//------------------------------// // Movie Night I : Scripted // Story: A Study In Nonsense // by Professor Piggy //------------------------------// The movie – and that was indeed the title it deserved, being completely unworthy of being called a film - was, to put it as politely as she possibly could, an affront to every good movie that had come before it. No, she amended, that wasn’t entirely true – it was in fact an affront to every movie that managed even mediocrity. The acting was terrible, the plot entirely incomprehensible, and the characters as unlikable as the actors - and there wasn’t even any eye candy to distract her. Or at least, none on the screen. Keeping her ever more forced smile firmly in place she slowly turned to her companion, and for a moment she almost forgot her irritation. Fluttershy was beautiful. She had known that already, of course – anypony could see it – but it never ceased to amaze her how that smile, and those sparkling, excited eyes could make even the most unbearable of tortures somehow wonderful. Really, she would have sat through any number of abominations any number of times if it meant making Fluttershy happy, meant she would smile. It wasn’t like she needed her brain cells all that much – and they’d grow back. She could sacrifice a few, for the mare she loved. “Oh, Butterscotch,” the stallion on screen said in a faltering, stilted tone that fully matched his expression, “I’m so fortunate that you were there to stop those frogs from burning down my film studio – the very film studio left to me by my parents, so long ago! If you hadn’t somehow used magic to turn them back into ponies despite the fact that you’re clearly a Pegasus, I would be ruined!” The other stallion turned back to what’s-his-face with a smile, before frowning, before smiling again, before looking away shyly. “Oh.” He said dully, “Um. Elusive. Er. That is to say that. I um.” The first one – Elusive, that was it – stepped forward and placed a hoof on Butterscotch’s cheek. “It will all be okay, Butterscotch. You can tell me anything.” “Well. Um. Er. I um. If you er. If you um insist um. You see…” Butterscotch spun on a hoof, rose to his forelegs and… Rarity let out a soft sigh and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help it. A horn materialised on his forehead – not even a well made horn, either. It was clearly plastic and she could see the wires and ugh. Then the Pegasus that wasn’t apparently cried to the heavens “I AM AN ALICORN!” Elusive gasped, and so did Fluttershy. She would, she decided, be having a very long and very serious talk with Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the advice the Pegasus had given her – she’d never have known that her girlfriend wanted to see this trash otherwise – but fair was fair. And fair meant that Rainbow Dash was going to hear every single tiny detail. And furthermore, she was going to gush. She was very, very good at gushing. ------ It was a terrible movie. Well, no – maybe that wasn’t fair of her to say. She was sure that the ponies making it had tried their very best, and it wasn’t as though she had ever made a movie, so she really couldn’t judge. Not to mention that it might hurt their feelings, and she was sure they were lovely ponies even if they hadn’t made the best choices when they made this one movie. It wasn’t a great movie. That was better. Nicer. It wasn’t a great movie, and she really had no idea what was going on anymore – the characters seemed to change backstories and motivation at random, and now that Butterscotch pony was an alicorn as well as Elusive secretly being an Alicorn and it was all very confusing. But she was having fun. Not because of the movie – although there were almost certainly ponies who would have loved it, and it wasn’t anypony’s fault that it didn’t quite suit her tastes. Really it was probably her fault for not being open minded enough. But that wasn’t the point – the point was that she was having a good time, because she was with Rarity. And so she smiled. It was a real smile, even if she’d had to force it to be there after Rarity started shooting her concerned glances every few seconds. She couldn’t let on that she didn’t like the movie – not when Rarity had wanted to see it so badly. And Rarity really did seem to be having a good time – her smile hadn’t faltered, even once, and that was enough for Fluttershy. Well, almost enough. Slowly, daringly, with her heart beating in her ears, she leaned across and rested her head on Rarity’s shoulder, snuggling close to the mare she loved. As Rarity leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead, Fluttershy’s smile grew a little wider. This had been a wonderful idea, and a wonderful evening – she would have to remember to thank Rainbow for telling her Rarity wanted to see the gar – movie. She would never have guessed, on her own.