In a little cafe known as Bailiania’s in the small town of Shires Bay, a blue-grey pegasus stallion was nervously shifting in his seat and unconsciously adjusting his wings as he stared at the entrance intently. He had already ordered and consumed a coffee in hopes that it would help to settle his nerves, but with each click that resonated from the clock behind him, his heart rate ever so slightly increased. His mind, meanwhile, was buzzing incessantly with hundreds of concurrent thoughts, as it could only focus on the innumerable possibilities for the upcoming conversation.
Eventually, though, the door was pulled open, and with it, the heavy chime of a small bell reverberated through the stallion's bones. A grey-olive earth pony mare walked in, causing the waiting stallion’s heart to redouble its pounding. This was the pony he had been waiting for.
As this mare made her way inside, her eyes seemed to pass over him, but it didn’t appear as if she had paid him any mind. Instead, she walked over to the counter next to the long, pastry-filled display case to place an order. The stallion’s nervousness continued to skyrocket as he watched her talk with the mare taking her order, the wait practically killing him.
When she finally finished at the counter, the mare casually turned around and began walking towards the table where the stallion was sitting. “So, I hope you don’t mind, but seeing as I was quite clear on you owing me for that little stunt you pulled back at the gorge, you’ll be picking up the tab for this.”
“Yeah, that’s fine, I did agree to that. I really am sorry about flying over and grabbing you out of nowhere. I really thought that-”
The mare butted in, waving her hoof and shaking her head. “I already told you, you didn’t know that the cactus cat wasn’t going to attack me, so it’s not that big of a deal. You were trying to do a good thing.” She then proceeded to sit down in front of the stallion and lean on the table with her forelegs. “It just so happened though that your ‘good deed’ was less good when you actually looked at it understanding what was going on.”
The stallion leaned back slightly in his chair and bit his bottom lip with a rather pained expression. He probably should have at least read up on what lived in the gorge to know what wasn’t so good to run into, but having wings and being able to go faster than most creatures he could think of sort of made doing so less than pointless.
As the mare leaned back slightly so she would be in a more casual, relaxed position, she fixed the stallion with a soft smile. “So, now that we’re both here, and since it would be a little rude to just get you to pay for my meal and leave, we might as well have a conversation.”
Cocking his head, the stallion looked at the mare as though she was some previously unheard of species. “I… wouldn’t you… huh?”
Lifting a hoof up to cover her muzzle, the mare closed her eyes and began to laugh gently. “Oh, that face was priceless. If I’d have known my ‘savior’ made such a cute face at the mention of having a conversation, I would have told you that at the gorge.”
As the stallion was trying to process what he was hearing and why she was acting so casual and friendly, his eyes widened and the fur on his face began to take on a red hue. “I… no, I was just… you’re being really casual for, well, you.” The stallion reached up and began to rub his left ear. “You practically tore off my ear to get me to come to the edge of the cliff after I set you down.”
“Last I checked, a pony has the right to be more complicated than a toaster,” the mare responded as the last of her giggling died down. “I did tell you that I wanted to meet you here. It would be a bit inconsiderate to not at least talk to you. If I’d have wanted to get you to make it up to me for grabbing me out of nowhere, I could have just asked you for an apology or something and have us part ways to never meet again.”
“So, uh, why didn’t you?”
The mare gave him a slight shrug. “I don’t know, probably because despite you not knowing anything about the gorge, you still had the decency to try to help me when you thought I was in danger. You just seem like a nice pony.”
As the stallion was about to respond, a pegasus waiter arrived at their table with a tray on both wings. He reached behind him, grabbing the one on his right wing with the small sandwich and two drinks and placing it in front of the two before taking off.
Picking up the small sandwich with her hooves, the mare continued. “In any case, we’re both here, so why don't we chat? I’m Holly.” As she was about to start eating, Holly suddenly shot her head back up. “Oh, the second drink is for you, I ordered a hibiscus tea, hope you don’t mind.”
“Never, Never Ending Do.” At him saying this, Holly brought her hoof back to her muzzle and began softly giggling again. “I take it you are familiar with Daring Do then.”
After swallowing, Holly smiled back at him. “Oh, don’t think I’m making fun of you, I just think it’s funny that Do is an actual name. I figured A.K. Yearling simply made it up.”
Never relaxed back into his chair a little and grabbed the tea to start drinking. “Yeah, we get that a lot. Just don’t go asking where she keeps all the treasures she gets on her adventures, already heard that one before.”
“Wasn’t thinking about it. But, seeing as you are a Do, and we just so happened to meet when you were careening down Dead Griffin’s Gorge, would it be fair to assume you were trying to emulate a fictional character and their accomplishments?”
“Hey, the things Daring does in the books aren't as unrealistic as you might assume. But yeah, Dead Griffin has some nasty turns, and trying to fly it without knowing the layout is just asking to die or find yourself in the hospital.”
Holly’s smile turned into a slight smirk at Never’s words. “Is that so? It seems you were begging for trouble then seeing as you didn’t know about cactus cats until about an hour ago.”
“As you probably saw, I can outfly a silly house cat, so I’ve never really had a reason to account for running into one.”
Holly just shrugged and went back to her sandwich and tea, looking at him expectantly as she did so.
“Anyways, I was trying to see how good I’ve gotten at flying, and Griffin’s is the best testing ground for doing that. I was planning to fly the whole length in under fifteen minutes, but, well, you saw the results of that.”
“Well, in all fairness, that wasn’t entirely your fault. If you would have come careening down the gorge a few minutes earlier or after I’d finished what I was there for, I‘m pretty sure you would have at least gotten your whole flight in.”
“Ouch, not even a comment on me being fast enough to succeed?”
“My only experience of seeing you fly was getting grabbed out of nowhere and flown to the top of the gorge. You may be fast in a sprint, but as you said, unsafe turns and a high skill requirement. Speed is not the same as maneuverability. Just look at hummingbirds.”
Never couldn’t help but let his fur raise slightly in indignation. He knew she wasn’t trying to be insulting, but it still reminded him of what his little sister would say to him to get under his fur. “Well, that may be true, but that’s where my special talent comes in.” Never stood up and turned so Holly could see his side and used his wing to point to his haunch, directing her attention to the wave, horseshoe, and aerial hoop arranged in a triangle. “I don’t get tired easily and can push myself a lot harder and longer than other ponies.” He finished with a smile, hoping that this would at least get her to recognize his skills.
Holly just smirked back at him before leaning forward to address him. “I did see your cutie mark earlier, it’s not like anyone hides it. And even if I wouldn’t have seen it, I would have believed you when you said your special talent was… I’m guessing it has something to do with athletics. You didn’t need to get up just to show me your flank.”
Never’s smile dropped as he felt a little dumb for being so egotistical. He sat back down and hung his head slightly in embarrassment.
“I’m not saying what you did was wrong, Never, just a little unnecessary.” Holly lifted up her cup and finished off the last of her tea before placing it back down and pushing it and the empty sandwich plate to the side. “At least now I have a fairly good idea as to why after taking me to the top of the gorge, your apology didn’t sound like you believed what you did was right.”
Never looked up at Holly after she said this with furrowed brows. “Like I didn’t believe I was doing the right thing? What makes you think that? I was confident saving you was the right thing to do.”
“True, you did think so, but as soon as I told you off, your response sounded more confused than confident. If you thought what you were doing was the right thing and were doing so to help me, you would have understood why I was upset and explained yourself. Instead, I’m guessing you assumed I was going to thank you or stay quiet long enough to let you explain yourself. In short, you wanted affirmation that what you were doing was right. You enjoy and desire being recognized and liked.”
Never’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help but lean back slightly away from the mare in front of him. “Are… are you some kind of psychologist? How did you get all that from just how I talked?”
Holly just closed her eyes and laughed gently before sitting back in her chair. “No, that would be my dad. You can thank him for teaching me and my sibling how to read ponies. I’m not too good at it, but I do remember a few lessons. You seemed kind of interesting so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to get to know you a little better. You know saving ponies is the right thing to do, but you also want praise for it, while at the same time you don’t demand said praise. You have a good heart, you just seem to put it in the wrong place sometimes.”
This interaction was definitely not something Never could have or would have planned for. “Wow. Now I really feel bad for doing what I did. Here you are being nice and friendly when you don’t have to be to a complete stranger who grabbed you out of nowhere for not the best reasons.” Never dropped his head again, this time even lower than before. “Heck, I hardly even know you while you’ve probably figured me out completely. Sorry. I’m not exactly doing very well at this whole conversation thing. I should have been asking you about yourself and not making this all about me.”
Holly leaned forward slightly, looked him in the eyes, or at least tried to, given he was staring down at the table, and continued with a kind and sympathetic tone. “Hey, don’t say that, you’re great company. I just haven't given you much of an opportunity to ask about me. And as for me being kind, it’s just what any decent pony should do. I’m not blind or deaf, it wasn’t all too hard to figure out you weren’t acting selfishly when you grabbed me and took me to the top. Even if my dad wasn’t an expert at reading ponies, I’m confident I would have been able to tell you deserved some degree of common decency.”
Never looked up from the table and gave Holly an awkward, half-smile. Despite her words, he couldn’t shake the feeling that every moment he had been near her he had done everything wrong. Even now, he was pulling a stuck cart trying to say anything to continue the conversation, but the only topics that were coming to mind emphasized his perceived failings.
Holly, noticing Never’s expression and body language was not dissimilar to a foal who was trying to make friends in a new town, decided to throw him a line. “Well, you did have a point earlier, we have been mostly talking about you, So to be fair, why don’t I tell you a little about myself.”
“Yeah, uh, that… yeah, that sounds good.”
“Well, you probably discerned from what I told you at the gorge that my talent, or, at least my hobby or job, involves plants.” Holly waited for Never to nod in understanding before continuing. “My talent is the care and keeping of wild plants. I know it might not be the most glamorous talent or as interesting as what you have, but it has its own charm.”
“Don't say that, you have a great talent! Who doesn’t like… well, plants?”
Holly giggled softly at Never’s response. “Thanks, it’s just that what I do best is more… unseen. I mostly go from place to place across Equestria and help advise ponies on what’s wrong or can be done better to preserve the natural environment. So unlike a florist or gardener, what I do isn’t something the average pony can fully understand or appreciate.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, if you don’t really get any recognition for what you do, why do you do it? I know I wouldn’t.”
“Let me ask you, do you ever hike or fly near a mountain?”
“Well, yeah. My parent’s house is in one of the nearby mountains. We’d always take hikes or do something on them growing up.”
“So, since you said you grew up around here, I take it that your parent’s house is near a forest.”
“In the middle of it. Dad and Mom wanted to be surrounded by them when they were planning out where to live, so as a result, our closest neighbor was the family of squirrels that lived in the tree outside of my room.”
“It sounds like you enjoyed living there.”
“Oh, for sure. It was always really quiet, and the sounds of nature there were always good for letting my mind relax. Not to mention the hiking trails. There’s several around there that you just had to do on certain days or times to really see them at their best.” Never finished his explanation with a content, nostalgic smile on his muzzle. However, a thought crossed his mind a few seconds later. “Wait, weren’t we going to be talking about you? Why are you asking me more about myself?”
“To prove my point,” Holly said, simply and happily. “Based on how you were describing it, you really appreciated the natural beauty that you were living around.”
Never gave her a nod, but his face was scrunched up slightly in confusion.
“And that is why I do what I do. I may not get the recognition personally, but everywhere I go and help, I know that hundreds of ponies will appreciate what I did, and that brings me joy. I’m not going to lie and say that I wouldn’t love for ponies to know what I do and give me a little recognition, but that isn’t what’s important to me.”
“Well, I’m not going to say it makes too much sense to me, but if it works it works.” As he was saying this, the waiter pegasus from earlier came back around with a pitcher of fresh tea and refilled both of their glasses. “So, uh, anything interesting happen on any of these trips you said you take?”
“If you want me to be specific or tell you all the highlights, not unless you want to stay here for the next ten hours. And even if you did, I have my doubts the owner would take too kindly to the two of us staying here for that long.” Holly put a hoof to her chin before looking to the ceiling for a few seconds in contemplation. “But, since you asked, I would probably say that the most interesting thing that’s happened is finding an orphaned noctnix and adopting him.”
“A noctnix? Never heard of that species. Does that mean you're a mother?”
Holly chuckled good-naturedly. “Not in the way you are thinking. No, Noctnixes are known as night phoenixes. They’re a little smaller than a true phoenix and look quite a bit different, but the reason they are called such is because they’re able to burst into a ghostly blue flame at will.”
“Wow, and you were able to raise one as a pet? I can’t even be trusted with a pet rock and here you are being good with plants and animals.”
“In all fairness, he isn’t really my pet, and I found him when he was just a chick, so caring for him wasn’t too different from raising any other raptor, just keep giving him meat and water and everything should turn out fine. I tried to set him free when he was fully-fledged, but that didn’t end how I’d expected. He simply wouldn’t fly away, and when I did take him outside, he refused to go anywhere where he wouldn’t be able to check that I was still around.”
“Ah.” Never snickered. “I would say he adopted you then. So, what’s it like having a child taking care of you?”
Holly smiled back at him while sticking out her tongue. “Not too bad, but the constant feedings can get a little old. You can only have so much rabbit before you start craving something different. Why do you think I told you to meet me here?”
“And here I was thinking that bat ponies were likely the only ones who might be able to eat meat.”
“Hey, for all you know, one of my parents might be one.”
“Yeah, I’m going to have to call shenanigans on that, not fluffy enough.”
“Oh? Since you seem to be such an expert on genealogy, you must also doubt that I’m the only earth pony in my family.”
“No, that makes sense. Met a few unicorns and pegasi whose parents weren’t one as well. Really rare, but not that weird. Must have been awkward growing up though.”
Holly sighed before taking a sip of her tea and looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, you could say that. Both my brother and sister are unicorns, like our parents, so while they got lessons in magic from them, I more or less had to figure things out on my own. Don’t get me wrong, Mom and Dad were really supportive and never made me feel like I didn’t belong, it’s just that… well... a griffin can only teach a pony so much about what it means to be a pony.”
Seeing that the conversation was about to veer off to somewhere rather awkward, Never decided that he should probably change the subject. “Ouch, two siblings? I just have the one, and she’s more than enough to deal with. I can’t even imagine having to live with two of her.”
“They’re not that bad. My brother might come across as a little abrasive, but after living with him for as long as I have, you learn that that’s just the way he talks. And I’m sure that you would get along well with my sister though, neither of you try to hide your emotions, or at the very least, neither of you do it very well.”
“Hey, on the bright side, you have a sister. I bet that that brought you some comfort when you needed to get away from your brother.”
“Wow, you and your sister must really but heads. But no, the three of us always got along and did most things together. Night Wisp did always baby me somewhat, and while it did make sense since he was older, I always suspected it was because I wasn’t a unicorn.”
“You don’t know the half of it when it comes to me and my sister. But it looks like you and my sister have at least that one thing in common, you both have an older brother. So, where do you land in the sibling hierarchy?”
“The middle. Night’s two years older and Water Mint’s four years younger, so that’s something both of us share, having a younger sister.”
“Yeah, and the funny thing is that my sister is also two years younger than me. The five of us should meet up sometime and swap stories.”
Holly smiled at that. “That does sound like fun. But, if we are going to do something like that, ” she picked up her cup, finishing the last of her tea again before returning it to the table and fixing Never with a mischievous smirk. “I think it would be best for us to get to know each other a little more. I can’t go inviting my family to meet just any pony that I strike up a conversation with.”
Never felt like his entire barrel had become hollow. “Are… are you saying you want to go on a date with me?”
“Perhaps, but only if that would be something that interests you. I had a lot of fun getting to know you, and was hoping that the feeling was mutual.”
Never licked his lips and swallowed, his throat having suddenly gone dry. “Yeah.” His voice cracked slightly when he said this. Wanting to save himself from the embarrassment of having his voice suddenly squeak, he cleared his throat and repeated himself. “Yeah, I would love to.”
Holly tilted her head and closed her eyes as she gave him a warm smile. “Great. Why don't we meet at the ferry to Balikun Island next week? The walk around the island is really great since the residents have been keeping the island from getting developed, so it still has that small-town charm.”
“That, uh, that sounds nice. So, uh, what, what time do you want to meet?”
Holly gave an amused snort at Never’s returned awkwardness. “Why don't you figure out a time and date and mail me tomorrow. Oh, I should probably give you my address if we’re going to do that, be right back.” She then got up from her seat and went over to the ordering counter to talk with the pony at the register. Not too long after, she returned to the table with a scrap of receipt paper and a pen in her mouth.
Never waited nervously for Holly to finish. He didn’t think he was breathing at that moment as his chest was starting to get warm, but he was only aware of this in the most superficial sense. When she finally finished and slid the paper over to him, Never picked it up and read over it with surprising intensity, trying to commit everything to memory.
“So, uh, you live in Whinnytchee. That’s just East of Seaddle and Vanhoover, right? You’re a ways away from your home.”
“Well, I did tell you that I traveled Equestria helping ponies care for wild plants. It would be a bit silly if I wasn’t occasionally a good ways away from my home.”
Never reached up and began to rub the back of his head while giving Holly an awkward smile. “Yeah, I should have thought about that.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to attempting that flight of yours, I’m going to head back home and wait for that letter you promised.”
With that, Holly got up and began to make her way out of the cafe. Never remained sitting and watched her leave, his mind too busy processing what had just happened to even move or speak up to simply say goodbye. After sitting like this for several seconds, his mind came back to him, and in a bur of motion, he jumped to his hooves, galloped to the counter, paid for what he and Holly had ordered, and flew off back to his house.
He couldn’t waste any time if he wanted to plan out the perfect date. Something that would make up for everything that had happened today.