//------------------------------// // Mare Talk // Story: Welcome to Ponyville! // by CharcoalShift //------------------------------// A few days had passed and Shadow could not get the pink pony out of her head. She had already tried several ways to get her attention, but failed miserably. She tried showing off, setting up a fake party (which led to several ponies being angry about it being fake), and even hanging out at Sugarcube corner more often than she usually does. A bit oppressed by her unsuccessful attempts, Shadow sits below a tree and buries her head under her hooves. Fluttershy is trotting along at the square and sees her sulking, and decides to talk to her. "What's wrong Shadow Blast? You seem a little more depressed than usual" Fluttershy says in her calm, quiet toned voice. "Oh ha ha" Shadow sighs "I'm just in a bit of a slump. I can't get a certain pony to notice me." "Oh, well I don't know much about getting a stallion's attention" she says bashfully. Shadow looks at her a bit flustered and nervous "I-It's not a stallion...” Fluttershy thinks about it for a moment, and then gasps lightly "You like a mare? Is that even possible?" "Shh, not so loud" Shadow whispers "I don't want anyone to find out". It's not common that ponies of the same gender are spotted as a couple. Though it isn't frowned upon by most of the ponies, it isn't generally accepted either, and Shadow is having a hard time wondering how the others would react. Fluttershy is still a bit taken back by what she said, not because of her liking mares, but for the fact that she never expected her to swing in that direction at all. "I always see you talking to stallions at the Spa. I thought you'd be talking to one of them at least" she said. "Those guys?" Shadow scoffed "Most of them are actually 'in the closet' so to speak. I doubt I’d be into any of them". Fluttershy wasn't surprised as much as she thought, considering the Spa is mostly used by mares. She looks at Shadow and gets back to the topic at hand. "So who's the mare that you're trying to get to notice you?" she asks. ".....Pi... ie...." Shadow mumbled. She was shyer than Fluttershy when she first met Twilight. "Can you speak louder please?" Fluttershy said, leaning closer. "...Pinkie...Pie...” Shadow muttered before covering her face and spreading her wings in embarrassment. The yellow mare covered her mouth in shock "Oh my... I never knew...” "I didn't either, until I saw her." The bashful mare said, still having her face covered. Fluttershy sits next to Shadow and places a hoof on her shoulder. Shadow looks up at the smiling mare and calms down a bit. "I may not be able to help you with this sort of thing, but I think I know who can help." Fluttershy says. Just as she finished, a blur is seen from the sky and is heading towards them at blinding speed. They panic as they start to bolt in the other direction, but the comet-like object collided with them, knocking them flat on their flanks. Shadow scratches her head and sees Rainbow Dash on the ground on top of Fluttershy. "Ow... That's smarts... I really have to pay attention to where I'm going." The Rainbow maned mare groaned "That's the last time I show off in front of a crowd..... Who am I kidding? I'll always do that!” Fluttershy gets up from the dramatic collision and stretches her wings back into place "Rainbow Dash, just who I needed to see." "Well hi Flutters, I guess I show up unexpectedly when I'm needed most" she chuckles. Shadow looks at her with a blank yet annoyed face. "Oh hi Shadow! Didn't mean to bump into you like that." she gives a grin from ear to ear. The trio sits in a circle and Fluttershy explains the situation, to which Rainbow Dash flips out for a brief second before snapping back to her senses. "Wow! I mean, I knew you were a filly fooler, but I never knew you were into Pinkie Pie?!" she said. Rainbow couldn't stop smiling. Two of her own friends were going to hook up, and this was a chance that she did not want to miss, let alone take advantage of. "I thought you were gonna go after Lyra, or Carrot Top, or even Derpy!” Shadow stopped her right there "What?! Derpy is stalking me! Sure I see her as a friend, but it's kinda creepy when she follows me from a distance with those eyes..." Shadow shudders, looking behind her. Lo and behold, Derpy is looking at her from behind a wagon. Rainbow laughs "Well it was just a thought. So what is it that you need me for?" Shadow looks at both of them with concern and lowers her head. "I want to get her attention if anything. I've tried everything, but she doesn't even take a glance at me. It's like I'm invisible." "Have you tried throwing a party?" Rainbow asked. "Of course! It wasn't big, and I ended up pissing off all the ponies there because it wasn't even a real party...” The blue pegasus looks at her and pouts a bit "Well if you really want her attention, the party has to be big, and not fake for that matter." "But she doesn't throw parties for no reason...” Fluttershy said. Though it's not entirely true. Pinkie has been known to throw parties to ponies even if they moved one house over from where they lived. The "House Warming One Door Over Party", as cheesy as it sounds, it was still a party. Shadow thinks for a bit and realizes that Charcoal, in whom she met only recently was never given a party since he moved here. She clued the other two in and they both found it weird too. "Well there's your answer!" Rainbow said in delight "We just have to go find Charcoal and fill him in on the details". Shadow again lowered her head "Oh... But I think he's still sore about what happened the other day...” Shadow said. Thinking about it for a second made her chuckle a bit. "I'm sure he can't be mad at you forever." Fluttershy said. "Yeah, what did you do to him anyway?" Rainbow cut in. Shadow looks at the both of them and trots ahead "I think it'd be best if you saw for yourself."