Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 56: Filling My Stomach with Butterflies

It was evening when I flew back to the college from the office building the OMMR had taken me to. My stomach was making major rumblies since I had only had a few bagels for lunch, and Avtandil hadn't provided any food. He seemed annoyed that I had carried bagels in my saddlebag, but this pony needed her food. I was more than ready for a nice big relaxing dinner before I called my parents to tell them I needed help paying a five hundred dollar fine—at least it was just a fine, and nothing else.

Mom wasn't going to be happy.

I made my way into the cafeteria and was happy to see there wasn't much of a line. It was Friday night, so maybe many students went out to eat.

"Why did your parents call me today?"

I turned around and saw Maggie with her arms crossed, glaring down at me.

"They were going to tell you that I was telling the truth," I replied. "They figured you might believe them if you didn't believe me."

"Oh, I believe you," Maggie said through gritted teeth.

I relaxed a little, feeling relief. "That's great! I—"

"I believe you because I had a bunch of guys in black suits grabbed me in the parking lot and took me kicking and screaming across town to a certain night pony people tend to be scared of," Maggie said in a near growl. "What the hell, Becky!"

My ears flattened. "I… I didn't expect her to do that. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Are you alright? Did they hurt you? I'm going to go tell her off."

Maggie blinked. "You are going to tell her off? Seriously? You're just going to march over there and yell at someone surrounded by guards who can order people grabbed off the street?"

"She did it to you! I can't let her get away with it!" I explained.

Maggie stared at me for a moment, then sighed. "Save yourself the effort. I didn't get hurt. She just wanted to have a long talk. Then she paid me for my trouble. I'm angry about it, but I don't want you going off and doing something stupid. Her bodyguards would jump you and beat you to a pulp if they thought you were threatening her."

"If it makes you feel any better, I got dragged off by agents today too, and I got a fine," I replied.

"A little," Maggie muttered.

"So… are we talking again?" I asked in a hopeful tone.

"We're talking right now."

"You know what I mean."

Maggie looked around then back at me. "Give me some time. I promise we will talk about it sometime, but I've got my own stuff to figure out. I learned things today that I didn't know before, and a lot of it didn't have to do with you. I need to get my thoughts in order and figure out what it all means to me."

My ears rose and flicked. "That sounds like she brought up some personal things."

"Personal family stuff," Maggie muttered. "Old stuff that got dredged up after years. I need to talk about it with my parents first before I talk to you. It wouldn't be right if I didn't."

What did they talk about? Phobia Remedy could get into people's heads in dreams, but Maggie and her parents had no magic, so that didn't apply to them. "I don't understand."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm not going to say anything about you to my parents or anybody else. You can tell your parents I respectfully decline their invitation. I'll talk to you when I'm ready."

Maggie turned to go, then paused to look back at me. "Oh, in case you missed the news. Today, Psychic Calm announced his retirement plans. Said he was retiring in two months. Reporters are already speculating about who will be the new Dreamwarden. You might want to steer clear of the area around Phobia Remedy's house. That area is going to be a media circus for the next two months."

I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks, Mags."

"Take care of yourself, Bec," Maggie replied before walking off.

I watched her go. The line had moved, and there wasn't anyone around me. I guessed things were better than they were yesterday, but I still didn't understand what had happened between us.

I was also angry at Phobia Remedy for doing what she did to my friend. I wanted to have my friend back, but how was she supposed to be happy with me if people grabbed her off the streets like some organized crime syndicate or secret totalitarian police? Heck, how was that supposed to make the Dreamwardens look better if Phobia Remedy really cared about that? How often did she pull stuff like this? Was getting some nice and friendly Dreamwarden in place to help cover up the not very nice things that went on behind the scenes? Was that what I was? Just someone to smile and make people feel good about Dreamwardens while the other Dreamwardens did crappy things like this?

"Hey, glad to see you didn't get arrested. You look flustered. They punish you badly for whatever it was?"

I was so lost in thought I hadn't seen Russell come up to me. What was I supposed to say here? I couldn't just blow him off.

I tried to force myself to relax. "It was a long interview, and I didn't get to eat through most of it. They gave me a fine, which I guess I deserved. I accidentally talked about something that I learned about when I was dreaming and hadn't been given permission to talk about."

I had talked about what I had done for Arbiter and everything else that had happened that night. My projection technically counted as me dreaming, and that meant I wasn't allowed to tell specific details that counted as personal information to anyone who wasn't there. I got multiple counts of it, but was being let off with a fine. Some of it had even happened in the dream realm, and the Dreamwardens just let me do it then fined me after. It felt unfair.

"Well, figure everyone slips up and makes a mistake here and there. It sounds like you didn't mean to do it. I got a ticket over the summer for running a stop sign. I was distracted and hadn't even noticed it was there. Stuff happens sometimes," Russell replied, then laughed. "My ma about bucked my butt when she heard about it. She doesn't even drive, but she lectured me for a few hours about paying attention when I'm driving. She'll nurture and love me till she gets overbearing, but if I do something wrong, she'll make sure I hear about what she thinks about that for a few hours straight. She can be a little intimidating."

"Didn't you say your mom is an earth pony? Don't you tower over her?" I asked.

He laughed. "Size doesn't matter, she’s got a big personality. Doesn't let being short and squat stand in her way. You remind me a little of her."

"I remind you of your mom?" I asked. Everyone said Russell seemed to have a thing for me. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, and was even less sure how I felt being compared to his mom if he did like me. "I'm not sure if that is flattering or not."

He shuffled his feet. "Uhhh, just a little. You aren't exactly like her, just the big personality and not letting anything stand in your way. Wasn't trying to flatter you… maybe I was… sorry about that."

Okay, that was all kinds of signs that he was interested. I might be dense when it came to displays of attraction, but that was obvious enough for even me.

"My friends have been telling me that they think you're interested in me," I said slowly.

"Well, you're an interesting person," he said giving a sheepish grin, then he winced.

I looked him in the eyes. "Interested in me in more of an attraction kind of way. Is that true? They have been teasing me about it constantly."

"I don't mean to get you teased," he said quickly, looking away from me.

I took a step forward. "Hey, it isn't your fault. I let myself get flustered about it so they do it more. You didn't answer my question though. Do you find me attractive? Even though I'm a pony and you're a human?"

"I take it you aren't interested in humans," he said dejectedly. "I’ll just get going for—"

"Alright, that's you saying yes," I said with a smirk. My stomach felt weird, not the normal rumblies. I couldn't believe I was doing this. My friends were going to tease me to death. Why was I doing this? If this went much longer I was going to puke. I really needed some triple-fudge chocolate cake! "So are you going to ask me out on a date or not?"

Russell looked like he was ready to run. "Um, do you want to come with me and we can have dinner somewhere nice that's away from campus? I'll pay."

Well, I'd pushed him to it. Now I was committed. "Dinner it is! You really know how to win over a fluffy pony!" I said gleefully. "It's a date!"

"Squuuuueee!"

We both turned to see Meadow, Ashley, and Sunflower standing just a short distance away, trying to stay just out of where my range of vision would have been, and there were too many scents around here to pick anyone out correctly. Meadow was the one who had obviously made the sound and was sitting and covering her grin with her hooves.

"So much for, I don't date," Ashley said smugly. "Ignore us, and go have a good time. Tell us details about how it went later."

"Come on," Russell said as he gestured for me to follow. "I know a good place and we can take my car."

I followed him, and it hadn't fully registered that I was about to go on my first date ever. I wasn't even sure who asked who out. Sure, he was the one taking me out to dinner, but I kinda pressured him. Why had pressured him? I was supposed to avoid dates and relationships.

We walked in awkward silence to his car. He wasn't saying anything and I didn't know what to say. I wished he would say something I could respond to, anything at all.

We reached his car. It was older, like thirty years old. Made before there were ponies on Earth. He opened the front passenger door for me and saw that whatever seat had originally been there had been switched out for one that was good for both ponies and humans. I did a quick hop and few flaps and was in the seat and he was shutting the door behind me.

I sat there trying to get my seat harness fastened while he came around to the driver side. I didn't want him to see me struggle with it. Luckily, someone had color coded things on this harness, and whoever was in it last was a big pony, so it fit nicely.

He got in and looked at my harness. "That isn't too loose, is it? My mom stretches it out and I've heard other ponies have trouble with it before."

"No, it fits fine, and I like that it's color-coded," I replied, glad to be able to talk about something.

He started up the car and it did a lot more shaking than any car I was used to. "So, you don't date much, huh?" he asked.

"I don't date at all. This will be my first one," I answered nervously. "Do you have a lot of experience dating?"

"I went to prom, but that was it. Girl I dated that night didn't ever show any interest in doing any more dates. Friends put me up with her," he said as he put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot.

"A human girl?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but to be honest, I always had a little more preference for ponies. It's not like I don't find humans attractive, but all the strong females in my life were all ponies, so I guess I just learned to be attracted to ponies by extension."

"And I remind you of your mom."

He looked uncomfortable. "Well, the great things about my mom. First time I met you I was really impressed by how quickly you just shook off crashing into a building. Not the potential physical hurt, but the hurt to your pride. You even openly admitted to crashing all the time. Most pegasi wouldn't do that. They'd be embarrassed. They take getting into embarrassing situations badly. You don't do that. You just shake it off and smile. It makes you stand out from the crowd."

"Well, you've been very nice to me every time I have seen you—nicer than you need to be, and I find that attractive," I said. "I don't really know what my preferences are, but both my parents are human, and I grew up around more humans than ponies. I guess that makes me just as comfortable dating a human as a pony."

Just as nervous.

I took a deep breath. "Growing up, I moved from place to place all the time. Most of those places there were very few ponies, and some of them basically none at all. I met a Dreamwarden in my dreams very early on, and she was my best friend for a long time, sometimes my only friend in some places that I lived. Lately, she's been pushing me to give dating a chance. Between her and my friends, maybe I am succumbing to peer pressure."

My eyes went wide. "I shouldn't have said that last part. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was going on a date with you out of pressure. I am attracted."

He chuckled. "You're the one that pressured me. I'd never have gotten the nerve if you didn't push me like that. I think you had me completely yesterday when you saw my skin discoloration and thought it was great then turned around and happily flaunted your own oddities. That second part was how I knew you weren't just saying that. You made me feel special."

If this lasted multiple dates he might learn how odd I could be. I wasn't going to disclose my powers just yet, though.

"Well, it's great to be different!" I proudly proclaimed. "Same old same old gets boring."

"I hope I can keep from getting boring," he said with a grin as he pulled into a parking lot. "Here's the place."

I looked at the sign for the restaurant. "Dave and Buster's? Never heard of it."

"Then you are in for a treat. I think you'll love it."

Author's Note:

Yes, I know we skipped over the meeting with the Warden of Order. Wasn't really needed to cover it. Happy early Valentine's Day!

Comments

[Lawra]

10675909
This seems more like one of the mental things from ETS. Remember how in the original Pandemic, a couple characters were jealous of unicorns or pegasi for having magic or flight but immediately wrote it off as unimportant because they were meant to be one way and didn't need those things.

Since then a couple characters have indicated that they ignored that and went beyond to learn about things beyond their tribe like Wild Growth.

[PonyofEntropy]

Great updates!