//------------------------------//
// A Few Steps Forward 
// Story: A Dazzling Trio 
// by Spyder27 
//------------------------------//

Taking a deep breath, I heave the box inside the door, trying my best to not fall on my way inside. The hot summer air doesn’t make it any easier to actually move these things around, but at least it’s better than pushing a chair through ice. I know that pain all too well. There’s no ice to mess with the moving process this time. Instead, it’s just some unbearable heat… Why did there have to be so many boxes?
Setting the box down on the ground, I can’t help but look around the empty living room, amazed at how much bigger it feels compared to our last living room. It’s almost unbelievable… How can I believe that I’m actually standing here, moving into a house that Sunset and I both own. It was a big risk to buy this place with some of our savings, but it’s turned out to be one of the best decisions we’ve made. Seeing Sunset’s smile of pure joy that I agreed to buy this house was worth it alone. Settling down was never in my mind as a viable option unless it was in terms of a castle on top of Equestria’s tallest mountain. Now, I can’t be happier, settling down with the love of my life inside a home we will make our own. 
“Well, the bed is fully set up~” Sunset’s cheerful voice tells me with a smile, walking down the stairs with slightly messy hair. The stairs lead right into the living room with the kitchen to the left of the stairs as a separate room towards the back of the house. To the right of the stairs, there’s a laundry room that leads into the rather spacious garage for a house of this size. A little bit of sweat on her forehead can be seen from the reflection of the overhead light. Her eyes look around the living room before looking towards me with a smile. “Almost done with the boxes, huh?” She and I were both unloading boxes until she decided to set up our bed, telling me that she didn’t want to unload everything from the truck just in case our bed didn’t fit in the bedroom. 
“Did the bed fit like you wanted it to?” I ask in a teasing tone, causing the love of my life to stick her tongue out at me as a response. 
“Yes, it did~ It is even more spacious than our last bedroom if you can believe it.” Sunset gently moves around the boxes, walking over to me and wrapping her arms around my waist. “Though, there’s still some more work to do, so we can’t exactly rest on it just yet.” Sunset gives me a wink before pressing her lips against my own, taking a small moment to just breathe before we get back to work. I can’t help but feel a little grateful that we only have a few more boxes to bring inside. It’s due to our small apartment’s size that we only had a few things to move here, but it’s still annoying to move all the heavy things. 
“Then I expect a lot of cuddles after this, fiancé of mine~” I tease the fiery-haired woman in my arms, admiring her unpredictable nature. Sunset giggles to my statement, both of us finally breaking our embrace. Walking over to the front door, Sunset looks back at me with a smile, the light of the day behind her. 
“That’s funny. I expect the exact same~”


Chapter I: A Few Steps Forward


The bell of our door rings just as I finish placing the final plate on the table. Most of the rooms in our house still seem a little empty, but that’s because we didn’t have a lot to move here to begin with. Hopefully, this will work out. It’s a modest little set up, but it’s the first dinner in our new home. What can I say? I kind of want it to be perfect… Sunset, taking off her oven mitts, looks to me with a small smirk, nodding her head to the front door. 
“I told you that they would be here early~” she reaffirms her last statement, making sure I know that she won the bet. Due to the fact that all our friends are coming here for our house-warming party, I made a small bet with her that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie will probably make the group late. I guess it turns out that I was wrong. Sunset told me that the opposite is true due to Applejack’s strict rules for following a schedule. 
“I guess I owe you a couple dollars, so what?” I ask her with a small chuckle just as my fiancé walks out of the kitchen and dining area. 
“You owe me more than that~” Sunset teases me with a small laugh before I hear the front door open, hearing a bit of a commotion. Looking at the table to make sure everything is alright, I take a deep breath before turning around, walking towards the entrance to the living room. At the doorway, Pinkie Pie is already hugging Sunset with the excitement of a dog seeing its owner again after a long separation. Applejack slowly walks into the house, patting Pinkie’s back to try and calm her down.
“Woah there, Pinkie. It’s just a house-warming party. There’s no need for too much energy.” Pinkie frowns in response to Applejack’s statement, finally letting go of Sunset. 
“Wait, so we can’t have balloons?” she slowly asks the cowgirl just as Rainbow Dash pushes herself through shaking off the confetti from Pinkie’s hair. 
“Of course we can! This is a big occasion for Sunset and Dagi! I mean, it’s not every day you can buy a house in this economy, so I’m sure the two of them wouldn’t mind~” Dash tells Pinkie with a laugh before giving Sunset a hug as well. It doesn’t take Dash long to wave to me with a smile. “Hey, Dagi! Here, catch~” Gently tossing a small wrapped package towards me, I successfully catch it before it can get the chance to fall to the ground. What in the world is this…? Dash getting me a gift? It’s not Christmas and she’s usually broke. Huh. That’s pretty thoughtful. “Consider it a house-warming gift!”
“It is true that buying a house is a momentous occasion, Rainbow Dash, but you can’t just make assumptions for them,” Rarity tells Dash with a slight frown, still standing outside and waiting to be invited in. I can only assume Applejack came inside without asking for permission due to the fact that she wanted to calm Pinkie’s “party instincts.” As for Dash? She’s always oblivious to social cues. Standing behind Rarity, Fluttershy gives us a small wave with Twilight standing beside her. Interestingly, Twilight seems more focused on the house rather than the group, looking at the porch and the windows with a curious stare. 
“Come on in, girls~ I don’t mind if you brought balloons, really~” Sunset finally tells everyone, Pinkie absolutely exploding with excitement from her words. Instantly, the party machine with pink hair starts inflating some balloons, the rest of the girls walking inside our house. Twilight, like she did before, takes an interest in the decor of the house, looking around at the placement of furniture. 
“Your house looks really nice~ Are you going to keep the exterior yellow or change it?” Twilight asks us with a quizzical look, tilting her head slightly. 
“To be honest, we haven’t discussed that yet, but I suppose it is something to think about, huh?” I respond to the science nerd, walking over to the group and patting her shoulder. The front door closes with ease before Sunset makes her way towards the kitchen to get the food served. Before I can help her, Rainbow Dash grabs my shoulder and looks me in the eye.
“Are you gonna open my gift or not? Kinda took a bit to actually think of something to get you after all,” Dash tells me with a small laugh, making Twilight’s eyes widen. 
“Wait. Were we supposed to get a gift? I thought we were just hanging out to make them more comfortable in their new home?” Clearly, Twilight is really confused and she seems to feel guilty, prompting Applejack to nudge her gently. 
“Nah, sugarcube. Ya didn’t have to get a gift, we just thought it’d be nice~ That’s all.” Applejack chuckles quietly at Twilight’s confusion but it seems her words are able to comfort the nerd. 
“We weren’t even expecting gifts in general, so it’s quite a surprise,” I tell the girls with a smile before looking down at the small package in my hand. Opening it slowly, I can’t help but feel my eyes widen. Did she really…? Despite how much she seems clueless, Dash is pretty thoughtful. Inside the wrapping paper, a package of cherries stares back at me, making me smile a little more than before. “Thank you, Dash~ I will definitely put this to good use,” I tell her with a nod, slowly backing away towards the kitchen to help Sunset with dinner. 
“I hope you don’t mind if some of us wait to give you our gifts until later, darling~ It would ruin the surprise if I revealed mine right now,” Rarity tells me with a smile. Fluttershy’s eyes look toward the floor in response to Rarity’s statement, but she doesn’t say a thing. Honestly, I wonder what’s going on in Fluttershy’s head, but for now, I should really help my fiancé. I’m sure I’ll find out what she’s thinking later on in the night in general. Right now? Dinner is about to be served~

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Taking my last bite of my cherry cheesecake, I can’t help but smile at the taste of the desert, despite the fact that it’s my third slice of the night. The sound of running water accompanies the sounds of Sunset scrubbing the dishes. On the other side of the now bare table, Fluttershy sits idly, tracing her finger on the surface. Everyone else has already left for the night, but she really wanted to talk to us alone for some reason. Regardless, Fluttershy is a good friend, so I think we owe her a chance to talk about whatever she has on her mind. 
Quietly standing up from the table, I bring my plate to the sink. Sunset reaches for it right after I set it down, only stopping when I push her hand away. “Let’s talk to Fluttershy before we finish the dishes, alright?” I whisper to her, nodding toward our friend. A small part of me is a bit worried as to what Fluttershy wants to talk about, but I am trying to keep a positive attitude. Sunset slowly nods, turning off the water and drying off her hands. Walking back over to the table, Sunset and I sit on opposite sides of each other, next to Fluttershy.
“That was a fun little party~” Fluttershy tells us in her usually soft voice with a smile. Looking at both of us for a moment, we all nod to her statement, my mind wandering to what happened earlier in the night. “It was nice of Rarity and Applejack to give you more dishes and tools just in case you need them~ I didn’t really think of something like that.” Fluttershy’s eyes look over at the package of cherries I left on the counter, nodding to herself a little more. 
“Yeah, it was really nice of them~ But we seriously didn’t expect anyone to give us gifts,” Sunset responds with a shrug of her shoulders. “In my opinion, I thought moving into this place was already a big achievement~ I didn’t really want to pressure everyone into getting us gifts on top of it.”
“Oh, you didn’t pressure us! We wanted to help out,” Fluttershy responds almost immediately after Sunset finishes her sentence. “That’s… actually what I wanted to talk about.” A slow breath exits Fluttershy’s lips, looking down towards the table. Does she want to talk about her gift idea? I’m not sure what Fluttershy could have planned, but it makes me curious nonetheless… Slowly reaching inside her purse, Fluttershy pulls out an envelope with a hesitant smile, placing it on the table. “I couldn’t really think of something that both of you would like or need, so it was really hard to think of what I could give you. B-but… um… as you can see, I finally thought of something you two could use.” Gently sliding the envelope farther away from her, a blush comes to Fluttershy’s cheeks, looking down towards her lap. 
A long pause ensues after her explanation, waiting for us to open her gift. Grabbing the envelope gently, I open the seal, looking inside and feeling a little curious to see what Fluttershy decided to get us. Within a moment, my curiosity is lost and replaced with a guilty feeling in my stomach, pulling out the check that was neatly placed inside. Fluttershy felt like the only thing she could give us was money…? I still feel bad for all the other times that Fluttershy paid for things without us repaying her for her kindness. Sunset’s eyes widen at the sight of the check as well, but I’m the only one who can see the actual amount she put down… God… This is way too much. Why would she ever think to give us this much money…? This has to put a dent in her wallet, right? 
“Fluttershy… There’s no way we can accept this,” I whisper, placing the check back down on the table. The amount she wrote down was more than half of what we paid to buy this house… We can’t accept that kind of generosity. I’m already forever in her debt for forgiving me in general. “Please don’t feel like you have to pay us because we’re your friends. This is way too generous and I don’t want to be in this kind of debt to you…” Fluttershy’s face drops just as Sunset reaches over for the check, looking at the amount for herself. 
“Oh, you don’t owe me anything. I promise. I’m not trying to buy your friendship. I just think you girls could… really use it. Especially since you had to use a lot of your savings to buy this place.” Fluttershy looks back and forth between Sunset and I with a pleading look in her eyes, seemingly distraught that her gift can’t be accepted. Upon seeing the number on the check, Sunset’s face loses some of its color, looking like she can’t help but feel guilty. Before Sunset can say anything, a couple of tears slide down Fluttershy’s cheek, staring at the check. “P-please… Can you accept it? I’m not expecting for you to pay m-me back, I just… want to do something nice for you two. To help you get back some of your investment before any bad luck comes your way. P-please just grant me this?” Fluttershy pleads with us, her expression telling us just how sad she feels at the prospect that we can’t accept it in good conscience. 
Looking towards me, Sunset’s eyes tell me that she feels pretty conflicted about the whole situation, laying the check back down on the table. It’s true that in this economy, bad luck comes extremely often, but I didn’t want to make Fluttershy feel like it’s her responsibility to keep us from such a fate. I already feel bad about taking so much from her before, but for her to pay us thousands of dollars so that we can get a little bit back from our investment? How am I supposed to live with myself, knowing that we would take that much from her? 
Reaching across the table, Sunset holds my hand and smiles at me slowly, nodding to me. I already know that this one gesture is telling me to let her take control in this situation. For some reason, I can already guess what she’s going to say… “Alright, Fluttershy. Adagio and I will accept this, but only this one time. It’s a great help, but we would feel too guilty accepting multiple of these donations from you.” A small smile finally appears on Fluttershy’s face, nodding to Sunset’s request with a happier expression than before. Regardless of the fact that Fluttershy feels better now that we’re accepting this, I still feel pretty guilty… Maybe this feeling will fade with time…

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Gently closing the door to Fancy Pants’ office, I look towards the man, feeling a little confused as to why my boss would want me to meet with him. This doesn’t happen often, so it makes me a little worried, thinking that maybe I did something wrong. “Ah, Miss Dazzle. Please, sit,” he tells me while adjusting his monocle, sitting back in his seat as if he’s glad to finally see me. Approaching his desk, I can’t help but feel a little uneasy, noticing his more strict mannerisms than usual. 
“Is there a particular reason for this meeting, Mr. Pants?” I ask him slowly, sitting down in front of his desk. Despite the fact that I know him pretty well at this point, we still use formalities all the time. Probably because he likes it better that way… 
“Straight to the point as always,” he comments on my behavior, cleaning his monocle with a cloth before leaning forward. “That’s something I like about you, Dazzle. You’re always forward about how you feel and what you think would be a good idea.” Honestly, I feel a little surprised by the compliments he just gave me, but this isn’t exactly new. During my interview with him a couple years ago, he was also like this, telling me what values he looks for in an employee and all. 
“I’m just committed to doing the best job I can,” I respond as casually as I can, slowly nodding my head. Fancy Pants takes a moment before he reaches over to a folder by his side, opening it slowly.
“And that’s why I trust you. You’ve been doing the best you can here for nearly three and a half years. You’ve been the longest running teacher here since everyone else has merely been volunteers or they left pretty soon after they were hired.” Yeah, Rainbow Dash was here for a long time too… But that changed when she finally got into college. She quit being a teacher here and decided to take on part time jobs while she attended her classes. That pretty much leaves me as the only long-term hire that has stayed here for years at a time. “Your job is the reason why I wanted to see you today in truth.”
“Pardon my prying, but did I make a mistake? I fail to realize if I’ve done anything wrong.” Looking into Pants’ eyes, I can’t help but feel a little worried, wondering what he is thinking about this current situation. What does he mean my job is the reason he wanted to talk? 
“Not at all. You’ve done impeccable work as a matter of fact, but I do need to talk to you about the studio since you work here.” Adjusting his sitting posture, Fancy Pants takes a deep breath as he rubs his eyes, clearly not looking forward to this conversation. “I trust you and I wanted to tell you this in person.” Reaching inside the folder, Fancy pulls out a piece of paper and gives it to me slowly. The paper depicts a graph showing the downward trend of profits in the last… two years. It’s a pretty drastic slope. “Dazzle, the studio is not making any money back for me as of this year and it doesn’t look like it will get better. This, as you can understand, is a difficult situation.”
Taking a moment to breathe, I can feel just how dry my mouth feels, an anxious feeling washing over me. I can already see where this conversation is going… He can’t, right…? I really like this job and… God, I’ve done so much to help these kids learn how to sing. I’ve listened to them complain and they’ve even drawn pictures for me as a sign of gratitude. Am I really going to miss a job where I teach kids…? I really have come a long way… The bigger issue is that I don’t actually have a birth certificate or high school diploma. I can’t imagine any other place that would hire me if this place goes under… 
“I’ve decided to sell the studio, Dazzle. Depending on who buys it, this might remain as a music studio, but you can never be certain. I wanted to tell you since you might have to look for other options in the near future.” Fancy Pants leans forward once again, grabbing the piece of paper from my grasp and returning it to its rightful place in the folder. Fancy will be fine… He has millions of dollars and multiple business ventures to keep him afloat. But me…? I don’t have a secondary option… Sunset and I just bought a house and…
“What if I bought the studio…?” I ask him quickly, grasping at any chance to keep this job. I can’t afford to lose it now… “What’s your asking price?”
“Dazzle,” Fancy quietly responds, a disappointed tone to his voice. “As much as I trust you and that you could probably turn this around, I… can’t sell to you.”
“Why not?” I quickly respond, slowly standing up. It takes a lot of energy to hold back my emotions, taking deep breaths to try and compose myself. “Why not, Fancy? I’ve been your most consistent employee and I’ve put the most work into this business. Clearly, I have the determination.” I think that’s the first time I’ve ever referred to him by his first name out loud… It’s understandable though… This is a… difficult situation.
“You’re right. You have been the most reliable, but I have an image to uphold, Dazzle. It would not look good on my part if I decided to sell to someone who has no high school diploma and hardly any experience in the field when I could sell to someone who has more qualifications.” Fancy leans back in his seat with a conflicted expression on his face, making both of us feel tired. I don’t have enough experience…? Thousands of years of singing in Equestria should be enough, but of course, I can’t use that on a resume… 
“What if I complete a GED…?”