//------------------------------// // Tugging at Her Heartstrings 2 - Chapter 10 // Story: Tugging at Her Heartstrings // by neutralmilk //------------------------------// Tugging at Her Heartstrings 2 – Chapter 10 -neutralmilk As if on cue, Roseluck opens her bedroom door. Although she is dressed for your date (complete with her namesake placed delicately in her red-violet mane), the one thing she is wearing that you cannot take your eyes off of is her smile – earnest, excited, and absolutely real. “How do I look, hotshot?” She spins, showing off her outfit. She’s wearing a decorative saddle that matches the light-raspberry coloured streaks in her mane. “If you say anything less than a million bits, you’ll not only be buying everything tonight, but you’ll be walking home alone.” Normally you’d respond with a wisecrack – something probably about how a million bits converts to like five bucks where you’re from, or about how she’d better get ready to dine-and-dash because you weren’t going to pay no matter what. But, unsurprisingly… you weren’t quite in the joking mood. “Yeah,” You manage to smile as you stand up, unconsciously stretching as you do. “You look good Rose.” Roseluck’s smile twists and contorts into a look of concern. “Hey, are you alright?” she asks, her green eyes searching your own for any giveaway. “You’ve been acting a bit off since you came by the stall today.” Damn, she’s good! You cannot help but think to yourself. You try to wrack your brain for a response but fall about a mile short. There’s no way you can explain the misunderstanding now that it’s gone so far. Especially after Colgate told you about how Rose felt… A blue aura suddenly envelops Roseluck’s bedroom door and slams it abruptly. You jump back to reality and find Colgate shifting her eyes back and forth between you and Roseluck. She points her head in your general direction. “I don’t know, Rose, they seem about as weird as you made them out to be,” she offers in a calm voice. She takes a moment to flip her mane from her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m probably to blame a little bit. When I came downstairs, I was a little…” “Bit of an ass?” Roseluck offered playfully, trying (and failing) to hide a smirk. Colgate sticks out her tongue at her roommate and continues. “I kinda jumped all over them. But I guess I didn’t notice anything weird.” Colgate’s eyes grew dark as she narrowed her vision on Roseluck. A menacing look crossed her face. “That is until I, well… told them all about you, Rose.” Roseluck’s eyes widened in alarm. “Wait, you what?!” She takes a panicked step towards the sapphire unicorn. “What did you say to them?! Aw, c’mon, don’t tell me you told them-” The malice in Colgate’s face was gone, replaced by a smug smile. “I said eeeeeeeeverything.” Her voice was smooth and she drew out every last syllable as if it was syrupy sweet. She clearly enjoyed this newfound power. A deep red blush formed on Roseluck’s face. “Augh!” She screamed at the top of her lungs and turned back towards her bedroom door. She desperately pulled at it, but Colgate’s aura was still clearly forcing it shut. You watch, a passive observer, as Roseluck smacks her head into the door, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. “Is that anyway to act in front of your date?” Colgate says almost cruelly. Your friend freezes and sighs. “It’s time to go.” She states flatly. You both step through the front door which magically opens for you. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Colgate calls out before laughing. The sound of her cackling can be heard up until the moment she shuts the front door, leaving Rose and you to begin your march towards the venue. Holy crap! The volume in your head is almost painful. This is so awkward! Despite walking nearly lockstep for about ten minutes, Roseluck and you hadn’t exchanged a single word since Colgate exiled you from the house. Even when Pinkie Pie raced past you in a cake cart singing wildly, the two of you could barely manage to share a quick, confused glance before returning to your separate worlds. Each step you take towards your date feels like a step closer to your own oblivion. At least if you and Rose could make jokes (if history had shown, they would mostly be at your expense) it would be somewhat enjoyable. But now she won’t even meet your eye, nonetheless speak to you. You quickly take note of the street name and realize that you’re more than halfway to your destination. And it is now that you finally, truly, start to panic. I can’t do this... The thought starts off as a simple statement of fact. I can’t do this... You feel your forehead getting uncomfortably warm and the slight tingling sensation of sweat forming crosses your brow. Still, you step onward. I. CANNOT. DO. THIS. Your thoughts are so loud you’re surprised Rose isn’t asking you to keep down. But then again, she hasn’t spoken to you since you left her apartment, why would she start now? PANIC BUTTON! You feel yourself screaming and repress the urge to run away as the roof of the venue comes into sight at last. I GOTT GET OUT OF HERE! ABORT! CELESTIA, BUDDHA, MR. ROGERS SAVE ME! You suddenly stop in the street and take a deep breath. Slowly, you exhale. Your feet start working again, followed by your brain. Ok, ok… I just need to think of a plan. What if… your mind trails off as your eyes work to take inventory of your surroundings and combine them into some semblance of an escape plan. Buildings... A few shopping stalls... Surprisingly few ponies (all strangers)…. A pile of rocks…. Rocks! It’s as if you discovered a pile of gold and not gravel. That’s it! I pretend to trip on them and fall. Bam! If I twist my ankle there’s no way I can go on a date. You’re ready to sprint headlong onto this small mound of pebbles when it dawns on you that your hastily made plan was just that. Hastily made. You picture Roseluck standing over you, her emerald eyes looking piteously at your “injured” leg. “Want me to call a ‘whaaaa-mbulance?” you can just about hear her mocking contemptuously. In your vision, she shakes her head, disappointed, and walks away never to see you again. Then in the hospital, the ponies would probably actually injure you when they realized that human anatomy and pony anatomy don’t exactly match up… Yeah, ok, maybe not the best plan. Sighing, you steer your body away from the rocks. Besides, the last time I went to see somepony about something like that… Your mind brings up carefully vaulted memories of Twilight Sparkle haphazardly poking and prodding you with various scientific implements. You can remember the lightness in her voice as she laughs to herself after each and every mistake she makes. Session after horrible research session. How many times had you heard her say “Well, I didn’t expect that to be there!”? More than you care to admit, even to yourself… You shudder at the thought and return to reality – though you regret that decision almost immediately. While lost in your recollections, the venue, once on the horizon, had grown twice its size. You were just a couple of blocks away, and nowhere near closer to an escape. Your mind is blank; there is nothing, no way you can get out of your date. And even worse, something’s up with Roseluck. Roseluck? Her name crosses your mind. You scan your surroundings and notice the mare is still walking beside you – albeit a surprising distance to the side of you. You realize you hadn’t even considered her for the past few minutes. And now, you were going to have to spend your evening with a mare – a dear friend, granted – who would seemingly just as soon ignore your existence. Your mind races, playing out the inevitable scene that would take place in a few minutes: you two would walk in through the doors, grab a table, sit face-to-face, and once the situation called for any form of interaction, you two would stare blankly at your surroundings waiting for the concert to begin. Then, you’d wish for yourself to explode. There’s no stopping it. Your stride continues towards an inevitable awkward apocalypse. “Oh, my Luna!” You hear Roseluck shout louder than she probably intended. You turn immediately, surprised, and find her standing rigidly. A small cloud of dust billows around her hooves from her abrupt stop. She suddenly lifts her right foreleg and glances down at it quickly. “Is it Tuesday?! I-I can’t believe I forgot!” “Uh, forgot what?” you manage. It takes no more than a quick glance to see that your date is in full-blown panic. Her eyes, normally open in a soft gaze, are wide to an almost comic degree. Her face, usually showing off a welcoming smile, is twisted into a bizarre attempt to both look concerned and conceal her anxiety at the same time, however all she succeeds at is looking constipated. “Ooooooooooh!” Her voice starts loud and immediately quiets, but her speech picks up speed. She begins to pace back and forth as she wracks her brain. “You are going to kill me, you know? I totally forgot that on Tuesdays I help Daisy at her stall! We… uh, we… you know! Do… flower stuff? Yeah, it’s the day we trade flower… samples.” She looks at you, clearly desperate for you to buy her obvious lie. You almost feel bad for wanting to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Roseluck was trying to backout on your date – entirely unknowing that you were just hoping for a way to do the same. “Flower samples, huh?” “Yeah, you know, today is flower sample day! Like, tiny flowers to give away for free.” She stops pacing and tries to read your poker face. “Whoa, you think a frequent shopper like me would snag one or two of those, yeah?” She opens her mouth to respond but freezes, clearly weighing her potential responses. A soft breeze wafts by, gently blowing a strand of Rose’s raspberry mane into her face. She quickly fumbles to right to right it and continues. “It’s for my diamond tier rewards program?” Her voice is pitiful as she throws whatever response out there that seems the least absurd. “Wait, are you asking me what tier that would be? And what tier am I in then, huh?” You can no longer fight a smile from forming on your face. Despite the dread in your gut from the “plan”, you can’t help but enjoy the irony of your situation. “Well, you’re in the, uh, gold tier!” She smiles smugly and takes a step away from you, clearly preparing to leave. “Guess you gotta keep stopping by! Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been fun, but Daisy will be so mad if-” You sigh audibly. It was time to stop the charade. “You sure you’re not just… nervous?” Roseluck’s face immediately derps. “What, me?” Her voice is incredibly loud again. “That’s hilarious!” She belts out an overly enthusiastic laugh and practically sends herself into a coughing fit. “No, I’m not ‘nervous’,” she emphasizes the seeming ridiculousness of your question with air-hooves. “It’s just, my plans! I’m so busy! You must think I’m, a real idiot for messing the time up like that!” “Time, huh?” You point to her foreleg. “Nice watch.” She freezes and looks down at her bare leg. Slowly, she looks up and meets your face, her eyes full of panic. “Uh, internal body clock?” The two of you look at each other for a minute while she slowly, surely, breaks. Roseluck sighs finally and drops her head. “You’re not buying it, are you.” Her voice is suddenly weak, defeated. “I guess I kind of suck at this lying thing, don’t I?” A pang of guilt hits you when you realize that you had no intention of coming clean about your own lie You vow to make it up to her somehow… “If it helps,” your voice trails off momentarily. You find yourself rubbing the back of your head timidly. “I’m nervous about tonight too.” I have no idea what my life will be like after this whole thing, you add on silently. She looks into your eyes; her emerald gaze is captivating and her eyes almost glow in the dimming sunlight. An all too familiar warmth fills your heart. Her mane ripples gently in a breeze that casually drifts by. “I’m sorry I lied to you.” Any words you could offer to her wouldn’t be fair or do justice so you instead opt to listen. The streets of Ponyville are empty it seems, save for you two. You’ve never been so aware of Roseluck as you are now: her confident stance despite her current anxieties, the way the light-raspberry streaks in her mane sit above her eyes, even the timbre of her voice all seem new to you. “Y-you know how much…” The flowerpony seems to be struggling with her words. “How much I want this.” You nod. I’m sorry I lied to you about the date, Rose. I swear I’ll make this right. “You…” her voice trails off. Roseluck looks away, blinking back tears. You can see her body shuddering in resistance. “You know that I like you a lot.” You nod again. “I do.” You expect to be battered by a wave of guilt, but instead you feel a warmth and comfort that you hadn’t expected from her confession. Despite the seemingly endless stretch of road around you two, her presence seems to provide a sense of company and ease. As if her presence was enough for you. “Listen,” The cream-coloured mare sniffles audibly and takes an opportunity to wipe a tea from her cheek. “I guess I was just surprised that this,” she waves her foreleg back and forth between you and herself. “That this is really happening. It, well, feels kind of… surreal? A laugh escapes your lips automatically. “Yeah, I guess I can see what you mean.” You smile at the mare, one of your only friends in Equestria. Soempony you’ve trusted with everything, including (apparently, even if unwittingly) the fate of your relationship with Lyra. You begin to feel terrible for putting her in a position where you’re manipulating her feelings for you, but the thought fades, replaced instead by echoes of her confession “You know I like you a lot…” her voice carries on almost musically. “What do you say we just, you know, have some fun tonight?” You reach out and put your hand on the mare’s shoulder. “Eat some food, watch a concert. You know, just enjoy ourselves? And if it any point you feel unc0omforatble, you can ditch me. I promise I won’t judge.” Roseluck scans your face and drops her head. “And let you skip out on paying for my dinner, dessert, and additional later double-dessert post-concert?!” She looks up at you mischievously. “Fat chance!” She laughs loudly and joins your side. You feel the warmth of her body as she presses herself against you. You both exchange a look and you quickly turn your head to hide a blush. “Now let’s get inside already! I’m starving!” As you finish your walk to the venue you pause just outside the door and, in a dramatic showing, you pull out your wallet, peering inside. “Well, based on my meager funds, your meal will need to be limited to some stale bread crusts and somepony’s leftover lettuce. And, of course, all the complimentary water you can drink.” You lean down to the mare and cup your hand around her ear, whispering: “Just make sure you take as many napkins you can. I ran out back at my place!” At that, the flowerpony laughs heartily and elbows you. “Sooooooo dreamy!” She coos sarcastically as she grabs the door and opens it. As you move to step inside, Roseluck shifts her weight to block your path once more. She beams at you warmly. “Thanks for earlier.” “It’s my pleasure.” You bow dramatically. “Shall we?” Your date stifles a giggle and wraps her forelegs around you. Your heart swells – a feeling you hadn’t expected to have with Roseluck, and you find yourself fighting the urge to embrace the mare. “I’m so I could be here with you.” The affection in her voice is undeniable and continues to carry you higher. Her confession plays back in your head again and again. You expect to be wracked with guilt about the fake date but aren’t. You immediately try to feel guilty about the feelings you have for Rose while trying to win back Lyra but fail. Instead, you cannot get this image of Roseluck smiling and looking lovingly into your eyes out of your mind. You both step into the venue, side-by-side.