Wensley walked down the road of the Crystal Empire. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, only a few clouds in the sky, and he was fed and rested. He was only missing one thing. It wasn't even a big thing, really, if one got down to thinking about it.
He had lousy luck with the ladies. He rubbed the side of his head. Was that fair to say it like that? He'd just struck out with the two he had come into contact with. One... just kinda fizzled and they went their own ways. The other was abusive and almost killed him. Was it wrong that he still kinda missed 'em both?
"Sorry." He had been spacing out and almost crashed into somepony. "I should pay more attention to what's in fronta me."
The mare he had almost bumped in, but didn't actually crash into seemed far more amused than annoyed. "Got something big on your mind?"
"Huh, uh..." Well, yes, but not something he was sure he should share with a mare he just ran into... Wait? "Haven't we met before?"
Shifting Prism considered Wensley a moment before she clopped a hoof down. "Wensley? Wow, it's been a minute!"
"Shifting... Prism was it?" He smiled at the curious crystal bat before him. He'd never seen a crystal bat pony anywhere else. Shoot, he'd never even seen a not-crysal bat pony anywhere else. She was one of a kind. "Mighty nice runnin' into ya. How are things treatin' ya?"
Shifting Prism smiled at Wensley, pleased he remembered her name. "Things have been pretty good! Busy with my art projects and such. What about you? Staying out of trouble I hope?" She gave him a playful wink.
Wensley chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I try my best. Can't say it's been the smoothest ride lately." His expression turned more serious.
Shifting tilted her head, her ears perking up with concern. She could tell something was bothering him. "Hey, want to take a walk? You can tell me about it."
Wensley nodded and soon they were strolling through the crystal gardens together as he unloaded about his dating woes. Shifting listened intently, offering sympathy and perspective whenever she could.
"But hey, don't lose hope," she said gently. "There's lots of mares out there. Just gotta find the right one who likes you for you."
Wensley smiled, feeling a bit better. "Think yer right. Sure is nice to talk it out." He glanced at his companion. "What about you? Any fellas catch your eye?"
Shifting blushed under her crystalline fur. "Oh, not really." She avoided his gaze. Wensley suddenly wondered if he should've kept his big mouth shut. But it was too late now.
"Well hey, ya never know," he offered awkwardly. "Could be there's someone out there ya just haven't met yet."
Shifting smiled softly. "Maybe." They walked in amiable silence for a while, simply enjoying the day together.
Wensley couldn't keep it entirely to himself. The burning need to know was simply too great. "So... Didn't work out, with--"
She slapped a hoof over his mouth, glaring death at him a moment before it broke. "Sorry, sorry... You didn't do anything wrong... No..." She sighed softly and turned to resume their walk. "I don't want to badmouth her, but she gave me a fine reason to."
Wensley sped up to be at her side. "Hey... Um, Ah know your problems ain't mine. Each pony's got their own... Um, but been in a similar place... Um... If it helps, one of mine was doin' their best to kill me, and ah ain't even lyin'."
Shifting gasped with alarm, circling in front of him. "Are you okay?! What'd she do, grab a knife?!" Her wings were spread wide to either side. "Are you okay?!"
Wensley patted himself down, as if he'd find something that had gone wrong that he'd just missed. "Seem to be alright. She didn't try ta attack me straight like that. It was... complicated. Ah'm sure it was complicated fer you too."
"Yeah..." Shifting squirmed in place. "Yeah. Um... Do you still talk with her, or is she out of your life?"
"We still talk, once in a while." He gestured ahead, prompting the walk to continue. "We weren't good for each other, so we broke up. No hard feelin's."
"Yeah." She shook her head. Had to use more words than that. "It was like that, in a way." She frowned sharply. "Even if mine was all her fault!"
Wensley dared to brush against her side. "Wanna talk about it?"
"If I start, I won't be able to stop." Shifting skewed a tufted ear. "You sure you want to open that bottle?"
"If it makes ya feel better, sure." He considered a moment. "Ah'll tell ya about mine afterwards. Fair trade."
"It's a short story, really..." Despite her former words to the otherwise. Shifting led the way towards a vendor offering snowcones and casually bought one for either of them. She held hers in a wing, chomping the sweet frozen bliss. "Mmm, okay, if you really want to know... We were getting along, really well... We were even talking about gru--Foals." She colored, not with shame, but building anger.
"Then... what happened?" Wensley held his attached to a hoof, but wasn't really eating it. His attention was on Shifting. "Did she forget somethin'?"
"Yes." Shifting chomped and her snowcone was gone, eaten in one massive bite. "She forgot she had a steady girlfriend! She cheated... Found another mare that caught her eye and just went to town... I didn't ask for the specifics." She shuddered lightly. "That isn't my business, just that it happened."
"No!" Wensley recoiled in shocked horror. "Umbra? Really? Wow..." He clopped a hoof to his cheek, snowcone falling to the ground. "I wouldn't guessed it in a thousand moons, uh, not that ah'm doubtin' ya. Ya got no reason to do that."
Shifting kicked a pebble, her ears flattening with remembered hurt. "After everything we'd been through, I never thought she'd do that. But I guess I didn't really know her after all."
Wensley gave her a comforting pat on the back. "Aw, I'm real sorry to hear that. Ain't right, what she did. I know it probably don't help much, but she made a real bad mistake there."
Shifting nodded, taking a deep breath. "You're right, it doesn't change anything. But thanks for listening. I try not to badmouth her too much, but it's hard sometimes."
She managed a little smile. "I do appreciate you being a friend right now. And you're right - the future's looking brighter every day. Especially without her in it!"
Wensley tipped his hat supportively as they continued on. "Now how's about you tell me about those new art pieces? I could go for some nicer topics after all that."
Shifting quirked a little smile. "You're not a gem pony."
"Sure ain't?" He lifted a hoof into view. Nope, he wasn't made of crystals. "But ah can 'ppreciate a pretty one."
She burst into laughter. "Are you trying to be slick? You'll make a mare think things."
He darkened at the accusation. "Um... Not that you aren't a right pretty mare, but ah meant ah can enjoy a well cut gem. How's it goin'?"
Shifting reached back with a wing, drawing out a glittering purple crystal to show off. "Here's one I'm nursing to life."
Wensley paused to clap appreciatively, clopping his hooves together. "That looks right nice." It wasn't done though, even he could see that. "Bet it'll be even better when yer done."
Shifting smiled, though she tucked the crystal away. "It'll become part of a larger piece, when it's ready. Um... You like art?"
"Ah like pretty things. Why shouldn't a pony?" He coughed into a hoof gently. "Now, ah got a question, an' please don't take this the wrong way, ma'am."
Shifting raised a doubting brow high. "Well, now I have to hear. Tell me your question, and if it's dumb, you're getting a wing to the head." It didn't sound like a very serious threat as threats went.
Wensley waved over Shifting's form. "Ain't never seen a crystal bat pony anywhere else afore. Are ya really the only one or am ah jus' really bad at findin'--" He recoiled as Shifting bopped him on the head with a wing, as she had promised. "Sorry!"
"Rude!" She stuck out her tongue at him, but her smile returned with a little giggle. "Silly. Um..." She curled a hoof to her chin. "Um... I'm the only one, I think..."
Shifting shuffled her hooves a bit, looking introspective. "I guess I am pretty unique, being the only crystal bat pony around," she mused.
Wensley nodded, rubbing his head where she had whapped him. "Sure seems that way! Ain't never seen another like ya." He paused, considering his words carefully. "If ya don't mind me askin'...how'd that happen exactly? Were ya just born special or...?"
He trailed off awkwardly, not wanting to pry too much if it was sensitive. But Shifting didn't seem offended by his curiosity.
"To be honest, I'm not really sure," she admitted. "My parents were just normal crystal ponies. The doctors were surprised when I came out looking like this." She flexed her wings.
"They said it was some kind of spontaneous mutation. One-in-a-million chance kinda thing. So I've just always been the odd one out." She shrugged. "I don't mind though. It makes me unique!" She glanced away, knowing it was all a lie.
Wensley smiled warmly. "I'd say so! Ain't nothin' wrong with standin' out from the crowd. And ya seem right at home here in the Crystal Empire, if ya ask me."
Shifting smiled back gratefully. "Yeah, everypony here has been really nice. I do feel at home." She gave him a playful nudge. "And it's nice to have a new friend who doesn't think I'm too weird."
"Not at all!" Wensley said seriously. "Yer special, no doubt about it. But in a good way!" He jumped forward. "If ah had pretty wings like that, ah'd wanna show 'em off, maybe too much. Probably fer the best ah ain't got 'em."
Shifting snickered at the earth pony's feeble attempt at flight. "They're not that pretty." She spread them at the prompting. "What's so great about them?"
"What ain't great about them?" He slowed until he could nose at one of her wings easily. "All soft here." He advanced to get at the bones of her wings. "And fuzzy here. They're great! An' they let ya fly, right? What about 'em ain't kinda great?"
Shifting wriggled her wings, folding them the moment Wensley's face wasn't buried in one of them. "Cut that out! Each kind of pony is special." She tossed her head at Wensley. "That includes earth ponies."
Wensley perked his ears at that. "Really? What's so special 'bout an earth pony that any other pony can't do?"
"For one..." She rolled a hoof in the air, stopping her forward motion. "They're tough." She thumped Wensley in the chest. "You sound like you were being attacked, literally, and here you are, laughing it off. That mighta... It might have ended another pony."
Wensley cringed back at the idea. "Shoot! Um... I'd hope not. Almost glad it went to me in that case..." He glanced around. "But most crystal ponies are earth ponies too, so... Odds are good?"
"Maybe." Shifting prodded him. "But I told you what happened to me. It's your turn. I want to hear as many details as you're alright sharing. What did this mystery pony do, exactly?"
"They weren't a pony, 'xactly..." Wensley awkwardly rubbed a leg with a hoof at the admission. "Don't think less ah me fer it..."
Shifting's ears danced. "Not a pony? You're alright with not-ponies?"
"If they're nice. Um, but this one wasn't even nice, not really... Ah was in a dark place, and she was all too happy to welcome me into the darkness with her."
So he told her of his nightmarish time with an umbrum for a girlfriend.