Octavia sat in front of the mirror, debating with herself whether or not she should wear her pink bow tie to lunch with Ditzy. The argument went back and forth between I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard and what if she thinks I'm not trying hard enough? She had been having this internal debate for the past hour and she wasn't any closer to making a decision than when she started.
"Gah!" she yelled, throwing the bow tie at the mirror. "Why does this have to be so difficult?!" She flopped backwards onto the bed behind her and sighed in exasperation, covering her face with her hooves. She turned and peeked at the clock on the night stand. She was supposed to be meeting Ditzy in half an hour and she hadn't even decided what to wear yet.
She sighed again, this time in resignation. She rolled off the bed and onto her hooves. Pausing there, she closed her eyes and dug deep down inside herself, trying to scrape together enough courage to leave the house. It was a close call, but she met her quota.
Nodding to herself, she opened her eyes, newfound determination lighting a fire behind them. "Right. No bow tie."
Having leaped the largest hurdle so far, Octavia went back to the mirror and gave herself one final glance-over. Showered? Check. Teeth brushed? Check. Mane combed? Check. Alright. Watch out, Ponyville, 'cause here comes Octavia.
With a confidence she never felt before, Octavia charged out of her bedroom, down the hall, thrust the front door open and leaped outside into the sunlight. She stopped there on her doorstep as cold reality suddenly started creeping up on her. She had no idea where Sugar Cube Corner was.
~ ~ ~
Ditzy Doo was humming merrily to herself as she flew, wearing her mail-carrier hat with her mailbag slung loosely over her shoulder. The next stack of letters in her hooves were addressed to Ponyville's only cloud home, the residence of one Rainbow Dash.
Ditzy landed with a gentle poof in front of the impressive cloud structure just as Rainbow Dash herself was emerging, undoubtedly having been asleep until just moments before.
"Morning, Dash!" Ditzy said brightly as she trotted up to the mail slot.
Rainbow yawned loud and long before she replied sleepily. "Morning, Derpy." Usually, the use of her nickname would have put Ditzy off, but nothing could ruin her good spirits today as she continued humming happily. Rainbow Dash took note of her peppiness.
"You're in a good mood today," she said, eyeing the mailmare suspiciously. "What's up?"
"I met somepony last night!" Ditzy exclaimed as she pushed the letters through the mail slot, unable to keep the smile from her face.
"Really?!" Dash exclaimed. "I mean, uh, good for you, Ditzy. That's great."
Ditzy seemed completely oblivious to her surprise. "I know, isn't it? And we're meeting today for lunch!"
"Wow, he must be totally into you then."
"No, silly!" Ditzy said with a giggle, Rainbow's implication going right over her head. "She's a mare!"
"What?!"
"Uh oh, I gotta go or else I'll be late. Bye, Rainbow Dash!"
Ditzy took off, leaving a speechless Rainbow Dash sitting on her doorstep, jaw hanging loosely in shock.
~ ~ ~
Octavia stepped nervously through the crowded market, attempting to find somepony to ask for directions. The only problem was she couldn't find a single pony who didn't scare her half to death. After realizing her catastrophic blunder of not getting directions from Ditzy the previous evening, she was sucked dry of every ounce of her courage. It took all of her willpower to not just go back inside and pretend she didn't have anywhere to be. Now here she was, trying to pick the friendliest face out of the crowd to approach, a task that she found increasingly hopeless.
Calm down she told herself. You can do this. Just walk up to somepony and--
"Well howdy there, sugar cube!" Octavia let out a surprised eeep! and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the orange mare at the applecart she was next to speak directly to her. "Whoa, easy there, nelly. Heh, yer a jumpy one, ain't ya?"
"W...I-I, I, uh..." Octavia found that her ability to speak had checked out early, leaving her stuttering like a newborn foal.
The pony grabbed Octavia's hoof and began shaking it thoroughly, almost roughly, an act that nearly caused the musician to feint. "A mare a few words, eh? That's good, words are more trouble than they're worth. The name's Applejack, but ya can call me AJ. Lemme guess: ya wanted ta buy some apples, am Ah right?"
Octavia realized she had to respond or risk losing her hoof to this salespony. "Ah, Actually, um... I w-was wondering if you could tell me how to get to S-Sugar Cube Corner."
Applejack finally released her hoof, much to the mare's relief. "Well why didn't ya say so? It's the big pink buildin' right over there. Tell Pinkie Pie that I sent ya and she'll even give ya a discount," she added with a wink.
"Oh, alright. Ah, thank you."
"Don't mention it, sugar cube."
Octavia sighed as she walked away from the mare, relieved that she had escaped that near-death experience with nothing more than shaken nerves. She had no idea what a Pinkie Pie was, but if it had anything to do with Applejack, she knew she wanted to steer well clear of it.
She entered Sugar Cube Corner hesitantly, the little silver bell above the door announcing her presence in the most helpful way. She scanned the interior, looking for that familiar blonde mane. The store was crowded, but there were still a few unoccupied tables here and there. There were only a small number of ponies in line at the counter, as well.
"Hey, Octavia!" Octavia was relieved to hear Ditzy's overly-enthusiastic voice calling out to her from the far side of the room. She couldn't help but smile warmly when she managed to spot her over the crowd. She was surprised to see her wearing a mailmare's uniform. So that was the job that she was walking home from last night.
Octavia began making her way over to Ditzy, navigating the crowd as best she could.
"Hi, Ditzy," she said as soon as she got within talking distance. "How are... you..." Octavia's voice trailed off as she saw what was sitting on the table in front of the mare. It was a pyramid. A pyramid of muffins. A pyramid of muffins that reached up to nearly touch the ceiling.
"Hi, Octavia! I bought us some food already. I hope you don't mind." She flew up to the top of the monument and grabbed the highest muffin, stuffing the whole thing in her mouth at once. Her mismatched eyes closed in bliss as she savored its taste.
Octavia found herself laughing, charmed by Ditzy's eccentricity. "Do you plan on eating all those by yourself?" she asked with an amused smirk.
"Of course not, silly! You get half. Ooh, but I want most of the blueberry ones. Oh, and banana nut. I love banana nut. And cranberry. Hmm, maybe we should order some more..."
"I think we'll be alright with these," Octavia said, dissuading her from the idea quickly.
"If you say so," Ditzy shrugged.
The two sat and talked as they ate their lunch, the minutes passing slowly as they enjoyed each others company. Ditzy was the one who did most of the talking. And the eating. Octavia was content to sit and merely listen as Ditzy talked about her various interests and hobbies, many of which were somehow muffin related.
There were many things other than muffins she enjoyed, however. Ditzy talked fondly of cloud gazing, and how her mother used to sit on the clouds with her when she was a filly as they told each other what pictures they saw in the sky. Of her job and how much she loved seeing the smiles on ponies faces when she delivered their mail. Of her cutie mark and how she thought the bubbles represented her bubbly personality.
Octavia was quiet for the most part, only offering her input occasionally and sometimes laughing at Ditzy's jokes. She felt happy listening to her friend talk about everything and nothing. It was the same happy feeling she had felt last night after meeting the mare, the kind that rose in her chest until she felt light as a feather. Was this what she had been missing for all her life? Friendship?
"Octavia? Hellooooo? Anypony home?"
Octavia shook herself, realizing she had spaced out for a minute. "Oh. Sorry, Ditzy. What'd you say?"
"I asked what do you like to do for fun." Ditzy said as she took another muffin from the severely-diminished pyramid.
"For fun?" Octavia asked, her brain taking a moment to start back up.
"Yeah. You know. 'Whoohoo!' Fun."
Octavia couldn't remember the last time anything made her go whoohoo. "Well... uh... I like playing the cello..."
"I know that, silly!" Ditzy said with a laugh. "I meant what else do you do for fun?"
"Um... Well, I... uh..." Ditzy waited patiently for Octavia to answer, but she couldn't think of anything other than her cello. Was she really that boring? The thought scared her to no end. What if Ditzy thought she was boring? What if she didn't want to be friends with her anymore?!
"I think I know what the problem is," Ditzy said suddenly. Octavia froze, terrified of the next words to come out of her mouth. You're too boring to have any fun. I don't want to be your friend anymore.
"You need a teacher!"
Octavia looked at her with a blank stare. "Huh?"
"Yep! You need somepony to teach you how to have fun, and I'm just the pony for the job!" Ditzy said with a confident expression, saluting with her hoof. "Come on!" She flew over to Octavia and hooked her hooves around her, half dragging, half carrying her through the restaurant towards the door, her mail hat and bag forgotten along with the remnants of the muffin monument. Octavia felt the crushing weight of embarrassment as the other patrons looked on in amusement.
"H-hey! Ditzy!" Her objections fell on deaf ears as her friend continued dragging her outside and towards the Ponyville Lake. What have I gotten myself into? she wondered.