The Life and Times of a Tea Pony

by FlutterChai

Chapter 6: A Stallion of the Past

Once the sun had finally set, the clubs and halls in the uptown part of Los Pegasus came to life, with everypony flying around in their best outfits. Being lead by the hoof by Rainbow Dash to the first club of the night wasn’t exactly the best way to be seen though. Still, I tried to hold on to that confidence that maybe a bit of adventure would be good for me. Or at least I couldn’t disappoint Rainbow Dash in her attempts to try to help me.

Before I could even read the name listed on the front of the building, she had dragged me past the bouncer pony at the front door and into the dark and loud interior of the club. The music reminded me of what Vinyl would play late at night on Fridays at her café, but it was also so loud that I couldn’t tell what the song was saying, if it had any words in the first place. In fact, I could barely hear myself thinking in the room with the occasional flashing colorful lights of the dance floor next to the center stage of the DJ pony, wearing a pair of oversized headphones.

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, trying to get her voice over the music. “You okay there, Fluttershy?”

I nodded in response, certain that I could never raise my voice loud enough to get over the deep bass beats coming from the dance floor. She looked at me with a hard stare as I smiled weakly, still trying to even think with all the music and flashing lights around me. As I watched the ponies on the floor, dancing their hearts out to the music, I suddenly felt pulled away by my hoof, courtesy of Rainbow Dash dragging me away to some other place again.

We found a booth that was away from the dance floor, so the music wasn’t too loud and the lights weren’t blinding and giving off a bunch of different colors. The room was still dark, with a small light in the center of the table, just bright enough to give a shadow to Rainbow’s face.

“Look,” she began, brushing her rainbow-mane out of her face. “I’m sorry if that was a little too much for you. I know how much you like your safe and quiet places.”

“Oh no, that’s alright.” I said, surprised that I could hear my voice over the dull roar of the music from the dance floor. “At least I can hear myself think over here.”

Rainbow laughed at the comment, holding her hoof up to signal a pegasus in a sharp-dressed suit, holding an empty tray in his hoof. I looked at the pony and felt a deep hole fall in my stomach, noticing his red bow-tie around his neck.

“Good evening, ladies.” He greeted with a smile, “What is it that I can get for you tonight?”

Rainbow had ordered some long-and-complicated drink that had a lot of things that I had never heard before, but the waiter seemed to have known what she was talking about as he periodically nodded during the drink order. She then turned to me, asking what I wanted to drink. As much as I could go for some nice sweet raspberry tea right now, I figured a place like this wouldn’t have anything that’s warm and not served with a little umbrella in a tall glass. I simply shrugged as she ordered me a Rose Bird, with the addition to ‘hold the feathers.’ The waiter nodded as he flew off to the kitchen to fulfill the bird, leaving me to slump down on the table of the booth.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, resting a hoof on mine. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed and turned away from her, looking out to the happy ponies on the dance floor. “It’s something stupid. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing is stupid if it’s bringing down one of my best friends. Come on, you can tell me anything Fluttershy.” she continued, leaning in closer. Defeated, I sat back up and looked at her as I debated whether or not it was worth it to tell her what was on my mind.

“Have you ever had a special somepony, Rainbow Dash?”

She looked at me with a blank expression, blinking slowly. I quickly turned away from looking at her, knowing now that was a stupid question to ask. Breaking out of the initial reaction from the question, she turned me back around.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Why do you ask, Fluttershy?”

“It’s just,” I began, taking a long sigh as I tried to form my thoughts together. “When you love somepony, you have to know that they trust you and they wouldn’t do anything to harm you, right?”

“Yeah. Totally. ‘Course, I’ve never been one to fall for that lovey-dovey stuff. But if I did, I’d be as loyal to that somepony as I would to all my friends.” she replied, trying to regain her cool pony attitude towards the subject. I giggled a bit at what she said about being loyal, since there’s really no other pony as loyal as Rainbow Dash.

“Then, why do I feel like he doesn’t care about me and with how long I’ve been gone, who’s to say he hasn’t moved on to somepony else?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow shouted, her eyes wide at the realization behind my words. “You have a special somepony?”

I nodded in response, unable to say anything else. She smiled and then lightly punched me in the shoulder, causing me to squeak out an ‘eep’ at the sudden action.

“Good for you, Fluttershy!” she added as I tried to rub my shoulder without her knowing. “You haven’t had somepony since Flight School, right?”

“I had somepony in Flight School?” I repeated, the memories of those days mostly filled with me hiding in my room and not talking to anypony other than Rainbow Dash. She thought back to what she had said before shrugging it off.

“Maybe I was thinking of somepony else.” she answered as the waiter flew back with our drinks. He put down a tall glass in front of her with about seven different layers of colors inside of it that looked like the rainbow in her mane, which she promptly started drinking from the skinny blue straw in the glass. On my side of the table, he put down a slightly smaller glass with a light-pink color drink inside with a yellow umbrella sticking out of it.

“Enjoy your drinks, ladies.” he said sweetly before flying off to another table. I couldn’t help to think about that red bow-tie around his neck with his black and white suit, getting another hole in my chest. Taking a break from her drink, Rainbow looked up to notice my discomfort.

“Well, go on Fluttershy. Try it!” she suggested, waving her hoof at me. “It’s a bit sweet for my taste, but I think you would like it.”

I looked into the small glass, feeling the popping bubbles rising to the surface as they tickled my face. Taking out the little umbrella, I took a small sip of the drink to get a good taste of the flavors. It was very sweet with a very citrusy blend of tropical fruits, mixed with the fizz of the bubbly drink. All in all, I took another sip as Rainbow kicked back in her seat, sipping on her drink as well.

“So tell me about this special somepony of yours, Fluttershy.” she asked casually, enjoying the blend of flavors in her own glass as they mixed together with her swishing her straw around. I froze, setting down what was left of my drink before I accidently spilled it.

“Well,” I stuttered, unsure of how to begin.

“Does Rarity know him? Or maybe Twilight?”

“Twilight does,” I said softly, taking another sip of the sweet drink.

“She does, does she?” she repeated, holding a hoof to her chin as she thought. “So if it’s somepony that you and Twilight know... Wait, don’t tell me you’re dating one of those fru-fru princes you met in the Canterlot gardens.”

“Oh no, he’s not a pony like that!” I answered, thinking back to what I had just said.

“That’s a relief. I’ll tell ya, Fluttershy, the pony that is best for you is probably right here!”

Rainbow held out her hoof in front of booth, showing off all of the pegasi that were laughing and talking and dancing in the club. I thought back to my special somepony for a second, still remembering that red bow-tie of the waiter and slipped down in my seat.

“What are you doing now?” she asked, pulling me back up in my seat. “Come on, a pegasus pony like yourself has to have a free spirit by her side, not some stuck-up unicorn!”

“Yes, but-”

“What? Is he a unicorn?” Rainbow persisted, looking right at me as she kept asking her questions.

“Well-”

“How could you fall in love with a unicorn? I thought you loved flying and nature and stuff?”

“I do like-”

“I mean, a unicorn is only going to take you to those silly parties and want to sit at home and read and have tea and-” she continued, not really paying attention to what I was saying.

“I like-”

“Face it, Fluttershy, if he can’t join you in a place like this, then he’s not worth the trouble!”

Rainbow Dash’s word rang in my ears as I finished off the rest of the drink. I kept myself from slumping in my seat if only to make it that she didn’t pull me back up like last time. With a long sigh, I looked out to the dance floor with the pegasi having fun and laughing. I let my thoughts drift back to my special somepony, but every time I thought of him, I felt that same hole in my chest again, wishing that he was here.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow began, holding her hoof on my shoulder. “I shouldn’t have said all that. I’m really happy for you that you found somepony.”

I didn’t want to reply. I just kept thinking back to him. It’s been so long that my dreams have all but forgotten him. Only the mirage of that feeling that I had when he held me remained. I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to be without him anymore.

Rainbow took the hint and kept to herself, feeling bad that this night had turned out worse than she thought. As she sipped on her drink, she surprisingly was invited to dance by a handsome red stallion, leaving me alone in the booth. I closed my eyes as I laid my head on the table, seeing nothing but the shadow of my own special somepony slowly start to fade away.

“Hey,”

I wish I could hear him, just one last time before he’s gone forever.

“Hello?”

What am I doing here? Rainbow Dash can have plenty of fun without me.

“Oh, okay then.”

I opened my eyes to see a pony walking away from the table, hanging his head down. “Huh? Hey! Wait!”

The brown stallion turned around, looking back at me with a smile. His eyes were soft, almost familiar, as his dark green mane covered his forehead. As he walked back to the table, I quickly brushed my mane back and picked up the empty glass that I accidently knocked over on the table.

“Hey, you’re Blaze’s daughter, right?” the stallion asked. I thought back to my father, who I just recently got back in touch with. He was a famous retired member of the Wonderbolts, long before Rainbow Dash’s time, so I would imagine that some ponies would remember him for his heroic stunts.

I nodded, not really willing to say anything else to him as I looked into his deep, dark-green eyes. He smiled at the answer, even if it was just a small nod.

“Yeah, my Dad always told me that his best friend had a daughter that looked just like you. Are you a great flyer like your Dad?”

Out of all of the pegasi in Ponyville, I was probably the weakest flyer in the bunch. As much as I loved to fly around my cottage and to every place, it was always something that I could never really be good at. At best, I was below average in Flight School, which lead to me going with Rainbow Dash when she got the weatherpony job. I shook my head, waiting for the stallion to walk off or do something else and leave me all alone.

“Oh, well, that’s alright. I’m nowhere near as good as a flyer as my Dad either.” he added, taking a seat next to me in the booth. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the story. What is your name again?”

Surprised that he was still around, much less sitting next to me, my heart began to race, no longer feeling like the dark pit that it was before. “I’m...”

I paused, trying to think as the music in the background filled my thoughts. One word came to mind, as the rose-colored bird in my heart slowly took flight.

“I’m Flutterchai.” I answered, feeling fairly confident in the response.

“Nice to finally meet you, Flutterchai.” he said, holding out his hoof. “I’m... Charming Stallion.”

I couldn’t help to feel my cheeks redden from his name, seeing as it fit his appearance very well. “Nice to meet you as well, Charming.”

“Please, call me Stal.” he corrected, blushing for some reason. “So, what brings you to Los Pegasus? I thought you lived in Cloudsdale with your family?”

“Oh no!” I replied, feeling more comfortable with the brown stallion sitting next to me. “I haven’t lived in Cloudsdale in years! I’ve been in Ponyville since I finished Flight School.”

“Ponyville?” he repeated, trying to think of the town. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“It’s a really nice place with lots of friendly ponies. I have a small, little cottage there with lots of critter friends.” I explained, remembering all of the playful animals who are now awake during these early Spring days.

“You take care of animals? I see you take after your mother in that aspect.”

“You knew my Mom?” I asked, slightly surprised at exactly how much Stal knew about my family.

“She was a caring foalsitter back in the day. My Dad would always invite her over when he and Blaze went off to train for some big routine. I think I even remembering seeing you as a foal one day. Of course, you didn’t have the long, flowing mane you do now.”

I hid my smile behind my pink mane, trying my hardest not to blush at his story. “I can’t say I remember you though Stal. Everything before Ponyville is a bit of a haze.”

“Yeah from what I remember, when you were a filly you got sent off to Flight School while I got enlisted in the Wonderbolts Academy, courtesy of my father. That didn’t work out too well, so I said goodbye to home and set up shop here in Los Pegasus, living my real dream.” he explained, kicking back in his seat as he rested his hooves behind his silky, brown mane.

“What’s that?” I asked, curious to what this pony was doing here in the first place.

“I’m an instructor at a popular arts school up here, teaching mares how to dance, act and all that jazz.” Stal answered, pointing to his spotlight cutie mark on his flank.

“Wow... and that’s your talent?”

“Yep, much to the dismay of my father, but whatever.” he continued, sitting back up in his seat. “You said you live in Ponyville, but why are you here in Los Pegasus?”

“You could say I’m doing the same thing.” I began, playing with the little yellow umbrella on the table. “I’m about to start up a tea café in downtown.”

“Really? I’m sure a lot of my students would appreciate something like that. Another place to earn and spend some Bits is always nice.”

I smiled at the comment. “It’s good to hear there’s a market out here then.”

Stal looked over at me with that soft look in his eyes before noticing the time on the clock above me. “Agh, I’m really sorry to cut this short but I can’t be out all night. I have to teach a class early in the morning.”

“Oh, it’s fine!” I said as the pony pulled one of his feathers out of his wings before dipping the tip in the dark wax of the candle in the center of the table, writing something out on a napkin.

“Call me if you get chance, alright Chai?” Stal said before flying off out of the room. Rainbow noticed the flying brown pony as she came back, with the red stallion nowhere to be found.

“Who was that?” she asked, poking her nose into the napkin left on the table, with the long brown feather next to it. I picked up the napkin and read the number, left with the name Charming Stallion underneath.

“Just... an old friend.” I replied, putting the two things away. She sighed, sitting back down in the booth.

“Well I hope your night is going better than mine is.” Rainbow said, snapping her hoof to get the waiter’s attention for another drink. I giggled at the thought of the strangely charming brown stallion from my past, somewhat relieved that I had someone to call on the phone in my apartment now.

Author's Note:

this has been a tiny bit delayed since i've been so busy. also, originally the story is set to end this weekend but it might carry on a little bit after. hopefully i can at least tell you the important parts before then. heehee!