Series of Firsts

by themouthofmush

First Thoughts

Chapter 2—First Thoughts

“You know, for all its worth, this night view almost makes up for the party.”

Thin clouds stretched across the late summer’s midnight blue sky while lights were being cast from the moon and the stars above, the flickering candles in the houses below, turning them into moving “living” swirls of blues and purples. Add to that the ability to look upon the horizon and the mighty rise of the sun and see all of the plains, the vibrant and alive forests, and majestic mountains that made up this nation. The ability to feel the breeze, both chilly and strong, really did end up to my claim.

The sound of an over the top fake laugh made me turn around and see the party that was going on inside, the ponies inside dressed or groomed to what society thought of as perfect and the norm for the upper crust, their movements, the subtle and overt, all meant to draw attention to themselves, to show how much above the “riff raff” they were.

I looked down at what I was wearing-a black tuxedo vest over a dark grey dress shirt with a small checkered dicky of shades of light blue-and just felt more out than I did a minute okay.

A sigh escaped as I continued to watch the upper crust. “Why.....why was I invited to a party like this...to a party that I have no reason to be at in the first place?”

I turned back around and leaned on the balcony’s railing, looking nowhere in particular. “If this was somepony’s version of a joke, I don’t like it.” I shook my head and rested it on the railing. “There is no reason somepony like me should be at this sort of thing unless I was working it, as a waiter or something.”

The sound of the orchestra got loud then quieted down to what it was before.

“Guess I should just end up going home.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I walk in on you talking with somepony?” a voice asked me from behind.

I turned around and went to say something when my mind sort of fizzled out, my forehooves nearly giving out.

I saw a beautiful unicorn, purple coat brushed to perfection. Her glittering lilac eyes, which brimmed with concern, were highlighted with just the hint of eyeliner. Her dark indigo mane, with its singular stripes of violet and rose, was pulled into a ponytail, held together by small polished pearls. A purple diamond adorned her ear, shining against the light of the party. A bow of sparkly sequins was tucked behind her left ear, a red heart in the middle. She wore a simple dress that hugged her flank just enough to make my heart pitter patter a bit faster. The dress itself was a dark pink, same as her mane. On top of it was another layer of that glossy sequins, another bit around her neck like a scarf. Her fore-hooves were encased in more seqins, a small click clack every time she walked.

“Greyscale?”

“T-t-t-twilight...”

The two of us just looked at each other, time seeming to come to a halt and moving at the speed of sound, at the same time, before she coughed into her hoof.

“Y-you look nice,” she told me as she made her way next to me.

‘Nice.’ What does she mean by that? “T-thanks...but I’m sure there are ponies out there that could pull off the look better.”

“Maybe, but they aren’t here at the ball, are they?” She flashed me a smile that made my heart beat a little faster.

I turned to look out onto the night sky, hoping that there wasn’t enough light to show off the warmness of my face. “I guess that’s true.”

Silence hang between us as we just watched the night sky and the view laid out in front of us.

“This is a pretty impressive view,” she said, possibly to no pony in particular even though I was the only other pony there.

“Mhmm, you could almost see the edge of the Andromeda cluster from here. The clouds just get in the way.”

“You know where the Andromeda cluster is?” she asked me, completely shocked that I knew.

“Well, kind of. I’m not an astronomer, but I can vaguely guess where it should be right about now. It’s only just the middle of summer.”

I thought I saw her inch closer to me in the corner of my eye, but it could have been me seeing shadows.

“Where did you learn how to find it?”

“Well, a lot of sources actually: a few star charts, some old astronomy scroll, went to a few lectures...I think I might have sent a few letters to a few astronomers to see if they could share some of their notes to see if what I found matched with what they found.”

She giggled a little. “That’s some pretty thorough field work there.”

I ran a hoof through my mane. “W-well, I want to a renowned researcher someday. Guess it helps to get those types of habits as soon as possible.”

We kept looking at the stars, each of us lost in our minds.

“Grey?”

I looked at her—When did she get so close?—and gave her my attention. “Yeah?”

“How come you are out here on the balcony instead of inside with the party?”

“Oh...that...”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that-“

“Oh, no. I’m not out because of something that happened or because of somepony.”

“You aren’t?”

“No...” Guess I’m telling her this, huh. “I’m out here because...I don’t belong at a party like this as a guest.

I’m grateful for being here and everything, but I’m not...one of them. I’m not a part of the upper crust. I’m a ‘commoner,’ a pony who works for a living. Even if I’d tried, really, really tried, I’d never fit in, no matter what.”

I looked down at my hooves, not really sure why I did. “I got my ticket either through accident or for somepony’s joke.”

“...what if I gave you the ticket?”

I didn’t move, trying to process what she told me. Why would she give me a ticket? That had to be a lie, right? D-does she...

“I gave you the ticket because I thought we could have an enjoyable time, just the two of us...I haven’t seen you in a while and I thought that by inviting you here...”

“Twilight...”

“But you’re out here, not enjoying the ball...I thought, I thought that we could...but other ponies kept pulling me aside, kept talking to me, when all I wanted was to...”

I held her against me, trying to calm her down a little. “It’s okay Twilight. It’s not your fault.”

She buried her face in my shoulder.

“You didn’t know that any of those was going to happen. You couldn’t have known.” I nuzzled the top of her head a little. “So, please, don’t blame yourself okay.”

We stayed like that, in each other’s embrace, until Twilight pulled away, having calmed down a little.

“T-thank you.”

I smiled at her. “I should be the one thanking you. You invited to this ball just so we could hang out a little bit. Never met a pony who’d do that for me,” I told her as I chuckled a little. “Besides, enjoying the view with you makes it all worthwhile.”

She giggled a little, earning a smile from me. “Greyscale.”

“Yeah?”

“Snap out of it.”

“What?” I asked her. Did I hear her wrong or something?

“I said to snap out of it.”

“Snap out of what?”

She glared at me. “Snap out of it!”

Whack!

Author's Note:

Feel like I should explain this part. It's a daydream. He saw a cute looking mare with a star based cutie mark who was from Canterlot. Grey believes that she might be an astronomer. So, daydream around that thought.

Comments

[PonyJosiah13]

Would Grey happen to be the handsome devil in your profile picture?

[themouthofmush]

7102252 not sure if he'd be what most would consider to be a handsome devil, but yes. he is my profile picture.

[Magic Step]

Her fore-hooves were encased in more sequence

Sequins maybe?