"Yo, everypony enjoy the main dish?" Vinyl Scratch exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in the air. She nodded in satisfaction as the crowd cheered their approval. "Alright, everpony, you know what time it is! Get your hooves up, the party's startin'!"
Lovestruck retreated away from the tables as the guests all stood up, not wanting to get in their way. She looked over at Lyra and her friends as they all laughed together, kicking off their shoes as they galloped to the dance floor. She tried not to feel bitter.
'At least I don't have to worry about my cover being blown,' she admitted. Still, she also had to admit that not being recognized hurt her ego quite a bit.
Was she really so insignificant?
She shook her head. 'No, of course not. Cadence wouldn't have trained me for all these years if I were insignificant...'
Then why didn't they recognize her?
She pursed her lips. 'It's not worth thinking about.' She scanned the dance floor, where everypony was dancing blithely and seemed to be having the time of their lives. 'This whole wedding might not be worth it, after all. Nopony seems to need me for anything, so...'
Lovestruck backed away from the crowd of ponies and placed her tray on a table. She trotted quietly to the exit of the room, hoping that nopony would notice her leaving.
"Where are you going?"
Lovestruck almost jumped a mile high when she heard that. She whipped around, expecting to see a server prepared to berate her. She blinked in surprise at the sight of Bon Bon, who was giving her a rather stern look.
She glanced around awkwardly. "I... I... I swear, I'm not bailing on work."
"I know who you are," Bon Bon said simply.
Lovestruck blinked again and her jaw fell slightly agape. "W-What?"
"Don't play dumb, Lovestruck," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "It was a pretty bold move of you to come to Minuette's wedding without an invitation."
"I—" Lovestruck tried to say, but she was interrupted.
"I thought you were in the Crystal Empire. What are you doing here in Neighagra Falls?" She arched a brow. "You on a mission or something?"
Lovestruck, after finally managing to get over her shock, held a hoof up to silence Bon Bon. "Would you hush it up?! I don't want anypony to know why I'm here!"
"So it is a mission, then," Bon Bon concluded, raising both her brows in interest.
Lovestruck groaned. "No. I mean, yes. I mean..." She sighed. "Listen, it's a long story, but all I can say right now is that I'm here because Cadence sent me out here. Just... don't tell anypony, OK? Especially not Lyra or her friends."
Bon Bon frowned. "Why shouldn't I? They know Cadence. I'm sure it's not a big de—"
"No!" Lovestruck protested. She flinched at her own volume. "No, please, you can't tell them. If they find out it's me—" She felt bitter saying it. "—they'll think I'm stalking them and I'm not. I'm just... I'm just trying to do what Cadence wanted me to do."
"And what does Cadence want you to do?" Bon Bon questioned, raising a brow. "Crash ponies' weddings? Pose as wait staff and bail on it? I mean, how did you even get in here without raising suspicion?"
Lovestruck opened her mouth to protest against Bon Bon's allegations, but she paused as she mulled over her words. "Well... She didn't tell me to do those things specifically... And I honestly don't know how I ended up here without anyone questioning it."
"Did you sneak in through the back?"
"Oh, who can remember?" Lovestruck muttered. She sighed. "No, I'm not here to crash the wedding. Or to bail on my job. Cadence wants me to travel around Equestria to learn about love and gain experience in the field, and this is... well, this is where I ended up."
Bon Bon blinked. "She sent you out to learn about love? You mean like Princess Celestia did with Princess Twilight?"
Lovestruck frowned. "Yeah, sure, we'll go with that." She looked back at the dance floor, where she saw everypony dancing with somepony as Vinyl flipped onto a heavier, louder song. "I only came here because I was looking for a hotel to stay in and all of the other ones are either full or damaged from the Parasprite attacks."
"They're still under renovation?" Bon Bon sighed. "You'd think they get it all fixed after we handled it..."
Lovestruck raised her brows. "What?"
"Nothing," Bon Bon answered, shaking her head. "Just... Why did you decide to come to the wedding, then? You heard it was happening and then you were hoping to find a problem for you to fix?"
"Honestly? I just wanted to see how the wedding went." Lovestruck shrugged a bit. "I never get to come to any, so I figured 'Why not?' and stayed for a bit."
"...By posing as a server and talking to old friends from Canterlot," Bon Bon commented, furrowing her brows.
"Trust me, we were never friends," Lovestruck told her. "None of them even remember me, anyway."
Bon Bon winced sympathetically. "Yeesh, now I feel like a jerk. I guess that explains why you looked so freaked out when you were serving us."
"I looked freaked out?"
"Yeaaaaah... it was kinda unnerving."
"Ugh." Lovestruck shook her head. "Well, I guess that settles it, then. Coming here was a waste of time." She sighed. "I guess I'll go see if any stores are open and if I can get a tent or a sleeping bag for me to sleep in outside..."
"Wait," Bon Bon called out, reaching out to Lovestruck. "I think there's something you can help me with."
"I honestly doubt that," Lovestruck responded. "Obviously if I'm not important enough for Lyra and everyone to remember me—"
"Hear me out, would you?" Bon Bon turned back at the dance floor, her eyes darting left and right with expert precision before settling. She pointed out as her eyes found Lovestruck once more."You see Frederick over there?"
Lovestruck gazed in the direction Bon Bon did, her eyes falling on Frederick, the pony who had given a speech earlier that evening. He was sitting at a table with a mare. The one who had thrown a bread roll at him, if she recalled correctly. "Yeah..?"
"He's a member of Octavia's quartet," Bon Bon explained, leaning a bit closer, as if she were disclosing top secret information. "They've been friends since forever and they started up their quartet in Canterlot a few years back."
"OK..." Lovestruck responded, taking note of the information.
Bon Bon grinned a bit. "He's also single."
Lovestruck's face she just sucked on a lemon. "So am I. Is that what this is about?"
"No." Bon Bon sighed, her grin disappearing. "He... He has a thing for someone in the band, but he hasn't acted on it 'cause..."
"Romance might muddle up the waters a bit?" Lovestruck guessed. She smiled a bit as Bon Bon nodded in affirmation. "So Freddy has a crush, but he can't do anything about it because he's scared he'll mess it up and then the quartet will be ruined?"
"Bingo." Bon Bon arched a brow, a smirk coming to her face. "You're good."
"'Your friendship much can make me blest, O why that bliss destroy!" Lovestruck proclaimed. "Why urge the only, one request you know I will deny!'"
Bon Bon blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
Lovestruck frowned at her. "Love in the Guise of Friendship? You know, that poem about how people don't wanna ruin a friendship by making a move?"
"Uh... If I say yes, will you stop reciting poetry like a weirdo?"
Lovestruck sighed. "Forget it. What does this have to do with me?"
Bon Bon glanced back at Frederick. "Well, if I have to go one more night hearing Lyra complain about how Frederick and Beauty are never gonna happen, I'm gonna explode."
"Beauty?" Lovestruck questioned, blinking in confusion. She gazed at the two quartet members, who were laughing and talking to each other in a friendly manner. "But I don't—"
"Hey, Bon Bon, they're about to play Single Mares!" Lyra shouted, galloping over. She stopped in front of Bon Bon and Lovestruck, the latter of whom was frozen in place. "What are you doing talking to her?"
"I, uh..." Lovestruck drawled out, unsure what to say.
"I was asking her what she does for her mane," Bon Bon answered. "It's so nice and clean cut, don't you think?"
Lyra lost her suspicious look immediately and nodded. "Oh, yeah! She looks like Twilight!"
Lovestruck grit her teeth.
Bon Bon, catching sight of Lovestruck's discomfort, turned to Lyra and smiled. "You ready to put your hoof up, girl?"
Lyra grinned cheekily. "You know it! Single mares for life!"
Lovestruck stared at Bon Bon as she followed after Lyra onto the dance floor. 'Those two are weird together.'
Her attention broke away from the two of them as she heard two laughs ring out and she glanced back at Frederick and Beauty, who were the cause of it.
'So Freddy has a thing for Beauty...' Lovestruck mused, arching a brow in interest. 'So, how am I gonna go about this? Wait until one of them gets up and talk to the other one when they're alone?' She blinked a bit when she saw a server pass by with a platter with champagne glasses on it. 'Or...'
It wasn't long until Lovestruck had a platter of her own and a fake smile on her face, determination in her chest as she approached the table with the laughing pair. She caught eyes with Bon Bon as she danced on the floor with Lyra. She nodded at her and returned to dancing as if nothing had happened.
No turning back now.
"Hello, there," Lovestruck greeted, stepping up to the table. "Champagne?"
"I'll take a glass," Frederick answered, taking a glass for himself.
"None for me, thanks," Beauty told her. "I've had my fill for the night."
Frederick scoffed a bit. "Lightweight."
Beauty frowned at him for a moment, but then she smirked a bit. "At least I'm not gonna be throwing up on the bathroom floor later."
"Ah, but you'll be holding my hair for me!"
Beauty rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. And you'll get laid."
He choked on his drink.
Now was the time to strike, Lovestruck realized as Beauty laughed and Frederick tried to cover his abashed face.
"Couples' quarrel, eh?" she commented, chuckling a bit.
Frederick looked up from his drink, his cheeks tinged red. Beauty merely arched a brow.
'Alright, not quite the reaction I was expecting,' Lovestruck admitted to herself.
"Friendly banter?" she said, hoping for a better read.
Frederick laughed a bit, though it sounded forced. "Yeah. 'Sides, Beauty isn't my type."
"Right back at you, Freddy," Beauty replied, rolling her eyes.
"Ah, you know you love me!" Frederick proclaimed, laughing again, but, again, it didn't sound real.
'...Alright, this is getting awkward,' Lovestruck thought. 'Better retreat and review what I know.'
Lovestruck chuckled a bit. "Well, you just tell me if you need anything else."
"Oh, trust me, I will," Frederick told her, taking a heavy sip from his glass.
Lovestruck held her smile until she was turned around and walked away from the table.
"Beauty's not my type," Frederick had said. He had been too casual for it to have been false.
'Or was he?' Lovestruck pondered, glancing back at him. He was chugging his drink and talking to Beauty again, laughing louder than before while Beauty just rolled her eyes at him. He wasn't avoiding eye contact. He wasn't acting shy. He wasn't fumbling or stuttering like a head over heels fool. He was comfortable and happy, just like one would be in the presence of a friend.
Friends. They were just friends.
Or were they?
Lovestruck sighed. 'OK, review... Frederick likes someone. Bon Bon is tired of Lyra saying Beauty and Frederick aren't gonna happen. I bring up them fighting like a couple and Frederick gets uncomfortable. Beauty doesn't.' She let out an angry huff. 'Dammit, I wish I had my notepad with me! I could organize my thoughts way better!'
Lovestruck looked at the dance floor, where she saw Bon Bon dancing with Lyra. She glanced back at Lovestruck once more and gave her a confused look when she saw her standing there doing nothing in particular. Lovestruck sighed and shrugged a bit in response. Bon Bon frowned, then nodded her head back in the direction of Frederick and Beauty.
Lovestruck turned her attention back to the pair, then blinked in surprise. Frederick appeared to have sobered up and wasn't laughing or smiling like before. Instead, he had a bit of a solemn look on his face and Beauty appeared to be in the middle of talking to him about something serious, judging by her expression.
'What did I miss?' Lovestruck wondered, arching a brow in interest.
"Hey."
Lovestruck nearly jumped out of her coat. "Sweet mother of Celestia!"
"No, it's just me," Bon Bon told her as she walked into Lovestruck's line of vision. "What the heck are you doing? All I saw you do was just give them champagne, talk for a bit, then leave."
Lovestruck was about to ask why she was there, then she noticed that the thumping song Vinyl had been playing was now replaced by a slower song. "It's been less than five minutes, Bonnie. Give me some more time to gather info, would you?"
"I already told you everything you need to know!" Bon Bon replied. "Also, don't call me Bonnie."
"Yeah, but you didn't tell me that Frederick was in the friend zone with Beauty!" Lovestruck said harshly, leaning in close so only Bon Bon could hear her.
Bon Bon blinked a bit and she leaned back. "Whoa, whoa, no need to get your magic all up in a tizzy."
Lovestruck suddenly realized her horn had sparked to life with magic and she backed up a bit as she regained her composure. She brought her hoof to her chest as she inhaled and extended it outwards as she exhaled. Just like Cadence had taught her.
"Sorry," she amended. "I... I don't respond well to being yelled at."
"And you decided to be a server?" Bon Bon joked, then let up as Lovestruck frowned. "Sorry."
Lovestruck sighed. "It's whatever. Just... I don't get it. I really don't. They look like just they're just friends. I can tell that just by spending time with the two of them."
"Yeah, of course they are," Bon Bon answered.
Lovestruck's eyes widened . "Wait, what?"
"Yeah." Bon Bon arched a brow in confusion. "Why'd you think that I meant that Frederick liked her?"
"Wha— You told me that he liked someone and pointed me towards Beauty!"
"Oh." Bon Bon chuckled awkwardly. "I guess I didn't get to the 'who' when it came to who Frederick likes."
"Yeah, sure, it's not like it's crucial information," Lovestruck snarled.
Bon Bon smiled a bit in reassurance and waved a hoof. "Don't go beating yourself up about it." Her smile faded as it went back to Frederick and Beauty. "As cute as they are, though, they aren't right for each other. Besides, Beauty isn't on Frederick's team."
'Huh, well, that explains that, then.' Lovestruck shook her head. "OK, so if it's not Beauty, who's the fourth musician? A quartet takes four, and all I see are three."
Bon Bon grinned. "The apple of Frederick's eye is at the bar, getting the shots ready for the brides and their entourage."
Lovestruck turned her head towards the open bar and she blinked in shock as she watched a blue coated stallion down two shots in quick succession. "Dear lord."
"Yeah, they're both super big on drinking at parties," Bon Bon told her. "You should have seen them at Princess Cadence's wedding."
Lovestruck frowned. "Yeah, I should have."
"What?"
"Nothing." She turned back to Bon Bon. "I'm guessing you'll be taking part?"
Bon Bon frowned and shook her head. "Nope. I haven't had a drink since college."
Lovestruck arched a brow. "Why not?"
Bon Bon looked off a bit. "Once you wake up in your best friend's bed with a pineapple and a note from said friend saying that you should throw said pineapple out... You take that as a wake up call and a time for reflection on your life choices."
"...So the whoo-hooing idiot over there is Frederick's crush?" Lovestruck affirmed, hoping to change the subject.
"Right." Bon Bon glanced back at her awkwardly. "That best friend wasn't Lyra, by the way."
"Alright."
"I mean, she's cute and all, but—"
"It's really none of my business," Lovestruck told her.
'I'll deal with that one later on,' she thought, adding that to her list of things to do.
"So, what now? Do I just go up and start ordering shots?" Lovestruck gestured to her attire. "I mean, technically I'm supposed to be working, not chatting with the guests."
"And yet here were are," Bon Bon commented. "You could always get someone else to gather the info for you."
Lovestruck frowned. "I came alone and have no friends."
Bon Bon fake winced. "Wow, harsh."
Lovestruck rolled her eyes. "Who the heck am I gonna get to go chat it up with... I just realized I don't even know his name."
Bon Bon sighed. "Parish. Parish Nandermane."
"Parish. Got it. Anyway, who am I gonna get to talk to Parish without freaking him out?"
"Lovestruck? What are you doing here?"
Lovestruck and Bon Bon whipped around together, then froze. Lovestruck's heart stopped. She couldn't breathe.
"Oh, buck," Lovestruck declared as she faced Minuette, her worst nightmare.