Theory and Practice

by Snaproll

Evidence

Moondancer managed to get Whichaway to her hooves with the gentle use of her magic. She gave Braeburn a look. "Um...Where..?"

He nodded, understanding. "Along that wall yonder, second door on the left. There's a locker room built into the restroom, should be some towels over yonder."

Moondancer gave him a nod of thanks. Braeburn, meanwhile, turned his attention to Snaproll, evidently concerned the pegasus stallion had a concussion.
"I'm telling you, Brae, I'm fine!"

"Look you stubborn galoot, You might feel fine, but the last thing I need is for you to be bleedin' inter that thick skull o' yourn!"

Whichaway leaned against Moondancer, grateful for the support the unicorn mare gave her. "Thanks for the help. I've made a right mess of things here."

Moondancer didn't quite know what to make of this, merely nodded as the two mares made their way to the bathroom.

True to Braeburn's word, the bathroom had a decent set of lockers to it as well, complete with a fresh array of fluffy white towels. Moondancer used her magic to float a trio of these off the shelf and over onto a bench, where she walked Whichaway over towards so the pegasus mare could support herself. The feathered mare sat down on the bench with a grateful sigh, grabbed one of the towels with her fetlock, and artfully wrapped it around her mane in a turban so it could dry.

"So, Moondancer", She said, grabbing another towel and using it to dry her coat off, "That pegasus stallion back there..." Whichaway's voice was carefully neutral as she regarded Moondancer out of the corner of her eye. "Does he...does he have a special somepony?"

Moondancer was caught short. The question was so unexpected it caught her train of thought boarding at the station. "Um...what?"

Moondancer gave her a frank look. "You'd think I wasn't the one who got brained by a hailstone. Snaproll." She leaned closer to Moondancer, her gaze becoming vaguely manic as she spoke, emphasizing each word. "Does. He. Have. A. Special. Somepony?"

Moondancer felt herself leaning away from the mare, and answered truthfully. "I...I honestly don't think so. Though that said, I only met him yesterday afternoon."

This seemed, however, to be the answer that Whichaway was hoping for. Her expression went from intent to transported. To her amazement, Moondancer could see tiny heart bubbles begin to percolate above Whichaway's head, as the pegasus mare gave a heartfelt sigh. "Oh, thank Celestia! I don't know what I would do if he had!"

Moondancer felt her jaw drop. She was, if she was being humble, a rather clever unicorn, and could list plenty of magical formulae, theories and procedures off the top of her head. This, however, was out of her league, and she felt like all logic had dropped out of the conversation. Stunned, she tried to gather more data, to make sense of what was lying before her.

"But...hold on a second..." She considered the hearts floating above Whichaway's toweled mane. "You mean... you like him?"

Whichaway gave a lovelorn sigh and gracefully lay on her back on the bench, hearts still floating above her head. After a second glance, Moondancer could see she was floating a few hoof widths over the bench, without the aid of her wings. "Oh, is it so hard to understand? The way he flies, his strong jawline, his distant, pensive gaze..." Whichaway held the back of a fetlock to her brow, as if swooning, though she merely sighed and settled back on the bench. "What filly wouldn't want a stallion like that?"

"But...but you knocked him out cold five minutes ago!"

Whichaway waved an airy hoof. "Details, my dear, merely details. I'm going to make that stallion mine!" She turned and gave Moondancer a frank stare. "I've known that since I saw him in Appaloosa last month."

"Last month?" Moondancer spluttered.

"Yes." Whichaway smiled dreamily. "He was one of the ponies that helped clear a particularly nasty thunderstorm over town, you know. I'd never seen a stallion handle clouds like that. The way he managed to break them up, to get them to move, and discharge their water where it was needed..." She sighed, dreamily, her gaze a million miles away. "It's enough to make a filly wish she were a cumulus..." She giggled, and then continued. "Anyway, I resolved to find out who he was and where he came from. But he left just as quickly as he'd come. So when I saw him leaving town, I had to follow him! To know who he was!"
Whichaway suddenly sat, bolt upright, and then grabbed Moondancer's cheeks and gazed into her eyes, her expression panicked. "You! You wouldn't...tell him this, would you? Just between us mares?"

"Wha? OH! No...No of course not."

Whichaway breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh...good. Thank you. It's hard enough trying to bag a stallion. The last thing we want is for them to know what we're thinking, too."

"Right...well, If I'm any judge of things, the fact that you decked him should have thrown him off the scent." Moondancer said, hoping to project that she knew what she was talking about when she clearly didn't. "Are you dried off?"

Whichaway sighed. "In all the ways that matter, yes." She rolled off the bench and onto her hooves, looking much steadier now. "So, how about you, dear? You have eyes on that tall drink of water out there?"

Moondancer blinked in confusion. "Tall drink of...wait...Braeburn?"

Whichaway smiled slyly, and gave Moondancer a wink. "Not that I'd blame you. He's certainly got plenty of muscle and good looks."

Moondancer gave the pegasus a flat stare. "As it happens, I've only met Braeburn yesterday as well. It's not like I've any idea what to do with that stallion, anyway."

Whichaway tossed the towel off her mane and onto the floor, giving Moondancer a wink as she trotted out of the locker room. "Oh, I'm sure if you put your mind to it, you could think of a few things. Now, let's get some food."

Moondancer felt a blush crease her muzzle as she followed the pegasus mare, and felt baffled and amused at the lengths lovestruck mares would go to rope a stallion.

*******

Dinner passed pleasantly quickly for Moondancer. The bookish mare was used to dinners that were either made with boiling water, came in a styrofoam container, or were some combination of the two that was best left uncontemplated. Sazerac, however, had emerged from the kitchen floating platters of breaded eggplant covered in mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce over a bed of rice. After the first bite, Moondancer was hard pressed to keep from throwing her utensils to one side and burying her face in the delicious food.

Whichaway spent most of the evening engaged in friendly bickering with Snaproll. She sat next to the pegasus stallion, and though they were arguing throughout the whole meal, Moondancer noticed that Whichaway had managed to insinuate herself closer to Snaproll and he either didn't seem to mind or-more likely, Moondancer thought- was unaware of the pegasus mare working her feminine wiles on him.

Despite the deliciousness of the meal, Moondancer found her gaze wandering back over to Braeburn. She wondered how he managed to eat so neatly despite having no magic to his name. Braeburn spent the meal listening to Sazerac yammer on about the history of the dish or how he'd seasoned the breadcrumbs. Once or twice, he'd glanced over at Moondancer and given her a wink, which did funny things to her stomach that she didn't care to contemplate.

After dinner wound down, Moondancer bid good evening to the other ponies and trotted over to her adobe cottage. There was, mercifully, a break in the weather, though she could see another storm looming on the horizon. Though the hour wasn't late, she decided to turn in. Considering the brisk run into the Center from their campsite that morning and the excitement involving Whichaway's arrival, not to mention the...thankfully...averted argument with Braeburn, nothing seemed more attractive than curling up into bed with a nice book and reading herself gently to sleep.

She briskly brushed her teeth, spent a few minutes brushing out the knots in her mane and tail, decided that she would shower in the morning, and then began to peruse her bookshelves for something to read.

I want something just right. Something stimulating, but not TOO engaging, otherwise I won't fall asleep.

She found her eyes lingering on several different tomes as she idly perused her bookshelves. Love Potions No. 1-438...Great Romances of the Post-Chaos War, Stallions are from Mars; Mares are from Venus...No, none of these will quite do... She sighed, pushed these other choices aside, and then levitated a tome from the shelf. She looked down at the brown wooden cover of the book and muttered "Old Reliable" to herself as she regarded "A Compendium of The Life Of Starswirl The Bearded, Volume 2 of 197" as it hovered in her magic before her. Granted, Starswirl the Bearded was commonly regarded as the Father of Modern Magical Theory, and his memoirs were fantastically good reading, Volume 2 was considered the dullest and worst of the bunch as it focused on Starswirl's primary education as a foal. As such, it was useful for only three things: Historians interested in how education was conducted two millenia ago, Starswirl fans, or ponies wishing to fall asleep in a hurry. Moondancer felt she qualified on at least two out of those three criteria.

Sighing, she curled up in bed with the book, doused the lamps in the house, levitated her glasses onto her bedside table, and used her horn to provide a modest illumination as she read.

*******

Three hours later, Moondancer hurled the Compendium against the wall in frustration. She'd just spent the last twenty minutes re-reading the same sentence, couldn't remember a word of it,and didn't feel the least bit tired.

AAAAAARGH!!! What in Tartarus is wrong with me?!? She rose from under her covers with a groan and trotted to the bathroom, grumbling to herself. Using her magic, she ran the faucet, gathered a trio of hooffuls of water, and washed her face. The cool water helped her gather her thoughts and bring them under control.

Okay...so, the whole time you were reading about Starswirl's Solinade Dances, you were thinking about Braeburn. That's got to be some part of what's irritating you. She frowned as she splashed more cold water on her face. Because he really is irritating! She shook her head, dashing water off her face and mane as she thought.

Okay...let's focus on the why...Why do I find him Irritating? The answer didn't immediately present itself.

*******

A half hour later, Moondancer was ready. She sat on her haunches in a lotus position in the center of her room, a quartet of candles set at each of the cardinal directions burned merrily around her. Since she'd attended Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, Moondancer had found meditation to be a particularly effective tool at organizing her thoughts and clearing her mind.

She took a deep, cleansing breath in through her nostrils, and then out again through her mouth. She repeated this process five more times, until she felt her body begin to relax into its meditative posture, and her mind begin to clear. Satisfied she was suitably relaxed, she closed her eyes, and began her introspection.

Braeburn...why do I find him irritating...what is it about this stallion that vexes me?

She closed her eyes, and began to focus on what she knew of the stallion...his impressive physique...his willingness to shoulder the heaviest burden...his compassion to the injured...his easy, good natured smile...is open and honest green eyes, that radiated kindness and honesty...

Odd... Moondancer thought, in her detached, meditative state, ...None of these particular features should be irritating...so why do I find them so troublesome... oh NO!

Her eyes snapped open and flicked toward the bathroom mirror.

She could see herself holding a perfect lotus position; back straight, rear hooves crossed, head held high and forelegs crossed in her lap.

What was truly impossible to ignore were the myriad pink hearts percolating over her head.

She swore and fell out of the lotus position as she scrambled on all four hooves to the bookshelf, muttering aloud "Where is it... WHERE IS IT?!?" Using her forehooves and magic, she began flinging books one after another off the shelves behind her, arcing into a large pile in the middle of the room.

Finally, she found what she was looking for; a small, pink bound tome, with a cerulean heart embossed on the front cover, beneath the title: "When You're In Love; A Mare's Guide to Recognizing the Signs You've Found Your Special Somepony"
Beneath the heart was a post-script to the title, A Comprehensive Guide by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza

Moondancer practically tore the small book in half as she opened it and began scanning the book. Okay...okay...I've had a desire to kiss him, sure, but does that mean...TARTARUS!!! ...Wait, here! I can't keep my eyes off of him, surely that has to mean... She turned the page. BLAST IT!!! Okay, there has to be something else, some logical refutation for why I can't stop thinking about his smile, or his physique, or how his flanks are so taut...

She read for an hour...then another. After she finished the chapter titled "So, You can't stop thinking about his smile, build, or how his flanks are really, really taut", Moondancer set the book down with a groan as she flopped on the bed.

"Oh Celestia...it's worse than I thought...I..." She gulped as she rolled onto her back... "I love him!"

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

hehehe when is the wedding Moony, and how are ya gonna tell his cousin applejack that you like her cousin Braeburn lol

[Snaproll]

9283458
Oh, there's plenty more shenanigans to go through before we hear wedding bells