//------------------------------// // Missing Pages // Story: Dancing in the Twilight // by Mindpalace //------------------------------// Moon Dancer was grateful. She was grateful for Twilight's gift, the key to her library in Canterlot. The books would be enough to keep her occupied for a few years without her having to go looking for more. Even now she was reading a book she never thought she would find, Predictions and Prophecies, one of the few books that that contained information on Nightmare Moon that wasn't filled with old mare's tales. She was grateful for Twilight giving her back her friends. When Twilight hadn't come to her party, she had given up friendship. But Twilight made her try again, and she had been living more happily then she ever thought she could again. Most of all, she was grateful for Twilight coming back. When Twilight left Canterlot in a hurry, missing Moon Dancer's party and not even saying goodbye, Moon Dancer had been hurt, badly. But Twilight came back, apologized, and made it up to her. So why did she feel like she was a book with the end page ripped off? Moon Dancer put her hoof to her temple, concentrating. She had everything to be grateful for. She should be feeling positive, happy. What was she missing? Friends? Check. Apology? Check. Twilight? Check. Then it hit her. It hit her like the stack of books that had fallen on her when she was a filly. Twilight. She was missing Twilight. But why? She came back. She hurt me, yes, but she apologized for it. She made up for it. Then she was hit with another revelation. It fit all the facts. She had read about this before. Why had she not seen it earlier? Moon Dancer had a crush on Twilight. That explained a lot. It explained why Moon Dancer always looked up to Twilight. It explained why Moon Dancer went to such great lengths to imitate Twilight, going so far as to style her mane after her. It explained why, as of late, Moon Dancer's stomach felt like it had butterflies in it whenever she saw Twilight. It explained why Moon Dancer, when Twilight missed her party, had been so hopelessly crushed, far more than if any old friend missed her party. Moon Dancer had read many a romance novel, and this situation seemed straight out of one of those stories. Moon Dancer put her hoof to her cheek, trying to stop the slight burning sensation there. This was new. She had never felt any sort of romantic attraction to anypony before, much less a mare. What was she going to do? Tell Twilight? Keep it a secret? Tell a friend? Normally these types of decisions were easy for her, as she always chose the logical choice. But she had never experienced this before, and she had nothing to base her logic on besides a few romance novels she had hardly paid attention to, reading them to relax. That's it! That was the solution. Moon Dancer straightened her glasses and smiled, trotting to a nearby book shelf. She picked out a few books with her magic and began to look for her quill and some parchment. It was time to do some studying. Moon Dancer closed the book she was reading with her magic and put down her quill. It was late, only a few hours until Celestia raised the sun to begin the day anew. She had spent the entire night studying on love and crushes, and found out a few noteworthy points. First, she should not let this feelings go unattended. In the romance novels Moon Dancer had read, whenever a character tried to ignore his or her feelings in only caused distress and distraction. No, the best thing to do would be to respond to these feelings. Second, the way she went about addressing said feelings could affect any chance she has of Twilight reciprocating. If she was too forward, Twilight might turn away. If she was too subtle, Twilight might never notice. She found this decidedly unfair. How would she ever find the right balance? Third, she learned that it was best to address these feelings, however she may choose to do so, in private. It would make any rejection more bearable, as there would be nopony else to witness it. Fourth would be the aforementioned rejection. Moon Dancer had read that it was a definite possibility, and that she should not feel to negative if she were to experience it. This worried Moon Dancer, as she had no interest in anypony but Twilight. She had learned a few other things, but decided to leave those thoughts alone for the moment. Moon Dancer straightened her glasses with her magic and thought. What would be the best way to go about this? Would she be subtle? Forward? How would she even get Twilight and her alone? Moon Dancer thought hard, hoof rubbing temple. Twilight and her were similar in many ways, so all she had to do was to figure out what would bring HER in. She was struck by a thought, and scrambled for her quill and parchment, and began to write. "Dear Twilight, "How are you doing! We haven't talked in a while. You must be really busy with you being a princess now and all. I would like to thank you again for giving me back my friends, they've been really fun to hang out with. We usually go out for donuts and ball games, and sometimes go to the theater too. "That being said, I still enjoy getting some time to study. I may have friends again, but that doesn't mean I have to stop reading. "I would like to invite you to my house here in Canterlot, for a sort of study date. I have a few books I want to read with you, and would really love it if you could come over. Don't worry, I cleaned my house up since the last time you've seen it. Love, Moon Dancer." Moon Dancer looked at the letter she had written. She had chosen her words carefully, making sure to make the study date sound as appealing to Twilight as possible. She even used some of the psychology tricks she had read about, using words like 'Dear', 'Love', 'Date', and ' Enjoy'. Satisfied, she rolled the parchment up, tied it with a red ribbon, and cast the spell that would transport the letter to Spike. As she watched the letter burn in green flames, Moon Dancer closed her eyes, and, for the first time in a very long while, felt as if her pages were complete.