//------------------------------// // Commitment // Story: Hearts Beat // by mushroompone //------------------------------// It had been a few days since our night out, and I was no closer to a decision. On the one hoof, there was absolutely no pressure to see Vinyl again. I mean, I had to ask around to even figure out her name! She clearly wasn't making it easy to reconnect. Maybe she had a good reason. On the other hoof, there were so many things I wanted to talk to her about! Music, magic, those ear plugs… I rolled the two little, orange pellets around in my hoof. Enchanted ear plugs. Why hadn't I thought of that? She just seemed so… complicated. And interesting. And smart! But smart in the real way. Not smart in my big-words, heavy-books way. "You okay, Twilight?" I jolted, the wooden chair I was sitting in squealing against the tile floor. "Oopsie!" Pinkie put a hoof over her mouth. "Didn't mean to scare ya, Twi. Whatcha got there?" I sighed and dumped the ear plugs into the table. "A magical gift from a magical mare that I'll never see again because everything's weird." Pinkie laughed. "Twilight, those are ear plugs!" "Magic ear plugs!" I told her. I held them up to her face. "Selective ear plugs. The charm on this is so complex, so elegant, so--" "Ew, they've still got some wax on them," Pinkie commented. I smacked my forehead on the table. "I don't get it, Twilight. Why can't you see her again? Does she live far away?" Pinkie asked, taking the seat across from me. "No. She lives in Ponyville." I muttered into the tabletop. Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Ohmigosh, that's amazing! You gotta go see her!" "I can't," I said. I rolled my head to the side. "She never told me her name or where she lived. If I tracked her down, she'd probably be really freaked out." "Oh, pft." Pinkie shook her head. "I do that kind of stuff all the time, and nopony's ever been freaked out before. Well, except Cranky. But that's his name, so it must be his game!" I sighed. "Well, yeah, but you're Pinkie Pie! And I'm Twilight. And when Twilight does that stuff, she's not super charming, she's just weird." "Why are you talking about yourself in the third pony?" Pinkie cocked her head. "That's kinda weird-sounding." "See?" I whined. Then I put my head back down on the table. “Oh, gee, Twilight,” Pinkie said. She reached across the table to gently pet my mane. “That’s kind of a pickle, huh?” I nodded. “Well, you know what I always do when I’m in a pickle?” Pinkie asked. I sighed again, this time letting in verge on a growl. “You sing a song?” “How’d you guess?” Pinkie leapt up from the table, took an enormous breath, and-- I jammed my hoof in her mouth. “I don’t need a song, Pinkie!” I hissed. “I need to figure out how to let it go!” Pinkie mumbled something around my hoof. “Sorry,” I said, pulling my hoof away. “Why let it go?” Pinkie asked. I shrugged. “I mean, what else can I do? It’s just such a stupid thing to get all hung up on. I met a really nice barista at Donut Joe’s last week. Why didn’t I obsess over him?” “Well, duh,” Pinkie said, flopping back down in her seat. “‘Nice’ isn’t the same as ‘friend.’ There’s that extra something special that makes a friendship! The extra pizazz, the sparkle, the… erm, the…” “The magic?” I suggested. “Ohmigosh, yes!” Pinkie smiled. I chuckled, if weakly.  “Well?” Pinkie pressed. “Was there magic, do you think?” There was some magic, there, I thought. Between me and Vinyl, that is. Something had sparked there, in the infinite void that separated academia and artistry. Perhaps the spark had been allowed to catch because Vinyl did not believe there to be such a void in the first place. She had walked right up to me, after all. A princess. “I think so,” I said. A little smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. “Then you absolutely, posi-tutely have to see her again!” Pinkie squealed. “Have to, have to, have to!” “You think?” I asked. I bit down on my lower lip to keep my wild grin under control. “Yes!” Pinkie punched the air with one hoof. “Although… maybe you should write her a letter, first.” I blushed. “Good plan.” “Now, now, back to business:” Pinkie stood up. “What can I getcha, Twilight? I’ve got a brand-new concoction cooking up right now! Peppermint-Mocha-Marshmallow-Espresso Truffle-Bite Puffs! Wanna try one?” I shook my head. “Just a blueberry muffin, please.” Pinkie shook her head solemnly. “Such a shame. Comes to the best bakery in Equestria to get a plain blueberry muffin.” “Best blueberry muffin in all of Equestria, though!” I said. Pinkie walked away, still shaking her head. “A tragedy, really. Waste of a perfectly good bakery.” Alright, this was it.  I was going to do it. I tapped my pen thoughtfully against my chin, staring down at the ominously blank paper with furtive anxiety. You see, starting a letter is hard. You have to pick how you’re going to refer to the recipient, which says more than you would think. For example, using ‘Dear Vinyl’ wouldn’t work for a variety of reasons. Firsty, because the word ‘dear’ says that I am incredibly comfortable expressing love to almost complete strangers, which isn’t the least bit true. Secondly, because she had never told me her name, and using it here would be damning evidence that I had done some digging. Of course, dropping the note at her doorstep said something sort of similar. I had figured I would lie to her when I saw her again, but did I really want to start off a friendship with a massive lie? Hm. I rapped my pen against my jaw. Let’s cross that bridge when we get there, Twi. Can’t deliver a letter you haven't written, after all! I guess I could write it to ‘Mystery Mare.’ But… I dunno. That felt wrong. It was too… too… Maybe I should just go casual! Start off with a ‘Hello!’ or a ‘Hi, there!’ No need for a name, that way. Just simple, easy-going, normal stuff. Yes. Perfect. Hello! I paused. Looks great! I sat back in my chair and admired the neatness of my letters, the swoop of the exclamation point. Admirable work, Twilight. Impressive, even. Yes, I could look at this word all day! Such a good-looking word. Splitting the difference perfectly between casual and fancy. It said everything. Maybe I should just deliver it like this? No, no. Don’t be stupid, Twilight. How will she know who sent it? I lowered my pen towards the paper, ready to add in a nice ‘-Twilight’ and be done. No! I whipped the pen away. Come on, Twilight! Now’s the time for you to say all the stuff you wanna say! About music and math and science and dancing and magic! And friendship! And the magic of friendship! My mind went blank. Blanker than a fresh whiteboard. ‘I had a great time with you the other night!’  Oh, no. No, no. ‘Our night at the club was super fun!’ No! She probably meets all kinds of mares in clubs. She’d never remember little old me, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. I had to remind her of something special about our night! A detail! ‘That music was great, huh?’ No. ‘Neon Lights sure can play!’ Eesh, no! ‘Thanks for the ear plugs!’ Eh, more of an ender. ‘Remember me?’ I paused. Oh. That was actually pretty good. Kinda cheeky, kinda sassy. Maybe even a little funny. I scribbled it down, then re-read my work so far. Hello! Remember me? Wow! On a roll already. Now to very casually ask to meet up again. In a non-creepy way. Or-- wait, should I explain how I found her in this letter? That could work! I saw you walk into your house the other day, but wasn’t able to catch you! Hope you’re not creeped out! I lifted my pen. “Oh, no, no…” I crumpled up the parchment and tossed it over my shoulder. With a quick teleportation spell, another, fresh piece was laid out on my desk. Easy part first. Put what you put on the last one. Hello! Rember me? Oh, shoot! I misspelled! Crumple, toss, teleport. Hello! Remember me? No… no, the hook on that question mark just doesn’t look right. Crumple, toss, teleport. Hello! Hm. The more I wrote it, the weirder it sounded. Honestly, anything with a question mark can sound kinda creepy if you read it the wrong way. Alright, new rule: no questions. I hope you haven’t forgotten about me! Oh, gosh, no! So needy! Crumple, toss, teleport. Alright, Twilight. No pressure. Just think it through before you start writing this time. Hello! I hope you’re doing well! I had a really nice time with you at the club the other night. We should do it again sometime! -Twilight P.S.: Thanks for the ear plugs! PERFECT! I grabbed my pen and scribbled as fast as I could (without making any spelling mistakes, that is). I held up the letter. Hello! Hope you’re good! The other night was just so fun, could we do it again sometime? Thanks for the cool ear plugs! -Twilight ...Eesh. That sounded way better in my head. Maybe if I just-- Hello! What’s up? Hope you’re goodI Just kidding, I know you can’t answer. This is a letter! The other night was just so fun the best night of my life nice, could we do it again sometime?. Thanks for the cool ear plugs! -Twilight <3 Perfect! … No. No, no, much worse. Maybe if I-- No. Unfixable. Very, very bad. Crumple, toss, teleport. Just commit, already! This isn't that hard! It’s a letter-- ponies write them every day! And you’re normally so good with words, Twilight. You’re so eloquent! So well-spoken! I mean, you almost seem normal in a letter! I threw my pen up in the air, tried to catch it, missed, and fell backwards out of my chair. Okay. Maybe it was just time to be honest. Hello! I’m not good at this. Letter-writing, that is. It’s so hard to write a nice letter, don’t you think? Well, anyway, I had a great time at the club the other night. And I’m not a fan of clubs. So it must have been pretty special. As the Princess of Friendship, I feel that it is my duty to follow-up with you. I found you through a friend of a friend of a brother. Can we do it again sometime? -Twilight P.S.: I kept the ear plugs I leaned back in my chair and read the letter a few times. It wasn’t perfect. But I guess I wasn’t perfect, either. So it kinda worked. I dug around in my desk drawer for an envelope, trying not to become overwhelmed by the available options. The letter slid in easily. Like it was made to be there. Just as I was licking the envelope shut, there was a quiet rapping on my door. “Twilight?” “Oh!” I pushed my chair back from my desk, craning my neck for a look at the little dragon on my threshold. “Spike, perfect timing! I have a letter to send.” Spike held up a piece of lined paper, folded in thirds. “That’s funny, ‘cause you actually just got a letter! Somepony put this through the mail slot earlier.” “Really? Gee, I hardly ever get mail.” Spike shrugged his shoulders and toddled across the room, holding out the paper. “I almost caught her, but whoever dropped it off ran away so fast I only caught a glimpse of their tail. You don’t think it’s anything… dangerous, do you?” “Only one way to find out,” I murmured, unfolding the paper. Yo, Twilight! Sorry, I hope this isn’t too weird, but your castle is pretty easy to find, haha. I had a lot of fun talking to you the other night! I thought maybe you’d like to go out again sometime, maybe somewhere a little less loud? Although, I’ll always have a spare set of ear plugs ;) -Vinyl Scratch, 412 Pine Ave, Ponyville I must have been smiling, because Spike breathed a sigh of relief. “You sure have weird friends, Twilight. Where do you want me to send this one?” “No!” I snatched the envelope out of his claws, crumpled it, and tossed it over my shoulder. Spike took a step back. I chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry. Just let me write a different one real quick.” I whipped out a new piece of paper. Yes!! -Twilight There. Perfect. I quickly folded it in thirds and passed it to Spike. “There ya go! Send it to 412 Pine Ave, please.” Spike scoffed. “What am I, an atlas? If it’s not to the Princess, send it yourself!” “Alright, cranky-pants.” I reached over to give him a gentle noogie. “I’ll walk it over tomorrow.” Spike smiled, proud of his little rebellion. “Well, good. I’ve got a very important sunshine-nap to get back to.” He wandered off, stumpy little tail dragging behind him. I read the note from Vinyl over again once or twice, then hugged it to my chest. My heart did a little flutter. There was definitely magic here.