I woke up early that afternoon, stretching out my wings and limbs carefully before I stepped outside my cloud house. I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of fresh snow. The scheduled storm appeared to be winding down, but some of the clouds still appeared darker than they should, still heavy with snow. Another error from the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. I was sure the day team could handle it, but I made a mental note to triple check to be sure any remnant clouds were cleared up tonight so that the snow didn't end up out of control.
Before my shift started I had plans. That was a strange notion since I’d barely ever had plans in the five years I’d lived in Ponyville. I was meeting Mahogany at the Seapony again, breakfast tea in the late afternoon before I worked through the night. I could be a drinking buddy of sorts, make a few other friends, and eventually, I’d run into Dusky again.
I slipped into my flight satchels, checking the flaps to ensure that everything was properly secured. Fetlock Falls.
I smiled, almost not willing to believe it was even possible for it to all work out. We’d travel together, enjoy the Festival, and well... be together. It would be perfect.
---
The bar was pleasantly quiet when I arrived, Mahogany at the table the group seemed to usually frequent in the otherwise empty surroundings. I went to the bar to get a cup of my favorite chamomile tea, while Mahogany had already started with a Buzzard. I sat besides him, facing the fireplace and watching it flicker peacefully. Every so often, I glanced back at the door in anticipation, thinking of Dusky. But of course it wasn't Dusky who entered.
“There he is.” A red glow surrounded my tea cup, sliding it out of my forehooves and away from me. I flailed for the cup, but Terrabona was at my side, her horn glowing as she set the cup down just out of reach. “Alright flyboy. Just spit it out, I want details.”
I tilted my head up to look at her. “Just... spit it out? But… I like my tea. W-what are we talking about?”
Terrabona grinned, glancing at Mahogany who raised his glass to her in salute. “We need to talk about you and a certain mare. I know it all, so just fess up.”
My jaw dropped as I followed Terrabona’s look towards my friend. “M-Mahogany... you told her? Y-you told her about my confession?”
Mahogany raised his free hoof to his face and sighed. “Nope. I didn't. I promised I wouldn't. But you did. Just now. Smoooooooth.”
As she slipped into the seat across from me, Terrabona cackled wickedly. “I knew it! Now come clean! Tell me all about her.”
My ears dropped, heart beating under the pressure of Terrabona’s gaze. “I... I... s-she... t-that is... D-D—”
With a smack of satisfaction, Mahogany knocked back his drink and casually interrupted. “He’s got a crush on Dusky.”
Terrabona let out a sigh as she shook her head. “Well, obviously, but I was trying to get him to say it.”
He grinned back at her. “I already saw this show and didn't want to sit through it again. Sorry if I ruined the ending, I’ve never liked suspense movies.”
My cheeks burned red as I glanced between the two of them. “I... w-was going... to um... going to ask her... on a d-date.”
With a sudden outburst, Terrabona clapped her hooves excitedly. “Perfect! I was going to say you needed to take the initiative, but you’re way ahead of me!”
I flinched at the noise nearly as much as at the attention. “Well... I um... I still h-have to ask her.”
“You worry too much. You’ll ask her out, and it’ll be fine!”
With a snort, Mahogany leaned towards me, dismissively waving a hoof at Terrabona. “Or you’ll mess it up, make a total foal of yourself, and then have to ditch town.”
My eyes went wide as I leaned away nervously. “W-why would you say that?”
He gave a shrug and glanced at his now empty drink. “Just trying to help you imagine the worst thing possible so that if she doesn't issue a restraining order, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!”
Terrabona’s expression looked like it could cut through stone as she glared at Mahogany, before she relented and turned back to me. “Look, I’ll be honest Flurry, it might not work out. But if she can’t handle you being a little blundery, well…” She trailed off and just gave me a small smile.
I took a deep breath and tried to release the tension building up in my legs. “It’s just... so hard. I get so nervous around her... a-and with ponies in general... especially with her.”
Mahogany nodded, glancing around the empty bar. “Getting him to come here was a scheme which took years to execute! And now he won’t even have any booze to loosen his tongue!”
Terra grinned at me. “Oh he doesn't need booze. It might help. But what he needs is practice!” She leaned in, studying me like a fresh apple in the market. “Alright Flurry. Tell me, what are you going to say to Dusky next time you see her?”
My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I just stared at Terrabona, feeling my face go red as I began to deflate in place. “I... don't know…”
“Then it's time to figure it out!”
Mahogany sniggered into his drink, his voice full of sarcastic glee. “Yeah, show us your weapons, Casanova.”
Terra shushed Mahogany, but her grin wasn't innocent either. “Look Flurry, there's no one else here. Mahogany already knows. I already know. Just imagine she's right here. Close your eyes and just think of what you wish you could say to her.”
I backed away from her ever so slightly, the way she was looking at me just made me even more uncomfortable with the whole situation. I gave out a sigh, knowing she wouldn't let up. “A-alright... just... give me a second.”
The grin on her face widened and I started to wonder if this was all a terrible mistake. Mahogany wasn't much better, although he stayed quiet and just nodded lazily behind his glass. I cleared my throat, and closed my eyes, casting forth to see her in my mind. Dusky Down.
“Dusky, since the first day I saw you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you.” I bit back the stutter, letting the words flow out now that I'd begun. “I... I'd been trying to get the courage to talk to you, but, I couldn't... I gave you the earmuffs you found. I left them there for you.”
“And now, I just wish that I could be brave enough to tell you... to say how much I love you... and to hope... That you'd look at me... and maybe see... just how special you are to me…”
I trailed off, sighing again just slightly. Why couldn't it be so easy to just say that to her face? Maybe I did need practice. I opened my eyes, only to be met with a vision of rapidly flailing hooves. “I... Terrabona? Why are you... what’s wrong with your legs?”
Her face wasn't the same devious smirk anymore; instead, she wore a panicked look. She finally stopped waving her hooves long enough to glance behind me and shout out. “Oh, uh... Hi, Dusky! Fine evening we're having!”
The voice behind me stopped my heart. “Uh, hi.”
“Um... what?” I didn't want to believe it. It had to be a cruel joke. My eyes darted first to Terrabona's, then to Mahogany's. They were both locked onto whoever was behind me. I forced myself to turn my head, blood rushing to my face. It was Dusky, I already knew. She peered at us, at me, a grim look upon her face. I barely squeaked out an answer. “H-hi?”
Nothing. Silence. I felt my face continue to redden and I wanted nothing more than to simply disappear from the face of Equestria. There was no hope that she hadn't heard anything. At best, maybe she believed I was talking about somepony else. “I... did... how... um... how long were you standing there...?”
At the table, Terrabona coughed quietly and shoved one of her whiskey glasses to me. It skidded to a halt at my side, and I eyed it cautiously, anything to keep my focus away from Dusky.
Dusky's voice remained steady. “Long enough to hear the whole thing.”
“Um... oh…” So she knew. It was hopeless. I didn't think then, my mind too clouded by my own doubts. I grabbed the whiskey and with only a momentary look at the golden liquid I raised the glass and poured it all into my mouth.
I think part of me believed it would make me feel better, or stronger, or somehow confident. I'd watched Mahogany and Terrabona drinking the stuff, certainly. I couldn't have predicted the burning in my mouth and throat. It was like trying to drink fire and I responded as one might expect. Wracked with coughing, I spit the liquid back up onto the bar floor.
My voice was hoarse as I struggled to regain my voice, the weakness of my words only matched by how weak I felt just then. “Well... I meant it.”
It was out in the open now, no sense denying it.
“I could tell.” Her voice was a bit strained, the very edge of her patience was worn out.
Everything was falling apart. This was why I shouldn't have come to the bar, why ponies were better off without me around. I was just an awful, awkward mess. I stumbled away from the table, not daring to look up. “I should... I should probably go…”
“Wait, Night Flurry.” Her voice cut through the haze. I looked to her. “Can we talk? In private?”
There was perhaps a brief twitch in her eye, nothing more. No anger there. No mockery. But why? Why in private? To humiliate me alone? Shout me down for even daring to think I was good enough for her? It was probably what I deserved. “Um... Yeah... yeah... wherever you want…”
Dusky turned aside and headed towards the back of the bar, towards a small hallway lined by several private rooms. I nervously took a step to follow after. I gave a sad look at Terrabona, who smiled at me apologetically, mouthing “Hooves crossed!”
I just nodded in response and followed after Dusky.
Once inside the back room, she pointed me over to a table far from the door, and without fanfare I crossed over to take a seat. Terrabona's gesture still echoed in my thoughts, and I smiled just a little as Dusky looked my way, still hoping for something beyond utter disaster.
Dusky silently waited at the door, her dark coat blending into the shadows. I started to open my mouth, confused, but she held up a hoof. I dropped back down in the seat, staying quiet. I could feel my heart beating harder, the wait was almost torture of its own.
Her voice suddenly lashed out like a whip. “Terra, I know you’re there! Cut it out!”
She waited a moment longer, then nodded in satisfaction at the faint murmurs through the door. She sighed and turned to face me, her face still just as stern with me as it had been with Terrabona.
She looked at me a moment, and I turned my eyes away. A slight sigh, and she moved closer, taking the seat at the table across from me. I felt her gaze, but she was still quiet. It felt like it dragged on for hours, although I can't imagine she'd have waited more than a few minutes. I dared to look up, my eyes meeting hers. Those beautiful eyes that drew me in and held me down.
Her eyes were hard, unwavering, uncompromising. “Look, Night Flurry, the whole romantic speech thing is flattering, but we hardly know each other. It makes the entire thing lose all of its weight.”
Defeated, I dropped my gaze. “I... I know... maybe... I um... well... this is my fault... I knew I shouldn't have listened to them…”
“Terra?” She asked, but I was sure she already knew the answer.
I gave a simple nod, not meeting her eyes again.
“Right.”
I closed my eyes a moment, taking a long breath. I had to come clean. She knew now, how I felt. It was already too late to disguise it. “Maybe it's just a crush, but maybe not.”
My eyes rose up towards her hopefully, but her expression remained the same. “I don't know... I really want to learn more about you, and to make this work.. but... I'm... I'm not very good at it…”
She suddenly looked worn down, tired. “Okay, slow down. Let’s start at friends. It’s simple and will let you sort your feelings out. From there we’ll have to wait and see. And if you’re really serious about getting to know me, the first thing you have to do is stop following me around.”
I felt the blush that burned across my face as I drooped down. She was tired. Tired of being followed. Tired of me. She knew. She'd known before I opened my mouth tonight, I felt like I could die right then and there.
Still, what she'd said. As I processed it, what she wanted from me wasn't for me to leave her alone. It wasn't for me to never talk to her again, which surely I deserved to be told. Let's start at friends. “I... would like that. T-to be friends. I'm... sorry. I'll just... take it down a notch... a few notches.”
I couldn't stop the nervous smile from peeking onto my face.
She breathed out quietly, granting me a slight smile of her own. “That would be a good start.”
“I won't make any promises that I'll stop feeling this way…” I cringed. It was the truth, and no matter how I tried, that wouldn't change. “but... I'll try to keep it more... um... civil... sorry…”
“I guess that will have to do.” Her voice maintained that same tone.
My mind drifted to my plan. The two of us, together. I looked at Dusky, trying to force myself to talk again and ask her. If she said no now, I wouldn't lose anything. The words still fought with me, my mind and heart at war, but at last my heart won out.
“Th-there’s this festival... in Fetlock. W-would you like to go?” My eyes went wide as my mind finally caught up to what my heart was doing, and I hastily added. “A-as friends, of course!”
She looked at me carefully, as if trying to see through me. Her simple smile faded into a harder expression, and for a moment, I thought I'd at last overstepped myself. Her response surprised me, she nodded her head. “I was already planning to check it out, but I wouldn't mind the company of a friend.”
My eyes went wide, and I couldn't help but keep the smile from lighting my face.
“Yes!” I sputtered slightly, trying to, as I'd promised, take it down a notch. “I mean... yes, so, um, I can get the train tickets in the morning.”
“Actually, I was going to fly.” she tilted her head, glancing to my side, my wings. “Can you handle the distance?”
Somehow, I thought the train would be the safer bet, but I was no stranger to long nights of flying. Still, the thought of just the two of us, flying side by side. Well, it struck me. “Um, yeah. I-I think I can.”
“All right, I think that covers everything, then. We should get back; the others are probably wonder what’s taking us.” She rose from the table, and began moving towards the door.
I called after her. “Dusky…” She glanced back at me. “I’m sorry… a-and thank you. For understanding and for... for being willing to stay friends…”
She smiled. “Just remember what you said and we’ll get along just fine.”
And with that, she moved back to the door and stepped back out into the bar.
I waited a moment before following her, trying to process everything. The time I’d spent following Dusky, letting myself get carried away by Terrabona, and my admissions here, now. And foremost was her smile. She was truly special. I’d do anything to see that smile, to see it protected.
With a quiet sigh, from contemplation or contentment; I cannot say, I rose from the table and followed after Dusky. We could start as friends, and finally I could do this right.