//------------------------------// // A Proposal Of Sorts // Story: On The Rebound // by AdmiralSassMcAwesome //------------------------------// The carriage jolted to a start as the two couples began on their way to the Opera House. Joe had never seen an opera before, and he was slightly intrigued by the whole idea of it. He had a feeling it would probably be an activity which required more refinement than that which he possessed, but it would be an experience nonetheless. He was about to ask what the opera was called when he felt something soft brush against his right, back leg and hover there. Turning immediately to Pinkie, he found her batting her eyelids rather overtly. To his horror, Twilight and Flash had averted their eyes at this display of affection. Which meant they were on her side… Not that that wasn’t to be expected, they were her friends after all. When she didn't get the desired response, Pinkie leaned in to whisper in his ear, although the pitch of her whisper was as clear as a bell to the two ponies who sat immediately in front of them,"Is something wrong?” Joe gave an uncomfortable laugh in response as he saw Twilight’s eyes move onto them momentarily in curiosity. “Uh, no.” He said softly as he put his hoof over Pinkie’s and brought the two gently to her lap. Pinkie had a look of dismay as he withdrew his hoof once hers was sufficiently rested in its much more appropriate new home. Keeping his eyes on the window of the carriage, he continued with his original ice breaker. "So, what are we seeing tonight, anyway?" Twilight smiled excitedly at this. "Oh, you're going to love it! It's based on a very famous poem by a favourite writer of mine. It's called Eugene Horseshoein. It's a story about a bachelor stallion who gluts himself on the pleasures of life until he runs away to escape the world of glamour for the quiet countryside and there he meets..." "Twilight." Flash said gently, curbing her enthusiasm. "Don't give away too much." She blushed as she realised that she had been ranting. "Sorry, Joe. I'm sure you'll like it anyway." "I'm sure you will too." Pinkie declared feeling a little left out. Twilight couldn't help but notice how awkward Joe was acting. If she didn't know him any better she'd have thought that he wasn't interested in Pinkie that way, but he had accepted her invitation, and then there was all the other stuff Pinkie had told her about. Besides, Joe was certainly not the kind of stallion who lead ponies on. He must have just felt embarrassed being in this setting with another couple. Then again, Pinkie could be a little fast moving. Twilight watched her joyous friend for a moment. Maybe I should have a word with her... *********** As the ponies arrived at the Opera House and proceeded to their seats, Twilight put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "We still have some time before the show starts, why don't we leave the stallions for a moment and, powder our noses?" Pinkie gave Twilight a confused look. "Why in Equestria would I want to put powder on my nose?" Twilight groaned a little before narrowing her eyes on her friend. "Come on, Pinkie." She said with a little push towards the restrooms. Pinkie shrugged, "Okey dokey Loki. Save me a seat Joe!" Pinkie waved back over her shoulder at Joe as the two mares entered the plush restrooms. Twilight led Pinkie over to a seat in the corner. "Aren't you going to powder your nose?" Twilight sighed. "It's used more as a figure of speech than a literal expression now. I wanted to pull you aside so we could talk." "Ohhh!" Pinkie suddenly looked intrigued, "What about? Is it about Joe? He's really something, isn't he?" Twilight gave a gentle nod. "He sure is. And..." She paused for a moment, as if making sure of the validity of the statement she was about to make. "He really likes you." Pinkie suddenly looked a little bashful. "But, I've known Joe a lot longer than you, and while I don't know him very well, I know for a fact that he hasn't had a marefriend in a long time. Possibly ever..." Pinkie stared at her blankly. "And that means," continued Twilight slowly, "that he probably needs some time to work into the swing of dating." She regarded Pinkie seriously. "Do you get where I'm going with this?" "Hmm." Pinkie raised a hoof to her chin and focused on the air in front of her eyes. "You mean like, I should take things kind of... Slow?" "Absolutely. Unless you're sure that he wants to go faster, I'd say, hold off. Just for a bit." Pinkie looked unsure which worried Twilight. She was half expecting her to argue the point. But Pinkie soon began smiling happily again, un phased. "Well, if that's what Joe wants, I don't see why I should pressure him. He is kinda shy. Which totally explains that incident in the carriage." Twilight nodded. "Good chat. Okay, lets go find the others." ********** The two stallions had decided not to enter the box until the mares returned. Flash had only ever spoken to Joe while he was ordering food so it was slightly awkward for the both of them. "So, uh. You and Pinkie, huh?" Flash remarked. Joe saw an opportunity here."Actually, I think she's confused about... Us." Joe said, relieved to be able to tell somepony else. Flash raised a blue eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Well, it's just that she was upset yesterday so of course I said yes to coming along, but she seems to think it meant that I want to go out with her or something..." "And you don't?" Flash felt alarm bells ringing in his head. Pinkie was so happy. What would she do if she found out Joe wasn't interested in her that way? "No, of course not." Joe said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Flash felt himself grow angry at Joe's flippant attitude. "Why? Isn't she good enough for you?" Joe felt a panic begin to rise in him,"I didn't mean it that way I just meant..." "We're back!" The two stallions dropped their argument as Twilight and Pinkie rejoined them. Twilight gave Flash a concerned look as she saw his nostrils flare. "Shall we go in?" Twilight asked with slight trepidation. "Of course." Flash grumbled taking Twilights hoof and leading her through the curtain. Their box had been fitted with four cushioned seats, two in front of the other on a slight angle. They were situated left centre of the stage with a fantastic view, hundreds of ponies bustling to get their seats in the stalls below. The low hums of the orchestra tuning up for the show could be heard mingling with the murmur of ponies chatting away to pass the time. Flash, much to the confusion of Twilight, had suddenly become rather pushy and pulled her down into the back two seats, mumbling something about keeping an eye on the other two. However, when Joe and Pinkie went to take their seats in front of them, Joe took a sudden step back and raised a hoof over his eyes. "Are you okay?" Pinkie asked, bouncing to his side and relishing the opportunity she got to put a hoof around his neck. "I'm fine, I'm just a little..." He moved to take his hoof away from his eyes but quickly replaced it, this time more firmly as though he intended not to remove it. "Just a little, what?" Twilight asked joining Pinkie. Flash did not move. "I... I have vertigo." Joe stammered taking another blind step backwards and nearly bumping into the wall. "Maybe we could have the back seats?" Pinkie suggested throwing a pair of eyes glistening with concern in the direction of a nonplussed Flash Sentry. Flash only responded by groaning and rolling his eyes before moving to the seat in front. Twilight shot him a look of disapproval which would have hurt him if he had not been sure that once he explained himself, Twilight would see his actions were totally justified. The first chance he got, he was going to unmask this nasty fiend. Pinkie helped Joe to his seat and he soon found himself able to bear this distance from that very sudden drop. "Feeling better?" Pinkie asked, still resting her hoof on his firm shoulder. "I think I'll be alright here." Joe nodded as he concentrated on his breathing. Pinkie couldn't help smiling. He's soooo cute when he has vertigo. I just want to hug him! Oh no, I'd better not. Afterall, he is really shy. But then she started thinking. What if he did that on purpose with the vertigo so that Twilight and Flash would switch seats with us so they weren't watching us during the show? What if he wants to hold my hoof?! Or what if... Her head was spinning as she looked at Joe who was still recovering from his dizziness by focusing on the plot overview he had received at the door. Pinkie couldn't help but wonder if Twilight was right or not? Maybe he's not that shy after all... The lights then suddenly dimmed as the overture began. Ever pony falling into a hush, while Pinkie continued becoming more and more intoxicated by her stallion friend. She was tempted to move her seat right alongside Joe's so that she could be as close to him as possible. But the possibility of what Twilight had said still remained so Pinkie decided to restrain herself, so as not to scare her lover away. ********** The curtain fell as the first act ended. Twilight contentedly sitting back, not having realised how involved she had become in the show that she had been quite literally on the edge of her seat. After taking a moment to savour the final moments of the act, Twilight turned to her friends expectantly. "So, what do you think so far?" Flash only grumbled, his attitude beginning to grate on Twilight, although he insisted he would explain himself later. Joe gave a hearty nod in approval, despite having yawned through most of the singing. Twilight was, however, overjoyed to see a weeping Pinkie who gently blew her nose on a handkerchief before proclaiming a verdict. "I can't believe how selfish Eugene is being when Tatyana's love for him is so pure. It's absolutely heart wrenching! I hope this has a happy ending, Twilight..." Twilights face fell. "Well, uh... It has a happy ending of sorts... " She said unconvincingly. "But it says in the overview that at the end..." "The overview can't give you the full sense of the story." Twilight replied snappily, causing Joe to swiftly place his copy of the overview under his seat. Pinkie, who was still sniffling gave a hefty wipe to her eyes which caused a lump of mascara to smudge across her face quite badly. Looking at the black mess on her handkerchief alerted her immediately to this, making her jump out of her seat hurriedly. "Uh, I just need to go fix myself up. I'll be right back." Twilight was about to ask if she wanted company when Pinkie was suddenly gone. "I will never understand how she does that. Maybe you can figure it out and let us know." Twilight said, giving Joe a light wink. "Not likely. " Flash interrupted. "Flash! What is wrong with you tonight?" "There's nothing wrong with me, it's what's wrong with this... This... Imposter." Flash declared pointing a hoof at a very nervous looking Joe. "What are you talking about? Don't point your hooves at other ponies that way!" To Flash's shock, Twilight knocked his hoof down causing him to snort angrily. "Flash?" Twilight was beginning to feel rather perturbed by her colt friends change of attitude. "Can't you see what's going on? Joe is playing Pinkie, he doesn't like her at all!" Twilight looked horrified by Flash's statement and was about to chide him for it when Joe spoke up. "It's not like that! I didn't want to hurt anypony. I just couldn't say no to her and she misread it. Please, I'm not like that. I don't want to upset ponies or give them false hope." It was Twilight's turn to be angry. "Well it's a little late for that, isn't it?" She sighed as she sunk back into her seat pressing her hoof into her temples. "I should've known. Pinkie's always so over the top about everything..." There was a moment of silence which followed and felt like a good year to Joe. He couldn't tell if he should just leave now or... "We're overreacting though. It's not Joe's fault. You were trying to do the right thing." Joe felt so relieved to hear this. He didn't cope well with conflict. Flash gave a gentle nod in assent to his marefriends sentiments. "Sorry, Joe. You just don't know how miserable she's been and now we're going to have to cheer her up again and..." He sighed as he thought about the two weeks ahead of them. "What if you don't tell her?" He suddenly blurted out. "Flash, how could you even suggest such a thing?" "I know how it sounds but, think about it. We would be able to spend time alone, we wouldn't have to be constantly worrying about hurting her feelings." He sighed. "I just feel like when Pinkie turned up we started walking on eggshells." Twilight looked into her colt friends eyes and gave a sigh of exasperation. "I know. But we can't ask Joe to date her for our sake. That's just... No." Flash grinned. "Who says its only for our sake? We're not asking him to date Discord." Twilight grimaced. "Flash, you can't tell somepony else who to love." "Who says he has to love her? She's only in town for another two weeks!" Flash looked at the now bewildered Joe. He wasn't sure he was hearing all this right. "Come on Joe, back me up here. Would it really be so bad to go out with Pinkie Pie?" Joe's eyes switched uncomfortably between Flash and Twilight who were respectively excited and down right annoyed. What could he say? "Joe. Seriously. Tell me you don't find Pinkie Pie attractive." Twilight let out a low growl. "I had no idea you thought so highly of Pinkie, Flash." Flash chuckled nervously as he met his marefriends narrowed eyes. "Uh, I'm a stallion. We all notice this kind of thing, its not a big deal." Twilight closed her hooves across her chest as she continued to send Flash death stares. "Just, please, think about it." Flash pleaded before turning to console Twilight. Joe's head was reeling. Flash Sentry had just asked him to go out with Pinkie Pie. Well, this was definitely not an event Joe had anticipated for the evening. It would certainly make the end of his night less scary, not to mention it would relieve him of having to face a depressed Pinkie every day of class for the next two weeks. But could he do it? "Don't listen to him, Joe. Don't even think about what he said." Twilight was suddenly saying. She had moved beside him and had been talking at him as he was thinking through his options. "He's not thinking straight." Joe nodded dumbly. He wasn't built to deal with these kinds of situations. He felt totally overwhelmed. His hooves had even begun shaking again. He knew there was a reason he had wanted to run a business on his own, not to me mention he was steadily being reminded why he avoided social outings. Before he knew it, Pinkie was sitting beside him again and she was now chattering away about something or other. "What do you think?" She suddenly asked. Joe stared at her, mystified. It was as though she had appeared from thin air."About what?" Pinkie raised an eyebrow at him. "Weren't you listening? I was asking you what you thought would happen in the next act of the show." Joe shook his head to clear his thoughts some more. "I have no idea." "Well, I personally believe that Eugene will come back for Tatyana. There's just no other way around it." With all these new thoughts spinning in his head, Joe regarded Pinkie Pie intently. "What makes you so sure?" She giggled. "Duh, because she loves him. Does he need any other reasons?" Joe had to smile at her innocence. To his surprise, he felt like entering this interchange. "But, think about it from Eugene's perspective. He's a lot older than her and he's experienced so much more. He doesn't have any illusions about things like love anymore and he knows that even if they're happy for a while, they'll probably end up hating each other eventually. That's just how things are." Pinkie blinked several times as she took in what he was saying. "But that's so silly. Who says it will be that way? Why give all those other mares a chance only to stop now. Who's to say that Tatyana's love isn't truer than the mares before her?" "Maybe that's not the problem. Maybe Eugene is afraid more of himself and his failings in love. Maybe he doesn't know whether he's capable of returning her affection." "Maybe? Who stops at maybe? Life is about taking chances, and until you do that maybe will stay the same; uncertain. But isn't it better to know for sure?" Joe hesitated to respond. Had this conversation somehow become about him? He had read the plot overview before, but the previous conversation had wiped the details of it from his mind. He knew it ended tragically but... "Ha. See, you can't argue with that." Pinkie smiled gleefully and clapped her hooves together as the orchestra begun to play again. As the second act wore on, Joe felt a new attachment to the opera. He suddenly felt as though it may hold some truth in it as far as the Pinkie dilemma was concerned. Admittedly, the majority of the opera could never apply to them, but there was a subtle truth in it that Joe felt acutely drawn to. He felt his blood boil alongside the hero as he viewed the downtrodden Tatyana, tormented at her fete. There was no denying the connection between the two characters. Eugene did love Tatyana, even if only a little. At this thought, Joe looked askance at Pinkie Pie who was wrapped in the plot line, her inner romantic revealing itself. Her small chest heaved in and out quite noticeably bobbing the pink ribbon upon it, as she allowed herself to be totally consumed by the emotions being transmitted to the audience. Joe wanted to laugh at how ridiculous she looked with the candy trimmings on her clothes, but at the same time he couldn't help admitting that Flash had been right about her. She was very attractive. The feelings that had stirred in Joe earlier today returned to him rather too quickly making him blush. He silently thanked Celestia that it was dark in the theatre as he returned his attention to the stage. ************ The show had long since ended and the two couples had decided to walk back to the castle, Joe offering chivalrously to escort Pinkie back, despite it lengthening his trip home. Pinkie had been rather distraught over the opera's ending. "I thought you said it was happy!" "I said it was in a way. And it was." Twilight confirmed stubbornly. "How?" Twilight sighed. "In the end he loved her back. How isn't that happy?" "Oh, I don't know, because they couldn't be together maybe?" Flash laughed at the two mares as he walked several paces behind them with Joe. He hadn't said much on the way back, he had seemed rather solemn actually. "Have you decided what you're going to do?" Flash asked quietly. Joe was still thinking about the end of the opera. Eugene had ended up being alone after realising too late that he did in fact love Tatyana. If he had given her a chance to begin with... "I think so." Joe said abruptly.