Slice of Velvet and Pear

by David Silver

60 - The Mysterious Mare Do Well - Part One

"An autobiography is written by the pony it's about." Twilight frowned at Rainbow Dash, who seemed just as cocky as ever.

"I'm too busy saving ponies, and being awesome." Rainbow blew across the top of her hoof. "So I hired a ghost writer."

Spike gave a thumbs up before resuming the typing of the document with rapid click-clacks.

The girls, minus Rainbow Dash, gathered together. "It's a bit much." Applejack tossed her head at the prideful pegasus. "She's lettin' it go to her head. We should do somethin'."

Fluttershy nodded with a curled arm. "Before somepony gets hurt... maybe her." She curled away from the idea she had presented.

Moon waved a hoof slowly in the air. "She's not hurting anypony. We could be doing something else." She glanced at Rainbow Dash and away. "Is it worth a fight?"

Twilight curled an arm around Moon, hugging her in quiet support. "We're not fighting."

Pinkie rubbed her hooves together with a plotting grin. "We're scheming. Big difference."

The talk resumed of their plans to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson. Moon didn't want to be a part of it, nor to raise her voice against the others, so she just left. "Are you done?"

Spike looked up from his typing. "Hm? Nah. Rainbow doesn't stop giving more to write about."

"Are you being fairly compensated?" Moon leaned in for a peek of the many words. "You've gained skill with that."

"Thanks." He smacked the carriage return and started a new line. "I am a professional journalist!" It was a thing that made him smile with pride. "But, yeah, she's paying me. It's fair."

"Good." She leaned in and they touched cheek to cheek. "I'm heading out. Good luck."

Rainbow landed just in front of Moon as she went for the door. "Hold up a moment, Moon! Your bro's been a real help, but you could be involved too!"

Moon flipped an ear back. "How do you... propose that?"

Rainbow flicked her wings wide. "You know stuff, lots of stuff. Do some reading or something and see if I really am the best pegasus." She leaned in, whispering conspirationally, "Which I am, of course. But proof would be cool."

"I will... consider." Moon turned from Rainbow. "I should go." Fleeing from Rainbow's aggression and the scheming whispers of the other ponies, Moon hurried home to the library and collapsed in a chair, huffing for breath. "Why..." She wasn't angry at them, exactly. No, her anger was inwards. "Stop being stupid..." Nopony had attacked her, but it felt like she was under attack. She felt stained and tense and her heart was pounding.

Her head ached and everything felt tense and loud. She closed the door and locked it, the click echoing around her. "Quiet," she urged the world in general. She sank onto the floor limply, trying to calm her breath and still herself, soaking in the growing quiet of the empty library. She was the only one there. She could have quiet. There could be peace. "Stupid..." But why was she the only one that needed it so badly?

"You have this." She fought herself to her hooves. "It's... quiet." Peace was returning, and the tension of the escalating situation felt like it was slowly fading away. She could resume her day, and do something besides trying to deal with that loud crowd of agitated ponies. A pity that included all of her favorite ponies. Spike would have helped her even out without all the painful steps in the middle. Twilight, if she was there, may have short-circuited the whole thing.

Moon smiled, thinking of Twilight, but that bookworm of a unicorn wasn't there. They were busy, doing something about Rainbow Dash. But there was another pony she could visit. She wasn't getting work done, so she set off at a light walk for a new place instead. The scents shifted as she left Ponyville proper and the aroma of apples surrounded her.

"Howdy." Big Mac had spotted her. "What brings ya by?" He came up to the side of the road, a low fence barring his way, but he didn't seem bothered by that.

Moon nodded at Big Mac, just to pause with thought. "If she's my future mother-in-law..." She nodded at Big Mac. "You would be a brother-in-law."

Big Mac blinked at this logical run through. "Hm. AYup. If you an' Twilight git together, then yer my sister."

"Does that bother you?"

Big Mac waved that away. "Why would it? Family's a powerful good thing. Now, how can ah help ya?"

Moon pointed along the road. "I was hoping to talk to Pear Butter. Is she available?" She cocked a bushy brow with that part. "I understand if she is."

"Ain't too busy to say hi to a daughter, honorary or not." Big Mac led the way, crossing over onto the road when the fence had a gap. "So, how ya doin'?"

"I'm alright."

"Ya sure?" She had said nothing to give it away, and yet, he saw straight through her little lie. "Look a little stressed."

Moon picked up a fallen apple with her magic. It was fresh, still ripe and fine looking. "It was... loud, so I left."

"Ah can get that." He stopped just at the steps to their house. "The farm's usually quieter, so ah hope it helps."

He didn't seem to carry any objection to her holding that apple, so she took a bite of it, enjoying the sweet crispness it brought with it. "I already feel better." She pressed on past him despite that, entering the farmhouse. The smells of the interior spoke of the Apple home. Every house had its own scent profile, markers of the ponies that lived there, the lives they led, the foods they ate, and a thousand other markers that made each unique to them.

"Who's that ah hear?" Not Pear Butter, but her mother, calling from within the house. "Come closer so ah can see ya."

Moon walked at a light pace to stand before Granny Smith. "Hello. Is Pear Butter available?"

"That ain't hardly the way ta say hi." Granny Smith pointed to the spot just ahead of herself. "You come here an' sit." She fixed Moon with a hard look until that was done. "Now, ya wanna talk to her, gotta go through me. Jus' how that works. An' that shouldn't be no chore. Ah don't bite."

Moon considered the elder matriarch of the family. "I didn't mean... to offend." Had she offended? "It's been a..." She fell quiet, failing to find the next word right away. "I just want to talk."

"So talk." Granny leaned forward with a little grin. "These ears are still workin'! What has ya bent out of shape?"

Not the Apple she planned... but she was there... "Have you ever been in a situation where a lot of ponies were having a lot of... loud... thoughts and you just had to get away from it?"

Granny rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hm... Can't say ah have... But ah know some ponies who have. A powerful upset for 'em, when they feel in over their head and they jus' want everypony to shut up."

Moon brightened at the description. "Yes. I'm not the only one?"

"Ain't hardly." Granny waved that away. "Jus' try not to snap at 'em, even if they're bein' powerful dumb, and take a moment."

"That is what I am doing." She cocked a busy brow at Granny. "May I speak to Pear Butter?"

"You are a persistent one." Granny pointed past herself. "She's in the kitchen, makin' some tasty vittles fer later."

"Thank you." Moon dipped her head at Granny and moved to go past her, pausing at her side. "Thank you."

"Ya said that." Granny patted Moon, being so close. "But ah 'ppreciate it. Now, go on."

Moon went without further delay to find Pear Butter cooking over a bubbling pot. "Hello."

"Hello." She turned an ear, but not the rest of her. "Is that... Moon Dancer? How are you doing, little thing?"

Moon stepped up onto a chair and sank on it, watching Pear work on dinner. "I just... wanted to be quiet, with someone."

As she stirred her creation with care, Pear let out a small "huh". "Well then, you sit right there. We'll be quiet. Together like." She said nothing else, just the bubble and pop of the food she was making as she worked. The sound of her utensils gently clinking against the sides or bottom of her pot could be heard. The soft creaking sound could be heard whenever she opened the oven door or ignited a flame on the stovetop. The kitchen was bustling with the sounds of cooking, but none of them seemed to be irritating Moon. Everything felt very peaceful and relaxing, it was a truly calming experience.

The aroma that wafted through the air was a unique one - a mixture of juicy tomatoes and a hint of apples that filled her senses. Pear was holding a ladle of something towards Moon, just under her snout. An offer? Moon let Pear put the ladle in her snout and closed her eyes with the thoughts of it. "It tastes good."

"Glad to hear it." Pear got right back to cooking. "You look better."

"I feel better." Moon considered the busily working mare. "Can I assist?"

"Ah was hopin' you'd ask." Pear waved Moon closer. "A meal ya helped make is even tastier, ya know."

"I was not aware of this..." With a glowing horn, she assisted as Pear directed. Two ponies made the task simpler. There wasn't a lot of talking involved, and that was fine by Moon's estimation. A point was all that was needed to get things where they needed to be. The thick scents of delectable food evolved with each step. She could feel her mouth dampen, looking forward to the potential treats, but...

But, she hadn't been invited. She wasn't an Apple just yet. That would be rude. She didn't want to be rude. Then Pear Butter would hate her. Her peaceful place would be dashed if she did something so incredibly foolish.

"Breathe," gently beckoned Pear Butter, apparently noticing the working up energy. "Moon, you do know, don't you?"

"Know what, ma'am?"

Pear tapped Moon on the nose in a gentle boop. "I am your second mother. Mom will do. And don't even think that's strange or nothin'. It ain't even unusual fer a lot of ponies to end up with at least two. More happens, less too." She took a moment to adjust Moon's glasses on her face.

Part of her felt she should be really annoyed at somepony else touching her like that, her glasses and her face. Despite that, she felt... relaxed. It was like she could just trust Pear to come in so close and touch like that. She was a mother. She would do no harm.

Moon let out a soft, almost silent, breath. "Will you be upset if I want to stay?"

"For dinner?" Pear peeked in the glass of her stove. "Mmm. You'll have to wait about twenty minutes er so, but ah already done invited you, precious thing." She waved her hooves in the air. "But we're done 'xcept the things that just need some good time. Now, if yer feelin' helpful..." She pointed to a cupboard filled with plates and flatware. "Go set the table fer us. Need somethin' to eat wit' and on."

"Yes, of course." With her magic, Moon grabbed several entire sets and went off to start setting them around the table.

Granny Apple chuckled, watching her from her nearby seat. "You unicorns make that look so easy."

"That is a deception." Moon set the last plate down. "It is my theory that the thoughts required are why many unicorns display neurodivergences. We focus on things differently. You have to, to use this." She looked to the kitchen, more eating tools floating out to join the arranging sets. "It's very complicated to do it right without bumping what you're holding together or against unintended third objects. Unicorn foals can and do cause trouble entirely by accident."

Granny let out a little 'huh' at the thought. "Ya don't say. Guess ah won't be upset havin' mah hooves on the ground."

Author's Note:

I feel like this could maybe do with a part two? Lemme know! I thirst for your feedback.

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Comments

[Hobbestc]

I like Moons description of possible mental issues by unicorns caused by their constant magic use. It's an interesting point of view.

[TheGJ90]

Moony getting sick of a crowd's noise and wanting some peace and quiet in a hurry is a mood.

A Moony Mood.

[Arkonfleight]

11657925
They're certainly more visible when you have a shenanigans-wand attached to your face.

[Venerable Ro]

Poor Moon, that is indeed a mood and a half.

Coming up on one of my least favored episodes now, let's see how the ripples go.

[redandready45]

Moon really needs a break.