//------------------------------// // 5. My Big Night Out // Story: Three of Hearts // by Anzel //------------------------------// Weekends have a tendency to go by quickly, especially after an amazing date. The rest, by comparison, was not remotely as exciting. As such, I found myself back at my desk Monday morning going over paperwork again. Lieutenant Brook stuck his head in my door. “Azurite, good morning.” “Good morning, sir.” “You’re glittery,” he sat flatly. It took a lot of effort not to sigh. Even in my armor it was obvious that I was still coated in glitter. “It won’t come off, sir. I bathed twelve times.” He shrugged. “No problem. It looks… cute? At least on you.” “Thank you, sir.” I waited, then asked, “Sir, are you here about glitter?” “Oh. No, not at all. Princess Luna’s House Guard doesn’t have a pony resources pony. No support ponies at all actually.” That made sense. The unit wasn’t that old and it was too small to really justify its own support staff. “So… us?” “You betcha.” “Alright then, I’ll sharpen my pencils.” The lieutenant smiled and nodded. “I knew you’d say that. Have a good day.” “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” ♥♥♥ Sunny had taken my helmet off and she was inspecting my coat and mane. “Yeah, you’re super glittery. It is adorable.” “Do you know how to get it off?” “Get it off? Why would I want to do that? I like you glittery.” I stared at her and huffed. “You… you’re… What?” “I hope you get all prettied up for our date like you did for Soarin. Otherwise I might get jealous. Now, tell me all about it,” she said as she gave me a predatory look. “What? No! You don’t want to hear about my date with somepony else.” “Oh, but I do! All of the gory details,” she whispered, leaning in even closer. What was she after? “Why?” “You don’t want to hear about my date with Trixie?” I gasped. “Your date was with Trixie?” I shook my head. “No! I don’t want to hear anything about it. Why would I want to?” Sunny’s brow arched and she asked, “Are you jealous?” “What… maybe? I just don’t want to know. That is too much pressure for when we’re on a date. How can I live up to being Trixie?” The unicorn shook her head. “You don’t. You have to live up to being Azu. Glittery Azu. Now… tell me about your date.” This didn’t make any sense. “Tell me again why you want to know?” Sunny set her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her hooves. “That is easy. You’re cute, he’s handsome, and I like imagining you being a bit naughty.” How could Sunny just be so open about things! My face felt flushed all over and I squirmed. “You imagine about me?” “Sure. You don’t think about me? You don’t have to say anything, Azu, but when it comes to love and dating I just don’t worry that much. Eventually ponies find what is right for them. It doesn’t matter what happens in between. Maybe you and Soarin will get married and have foals. Maybe you and I will. Either way, you telling me what happened on your date won’t change your love line or mine. It will, however, make me happy.” Where was she getting this stuff? What in Equestria was a love line? I did want to make her happy, though, so I said, “Okay.” “Okay?” she repeated. “Really? Yay!” She rubbed her hooves together and then pointed. “Shut the door.” She didn’t have to tell me twice. It was after hours so I shut the door. Settling on the small couch she had in her office I shrugged. “He flew me to Ponyville to eat at this really fancy restaurant. I had wine… uh… more than I should have.” “Oh?” Slowly I nodded and nibbled on my lip. “Yeah, I got a little drunk and he was beat from training, flying me there, and eating so he recommended we get a hotel room… and I agreed.” “Azu!” Sunny squeaked and hopped out of her chair. She rushed over to the couch and took my hoof in her own. “You minx! What happened?” “I made him swear he wouldn’t take advantage of me. On his word as a Wonderbolt.” Sunny’s glee meter visibly clicked down a few notches. “So we cuddled and kissed. That is all… well, he also bought me breakfast.” Sunny’s nose wiggled and she huffed. “Well… I respect your principles but that was not much of a scandal. It sounds like a high school date. Still, it is cute. Did you like the kisses?” And just like that I felt flushed all over again. “Well… they were nice. More… uh, stallion-like. Rougher, more forceful.” Sunny’s eyes glimmered and she leaned in. “Rough, huh?” I nodded. “Forceful?” Again I nodded. “You prefer mare kisses?” “Prefer is a strong word…” The unicorn got close and whispered in my ear, “I can’t wait until Friday.” The electricity was suddenly there. She then straightened up and patted me on the head. “Okay. I actually still have work to do but I’m sure you’re done for the day. Have a good evening!” “Don’t work too late,” I said before heading off. I’d need to make a new mane appointment and perhaps a treatment at the spa. Plus I needed to go buy more coat glitter. If Sunny wanted me to sparkle, I’d sparkle! ♥♥♥ There was an honest to goodness hero in my office. The real kind. Not like a hoofball player or a model. A Celestia Cross recipient. He just… wasn’t what I expected. He’d only recently been discharged from the hospital and he looked like it. His wing was still in a cast and he had bandages all over. That wasn’t what stood out to me though. It was the look in his eyes. He was hurt inside. “Well, First Sergeant, I have all of your paperwork settled. Obviously the fact that you missed the deadlines won’t apply to you… and according to this you are back on light duty. That should make you smile, right?” He didn’t smile. Stupid Azurite. “It is good to be back,” he replied flatly. It was a short answer. The minimum possible. “Good is good.” What did that even mean? Sweet Celestia, say something comforting. Connect Azurite! You’re a pony relations pony! “Listen, sergeant…” The pegasus was already halfway off the chair. “Yes, ma’am?” Tell him. Tell him. I wiped my mouth with my hoof. Sweat was building on my forehead and I could feel the tears already threatening to jump out. “After the Summer Sun Festival, the one that didn’t go to plan, my partner and I responded to an incident of two groups of ponies fighting. It should have been nothing: separate them and move on.” He sat back down, his ears pointedly facing me now. “It went really bad. They weren’t willing to listen to guards. My partner got banged up so bad she’ll never walk again without wheels. They medically retired her. And I… I killed a pony. If I had killed him sooner Sandy might have walked again. I just froze up.” Now the tears were flowing. It took all of my effort to press on. “I won’t pretend like I know what you went through over there. I won’t dare. I’ve had too many ponies tell me they know how I feel and that is the biggest load of gryphon manure I’ve ever heard. They don’t. They weren’t there. They haven’t killed. They aren’t cowards. It is just me. They don’t have to see Sandy how I do… but I need you to know it isn’t hopeless.” I reached out a hoof towards him. He didn’t take it. He just stared at me. “It never goes away but it gets easier,” I whispered. “I swear it gets easier. Find somepony to talk to. If you want to talk to me that is fine, too. Just don’t let it eat you inside. I’ve seen your file. You’re too good a pony to be lost to this.” He rose with difficulty and took a step closer to my desk. “Thank you, warrant officer. You’re the first pony that remotely gets it. I’m sorry about your partner… but I’m not sorry you hesitated on killing. Celestia help us all if somepony ever kills a pony without hesitation.” With practiced professionalism he then rose to attention, seemingly blind to his injuries. “Dismissed…” I said and just like that he was out the door. A tissue levitated up to dry my eyes and I sat in stunned silence. I had meant to help him and maybe I had… maybe not. All I know is that he had helped me. Celestia help anypony that didn’t hesitate to kill. ♥♥♥ Sunny and I ate lunch together quietly. We were at the palace commissary grabbing something quick. “So you met Silent Knight?” she asked. “Uh huh.” I really didn’t want to discuss it. She tilted her head. “Bad?” “I’m hopeful. Can’t really discuss it. Regulations and all.” Sunny rarely took no for an answer when it came to me. She always wormed whatever she wanted out regardless. Today she just nodded. “You’re right. We’re going dancing.” “He isn’t dancing with anypony any time soon,” I said. Sunny lightly hoofed her face. “Azu, I’m changing the subject. WE -” She motioned with a hoof between herself and me. “- are going dancing this weekend for our date.” “Dancing? Really? Like… at a club?” Clubs were scary. They were full of ponies. A change of topic seemed like a good plan, though. “Yup! It is a place I go now and then. It will be fun. Do you dance?” I shook my head. “No… but I’m used to looking foolish so it will be fun, as long as I won’t cramp your style.” “Great! I’ll pick you up at your place. We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for being out of uniform again.” My ears burned. “How did you know about that?” “I know everything about everything in this palace, Azu. Don’t ever forget that.” What a scary thing to say! I just nodded and ate my salad. ♥♥♥ Friday! It was Friday! Not just any Friday, either. It was ‘Date with Sunny Friday.’ The best kind of Friday… also the newest kind of Friday. After half a day I had saluted Mr. Clockerson and took off. This time I used half a personal day to get to the mane salon and spa. The wonderful ponies there had done a great job on me. My hooves were perfect and they had made sure that I had enough glitter in my coat to pass it on to my offspring. Now I just had to sit patiently and wait for Sunny to come and pick me up. Thankfully Mr. Clockerson wasn’t around to see me fidget. In all honesty I’m not great at waiting. Patience is a virtue but it’s not one of mine. I was standing on my couch with my hooves on the wall peering out the window when I caught sight of Sunny walking up. Quickly I dove down and tried to look casual. Casual for… who? There was no pony there to see me. There was the knock on the door. Okay, Azurite, you don’t want to seem too desperate. Wait for it… wait for… a second knock! Quickly I got up, rushed to the door, and then slowed down. My horn lit as I opened it and cheerfully beamed, “Hello Su- Su- oh.” Sunny Day had clearly also been to the mane salon and spa and maybe the magnificent mare emporium. As the door opened she tossed her yellow and orange mane. It was styled to perfection and left long. Somehow she had also found leg warmers that matched it perfectly and had one on each of her legs. Her coat shined in the sunlight but it was her eyes that got me. Sunny has pretty eyes in general but she had done them up to look smokey and mysterious. Yes, I was looking mighty nice myself, but you can only polish up a tomcolt so much. The needle might have moved from cute to pretty-ish. On Sunny the needle had hit smokin’ hot and snapped off. I stood there stunned and she waved a hoof in front of my face. “Did I break you, Azu?” she purred, her voice oozing confidence and sass. Come on, brain… little help here. We’re trying to be cool. “Pretty pony.” Smooth… Sunny Day giggled and leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Thank you. You know, you’re a pretty pony, too. It looks like you went all out for me.” Quickly I nodded. I had wanted to look pretty for her. “You did great. Are you ready to go? I know it is early but if we get there now we can leave before the club gets too busy. You don’t strike me as the sort of pony that does the late night thing.” Did she know? She couldn’t know. Was ‘late night thing’ a cover word for something else? Oh well, she was right whether she knew it or not. I nodded twice and then a third time. Then I shook my head. My tongue was too busy doing its own thing. Hanging out of my mouth, I think. There was more giggling before Sunny tugged me out of the apartment and we started down the street. Finally I found my voice. “I’ve really been looking forward to this.” “Me too!” she chirped, which I couldn’t imagine was entirely true. After all, she’d been on a date with Trixie the week before and Trixie was Trixie! Sunny turned more than a few heads as we made our way through Canterlot, not that I was surprised. She was leading me somewhere I’d never been… which included a lot of the streets. Admittedly I didn’t go out and do much. Eventually we arrived out our destination: Mare Contraire. All of the windows were covered in that reflective black stuff that you couldn’t see into and the sign was pretty mundane. There was no logo, just stylized letters in white paint on a light purple sign. We went in and much to my relief it wasn’t crowded. Crowds of ponies make me nervous… really nervous. The Mare Contraire was about like any club I’d read about. There was a long L-shaped bar set out from two walls. In the center was a really big dance floor, and in the opposite corner were a lot of private booths. Looking around I noticed that the bartenders, save one, were all mares. The customers, as sparse as they were, were also all mares. Some of said mares were kissing rather publicly. Music was playing but it wasn’t glaringly loud. Through my blue coat and glitter I felt my face flush and I looked up to Sunny. She caught the look and smiled. “Hmm?” I whispered, “Is this a fillyfooler bar?” It’s okay, I can say that word. Sunny laughed warmly and a bit too loudly to be subtle. She nodded and replied, “Yes Azu, of course! Aren’t you a fillyfooler?” That locked up my poor brain again. I had never thought I was. I liked both stallions and mares equally. Labels… bleh. I nodded and replied, “I guess so… uh… Why are they all looking at me?” The predator smile that Sunny occasionally gave me crossed her face and she nosed my cheek. “Because you’re new, literally shiny, and cute. You’re like catnip. Don’t worry, though. If they see you’re with me they’ll be nice. Do you want a drink?” Quickly I shook my head. “No. I think that ship sailed last week. You already get your way enough with me without adding alcohol to the mix.” “Is that so?” Sunny whispered as she peered at me. With all the courage I could muster I nodded. “You know it is.” She laughed. We still went over to the bar and she waved to the extremely pink bartender. “Hi Sunny! Who’s your little friend?” the bartender asked. I climbed up onto one of the stools and it slowly spun out so that my back was to the bar. Unlevel floor, I guess. Sunny spun me back and held the stool in place so she could introduce us. “Azurite, this is Dolly. She is the Mare Contraire herself. This is her place. And Dolly, this is Azurite and she has never been in a…” Sunny leaned in and whispered, “fillyfooler bar.” Dolly laughed warmly. “Oh, Sunny Day, you’re such a minx.” The mare leaned over to me and winked. “Don’t worry, Azurite, most of them only bite when they know they’re allowed to. Don’t let Sunny scare you too much. She’s a big bad lead pony but her heart is full of sunshine and rainbows.” Dolly then made a drink and slid it to Sunny who accepted it with her orange magic. “You girls have fun.” Sunny nodded and pranced her way towards one of the booths. I followed along behind her and we settled into the same side. She sipped her drink and I peered at her. “What is a lead pony?” My unicorn companion sputtered and spit some of her drink as she laughed. “Seriously, Azu? Oh my word. Didn’t you pick up anything as a teenager?” “No… I spent all my time getting good grades. What is a lead pony?” A hoof looped around my shoulders and tugged me close. “Okay… so everypony is different, right? Some ponies are assertive. Other ponies are docile. When two ponies get together they are like dance partners. Are you following me so far?” I nodded. “Now say those two ponies want to dance. Not like a club dance but a formal fancy dance. One pony leads and one pony follows right?” That made perfect sense so I nodded again. “The lead pony leads the dance. Now the pony that follows the lead is a wing pony. Does that make sense?” “Crystal clear. So you like to lead when you dance. I can do that.” Sunny laughed and leaned in to nuzzle my cheek. “Yes, but that isn’t where the definition comes from. Substitute the word dance with relationship and after that substitute the word relationship with make love.” It was easy to visualize the sentence in my head. I’m great with numbers and reading. I dropped relationship in. Okay… and then… red in the face! Had she said make love? I felt it. Raw embarrassment. “O-oh…” I had nothing else to say. “Now you get it. So, yeah… I have a reputation as a lead pony and that is probably because I am one.” Well that made sense. Sunny and I were royal guards. We were used to taking charge and I was great at doing my job without somepony telling me what to do. “And I’m a lead pony, too?” The smirk on her face told me otherwise. “Oh, sugar, no… you’re as wing pony as they come.” “I don’t understand. Why not?” “It isn’t something to be upset about. Ponies are all over the spectrum. Let me ask you something. Do you want to take me in your hooves, dip me, and kiss me… or would you prefer I did that to you?” Both sounded fine to me but I doubted I’d have the resolve to just grab Sunny and kiss her. That was something she would do. It would be… oh. “I just learned something about myself.” “Mmhmm,” Sunny mused. “Every pony falls on a scale between lead and wing pony. Some are at the extremes. Most are more towards the middle. You and I are kind of at the extremes and that works out pretty well.” “Well, that is good I guess. Does that mean I don’t have to ask you out on dates or pay?” Her ears wiggled and she replied, “Oh, I see. You’re a sneaky little wing pony, Azu… but yeah, if things take off I’ll take the lead.” She then sipped at her drink and patted me on the rump. “Dance time.” “Oh? Okay.” I slipped out of the booth and waited for Sunny to follow. We headed out to the dance floor. We were about the only couple out there so when I started my erratic and uncoordinated dancing I drew some attention. Sunny giggled a bit and matched me. “I guess you’re not worried about what other ponies think, huh?” “Nah, I was never popular in school. Why start now? There isn’t any pony here I’m trying to impress.” Sunny’s head bobbed in time with the music and then her brow arched. “Not a single pony here?” “Other than you but you seem to be oblivious to my shortcomings,” I amended and she laughed. “Was that a short joke? I like that you can be you, Azu. Ever since we met you’ve never pretended to be anypony else.” “That takes a lot of effort and I’m kind of lazy,” I teased even though I meant the first part of it. For the next couple of hours we danced on and off. We’d go for a song or two and then head back to the booth. It was a pretty good workout and I was glad I was relatively in shape. The Mare Contraire was also starting to fill up and I was starting to sweat. Sunny was only so distracting. The DJ was playing a fairly upbeat and bouncy song. I was really getting into it until I lightly bumped into another mare. She didn’t seem to mind but when I looked back to apologize I was surrounded. My legs started trembling and my stomach sank. “Sunny?” When I looked back she wasn’t there. Just more mares bouncing as they danced. All around me. Ponies. All around me. It’s fine, Azurite… it’s fine. They’re just dancing. The tremors crept up my leg and into my body. The air was too hot and I was too short to see where the exit was. I froze and was bumped again. “Please… move!” Sunny said pushing between two mares. She took one look at me and then quickly hooked a hoof around me. “I’m sorry, Azu, come on.” She tugged me through the crowd and right out into the street. My whole body trembled and tears started pooling in my eyes, probably ruining my makeup. “I’m sorry, Sunny… I-I’m so sorry,” I stammered as I hugged myself. “Too many ponies.” The golden mare pulled me tightly against herself. “You have nothing to apologize for. Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t like crowds? I would have suggested we leave sooner. I didn’t mean to get cut off from you like that. Are you okay?” “Yes… ponies all around me.” There were a lot of ponies outside of the club too. I covered my mouth and muttered, “Can we please leave?” “Yes, of course. I don’t live far. Come on, sweetie.” Sunny really wasn’t kidding about not living far. We only had to go two blocks to reach her building. I didn’t even know there were condos on that side of town. They were all built above stores. She led me upstairs and threw open the lock quickly with her magic. “Sit here,” she said, motioning to a big pillow in the living room. “I’m going to get you some water and a washcloth.” I collapsed onto the oversized pillow. It wasn’t just large because I was petite. It was clearly meant for more than one pony. The shaking kept going… it might all night. Sometimes it was that way. “Here, drink this.” Sunny offered a glass. I accepted it with my levitation magic and sipped it. Cool, fresh water. As I drank she softly brushed my cheeks and eyes with a moist washcloth. It was endearing but part of me was sad. It is hard to imagine somepony wanting to go on a another date with me after one of my freak outs. That did little to help stop the tears. In fact, it made them worse. “Sweetie… it seems like it is getting worse. I-Is there something I can do?” She continued to try and dab. She nestled in against me. My head dropped. I didn’t want her to see me like this. Tears fell and, as much as I tried to be a strong pony, I didn’t like the idea of my chances with Sunny ending because I got scared of dancing mares. “Maybe take me home?” “I don’t think I should. Getting you through the streets on a weekend when you’re upset seems like a recipe for disaster. We’re all alone here, and there are no crowds, I swear. The shaking seems better…” My forehooves fidgeted over each other and I set the glass down with my magic. Softly I laid over on the pillow and wept. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Sunny ducked her head until she was on my level. “Why?” “I ruined our date… I ruined my chance. Why would you want to go out with me again?” That didn’t seem to sit well with her. She rolled me over onto my back with a surprisingly strong hoof and slipped over me. Sunny glared down and forced me to look her in the eye. “Do you really think I’d never ask you out again because of that?” Her tone frightened me… but her slipping on top of me stood my hair on end. I swallowed and whimpered, “Most ponies wouldn’t… they’d say I’m broken… or they can’t have fun since we can’t do that sort of thing. Those ponies knew you… you clearly go there a lot.” Sunny sighed softly and settled some of her weight on me, belly to belly. I was having extremely mixed feelings about what was happening. “Well, I’m sorry you think that. I’m sorry other ponies made you feel that way. I may be somewhat…” She paused. “Flighty, erratic, or something of that nature, but I do not blame a pony for having a real issue. You should be mad at me for putting you in that situation and here you are panicked worse because of me. Is this a result of what happened before?” All I could do was nod. She stroked my mane and said, “Let me take some of the burden off straight away. No matter what happened or what you do tonight we’re going to have another date unless you decide we aren’t. Okay? Not out of pity or to calm you down. Because I would have asked you anyway.” “Okay.” I whispered and the burden actually did start to lift. The crowd still had me shaken, literally and figuratively, but I was calming down. I didn’t have anything else to say so I laid there under her. Sunny’s nose wiggled and she nuzzled my cheek. Slowly she flopped over onto her side and wrapped her forelegs around me. She held me while I shook and eventually it stopped. “Sunny.” Finally my voice returned. “Yeah?” “I really want to go on another date with you. Dolly was right when she said you were full of sunshine and rainbows.” The other unicorn laughed softly and nuzzled me between the ears. “Yeah, I guess. Listen Azu, before we talk about that second date, I’d like to point out that the night is still pretty young and the first one can keep going, if you like.” “Oh… then yes, please. What are we going to do?” Sunny’s concerned voice shifted to her more cheery and teasing one. “I think that since I have you in my lair I’m going to keep you here. Since I know you’re the kind of pony that does the overnight thing.” And suddenly I understood some of her desire to learn about my other dates. “And, since we’re both a bit of a mess after all that dancing… why don’t we go share a bath?” My breath caught briefly and I squirmed in her hooves. There was sharing a bath and ‘sharing a bath.’ Oh, Azurite, you certainly have been getting into a lot of trouble lately. I nibbled my lip and then nodded. “Alright.”