My Little Lovestruck: Love is Magic

by Harmony Charmer

First published 30th of June, 2014

Like Princess Celestia had Twilight Sparkle as her apprentice, Princess Cadence has an apprentice of her own: Lovestruck, a pony who has a knack for knowing love when she sees it. Will Lovestruck be able to fully understand the magic of love?

Everyone knows the story of Princess Twilight; she was taught by Celestia, harnesses the Element of Magic, and she's ascended into her title of royalty with the help of her friends who also hold Elements of their own. But, what of other apprentices taught by the Princesses?

Lovestruck, gifted with the ability to harness Love, has been tasked with a mission by her mentor, Princess Cadence: to travel across Equestria and learn lessons from firsthand experience so that she may learn her talent more thoroughly.

In this journey, Lovestruck will encounter romantic hi-jinks, new friends, potential rivals, and adversity from those who doubt her talents. Will Lovestruck be able to understand the gift she has been granted?

---

This story has revoked submission and has been resubmitted, so the comments below that refer to events that don't take place in the story are irrelevant. Please keep this in mind.

This story also takes place just before the Season 4 premiere. Events taking place in the season will be mentioned in due time.

Lovestruck is not my OC. She is a character created by Hasbro and is presented in the My Little Pony Gameloft game. Please be aware that this is merely an interpretation of a character presented in merchandise who has yet to be fully developed by her creators.

Prologue

Canterlot was busy as usual. Ponies milled about, whether it be for business or pleasure, one would have to ask. Of course, if one were an inhabitant of Canterlot, then they'd know better than to ask. Nobles weren't always kind with their words when it came to their whereabouts.

School had been let out a couple hours ago, so fillies and colts of different ages were mixed within the crowd. Some talked about shopping, some talked about homework, and others held conversations too tedious for mentioning. Adults rolled their eyes whenever a teen passed, muttering something about "kids these days".

Green eyes scanned over the crowd, flicking to and fro between the chatting teens, never lingering too long on one place. The owner of the shamrock irises said nothing, for she had nothing to say or anypony to say anything to. No one seemed to notice her silence or her presence, so moving through the crowd was rather difficult to do because of her small size.

She rolled her eyes, then stopped in the middle of the path. Ponies grunted and gave small complaints at her action, but none actually confronted her. She sparked her horn alive, the same bright green that encased her eyes illuminating her horn. A small flash of light embodied her, though it did little to deter the passing ponies. Teleporting Unicorns was the norm, especially in the place where most magical discoveries and origin derived from.

She appeared on the sidewalk, sparkles of green glittering around her and dissipating into the air. She looked to her right, a small smile coming onto her face as she caught sight of a bench. She took a seat, her saddlebags sliding off of her and onto her left beside her.

Now all she had to do was wait.

The young mare lifted the flap of her bag and pulled out a notebook, her eyes widening with anticipation as she flipped it open. She slipped on her reading glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose so that she could look down at her research.

OPERATION: Dropped Fruit

SUBJECTS: Glimmering Joy and Tooty Fruity

OBSERVATIONS: Subject Fruity works a a fruit stand in the plaza. Earth pony; single, no form of contact with mares outside of family members and acquaintances. Awkward, shy, unsure. Considerably attractive, by society's standards, but lack of confidence and awkward behavior tends to take from aesthetic appeal.

Subject Glimmering Joy works at an office as a secretary with part time work at a hospital. Doubles as source of income and a wife to aspiring doctor Polished Silver. Unicorn; Marriage is unhappy, fraught with fighting and financial troubles. Previous attempts to rekindle romance and achieve form of stability failed and taken into account for operation. Rumors of infidelity on Silver's part support this claim, including observations of Silver's flirtatious behavior when separated from his spouse. Highly attractive, but work takes toll on subject's ability to preserve self care, though this is unseen by the former subject.

Subject Fruity and Subject Joy have shown affection for one another, more so than that of Silver and Joy when in the presence of one another. It started with Joy dropping a fruit from the stand, prompting for Fruity to pick it up and replace it for her. He replaced it for free, initiating conversation and leading up to a friendship between the two. Attraction appears to span beyond platonic behavior; support includes blushing faces, awkward laughter, and hushed giggles when they depart.

The mare frowned, her eyes narrowing in scrutiny as she looked down at the sentence that was holding back her subjects.

It is unknown if Glimmering Joy is willing to separate from Polished Silver at this time.

The mare looked up from her notebook, nearly dropping it in the process as shock took hold of her. Her her eyes wandered over as they caught sight of Glimmering Joy, who was more tromping through the streets than walking. The older mare's curly, exotically dark mane was disheveled and hung like dried up vines. Her pristine white coat was stained with dried substances-- perhaps a spilled drink?-- and her hooves were messy from the mud that came from the night's previous rain. Her green eyes were bloodshot, possibly from crying. The mare felt bad as she looked at her cutie mark, a large sparkle surrounded by smaller, different colored ones that was meant to convey her spark of joy and life.

The mare lifted up her pen, her eyes wide and her rear on the edge of her seat. She had seen Joy look more or less the same, but her demeanor was forced cheerfulness and held an obvious restraint of negativity. This time, however, there appeared to be nothing holding her back from showing how she was feeling.

Her gaze shifted from Glimmering Joy to Tooty Fruity, who was working his stand as usual, completely unaware of the oncoming storm that was Joy. He adjusted his cap with a hoof absentmindedly, his going over his fruit with care. His mane was scraped underneath his work cap, though due to previous observation the mare knew that it was purple in color. His coat was a lovely contrast, though one wouldn't know it with all the stains that covered it. His cutie mark, surprise, surprise, was a bunch of fruit encased in a cornucopia with golden trim around the entrance of it.

"Ugh!" Joy growled, her eyes narrowing even more. As the mare looked even more, she saw streaks covering her cheeks. So she had been crying. "I can't believe him! After everything I've done!"

'Notice her!' the mare screamed in her mind, directing her gaze to Fruity.

Thankfully, Fruity answered her prayers as he looked up. His amethyst eyes widened and he rushed to the other side of the stall to see Joy, who appeared to be fighting back more tears. He stood in front of her, blocking her path. "Whoa, Joy, are you OK? You don't look too good."

Joy scoffed a bit, though it wasn't directed at Fruity. "Nothing, Fruity. It's just that today I realized what an idiot I am."

Fruity's brows furrowed in worry. "What is it? What happened?"

Joy's eyes narrowed. "What happened?" Tears came to her eyes, though it was more in anger than sadness. "That stupid bucking idiot I married is nothing but a lying cheater, that's what happened!"

The ponies around them seemed to pause in time, all heads turning in perfect unison to see where the outburst had come from. The mare sighed a bit, annoyed at the nosy nature of the Canterlotians. Of course, some ponies decided that the spectacle wasn't their business and continued on, whereas others were more interested.

'Well, I guess that means those rumors were true, then...' the mare thought, a bit sad at the fact.

Fruity didn't seem to notice the stares, however, as he was too shocked to do anything. "He did what?"

But Joy was too far gone. Tears spilled from her face as her hard expression turned soft with sadness and she fell to her knees, small sobs escaping her. "He cheated on me... After everything I did to support him and his education, he cheated on me." She shook her head. "That bastard had a nurse bent over his study desk when I got home from work-- Oh, he wasn't expecting me to be early, I bet! He tried to convince otherwise, but I'm not an idiot. I went to Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns, I know something when I see it!"

Fruity shifted awkwardly. "Do you think maybe... Maybe we could get out of the path? This seems like a private matter..."

Joy sniffled, then took Fruity's hoof as he extended it to her. "Thank you, dear... Oh, Celestia, what am I going to do? We didn't have a pre-nup or anything... And I moved into his house, so that means I have to move out--"

"Hey, now, we'll worry about that later," Fruity told her, bringing her up from the ground. "Come on, I'll take you to the smoothie stand and get you that strawberry banana hay smoothie you like so much."

Joy smiled at him tenderly. "Thank you... I don't know what I'd do without you. You've always been so kind to me..."

"Anytime, Joy," Fruity replied. "I like helping you. Besides, you need it right now."

"You know, I could always stay at my sister's," Joy said out loud, a small smile coming to her face. "She's always saying I don't spend enough time with her, so I suppose now would be a time as any to make my stay."

"That's the spirit!" Fruity cheered. "Besides, if Silver gives you any trouble, I'd be happy to help you take care of it."

Joy scoffed. "Please, I could take him out in a matter of seconds. The only reason I haven't is because I was in too much shock to do so, and I probably would have been apprehended for my actions."

"Well, I'm just glad that you came to me for help," Fruity's voice faded from hearing range as the two continued forth.

The mare smiled a bit, then collapsed against the bench as her notepad and pen dropped to the ground in front of her. "Finally!" She laughed. "Sweet Celestia and Luna, it finally happened!"

"What finally happened?" a voice asked.

The mare's eyes opened up, and she look left to right, then sat up to see a Unicorn mare standing in front of her. The Unicorn lifted her notepad up, her eyes scanning it briefly in curiosity.

"Hey!" the mare exclaimed, jumping from the bench. She grabbed a hold of it with her magic and snatched it from the Unicorn. "That's none of your business to read!"

The Unicorn didn't seem fazed. Instead, she arched a brow. "Were you taking notes on those two ponies over there?"

The mare huffed angrily as she stuffed her notepad and pen back into her saddlebag. "Like I said, it's none of your business." She glared at her. "I mean, who do you think you are, getting yourself involved in other ponies' business? That's totally uncool!"

The pink Unicorn's brow raised even higher up. "Really? Because you were doing the same thing over there."

The mare blinked, unsure what to say for a brief moment. She shook her head and resumed her glare. "Yeah, well, like I said, none of your business, you... you..." The mare's eyes widened, her pupils dilating to the size of pinpricks. "Uh-oh."

The Unicorn that she had been yelling at was not indeed a Unicorn, as she had thought. A pair of wings resided on her sides, touched with purple along the edge of the feathers, revealing her to be an alicorn. A very familiar alicorn at that, if her crown was any consolation.

"Oh my gosh, Princess Cadence!" the mare cried out, horrified. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I didn't mean to sound so rude, I was just so upset because you took my notepad and I really don't like it when ponies touch my stuff so I just--"

"It's alright," Cadence said, smiling at her. "I shouldn't have looked through your things. But, I find it a bit interesting that you keep notes on your romantic observations. Maybe I should do the same thing?"

The mare sighed a bit. "Oh, thank you! I am so glad you're not ups-- Wait, huh?"

Cadence giggled. "I'm actually a bit impressed, to be honest. I don't think I've ever seen somepony show such tenacity for the sake of love." She tapped a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, I suppose Twilight would do the same, though probably for magic instead."

The mare's jaw dropped. "Twilight? As in, Twilight Sparkle, the protege of Princess Celestia?" Her cheeks warmed, bringing a rosy glow to her porcelain complexion. "You know her?"

Cadence nodded. "Well, I am dating her brother and I did foalsit her when she was a filly, so I guess it's safe to say I do know her quite a bit."

The mare's jaw fell open even more. "You're dating Captain Shining Armor? Oh my gosh!"

Cadence blushed a bit, a sight that the mare was so happy and lucky to see. "Well, yes, for awhile now. Of course, it's a bit of old news."

The mare blushed even more. "I'm, uh, not in the Canterlot loop like I should be... I alternate between my parents every month, so I don't normally get the scoop like everypony else does... And I guess don't really have anypony to share the news with, so it's not like it matters." She blinked in surprise. "Did I say that out loud?"

Cadence giggled, then took a seat besides the mare. "So, what's your name? You know mine, so I guess it's only fair that I know yours."

The mare smiled in return, settling into the bench a bit more. "Lovestruck. My name is Lovestruck."

* * *

Five Years Later

Princess Cadence sighed as she made another turn within her paces, her worry beginning to make her restless all the more. She turned to the crystalline grandfather clock once again, the clicks seeming to slow down every time she did.

"Where is she?" Cadence whispered to herself. "She was supposed to be here five minutes ago..."

"Cadence, pacing won't fix anything," Shining Armor told her as he stepped up to her side. "Also, you're making a bit of a draft."

Cadence frowned at him. "I know, Shining. But, she's almost never late." Her eyes widened. "What if something happened? What if she changed her mind?" She closed her eyes in terror as she put her hooves to her face. "Oh, I should have known asking her to move to the Empire with us would make her uncomfortable!"

Shining put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I've seen how hard she's worked; there's no way she'd miss this chance. Besides, she was totally excited to come with us."

Cadence spared him a weak smile. "I know that." Her smile faded and she frowned. "But, Auntie told me that it was my responsibility to choose a capable apprentice. I don't want to have wasted all this time on one only to have been wrong or to have pushed her away."

Shining chuckled. "You know, whenever I talked to Twily about her experience at the unicorn school, she told me that she was always worried and frantic about pleasing Princess Celestia. Besides, you've only been teaching Lovestruck for a couple of years." He smiled at her. "You shouldn't be so worried."

"But, then where is she?" Cadence asked. "I haven't heard anything about her all morning. Have the guards told you anything about her whereabouts?"

"I doubt that they'd be happy to run into her," Shining observed. "Lieutenant Opal is still complaining about the last time she had a magic burst."

Cadence frowned a bit. "And that's another thing. Lovestruck's magic can become unstable if she lets her emotions get the better of her. What am I going to do if she has another magic burst and ends up affecting an entire city full of ponies?"

"She's gotten those under control, hasn't she?" Shining questioned, unsure of the answer himself. "I mean, we haven't had a big one in a while, right?"

"I know, but I'm worried, Shining," Cadence admitted. "Really worried. And I don't know what I'm going to do if something ends up happening..."

"Cadence!" a voice called out, breaking the two of them out their conversation.

Shining's eyes widened as he saw Lovestruck rushing down the hall, showing no sign of slowing down. He encased her in a field of magic, causing her to come to a halt. "Whoa, there! What did I tell you about running in the castle?

Lovestruck rolled her eyes at Shining. "Not to do it because crystals are super slippery." She sighed in exasperation. "But I was in a hurry! I didn't think walking would get me here on time!"

"Why were you late, anyway?" Cadence asked. She spared Lovestruck's messy mane a glance. "Did you oversleep again?"

"I didn't mean to!" Lovestruck defended, not liking Cadence's disappointed expression.

Cadence sighed. "Did you stay up reading romance novels again?"

Lovestruck crossed her forelegs. "Yes. And I was analyzing the romanticism of having stalker coltfriends and obsessive marefriends, so don't bother asking." She scoffed. "Alright, we get it, sometimes broken souls have the most charismatic romantic experience, but that doesn't mean the relationship is gonna work out!"

Cadence sighed once more. "Put her down, Shining. We have plenty to discuss."

"Alright," Shining said as he released Lovestruck from his magical hold. "Don't cause any trouble, OK?"

"Too late for that," Lovestruck said, prompting a frown from Shining. "Hey, I already spent the morning rectifying an unrequited love situation between two guards! Poor Amethyst got his heart broken last night when Abalone told him he didn't swing that way."

Shining sighed. "Poor guy. What'd you do to fix it?"

"I may or may not have suggested he go out with Angel Aura?" Lovestruck answered, sounding embarrassed.

Cadence frowned at her. "Lovey, we've talked about this. You can't just insert yourself into somepony's love life like that."

"But you used to do stuff like that all the time!" Lovestruck argued.

"Yes, but now that I'm older, I know that you just can't get involved in something that doesn't concern you." Cadence's face softened a bit. "How did he take it?"

"He's open to it," Lovestruck told her. "But he's gonna need some time to get over Abalone."

"As much as I'd love to go on and on about Abby and Ammy's love troubles, I have to go train the guards." Shining kissed Cadence on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you more!" Cadence called out as he trotted off.

"Like you could!" Shining called back as he rounded a corner.

Lovestruck smiled, her eyes shining with affection. "I love how much you two are in love."

Cadence sighed a bit dreamily. "So do I." She snapped out of her reverie as she looked at Lovestruck, then extended a wing towards the direction of the hall. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Lovestruck replied, following Cadence out of the room.

As they trotted down the hall, Cadence looked over at Lovestruck. Her mane was a spunky mess and she still had that deviant look in her eye, like she had just gotten away with a crime. Cadence worried over how Lovestruck objectified ponies and how she had trouble with empathizing, which is something that somepony with their abilities must have. Not to mention that they couldn't let their emotions get the better of them or they'd end up causing more trouble than she'd care to.

"So, tell me, Lovey," Cadence said, trying to counter her thoughts as they turned into another hallway. "Do you remember what I taught you about us? About what we're supposed to do?"

Lovestruck nodded. "'It's our job to help ponies remember love and to appreciate love, not to put it in their faces.' Like with an arguing couple that's arguing over money and they forget what the real value between them is." She frowned a bit, her eyes falling downcast.

Cadence cracked a sympathetic smile. "But you and I both know that sometimes love just isn't meant to be."

Lovestruck sighed. "Yeah, but it doesn't make it easier."

Cadence quit smiling. "Sorry... I forgot about what happened between your parents. How are they doing?"

"Alright, I guess. Mom's still harping on me for not dating anypony and Dad is trying to send me money, but you know how I feel about handouts."

Cadence arched a brow. "So the same as always?"

"Yep, same as always."

Cadence smiled and put her wing around Lovestruck. "Sometimes we forget that we have something to love. It's my job to make sure nopony forgets that love."

There was silence between them for a long moment as they continued on with their walk. Eventually, they made it to the throne room, where Lovestruck saw two crystalline thrones sitting beside each other. A throne had been made for Shining after they became the rulers for the Empire, since there had only been one beforehand.

"You said we had something to discuss this morning," Lovestruck said finally, breaking through the silence. "Would you please say what it is?"

Cadence smiled at her. Lovestruck was never one to beat around the bush. She stopped walking so that she could turn towards her completely. "Do you remember why I chose you to be my apprentice?"

Lovestruck blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah. I mean, yes. You saw me on the bench that day watching Fruity and Joy talk to each other."

"One of the few times I have ever seen you sit still for so long," Cadence said with a smile. "Other times, you try to intervene, but that day, you sat and watched."

"Well, I didn't know what to do. I mean, I couldn't just walk up and say, 'Hey, you two look cute together! Why don't y'all date?'"

Cadence giggled at Lovestruck. "Well, if I remember correctly, you told me afterwards that you had tried to help Joy with her marriage beforehoof, am I right?"

Lovestruck blushed. "OK, so maybe I did a little meddling, but I didn't do anything after that! I figured things would be better if I kept my horn out of it unless things got bad."

"Because we both know how dangerous love magic can be when used improperly." Cadence frowned a bit, the thought troubling her for a small moment before she smiled again. "But, you've come such a long way from then. You've learned so much from the years we've known each other and I am so proud of you for it."

Lovestruck blushed even harder. "Well, I want to be good at what I do. I mean, I don't wanna waste what I have."

Cadence smiled at her. "You know about Twilight, right?"

Lovestruck seemed to be a bit bothered by the subject change, but answered nonetheless. "She was Princess Celestia's protege and now she's a Princess because she revised one of Starswirl the Bearded's spells." Lovestruck arched a brow. "What about her?"

Cadence nodded, smiling all the while. "You know, you remind me of her, in a sense."

"I do?" Lovestrucked blurted out, her eyes widening.

Cadence giggled. "Don't be so shy. I know how strong your abilities are." She smiled at her. "And when I was writing to Twilight the other day, she told me all about how she and her friends were chronicling their adventures in Ponyville and the lessons they learned while they did."

"You mean the other Elements?" Lovestruck asked, her interest piqued. Cadence knew how interested Lovestruck was in the Elements of Harmony.

"Yes, the other Elements." She smiled. "And then I remembered how they wrote letters to Auntie Tia whenever they learned a lesson about friendship."

Lovestruck nodded. "Yeah, I remember hearing Celestia read them to us whenever you asked about her. It's kinda weird knowing that she's still learning about friendship when she's already learned so much."

Cadence laughed. "She and her friends are still learning about the ways of friendship, which only makes the bond between them all so special." She put on a more serious face. "And that's when I realized just what Auntie was doing by sending Twilight to Ponyville to learn about friendship."

Lovestruck leaned her head to the side a bit, confused by where Cadence was taking the conversation. There was no going back now, Cadence soon saw. She had to say it.

"Lovestruck, what I'm trying to say is..." Cadence took a deep breath. "I want you to do the same thing."

Lovestruck blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I want for you to do what Twilight did," Cadence told her again. Repeating it didn't make it easier. "I want you to travel to wherever you think you need to be, and I want you to learn."

"Learn what exactly?" Lovestruck questioned. "What is there that you can't teach me?"

Cadence shook her head. She knew that Lovestruck wasn't going to be happy about what she was going to do, but it didn't make it easier to deal with. "There are many things I can't teach you to do. I can't tell you what only your experiences can tell you."

"You want me to... leave?" Lovestruck's eyes widened. "But what about you? Am I still your student? How am I supposed to tell you about my progress if I'm not here?"

Cadene blinked in surprise. "Of course you're still my student. I'm not sending you away forever if that's what you think."

"But... But what about my lessons? What about my training?" Lovestruck was on the verge of panicking at this point, Cadence could tell.

Cadence gave her a warm smile and she placed a consoling hoof on her shoulder. "I've taught you all I can. There are some things that just can't be taught by studying or reading about it. You have to live it, Lovestruck. You have to have experience."

Lovestruck swallowed a lump in her throat. "What about my magic? What if I mess up or something? What if I--"

"Hush," Cadence told her, putting a hoof to her muzzle. "I know you've had trouble with controlling your magic. But, I also know that you've come a long way since then. I've done all I can to help you to control it and now, it's up to you how you'll control it."

"But--"

Cadence shushed her again. "Don't worry about if you mess up or not. Just worry about what you'll take from it. Mistakes are only mistakes if we get nothing good from it."

"I... I don't know, Cadence," Lovestruck admitted, her eyes shining. "And I don't even know where to go."

Cadence took her hoof down from her shoulder and put it on Lovestruck's heart. "You don't have to. Just listen to your heart and you'll know."

Lovestruck frowned at her and she wiped her eyes. "Don't you dare get sappy on me."

Cadence laughed as she put her hoof down. "I'm just saying you have to go where your instincts tell you to go."

Lovestruck sighed. "So, what, you want me to get a map and throw a dart at it or something?"

Cadence's eyes widened. "I think you and I both know how bad it would be for you to get your hooves on anymore darts."

"Good point," Lovestruck said. She pondered for a moment. "But how am I supposed to know where to go?"

Cadence smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Baby steps, Lovey." She looked out to the balcony, where she saw the Crystal Empire before her. "Baby steps."

Author's Notes:

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! Wow, that didn't take very long, did it? And wow, this prologue is way longer than I originally intended for it to be! If you're wondering why this story seems different now, then refer to this blog post I made.

We're back in business, baby!

Edit: This has been revised as of 8/29/15.

Chapter 1: Here I Go

"All those boarding the train to Fillydelphia, please make your way to the train..."

Lovestruck frowned, her ears falling down at the announcer's voice from the intercom. Her options were running out, she knew, every train departure another song unsung and another path not tread. Of course, she wasn't sure if that was such a bad thing.

'Maybe then I won't have to go on this trip after all,' she mused, though she knew that it wasn't true. She had spent the last week making preparations for her journey, both mentally and physically. A week ago, she had spent a better part of an hour wondering what to do, then another trying to write to her parents about her plans so they'd know how to contact her. Then she spent an entire day waiting for a response, which was a fruitless effort in and out of itself.

---

Dear Lovestruck,

Perhaps you could find somepony to bring home during your trip?

With love,

Mom

---

Dear Lovey Dovey,

Do you want me to send money? I can send some, if you want.

With hugs and kisses,

Dad

---

Lovestruck rolled her eyes at the memory. 'Typical Mom and Dad...'

Then, her plans came to an abrupt halt as she found that there wasn't even a way for her to communicate with Cadence. However, that was soon rectified when Cadence presented her with a magical crystal. Despite the fact that they were a millennia behind, Crystal Ponies had many different forms of communication, and certain crystals held the ability to send messages of any sort, including letters and even verbal recordings. Lovestruck remembered feeling a level of sadness at knowing that Equestria might have held more technological advances had the Empire not been imprisoned for a better part of a millennium.

Lovestruck looked down at the crystal around her neck, a small sense of admiration going over her as she did. She always did appreciate the arts of the Crystal Ponies, all the way from their architecture to their cultural wear and festivities. She smiled in remembrance of being able to witness the Crystal Heart's ability and how Cadence had been the one to help enact the action of it.

'I wonder what it must have been like, seeing it for the first time in a thousand years...' Lovestruck mused, her eyes wandering back to the direction of the sparkling empire. She felt a pinch of envy towards Princess Twilight, who had been the one to help aid Cadence with the transformation of the desolate place into making it the empire of love it was meant to be. Lovestruck had only been made aware of Cadence's position as the new ruler of the empire after the empire was returned to it's former state.

Lovestruck sighed, then shook her head. She had bigger things to worry about than the past.

Her eyes looked back up at the chart in the ticket booth, where dozens of destinations and times blinked green and red at different times. She bit her lip in anxiety, then released it as she realized what she was doing. She wasn't about to start another nasty habit for her to worry about.

"Where do I go?" she murmured to herself, her eyes flicking from one place to another.

Vanhoover? No, that was too far across and went right over Galloping Gorge... Las Pegasus? Knowing her luck, she'd end up broke and married to a stranger... Dodge City? She spent enough time in the country... Manehatten? The city was never really her scene, either...

While she muddled through her thoughts, ponies bustled on around her, completely unaware of her internal struggle. She stood still in the midst of the rushing and felt as though she was frozen in time. Random bits of conversation brushed past her ears, reminding her of how alone she was.

"Mama, can we go to the..."

"Sweetheart, are you sure we packed the..."

"Neighagra Falls is so beautiful this time of year..."

Her ears perked up and she stared up at the screen. She slashed through each row until she came across Neighagra Falls. It had yet to be sold out, and the next train was about to board. She darted over to the booth, startling the ticket handler out of their seat.

"Can I have a ticket for Neighagra Falls?" Lovestruck breathed, reaching into her bag to grab her bits.

The ticket handler got over their surprised and looked to their screen for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, you may. Good timing, too, since it's the last one."

Lovestruck slid her fare through. "Is it always this popular this time of year?"

The ticket handler nodded. "Yeah. I used to work at a station back in Canterlot and you would not believe all the ponies that went there during the summertime."

"Any clue why?" Lovestruck asked, her interest piqued.

"Eh, just some legend that young couples believe in," they responded, shrugging a bit, "there's this myth that if you go down to the falls with somepony, one of you will end up proposing by the end of the trip."

Lovestruck arched a brow. "You don't think it's true?"

The ticket handler mirrored her expression. "Do you?"

"Fair enough." Lovestruck took her ticket. "I guess it'll be interesting to see a proposal or two."

The ticket handler laughed. "Well, have fun with that."

"I'll try to." She smiled at the ticket handler and waved a farewell. As she retreated from the booth, she pulled out a scroll and pen, scrawling a quick message.

---

Dear Princess Cadence,

Expect to hear from me when I get to Neighagra Falls!

Sincerely, Lovestruck

---

And with that, Lovestruck galloped over to the train, her eyes sparkling . "Neighagra Falls, here I come!"

* * *

It only took a matter of hours before Lovestruck regretted her decision.

At first, she had been enthusiastic about the entire trip, if her bouncing in her seat was any correlation. Then, as the first hour faded into the second, she felt her joy turn into dread, as she usually did whenever she got caught up in the moment. The cheerful bounciness of the train's wheels against the tracks turned into an uncomfortable experience that made Lovestruck nauseous, the somewhat charming lighting of the gaslights suddenly became dim and hard to see in, and the clamor of dialogue and chatting from the other passengers made Lovestruck's head pound.

'Well, at least nopony is sitting next to me,' Lovestruck thought, a bit relieved as she looked to the empty spot beside her.

Suddenly, the door to the train car opened, a loud grunt emitting from the stallion who entered. His dark mane was frazzled and messy, his coat was rustled, and his green eyes were narrowed in annoyance. Lovestruck was quite familiar with the look, as it was one she put on whenever she was irritated or extremely sleep deprived.

The stallion walked down the aisle with a frown on his face. "Stupid sleeping cars... Stupid train service... Stupid... Train."

Lovestruck felt a prick of unease as he came close to her seat. 'Please don't sit here... Please don't sit here...'

Then, against her best wishes, the stallion stopped at her seat. "Can I sit here?"

'Buck.' Lovestruck scooted over, her side pressed close to the window. "Uh, sure."

The stallion sat down beside her after he placed his bags above him, a notepad in hoof and a pen in his mouth. "Ctherry Thizzy."

Lovestruck blinked. "Huh?"

He sighed, then put the pen down. "Cherry Fizzy," he repeated, not looking up from his notepad. "My name is Cherry Fizzy, just so we get through introductions."

"Oh," Lovestruck said.

A silent moment passed between them, but it didn't last long when Cherry looked towards her. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"I don't like telling strangers my name," she responded, feeling a tad uncomfortable.

Cherry looked at his notepad. "Suit yourself."

Lovestruck glanced at his notepad, her brows raising in interest as she did. She quickly scanned the words, her interest piquing with each word.

Characters: Greyheart Sharp Stone Brave Heart?

Setting: Small town Big city OK, I'll worry about that later, it's not important

Plot: Mare meets guy at place. Romantic connection. Stuff and stuff with the things. (That doesn't even make any sense...)

Lovestruck's concentration was broken as Cherry moved the notepad from her sight. "Hey, I was--" She paused and her ears drooped guiltily. "Sorry... Shouldn't have done that..."

Cherry sighed and he put the notepad down. "Don't worry about it. It's not like I have anything good, anyway..."

Lovestruck raised a brow. "What do you mean? What are you trying to do?"

"Nothing," Cherry told her. "It's nothing important..."

Lovestruck spared him another once over, her brows furrowing a bit in worry. "How long have you been on the train?"

"Hours," he answered. "I got on from Dodge Junction and I haven't been off since."

"Dodge Junction? Wow, that's a pretty long way from home. Where are you heading?"

"Neighagra Falls," he told her, showing her his ticket. "I'm trying to get some vacation time before I get back to writing... Something to clear my head." He sighed. "Not that I can come up with anything worth reading."

"Is that what this is for?" Lovestruck asked, pointing at his notepad.

Cherry pulled it towards him protectively. "Yeah, well, it's not important. Besides, why do you care?"

Lovestruck frowned, his tone a bit offputting to her. "Well, I like to keep notes for my work, too. Maybe not like you do, but I do keep an awful lot of them." She smiled a bit sheepishly. "Whoo, my room was just covered in the stuff. I had to get a filing cabinet for it!" She took the notepad and put it in front of her. "I could show you how to take notes if you want."

Cherry let out a small 'hmmph'. "Yeah, well, I don't think I wanna take note-taking advice from a teenager."

Lovestruck's cheeks turned bright red, partially out of embarrassment and partially out of anger. "Hey! I'm 21, thank you!"

"Really? You look kinda short."

Lovestruck let out a small growl in her throat. "You know what, never mind." She kicked his notepad over to him. "Figure it out yourself, Barry."

"Cherry," he corrected.

Lovestruck's eyes cut over to him icily. "Whatever."

They didn't speak for the rest of the train ride.

* * *

"Attention passengers, we have arrived at Neighagra Falls," the PA announced. "Attention passengers, we have arrived at Neighagra Falls. Please gather your luggage and personal belongings..."

"Ugh..." Lovestruck groaned, lifting her head off of the seat. "My head is killing me..." She looked to her left, then frowned distastefully as she saw Cherry snoring blissfully beside her. "Oh, right, you're still here." She nudged him. "Come on, move it, I gotta get off the train."

Cherry didn't budge, though his snores did grow louder.

Lovestruck grunted. "OK, move it, Barry, before I make you move."

This time, he did move, though not as Lovestruck hoped. He rolled over, pressing himself against Lovestruck. His drool covered cheek pressed against hers, causing her to frown in distaste as she prayed none of it touched her mouth.

"OK, I warned you." She sparked her horn alive, then encased Cherry within a field of green aura. Then, without a care, she tossed him off the seat, causing a loud thud to reverberate through the train.

"Ow!" Cherry yelled, holding his head.

Lovestruck smirked and she got up from the seat with flourish. "See ya, Cherry. It wasn't a pleasure." She looked up at the overhang, then snatched her saddlebags down. "Enjoy your vacation."

"And you enjoy your trip, you snippy little-- Ow!" Cherry held his head once more as Lovestruck's bag slammed into his head as she walked past. "Yeesh, watch where you're going!"

"Can't hear you, too far away!" Lovestruck replied, trotting out of the train car and then hopping onto the platform. She held a hoof over her eyes as her vision adjusted to the sun's light, then lowered it as the train station came into view. "Now... Where do I go first?"

"How about you go somewhere where nopony can hear you?" Cherry muttered, stepping off the train after her.

She frowned at him. "Following me already? If this is your form of flattery, try it on some other pony 'cause that's not my cup of tea, mind you."

Cherry rolled his eyes. "I have to get off the train, too, stupid." He shook his head. "Yeesh, you're so self-conceited."

Lovestruck smirked at him victoriously. "And you just made your statement redundant. No wonder you aren't published."

Cherry glared at her. "Like you know anything about getting published."

"Well, at least I know enough that in order to have a story, you have to have a cohesive plot with cohesive characters that aren't two dimensional and have ridiculous, unrealistic names," she replied. She looked at his bags, where his notepad was undoubtedly crushed in with Celestia knew what else he had in there. "Next time you wanna write a story, invest in a good imagination and maybe you'll get somewhere."

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not some rude mare who feels the need to comment on everything around her and stick her muzzle in other ponies' business!" Cherry snapped back. He turned around on his hoof and stalked off. Then, he looked over his shoulder. "Adios, you jerk!"

"Saying something in a foreign language doesn't solidify your point, cherie!" Lovestruck shouted back at him. She paused. "Wait a second..." She sighed. "You know what, it's not worth it. I'm just gonna go ahead and leave before everypony starts staring at me... And they already have. Wonderful."

She rolled her eyes as she tromped away from the train station, then opened her saddlebag mid-trot to grab a scroll. She pulled out her fountain pen and scrawled a message:

---

Dear Cadence,

In Neighagra Falls. Already severely annoyed and regretting my decision. Expect update soon.

Sincerely, Lovestruck

---

Lovestruck activated her crystal and watched the message disappear with wonder as it swirled around and dissipated in a series of sparkles. Then, she looked ahead to the town in front of her, a pinch of unease resting in her heart. Then, like she had been doing all morning, and would possibly be doing for the remainder of her stay, she sighed. "Well, Lovey... You're here now. There's no turning back now." She looked up to the sky, where the sun was still rising. "Oh, here I go."

Author's Notes:

Yeah, so there's an obvious difference in tone and such in the original chapter and this one, so I expect some comments on that. Hey, on the plus side, I found out my voices for my characters! Well, for Cherry, anyway. I'm still on the fence on how Lovey should sound, to be real honest. Whelp, here we go!

Cherry Fizzy is voiced (in my headcanon) by Anthony Rapp, famously known for roles such as Mark Cohen in RENT and most recently Lucas in If/Then... Which is actually the inspiration for some of the chapter names, this one being a good example since it's the name of a song from it. He's got a real fun voice to work with, and he's great at singing, too! A lot of Mark goes into Cherry this time around, mostly because they're both awkward and both are intellectuals with visions of their own. Plus, Cherry's got a lot more sass this time around.

As for Lovey, I really don't know how to voice her... I originally planned on Idina Menzel, who is also a main cast member in RENT and If/Then, but I never got into it. Actually, Idina is a headcanon voice for Autumn Gem, but I haven't really released anything about that fic since I'm not sure I'll ever write it. But, the real reason I never liked Idina's voice for Lovey is because Lovey can't sing very well, so having a Broadway singer play her voice would be a bit odd.

I kinda like Kristen Schaal as her voice, since I think it would be fun to have the voice for Mabel on Gravity Falls and Louise from Bob's Burgers. But, I actually like her voice for Surprise Party more, AKA, one of my ship foals.

And then there's Susan Egan, AKA, Megara from Hercules. I like her sassy tone for Lovey, though I feel like it might not be a good fit for her.

Do any of you guys have suggestions for Lovey's voice? 'Cause I'm kinda worried about it, to be real honest. And no, I don't think Tara Strong would be a good voice for Lovey, since I want it to be clear that Lovey and Twilight are totally different in certain aspects. Plus, Twilight's voice is too... sweet? I guess? I mean, she has a clear, professional type of voice whereas Lovey is kinda more spunky and unruly when it comes to her work, even if she does happen to be organizational about the whole thing.

Chapter 2: Never Bet On Chance

Lovestruck hated walking long distances. That was one thing she hated about living in Canterlot; the place was just so big. Thankfully, Lovestruck didn't have to walk nearly as much in the Empire, but it didn't take from how much walking bothered her. That, and she was hardly fit enough to go on hour-long walks, much less the four she had spent walking through the streets of Neighagra Falls.

She had to admit that the view was quite lovely, though. The walkway was dotted with green shrubs that gave a sense of life to the atmosphere. The cobblestones were bright and they shimmered in the afternoon sun, which was shining beautifully and serenely above the horizon. Lovestruck looked to her left, where she could see the river that led down to the Falls from afar. The water sparkled and babbled off in the distance, reminding her of the peaceful serenity that came with the Empire.

Lovestruck sighed. She hated feeling homesick.

She looked around, hoping to find some sort of way to navigate her way through the walkway. She had to find a hotel soon or else she'd end up sleeping on a bench, and speaking from past experience, Lovestruck didn't feel like doing that again.

'I really need to learn to stop taking naps when I'm scouting for romances,' Lovestruck thought, slightly annoyed at herself.

Lovestruck stopped looking around when she spotted a stallion nearby and trotted over to him. "Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where any--" The stallion trotted off, not sparing her a thought. She huffed a bit. "Well, I guess I'm not doing that again."

Nonetheless, she continued on, her annoyance beginning to take its toll on her. She really didn't like it when things didn't go the way she had planned and she had definitely not planned on this. Perhaps she shouldn't have made such a brash decision to come to a place she didn't even bother to learn that much about.

She shook her head. 'I can't afford to doubt my decisions... I'll get through it.'

Lovestruck's wandering eyes paused as they caught sight of a bench off in the distance. A small sense of relief came over her, and for the first time that day, she smiled a bit genuinely. She galloped towards it, her legs aching as she began to reach it. She took small note of the pony sitting there, who was too busy reading their over-sized map to notice her.

Once Lovestruck arrived at the bench, she looked to the pony sitting in the middle of the bench. "Uh, do you happen to know where a hotel is?"

The pony's map rustled a bit and Lovestruck watched as they folded it down to look at her. "Yeah, sure, just let me--"

Lovestruck's eyes widened and she found herself shouting with the pony in synchronization. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

Cherry Fizzy frowned as he put the map down beside him. "This is a public bench. Anypony can sit here if they want."

"Yeah, well, how'd you get here quicker than I did?!" Lovestruck pointed at his map. "Where'd you get that?!"

"Gift shop."

"Where the heck did you find a gift shop?!"

"Keep your voice down," Cherry shushed. "You know, if you're just gonna yell at me, then you should go somewhere else."

"What, I'm not allowed to sit here?" Lovestruck interrogated. "What is this, high school?"

Cherry scoffed. "I bet you'd know, since you look old enough to be in one."

Lovestruck huffed out. "What is your problem?"

"Well, you were rude to me on the train ride, so I feel like I don't have to sit next to you," Cherry replied, glaring at her.

Lovestruck returned his glare. "First of all, you were rude first." She pointed at herself. "Second of all, I'm tired and am in no mood to put up with you and your attitude, so I suggest letting me sit down and not bothering me."

Cherry, after a moment of silence, reluctantly scooted over and picked up his map again to ignore Lovestruck as she sat down next to him. Lovestruck let out a sigh of relief and she allowed herself to relax a bit, thankful she had managed to find a moment of serenity in her chaotic morning.

Then, that serenity was broken through when Cherry spoke. "Why are you even in Neighagra Falls in the first place?"

Lovestruck opened her eyes and glared at him from the corner of her eye. "Why are you even in Neighagra Falls in the first place?"

Cherry huffed and flapped out his map to straighten it up. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Exactly, so don't ask."

Another moment of silence passed, though since Lovestruck saw that her peace was ruined, she might as well keep talking.

"So you're a writer," she said, looking over at him. "Are you here for 'inspiration'?" She didn't even bother trying to fake sounding sincere.

Cherry rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny." He looked back at his map. "No, I'm just back on the block. I've been pretty swamped back at home, so I'm just trying to get some rest before I get back to writing."

"And yet it seems you have nothing to write, judging from your notes." Lovestruck rolled her eyes. "Are you doing it to pick up mares?"

Cherry scoffed a bit. "Like you happen to know anything about writing. And no, I'm not doing it to get some tail, if that's what you think." He shook his head a bit. "Why am I even bothering talking to you? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to be near you."

Lovestruck smirked. "Because I'm probably the most interesting thing you'll see on this trip, Barry." She lifted her head off from the back of the bench to look at him. "And it seems that you do want to be near me, since you're still sitting here, talking to me."

"It's Cherry," he corrected. "And I'm just tired, so don't bother flattering yourself."

Lovestruck waved a hoof dismissively as she blew a light raspberry. "Please, I give myself more flattery than this, cherie. You think this--" She gestured to herself. "--gets only a couple glance overs from passing strangers?"

Cherry grinned at her cheekily. "Probably 'cause of that giant plot you're lugging around."

Lovestruck frowned at him, then sat up and grabbed her saddlebags. "Well, it was nice talking to you. Now pardon me as I try to find a motel to stay in."

Cherry let out a laugh as she stood up. "Ha, try finding one with any vacancies!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lovestruck asked with a glare.

"Heh, looks like I'm not the only oblivious one here!" He laughed a bit. "Don't you know that summertime is when Neighagra Falls gets its most visitors?"

Lovestruck's frown deepened. "Well, I figured, but I honestly doubt that it'll be so bad that they don't have any rooms. I mean, this place has got to have 20 hotels!"

Cherry grinned victoriously. "I said the same thing, except I wrote to them ahead of time and got my room like a smart pony! They told me that they didn't have any rooms left and none of the other hotels did, either."

Lovestruck looked down at the bench. "Yeah, well at least I didn't sit in gum."

Cherry blinked in confusion and looked down at his flank. "What are you-- Aw, come on!"

Lovestruck laughed as she watched him try to pick at the gum on his flank. "Ha! I'll talk to you later, Larry!"

"Cherry!" he shouted as she trotted off. "My name is Cherry!"

"Whatever! Good luck getting that gum off your butt!" Lovestruck continued on her walk, giggling as Cherry twirled around behind her trying to catch the gum like a dog with its tail. "Besides, I'm sure there's got to be some rooms available."

* * *

"What do you mean you don't have any vacancies?!"

Lovestruck was beyond irritated. She had just spent another part of an hour walking on tired legs, her mane was askew and messy, and now, she had only just found out that her journey had been a serious waste of time. That, and Cherry had been right about the hotels, but that was a minor thing. At least, that's what she told herself.

The receptionist looked at her apologetically. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we have no rooms available. You can try the hotel next to us, but their situation is probably the same as ours, as it usually is around this time of year."

Lovestruck sighed. "Are you sure you don't have any rooms available?"

The receptionist looked through the data sheets. "Well, there's our honeymoon suite, but--" The receptionist looked her over. "I doubt that you're with anypony on your trip."

Lovestruck glared at the receptionist. "Whatever, I'll go somewhere else then!"

"Have a nice day!" the receptionist called as she left, though Lovestruck cared very little for it.

Lovestruck groaned and she shook out her mane in irritation. "Of all the things that I had to have happen, it had to be this. Oh, why can't I just go fight a serious threat against Equestria like a normal pony?"

Lovestruck thought about Princess Twilight for a moment, who was probably back at Ponyville with her friends, doing princess things. She was probably finding out more about the magic of friendship and proving herself to be a capable leader, all while being calm and perfectly rational throughout, whereas Lovestruck was still in her beginning stages and was everything but calm and rational.

"Which is why she's a Princess and I'm just a student," Lovestruck muttered to herself.

She looked to the path ahead of her, one going to the site of the Falls and the other back the way she came. Both looked equally daunting and full of potential disappointment to her. If she went down the way she came, she'd end up going to the train station and back to the Empire, where Cadence was probably going to wonder why she had given up so easily.

"I expected more from you," she could hear her say. "I thought you were better than that."

'No wonder I'm not a Princess,' Lovestruck thought. 'I'm not brave like Cadence... Or wise like Celestia... Or understanding like Luna...' She looked to cutie mark. 'Or talented like Princess Twilight.'

Lovestruck knew how powerful her magic was, but she also knew how powerful Twilight's was, too. She had seen Twilight perform magic for Celestia back when she was learning with Cadence. She had seen what Twilight was capable of, if all the times she had saved Equestria was any correlation to that fact. Not to mention that Twilight had natural, magical talent on her side, and that she was destined to become a Princess, whereas Lovestruck was not.

And while Lovestruck was fine with that, it didn't take from how disappointing it was that she could never reach Cadence's expectations like Twilight had Celestia's. Yes, Cadence was not Celestia, and Lovestruck was not Twilight, but the fact still stood that Twilight had something Lovestruck did not: certainty for success.

Twilight never failed. Lovestruck barely passed.

Lovestruck looked to the roads before her once more, this time looking to the road that led to the Falls. A sense of determination overcame Lovestruck as she looked down the path and she took a deep breath.

"I've come too far to give up," she told herself, straightening herself up. She brushed her mane back with a hoof and she narrowed her eyes in focus. "Larry can stick it. I got this."

* * *

20 hotels. Lovestruck went to 20 hotels, and yet she still had no luck in finding a room for her to stay in.

"Sorry, we're full!" a couple of them had said. "No vacancies! Try the one next door!"

"Sure, we have a room available, but it's fallen prey to local Parasprite infestation," another few said. "There's gonna be a lot of holes in the furniture. And the walls. Hey, where are ya goin'?"

"Hey, you look like a nice mare!" one of the owners had told her. "Would you like to meet my son? He's a total sweetheart! Stay for lunch, will you?"

Lovestruck shivered at that last one. "Ugh, that lasagna was barely worth it..."

She looked to the buildings ahead and she felt her heart leap a bit in her chest at the sight of another hotel. Granted, while her luck been running low, she wasn't about to give up just yet. It was dark out, and she was hardly in the mood for sleeping on a bench. Besides, she didn't want to risk getting gum on her like Cherry had.

She shook her head at the thought of him. "Ugh, stupid Terry... I hate that he was right..."

Nonetheless, she continued on with her trek to the hotel. She must have looked awful, she realized, and the humidity was probably wreaking havoc on her mane. She put a hoof to her head a bit and sighed as she felt her mane frizz up to the touch.

"Yeesh, I must look like a porcupine..." she murmured to herself.

She stopped fretting over her appearance as she saw the hotel come up close and dropped her hoof to continue her trot. She passed the doorpony, who gave her a very snippy look as she passed, but she ignored him.

"Alright, now here's to finding a room for me to stay in and--"

"What do you mean my room is no longer vacant?!" a voice exclaimed from in front of her.

Lovestruck blinked in surprise as she looked at the receptionist counter where none other than Cherry was standing there, obviously upset about whatever it was the receptionist had just told him. That, or he could still be a bit irritated that he hadn't gotten all the gum off of his flank.

The receptionist looked at Cherry apologetically. "Sorry, but your room has been given up. You see, there's a wedding going on and it's going to happen tonight, but the father and mother of the bride are divorced, so they had to have separate rooms and it didn't come through until today so--"

"You mean to tell me that I don't have a place to stay?" Cherry interrupted, his eyes narrowing.

Receptionist frowned. "Sorry, but it was a glitch in our system and we're very sorry that you are lost out of our hotel experience." The receptionist bent over from behind the counter and stood up with a basket. "Would you like some complimentary muffins and toiletries?"

Cherry didn't acknowledge the complimentary basket as it was pushed in front of him. "Where am I supposed to stay tonight?"

"You can try the hotels down the street, if you like," the receptionist told him. "I'm sure there are some rooms open!"

Lovestruck let out a laugh. "Ha, good luck with that!" She stepped up to the counter, where she saw Cherry spare her a rude glare that she graciously ignored. "Every hotel here is totally full. There aren't any rooms available and the others that are have been completely ravaged by Parasprites." She took a muffin from the basket and then took a bite from it. "Oooh, blueberry."

Cherry sighed, both in apathy and annoyance. "Great, now what am I supposed to do?"

Lovestruck put her muffin down for a moment. "Well, there's a honeymoon suite a couple hotels down from here, but I doubt you'd want to room with somepony with a giant plot like mine."

Cherry glared at her. "Really? You're making fun of me for being in the same situation as you are and you're eating my muffins? Have you no shame?"

Lovestruck shrugged. "Not really, no." She took a couple more muffins and slid them into her saddlebag. "You can have the banana nut. I'm not a big fan of that."

"I'm allergic to nuts!" Cherry exclaimed.

"Then pick 'em out!" she told him. She looked to the receptionist, who appeared to be a bit perturbed by Lovestruck. "Hey, where's this wedding going on? I kinda wanna see how it's going."

The receptionist shook her head. "Sorry, ma'am, but the wedding is closed to friends and family only."

Lovestruck frowned. "Rats." She shrugged. "Oh, well, see you later! Good luck with your room search, Carrie!"

"Cherry! My name is Cherry!" he cried as she left the hotel.

Lovestruck ignored him on her way out and she slipped through the doors with ease using her magic. She looked around as she got away from the hotel and smiled to herself as she took a bite out of her muffin. "I'll just come in when no one's looking then... After I finish my muffins."

Author's Notes:

These are the maps I used as references for the locations of places and such. Last time around, I made stuff up and had a serious case of "white wall" syndrome.

Chapter 3: Somepony I Used To Know

Lovestruck walked around the perimeter of the hotel, her eyes flicking left to right to see if anyone was paying her any mind. None were, as everyone else was either too consumed by the view of the falls in the distance or they were on their way to a nearby hotel. Probably got their reservations early, she thought.

She slid into the alleyway between the hotel and its neighbor without being noticed. The smell of rotting garbage and Celestia knew what else was stewing in the alley made Lovestruck's nostrils burn, but she trudged on regardless. She looked down the alley to see a door. She approached it and jiggled the doorknob. Locked.

The doorknob turned, causing Lovestruck to back away from it in fear. Panic overtook Lovestruck, but she acted quickly and managed to teleport herself over to the dumpster, away from sight. Unfortunately, in her panicked state, she accidentally misdirected her landing and fell into the dumpster. She let out a small shriek as she was covered the random, horrifically odored slime, but she did well to try to muffle it as not to alert anypony of her presence.

She peered over the edge, where she saw the pony, presumably a hotel employee, coming towards her. She ducked back in and hunkered down, covering her muzzle as more bags of garbage came piling in on top of her. She waited as the hoofsteps receded to a comfortable distance, too anxious to look until she felt that it was safe to. Lovestruck looked over the dumpster wall once more, just in time to see the door coming close to shutting. With a burst of magic, she teleported out of the dumpster and into the building.

Lovestruck let out a gag as she looked herself over. "Yeesh, I look awful..." She paused for a moment, her eyes glazing over her surroundings. She appeared to be in the hotel's kitchen, if the stainless steel racks with cooking utensils covering them and bustling ponies at the stoves were any correlation. "Good thing I'm in, though."

"You!" a random voice exclaimed, making Lovestruck jump.

She let out a surprised yelp before turning to see who had spoken to her. It was a pink mare with a bright yellow mane, her eyes narrowed to thin slits. She was wearing a chef's uniform, pristine and white, and her expression was sour, like someone had put a lemon in her mouth.

"Me?" Lovestruck questioned, looking around a bit.

"You're late!" the mare snapped. "I should have your pay docked for your incapability!"

Lovestruck blinked in shock. "Huh? Late?"

The chef pointed at her. "And you're filthy! Have you been rolling around in the garbage?"

"You know, funny that you asked—"

"Enough!" The chef pointed to Lovestruck's left. "Go on, your uniform is in the locker room on the hooks. This wedding isn't going to cater itself. Now get on with it! The cocktail hour is almost over!"

Lovestruck's mouth opened in realization. "Oh! Uh, I'll just get to that, then!"

The chef nodded in affirmation. "Good! My Celestia, first my waiters bail, and now one of our servers is late... I swear, this night could not get any worse..."

Lovestruck rolled her eyes as she walked away from the chef. 'Wonderful... Not only am I covered in garbage slime, I'm stuck working, too... Well, hopefully this won't go so badly. Besides, I'm still getting into the wedding.'

Lovestruck entered the doors on the other end of the kitchen, which led to the locker room that the chef had mentioned. There was an aisle of lockers near the door and on the parallel end there was a line of showers, though Lovestruck didn't feel confident enough to use one for fear of contracting a random fungus. Instead, she settled for the moist towelettes that was on the counter near the showers.

After she managed to wipe herself off to a comfortable degree and wash her mane off in the sink, she looked to the hooks near the lockers and saw a couple uniforms hanging on a few of them. Lovestruck slipped off her necklace and hung her bag up on the hooks, then began to flit through the uniforms to find one relative to her size. She sighed as she found that the sleeves on the white dress shirt were too long and she rolled them up, then pinned them with a couple bobby pins from her bag before slipping on her black vest and bow tie. She tied her hair up in a bun, hoping that her damp mane wouldn't be as noticeable to others. She slipped her necklace back on and hid it underneath her shirt.

Lovestruck trotted out of the locker room, feeling a little more pleasant than before. She looked to the exit of the kitchen, a smile extending across her face. 'Now to get to the wedding--'

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Lovestruck jumped once more, and she once again turned to see the chef standing there. "Um... To the reception?"

The chef arched a brow rhetorically and she pointed at the counter. "Without a plate?"

Lovestruck glanced at the counter, where she saw a plethora of different appetizers and foods. "Oh. Right. The plate. For the reception... Because that's happening."

"Yes," the chef said exasperatedly, giving her the platter. She frowned at Lovestruck and glared at her with a belligerent expression.

"What?" Lovestruck said finally.

"You're scowling."

Lovestruck blinked in shock. "I am not!"

The chef leaned in aggressively. "Watch your tone. And put on a smile. This is a wedding, not a funeral.

"No, but it's about to be..."

"Beg pardon?"

"Nothing." Lovestruck put on a smile, though her teeth were clenched and her cheeks were beginning to hurt. "Better?"

"Better," the chef said, obviously pleased. "Now, hurry it on up! The couple's about to come in and I don't need any complaints from the guests!"

"Yes, ma'am," Lovestruck affirmed, continuing to smile despite her aching face.

Lovestruck walked out of the kitchen with the platter wrapped in her magic, her smile fading as the door came to a close behind her. She never thought she'd ever find herself in another service job, but if she was going to find out anything about this wedding, she was going to have to make do. Besides, she looked good in her uniform.

The room had been piled up with ponies, all dressed in formal wear and chatting about the wedding in some way or form. Some were talking about the dresses that the bridesmaids were wearing, some were talking about the decorations that covered the hall, and some were just gossiping about how long the couple in general.

"I heard they've only known each other for two years!" one mare gasped.

"I heard that their parents wouldn't come because they were too ashamed to," trilled another.

"I give them less than a year," one stallion said gruffly, sure of himself.

Lovestruck refrained from rolling her eyes. She knew that waitresses weren't supposed to be annoyed.

Lovestruck turned her attention to the room itself and saw that lying across one end of the room stood a secluded table that she assumed to belong to the bride and groom. Upon that thought, Lovestruck's gaze flickered around in haste, hoping to find a glance of the happy couple.

'Alright, let's see,' Lovestruck mused, peering around the room. 'They should be coming in any moment... Let's see how happy the bride and groom are.'

"Helloooooo, everypony!" bellowed out a loud voice.

Lovestruck put a hoof to hear ear, her magical focus quaking a bit as the loud volume seemed to shake everything around her. "What the hay...?"

"Whoops, sorry!" the voice exclaimed, though this time lower in volume. "There, that's better!

Lovestruck eyes widened a bit, realization overcoming her. 'Oh, sweet Celestia, please don't tell me that's—'

"Yo, everypony, it's DJ P0N-3, gettin' ready to announce the newlyweds!"

Lovestruck turned her heard to where the voice had come from and she felt a sense of dread as she saw the DJ booth come into view. Sitting at the booth was none other than Vinyl Scratch, alumni for Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns and well-known member of Canterlot's more rowdy elite. She was surrounded by equipment, possibly of her own making, and she seemed to be bobbing her head to a music no one else could hear.

'Of course it's her...' Lovestruck bit on her tongue, a bit annoyed. Of all places, too. I hope she doesn't recognize me...'

"Now, I've been DJing for a long time, but I don't think I've ever been so honored to introduce a couple as awesome as this one!" Vinyl gushed, looking over her signature shades. "Let's give warm welcome to the brides, Minuette and Octavia!"

Lovestruck blinked in surprise. 'Wait, what?'

She turned to the secluded table once more and her jaw might as well have clashed against the ground when she saw two mares walk out wearing white dresses. Walking across the floor in her flowing white gown was Octavia Melody, a well-known elite and a prodigious musician. Lovestruck, like many others, didn't know her origins or how she came to wealth, but she knew that Octavia was a force to be reckoned with. Last she heard, she had at least 12 different properties across all of Equestria, two of which residing in Canterlot.

Walking by her side, however, was a mare that Lovestruck was hoping she wouldn't ever see again. Minuette, one of Princess Twilight Sparkle's inner circle back when she resided in Canterlot, was wearing a gown that was more clingy and shiny than Octavia's. As a member of Canterlot's elite, she had been guaranteed a spot at Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns like many of Twilight's peers.

Lovestruck felt like she couldn't breathe.

'Oh, Celestia, if Minuette is here, then that must mean that Lyra, Lemon Hearts, Moon Dancer, and Twinkleshine must be here, too,' Lovestruck realized, beginning to feel nauseous. Horror took over her expression. 'Does that mean that Princess Twilight is here, too?'

"Congrats on your wedding, Octy and Mini!" Vinyl boomed out, making Lovestruck's ears ring. "Keep a good hold on each other for me!"

There was a chorus of laughter at one of the guest tables and it took Lovestruck almost a full second to notice the mares sitting there. Her worst fears came to life as she watched Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine all giggle with each other over Vinyl's commentary at a table together, seated with ponies that Lovestruck didn't know.

She suddenly wished that she hadn't come to the wedding at all.

'I have to get out of here,' Lovestruck thought, panic beginning to take over her. 'I have to get out before they notice me.'

"Hey, you!"

Lovestruck almost jumped out of her coat when she heard a voice shout. She turned frantically and she felt relief overtake her a bit when she saw a random waiter looking at her. Her relief was short-lived once she saw the disapproving look on his face, however.

"Me?" She felt stupid for asking.

"Yes, you." The waiter approached her. "You're supposed to be working, not standing around gawking like a buffoon."

Lovestruck felt her own anxiety disappear as her annoyance took its place. "Beg pardon?"

"You have a job." The waiter pointed at her tray. "I suggest you do it before you get fired, missy."

Lovestruck glared at him and a mean retort came to the tip of her tongue, but she bit down on it instead. "Fine. Who do I serve first?"

"No one now," he told her. He nodded at the brides. "It's time for the first dance, Sherlock."

Lovestruck felt her gaze go back towards the couple, who walked to the center of the dance floor. They were smiling at each other as the music began to play, their foreheads leaning against the other's. The music that Vinyl played started off as a slow, deliberate love ballad that made everything slow down. Octavia, taking the lead, moved across the floor with Minuette leaning against her and swaying with every beat that came from the speakers.

Then, the music stopped for a moment, and the couple did, too, looking up in confusion at Vinyl, who just smiled in that smug way she always did. She took off the record she had on before and switched it out, the needle falling down in quick succession. Suddenly, a faster, more upbeat song came on, and Octavia laughed out while Minuette just shook her head with a smile on her face.

'Leave it Vinyl to jazz up a first dance,' Lovestruck mused, watching the couple as they whirled across the floor.

Lovestruck had been to only a hoofful of weddings in her lifetime, despite how much she loved going to them. She never really got the chance to go because she didn't have a lot of friends and the ones she did have didn't seem to have any interest in getting married. That, and she always had something come up whenever she was invited to weddings. She didn't even get to go to Shining Armor and Cadence's wedding in the end because her father had gotten sick and was confined to a hospital for a couple months.

Suddenly, the dance was over and everypony was clapping. Lovestruck clapped along, feeling awkward as she did so.

Octavia and Minuette retired to their table together, whispering with each other. They giggled together as they sat down and Lovestruck could only wonder if that's something all couples did or if just the happy ones did. She wouldn't know.

"Let's get on with the toasts!" Vinyl announced. "Yo, Frederick, get your tail up here and say something for the brides!"

Frederick. The name held some familiarity to Lovestruck, but she wasn't sure how. She still hadn't figured it out when a brown-coated stallion stepped up the booth and took the microphone. He was wearing a tuxedo and he was smiling warmly at the married couple.

"So, Tavi," Frederick began. "I guess this means that Twinkleshine owes me 20 bits, then."

Lovestruck heard Lyra laugh from across the room and saw Twinkleshine smack her hoof over her face. It was something she saw her do a lot back in Canterlot, when she was visiting the castle.

Frederick's laughter broke through Lovestruck's bitter thought. "So, I'm not very good at giving speeches. I'm usually playing the piano instead of talking onstage, anyway." He smiled a bit. "But, I'm glad that Octavia chose me as her best stallion. I figured that she'd choose Beauty for that one." A bread roll flew in the air and just narrowly missed Frederick as he ducked down with a laugh. "Just kidding, B.B.!"

Lovestruck nearly rolled her eyes.

He took on a more serious face. "But, I really am honored to be given this spot in the wedding. Octavia, you've been one of my best friends for a long time, and I'm glad that we've managed to keep this going for as long as we have. I love you, Tavi, and I'm glad that you found somepony who loves you even more than I do."

Lovestruck's expression softened a bit. 'That's actually really sweet...'

Then, Frederick put on that goofy grin he had on before. "As for Minuette... Well, honey, I think you and I have shared enough drinks to call ourselves friends."

Lovestruck frowned. 'And we're back again. Geez, are toasts supposed to be this innappropriate?'

Still, Frederick continued on with his speech. "I wasn't about you and Tavi when we first met each other, but, once I saw how you really were, I realized that you really were and are the mare that Tavi was meant to be with. The mare can hardly have a good time without you!"

Laughter filled the room and Octavia rolled her eyes in a playful manner, smiling all the while. Minuette was giggling along with the rest of the occupants of the room, but she at least had the grace to show her kidding by kissing Octavia on the cheek.

'I wonder how they met...' Lovestruck mused. She shook her head. 'I shouldn't even be here! I have to get out of here, before they see me and try to--'

"Well, I've never been that good at speeches, so I guess it's time for all of us to dig into the main course!" Frederick announced. "Expect more speeches from the lot of us during the meals!"

'--Great. That's one opportunity gone.' She sighed. 'Do these ponies even know how a wedding works? Where are the blessings from the parents and the thanks for coming speeches?'

"I heard that their parents wouldn't come because they were too ashamed to," she recalled one of the guests saying earlier.

Lovestruck's ear fell flat on her head as the thought bounced through her mind. 'Oh... Well, don't I feel like a jerk?'

She found her eyes glancing over to the newlyweds' table, where they were both smiling and giggling as they had been before. She wondered how a couple that was so happy could have anypony against them, especially their own parents.

Her musing was interrupted as the loud clamor of conversation resumed and she blinked a bit before remembering where she was. She felt a pair of eyes bearing into the back of her head and turned to see the waiter that had lectured her from before was glaring at her. She looked at her tray, realized how inadequate the food was for the main course, then rushed away from the tables and back into the kitchen.

"Come on, everypony, get those plates out!" the chef ordered. She frowned at Lovestruck as she walked in. "Well, if it isn't the late arrival." She nodded her head at the trays. "Get your trays and serve the appropriate guests."

"Yes, ma'am," Lovestruck responded, taking a tray with a couple plates and a note card on it.

As she exited the kitchen, she looked at the card to find out who she would be serving. Table 13, it read, though it gave little clarity about where that was. She sighed a bit and peered around the room, but relief washed over her a bit as she found the numbers written onto the table cards.

That relief was short-lived, however, as she found out where Table 13 was. Or, rather, who was seated there.

Lovestruck might have stopped breathing, if only her body would allow her the kindness to do so. Seeing them the first time had been a shock, but at least then, she felt she could avoid them. Now, she had no choice.

Or did she?

"What is the matter with you?" the waiter from before snapped. "Why are you standing there, shaking like a leaf?" He nudged her. "Go on, serve your table!"

No, she didn't.

Lovestruck gulped, the waiter leaving her be. "Well, here goes nothing..."

She took a step forward, one step more than she would have liked to take. 'Maybe they won't recognize me...'

Another step.

'Yeah, they can't recognize me. They didn't even know me.'

A pair of steps.

'I mean, why do I even care? None of them cared about me, so why should I care about them?'

Suddenly, she found herself near the table. They all sat there, unaware of her presence, just like it has always been. Lovestruck, growing brave, cleared her throat lightly.

"Hi," she greeted. "Who wanted the sub sandwich?"

"Oh, me!" Lyra exclaimed, waving her hoof. "Ugh, I am soooo hungry! I haven't eaten since this morning!"

"Lyra!" the mare sitting beside her blurted out, and she one of the many ponies that Lovestruck didn't know. She sighed. "Sorry about her. She has no self control."

"I got plenty of self-control," Lyra muttered, taking her plate.

"Oh, is that my salad?" Twinkleshine asked, her eyes brightening up as she had her plate set down in front of her. She groaned happily as she took a bite. "It's so good to actually eat something!"

"My salad!" Lemon Hearts cheered, clapping happily as she got her plate. "Finally!"

Lovestruck didn't know whether to feel offended about them not recognizing her or relieved. "Well, I'm glad that you're happy with the food selection. Have a nice evening."

She trotted off, letting a weak sigh of relief. She couldn't even begin to word how great it felt to get that out of the way.

"Wait!"

She froze. Had she spoken too soon?

"You forgot to serve Bon Bon!"

She felt her heart start again. "Right." Lovestruck took the plate and put it in front of the mare she assumed to be Bon Bon, since she didn't have a plate. "Sorry about that."

"It's quite fine," Bon Bon told her. "I'm just glad I'm getting the food. Haven't eaten a thing all day."

Lovestruck smiled. "Have a nice evening."

But, as she was backing away, her hopes of escaping were soon diminished. "Hey, wait a second!"

'Buck,' she thought. She turned around to face the group once more. "Yes?"

Lyra, the one who had called out to her, squinted at her. "Have I seen you before somewhere?"

'Oh, buck,' Lovestruck thought again, her panic rising.

"Yeah, I think I've seen you before, too!" Lemon Hearts commented. "You seem so familiar!"

'Buck, buck, buck...'

"Wait, I think I figured it out!" Lyra proclaimed.

"You must have me confused for somepony else..." Lovestruck tried to say.

Lyra shook her head. "No, I remember you now! You used to stay at Canterlot Castle!"

Lovestruck felt her blood run cold. 'Oh, buck.'

"Oh, my Celestia, she did!" Twinkleshine realized. "Were you a servant?"

Lovestruck raised both her brows. "Beg pardon?"

"Well, you must have been!" Twinkleshine told her. "I mean, why else would you be at the castle?"

Lovestruck didn't know what to say for a very long moment, nor did she know what to do. She felt angry that they hadn't recognized her, hurt that they would assume she wasn't important enough to be someone who had more than enough reason to be at Canterlot Castle, and she also felt... relieved. Relieved that they didn't know her, because then it would have made them ignoring her all the more painful. At least now they had an excuse.

"I..." Lovestruck started to say. She sighed. "I have to go serve another table.

"Oh, right," Lyra said. "I mean, this is your job, right?"

Lovestruck nodded. "Yes. I'll just... leave you to your meal."

She walked away, her heart feeling heavy as she heard Lemon Hearts ask, "Who was that?"

Author's Notes:

Yes, Minuette and Octavia are a couple. At first I did it as a joke, but then it got real very quickly.

This is basically how I get all of my OTPs, now that I think about it...

I imagine the lot of you are going to ask why Lovestruck made the assumption that it was a bride and a groom when her old self never would have done that. I honestly thought about this revision thing a lot and I realized one of the fundamental problems I had in the original was that Lovestruck knew a lot about love. A lot more than she should have known.

The whole point of this series is to chronicle Lovestruck learning new things about love and I realized that in order to do that, she must have ignorance about certain things and must have her own ideas that can contradict the things she'll learn. It's a part of life to be constantly learning new things and I feel like it's important that I attempt to convey that with Lovey.

And another thing... There's a lot more backstory about Lovestruck and Twilight's Canterlot friends. Expect to see more down the road!

Chapter 4: Taking A Shot

"Yo, everypony enjoy the main dish?" Vinyl Scratch exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in the air. She nodded in satisfaction as the crowd cheered their approval. "Alright, everpony, you know what time it is! Get your hooves up, the party's startin'!"

Lovestruck retreated away from the tables as the guests all stood up, not wanting to get in their way. She looked over at Lyra and her friends as they all laughed together, kicking off their shoes as they galloped to the dance floor. She tried not to feel bitter.

'At least I don't have to worry about my cover being blown,' she admitted. Still, she also had to admit that not being recognized hurt her ego quite a bit.

Was she really so insignificant?

She shook her head. 'No, of course not. Cadence wouldn't have trained me for all these years if I were insignificant...'

Then why didn't they recognize her?

She pursed her lips. 'It's not worth thinking about.' She scanned the dance floor, where everypony was dancing blithely and seemed to be having the time of their lives. 'This whole wedding might not be worth it, after all. Nopony seems to need me for anything, so...'

Lovestruck backed away from the crowd of ponies and placed her tray on a table. She trotted quietly to the exit of the room, hoping that nopony would notice her leaving.

"Where are you going?"

Lovestruck almost jumped a mile high when she heard that. She whipped around, expecting to see a server prepared to berate her. She blinked in surprise at the sight of Bon Bon, who was giving her a rather stern look.

She glanced around awkwardly. "I... I... I swear, I'm not bailing on work."

"I know who you are," Bon Bon said simply.

Lovestruck blinked again and her jaw fell slightly agape. "W-What?"

"Don't play dumb, Lovestruck," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "It was a pretty bold move of you to come to Minuette's wedding without an invitation."

"I—" Lovestruck tried to say, but she was interrupted.

"I thought you were in the Crystal Empire. What are you doing here in Neighagra Falls?" She arched a brow. "You on a mission or something?"

Lovestruck, after finally managing to get over her shock, held a hoof up to silence Bon Bon. "Would you hush it up?! I don't want anypony to know why I'm here!"

"So it is a mission, then," Bon Bon concluded, raising both her brows in interest.

Lovestruck groaned. "No. I mean, yes. I mean..." She sighed. "Listen, it's a long story, but all I can say right now is that I'm here because Cadence sent me out here. Just... don't tell anypony, OK? Especially not Lyra or her friends."

Bon Bon frowned. "Why shouldn't I? They know Cadence. I'm sure it's not a big de—"

"No!" Lovestruck protested. She flinched at her own volume. "No, please, you can't tell them. If they find out it's me—" She felt bitter saying it. "—they'll think I'm stalking them and I'm not. I'm just... I'm just trying to do what Cadence wanted me to do."

"And what does Cadence want you to do?" Bon Bon questioned, raising a brow. "Crash ponies' weddings? Pose as wait staff and bail on it? I mean, how did you even get in here without raising suspicion?"

Lovestruck opened her mouth to protest against Bon Bon's allegations, but she paused as she mulled over her words. "Well... She didn't tell me to do those things specifically... And I honestly don't know how I ended up here without anyone questioning it."

"Did you sneak in through the back?"

"Oh, who can remember?" Lovestruck muttered. She sighed. "No, I'm not here to crash the wedding. Or to bail on my job. Cadence wants me to travel around Equestria to learn about love and gain experience in the field, and this is... well, this is where I ended up."

Bon Bon blinked. "She sent you out to learn about love? You mean like Princess Celestia did with Princess Twilight?"

Lovestruck frowned. "Yeah, sure, we'll go with that." She looked back at the dance floor, where she saw everypony dancing with somepony as Vinyl flipped onto a heavier, louder song. "I only came here because I was looking for a hotel to stay in and all of the other ones are either full or damaged from the Parasprite attacks."

"They're still under renovation?" Bon Bon sighed. "You'd think they get it all fixed after we handled it..."

Lovestruck raised her brows. "What?"

"Nothing," Bon Bon answered, shaking her head. "Just... Why did you decide to come to the wedding, then? You heard it was happening and then you were hoping to find a problem for you to fix?"

"Honestly? I just wanted to see how the wedding went." Lovestruck shrugged a bit. "I never get to come to any, so I figured 'Why not?' and stayed for a bit."

"...By posing as a server and talking to old friends from Canterlot," Bon Bon commented, furrowing her brows.

"Trust me, we were never friends," Lovestruck told her. "None of them even remember me, anyway."

Bon Bon winced sympathetically. "Yeesh, now I feel like a jerk. I guess that explains why you looked so freaked out when you were serving us."

"I looked freaked out?"

"Yeaaaaah... it was kinda unnerving."

"Ugh." Lovestruck shook her head. "Well, I guess that settles it, then. Coming here was a waste of time." She sighed. "I guess I'll go see if any stores are open and if I can get a tent or a sleeping bag for me to sleep in outside..."

"Wait," Bon Bon called out, reaching out to Lovestruck. "I think there's something you can help me with."

"I honestly doubt that," Lovestruck responded. "Obviously if I'm not important enough for Lyra and everyone to remember me—"

"Hear me out, would you?" Bon Bon turned back at the dance floor, her eyes darting left and right with expert precision before settling. She pointed out as her eyes found Lovestruck once more."You see Frederick over there?"

Lovestruck gazed in the direction Bon Bon did, her eyes falling on Frederick, the pony who had given a speech earlier that evening. He was sitting at a table with a mare. The one who had thrown a bread roll at him, if she recalled correctly. "Yeah..?"

"He's a member of Octavia's quartet," Bon Bon explained, leaning a bit closer, as if she were disclosing top secret information. "They've been friends since forever and they started up their quartet in Canterlot a few years back."

"OK..." Lovestruck responded, taking note of the information.

Bon Bon grinned a bit. "He's also single."

Lovestruck's face she just sucked on a lemon. "So am I. Is that what this is about?"

"No." Bon Bon sighed, her grin disappearing. "He... He has a thing for someone in the band, but he hasn't acted on it 'cause..."

"Romance might muddle up the waters a bit?" Lovestruck guessed. She smiled a bit as Bon Bon nodded in affirmation. "So Freddy has a crush, but he can't do anything about it because he's scared he'll mess it up and then the quartet will be ruined?"

"Bingo." Bon Bon arched a brow, a smirk coming to her face. "You're good."

"'Your friendship much can make me blest, O why that bliss destroy!" Lovestruck proclaimed. "Why urge the only, one request you know I will deny!'"

Bon Bon blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Lovestruck frowned at her. "Love in the Guise of Friendship? You know, that poem about how people don't wanna ruin a friendship by making a move?"

"Uh... If I say yes, will you stop reciting poetry like a weirdo?"

Lovestruck sighed. "Forget it. What does this have to do with me?"

Bon Bon glanced back at Frederick. "Well, if I have to go one more night hearing Lyra complain about how Frederick and Beauty are never gonna happen, I'm gonna explode."

"Beauty?" Lovestruck questioned, blinking in confusion. She gazed at the two quartet members, who were laughing and talking to each other in a friendly manner. "But I don't—"

"Hey, Bon Bon, they're about to play Single Mares!" Lyra shouted, galloping over. She stopped in front of Bon Bon and Lovestruck, the latter of whom was frozen in place. "What are you doing talking to her?"

"I, uh..." Lovestruck drawled out, unsure what to say.

"I was asking her what she does for her mane," Bon Bon answered. "It's so nice and clean cut, don't you think?"

Lyra lost her suspicious look immediately and nodded. "Oh, yeah! She looks like Twilight!"

Lovestruck grit her teeth.

Bon Bon, catching sight of Lovestruck's discomfort, turned to Lyra and smiled. "You ready to put your hoof up, girl?"

Lyra grinned cheekily. "You know it! Single mares for life!"

Lovestruck stared at Bon Bon as she followed after Lyra onto the dance floor. 'Those two are weird together.'

Her attention broke away from the two of them as she heard two laughs ring out and she glanced back at Frederick and Beauty, who were the cause of it.

'So Freddy has a thing for Beauty...' Lovestruck mused, arching a brow in interest. 'So, how am I gonna go about this? Wait until one of them gets up and talk to the other one when they're alone?' She blinked a bit when she saw a server pass by with a platter with champagne glasses on it. 'Or...'

It wasn't long until Lovestruck had a platter of her own and a fake smile on her face, determination in her chest as she approached the table with the laughing pair. She caught eyes with Bon Bon as she danced on the floor with Lyra. She nodded at her and returned to dancing as if nothing had happened.

No turning back now.

"Hello, there," Lovestruck greeted, stepping up to the table. "Champagne?"

"I'll take a glass," Frederick answered, taking a glass for himself.

"None for me, thanks," Beauty told her. "I've had my fill for the night."

Frederick scoffed a bit. "Lightweight."

Beauty frowned at him for a moment, but then she smirked a bit. "At least I'm not gonna be throwing up on the bathroom floor later."

"Ah, but you'll be holding my hair for me!"

Beauty rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. And you'll get laid."

He choked on his drink.

Now was the time to strike, Lovestruck realized as Beauty laughed and Frederick tried to cover his abashed face.

"Couples' quarrel, eh?" she commented, chuckling a bit.

Frederick looked up from his drink, his cheeks tinged red. Beauty merely arched a brow.

'Alright, not quite the reaction I was expecting,' Lovestruck admitted to herself.

"Friendly banter?" she said, hoping for a better read.

Frederick laughed a bit, though it sounded forced. "Yeah. 'Sides, Beauty isn't my type."

"Right back at you, Freddy," Beauty replied, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, you know you love me!" Frederick proclaimed, laughing again, but, again, it didn't sound real.

'...Alright, this is getting awkward,' Lovestruck thought. 'Better retreat and review what I know.'

Lovestruck chuckled a bit. "Well, you just tell me if you need anything else."

"Oh, trust me, I will," Frederick told her, taking a heavy sip from his glass.

Lovestruck held her smile until she was turned around and walked away from the table.

"Beauty's not my type," Frederick had said. He had been too casual for it to have been false.

'Or was he?' Lovestruck pondered, glancing back at him. He was chugging his drink and talking to Beauty again, laughing louder than before while Beauty just rolled her eyes at him. He wasn't avoiding eye contact. He wasn't acting shy. He wasn't fumbling or stuttering like a head over heels fool. He was comfortable and happy, just like one would be in the presence of a friend.

Friends. They were just friends.

Or were they?

Lovestruck sighed. 'OK, review... Frederick likes someone. Bon Bon is tired of Lyra saying Beauty and Frederick aren't gonna happen. I bring up them fighting like a couple and Frederick gets uncomfortable. Beauty doesn't.' She let out an angry huff. 'Dammit, I wish I had my notepad with me! I could organize my thoughts way better!'

Lovestruck looked at the dance floor, where she saw Bon Bon dancing with Lyra. She glanced back at Lovestruck once more and gave her a confused look when she saw her standing there doing nothing in particular. Lovestruck sighed and shrugged a bit in response. Bon Bon frowned, then nodded her head back in the direction of Frederick and Beauty.

Lovestruck turned her attention back to the pair, then blinked in surprise. Frederick appeared to have sobered up and wasn't laughing or smiling like before. Instead, he had a bit of a solemn look on his face and Beauty appeared to be in the middle of talking to him about something serious, judging by her expression.

'What did I miss?' Lovestruck wondered, arching a brow in interest.

"Hey."

Lovestruck nearly jumped out of her coat. "Sweet mother of Celestia!"

"No, it's just me," Bon Bon told her as she walked into Lovestruck's line of vision. "What the heck are you doing? All I saw you do was just give them champagne, talk for a bit, then leave."

Lovestruck was about to ask why she was there, then she noticed that the thumping song Vinyl had been playing was now replaced by a slower song. "It's been less than five minutes, Bonnie. Give me some more time to gather info, would you?"

"I already told you everything you need to know!" Bon Bon replied. "Also, don't call me Bonnie."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me that Frederick was in the friend zone with Beauty!" Lovestruck said harshly, leaning in close so only Bon Bon could hear her.

Bon Bon blinked a bit and she leaned back. "Whoa, whoa, no need to get your magic all up in a tizzy."

Lovestruck suddenly realized her horn had sparked to life with magic and she backed up a bit as she regained her composure. She brought her hoof to her chest as she inhaled and extended it outwards as she exhaled. Just like Cadence had taught her.

"Sorry," she amended. "I... I don't respond well to being yelled at."

"And you decided to be a server?" Bon Bon joked, then let up as Lovestruck frowned. "Sorry."

Lovestruck sighed. "It's whatever. Just... I don't get it. I really don't. They look like just they're just friends. I can tell that just by spending time with the two of them."

"Yeah, of course they are," Bon Bon answered.

Lovestruck's eyes widened . "Wait, what?"

"Yeah." Bon Bon arched a brow in confusion. "Why'd you think that I meant that Frederick liked her?"

"Wha— You told me that he liked someone and pointed me towards Beauty!"

"Oh." Bon Bon chuckled awkwardly. "I guess I didn't get to the 'who' when it came to who Frederick likes."

"Yeah, sure, it's not like it's crucial information," Lovestruck snarled.

Bon Bon smiled a bit in reassurance and waved a hoof. "Don't go beating yourself up about it." Her smile faded as it went back to Frederick and Beauty. "As cute as they are, though, they aren't right for each other. Besides, Beauty isn't on Frederick's team."

'Huh, well, that explains that, then.' Lovestruck shook her head. "OK, so if it's not Beauty, who's the fourth musician? A quartet takes four, and all I see are three."

Bon Bon grinned. "The apple of Frederick's eye is at the bar, getting the shots ready for the brides and their entourage."

Lovestruck turned her head towards the open bar and she blinked in shock as she watched a blue coated stallion down two shots in quick succession. "Dear lord."

"Yeah, they're both super big on drinking at parties," Bon Bon told her. "You should have seen them at Princess Cadence's wedding."

Lovestruck frowned. "Yeah, I should have."

"What?"

"Nothing." She turned back to Bon Bon. "I'm guessing you'll be taking part?"

Bon Bon frowned and shook her head. "Nope. I haven't had a drink since college."

Lovestruck arched a brow. "Why not?"

Bon Bon looked off a bit. "Once you wake up in your best friend's bed with a pineapple and a note from said friend saying that you should throw said pineapple out... You take that as a wake up call and a time for reflection on your life choices."

"...So the whoo-hooing idiot over there is Frederick's crush?" Lovestruck affirmed, hoping to change the subject.

"Right." Bon Bon glanced back at her awkwardly. "That best friend wasn't Lyra, by the way."

"Alright."

"I mean, she's cute and all, but—"

"It's really none of my business," Lovestruck told her.

'I'll deal with that one later on,' she thought, adding that to her list of things to do.

"So, what now? Do I just go up and start ordering shots?" Lovestruck gestured to her attire. "I mean, technically I'm supposed to be working, not chatting with the guests."

"And yet here were are," Bon Bon commented. "You could always get someone else to gather the info for you."

Lovestruck frowned. "I came alone and have no friends."

Bon Bon fake winced. "Wow, harsh."

Lovestruck rolled her eyes. "Who the heck am I gonna get to go chat it up with... I just realized I don't even know his name."

Bon Bon sighed. "Parish. Parish Nandermane."

"Parish. Got it. Anyway, who am I gonna get to talk to Parish without freaking him out?"

"Lovestruck? What are you doing here?"

Lovestruck and Bon Bon whipped around together, then froze. Lovestruck's heart stopped. She couldn't breathe.

"Oh, buck," Lovestruck declared as she faced Minuette, her worst nightmare.

Author's Notes:

New chapter within the same month? Must be an impostor!

Chapter 5: Hit and Miss

Lovestruck wasn't quite sure what to feel at that moment. In fact, she wasn't even sure that she was feeling anything at all since every part of her body seemed to have gone numb. Maybe she was mad at herself for forgetting that this was Minuette's wedding and that she might bump into her. Maybe she was scared at what Minuette was going to do since she had crashed said wedding. Maybe, just maybe, it was because Minuette was actually talking to her and she couldn't run away. Well, she could, but that wouldn't solve anything.

"What are you doing here?" Minuette repeated, staring Lovestruck down with a brow raised in confusion.

"Buck," Lovestruck found herself saying again.

Minuette furrowed her brows. "Lovestruck, is that really you?"

Lovestruck felt her blood run even colder. "Buck."

"Why does she keep saying that?" Minuette questioned, looking to Bon Bon.

"I'm guessing she's pretty shocked out to see you," Bon Bon guessed.

"Buck."

Minuette blinked a bit, complete befuddlement washing over her features. "She's at my wedding."

Bon Bon waved a hoof in front of Lovestruck's face. "Hello? You still in there?"

"Buck."

Bon Bon sighed. "OK, she's in shock. Hang on." She took a glass of champagne from Lovestruck's tray, then sniffed it. "Was this champagne expensive?"

"No?" Minuette answered, unsure, "Octavia was the one who—

"Good enough for me," Bon Bon interjected. She tossed it onto Lovestruck's face, causing Minuette to cover her mouth in surprise. Lovestruck broke out of her shell-shocked state and sputtered. Bon Bon grinned. "There we are."

"I hate you," Lovestruck told her, wiping the excess champagne off her face, "I just got cleaned up."

"What are you doing here?" Minuette demanded, taking a step towards Lovestruck. Her features turned perturbed. "And why are you dressed like that?"

"Wait, hold on, you two know each other?" Bon Bon asked. She shook her head a bit. "I mean, obviously Lovestruck knows you, but I thought you guys weren't friends?"

Minuette winced a bit. "Well, we weren't friends, but I don't see why she'd be so upset to see me."

"We were acquaintances," Lovestruck corrected. She cut a sideways glance towards Minuette, who was inspecting her very carefully. Lovestruck sighed. "We... We went to the same school."

"You were classmates?" Bon Bon glanced between them before settling on Lovestruck. "Jeez, you made it seem like you two had this big, bad history with each other." She narrowed her eyes. "Why all the drama and secrecy?"

Lovestruck's face hardened. "None of your business, that's why."

Minuette's brows knit together once more. "Are you talking about the incident? Because we all know that wasn't your fault, Lovey."

Bon Bon gave Lovestruck a wary look. "Incident?"

"None of your business." Lovestruck turned her attention back to Minuette. "How did you even know it was me? We didn't really know each other during high school."

Minuette giggled a bit. "Well, you look different! Your mane is longer and it's not curly!" She leaned forward and touched a forelock of Lovestruck's mane. "Did you start straightening it?"

Bon Bon scoffed. "What, did you have a perm in high school?"

Lovestruck puffed her cheeks out. "No. I just had... poor hair management as a teen, is all."

"And now, since your bun is starting to look a little frizzy," Minuette commented, "have you tried using different products?"

Lovestruck shook her head. "I'd rather get back to what we were doing before you showed up." She spared Bon Bon a disapproving stare. "What was it you wanted me to do, Bonnie? Something about helping a certain piano player hook up with a... What does Parish play?"

"Harp," Minuette answered automatically, making Lovestruck wince a bit in annoyance. Her irritation only grew when Minuette let out a light gasp. "Wait, you're trying to hook up Frederick and Parish?"

Lovestruck put a hoof to her face in exasperation. 'Looks like the cat is out of the bag now...'

Minuette, however, did not react negatively. Instead, she put her hooves to her face excitedly. "Octavia has been trying to get them together for ages! You think this could be the night?"

Lovestruck faced Bon Bon incredulously. "You mean to tell me this isn't a first attempt?"

Bon Bon chuckled awkwardly. "I figured it would discourage you if I said anything about our previous escapades failing..."

'Oh, lord...' Lovestruck thought, her minuscule hopes diminishing as Bon Bon rightfully assumed.

"Like that time at the club," Minuette blushed, causing Lovestruck's plans to follow after her hopes towards destruction.

"Or that time at the wedding reception."

Lovestruck might as well have buried all her aspirations to save them the time.

Bon Bon let out a long whistle. "But one of us got laid that night. Amiright, Mini?"

Minuette's face turned scarlet, which brought Lovestruck to wondering exactly what the story was about the wedding reception. She tossed the thought away when it occurred to her that Bon Bon and Minuette were totally oblivious to the conclusion that often came from this situation.

"Did it ever occur to you that they aren't interested in each other?" Lovestruck questioned.

A sad question to come from herself, a student of love. Cadence had always told her to remain hopeful and optimistic about the possibilities of love coming to fruition. Lovestruck, however, was not keen on seeing the water in the glass and more on the lack thereof, which brought her back to her current predicament: the love she had been inspecting had a possibility of not even existing.

When the two mares didn't respond to her question, it brought that sad realization close to being a reality. "No? Really? Do you think the reason that they didn't get together despite your efforts is because they just aren't that into each other?"

Bon Bon cleared her throat. "Well, to be fair, Octavia's been trying to get them together way longer than us, and she's besties with Frederick, so..."

Lovestruck shook her head. "Sometimes your friends aren't right." She had enough to know. "And even if Frederick actually likes Parish, which I am honestly doubting now, do we even know if Parish likes him back?"

Minuette pouted. "I figured all those lessons with Cadence would open you up to the idea of love, not shut it down, Lovey."

Lovestruck narrowed her eyes. "Geez, shout louder, why don't you? It's not like I'm trying to blend in or anything.

Minuette returned the look, although it didn't seem nearly as nasty. "Well, you did sneak into my wedding without an invite."

"I didn't know it was your wedding!" Lovestruck protested.

"But you still snuck in."

Before Lovestruck could reply, she felt Bon Bon put a hoof on her shoulder very tentatively. "Uh, listen, I know you two are trying to buff this out, but..." She subtly nodded towards Beauty and Frederick, the former of the two getting up from her seat. "You might wanna figure out a course of action for our little mission we got going before Beauty gets back."

Lovestruck made the gracious decision to ignore Minuette and gave Bon Bon a disapproving look. "They're drunk. If they do anything together now, it's just gonna make things awkward." She cut a glance towards Minuette. "Regardless."

"But... But the plan!" Bon Bon protested. "You're supposed to work your magic on them or whatever!"

Minuette's eyes widened. "Wait, were you gonna use your actual magic or is she being metaphorical?" She held her hooves up. "I mean, it's not that I don't think you don't have control over your magic or anything like in high school, but—"

Lovestruck shot Minuette a sharp glance, which brought the bride to silence. She resumed her focus on Bon Bon. "Bon Bon. Think of your old best friend. Think of the pineapple. Do you want them to go through that?"

Bon Bon, who had been ready to tear into Lovestruck, closed her mouth while her eyes widened a bit. Then, she sighed in surrender as she closed her eyes. "No one deserves to go through that."

"Good girl," Lovestruck told Bon Bon, "now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna go start picking up dirty dishes because I think one of my coworkers is giving me the stink eye."

"Wait!" Minuette put her hoof on Lovestruck to keep her from leaving. "You aren't about to leave like this never happened!"

Lovestruck looked at Minuette's hoof, then brushed it off. "Don't you have a reception to get to?"

Minuette's eyes narrowed. "You can't just drop into my wedding unannounced and uninvited, then expect everything to be completely normal." her gaze softened. "Also, I feel bad for not inviting you now, even though we didn't know each other that well in high school..."

Lovestruck glared at her. "For the record, if I had known this was your wedding, I never would have—"

"Uh, Lovestruck?" Bon Bon interrupted, tapping her leg. She nodded her head back at Frederick's table.

"What?" Lovestruck blurted out spitefully, whipping around to face the cause of her misery and irritation. She froze very suddenly and her eyes widened upon the sight before her.

Frederick was making his way over to the bar where Parish was still sitting all by his lonesome.

"Oh, no, no, no," Lovestruck moaned, her legs feeling a bit weak beneath her. Multiple scenarios ran through her head all at once, and very few of them showed a good ending to them. Friendships ruined, love lost, unadulterated awkwardness to ensue throughout all of it that would bring nothing but pain and total misery within its wake.

She needed to act.

"What?" Minuette turned to look herself and she blinked in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Bon Bon, I need you to veer Frederick away from Parish right now," Lovestruck ordered, "any contact between them right now is going to be extremely awkward and detrimental."

Minuette tilted her head in confusion. "I thought you said you didn't think they were interested in—"

"Dammit, Mini, now is not the time for who is right and who is wrong!" She pointed at Frederick's wobbling form. "If there is even a small chance of Freddy and Parry liking each other, then a drunk confession is the last thing they need." She recalled every single bad rom-com she ever watched with the exact premise and shivered. "It will make things so awkward that they will never want to talk to each other again."

Minuette's eyes widened. "Octavia would be heartbroken if that happened..."

"That, and, well, we don't need another pineapple incident..." commented Bon Bon.

"Enough about the pineapple, help me stop a horrible, awkward incident!" She looked around the room frantically until her eyes fell onto Vinyl Scratch, who was leaving her booth for what she assumed was a break. "Do you know how to DJ?"

"I moonlighted back in college, but what does that have to do with—" Bon Bon paused in realization. "Oh... Y'know, I don't think Vinyl would be very happy if I—"

Lovestruck's horn flicked on and she glared at her very threateningly.

Bon Bon swallowed. "Well, here goes nothing!"

As Bon Bon darted away, Lovestruck turned to Minuette. "Can you encourage everyone to get on the floor and try to keep everyone busy while I handle Frederick?"

Minuette nodded. "I can try!"

"You're the bride, ponies will do anything for you as long as you ask! Get Octavia on board and the world is yours for the taking!"

Minuette arched a brow at Lovestruck's hyperbole, but she rushed to the dancefloor nonetheless. The music suddenly turned up and the bass thumped loudly enough to make Lovestruck's entire body pulse along with it. Her eyes found Bon Bon, who had slipped on Vinyl's spare headphones and was attempting to maneuver the complex equipment. She put on a determined face and turned the controls, causing the whole booth to light up with bright, neon colors. Meanwhile, Minuette dragged Octavia down onto the floor, causing the rest of the guests to join in. Frederick, however, did not take the bait as Lovestruck had hoped.

As Frederick woozily made his way to the bar where Parish was sitting, Lovestruck pondered a plan. She looked at the table beside her and an idea flicked on in her head. She picked up different plates as she went along, uncaring of whether they were empty or not. She hoped she wouldn't get chewed out for it, though she knew with her luck it was more than likely a possibility.

Then, as she came near Frederick, she tripped. Lovestruck knew that she'd get in trouble for breaking the plates and glasses, but she figured the sacrifice was worth the cause. She cursed silently to herself and brushed all the broken pieces together. She held back a sigh of relief when Frederick paused in his mission to acknowledge her.

"Need a little help?" he asked, sounding a bit unsure of himself.

She glanced up to see Frederick, who was focusing a little too hard on her. She shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

He laughed and let out a hiccup. "Here, let me help."

As he looked down in concentration, Lovestruck spared Parish a look. He hopped off his bar stool and whooped as he galloped over to the dance floor, where everyone else had gone. She smiled to herself and gathered all the plates together in her magic. Frederick didn't even notice that he had gone.

"Thanks, but I got it," she said to Frederick. "Enjoy your party."

Frederick grinned at her. "Oh, believe me, I—" He blinked when he saw Parish wasn't where he had been before. "Wait, where did he go?"

Already, Lovestruck disappeared from her previous spot and she tossed the broken plates into a nearby trashcan. 'Well, glad that was avoided.'

The loud music changed in tempo and suddenly, the dance floor was crowded into a new dance as a new song came on. Lovestruck saw Bon Bon being shooed away from the booth by Vinyl, who was glaring at her friend very disapprovingly. Bon Bon trudged over to Lovestruck with a frown on her face.

"Guess who's never allowed to touch Vinyl's DJ equipment ever again," she muttered, her tone very choleric.

Lovestruck smiled at her. "It's alright, it was for a good cause. Now we just have to keep them from talking to each other for the rest of the night."

"And how is that supposed to help the situation?" questioned Minuette, who had appeared behind them without being noticed.

Lovestruck's smile faded. "Frederick and Parish are drunk. Super drunk. And with drunkenness comes stupidness." She nodded her head towards Bon Bon. "Exhibit A."

Bon Bon, rather than argue, nodded solemnly in agreement.

"Point is, if they had done anything— a love confession, a hook-up, whatever —" Lovestruck rolled her eyes a bit "—it would have ended in disaster." She nodded to Frederick, who was sitting at the bar alone with his head against it. "He might be lonely now, but he'll be thankful we stopped this disaster in its tracks."

Minuette grinned. "You just love meddling in ponies' love lives, don't you?"

Lovestruck shrugged. "It's what I do." She nodded towards the dance floor. "Now, if I recall, you have a wife to dance with. I feel bad for taking up time out of your big night."

Minuette arched a brow. "Well, actually... I wanna talk to you about something before I go."

Lovestruck frowned a bit, but she held in her inhibitions. "Talk."

Minuette took a deep breath. "The incident back in Canterlot... That wasn't your fault."

Lovestruck blinked in surprise. Then, she laughed a bit. "Yeah, it was. I mean, it's pretty hard to say otherwise." Her laughter died. "And I thought I said I didn't want to talk about this?"

Minuette stared at Lovestruck with uncharacteristic earnestness. "I know you feel bad for what happened back in Canterlot... I mean, I feel bad and I'm not the one who got in trouble for it."

Lovestruck pursed her lips. "Why have this conversation now? We weren't close then, we aren't close now..." She shook her head. "You know, no one even knew I existed until that stupid incident? Now, that's all ponies seem to remember me for." She scoffed. "If they bother to, that is."

Minuette looked at her with such pity, it made Lovestruck wanna scream. "I just feel bad—"

"For not knowing me before I got booted out of school for something that wasn't supposed to be my fault?" Lovestruck blurted out, a tinge of anger in her tone. "I know I screwed up and I know that I burned some bridges when what happened, well, happened. But, this—" she gestured to herself and Minuette's dialogue "—won't change that."

"What happened to you wasn't right!" Minuette shouted suddenly. She blinked in surprise at her own volume and her cheeks tinged red. "You were wrongfully expelled for something that was beyond your control and although you caused some damage—"

"Expelled?" Bon Bon interjected, suddenly reminding the two of them that she was there. "You got expelled?"

Lovestruck bit the inside of her cheek. "I never wanted to have this conversation. I already put this all behind me when I started learning from Cadence." She looked off a bit. "And if I hadn't been expelled, I probably never would have had the chance to learn from Cadence, so it's not like I care anymore." She returned eye contact with Minuette. "Now, if you would excuse me from this unpleasant trot down memory lane, I'd like to finish working and then head back to one of those Paraspite-wrecked hotels for me to sleep in. I'll take any bed at this point."

Minuette tapped her chin in thought. "I think I could get you a room... I mean, I am the bride, so I guess it wouldn't too much of a hassle to ask someone to bunk with you."

Lovestruck grimaced. "I don't do well with sharing space. And I don't want your charity, either."

"Well, you'll have to make do," Minuette told her sternly. "Now, how am I supposed to contact you? How do you even receive mail when you're travelling? Mobile mailbox?"

Lovestruck furrowed her brows. "Since when did we start exchanging info?"

"Since I decided I wanted to know what you've been up to," Minuette responded. "It's no secret that you're learning from Princess Cadence, but I want the inside scoop! Who's the mare under the mentor?"

Lovestruck let out a single, humorless laugh. "That'll be a story. But, what makes you think I'll tell you anything?"

"You get a room, I get a story." Minuette grinned. "Seems pretty fair to me."

Lovestruck opened her mouth to argue, but she was silenced by Bon Bon's hoof. "Take the room. Please. Just don't cause anymore drama or hassle for me to put up with, and I'll be good."

Lovestruck smacked her hoof away, but let out a sigh in surrender. "Fine."

"Awesome," Bon Bon said. "Now, I'm gonna head back to the dance floor and hang with Lyra. Talk later, bye!"

When she left the two Unicorns to themselves, Lovestruck grinned. "Do you want me to try to make that happen, too?"

Minuette laughed. "You can try." Her smile faltered. "Seriously, how am I gonna contact you? You don't seem like you're going back to the Empire anytime soon and I don't think I can put down your address as the residence of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor without raising a couple of flags."

Lovestruck sighed, opened up her shirt a bit, and pulled out her necklace. "This is how. Turns out Crystal Ponies had pretty advanced technology, all things considering" She grinned a bit. "It's like a mobile messaging system and it's great."

"Whoa..." Minuette breathed, looking at it. "Did Cadence give you this?"

"Yep." Lovestruck slipped it back on and re-buttoned her shirt. "Now, I gotta get back to work. And you have a wedding to get back to. Like you said, your wife is gonna be wondering where you've been." Lovestruck stopped stacking plates for a moment upon a random thought. "You know, when I saw you earlier tonight, I was really worried about what would happen if you recognized me. Now... I dunno. I'm not worried anymore." The corners of her mouth tugged upwards again. "I'm actually happy to see you, married and all."

"So am I," Minuette replied. Her own smile weakened a bit. "I just wish that we met up under better circumstances, I suppose."

"Hey, life's weird that way." Lovestruck nodded her head towards the bar. "Go on, now. Get sloppy drunk and whatnot."

"Wait." Minuette pulled her closer again. "How do I send you a letter through that... thing?"

"Magical signature," Lovestruck explained. "You know about those, right?"

"Yeah, Twilight had Spike use it to send letters to Princess Celestia." Minuette frowned a bit. "It's... been awhile since I've seen her, too."

Lovestruck arched a brow, but said nothing as she flicked her horn on and focused on Minuette. "Use your magic so I can get your signature."

Minuette nodded and she turned her horn on as well, a golden light emitting from it very softly.

Lovestruck's green aura slowly faded into the golden color of Minuette's, then changed back to its original color. She let out a long breath. "There. That should do it."

Minuette touched her own horn. "I've never had my magical signature copied before."

Lovestruck grinned even more. "I'll try not to abuse it. Now, who am I gonna be bunking with tonight?"

Minuette smiled. "Wellllll..."

Author's Notes:

I intended for this to be out on Valentine's Day, but real life got in the way, so it's whatever. There's a lot more coming up next chapter, so hang on for the ride, everybody.

Edit 4/8/16: I changed the ending, so re-readers, don't be confused.

Chapter 6: Dine and Dash

Mornings were never easy for Lovestruck. With her head pounding in her ears and her mouth tasting like a dirty sock, she found her awakenings being in likeness to being punched in the gut. Blame it on her for going to bed late, but no matter the amount of rest she got, the rising sun only brought extreme disdain to Lovestruck's mood.

This morning, however, was different than others. For example, she was not awaken by the screaming of her alarm clock or the annoying song of a bird, but rather, to a loud shatter from the bathroom.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Lovestruck's unfortunate roommate, "I hope we don't have to pay for that!"

Lovestruck pinned her ears flat against her head and let out a long breath between clenched teeth. The wedding had gone off without so much as a hitch for the remainder of the night, much to Lovestruck's very minuscule appreciation. The guests danced, the brides ate cake, and Lovestruck was consequently fired from her "job". Apparently, her coworkers had made some choice comments to the head of the kitchen, consequently stripping her of her duties as a server. At the very least, she didn't have to worry about Frederick or Parish for the rest of the night; Minuette said she'd take care of that.

At the thought of the pony who brought her the first (and hopefully last) roommate she ever had, Lovestruck buried her head into her pillow. 'I hope Minuette has the worst hangover this morning... Wherever she is...'

The door to the bathroom came swinging open and slammed hard enough against the wall that Lovestruck prayed the hotel had invested in some good door stoppers. She heard water dripping on the linoleum floor in light echoes and felt a tugging need to take a shower.

"Heh, hope that they don't charge us for the hot water," she heard her roommate muse out loud.

Lovestruck groaned lightly. 'Guess that's gonna have to wait...'

Regardless, she sat up in her tangled mess of blankets and sheets with only a set amount of annoyance. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and a loud yawn escaped past her dry, crackling lips. She could feel the stretched out elastic in her hair trying and failing to stay together in her mess of a mane. The thought of having to take it out made her head ache.

"Morning, sleeping beauty!" exclaimed Vinyl Scratch, plopping onto the bed next to her. Her mane was still dripping and Lovestruck did not go without noticing it as drops fell onto her bed. Bitterness stewed within her when she saw the last bit of steam dissipate from the bathroom and she clenched her jaw to avoid making a quip.

"It certainly is," Lovestruck responded curtly, rolling off the bed with nonexistent grace.

Vinyl, unperturbed by Lovestruck's sourness, let out a light chuckle. "Yeah. Nothing like the morning after a wicked party, amiright?"

Lovestruck pursed her lips together as she stared at her reflection, pondering ways to extract the tie in her hair. "Sure."

This time, Vinyl took note of her tone. "Yo, you feeling alright?"

'You mean other than the fact that I have not done a single thing since the beginning of my journey as a student of the Princess of Love and have only managed to either screw up with everything I've done?' Lovestruck responded silently. She grunted as she pulled at the overly-stretched elastic and glared at it with total lack of appreciation.

While thankful for the fact that the situation between Parish and Frederick hadn't escalated to a new level of disaster the night before, Lovestruck wasn't too ecstatic to find out who she would be sharing a space with. Although she didn't know Vinyl personally (or anyone from high school, really), she knew that Vinyl was loud and that she prided herself on it. All of her DJ equipment was proof of that fact, as they were all made from her design.

"I'm just tired," Lovestruck replied lazily.

She saw Vinyl arch a brow in her reflection. "Really? Last night was pretty tame, to be honest."

'To you, maybe.' Lovestruck was no party animal herself, but she could hear Vinyl's parties from three blocks away on the weekends she spent at her mother's house. To actually have been in the same building the night before was a massacre on her eardrums.

Lovestruck cringed as her elastic snapped out of her hair. "Ow."

Vinyl loudly sucked in air through her teeth. "That looks like it hurts..."

'Not as much as my spirit,' Lovestruck thought sourly. With the tie out of her hair, she managed to tamp it down to look only a little frizzy. She thought about putting it back up, then decided against it as the aches in her head reminded her of her recent dilemma.

"Hey, I hear they got complimentary breakfast downstairs," Vinyl said, hopping off the bed. Still wet, she shook herself off a bit and grinned. "Want waffles?"

Lovestruck, after opening her now wet eyelids, pursed her lips. With a quick sweep across her face, she swallowed her mean comment bitterly. "I'm more of a pancake pony."

Vinyl, to Lovestruck's annoyance, shrugged carelessly. "To each their own." She gave her another goofy grin. "As long as they got syrup, amiright?"

"Right..." Lovestruck muttered.

It was going to be a long morning.

* * *

'At least the food is good,' Lovestruck conceded, taking a fat bite of her pancakes. The corners of her lips tugged upwards when she felt an explosion of strawberries fall on her sleep-ridden tongue. It felt like it had been years since she last had a stack of strawberry flapjacks.

"Syrup?" Vinyl offered, holding up a small pitcher of maple syrup.

Lovestruck held up her pitcher of strawberry syrup wordlessly before putting it down. Meanwhile, Vinyl happily munched away at her waffles, going on about a story regarding Octavia and Minuette. How none of her food slipped out of her mouth in the midst of her yammering was a total mystery to Lovestruck.

"And then Octavia totally clocked this dude!" Vinyl proclaimed. She smacked one hoof into the other."Like, this dude had a head over her and then he was flat against the floor. All 'cause he told her that her playing was 'shallow and pedantic'!" She laughed loudly. "I doubt the dude even knew what he was saying!"

Lovestruck blinked a bit. "Wait, what?"

Vinyl arched a brow and her fork lowered. "Were you even listening?"

'Ah, buck.' With her cheeks heating up, Lovestruck cleared her throat. "I mean, uh, I just have a hard time imagining Octavia, um... clocking someone in the face."

It wasn't totally a lie, Lovestruck admitted. Everything she knew about Octavia was either from the mouths of her fellow Canterlot dwellers or just sheer speculation of her own volition. No one had an idea of who the mare behind the cello was, and due to the exclusiveness of the wedding last night, Lovestruck imagined that she would like to keep it that way.

Vinyl, satisfied with her response, nodded. "Yeah, she's usually super level-headed, but when it comes to music—" She let out a long whistle. "—she doesn't mess around."

'Well, I'll be sure to share that with the zero friends I have back home,' Lovestruck thought. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Vinyl took a large bite of her waffle and swallowed it. "So, how do you know Minuette?"

Lovestruck, had she been drinking something, might not have been able to hide her shock so well. While her jaw locked mid-bite into her forkful of strawberry-drenched pancakes, she managed to play it off quite well.

Vinyl stared at her peculiarly. "Everything alright over there?"

Lovestruck wished that she could judge her own behavior better. She swallowed slowly and deliberately. "Um... We went to the same school..."

Too late, Lovestruck realized the implications of her answer as Vinyl's confusion only seemed to increase. "Really? I don't remember seeing you there..."

"Aha," Lovestruck coughed out, "well, I usually saw her more outside of school..."

Another half-truth to add to the pile; while not friends, Lovestruck could vividly recall Minuette and her friends occupying Canterlot Castle's dining room on random evenings. She never joined them, as she usually ate dinner with her mother at the house beforehand. Still, she would sometimes have the grace of getting to speak to Minuette or her friends, though very briefly. Not that any of them remembered...

"What classes did you have?" asked Vinyl, her eyes scrutinizing Lovestruck.

'Buck.' What classes did she have? She was barely there for a year before she got kicked out. Magic Theory? Potion Making? Did she take anything advanced? No, anything too hard gave her a headache... Remedial classes? Yes, that sounded about right, math was never her strong suit...

"Remedial algebra," Lovestruck answered, feeling her neck get sweatier. She hoped her nervous laughter passed as embarrassment. "I was never good with math..."

Vinyl nodded a bit. "Yeah, I feel you. I mean, I was pretty good at math, but English was never my best subject."

'Obviously.' Lovestruck almost shook her head. 'Get over yourself, Lovey. You still suck at math.'

"What was your major?" Vinyl continued. She grinned as she glanced down at Lovestruck's cutie mark. "Probably something to do with relationships, amiright?"

'Oh, come on.' Lovestruck held down a sigh and took a light sip of her coffee as she pondered an answer. She set her cup down as one came to her. "Interpersonal Relationship Skills."

"Ha, called it!" Vinyl clapped victoriously. "So, what? You a relationship counselor or something?"

"...Kinda."

'Less is more.'

"I mean, I don't really have a job for it, since I don't get paid or anything, but y'know, it's kinda like an internship or whatever. Well, it's actually more of an apprenticeship, since I have a mentor who is teaching me everything I need to know and now I'm just kinda doing my own thing, y'know?"

'...Dammit.'

Lovestruck laughed a bit roughly. "I mean, that's why I work as a waitress and stuff, y'know? Something has to pay the bills, haha."

'Shut up, shut up, shut up...'

Vinyl's expression faded once more into something Lovestruck could not identify. However, as she prepared for another onslaught of questions, someone interrupted Vinyl's interrogation. "Hey, Vinyl!"

Lovestruck immediately placed the owner of the voice and froze on the spot. Frightened, she kept looking straight ahead, started guzzling down her coffee to avoid making eye contact with Vinyl.

"Hey, Lyra!" greeted Vinyl, totally unaware of Lovestruck's internal struggle to stay calm.

Much to her horror, Lyra Heartstrings, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts all took a seat at the table beside Lovestruck. She held the cup up to her face, even after she ran out of coffee. She prayed her body would forgive her and not punish her afterwards.

"We heard there were waffles and pancakes and we had to get down here!" Lyra exclaimed, setting her plate down. She took Lovestruck's pitcher of strawberry syrup and started pouring absentmindedly while talking. "That reception was the best! Music was awesome as always, Vinny!"

"Yeah!" concurred Lemon Hearts. Her smile weakened. "Shame that Neon Lights couldn't make it..."

Twinkleshine scoffed a bit. "You mean that guy who keeps trying to score Vinyl's secrets for DJ-ing? I'm pretty sure Minuette was better off without him there to cause a ruckus."

Vinyl frowned. "Hey, he's pretty chill. I've been to a couple gigs of his and he's got some good beats." She took a hefty bite of her waffles. "There's always more to learn about music, y'know."

Lyra blanched after taking a bite of her pancakes. "Ugh, is this strawberry?" She pushed the plate away distastefully. "Who wants that on pancakes?"

Lovestruck tried not to come off as offended when Lyra got up to get a new plate. She knew that defending her love of strawberry syrup was not worth compromising her identity to the ghosts of her past.

"So, anypony ready to clock out and head back home?" asked Twinkleshine as Lyra returned to her seat with a fresh stack.

Lemon Hearts shrugged. "We could always go see the falls before we go." Her eyes became starry. "I hear they're beautiful this time of year."

"Yeah, how come Octy and Minnie didn't have their wedding closer to them?" Lyra buzzed through her pancakes. She shoveled another forkful into her mouth. "I tell ya, it would have been amazing to see them tie the knot there!"

"Well, obviously they couldn't do it right in front of the falls," Twinkleshine commented rather snidely, "the humidity would wreak havoc on their hair!"

Vinyl laughed. "I tried to convince them to have the wedding on the falls. Like, in a boat or something suspended in air."

"Vinyl, that's crazy!" Twinkleshine gasped.

"Crazy awesome," Vinyl continued, "that's how I wanna get married."

Lovestruck slowly began to put her cup down as it dawned on her that they weren't paying her any mind. She wasn't sure whether to be offended by it, or to be thankful that she was being given an opportunity to leave. She lightly scooted her chair backwards, her eyes flicking between each of the conversing mares to make sure they went on ignoring her. She spared her flapjacks a longing glance one last time before setting her hooves on the floor and stepping away quietly.

"Hey, where are ya goin'?"

'BUCK.' Lovestruck turned back to the table, where all four mares were staring at her. Vinyl, while confused, did not look nearly as puzzled as her friends.

"Hey, aren't you that mare from last night?" Lyra asked, squinting her eyes at Lovestruck. With her eyes still narrowed, she cut her eyes to Vinyl. "What're doing sitting with her?"

"Uh..." Lovestruck droned.

"Yeah, I think she is," Lemon Hearts pitched in, "I thought you were a server?"

"Uh..." Lovestruck's eyes darted left and right.

As the four mares continued their inquiries directed at Lovestruck, she felt her heartbeat beginning to match the speed of a jackrabbit on a hot summer's day in the desert. Her eyes scoured the room for a way out of this situation as her mind failed to come up with anything on its own, but all she was savagely reminded of was that she was still hungry.

So, as she failed to come up with a good plan on the spot, she immediately did what she always did when faced with an awkward social encounter:

"I have to go to the restroom!"

"Wha—" she heard Vinyl call out, but she didn't stick around to hear the rest. Lovestruck bolted down the hall and towards the lobby bathroom. She slammed the door and pressed her back to it, suddenly becoming painfully aware of how fast her heart was beating.

'Well, that could have gone better,' Lovestruck thought with a heavy sigh. She put her face in her hooves and groaned aloud. Lying to Vinyl had been hard enough as it was; to add in her entourage would have made things far too difficult for her to handle. Still, in retrospective, screaming and galloping away wasn't all that better of an better alternative.

Was it really that bad of a thing after all, them knowing who she was? Minuette had been nice about it, for the most part. Then again, Minuette was one of Canterlot's kinder elites and never gossiped with ill-intentions. The same could not be said for the rest of Minuette's inner circle, especially when it came to social outcasts like Lovestruck. She spent so much time alone that if she were ever accused of a crime she could never have an alibi.

Lovestruck leaned her head against the door. 'At least I got away from them...'

Suddenly, the door fell open and Lovestruck found herself lying on her back. Her head crashed against the tiled floor outside the restroom and her eyes cringed shut. Disoriented from hitting her head, she struggled to open her eyes and held her head by the temples.

"Oh, my gosh, are you OK?" asked an oddly familiar voice. Still, in her discombobulation, Lovestruck couldn't really place who she was speaking to.

Lovestruck sat up with a groan and cracked her eyes open. The room seemed to shake within her field of vision. "Not really, no..."

"Here, let me help," said the owner of the voice. She felt somepony grab her shoulders and right her stance. "Do you need an ice pack or maybe someplace to lie down?"

Lovestruck shook her head groggily and reopened her eyes. "No, I'll be fine..."

The pony went silent for a moment. "Why were you in the stallion's room?"

Lovestruck sighed and closed her eyes while she tried to gather herself. "I was in a hurry and I guess I went in the wrong bathroom." She opened her eyes. "Listen, let me just get out of your way and I'll—" She blinked as her eyes came back into focus and saw the pony before her. "Frederick?"

Frederick's brows furrowed. "Aren't you that waitress from the wedding?"

'Geez, you were sober enough to remember that?' Lovestruck questioned, but she had the grace not to ask such a question aloud. She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah... Nice of you to remember me."

Frederick flashed her a genuine smile. "Oh, it's easy for me to remember a face." He chuckled. "The real trouble is names!"

Lovestruck laughed, albeit awkwardly. "I can attest to that." She recalled that she was blocking off the restroom and stepped out of the way. "Sorry. You must be in a hurry."

He shook his head, causing his freshly combed cream mane to look tussled. "No, no, don't fret. I'm just headed to a cafe a little ways from here." He smiled again. "I'm meeting someone for brunch."

Lovestruck's eyebrow arched upwards. "Oh, really?"

Frederick nodded. "Yes, though I imagine that they're waiting for me." He pat her shoulder as he stepped into the restroom. "Take care, miss."

Lovestruck hummed in thought, her brow raising even higher. Though she was burnt out on the idea of getting involved in a scheme after the morning she had, Lovestruck couldn't stop her imagination from running wild speculations about Frederick's brunch date. Was it romantic or platonic?

'Perhaps Frederick is involved with somepony after all...' she mused.

"What the hay was that all about?"

Lovestruck felt like she jumped five feet in the air. She whipped around to face Bon Bon, who was staring at her peculiarly. She took a deep breath and faced Bon Bon peevishly. "Please stop sneaking up on me. My heart can't take another scare."

Bon Bon blew a small raspberry. "Not my fault you're an antisocial weirdo who doesn't even know how to actually talk to somepony."

"What are you even doing here?" Lovestruck questioned. She nodded her head back towards the direction of the dining area. "I thought you'd be chatting it up with your friends."

Bon Bon held up a magazine that Lovestruck previously went without noticing. "Just clearing room for breakfast."

Lovestruck made a face. "Gross."

Bon Bon raised a brow. "Uh, weren't you about to do the same thing? I mean, that is why you came here, right?" When Lovestruck averted her gaze, Bon Bon sighed. "Old Canterlot friends?" She sighed again when Lovestruck nodded. "Y'know, running away from every social interaction with ponies from your past isn't going to fix... whatever happened between the lot of you."

"It's not that, it's just..." Lovestruck exhaled sharply. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I have something that I need to do and it doesn't involve chatting with a princess' entourage."

Bon Bon's other brow raised to match the other. "Does it have something to do with your little convo with Frederick?"

"How do you know about—"

"Taking that as a yes. Is it a matchmaking scheme?"

"Why should I tell you anyth—"

"Another yes." Bon Bon tapped her chin, a small hum of thought escaping her. She glanced at the watch on her ankle. "Will we have time to eat?"

Lovestruck blinked at her. "I never said that you cou—"

The door to the stallion's room opened and out came Frederick, his mane freshly combed and a grin on his face. He waved at Bon Bon on his way out of the hallway. "Morning, Bonnie."

Bon Bon waved back wordlessly. As soon as Frederick was gone from sight, she raised her brows. "Now, I believe there was talk of eating at a cafe..."

Lovestruck huffed. "Why should I bring you along? You'll just get in my way." She scoffed. "Besides, you can eat with your friends."

"Well, I was planning on going anyway, considering I'm just as interested as you are, so why not go together?" Bon Bon asked, shrugging her shoulders. "'Sides, Lyra'll be fine while we're gone. She may be odd, but she's capable of taking care of herself."

Lovestruck narrowed her eyes at Bon Bon wordlessly and shook her head.

Bon Bon waggled her magazine. "We could read this season's new trends while we wait for Freddy's date to show up."

"We don't even know if it's a date!"

"I don't hear a no..." sang Bon Bon, smiling a bit.

Lovestruck groaned as she dragged her hooves down her face. "Fiiine. Just... don't be too much of a distraction."

Bon Bon grinned at her. "Relax. This isn't my first stakeout, y'know."

Before Lovestruck could decipher what Bon Bon meant by that, she felt herself being tugged out of the hallway by her foreleg. With her free one, she hit her face as a sigh escaped her. It was going to be a long day.

Author's Notes:

New chapter! Also, please note that I changed the ending of the previous chapter, simply because it felt too clumped up and I felt I needed to go back and fix some errors.

In regards to this chapter, however, Lovey really needs to learn some manners. You can't just say you have to go the bathroom and ditch everyone to pursue a lead in regards to a matchmaking venture! Oh, well, maybe she'll learn her lesson in a chapter or two... You'll have to wait to see, though!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Chapter 7: Covert Coffee Co-Op

"Do we really have to walk?" Lovestruck groaned.

The morning sun rose high above the buildings and beamed brightly down on Lovestruck and Bon Bon during their walk down the pathway. While Bon Bon seemed to be enjoying the sunshine immensely, Lovestruck felt like she had a scalding hot pat pressed to her backside. Whenever they had to take a turn, there were many unfortunate instances where the sun would burst into her line of vision like a volcanic eruption.

"Got any better ideas?" Bon Bon quipped, sparing a glance over her shoulder. How she managed to keep up such a pace without breaking a sweat was a total mystery to Lovestruck.

Lovestruck, much to her chagrin, jogged to reach Bon Bon's side. "We could always get a ride in one of those carriages... You know, the ones we walked by, like, ten times."

Bon Bon arched a brow. "You mean the ones reserved for couples? Well, I'm flattered, but I think I like you better as a friend, Lovey."

'That, and you're totally into your best friend,' Lovestruck thought with a roll of her eyes. "I just mean we could get to the cafe faster if we weren't wasting our time walking all this way. And don't call me Lovey."

"Whatever you say, Lovey," Bon Bon replied, "and last I checked, neither of us know which cafe Frederick is going to. Best to keep walking until we spot him."

Lovestruck's cheeks puffed out. "Still don't see why we have to waste our time walking."

"You're just lazy." She chuckled at Lovestruck's shocked expression. "Sometimes the truth hurts to hear, Lovey."

"Stop it."

Bon Bon opened her mouth to respond, but she closed it suddenly. Before Lovestruck could pry, she was yanked into a bush beside her unwanted companion. She tried to yell, but Bon Bon wrapped foreleg around her face to ensure that wouldn't be a possibility.

"Look," Bon Bon murmured, nodding her head forward.

Lovestruck unhinged Bon Bon's leg from around her peevishly. She peered through the shrubbery and blinked in surprise when she saw it was a cafe, full of chatting couples sitting under the umbrellas . However, her attention zoned in on a lone stallion sitting at a table, peering at his watch worriedly.

Frederick.

"He's waiting on somepony," Bon Bon observed.

Lovestruck scoffed. "Duh, we already knew that. But, who is he waiting on?"

Bon Bon shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." She tapped Lovestruck on her side to signal her movement. "C'mon, let's go sit at one of the tables." She crinkled her brows when Lovestruck made a face at her. "What? I could use a latte."

With a sigh, Lovestruck awkwardly pulled out of the bush and tried to avoid the stares of passing ponies. She shook off the leaves and picked out a couple of the twigs that had fallen into her hair with disdain.

Meanwhile, Bon Bon covertly slid out without so much as an issue. She ducked behind a passing couple and slipped into the sitting area, taking a spot on the other side of the sitting area, opposite to Frederick. Bon Bon nodded at Lovestruck, then made a series of incomprehensible signals.

Lovestruck rolled her eyes and teleported into the seat next to Bon Bon. "You know that I'm a Unicorn, right?"

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "You're no fun." She flapped open her magazine. "Now, we wait."

Lovestruck opened her mouth to protest, but her stomach beat her to the punch. A loud gurgle escaped her gut, eliciting a light blush across her cheeks. She let out a very heavy sigh. "Does this place serve breakfast?"

"Not after 10, they don't." Without looking at Lovestruck, she pointed at the cafe window. "Says so on the sign."

Lovestruck squinted at the sign pinned onto the inside of the window and frowned as she found the truth in Bon Bon's words. "Are there any menus we can look off of?"

She was answered by Bon Bon carelessly throwing a laminated sheet at her face.

"...Thanks."

"No problem. You should order some croissants. I hear they're great."

Before Lovestruck could tell Bon Bon where she could shove her hypothetical croissants, her stomach growled once again. She let out an angry grumble and settled begrudgingly on Bon Bon's suggestion..

"What would you like to order?" asked a waitress. She took out a notepad and pen, poised to take the order.

Lovestruck felt a surge of panic go through her. 'Oh, horseapples, I forgot my notepad!'

The waitress frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Lovestruck quickly brushed off her panic and faked a laugh. "Yeah, uh, I'll have a croissant and a cup of coffee without anything to it, thank you."

The waitress, despite her concern, smiled. She glanced at the disinterested Bon Bon. "And for your marefriend?"

'...marefriend?'

"Just a latte, thank you," Bon Bon cut in.

'MAREFRIEND?!'

Much to Lovestruck's horror, the waitress giggled and shook her head endearingly. "I'll be back soon with your drinks." She laughed again. "Have fun, lovebirds!"

"But we're not even—" Lovestruck went silent as the mare trotted out of earshot and she felt her heart sink a bit. She whipped around to face Bon Bon, who was still reading her magazine without a care in the world. She pushed it down and away from her. "Just what the hay was that?"

Bon Bon pried Lovestruck's hoof off of her magazine, then straightened it out. "What was what? I was just ordering a latte."

"And made that waitress think we're together," Lovestruck hissed angrily, "which, we're not."

Bon Bon's eyes scanned across an article lazily. "We're also not here to eat brunch together, but I don't see you getting mad about misleading everyone about that."

"That's not even—" Lovestruck took a sharp breath. "Y'know what, it's not important. Just... stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Bon Bon finally looked away from her magazine, though she remained expressionless. "Trying to blend in and not attract attention to ourselves?" When Lovestruck didn't respond, she arched a brow. "Yeesh, you can't even pretend to have a relationship with somepony, can you?"

"No, I just meant that—" She stumbled over her words when Bon Bon's brow raised even higher. "Please stop looking at me like that, I can't focus when you do."

Bon Bon smirked a bit. "Aw, does Lovey get shy around her special somepony?" She reached over and pulled on Lovestruck's cheek affectionately. "You're so cute... once you get past the attitude problem, anyway."

Lovestruck slapped her hoof away. "Quit it."

The waitress returned, this time with a tray holding their drinks and Lovestruck's croissant. "Here ya go!" She smiled at Lovestruck, who was blushing angrily. "Aw, look at how cute you two are!"

"Sure are," Bon Bon gushed, propping her chin on her hooves. Unseen by the waitress, she was grinning viciously at Lovestruck, taunting her silently with her eyes.

'I am going bucking murder you when we get back to the hotel,' Lovestruck thought, biting the inside of her cheek. Still, she remembered Bon Bon's words about blending in and returned a smile. She hoped Bon Bon would see the hidden malice beneath her false joy.

The waitress laughed again. "Well, I'll leave you two be. Holler if you need anything!"

Once again, the waitress walked off, leaving the two mares to themselves. Lovestruck's smile disappeared, while Bon Bon continued to smirk at her. "For the record, going to a cafe for brunch doesn't make for a good date in my book."

"Whatever you say, Lovey," Bon Bon replied. She picked up her magazine and started looking through it again. "Y'know, I think they have a couple of brochures at the front of the cafe, if you want something to read while we wait."

Lovestruck frowned. "I'd rather have my notepad with me..."

Bon Bon's brows furrowed as she glanced up at her. "Why's that?"

She sighed. "I work better when I can write down my thoughts..." She felt her blush return. "That's another reason why I was in such a panic last night; can't really process my thoughts until I can actually look at them, y'know?"

Bon Bon gave her a sympathetic look. "Too much stuff going on all at once, huh?"

Lovestruck nodded. "Yeah..."

Bon Bon didn't respond after that, so Lovestruck's attention slipped back towards Frederick. Still sitting alone, the stallion kept glancing towards his watch. His eyes darted to and fro, making Lovestruck worry over how long it'd be before he saw her and Bon Bon spying on him. Her fears had yet to take form, however, as he seemed to look everywhere except where they were at.

'He's so anxious...' Lovestruck pondered. Over what, though?

Her thoughts shot back to the night before, when she saw Frederick and Beauty Brass sitting together after she had spoken to them. He had been joking around only minutes before, but when she looked at them, he appeared to be the exact opposite of carefree. She could only guess what it was that could bring him to act so strange so suddenly.

Then, there was the situation with Parish. Was that a factor in his Frederick's behavior or was that just something totally coincidental? It had been going on for some time, if what Minuette and Bon Bon had to say was any correlation. Maybe Lovestruck was right about it being a misunderstanding and Frederick truly wasn't interested... But, then why had he gone to the bar where Parish was? And why was he so worried over his lunch date? Who is his lunch date? A friend? A lover? A family member? And why did he decide to have it here, instead of the hotel? Is that pony staying at the hotel? Or are they trying to keep things a secret?

Lovestruck closed her eyes. 'There are so many things happening all at once... It's so hard to try to connect them...'

"Freddy's date must be running late," Bon Bon murmured.

Lovestruck raised a brow at her. "How are you even paying attention with your nose in that magazine?"

Bon Bon opened her mouth to answer, but she went silent as her eyes widened. She pulled Lovestruck down behind her magazine, crushing her into Bon Bon's side in the most uncomfortable way. Her face pressed into the crook of her neck and her forelegs were held tightly by Bon Bon's impossibly strong grip. To a passerby, they probably looked like a couple snuggling up to read an article over a cup of coffee. To Lovestruck, however, it felt like she was being held captive by a madmare.

"Stay down," Bon Bon told her.

Lovestruck tried to push Bon Bon away, but to no avail. "Please stop being Agent 007 for five seconds and talk to me like a normal pony."

Bon Bon did not let up her hold. Her brows furrowed in befuddlement. "What's he doing here?"

"Who?" Lovestruck hissed angrily.

Her answer was revealed by Bon Bon pulling down the magazine. Before she could find whoever Bon Bon was freaking out about, her companion turned her head to face the entrance of the sitting area. Lovestruck's jaw dropped and her eyes widened to the size of saucers when she saw the pony who entered.

"Parish!" exclaimed Frederick, smiling at the sight of his fellow band mate. He stood up from his seat and held a foreleg out in offering of a hug.

'Wait, Parish is Frederick's lunch date?' Lovestruck thought, her jaw falling down ever further.

Parish, who was significantly less drunk than when Lovestruck saw him last, turned to where Frederick was standing. His smile was instantaneous and warm. "Hello, sweetheart!"

"'Sweetheart'?" Lovestruck and Bon Bon said together. They looked at each other in bewilderment before returning their attention to the stallions.

Parish trotted over to Frederick and pulled him into an embrace. Bon Bon's grip coincidentally tightened on Lovestruck, squeezing air out of her. When the two stallions pulled away from their hug, Parish kissed Frederick on the cheek sweetly.

Lovestruck didn't know what she would have done, but Bon Bon stopped her. She felt Bon Bon's hoof clamp onto her muzzle, smothering any sound that might come out. She put her magazine back up and hid the both of them behind it. For a long moment, neither of them said anything (although Lovestruck could hardly say anything with her mouth covered).

As Parish took the seat opposite of Frederick, Lovestruck's thoughts were buzzing. Why were they meeting at the cafe in secret? Or was it even a secret to begin with? Were they just two friends having a chat over coffee? But, then what about that kiss? Was that just them being friendly with each other?

Sweet Celestia, how she wished she had her notepad with her.

"Well, guess we don't have to worry about trying to get them together..." said Bon Bon, finally breaking the silence.

At the reminder that Bon Bon was still holding onto her, Lovestruck pried herself free of her grip. "We don't know that for sure."

Bon Bon arched a brow at her incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Well, I dunno!" Lovestruck snapped harshly. She glanced back at Parish and Frederick, who were talking indistinctly. She squinted to see what they were saying, but she failed to read their lips. "We got to figure out what they're talking about... C'mon, let's move tables."

"Oh, sure, let's get closer so they can see both of us and find out we've been spying on them," Bon Bon retorted sarcastically.

Lovestruck glared at her. "Got a better idea?" When Bon Bon didn't respond, she sighed. "Well, we have to figure something out. I'm not leaving until I know what's going on."

"And just what is going on?"

Lovestruck and Bon Bon whipped around simultaneously to see Vinyl and Lyra glaring at them. As they trotted towards their table, Lovestruck spared a glance towards Frederick and Parish, who were completely unaware of the oncoming storm not a couple yards from them.

She slowly slunk back down behind the magazine. "Oh, buck..."

Author's Notes:

DUN DUN DUNNN... So, what's more shocking? The thing with Parish and Freddy or me actually updating this story within a month of the last update? Meh, I'm gonna go with me updating.

So, what's gonna happen next chapter? Are Lovestruck and Bon Bon gonna figure out just what the hay is going on? Will drama rise up from Lovestruck's past? Will Cherry make the return I said was gonna happen this chapter, but ended up lying about? Stay tuned to find out!

Chapter 8: Lips Are Movin'

What happened next was a blur to Lovestruck. She couldn't recall what she or Bon Bon did, but only flashes of random images that made no sense to her. Green glows, muffled cursing, and flying magazines pages passed through her mind in a strange procession, only increasing her confusion.

Suddenly, the images disappeared and Lovestruck was left sitting in her seat, feeling as though she had narrowly escaped death. She blinked her eyes a couple times and tried to regain control of her breathing. She turned to Bon Bon, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"What the buck just happened?" Bon Bon whispered, her eyebrows crinkling dubiously.

Lovestruck heard yet another muffled curse, only this time it came from her right side. She turned to face the origin of the sound and came face to face with Lyra and Vinyl, whose muzzles was bound by glowing, green bands. Lovestruck let out a small gasp and suddenly the bands disappeared.

'Oh, crap, I didn't mean to do that!' she thought, her mind becoming a flurry.

Lyra rubbed the indent on her face peevishly. "What'd you do that for?"

"Scared of we'd say something too mean?" Vinyl snapped, leaning forward to glare at Lovestruck.

Lovestruck's eyes fell downcast. It took what was left of her self control not to bury her face in her hooves and sink down below the table, away from their judging looks.

"Hey, back off," Bon Bon voiced hotly, taking the focus of Lyra and Vinyl's scowls, "this was the exact reason she didn't want you to come along."

Before Lovestruck could respond, she was silenced by the intensity of Lyra's glower. Her gaze seemed to penetrate into Bon Bon, who remained unperturbed.

"And just why are you here with her?" Lyra interrogated, her brows raising skeptically.

Almost instantly, Bon Bon's foundation crumbled. Her hard set determination turned into unmitigated surprise, her eyes widening and her jaw setting awkwardly. Lovestruck wasn't sure how Lyra was able to do it so smoothly and carelessly, but Bon Bon had gone from hero to zero.

'Guess instruments aren't the only thing she plays,' Lovestruck thought.

When moments of silence passed, Bon Bon's eyes fell away from Lyra's. "I, uh, can explain that..."

"Really?" Lyra snorted and rolled her eyes before she resumed her glare. "Because it looks like you two are on a brunch date!"

Lovestruck's ears pinned against her head at the volume of her voice. She glanced over at Frederick and Parish, neither of whom seeming to notice the quarrel that was taking place. Looking back at Lyra, her statement suddenly sunk in.

"...Brunch date?" Lovestruck blurted out, unable to mask her confusion.

"We're not on a brunch date," Bon Bon responded finally, her nervous tone disappearing, "seriously, where'd you even get an idea?"

Lyra zoned in on Lovestruck and narrowed her eyes. "You ran off whenever I asked you why you were hanging out with Vinyl." She faced Bon Bon again. "And you said you had some business to attend to before breakfast."

"That business being of the fecal variety," Bon Bon told her, eliciting a series of groans from the rest of the table, "I just happened to run into Lovestruck while I was there."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that? First, you ignore me during the wedding to talk to her—" Lyra cut her eyes towards Lovestruck, making her wince. "—and then you ditch me at breakfast this morning!" She scoffed. "I thought we were friends, Bon Bon."

"And you just ran off in the middle of breakfast," Vinyl repeated harshly, reminding Lovestruck of her presence. She arched a brow suspiciously. "What was that all about?"

Lovestruck scrambled through her mind to find a valid excuse. She had the runs? No, that wouldn't explain her running off with Bon Bon... They were secretly lovers? Oh, no, no, no, that was definitely out of the question... She just really hated socialization and risking confrontation? While true, it would only dig her further into the hole she shoveled herself into...

Should she just tell them who she really was?

The truth: she was a delinquent who got expelled from the most prestigious magic school in all of Equestria and ended up as a student to the new leader of a lost empire.

The lie...

"What was your major?" came Vinyl's voice from earlier that morning. "Probably something to do with relationships, amiright?"

A lie it was, then.

Lovestruck cleared her throat. "You know how I said my major is Interpersonal Relationship Skills?"

Vinyl's expression shifted to intrigue, though her anger still remained. "Yeah..."

'C'mon, keep it short and simple...'

"Well, you see, when I was at the wedding, I noticed Frederick and Beauty Brass talking to each other and I wondered if they were together and then I ran into Bon Bon and asked her about it and she told me they weren't, but that Frederick might be interested in Parish and then I ran into Minuette and she told me more about it and offered me a place to stay when she found out I didn't have one and then I was your roommate and then we had pancakes and then I had to go to the bathroom and then I ran into Frederick and found out he was going on a lunch date so I decided to follow him but then I ran into Bon Bon and she wanted to come with so we came here together and we found out that Frederick's lunch date is Parish and then you two showed up and now I'm just trying to make sure we don't get caught spying on them because I have no idea what's going on and I just feel morally obligated to see this through so can we please move past my horrible inadequacy to communicate well with others and just find out what's going on?"

'...what the buck is the matter with me?'

Bon Bon cleared her throat. "And that's what you missed on Glee."

"What makes you think I'm gonna believe a word of what you say?" Lyra huffed, glaring at both of them.

Meanwhile, Vinyl scanned the cafe over her violet shades. She stopped instantaneously. "Uh, Lyra..."

Lyra didn't appear to hear her. "I mean, it was one thing when you were ignoring me—"

"Lyra," Vinyl repeated.

"—but now lying to me? Bon Bon, I swear, sometimes I feel like I don't even know you."

Vinyl sighed heavily. She took a hold of Lyra's chin, promptly silencing her, and turned her head in the direction of where Frederick and Parish were sitting (somehow unaware of the scene that Lyra was making). Were it not for Vinyl's hoof, Lovestruck would have guessed that Lyra's jaw would have slammed into the ground.

"Now do you believe me?" Lovestruck questioned, unable to hide her satisfaction.

Lyra's head snapped towards Lovestruck at such a frightening speed that she thought that she'd been possessed. "Have they been together this entire time?"

Vinyl's brows crinkled together. "That doesn't make any sense... If they're together, then why would they keep it a secret from us?"

"I don't know," Lovestruck sighed, "That's why I said I wanted to find out what's going on because I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, why haven't you gotten closer to listen to them?" Lyra asked.

Lovestruck scowled at Bon Bon wordlessly.

Bon Bon groaned. "We can't just waltz over there and take a seat by them. They'll recognize us!"

"Maybe we won't have to..." Vinyl murmured to no one in particular.

"What?" Lovestruck blurted out, whipping around to face Vinyl incredulously.

Vinyl waved a hoof dismissively as she squinted over her glasses. "Shh, I'm reading their lips..."

"Again, what?"

Lyra's eyes widened in surprise. "When'd you learn to read lips?"

"College," Vinyl explained, not even breaking her gaze, "I work better with music, so I just started reading lips and took notes during lectures while I wore my headphones."

Bon Bon lifted a brow quizzically. "Is that how you know what everypony is saying even though your music is at full volume?"

She held a hoof up to silence everyone. "I can't concentrate with all of you talking, so please be quiet."

The mares complied and each turned their attention to Frederick and Parish. As each word left their lips, Vinyl managed to get every one out in almost perfect synchronization.

"I wish we didn't have to meet up like this..." said Parish, looking down dejectedly.

Frederick's expression turned to sympathetic and he took Parish's hoof in his affectionately. "I do, too... But, we both know that we can't go public with this yet..."

Parish pulled his hoof away. "You've been saying that for months, Freddy."

Lovestruck turned to Vinyl. "Months?"

Vinyl cut her eyes at her, but nodded nonetheless. She continued on with her reading. "'Parish, this isn't easy for me, either...'"

Lovestruck looked back in time to see Parish turn away from Frederick. "I hate this... I hate hiding away..."

"Parish." Frederick's expression hardened. "You know how much I love you, but I just can't..." His expression softened, sadness coating his eyes. "I just can't do it yet. My family, they wouldn't... They wouldn't understand."

Parish faced Frederick once more. "Why does it matter what they think? If they can't accept us, then why bother putting up with them?"

"My family has connections," Frederick pressed on, "if I came out with something like... this, they would see to it that no one hire us. How could we have a life together if we can't even provide for it?"

"It's just not fair!" exclaimed Parish. This time, Lovestruck actually heard his voice and not Vinyl's reading. The cafe went still and seemed to collectively glance at the two stallions before tensely returning to their meals. Parish seemed to take note of this and ducked his head down in shame. Frederick looked at him empathetically and walked over to Parish's side, pulling him into a loving embrace.

Lovestruck briefly thought back to the night before. Parish was a drunken idiot downing shots like it was the end off the world, whooping and hollering like a college frat colt. Now, he appeared as though the weight of the world hung upon his shoulders. Frederick fared no better, judging from his own expression. Suddenly, their drinking habits began to make a lot of sense...

'Secrets can do that to a pony,' whispered her mind.

"Dang it," Vinyl hissed, breaking Lovestruck out of her thoughts, "I can't see their lips now."

"Maybe we should leave," Lyra said suddenly.

Lovestruck whipped around to face her. "What?"

Lyra grimaced. "This is obviously something private between the two of them and we have absolutely no business to listen in on their conversation."

"Didn't seem too opposed to following us," Lovestruck muttered.

"Ahem," Vinyl interjected, "in all fairness, you left without telling us. At least Frederick didn't ditch us without a good excuse."

Bon Bon groaned. "Alright, before we launch off into another heated debate about this morning, can we just figure out a plan of action?"

"What do you mean?" Lovestruck questioned, arching a brow.

"I mean, we need to figure out what we're gonna do about this." She gestured towards Parish and Frederick. "We can't just sit and wait for them to notice us."

Lovestruck peered at Frederick and Parish. She couldn't make out what Frederick was whispering to Parish, but she could tell that it wasn't helping Parish whatsoever. Her ears fell flat against her and she looked back at the arguing group.

"We should leave," she said finally.

Bon Bon blinked at her. "What?"

Lovestruck sighed. "Listen, you're right when you say we can't wait for them to notice us. We have to get out of here before either of them see any of us and we have to do it quickly."

"What do you suppose we do after we get out of here?" Bon Bon shot back, "I mean, we aren't just gonna go back to the hotel, are we?"

Lovestruck didn't respond for a moment. Instead, her eyes drifted back towards Frederick and Parish. She felt her heart ache at the look of utter anguish on Parish's face.

"No." She faced them once again. "I have a better idea..."

* * *

It didn't take long for Parish and Frederick to leave the cafe. They exchanged their farewells and went their separate ways, like nothing was between them. Lovestruck couldn't bear to think about how many times they had to do so.

"I don't see why we had to leave the table..." Lyra grumbled, struggling to get comfortable.

"Hey, you can thank your bestie for this one," Lovestruck told her, nodding her head towards Bon Bon, "we were crammed into this same bush before we got a table."

A loud snap, followed by a muffled squeal, startled a yelp out of Lovestruck. She whipped around to face Vinyl, who had a hoof clamped over her muzzle.

"Sorry," Vinyl whispered, her cheeks tinged pink.

Lovestruck sighed. "Anyway, it was better to hide than it was to be in plain sight."

"I could have told you that..." muttered Bon Bon.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "What now? You said we aren't going back to the hotel, so what's the plan?"

Lovestruck zoned in on Parish, who appeared to be making his way towards the hotel. She flicked back to Frederick, who was going in the opposite direction.

"We follow Frederick," she replied, eliciting a groan from Bon Bon, "don't gripe at me, I'm just trying to figure out where he's going."

Bon Bon dragged her hoof down her face. "He's probably just gonna walk for a little bit before he goes back to the hotel."

"Why's that?" Vinyl questioned, wiggling uncomfortably.

"Precautionary measures. Ponies could make connections if they show up at the same time together." She squinted through the foliage. "Though he is going pretty far..."

Lovestruck's eyes focused in on Frederick. She arched a brow when she saw him staring off into a random direction and followed his gaze. A tall clock tower stood not too far from where Frederick stood, reading the time distinctively.

"He's got somewhere to be," she murmured to herself.

Bon Bon smirked and nodded. "Right on. Think he's meeting somepony else?"

"Do you think he's cheating on Parish?" Lyra breathed, horror taking over her face.

"No way," Vinyl cut in, shaking her head indignantly, "Frederick would never do something like that."

Lovestruck sighed. "How about we quit jumping to conclusions and actually find out?"

As soon as the word left her mouth, Bon Bon tumbled out of the bush. She shook off the leaves and twigs, standing upright like nothing happened. Meanwhile, Lyra and Vinyl struggled to get out at all, their faces red with embarrassment.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Lovestruck let out a sigh. "You guys are the worst when it comes to covert operations."

"You're telling me..." Bon Bon muttered, rolling her eyes.

Deciding not to engage her, Lovestruck helped Lyra up when she tripped out of the bush. She brushed off some of the leaves and wiped Lyra's face free of any flora.

"Still wanna follow us?" she asked, arching a brow with a sense of haughtiness.

Lyra pouted at Lovestruck. "I liked you a lot better when you were serving us at the wedding."

Lovestruck's cheekiness disappeared almost instantaneously and she turned away from her. She raised her brow in confusion when she saw no sign of Frederick within the immediate vicinity. She turned to Bon Bon, who seemed to come to the same conclusion, and sighed. "Great. Looks like we lost him."

Vinyl peered over her glasses. "Think he saw us and bolted?"

"Wonderful," Bon Bon groaned, dragging her hoof down her face, "we just had to hide in the bush, didn't we?"

"You're the one who wanted to sneak out!" Lyra snapped.

"And you're the one who wanted to leave in the first place!"

"We wouldn't have had to leave if you hadn't ditched me back at the hotel!"

"Are you still on that? Honestly, you are so—"

While the two of them argued, Lovestruck glanced lazily at Vinyl. "How often do you have to deal with this?"

"More than I should," Vinyl replied, "I'm so glad I'm single."

Lyra and Bon Bon cut towards them suddenly. "Hey!"

Lovestruck rolled her eyes. "Since you two can't get along, I'm suggesting that we split up." She held up a hoof when they prepared to argue. "Listen, how about Bon Bon and I go after Frederick while you and Vinyl go check on Parish? I'm sure he could use a shoulder to lean on right now."

"You seem pretty keen to get rid of us, so I'm gonna say no," Lyra shot back, narrowing her eyes harshly. Lovestruck saw a corner of her lip tug upwards. "Not gonna shake me that easy, Lovey."

Bon Bon flinched. "Uh, Lyra, you might not want to—"

"It's fine," Lovestruck snapped, silencing Bon Bon effectively. She looked down the pathway, where Frederick had been looking when she last saw him. "C'mon, let's go after him."

"And if he sees us?" Vinyl inquired suddenly.

"We're sightseeing. For all he knows, I'm a local and I could just be showing you the sights." She stopped instantaneously. "Dammit, where was that backstory when I needed it?"

Lyra arched a brow curiously, but if she had anything to say she kept it to herself. As the group continued on their journey, Lovestruck wondered if it would be acceptable for her to throw herself into the river to the falls.

Author's Notes:

Lovestruck, what have you gotten yourself into now?

(In all seriousness, thanks for sticking with me and Lovey! Stay tuned for next chapter!)