Midnight Blue sat alone on a sofa in her apartment. Her bloodshot eyes had been drained of tears, but the mare still sobbed silently. The main room to her apartment wasn’t modest, but also not very extravagantly decorated: a few trinkets hung by strings about her walls and lay on shelves, her connected kitchen was cluttered but not filthy, and two doors marked different by posters stood on either wall, and the main door was left bare.
The mare ceased to sob when she heard a hoof knock on her door. “Wh.. who is it?” stuttered she, perking up her ears to listen for a reply.
“It’s Pan, Blue,” replied Pan Sear’s voice, breathing a slight tone of sorrow as he answered.
In response, Midnight grumbled under her breath and trotted towards her door. As the door swung open, the mare noticed Daisy Dreamer behind Pan, the latter of whom facing the floor in shame.
Before anypony could say anything, Pan began. “I’m sorry,” said he. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did.” The stallion slowly looked up to face his friend as he finished, “any chance you can forgive me?”
Without hesitation, the blue mare scooped the stallion up in a loving grip. “Oh, Pan!” said she joyously, “you’re so sweet! I could never stay mad at you!”
Pan sighed heavily from relief. “Thanks, Blue,” thanked he, “you’re too kind.”
The mare shook her head as she tightened her embrace and buried her head in Pan’s full cyan mane. “Not too kind,” said she, muffled by the stallion’s mane, “just relieved.” She finally broke her grip and backed away from her friend. “You smell different, by the way,” said she factually. “Would you like to come in?”
Politely, the pair entered Midnight’s abode and the three sat down on Midnight’s sofa to talk. “Thanks, Blue,” began Pan. “Also, what did you mean by ‘I smell different?’”
The blue mare shrugged. “Your mane,” explained she, “it smells different; more girly.” This earned a snicker from Daisy Dreamer.
Reacting to both mares, the stallion replied, “yeah, you can thank Daisy for that. She insisted that I use her shower before we came this way.”
The lavender mare nodded and added, “my shower, AND my product.” She ran a hoof through her springy, luscious mane, and then did the same to Pan’s to further emphasise her point.
Midnight giggled at the playful gesture. “I see what you mean. I like it.” She then thought for a second and requested, “hey, Pan? Could you go chill in my room for a minute? Me and Daisy need to talk.” She spoke with seriousness, but not sternly enough to sound like she was ordering anypony to do anything.
“Okay,” said Pan simply. He then stood up and trotted to the door directly behind the sofa, entering the room slowly.
Midnight Blue’s bedroom lacked windows, and felt small due to the clutter about it. Several bookshelves containing books, a clock, a few photos, board games, and several other trinkets and things lined two walls. The other two walls were taken up by doors: one leading to to main room, and one to Midnight’s closet. The mare’s bed was made of oak, and looked to be carved by skilled hooves, with the sheets and blankets made up flawlessly. “Good to know she keeps one thing organised,” criticised Pan in his head. Not wanting to disturb the bed, he sat down on the floor and studied his friend’s room further. Suddenly, his ears perked as he caught titbits of the two mares’ conversation in the other room. He adjusted his ears to hear better.
“I’m not sure; we want her to feel welcomed.”
“And we’ve got that covered.”
“Yes and no. WE welcome her, but we need her to feel welcomed by everypony.”
“Good point. And ideas?”
“I’ve got one.”
After a few seconds of silence, the door opened, revealing Daisy and Midnight. “You know,” remarked the latter, “you could have sat on the bed.”
Pan shrugged. “Didn’t want to mess up the sheets. So, what were you mares talking about?”
Daisy and Midnight looked at each other, then focused on Pan and simultaneously answered, “you.”
This reply made Pan Sear blush brightly. “Oh,” said he for lack of a response.
“We’ve got an idea that may help you a bit,” explained Daisy.
Midnight nodded. “It should make you feel more comfortable being open.”
Pan tilted his head. “Open?” questioned he. After a second, his eyes widened in realisation. “Oh, ‘open.’”
Daisy giggled. “Oh, Celestia, are you thick,” joked she. “Anyway, our plan is to get a few of our friends together and have you tell them all at once.” She glanced at Midnight, who nodded to confirm.
The stallion nodded as well. “I see, I see.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “about how many ponies were you thinking?”
Both mares shrugged. “Well,” thought Daisy aloud, “Citrus Sweet’s one.”
“And Strobe Light,” added Midnight.
After the mares had named a few ponies, Pan took a breath and said, “okay; most of them I know. Let’s do it.”
“That’s the spirit, Sweetie!” beamed the lavender mare. “Meet us at Citrus Sweet’s in an hour.”
“That’ll be good,” marked Pan. “I could walk to work from there and get there just in time.”
“Then it’s settled!” Midnight seemed to hop from joy as she thought about their day’s plan. “You should get home and ready up, Pan.”
The green stallion nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you two then. Later.” With that, he departed.
After roughly an hour’s time, Pan found himself standing on the sidewalk, before a small building labeled “Citrus Sweet’s Citrus Sweets.” In the windows were desserts of many kinds: cakes, cookies, jams, among other things. A small sign revealed in red lettering the word “open.” The stallion opened the door and trotted in, where his friends waited.
A throng of ponies of all kinds sat about the building; all of whom diverted their attention to Pan Sear as he entered. Among these ponies were Daisy Dreamer and Midnight Blue, the former of whom broke the silence.
“Everypony,” said she, standing up beside her green friend, “we’ve gathered you here because our dear friend Pan has something to share with us. Pan?” As she finished her sentence, she returned to her seat.
Pan nodded to Daisy. “Thank you,” said he politely. He then faced the crowd before him, each set of eyes focused solely on him. Many thoughts raced through his head, and he began to sweat slightly. “Umm, well,” stammered he, running a hoof through his cyan mane. He glanced at each pony, various expressions of boredom, anticipation, and impatience about them. Admitting defeat to himself, he let out a deep sigh and stated, “I’m sorry we wasted your time.” Not giving anypony a chance to retort, Pan walked out the front door and made his way down the street.
“Pan, wait!” beckoned Daisy as she followed her friend.
“I don’t have time to wait,” said he in response. “I’ve got to get to work.”
Having finally caught up to Pan, the mare ordered, “then just listen to me while you walk.”
Without missing a beat, Pan looked over and asked, “what is it you want?”
“I want to know,” answered Daisy, “what we, as your friends, can do to...”
“Help me?” Finished Pan, annoyed. “I’m sorry, but you tell me what you can do. You’ve tried group therapy, and that failed. Other than forcing confessions out of me, what can you do?”
A sigh of frustration left Daisy lips as she retorted, “nopony ‘forced’ you to do anything, Pan! If I recall correctly, you volunteered to do it.” Calming herself, she continued, “look, you were afraid of saying anything in front of a crowd of ponies; simple Stage Fright. We can try again whenever you’re ready.”
“I’ll never be ready.”
“And why is that?”
Pan shrugged. “Just a feeling.”
After a few seconds of thought, Daisy suggested, “want to try telling a smaller number of ponies?”
”That doesn‘t sound bad,” reasoned the stallion to himself. “How many were you thinking?”
“Not too many,” replied Daisy, still in thought. “How about ponies you don’t fear will judge you.”
Pan scoffed. “Like who? My parents?”
The stallion’s reply made Daisy smile brightly. “That’s a great idea!” beamed she. “Your parents are perfect! They’ll still love you despite whatever you tell them; they’re your parents!”
Pan looked to his friend with a smile. “You’re right, Daisy,” said he. “I’ll tell them tomorrow or later tonight.”
“And that’ll give you a little confidence boost, won’t it?”
Pan nodded.
After a few more minutes of discussing Pan’s plan, the pair arrived at Pan’s workplace: a diner by the name of “Captain Salt’s Seafood.” The outside of the building was rather plain, and all the windows revealed were a few tables inside, where two or three ponies sat, enjoying their meals. “Well,” marked Pan, “I guess I’ll talk to you later, Daisy.”
The mare nodded, and after a brief hug, the pair parted ways. Pan walked through the front door of the eatery, and was immediately greeted by his boss.
“Ahoy!” beamed Captain Sea Salt, an aged Earth Stallion, with a smile on his face. His coat appeared to at one point have been blue, but had long since faded to grey, showing his old age. His mane and tail, once black, had faded and taken on streaks of silver, and his faded golden eyes showcased his age as well. On his flank was an anchor, the cable of which wrapped around the neck of a salt shaker.
“Ahoy, Captain,” greeted Pan in return. “Chef Pan Sear, Reporting for my shift.”
“Well, what are you waiting for, Pan?” asked Captain Salt sarcastically. “Gather your crew and turn to, Chef.” As Pan walked back to the kitchen, his boss gave him a hearty pat on the back.
Pan opened his locker in the back room of the diner and donned his white apron. He then washed his hooves and then proceeded to the kitchen to begin his shift.
Eight hours later, Captain Salt informed the ponies in the kitchen that it was time for them to turn in, and that the Graveyard crew was waiting in the back room. Most didn’t hesitate to put away their aprons and leave, but Pan Sear stayed behind for a few minutes, waiting for Midnight Blue to show up.
Soon enough, the blue mare trotted through the doors to the back room. Before she began her rounds, she saw Pan waiting at the bar. “What are you still doing here?” asked she, curious above all things.
“I just wanted to make sure Daisy told you about my plans for tomorrow.” Pan rested his head on his hoof, for he was rather fatigued after his day. When Midnight nodded and retold what Daisy had said to her, he replied, “well, then I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow after I visit my folks. I’ll tell you how it goes.” With that, he headed to his home.
The walk home was peaceful, and Pan admired every sight he could: the darkened stores and homes, the up and lively clubs, the late-night restaurants, and everypony still wandering the streets. Pan didn’t live or work in a bad part of the city, so very few “undesirable” ponies roamed the paths he walked or places he visited.
For once in almost two months, Pan Sear went to his room and immediately fell asleep in his bed. He didn’t cry himself to sleep, he didn’t scream, he didn’t keep himself awake with questions; he just lay down and slept through the night.