity’s soft fur and petting her. She shook her head. “God, you’re way too soft. It’s like petting a marshmallow.”
Rarity blushed. “I, um, yes. Not the first time I’ve heard that today.”
Marsha lifted her hand. “Is that offensive?”
“No, it’s not like that,” Rarity said. Her forehead crinkled in a grimace. “It’s, um, what my parents used to call me when I was a filly. Their ‘little marshmallow’. Just a tad embarrassing, I suppose.”
“Ha,” Marsha said, before covering her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you, it’s just…” She bit her lip, looking around the café at the crowd of people waiting in line before saying, “My parents called me that, too.”
“Really? No.”
“Uh huh,” Marsha said, faintly blushing as well. “I was Marsha-mallow.”
Rarity let out a snicker. “I’m dreadfully sorry, but you have to admit, that’s clever wordplay. If cheesy.”
Marsha shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t tell anyone else.”
Rarity ran a hoof across her mouth, sealing her lips. “Your secret is safe with me. But while we’re here…” She stuck out her hoof. “Pleased to meet you, fellow marshmallow.”
Marsha couldn’t help but grin. She shook Rarity’s hoof. “You too.”
~ ~ ~
“Hello, Ms. Human!” Fluttershy covered her mouth and blushed. “I’m so sorry, bad habit. What are your names?”
“I’m Karen,” Karen said, propping up the child in her arms. “And this is Adeline. Say hi, Adeline!”
Adeline held a finger up to her mouth and stared at Fluttershy, apparently forgetting to wave until Karen lifted her arm.
“Hello, Adeline,” Fluttershy waved back, speaking slowly and softly. “Such a wonderful name. How old are you?”
Adeline seemed to miss the question entirely, until her mother helped her out. “How old are you, Adeline?” Karen said, propping up one of the girl’s fingers. “One year old.”
“Wuh,” Adeline confirmed.
“She’s a little star-struck, I think,” Karen said, taking a seat at the table. “You’re her favourite pony. She babbles on and on about you all the time at home.”
“Oh, I’m flattered,” Fluttershy said. She pointed to Adeline’s purple shirt, which was adorned with many colourful butterflies. “I like your shirt. It’s got butterflies like my cutie mark. See?” Fluttershy turned to show her flank.
Adeline stared at the flank, and if her mind was busy considering the similarities between her shirt and Fluttershy’s cutie mark and drawing parallels between the two, it certainly wasn’t showing. She tugged at the collar of her shirt.
Fluttershy smiled at Karen. “She’s such a sweetheart. Would it be all right if she sat next to me?”
“I’m sure she’d love that,” Karen said, lifting Adeline and setting her down next to Fluttershy’s leg. Adeline looked up at Fluttershy, picking at her shirt.
Fluttershy wrapped an arm around Adeline. “There we go. Aren’t you the cutest little human baby girl?”
Adeline neither confirmed nor denied the claim. Instead, she inspected the soft yellow arm around her and experimentally placed her hand on the fur.
“Yes, very good. Feel how soft that is.” Fluttershy said, watching Adeline spread her fingers out on her fur.
Karen laughed nervously, studying Fluttershy and shaking her head. “I just never thought you’d be real, y’know.”
“What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy said.
Karen twiddled her hair with her fingers. “Well, um, there’s this show on TV that stars you and your friends. It was—well, I thought it was a cartoon. Adeline watches it all the time. I don’t think she knows what you all are doing or talking about, but it keeps her quiet.” Karen shrugged. “I thought you knew about it? Somehow?”
“A TV show?” Fluttershy said. “About us?”
Karen nodded. “Yes. About you and your five friends.”
Fluttershy furrowed her eyebrows. “Is it a documentary? I’ve seen some animal documentaries on the TV. Is that what you mean?”
“No, it’s like a TV show. Like, um… Do you know what actors are?”
“Oh, sure.”
“Then it’s like you and your friends are actors, acting out a story. About you and your friends in Ponyville.”
Fluttershy frowned. She rubbed her chin. “That sounds strange,” she said. She picked up her phone off the table and slid up on the touchscreen, trying several times until the phone unlocked. “Maybe I’m misunderstanding. So you already saw us in Ponyville before we came here?”
“Yeah, I guess we did.” Karen spread her hands. “But I never thought you were real. Cartoons are drawings, y’know, like… never mind, I’ll let you look it up.”
Fluttershy poked at the screen of her phone several times. Her frown deepened. “I’m sorry, I haven’t figured out how to use my cell phone yet and I don’t want to take time away from this. You’ve been waiting in line for so long.”
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t too long today. Besides, we made it a family outing.” Karen pointed to the line outside. “I’ve got two boys. They’re in line with their father to see Rainbow Dash. They couldn’t wait after they saw that YouTube video of her doing all those tricks.”
“Oh, wonderful. I’m glad to hear she’s getting more popular lately.” She set the phone back down on the table. “Anyway, I’ll talk to Twilight about it. I’m sure someone has pointed out this show to her and she might know what’s going on.”
“Okay.” Karen held her hand up to her forehead. “God, I hate to be the one who broke this to you. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no need to apologize, it’s not your fault.” Fluttershy smiled, looking down at little Adeline. “Now, where were we? You’ve been quiet as a mouse.”
Adeline was inspecting Fluttershy’s tail, holding it up to her cheek.
“You can start petting me anytime, you know. Here, I’ll help.” Fluttershy lifted Adeline’s small hand and held it up to her neck. “See? Feel how soft and fuzzy that is.”
Adeline stared at her hand. She stroked her hand down Fluttershy’s neck, investigating the soft fuzziness.
“Mhm, just like that,” Fluttershy said, guiding Adeline’s hand to petting her again. “You’re so good at this.”
Karen smiled as she watched. She lifted her phone to take a picture of Adeline, who was now petting all on her own. Adeline’s mouth curled up in a toothy smile.
Fluttershy looked up at Karen. “You can pet me too if you want.”
Karen chuckled. “Sure, why not.” She reached out and placed her hand on Fluttershy’s neck, right next to her daughter’s tiny hand. “She makes it look like so much fun.”