Despite Con's warning and approval, Red Hope was not a pony who gave up on his dreams easily. And his dreams were simple: enroll CSfGU, graduate with the highest possible grades, find the love of his life, and spend the rest of his days with her. He wasn't old enough to drink but he was already halfway there! He was attending classes and he knew who his heart yearned for. Sure, he wasn't sure if he could be at the top of his year (considering who he was up against), but he kept trying. As for getting a chance with Twilight Sparkle... well, that was a long-term goal, no use rushing it.
One thing he knew for a fact- succumbing to Moondancer's charm would forever squander his chances. He knew at least five ponies, Con included, who joined S.A.S.S. after a single night with 'The Seductress', as she was sometimes called there. He didn't want to believe that dating or having sex with another mare, Moondancer or other, would jeopardize their chances with 'The Desired One' (S.A.S.S. has a lot of redundant synonyms), but the pattern was so far unbroken and he had no intentions of testing it. Not that he was interested in it to begin with. The sight of Moondancer shaking behind as she inspected his bookshelf wouldn't dissuade him.
Argh, where are you looking at? STAHP! NOW!"
---
"Yes, give in! Follow dat flank!" Heart cheered for his best friend libido, which oddly enough wasn't represented by a ponified cartoon.
"N-no! Don't give up! I believe in you!" Brain also chimed in, taking his place as the Angel to Heart's Devil.
---
Red shook his head. No, I can't! There's only one flank I want to follow and it's not that one! He turned away and blushed heavily. Ok, maybe try again, but less creepy?
"Oh hey, you're back!" She turned her whole body while greeting him with a smile, removing the undersired part of her body from his view, much to his relief. Her smiling face wasn't exactly the cold shower he needed, but it had to do. "You sure took your time. Is everything ok?"
Red looked around, trying to find a good excuse. "Yeah, it's okay. We were just..." Think, think, think. "...uh, stallion stuff. You know?"
Moondancer blinked, then rolled her eyes. "Eh, boys." She giggled, signifying her obliviousness.
Success! Mind five! *CLAP* It seemed as if the Cloaking Sphere spell she used blocked sound both inside and from outside. Otherwise it would've been really awkward. Like it already isn't? "Sorry it took this long."
"No problem. I was just admiring your 'Ponyfinder' collection." She levitated one thick book form the shelf. "I didn't even know they had five Monster Manuals!"
Red rose an eyebrow. W-wait, she knows what Ponyfinder is? "Thanks, but actually there are six. I stopped collecting them a long time ago."
She nodded. "I see." She returned the book back on its shelf. "But still, there's Armory 1 and 2, Class Companion, Advanced Magic Manual, Ultimate Combat Guide and... uh, that book has no cover? What exactly is it?"
"Anthropomorphic Guide To Advanced Races," Red answered, with a bit of shame in his voice "it let's you play 'humanoid' races." He lowered his head, then added just as Moondancer opened her mouth. "Don't ask."
Reluctantly, she decided to honor his request. "These sure take me back. I haven't played this in ages!"
Blink. "You played Ponyfinder?"
"Yep! We all did. By all I mean Sunny, Twily, Spike the dragon librarian (but you know that) and myself. Shining Armor, Twilight's big brother, was our GM. He wasn't very good at it, but we had fun anyway. At least, me and Twily did. Sunny kept complaining about rules balance, obvious plot twists, cliche storylines and Shiny constantly fumbling some rules. In hindsight, Spike would've made a better GM, but we insisted too hard." She sighed happily. "Good times."
Red was still trying to wrap his head around the news. So mares play Ponyfinder, I know three of them and one is Twilight Sparkle. Life is awesome! Also, I lost a bet. Still worth it! "Sounds like a lot of fun."
"It sure was! I wouldn't mind playing with the guys sometimes, but..." she blushed "...my male friends have a different definition for 'role-play'." She winked.
Nope. Not even gonna react to that. Nuh-uh! I'm better than that! "Well, I wouldn't know," the thought that he should be more specific about which part he knew came to him long after he finished the sentence "I haven't played this yet." He was too embarassed to look her in the face, so he didn't notice Moondancer's jaw dropping. "I didn't have any friends back in Trotsaw and since I enrolled here, I've been busy with school and..." S.A.S.S. "...stuff."
It was only now that he noticed her shocked expression. "Oh my gosh, you poor little thing!" With the wall behind him, he didn't have room to manouver when she went toward him and... patted him on the head Huh? "All these books and you didn't even get to enjoy it."
He blushed furiously and looked away. "R-reading them was fun..."
"Yeah, but it's a game and they're supposed to be played! Otherwise you just get some studying material for no exam!" Se paused, then raised a hoof to her chin. "Is that why Twilight enjoyed them so much?" On that mention, Red's ears perked, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Another common topic to discuss! Not even S.A.S.S. databanks knew that!
His train of thought was interrupted by a loud gasp. "Oh my gosh, I just had the most awesome idea ever!" He thought he was done being spooked by Moondancer's personality. He thought wrong. "You could be our new GM!"
Blink.
Another blink.
"WHAT?"
"Come on, Red!" She walked forward to him a bit more and he still had wall behind him. "You know this stuff inside out!"
"W-well, I do, but..."
"You're smart, so the rules won't be a problem, right?"
"No, not really..."
"And I bet you always wondered what it would be like, so you have plenty of great story ideas!"
"W-well, I did create a campaign out of boredom, with maps and stuff, but it's not very go--"
"And including myself, I know at least two other ponies that would love to go back to it!" She smiled brightly, about a few inches from his face.
Red's face got hotter than ever before, which was quite a feat. Too close! Too close! Danger! Hormone danger!
---
"Hahaha, yes, stop fighting it!" Heart cheered on the lewd thoughts. "Let the dark side guide you! Now, jump at her! Change the rating to 'M'! Add all the tags! MUAHAHAHA!"
Meanwhile, Brain was in a pinch. Any moment now Purity would be lost. And he liked having it around, even if it also wasn't a sentient cartoon character.
And then, an idea struck him. "No, wait, you can't do it!"
"It's too late! The era of debauchery begins now!"
"No, you don't understand!" Brain grabbed Heart by the shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes. "Don't you see what's about to happen?"
"Bah, of course I know! It starts with a 'B' and ends with an 'ANG'!"
"No, not that! He was just invited to play Ponyfinder!"
"Bro," Heart rolled his eyes "I love Ponyfinder for adventure and excitment as you love it for stats and formulas, but we have priorities here!"
"Ugh, I swear, you can be so dense sometimes," he sighed, cleared his throat and spelled it as clearly as possible "he was invited to GM a game for TWILIGHT SPARKLE! And her friends."
The smile on Heart's face faded away. His eye twitched. "How did I miss that?"
Brain shrugged. "Simple desire does that to a pony sometimes." And so were the two enemies bonded by a common cause again.
---
Upon understanding the situation he was in, Red delicately raised his hooves and placed them on Moondancer's shoulder, cautiously avoiding touching her in any place that could be deemed too inapropriate for any reason in any cultures, then gently pushed her away.
"Okay, fine."
Moondancer was either oblivious or ignorant to the push, but she was happy nontheless. "Yay!" She cheered quietly (and adorably) and finally let go of the stallion, letting him breathe some fresh air, the one that didn't smell like a mare in heat.
Or is it just too hot in here? Should I open the window? Yup. Sounds like a plan! And so he did, meanwhile Moondancer went back to the books on the floor.
"First things first, we gotta finish here," she hummed a cheerful tune, as she grabbed a few notes and a quill "the sooner we get this done, the more time later for... fooling around." She winked at him, all while licking her lips seductively.
His face was almost melting. The more time he spent with her, the more he started to like her (not 'like' like though) and part of him was looking forward for the near future. No, bad Red! Calm down!
---
"We need to do something, or else he's toast!" Said Brain. "Or rather, laid! Sweet Celestia, this situation is so backwards!"
"I know, right? It would've been easier if the genders were swapped. Then we could just kick him in the nuts and sue him for a zillion bits."
"If only." Brain sighed, seeing no other way to resolve this crisis. "Okay, I got this. I have a foalproof plan!"
---
Okay, calm down and breathe. In. Out. In. Out. You can do this! Just take it easy, explain everything calmly, while it's still not too la--
"Red, could you pass me the--"
"I DON'T WANNA HAVE SEX WITH YOU!" He yelled, then immediately covered his mouth with both hooves.
---
Heart was not amused. "Smooth."
"I panicked!"
Heart facehooved. "And I'M supposed to be the reckless one?"
---
There were a lot of better ways (he counted two at that exact moment) to express his feelings for Moondancer, who at that point froze, sitting on the floor motionless, her mouth opened wide, but not quite low enough to hit the floor. Red couldn't move either, and even if he could, he didn't know if talking to her right now was a good idea for various reasons, one of them being that he was unsure if her brain actually registered anything at the moment. They were rooted on the same spots for what felt like an hour, later turned out to be around 40 seconds, before Moondancer's mouth started moving again. It wasn't until a few jaw excercises later when she spelled an actual sentence.
"Uh... oookaaay?" She lowered her head, though her shocked expression didn't change. "Sure. Gotcha. No fooling around."
Red swallowed. He had a really bad feeling. "Moondancer?"
"Strictly proffessional, I get it. No hanky panky." As soon as she finished her sentence, she stood up. "I need to freshen up a little! Be back in... be right back!" She quickly went towards the door and left with a loud smack before Red could raise a hoof and stop her. Once gone, he stood where he was for a while, his head hung down, with tons of regrets. Feeling weak in his legs, he sat on his bed, which so happened to be right next to the pile of books on the floor, his eyes looking at the exact spot where she was sitting just a while ago. Among the fleeting emotions in his head, none of them felt particularly glad that she was gone and even more pushed him in a different direction than he originally wanted. For once, Heart and Brain agreed to one thing. I gotta follow her!
He rushed out of his room about to call Moondancer's name, but she was nowhere to be found, at least not in the hallway. He asked some ponies in the lobby and each one who knew and saw her pointed him in the direction she went in, noting that she felt different than they remember her. That she was in rush, ignored most of her usual friends, sparing them at best a nod or a simple 'hi, gotta go'. Her trail got harder to follow once he left the dorms, so he had to change his description from 'the one mare everypony knows' to actual descriptions of her appearence. His already heavy conscience was looking forward to it less and less when among common answers he kept hearing 'distraught' or 'depressed'.
His journey ended further than he initially thought, in a large, open park. He noticed her sitting on a bench, looking at the open space where foals played. Slowly, reluctantly, he walked towards her, never being this afraid in his life. Please don't cry, please don't cry, please don't cry... She noticed him and he was able to at least partially sigh with relief, when he saw no tears, no ruined make-up or any other signs of crying. She was still rather distraught, but far from what he feared. She looked at him for a moment, before shifting her eyes back to the playing field. At least she wasn't running away. That had to be a good sign, right?
"Hey, Moondancer, I, uh..." he paused, not sure what to say. What DO you say in moments like these? "...are you okay?" He asked. Moondancer shrugged. Waiting for an answer was probably futile, so he kept on going. "Do you mind if I sit here?" After getting another shrug for an answer, he sat right next to her, expecting, welcoming even, some kind of angry outburst. The silence proved to be a lot worse.
"Moondancer, I... I'm sorry," he wasn't sure why he was apologizing, but it seemed like a good way to start a conversation "I didn't mean to make you mad. I was just--"
She quickly interrupted him. "I'm not mad at you."
He swallowed. "Y-you're not?"
"No." Pause. "Mostly dissapointed."
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Dissapointed?"
"Yeah. I was really looking forward to some action. I mean, you even changed your bedsheets! That's usually a big give-away!"
He scratched his head. "Well, now that you mention it..." This conversation is getting weirder and weirder... eh, nothing good ever came from being normal anyway. "So, do you always come here when you're... 'dissapointed'?"
Something in the way he said it must've worked, because he could swear he saw her crack a weak smile. "Something like that. It's my... happy place. I always feel at ease here."
He nodded. "A lot of good memories here?"
She shook her head. "Nah, just one. The one I really cherish." She turned to him and there was no denying it, she was smiling. "I met the kindest stallion here. The one who was there for me when I really, really needed a friend." She sighed happily, not hearing a single word of a reply. She sighed once again, this time from exasperation. "Before you ask, no, I didn't have sex with him that day. Or ever."
"I wasn't going to ask!" I was totally going to ask.
"Not that I never tried, mind you. It's just that he's kinda..." she stopped and looked into the sky, trying to find a proper sentence "...slow on the uptake." Pause. "And oblivious." Pause. "And kinda dumb. But, even with all of that, he's the kindest, nicest stallion I've ever met." She giggled and turned to meet Red eye to eye. "I didn't tell that to anypony, but that's kinda my type. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for handsome hunks, but half the time I don't even see their faces, so I don't care that much."
Red raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean don't see their faces half the ti--" he stopped, as Brain did all the calculations for him. Heart found it appropriate to smack his face with his own hoof, which he did not object to.
Moondancer giggled once again. "Yeah, exactly! Bad colts are cool and all, but show me a stallion who helps granny cross the street and my face's getting hot like an oven! Stallions like him. Or you."
Dear Princess Celestia, please tone down the sun a little, or I'll get a sunstroke! Yours truly, Red Hope. "M-me?"
"Yep! You were there when I needed you, sorry about the nagging by the way, I was really desperate, and you agreed to my crazy plan while asking for nothing in return, but I didn't want you leave empty-hooved, so, you know, I wanted to reward you with something... special. I wasn't kidding about 'the whole book' by the way."
Dear Princess Luna, your sister didn't get my message. Could you please tell her to check her spam folder? With highest regards, Red Hope.
"I mean, that's what I'm best at and from what I gather, that's the only thing I can do that no other mare will do, so I might as well capitalize on that, have some fun in the process, win-win for all parties." She hung her head, the smile weakening slightly. "I-I mean, I have nothing else to offer, so when you said you didn't want it, I..." She raised a hoof to her head and scratched it.
After a while, she finally confessed. "...I panicked."
She laughed weakly. "I didn't know what else to do, I was afraid I would say or do something stupid, so I ran away and didn't stop till I got here and..." She stopped when she got a glance at her conversation partner, who for once displayed a different emotion than sheer panic and nervousness. Far from it. At first he tried to hide it, but he couldn't any longer hold the it inside him and burst out with a laughter. "Red?"
Even when asked, Red Hope didn't stop laughing out loud, almost falling from the bench he was sitting on. Moondancer raised her eyebrow and at first tried to stop him, but she didn't feel like trying to yell through his outburst. Once he finally lost his breath enough to slow down and stop, he took a while to take a breather and reply to her shocked face.
"Y-you? Panicked? Filly, do you realize what I've been through those last few hours?" She was about to open her mouth, but he already had an answer. "I wasn't this scared in my life since..." S.A.S.S. first foalnapped me back in the day "...never really! I mean, the closer you got, the more scared I was!"
She gulped. "Y-you thought I was going to... to do something to you?"
"No. I was afraid I was going to lose control and jump AT YOU!"
Moondancer blinked. The blush on her face didn't go unnoticed. "Y-you did?"
"Yes! And I would have absolutely done it, but..." I'm in love with your best friend? Maybe don't mention it right now. "...there's already somepony else I like, so... sorry."
After a short break, it was Moondancer's time to laugh, though not nearly as loud as Red did. "Oh, so that's why! For a moment I was worried you were... uh..."
"I was what?"
"Uh... you were..." she turned away and hesitated with the answer "...w-well, you're not, so that's that."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing! Forget about it! There's no way I could have had two anyway." Learning from his previous experiences, Red decided to not delve into it any deeper. Moondancer sighed with relief and continued. "You know, when a mare is trying to seduce you, the 'I have a marefriend' line works pretty well."
"Yeah, about that," he smiled sheepishly "she's not my marefriend, yet. In fact, I'm not sure she realizes I exist. I mean, she knows I'm there, but I don't know if she knows me, or recognizes me as me and not as just another guy who's there..."
Moondancer rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's one of those," she giggled, then patted Red on the back "then go an tell her how you feel. If she's anywhere near worthy of having you, she'll be yours in no time. And if not, you know where I live. I'm pretty good at mending broken hearts."
And now it was Red's time to blush, though for the first time, he wasn't feeling guilty, ashamed or scared about it. And he was absolutely okay with that. They sat on the bench in silence for a few minutes more, before Moondancer left it first and stretched her limbs.
"Okay, break's over, we got a project to finish!"
But before they left, Red stopped her. "Moondancer?"
"Hm?"
He scratched his head. He never said the following words to anypony before, much less to a mare. "While I was away back in the dorms, I... I heard a lot of my dorm-mates talk about you and they all adore you for who you are. They all think you're cool and like spending time with you." As expected, this little tidbit left her speechless and blushing. "And for all it's worth, I think you're pretty cool too."
Moondancer didn't say anything in response, but a loud gasp and wide smile hinted at some levels of gratefulness. Her face could be now described as 'Too many hugs inside, must share immediately!'. And he was the only pony available. He rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Okay, get on with it."
"B-but, what if I lose control and--"
"It's okay, I'll tell you when you go too fa--UGH!"
He was unable to say anything before getting glomped by the oversexualized mare who, for once, wasn't going to drag her target to her bed. The hug was still pretty pleasant.
"That was one of the sweetest things a stallion ever said to me!"
"C-cool, but the project...?"
"Just one more minute? Please?"
Still in hug, Red rolled his eyes and didn't say a word, hoping she wouldn't say the exact same thing once an actual minute passes.
"Moondancer?"
"Yes?"
"Too far."
As expected, the duo of Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer got the perfect, 100% grade, thus winning a no-prize, since it wasn't a contest. Red Hope and Moondancer were close seconds at 98%, much to Red's chagrin. He lamented over this in the corner, while Moondancer patted his back.
After a round of applause from an imaginary crowd (because nopony in class really cared about other projects that much) and a healthy dose of hoof-shaking between each other, Twilight and Sunset finally walked to their third, estranged partner, who spent all weekend outside of her room, which wasn't that uncommon once in a while and they didn't even want to ask where she was or what she was doing. Twilight was the first one to grab her attention.
"Hey, Moonie?"
Moondancer looked away from her depressed partner and nodded. "Twilight. Sunset." She welcomed them, getting a nod from Sunset as well. "So, congratulations. You two make quite a team."
"Yeah, guess we do." Twilight laughed awkwardly. "If only we weren't so blinded by competition."
"Can't beat'em, join'em." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "I must admit, I never expected we could actually get along for something." Sunset hated every moment where she had to admit that somepony else was right. Doubly so if it was Twilight Sparkle. Triple if it was Moondancer. That made this moment six times as bad as admitting that she was in the wrong.
"Science is a language with few swear words." Twilight added, and everypony nodded. "Also, we've been talking about something when you were gone, and we came to a conclusion that... we..."
"We were really crappy friends." Sunset finished her partner's sentence, much to everypony's shock. "With all this rivalry and petty grudges, we didn't stop to think how it affected you."
Twilight's ears flopped a bit. "We're sorry for making you go through all this, Moondancer. Can you forgive us?"
Moondancer hummed. "Weeeeeell, you've been kinda horrible about it before, not just this weekend, buuuut..." she shot one quick glance at Red Hope, who was still lamenting over his grade (he wasn't- he was just too shy to look at Twilight Sparkle; also too intimidated to look at Sunset Shimmer). "...eh, something good came out of it, so I'll forgive you. It's not like I can stay mad at you two!" She smiled widely, then extended her hooves in their direction. "Now c'mere and give me a 'Reunion Hug' or I'll take it by myself!"
Faced with a poor choice and an awful choice, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer looked at each other, nodded and sighed, knowing full well that they got what they deserved and were going to take the punishment cuddles now, before it escalated any further. Red Hope tried not to listen to their conversation after that, but he was grateful that Moondancer denied any rumors of what the two of them did for the last weekend, which saved him in the eyes and mind of Twilight Sparkle. Sure, he was still a long way, but at least his chances were still way above anypony in S.A.S.S. Unlike anypony else in that group, he survived the close encounter with Moondancer with his purity unscathed. Also, three days of studying, shared meals and card games weren't exactly the worst thing that could happen to a young, still growing stallion.
"Hey, Red?"
His train of thought was interrupted and he turned back to see Moondancer alone. There was no sign of her roommates, neither were any other students or teachers around. How long was I sitting here? "Y-yes?"
"Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed last three days and I, well, I wouldn't mind doing it again some day."
He smiled and stood up to face her. "The feeling's mutual."
She smiled and nodded. "Cool. Just for the record, girls are really looking forward to that Ponyfinder game you promised me."
"This feeling's mutual as well."
"And now that they have discovered how much power they have together, Sunny and Twily decided to partner up more often. Which means..." She made a small pause, her eyes looking away. "...I'm kinda on my own again once next group project comes by."
"Oh, is that so?" He smiled slyly. "You're in luck, cause there's a lonely stallion in our class that could use a smart partner."
"Do you think he'll have me? Knowing who I am and what I do?"
"I think he'll make a good decision." They went silent for a moment, before bursting into laughter. Red raised one hoof up. "Partner?"
Moondancer nodded, raised her own hoof and bumped it into his. "Partner!"