1. A Starry-Eyed Encounter

“Something’s up with you.”

“Oh?” The muscles in Amethyst Star’s legs burned from their daily workout as she and Blossomforth walked through the Ponyville market square. As much as yoga counted as a workout, that is. Amethyst always left sweaty and red-faced while Blossomforth seemed able to twist herself into a pretzel with ease. She often wondered if flexibility was Blossomforth’s special talent, but what a flower had to do with bendability was beyond her.

Blossomforth peered at her through her bright blue eyes. “Yeah.” Her freckles wrinkled with her brow. “You’re all . . . prancy.”

“So? I’m a pony. Ponies prance!” Amethyst pranced ahead, her sights set on a stall selling ice cream. Right where it always was, and their yoga class timed to end perfectly at a lull in the market. The perks of planning ahead.

“You have not pranced once since the day I met you.”

“Ponies also change!” She stopped to the side of the ice cream stall and scanned the list of the flavours. Bubblegum, rocky road, mint chocolate chip, strawberry . . . The sun beat down on her coat and she licked her lips. “Hey, want some ice cream? My treat.”

Blossomforth’s ears perked up. “Ice cream?” Her tail swished happily behind her as they watched a pale blue mare with a neapolitan mane serve the foals in line. “It was a pretty intense class today . . .”

Everypony had their little weaknesses, and Amethyst knew Blossomforth’s like the back of her hoof. Exploiting them every few days or whenever she needed a diversion were old hat. “That’s the spirit! Rocky road?”

“Mint chocolate chip, and don’t think you can just distract me with a little ice cream.” Blossomforth prodded Amethyst’s chest. “You’re playing coy with me!”

“Oh, Blossom,” Amethyst said with a grin that may or may not have been coy. “I’m not distracting you with a little ice cream; I’m distracting you with a lot of ice cream.”

“Amyyyy,” Blossomforth whined as Amethyst skipped around her to order. Her pout melted faster than any ice cream when she accepted a double-scoop of mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone from the pink aura of Amethyst’s magic. She tried to look begrudging at the very least.

Taking her scoop of rocky road in her magic, Amethyst led the pair to their usual bench. At this time of day, it was in the shade and offered a quiet spot to ponywatch. She sat on the bench, set her saddlebags and yoga mat on the ground, and patted the spot next to her. As Blossomforth settled down beside her, she let out a content sigh. Nothing took the edge off like a familiar routine.

“Seriously, though,” Blossomforth said between licks of her double-scoop. “What’s got you so bouncy?”

Amethyst was sure from the look in her friend’s eye that she was supposed to take that question seriously. The smear of green on her muzzle, however, ruined that effect. Time to play coy, as she so eloquently put it. Waggling her ears, she said, “I need a reason to be happy when I’m with my best friend?”

“I guess not.” Blossomforth frowned and returned to her ice cream. After a couple thoughtful slurps, her frown deepened. “But something’s still up.”

“Lots of things are up. The leaves in the trees, for example.”

“Are you just going to lead me on all day?”

Amethyst’s smile showed her teeth. “Maybe.”

“Ugh, you’re impossible.” Blossomforth pouted. “I swear I only hang out with you because of all the free ice cream.”

“And because I helped shoo that pervy stallion away during our first yoga class together?”

A streak of red spread over Blossomforth’s muzzle. She harrumphed and went back to her treat.

Amethyst giggled and lathered a dollop of the melting dessert into her mouth. Why anypony bothered with anything besides rocky road baffled her. “Well,” she started in a sing-song voice. “It may have something to do with all the repairs to the bugbear attack being finished.”

“That’s one thing I’m glad I missed.” Blossomforth sighed and shook her head. “I visit my parents in Cloudsdale for a few days and some monster nopony’s ever heard of levels half the town. Again.”

“At least you didn’t miss much there!” Amethyst chirped. “It was no Ursa Minor or freaky thorn invasion from the Everfree. Princess Twilight and her friends took care of it in a jiffy. There wasn’t even much of a panic and nopony got hurt.” She paused mid-lick and tilted her head to the side. “Well, nopony except for Rainbow Dash.”

Both of Blossomforth’s eyebrows shot up behind her watermelon-coloured bangs at that. “Was it serious?”

“Nah, she just got bit. Or stung.” Amethyst shrugged. She was more than a little foggy on the details, but there were more important things going on at the time.

Images of flower arrangements, seating plans, veils, bridesmaids in pretty dresses, and a purple sea serpent in a bow tie flashed before her eyes. Her tail swished back and forth. “Either way, she complained about it until Applejack asked if she wanted her to kiss it better in front of half the town.”

“Oh dear.”

Amethyst giggled, her ears wiggling at the memory. “Rainbow was pretty quiet after that.”

“That sounds like her.” Blossomforth nodded, her brow creased. “But why would fixing stuff make you happy? Everything needs fixing or rebuilding around here every other week.”

“I didn’t say it was the bugbear attack that’s got me filled with sunshine and rainbows, just that it might have something to do with it.” Amethyst stuck her tongue out and nibbled on the corner of her cone. Delicious. “You can be so literal, Blossom.”

“Amethyst,” Blossomforth groaned. A white feather prodded Amethyst’s side, and she scrunched her muzzle up to stifle a laugh. Pegasus feathers were much too ticklish to be fair. “Quit teasing me. Out with it, already.”

“Oh, fine.” Swatting the wing away, Amethyst pouted. “Spoil sport. If you must know, it has more to do with Princess Twilight and her friends missing the ceremony because they were dealing with the bug bear. They made a big deal about apologizing for it at the reception, though.”

“Ceremony? Reception?” Blossomforth tilted her head to the side, the freckles on her face wrinkling with her brow. “What are you—oh!” Realization dawned in her eyes and she clapped a hoof over her gaping mouth. “Cranky and Matilda’s wedding! That was the same day as the bug bear attack? Did everything turn out okay?”

“Sure, sure.” Amethyst waved a hoof, dismissing her friend’s worries. “A few buildings were torn up, but it all worked out in the end. The Mayor gave the best speech. I think I even saw Princess Luna tearing up a little.”

“That’s a relief.” Easing back into the bench, Blossomforth smiled. Amethyst, meanwhile, struggled to keep her face blank. “I’m happy for them. They deserve each oth—wait.” Eyebrows tried to meet as the pegasus frowned. “You said Princess Twilight and her friends missed the ceremony?”

Now she was starting to catch on. “Yup,” Amethyst said, hiding her smile behind her ice cream.

“Including Pinkie Pie?”

“Especially Pinkie Pie. That bug bear didn’t know what hit him when she brought out her party cannon.”

“Pinkie Pie,” Blossomforth said slowly. “Who was supposed to be Matilda’s wedding planner?”

A fit of giggles bubbled up in Amethyst’s chest, but she soldiered on and fought them down. “The one and the same.”

“Then . . . who—”

“Me!” Amethyst burst out, unable to contain herself any longer. Suspending her cone in her magic, she hopped off of the bench and pranced around in a circle. Her voice rung with glee and she danced a little jig. “After the bug bear showed up, Matilda asked me to take over for Pinkie as her wedding planner! And I did!”

Blossomforth gasped, then jumped up and threw her forelegs around Amethyst’s neck. “Oh my gosh, Amy! That’s fantastic!” They hopped in place, laughing and cheering in time before a melted dollop of ice cream landed on the small of Amethyst’s back.

“Cold!” Amethyst shrieked. “Cold, cold, cold!”

“Sorry!”

Magic fizzled on Amethyst’s coat, cleaning the mess from her fur. “Don’t worry about it, Blossom,” she said, ignoring a tingling sensation rippling up and down her spine. The fur where the ice cream landed was matted down and, she suspected, sticky and sugary. A bath was in order. “We both got a little carried away there.”

Scuffing the ground, Blossomforth shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. “Yeah, well, for a good reason.” As they both climbed back on to the bench, Amethyst was regarded with warm eyes and a soft voice. “Taking over a whole wedding? That’s a pretty big deal. How did it turn out?”

Amethyst cocked a brow. “You doubt me?”

“No!” Blossomforth said quickly with an emphatic shake of her head. “You’re one of the most organized ponies I know! Anypony who can manage the Mayor’s work life is one of the best! It’s just that . . . well . . .” She bit her lip and her wings fidgeted. “Winter Wrap-Up.”

A ball of ice dropped into Amethyst’s stomach. Suddenly, she felt as if she didn’t need her ice cream to keep the heavy summer heat at bay. “Oh. I see what you mean,” she said, her ears wilting like Golden Harvest’s crops after two weeks with no rain.

“And Nightmare Night,” Blossomforth added. Her hoof brushed against Amethyst’s shoulder. “I don’t doubt you, Amy. I just worry. You know me.”

Yeah, she did. “Thanks.” Amethyst offered a half-smile. “Not that I’d blame you if you did. Those weren’t my greatest moments, huh?”

Sympathy welled up in Blossomforth’s eyes. “Maybe not, but judging from how you were prancing around town today I’d bet that Cranky and Matilda’s wedding turned out a bit better. Tell me all about it. I want to hear everything.”

The ice in her stomach melted some and Amethyst found herself fidgeting with her hooves. “There’s not too much to tell, really.” She sat on her restless hooves and lathered up a mouthful of her cone. “The bug bear showed up and started wrecking stuff. Princess Twilight and the others went to deal with it. Matilda needed somepony and grabbed me from the crowd.”

“I meant about the wedding, silly filly.” Blossomforth nudged her with her wing. “It’s been the talk of the town! Sassaflash and Merry May won’t stop going on about it.”

Amethyst’s ear flicked. “Really?”

“Mmhmm. At work it’s been ‘wedding this’ and ‘ceremony that.’ I just didn’t know it was the same day as the bug bear attack.”

“Really?” Amethyst asked again in a small voice. She stared off at the market, sorting through her memories of the wedding. “Well . . . I think it went okay.” Her brow creased as she recollected the details. A frown tugged on her lips. “The flowers weren’t ready for Matilda on time and the arrangements weren’t quite what she had in mind, though. And fitting a sea serpent into town hall? Ugh, forget it. He stuck his head in through a window and let a whole bunch of bugs in.”

Blossomforth giggled.

Amethyst shot her a look. Her frown deepened at the twinkling in her friend’s eyes and the impish grin on her face. “What?”

“Look at you, talking like an event organizer.”

Amethyst tilted her head to the side. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You should hear yourself! Everypony around town is talking about how great a wedding Cranky and Matilda had, and you’re the pony to thank for it! Yet here you are,” Blossomforth said, needling Amethyst’s side with a feather and drawing a choked laugh from her throat. “Hating every little detail that wasn’t perfect.”

If Amethyst had feathers, they would be somewhat ruffled. “So?”

“It shows you care.” Blossomforth’s smile was genuine. “It’s a good thing, trust me. I wish I could’ve been there to see you in your moment.”

“Oh, knock it off, Blossom,” Amethyst said, knocking the prodding wing away. There was little she could do about the giddy smile tugging at her lips or the warmth flowing from head to tail, though. “That was Cranky and Matilda’s moment.”

“Which you made possible.” With her ears wiggling, Blossomforth caught the ice cream dribbling down over the edge of her cone. “Stupid family with their stupid timing.”

“There will be other weddings.” Amethyst winked. “Guess I’ll just have to manage them all until you get to see one.”

Blossomforth grunted. “Like that’ll happen. You’d miss working for the Mayor too much. Besides, who’s going to get married anytime soon?”

Before Amethyst could respond, a pair of familiar voices carried over through the market, capturing their attention.

Raising an eyebrow, Amethyst twisted around, her gaze falling on the Sweet Apple Acres sales cart. Behind it, Applejack stood with her shoulders squared and her tail snapping from side to side. The fire burning in the farmer’s emerald green eyes shone across the market to their bench.

Applejack’s attention wasn’t on the pony across from her—Junebug, if Amethyst recalled—however, but instead on a spot just above the cart. There, a rainbow-maned pegasus with fur as blue as the sky perched on a tree branch. A cocky and challenging smirk danced over her lips as her wings furled and unfurled.

Junebug said something and stomped her hoof, but Applejack paid it no mind; her focus was trained solely on Rainbow Dash.

“You wanna run that by me again, sugarcube?” Applejack growled, her eyes narrowed to slits.

With a flap of her wings, Rainbow lifted off from her perch and alighted just out of hoof’s reach from Applejack. “What, you got apples in your ears?”

“Amy,” Blossomforth prodded, “what are we doing?”

“Hush!”

A beat passed, and she heard Blossomforth’s hoof meet her face. “You’re kidding.”

Applejack snorted. “Keep this up, and next time I won’t be so gentle when I knock your lazy rump out of my trees.”

“Please. You seeing my ‘lazy rump’ hanging out of one of your trees is the best part of your day and you know it.” Rainbow winked and swished her tail from side to side. “Bet you secretly want to inspect it like one of your apples, too. Ask nicely, and I might just let you.”

Applejack sputtered and Amethyst giggled. She could feel Blossomforth’s eyes on her, but she chose to ignore her for at least a few seconds more.

“Anyways,” Rainbow continued, her chest puffed up from Applejack’s red-faced display, “I said that I could totally rock that whole ponytail thing you got going way better than you ever could.”

“Now if that ain’t the most hooves-down ridiculous and foalish thing that’s ever come out of your mouth. And that’s sayin’ something.” Applejack shook her head and pulled her hat down over her eyes. “Don’t you have some clouds to push around or something? Unless you’re plannin’ on buying something, clear out so I can get back to these good folk here who aren’t here just to annoy me.”

“Pshaw,” Rainbow scoffed, waving a hoof at Junebug. “They don’t mind.”

Junebug’s glare could curdle milk.

“And don’t tell me you’re chickening out.” Nimble as ever, Rainbow jumped to land on the edge of the apple cart. “I’ll bet you five bits that I pull it off better than you could in your wildest dreams. Hay, I’d bet ten that I’d give you something new to dream about.”

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.” Applejack lifted the brim of her hat and stepped to the side of her cart. “Sorry for keeping you waitin’, Junebug. Now, that was five red delicious and four—”

Applejack was cut off by the flapping of wings and a streak of blue that staggered her. She yelped as her mane fell over her face and around her shoulders in a curtain of gold. It reminded Amethyst of a field of wheat ready for harvest as it caught the light of the afternoon sun quite fetchingly.

A second later Rainbow Dash landed back on her tree branch, Applejack’s hair bands and stetson in hoof. With a foxlike grin, she flipped the hat on and started fiddling with her mane.

“Oooooh,” Amethyst cooed.

Blossomforth groaned behind her. “Do you think they’re finally going to stop beating around the bush?”

Amethyst turned her head with a bright smile. “Let’s find out! Maybe it won’t be so long before that next wedding after all.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack growled, pushing her mane out of her face. The look on her face could cow a manticore, but Rainbow appeared unphased. “What in tarnation do you think you’re doin’?!”

“Letting the ponies decide!” Rainbow crowed as she fixed Applejack’s hair bands in her mane. Flashing her wings, she flipped her mane, letting it fall over her left shoulder in a ponytail. Her smile was dazzling and both Amethyst and Blossomforth giggled as Applejack gaped.

“Wh-why you low down, no good, thorn-in-my-side, troublemaking pegasus! Give me my hat back or so help me I’ll tie you up to one of my trees and leave you for the crows!”

“That a threat or a promise?” Rainbow waggled her eyebrows, then addressed the small crowd of onlookers. “Well, ponies? Me, or Applejack?”
Amethyst blinked and watched the gaggle of ponies. There were mutterings and noncommittal sounds of agreement from the crowd. One of the stallions in the crowd shrugged. Junebug, for her part, turned and stomped off with her nose raised.

“Eh, what do you know?” Leaping off of her branch, Rainbow lazily circled around Applejack, who stood her ground even as a multi-hued tail flicked her across the snout. “Gotta say, though, you look good with your mane down, AJ. You should wear it like that more often.”

“Um, Amy?”

“Not now, Blossom,” Amethyst said, waving her friend off. She leaned forward, almost hanging by the edge of her seat.

“But Amy—”

“Just hang on a second!”

The fire in Applejack’s eyes grew and the tension in the air was palpable, even from where Amethyst and Blossomforth sat. One more little nudge would push things over the edge. Rainbow flipped around, landed, and whispered something in Applejack’s ear.

“You’re about to lose your ice cream.”

Amethyst blinked and glanced to her left, where what was left of her scoop was about to melt right off of the cone. “Oh, shoot!”

There was a yelp, a grunt, and the sound of two ponies hitting the ground. Having righted her cone, Amethyst saw that in the seconds she looked away, Applejack had tackled Rainbow to the ground. Rainbow’s cackles and Applejack’s unintelligible shouting filled the market as they rolled around in the grass, wrestling for the hat.

“Blossom,” Amethyst whined. “You made me miss it!”

Blossomforth rolled her eyes and went back to her mint chocolate chip. “Don’t give me that. They’ll be back at it again soon enough.”

Pouting, Amethyst licked up a dollop of her ice cream. It was starting to taste thin and watery. She hummed as she watched blurs of blue and orange tumble over each other. “You think those two will ever actually ask each other out?”

“Who knows,” Blossomforth said between mouthfuls. “Celestia knows they’ve got it bad for each other. I don’t think there’s anyone in Ponyville that doesn’t know how crazy they are about each other.”

Even Blossomforth, Amethyst thought to herself. Romance and anything love-adjacent was far outside the weather pony’s field of expertise.

“Did you see how Rainbow Dash was flashing her wings?”

Amethyst gave a thoughtful slurp of her liquidating sugary treat and shook her head.

“I guess it’s more of a pegasus thing.” Blossomforth shrugged. “If you had wings you might get it, but she might as well have written in big, cloud letters ‘I like you, please date me’ overhead.”

“Wow, really? That bad?”

Blossomforth nodded. “That bad.”

And that was saying something. Amethyst frowned.

“It’s really weird, too. I always pegged Rainbow Dash as the type to march up to somepony and do away with all this dumb beating around the bush stuff. Applejack, too, but I haven’t been in Ponyville really all that long, so I could be wrong.”

Amethyst crunched into the edge of her cone. She chewed slowly, running her tongue over the roof of her mouth.

“Sassaflash says that what they need is a good push, whatever that means. I always thought they’d work it out themselves, but at the rate they’re going that could be years from now.” Blossomforth sniggered through her nose. “I guess they’re both too stubborn?”

Amethyst stared at what was left of her cone. The remaining ice cream was starting to dribble down the length of the cone and drip to the cobblestone street. “A good push, huh?”

“Yeah, something about somepony pushing one into confessing how they feel. That, or, um . . .” Blossomforth coughed, and Amethyst didn’t need to ask to guess what Sassaflash suggested two ponies obviously in love do with each other. “A-anyways, I try not to pay attention to that kind of locker room gossip, but between Merry May and Sassaflash it’s been impossible.”

Feeling herself nod, Amethyst said, “Somepony should do something.”

“That’s what they said.”

“Maybe they’re right.” Her eyes scanned the marketplace, absorbing nothing as the gears in her head started to churn. A coil of apprehension wrapped around her chest, making her shoulders tense and her breathing quicken.

She also felt Blossomforth’s eyes on her. “What?”

Not too far away, Applejack let out a triumphant yeehaw. Amethyst glanced her way and saw her straddling Rainbow Dash’s stomach. With her hat gripped between her teeth, she held the Wonderbolt-to-be pinned against the ground. For her part, Rainbow didn’t seem to really mind all that much.

“Amethyst,” Blossomforth said, her voice wary. “I don’t know if I like that look in your eye.”

The coil tightened a little around Amethyst’s chest before she pushed that feeling away, leaving room for a rush of excited determination to fill its place. Already, her mind started to plot out the next step and the four after that. She turned to her friend, and judging from the wide-eyed look on her face, her smile may have been more than a little manic. “They’re right, Blossom.”

“They are?” Blossomforth more squeaked than said.

“Oh, yes. Somepony should definitely do something about those two.” Amethyst leapt from the bench, tossing the last few bites of her cone into the trash. “And, luckily for them, these two ponies are going to do just that.”

“Just what?”

Amethyst turned back in time to watch Applejack let Rainbow Dash up and for Rainbow Dash to fly off, but not before flicking the farmer’s flank with her wing, painting a red streak over her face in the process.

“A push,” Amethyst said. “A quick, little push. Then you’ll get your next wedding in no time.”

Blossomforth sighed a tired sigh. “Can I at least finish my ice cream first?”

Amethyst glowered over the top of her menu at the empty table next to hers. The clinking of cutlery on plates, the chatter of ponies, and a string band filled the dining room. It was a busy night and the Silver Saddle was packed. Ponies had to make their reservations weeks in advance to get a table at the fanciest restaurant in Ponyville and it showed. There wasn’t a table without customers seated in the whole establishment.

Except for the one next to hers and Blossomforth’s.

Little white ‘reserved’ signs stood on each plate. The candles were already lit, and the first dribbles of melted wax collected in the candle holders.

They were late.

Chewing her lip, Amethyst made a whining noise in the back of her throat. The seconds ticked by, and still no Rainbow Dash or Applejack waltzed through the door.

They should have arrived what felt like ages ago, confused and mystified to find a table waiting for them. Then, their bewilderment would grow as they found that they were seated together with their meals already paid for.

A delicious meal, a bottle of their very best red wine, and a carefully orchestrated romantic atmosphere later they would be walking out, tail-in-tail, into a cloudless night and treated to one of Princess Luna’s spectacular meteor showers. If that wasn’t the perfect first date, then Amethyst didn’t know what was.

The only problem was that neither of them had arrived yet. By her clock, they were over twenty minutes late, and the staff was starting to notice. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that they would be there when she opened them.

Amethyst opened her eyes.

An empty table was set up beside her, ready for a romantic dinner.

Amethyst’s ears slicked back against her mane. The longer she stared, the more she felt her insides squirm as a dozen questions fired off in her head. Where were they? Did something happen? Did she get the time and date wrong? What if they don’t really love each other?

“Madame?”

“Gah!” Amethyst jumped, jerked back to reality. Her flailing hoof knocked her glass of water clean off the table. “Sorry—oh.” The apology tumbled off of her lips as the glass hovered in front of her, caught in the waiter’s silver magic.

“Quite alright, Miss Star,” the unicorn said. His black mane was slicked back over his dull, grey coat. With his perfectly tailored uniform and eyes as silver as his magic, some ponies might call him tall, dark, and handsome. To Amethyst, his unyielding posture, cultured accent, and stiff stride reminded her of something more mechanical. His nametag read ‘Timely Service.’

“Oh, um, thanks,” Amethyst said as he replaced the glass on the table and topped it up from a pitcher held aloft on a tray in his magic in one smooth motion. “I guess I zoned out a little.”

“No harm done,” Timely Service said in a perfectly polite voice, though his mouth twitched in what might have been a frown when he glanced to the empty table. “As I was asking your friend, are you ready to order?”

“Ordering, right. Um.” Amethyst stared blankly at the menu. “I’ll just have what Blossom’s having.”

Timely Service arched a brow but bowed his head and backed away. “Very good, your food will be ready shortly.”

As soon as he left, Amethyst’s eyes returned to where two ponies should be sitting only a few feet from where she sat. As the seconds dragged on, the more she felt as if something were coiling tight around her chest.

Empty.

Her tail flicked and she couldn’t help but fidget in her seat. With her lip between her teeth, she gradually became aware of her heart pattering away and a droplet of sweat ran down the small of her back. When did it get so warm in here?

Blossomforth cleared her throat. “Amethyst,” she said, her voice even. “What are we doing here?”

“Enjoying a delicious dinner.” Amethyst unfolded her napkin and loosely tied it around her neck. It was fine. Everything was going to be fine. “Which reminds me, what are we having?”

“Roasted eggplant and zucchini.”

Amethyst blanched. “Okay, well one of us will be enjoying dinner. The other one will be sensible and hate it.”

A nonplussed look hovered over Blossomforth’s face. “You know that isn’t what I meant. What are we doing back here? We just ate here yesterday!”

“Yeah,” Amethyst said slowly, tilting her head to the side. “And?”

Blossomforth stared at her.

Amethyst tilted her head to the other side. “Didn’t I tell you?”

The look on Blossomforth’s face was answer enough.

“Huh. Whoops.” Amethyst scratched her shoulder, eyes flicking to the door as it swung open. A tan stallion with a dark, grey mane and bags of money adorning his flanks accompanied by a pink mare who looked like she had something foul stuck up her nose walked in. Amethyst’s heart dropped a rung or two.

“Well?”

Amethyst blinked and shook her head. “Yesterday was a trial run.”

It was Blossomforth’s turn to cock her head. “Trial run?”

“Yeah. All signs from my research suggested that this was the best place to go for a new couple’s first date. The numbers show a guaranteed second date and maybe a goodnight smooch if it goes really well.” Amethyst shrugged. “The place checked out yesterday, so I went ahead and made reservations for Rainbow Dash and Applejack and another reservation for us.”

Blossomforth nodded with her brow furrowed. “I’m just double checking, but this isn’t some elaborate set up for some kind of romantic confession from you, is it?”

Amethyst choked and nearly spat out her mouthful of water.

“Because as much as I like spending time with you,” Blossomforth continued as Amethyst gasped for air, “I think we’re only really going to be friends.” She blinked, and her frown deepened for a second. “Wait, did that make yesterday a bad date? There was definitely no smooching.”

“No! No! Research!” Amethyst gasped, coughing into her hoof. Her flailing limbs caught the attention of the other customers, and she found herself wishing she knew how to teleport.

Blossomforth cocked a brow. If she was aware of the stares they were getting, she didn’t show it. “Research?”

“Yes!” Amethyst blurted, mortified. Feeling a dozen eyes on her back, she shrank down and cleared her throat. “Yes,” she repeated in a quieter tone once she regained her composure. “I needed to make sure this would be the best place for Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Do you honestly think I’m going to set two ponies up without making sure that it was going to be the best date ever?”

A bundle of file folders levitated out of her saddlebags and floated over to Blossomforth, who curled a wing around them and began flipping through file after file. “The Silver Saddle, Sugarcube Corner, Haut-Savoir . . . wow. This looks like every restaurant in Ponyville. You even have a file for Haymaker’s in here.”

“How else would I know which one would make for the ideal first date?” Amethyst rolled her eyes, settling back into her seat, and caught another glimpse of the two ponies who walked into the restaurant.

Now she recognized them as Filthy and Spoiled Rich, two of the wealthiest and most influential ponies in town. From the look of things, they had gotten into a rather heated discussion with the maitre d’. Filthy pointed a hoof in Amethyst’s direction at the empty, reserved table and the maitre d’ shook his head. Amethyst didn’t need to hear the conversation to know what they were talking about.

Filthy huffed and he and his wife stormed off to wait for an opening, their noses held high and faces pulled back into looks of disdain. The maitre d’ looked over his shoulder at Amethyst, and she felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. Amethyst hid her squeak by taking a sip from her water, also working to wetten her suddenly dry mouth.

Clearing her throat again, she returned her attention to Blossomforth. “A-anyways, I dug through some newspaper archives for reviews and whipped up a couple general opinion polls. I’ve tried most of the candidates out before, but I’ve never been here until yesterday.”

“Archives? Polls?” Blossomforth eyed the stack of folders. “Amy, it’s been three days since you got this crazy idea stuck in your head.”

Amethyst shrugged. “The Mayor hasn’t given me a lot of work to do, so I’ve had time to kill.”

Blossomforth stared for another second before she broke out in a fit of giggles. “Only you, Amethyst Star.”

Amethyst pouted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Blossomforth said, poorly hiding her giggles behind a hoof. When they subsided, she pushed the folders across the table. “So, how did you manage to get two reservations tonight on such short notice?”

“I know the chef, and she owes me a favour or three.” Amethyst winked, stuffing the folders back into her bags. “This place had a little trouble when Jullienne first opened up shop. Some problems with managing finances and securing the land lease. I had some time on my hooves then, too, and she showed up at town hall in tears.”

“Aww. That was sweet of you!” Blossomforth beamed, and Amethyst felt her lips tug up in a smile. The smile didn’t last long, though, when she caught a glimpse of the empty table across from them. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” the weather pony said, as if reading her thoughts.

“Yeah,” Amethyst said more to herself than to Blossomforth. “Rainbow Dash probably has some extra cloud clearance to do with the meteor shower, and you know how Applejack can get with her chores.”

Blossomforth offered an encouraging smile. It did little to settle Amethyst’s nerves. “I know you, Amy,” she said, ducking her head so that blue eyes met purple. “Celestia knows why this is so important to you, but I have a feeling it’ll work out. But I swear I’ve never seen you so nervous before.”

Amethyst nodded, looking absently out the window. The sun had set, and the blues of the sky had shifted from vanishing oranges to the darker colours of dusk. By her calculations, Rainbow and Applejack were about a half-hour late. Her tail flicked behind her. “I just want this to be perfect,” she mumbled.

“Your meals, mademoiselles,” Timely Service said, appearing at the table with two plates held in his magic. He set the plates down and bowed his head. “Enjoy.”

The smell of roasted and seasoned vegetables rose to Amethyst’s nostrils. On most days, the smell would be enough to make her mouth water and her stomach growl with hunger. Tonight, though, it made her stomach constrict upon itself as a wave of nausea rolled over her.

“Are you okay?” Blossomforth asked, drawing her out of her head and back to the restaurant. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”

Amethyst shook her head and exhaled through her nose. “Fine, I’m fine,” she said, her voice not convincing enough to wipe the look of concern off of Blossomforth’s face. Doing her best to steel her jangling nerves, she took a bite of her eggplant. It tasted rubbery in her mouth.

Blossomforth raised an eyebrow. It was unfair how much she could say without actually talking.

“I’m just a little nervous, like you said.” Amethyst relented with a grimace. She stuffed her mouth with more eggplant and zucchini, buying a few seconds to collect herself. “I’ll be fine when they get here.”

Blossomforth frowned, but didn’t push the issue.

“It’ll be fine,” Amethyst said, once again more to herself than to Blossomforth.

And again, it did little to ease her mind.

The minutes ticked by.

The minutes turned to an hour, and then that hour turned to two. Outside, dusk had long since passed. Pale moonlight blanketed the streets of Ponyville as stars twinkled overhead. Ponies in the restaurant had come and gone. Even Filthy and Spoiled Rich had gotten a table, eaten, paid, and left.

But still the reserved table was pony-less. The candles burned low, but the plates and folded napkins remained untouched, pristine.

“Maybe they’re just really, really late?” Blossomforth suggested, fidgeting with the edge of the tablecloth. They finished their dinner about an hour ago and took their time deciding and eating a dessert. Not that Amethyst had the appetite for it, but it was either that or be asked to leave. Favours with the chef can only go so far.

“No.” Amethyst swallowed, her mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. “They’re not coming.” The bottom fell out of her stomach as she said those words and she deflated.

“They could have gotten caught up in something. Maybe there was another friendship problem they needed to deal with, or some monster strolled into town again? What if they were called away by that weird map-thing in Princess Twilight’s castle?”

The clock tower rang in the distance of Ponyville square. Ten chimes, then it fell silent. The restaurant would be closing soon.

Amethyst shook her head. Her horn glowed as she pulled out enough bits to cover their food and a healthy tip. Standing up, she slipped her saddlebags around her barrel. “Let’s go, Blossom, before they kick us out.”

Her hooves carried her to the door, joined by Blossomforth’s a couple seconds later. She nodded absentmindedly to the maitre d’ as they left, heard the pegasus mutter a thank you, and stepped out into the cool evening. With her head hung, she let her thoughts wander back over everything leading up to tonight. She had made sure every detail was perfectly arranged. From the restaurant to the timing to hoof-written letters, she had agonized over everything. The files weighing down her bags were testament to that.

So, as she reconstructed the last three days, one question nagged at her thoughts: where had she gone wrong? The question made her tail wrap around her hind legs as her hooves carried her through town.

As they walked, Amethyst saw her friend’s wings twitching in the corner of her eye. Anxious, unsure, worried twitching.

“Amy,” Blossomforth said after they slowed to a stop by the darkened windows of Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t that long a walk from The Silver Saddle to Amethyst’s house, but a gurgling in her stomach threatened a return of her fried eggplant. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to throw up.”

“Bad eggplant.”

A white hoof gently prodded her shoulder. “You think all eggplants are bad. Come on, what’s really eating at you? Is it that they didn’t come? There will be other dates, Amy.”

“But they should have. I had it all planned out. They should be sitting here right here where we are right now, about to see what we’re about to see.”

“And what’s that supposed to—” Blossomforth gasped and fell silent.

Raising her eyes skyward, Amethyst saw a white flash streak across the night sky. Then another, and another. Soon enough, the sky was filled with colour as shooting stars shot across in every which way. Princess of the night indeed, and right on schedule. Amethyst snorted and dropped her gaze.

“Oh, wow . . .” Blossomforth mumbled. “Amy, the sky.”

“Yeah. I know,” Amethyst groused, picking up a pebble with her magic and tossing it down the empty street. No streaks of rainbow or orange came running towards them, frantically late for a date, and no sky blue wings wrapped around strong shoulders, pulling two bodies close together under the night sky.

The pebble clacking down the cobblestone street broke Blossomforth out of her state of transfixion. “Huh?” She looked at Amethyst. “You know?”

“Yup. All part of the plan.” Unfastening the clasp to her saddlebags, Amethyst pulled out a folded piece of paper and offered it to Blossomforth.

Blossomforth squinted in the dark, then her eyes widened.

“Being the Mayor’s assistant comes with a few perks, like knowing when the next big meteor shower is going to be. Apparently Princess Luna likes to surprise ponies every now and then.” She ran a hoof over her collection of folders, over three days’ worth of work. She sighed. “The perfect end to a perfect night.”

“Yeah . . . Oh, Amethyst.”

Amethyst’s knotted up insides twisted. “It’s like Winter Wrap-Up all over again.”

A moment of silence passed, punctuated by streaks of light from overhead. “Is that what this is all about?”

Amethyst sniffed as a familiar sting of disappointment made her shoulders stiffen.

“It is, isn’t it?” Blossomforth pressed a little more loudly. “Amethyst, you can’t blame yourself for all of that. Ponies make mistakes.”

“And I keep on making them, over and over and over again.” Amethyst dug her hoof into a patch of dirt, giving herself something to do. “Every time I try and do something new or different, it blows up in my face.”

“That isn’t true.” Amethyst could hear the frown in Blossomforth’s words. They were heavy and resolute.

Amethyst fixed Blossomforth with a flat stare and uttered two words. “Nightmare Night.”

Blossomforth grimaced. “Nopony blamed you for what happened with that cauldron, Amethyst. It was an honest mistake. Besides, nopony should have let them set up that pumpkin catapult so close anyways.”

“Who do you think let them?” Amethyst’s ears folded back. “And Winter Wrap-Up was even worse. Everything I touch turns bad.”

“Except for Cranky and Matilda’s wedding.”

“Except for that, yeah.” Amethyst nodded. “I thought I broke this curse or whatever it is, but I think now it was just a fluke. This,” she said, waving at everything and nothing, “is more the norm.”

Blossomforth huffed and Amethyst yelped when she found herself pulled to her hooves and steered in the direction of her house.
“B-Blossom!” Amethyst squeaked as she was gently but firmly guided down the street. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you home,” Blossomforth said, her eyes bright and piercing in the night. “And not letting you think about yourself like that. This was one date, Amy. What you need right now is sleep.”

“And then?” Amethyst asked, working her legs to keep up with Blossomforth’s sudden purposeful stride.

Blossomforth turned those burning blue eyes on her. “Then you get up and try again.” A small, sad smile softened her features. “I’m worried about you, Amy. I’ve never seen you like this.” They came to another stop as they reached Amethyst’s front door. “Did you want me to stay over?”

“No, that’s okay, I’m just—I think I need to be alone right now.”

Blossomforth frowned, but stepped out of the way of the door. Her eyes never left Amethyst as she unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Amethyst said, forcing a smile. Judging from the look on Blossomforth’s face, it must not have quite reached her eyes. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I need some sleep and things might look better in the morning.”

“Okay . . .” Blossomforth said, though she didn’t sound pleased about it. She pulled Amethyst in for a quick hug before flapping into the air. “I’ll be by tomorrow morning to check on you before work, though. Did you want me to bring anything? Maybe one of those breakfast bagels you like so much?”

“No, that’s okay. Good night, Blossom,” Amethyst said. The door clicked shut just after Blossomforth wished her a good night in return. Several minutes passed before she dragged herself upstairs to her bedroom and crawled under the covers. Through her window, she saw that the meteor shower was just beginning to peter out.

Then, all was dark as the sky stilled. As memories of Winter Wrap-Ups, Nightmare Nights, and failed setups bubbled, she wished her mind would do as much.

2. A Teatime Chat

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“And that’s everything?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked, skimming over the forms held aloft in her magic.

Amethyst nodded, offering her a quill. “Yup. Just sign and initial where indicated and note the amount you’ll be donating, Princess Twilight,” she said, sitting behind her desk with a practiced, polite smile on her face. Around Twilight Sparkle, though, there always seemed to be little practice about it. Smiling came naturally around her, at least for this unicorn.

One didn’t get to be the Princess of Friendship without being friendly, she supposed.

“Please, just Twilight.” Twilight smiled over the forms, her purple eyes sparkling, true to her name. “You’ve known me for how long, Amethyst? Besides, everypony knows I don’t care for the formalities.”

“To be honest, I don’t really know you that well, but okay. Twilight it is. I think it’s really amazing that you’re donating so much to the town, by the way.”

“It’s not like I need it, and Ponyville’s my home.” She raised her twinkling eyes to Amethyst. “After everything this town has done for me, it’s the least I can do.” A small frown displaced her smile. “And really? I guess we are kind of strangers, by and large.” Her brow furrowed as she flipped through and signed the paperwork. As she floated them back, she said, “Well, we’ll just have to change that, won’t we? We have so much to catch up on since magic kindergarten.”

Both of Amethyst’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You remember me from back then?”

“Of course I do!” Twilight grimaced and her wings twitched at her sides. Having spent as much time around Blossomforth as she did, Amethyst recognized the nervous gesture for what it was. “I know I wasn’t the most . . . attentive filly, but I’ve recently taken a trip down memory lane and reconnected with my old friends.”

Friends? Amethyst thought back. A cream coloured unicorn with a mane of reds and purples and a pair of black-rimmed glasses came to mind. Her name was on the tip of her tongue. Moon something. Moon Prancer?

“It’s been really nice to see them again and see what kind of ponies they’ve become,” Twilight continued, her smile back on her face. Seeing it made Amethyst want to smile back. “Would you believe I had no idea Lyra lived in Ponyville until after Minuette told me? That was a fun dinner, let me tell you.”

Amethyst snickered. “I bet. Did you meet Bon Bon? Those two are connected at the hip, I swear. According to Minuette, they schedule their dentist appointments together.”

“They’re relentless.” Twilight groaned, but her smile still shone. “Anyways, I should let you get back to work,” she said, waving to the stack of files loitering in Amethyst’s inbox. “I would like to catch up sometime, though. It feels like I barely know you even though I’ve known you for most of my life. How does dinner tonight sound?”

“Dinner?” Amethyst blinked, stunned. “Tonight?”

“Sure, why not?” Twilight chirped. “We could go to Haut-Savoir, if you like Prench. Their beignets are to die for, or so Rarity tells me.”

“Uh . . .” Amethyst started, mentally going through her calendar. Realizing her mouth was hanging open, she shook her head and cleared her throat. “Yeah, okay. I don’t have any plans then, and Prench is good. Haut-Savoir is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Ponyville. Or, um, that’s what ponies tell me.” She coughed, lighting her horn to push her saddlebags under her desk.

Twilight’s smile seemed to brighten the whole room. “Great! I’ll see you then.” She turned and trotted out of town hall, her tail swishing happily behind her.

As the door swung closed, Amethyst slumped forward, her head hitting the hardwood of her desk with a thud. Dinner with a princess was certainly one way to start off the day. Her hoof brushed the saddlebags now hidden underneath her desk and she felt her throat tighten. Detailed files on all of the eating establishments in Ponyville still stuffed the bags, each of them reminders of last night and each tugged on her heartstrings.

Haut-Savoir.

With its comforting, familial atmosphere, it was the second choice for Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s failed date. Their beignets would have appealed to both of their sweet tooths and an image of them sharing the last one came to mind. Not that it would have mattered. Neither of them would have showed up to enjoy them.

Amethyst shook herself before a disappointingly familiar weight could settle on her shoulders. “Work,” she said to herself. “Work, work, work.”

That was something she could always count on. While she may have failed at Winter Wrap-Ups, she could always pencil somepony in for a half-hour meeting with the Mayor or file Form 4-B away for approval. The excited energy that surged through her after Cranky and Matilda’s wedding had sputtered out, and Amethyst trained her focus to replace it with the familiar comfort of routine.

Organizing and attention to detail were both part of her special talent—what made Amethyst special and unique. And she was good at it. One of the best, even, as long as it didn’t involve leaving her desk.

At her desk, the town wasn't counting on her to bring spring to Ponyville by reading through and highlighting Mayor Mare’s many meeting agendas. There was no crippling pressure or sickening disappointment when it came to arranging schedules and itineraries.

Here it was safe, and here Amethyst would stay.

As she reached for the first file of what promised to be a busy morning, the door opened to a flurry of white feathers streaked with green and red. “There you are!” the feathers’ owner said, her voice shrill. “I’ve been looking for you all morning!”

The slipstream created by Blossomforth’s entrance scattered files and their contents across the room. Amethyst watched sheets of paper drift and settle on her desk, on the filing cabinets, on the office plants, and on the floor, her expression flat as her busy morning turned into a busy day.

Red filled Blossomforth’s cheeks. “Um,” she squeaked, folding her wings and rubbing one foreleg with the other. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat, but her voice stayed quiet and small. “I’m still mad at you, but sorry.”

“It’s fine, Blossom,” Amethyst said through a sigh. She made a mental note to find some painkillers for the headache she was sure to develop. Folders and homeless sheets of paper collected in the pink aura of her magic. As she piled them up on her desk, she asked, “Why are you mad at me?”

“For worrying me!” Blossomforth huffed, seeming to have found her ire once more. A slightly crumpled form was pushed out of the way as a white and delicate hoof prodded Amethyst in the chest. “What part of ‘I’ll check up on you in the morning’ didn’t you understand?”

“Oh.” Amethyst winced, shrinking under her friend’s glare. Blossomforth did say something about that last night, didn’t she? “Sorry, Blossom. I, um, forgot.”

Blossomforth snorted and crossed her forelegs. “No kidding. I tried getting you to open the door for ten minutes before I snuck in through your window! Imagine my surprise when I found nopony home. I flew all around Ponyville looking for you! I was really starting to get scared that something happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Amethyst said, ducking her head. Angry and Blossomforth usually went together about as well as oil and water. Not once since they had met had she raised her voice to her or anypony else. Not until now, that was. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I honestly forgot.”

A tense few seconds slipped by. With her ears pinned back, Amethyst felt very small under Blossomforth’s blazing blue eyes.

Finally, Blossomforth relented with a sigh. Her puffed up chest deflated with her anger and she sat on her haunches. “It’s okay, Amy. I’m just . . . concerned. You were really off last night. I’ve never seen you like that. So . . . defeated.”

Amethyst’s eyes dropped to her desk as her stomach churned. Skipping breakfast may not have been such a bad idea. “Yeah,” she said, her tongue feeling heavy and awkward. “I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to get out of my head. Sitting around home, thinking, going over everything that happened and how I messed up—”

“You didn’t mess up, Amy,” Blossomforth said, emphasizing her words with a snap of her tail. “Applejack and Rainbow didn’t show up. That’s not on you.”

Ah, that’s right, Amethyst thought. “Right. Of course,” she mumbled. Taking a breath, she pushed forward. “A-anyways, sitting at home wasn’t helping. I needed to go somewhere I knew I could do things right. So, here I am. Ta-da.” She spread her hooves wide around her, leading Blossomforth’s eyes around the sparsely decorated office. The potted plants by the window provided colour to the otherwise brown space.

Blossomforth nodded slowly, a frown creasing her lips. “But are you okay?”

“Me?” Amethyst scoffed, giving what she knew was a brittle smile. It was so much easier to lie to a princess than it was to a friend. “I’ll be fine, Blossom. Give me a couple days, and I’ll be right as rain.”

Judging from the frown on her friend’s face, her reassurances were about as convincing as she suspected.

“Blossom, listen . . . Honestly? I’m not fine.” Amethyst exhaled. Her shoulders sagged as she slumped on to her desk. “I thought maybe I broke whatever curse was on me after the wedding, and I was so desperate to prove that to myself that I wasted both of our time on some dumb matchmaking charade.”

“Amy . . .”

“I need to move on, right? Get back to what I’m good at.” Amethyst sucked in a breath through her teeth. The monotonous pile of paperwork to review, reorder, and file away stood resolute. “Actually, while you’re here, could you do me a favour?”

Concern shone in Blossomforth’s eyes, but she nodded. “Anything.”

Amethyst’s saddlebags hovered out from beneath her desk, encircled in the pink of her magic. She dropped the bags at Blossomforth’s hooves. The mare in question nosed open one of the flaps and gasped. She pulled out a blue file with a large ‘3’ written on the front. Sugarcube Corner’s file.

“Amethyst,” Blossomforth said, her tone carefully neutral. “What are these?”

“The same files I showed you last night on all of the restaurants in Ponyville,” Amethyst explained. Sugarcube Corner would have made for a fine first date, now that she thought about it. It was friendly and familiar to most ponies in town, especially to Rainbow and Applejack. Their desserts were the best in town, and their milkshakes were nothing short of legendary. However, it bordered on being too much of a ‘friend place’ for what Amethyst had had in mind. Had being the operative word.

Blossomforth slid the file back in the saddlebag with a frown. “What did you want me to do with them?”

Was The Silver Saddle even the best choice? Maybe something more familiar like Sugarcube Corner should have been the way to go. Squeezing her eyes shut, Amethyst dragged herself back to the present. There was no point in dwelling on the past. “Could you get rid of them for me, please?”

Blossomforth blinked, looking from her to the saddlebags. “What? Why?”

Amethyst shifted her weight and sucked in her lips. “I don’t need them anymore. The date failed, didn’t it? Don’t need those files cluttering up my house.” She forced a chuckle and scratched the back of her head. “I have little enough space as it is.”

“Just like that?” Shaking her head, Blossomforth pushed the saddlebags back towards her. “Amy, you can’t give up like this. We don’t even know why they didn’t show up! Anything could have happened.”

Amethyst flinched and ducked her head, her ears pressed flat against her scalp. Tell her. “Um,” she said, mouth opening and closing as she fought for the words to come out. “That . . . may not be true.”

Something between curiosity and worry crossed over Blossomforth’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Check the other side,” Amethyst mumbled. “Tucked away in the front pouch.”

Blossomforth raised an eyebrow but did as instructed. A cold feeling balled up in the pit of Amethyst’s stomach as she pulled out two envelopes from the saddlebags—one addressed to Rainbow Dash and the other to Applejack. She looked away as Rainbow’s was carefully opened.

“These are in your horn-writing,” Blossomforth said, bafflement colouring her words. Paper rustled as she opened the second letter. “Amethyst, what are these? Invitations?”

Chewing her lip, Amethyst nodded, studying the grains of wood in the floorboards as she did so. “For the dinner last night.”

“The ones that Rainbow and Applejack were supposed to get? Why do you have them?”

“That’s the problem.” Amethyst rubbed her foreleg and exhaled. “I’m not supposed to have them. They were supposed to be delivered two days ago.” The words came tumbling past her lips and her tail curled around her flanks. “That’s why they didn’t come—they didn’t know they were supposed to! I forgot the most important part of the plan! I went by the post office and everything, but I still forgot when Muffins asked for help with a package from Saddle Arabia!” She threw her forelegs and face to her desk and groaned. It came out more like a whine or a whimper. “I messed up so badly, Blossom.”

A hoof fell on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. She lifted her head enough to meet Blossomforth’s eyes. “Ponies make mistakes, Amy. If this is the only thing that went wrong, then there’s no way you can miss next time.”

Amethyst blinked and looked at her friend as if wings sprouted out of her head. “There isn’t going to be a next time.”

Blossomforth blinked and looked at her much the same way. “What do you mean?”

“Just . . . that, I guess. I’m done, Blossom. I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong and got smacked for it.”

“Yes, but—” A scowl pulled at Blossomforth’s face as she looked from the letters in her hooves to Amethyst. “—you’re giving up? After all the work you put into this, you’re going to, what, move on? Pretend it didn’t happen?”

Amethyst twiddled her hooves. “Preferably? You said it, Blossom, it was a dumb idea in the first place.”

“I never said that!”

“Well you all but did, then! From the park to the restaurant, you were looking at me like I was crazy!” Rubbing her head between her hooves, Amethyst fought to put a lid on a bubbling pot of emotions. Disappointment, sour tasting in the back of her throat, welled up as the feeling of failure creeped up her spine and gnawed at her thoughts. “And maybe I was. Can’t we just forget this ever happened?”

“But why? Amy, I don’t understand.” Blossomforth’s eyes searched her, filled with the worry that only a best friend could have. “What happened to you? Where’s the Amethyst who dragged me halfway across town from work to dinner?” She pressed closer, leaning over the desk to fill Amethyst’s vision. “What about Rainbow and Applejack?”

“They’ll have to figure something out themselves,” Amethyst said, breaking away and scooching back. “And . . . I don’t know what else to say, Blossom. That Amethyst woke up and saw what she was doing last night. She’s ready to get back to reality now where she sits behind her desk and does the Mayor’s paperwork and balances her schedule. Please?”

“But, Amy—”

“Please, Blossom, just let me let it go.” She heard the desperation in her own voice and sniffed. “I can’t. First, Winter Wrap-Up, then Nightmare Night, then the next Winter Wrap-Up and now this. This right here is what I’m good at. This is where I’m meant to be.”

The pink glow of her magic wrapped around her saddlebags and gently draped them over Blossomforth’s back. “Can you please just get rid of these? The sooner they’re gone, the sooner I can get back to normal.”

Blossomforth opened her mouth, looking ready to argue the point. Then, her ears folded back and she shook her head. Tightening the bags’ straps around her barrel, she said, “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”

Hearing the dejection in the weather mare’s voice knocked Amethyst’s spirits even lower. Failure to organize events, and now failure to be a good friend. “I’ll see you after work?” she tried.

“Yeah, sure.” Her wings drooping low to the floor and her ears folded back, Blossomforth turned to leave. When she reached the door, she stopped. “Amethyst?”

Amethyst looked up from the first of many forms to fill out, copy, and file away in records. “Yes, Blossom?”

With Blossomforth’s back to her, she couldn’t read her face. The pegasus’ wings, however, rustled and her ears perked up. “I’m not giving up, even if you are,” she said. She turned her head and smiled. “You don’t belong behind that desk for the rest of your life and I’ll find some way to help you see that.”

Before she could retort, Blossomforth took off, spreading her wings and taking to the sky and leaving Amethyst alone in office. The silence that followed her was almost deafening.

With a sigh, Amethyst picked up her quill, dipped it in ink, and brought it down to the first form in her pile.

After an hour of routine and monotonous form-filling, Amethyst needed to take a break. Though she tried to marshal her thoughts and though she sat at her desk, quill at the ready, she found herself unable to focus. After a third failed attempt at reading the form in front of her, she dropped her quill and massaged her temples.

Her eyes flitted over to her inbox and she frowned. There was hardly a noticeable dent in the pile. At the rate she was going, she would have to work through lunch.

Her stomach growled loudly in protest.

“I don’t belong behind this desk,” she mumbled. Blossomforth’s parting words left a glimmer of something lighter in her heart, a welcome change from the way her stomach seemed to churn and wriggle. Letting go sounded like a good idea at the time, and disposing of all of her research seemed like the first step. Maybe then the voices whispering words of failure that nagged at her mind and kept her up all night would quiet.

But part of her wanted to believe Blossomforth, to believe that she was meant for more than being a small town secretary.

The door to the office behind her opened and shut with a click. Amethyst straightened and picked up her quill again as hoofsteps neared her, trying her best to look busy. The hooves stopped just behind her, and she pretended to be pouring over the document before her. She even dipped her quill in her inkwell, making ready to sign here and initial there.

“Amethyst,” Mayor Mare said in a pleasant tone.

“Yes, Miss Mayor?”

“Your quill is upside down.”

Blinking, Amethyst looked to find that she had dunked the wrong end of her quill in the ink. She grimaced and righted her quill, the tips of her ears burning. “O-oh, um. I can explain?”

She felt her boss’ eyes on the back of her neck, most likely peering over half-moon glasses. The sensation made her shiver. It wasn’t that she was scared of the Mayor—she was, by all accounts, one of the kindest and most dedicated ponies in Ponyville. More than once, however, had Amethyst been regarded with a sad frown and shake of her head. It reminded her of a parent disappointed in their child and made her feel petulant and foalish.

Sighing, Amethyst bowed her head. “Sorry, Miss Mayor. I was taking a little break.”

“It does look like you have your hooves full out here.” Mayor Mare trotted around her desk. She smiled through the bags under her eyes, but then again, the Mayor always had bags under her eyes. It never stopped them from twinkling with joy or brimming with pride, though. Humming to herself, she flipped through the next few files and loose forms in the inbox. “Quite full. I don’t blame you for needing to rest your eyes for a few minutes, so no apology is necessary.”

Amethyst swallowed a sigh of relief and felt some tension leave her shoulders.

“Did you need any help? It sounds like you’ve had a busy morning.”

“I can manage.” A fresh quill floated out of a desk drawer as Amethyst put on a smile for the Mayor. “I’ll have this all done by the end of the day, no problem.”

“Are you sure? I can take some of these off your plate for you.”

“I’m sure! What’s the point of hiring me if I can’t do my job, right? No, no, I got this. I’ll see you around noon with your lunch.” Amethyst brought her quill down to the form and scratched out the date and her signature. As she reached for her stamp, she still felt eyes boring into her. Looking up, she found the Mayor had not moved. “Miss Mayor?”

Deep blue eyes regarded her over a small frown. “Amethyst,” she said, letting the name roll off her tongue slowly, “are you sure everything’s fine?”

“Um.” Amethyst's magic wavered. “Yes?”

The Mayor’s eyebrow twitched, but otherwise her face remained impassive. “What about with your friend?”

“You heard that?”

“I heard raised voices,” she said. “Your friend sounded worried, and you sounded upset.”

Amethyst winced. For the second time that morning, she ducked her head, cowed by the pony standing across from her desk and unable to meet their eyes. Why couldn’t ponies just let her be? “Don’t worry about it. It was over some goofy little thing.” Her ears faltered and folded. “Yeah, some dumb thing I got into. No big deal.”

The Mayor’s eyebrow definitely moved this time in an upward arching direction. “The way you two were talking, it doesn’t sound like something so trivial.”

“Blossomforth was overreacting,” Amethyst said more to her desk than to the Mayor. “She does that sometimes. She’s a big ol’ worrywart. If she didn’t have a flower for a cutie mark, I’d swear her special talent would be finicking and fretting!” An awkward chuckle tumbled out and a false smile followed.

Mayor Mare studied Amethyst for several long, tedious seconds. The corner of Amethyst’s mouth twinged, but she persevered. Finally, the Mayor nodded. “Very well.”

Exhaling, Amethyst let the smile drop to something smaller and more polite. As she brought her quill back to the page, the Mayor cleared her throat. She was never going to finish at this rate. “Yes, Miss Mayor?”

“Who am I scheduled to have tea with today?”

Amethyst blinked and her eyes flitted to the Mayor’s dayplanner, which Amethyst kept open and within easy reach at all times. Usually, most blocks of time were filled, but her eleven o’clock tea appointment was scratched out. “Nopony. Miss Cheerilee came in the other day saying she had to cancel because a couple of her students needed some extra tutoring.”

That seemed to satisfy the Mayor as she smiled and nodded. The smile, however, seemed to have a more mischievous look to it than normal. “Excellent. That saves me the trouble of cancelling, though I’m sure Cheerilee would have understood. I’ll catch up with her some other time.”

Amethyst tilted her head to the side. “Mayor?”

“Put that quill down, Amethyst, and would you kindly put up the back in thirty minutes sign?” With a look in her eye Amethyst had seldom seen before, Mayor Mare walked around the desk and back to her office. “I’ll be taking my tea with you today.”

Amethyst sputtered, her magic cutting out entirely. “What? But what about the front desk?”

“That’s why I asked you to put up the away sign,” Mayor Mare said with a casual wave of her hoof. She lingered at the door to her office and scratched her chin. “Maybe we could try one of those teas that Tree Hugger mare sold us. I remember her mentioning raspberries.”

“Raspberry balsamico herbal tea,” Amethyst recited. Inventory was one of her many duties, and too often did she need to double check the names of the tea blends in the office pantry. When something like dragonfruit devotion herbal tea came up in her bi-monthly review, a scratch on the head and a poke into the pantry were required.

“Ah, yes, that’s the one. Let’s try that, shall we? The way that mare was talking about it, it cures arthritis and removes wrinkles.” Hiding a giggle behind a hoof, the Mayor opened her office door and slipped inside. “I’ll just be in here. Bring the tea in with you when it’s ready!”

Amethyst stared after her, mind reeling. The Mayor never had tea with her and never so flippantly talked about cancelling an appointment.

The office door cracked open and the Mayor stuck her head back out. “Oh, and no milk or sugar. Tree Hugger insisted that we try it ‘in its natural splendour.’”

The door shut, leaving Amethyst alone and mystified. After a few seconds of processing, she rose to her hooves and made her way into the little kitchen in the back of town hall, putting up the away sign as she left her desk. Much like the rest of the building, the kitchen was bare, save for a few appliances, a vase of flowers, and curtains over the windows.

“It’s just tea, Amethyst,” she said aloud as she busied herself with putting the kettle on to boil. “What could she possibly have to talk to you about? Nothing! That’s what. It’s nothing.” Wrapped in the light pink aura of her magic, a small tin floated out of one of the cupboards. The smell of raspberries and a dozen herbs that she couldn’t name wafted out of the tin as she filled a strainer with a mix of dried berries and herbs.

A minute or two later, the sharp whistling of the kettle pierced the air. Sucking her lip between her teeth, she poured the scalding water into a teapot with the tea blend. Then, with her tail twitching and flicking around her flanks, she set the pot and two cups on a tray held aloft in her magic and padded away to the Mayor’s office.

Amethyst knocked three times and let herself in. Unlike most of town hall, the Mayor’s office was anything but sparsely decorated. Bookshelves and filing cabinets lined the walls, each filled to the brim with books, reference guides, overstuffed binders, and, no surprise, more files. The window overlooking town square was open, letting in a cooling summer breeze and the sounds of Ponyville nearing midday. What little wall space not taken up by shelves and cabinets was covered by portraits—landscapes, caricatures, and self-portraits done by local artists.

Some ponies might think the office cramped, but to those that knew the Mayor, it was something special. The Mayor loved Ponyville more than anypony else, and it was that love and pride in her town Amethyst felt when she stepped on to the warm, fuzzy carpet that covered the floor.

“Miss Mayor?” she said, drawing an ear flick of acknowledgement from the mare, already absorbed in an unraveled scroll. “I brought the tea. No milk or sugar, just like you asked.”

Mayor Mare smiled over her glasses and set the roll of parchment aside. “Excellent. Come on in, Amethyst, and have a seat. Actually,” she said, standing and stretching out her neck. “This is no way to have tea. The sofa is much more comfortable than the floor.”

Amethyst nodded mutely and followed her boss to an old, plush couch she kept under the window. She fiddled with her hooves as the Mayor settled on the other side of the sofa and sighed.

“Much better, don’t you think? And it’s such a lovely day outside, too.”

Another nod as Amethyst poured the tea and offered a steaming cup to the Mayor, who accepted it with a small nod in return.

“This smells delicious. That Tree Hugger mare may be a bit odd, but she certainly knows her herbs and berries.”

Amethyst looked down at her own cup. Steam rolled off the top and she breathed it in. Some of the anxiety and strain pressing down on her mind just melted away as the herb and berry blend filled her nostrils and warmed her to the core. A small smile tugged at her lips as she softly blew off the steam and took a cautious first sip.

The Mayor did the same and they both hummed in content. “I think I’ll ask Fluttershy to recommend some more of Tree Hugger’s teas.”

Amethyst nodded and took another careful sip. “It’s really good.”

“Mmm. Now—” Setting her cup down on its saucer, Mayor Mare folded her hooves in her lap. “—what’s been bothering you?”

Amethyst’s ears folded back. “Nothing, really,” she mumbled, wincing at how pitiful her voice sounded to her. Be positive. Smiles, smiles, smiles! And so she did, stretching her mouth out wide. “It was just some silly little thing I got tangled up in, that’s all.”

“You have many talents, Amethyst Star.” The Mayor sighed and peered at her over her glasses. “Lying is not one of them. Why don’t you tell me a little about this ‘thing’ that’s making you so obviously miserable?”

Amethyst squirmed. The cushions felt a little too plush today and the longer the older mare’s gaze bored into her, the more she wanted to skitter away to her desk.

When she didn’t answer, a look of disappointment passed over Mayor Mare’s face. “I can wait for you to tell me,” she said. “It’s a big pot of tea, and I’ll keep you here all afternoon if I have to.”

“What?” Amethyst balked, eyes flying wide. Already she could hear the hooves pounding on the floorboards and the chorus of voices complaining and demanding the Mayor’s presence. Then there was her inbox, an afternoon-long chore at the very least. “B-but Mayor! Your afternoon appointments—”

“Can be rescheduled,” Mayor Mare replied in a calm, steady voice. “The mental health and wellbeing of my assistant is more important. If ponies don’t understand that, I’d be happy to talk to them about it further.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Her tone brokered no argument even as her brow knitted in what Amethyst could only read as concern. “You usually walk into work with a spring in your step and hum the most delightful tunes while at your desk. Today, if it wasn’t for Princess Twilight and your friend coming in, I wouldn’t have known if you were here.”

Amethyst curled her tail around her flank and tucked herself into the corner of the sofa. “It is a dumb thing, though. I don’t want to waste your time with my whining.”

“I may have my commitments, but my time is still mine to do with as I choose. Tell me about what has you fighting with your friend and tell me, is it dumb to you? Be honest.”

Sparing a second or two to think it over, Amethyst slowly shook her head.

The Mayor smiled. “Then it’s not dumb.” She picked up her tea. “Talk.”

“You say that now.” Groaning, Amethyst forced herself to sit up. “Okay, so you know how I was dragged in to organize Matilda’s wedding at the last possible second?” At the Mayor’s nod she continued, “Well . . . I wanted to prove to myself that that wasn’t a fluke.”

“A fluke?”

The genuine surprise in the Mayor’s voice made Amethyst start. “Erm, yeah. A one-off, a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of deal. To make sure it wasn’t, I kind of, um . . . ” She hunched her shoulders and tried to hide her warming cheeks. “I set Applejack and Rainbow Dash up on a date.”

The Mayor blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“And then I ruined it.”

The other eyebrow followed suit. “Ruined it?”

Amethyst nodded and stared at her tea cup, wishing that the Mayor could be like one of those bosses that took no interest in their employees’ lives for just one day.

Then, to her surprise, the Mayor laughed. “You must be exaggerating—I can’t imagine you ‘ruining’ anything, you young perfectionist, you!”

Amethyst stared at her. Of everything she expected, laughter was not on the list. Should she be insulted? Relieved? Both?

“I’m sorry,” the Mayor said once the last of her giggles subsided. She wiped the corner of her eye and smiled at Amethyst with pride. “It’s just that you hardly ever make mistakes. I don’t think you’ve once ‘ruined’ anything since I hired you.”

At any other mare, Amethyst would have snorted. “If you like, I can pull out the files from the last few Winter-Wrap Ups before Princess Twilight moved to Ponyville.”

“Those weren’t disasters,” the Mayor tutted. “Sure, we may have been somewhat behind schedule, but everything always got finished. Spring came, and that’s what matters.” She looked at Amethyst the way a parent might a stubborn child. “You are too hard on yourself.”

Amethyst held her stare. “I’m pretty sure that Berry Punch filing a suit for property damage qualifies as a disaster.”

The Mayor winced, but smoothed it over by sipping from her tea. “How was that your fault?” she asked. “How could a scheduling error for snow removal cause that pegasus to drop a ton of it on Miss Punch’s roof?”

“Because I forgot that Muffins has coordination problems. I shouldn’t have assigned her to that team—she should have been waking the animals with Fluttershy or making nests with Rarity.” Amethyst’s ears wilted and she curled her forelegs in underneath her. “That was all my fault. I should have just left it to you and the weather planning committee.”

“No. I wouldn’t have trusted Winter Wrap-Up to you if I didn’t think you weren’t capable of handling it,” the Mayor said, straightening as Amethyst shrunk away. “And I wouldn’t have tasked it to you the next year if I still didn’t think that.”

Amethyst fidgeted, feeling like the sofa threatened to swallow her whole as she sank further into its confines. “I still messed up, though.” Her voice was small. “Twice. That’s not even counting Nightmare Night. All of them were terrible.”

The Mayor sighed and set down her teacup. Though her gaze was intense, it held no malice or frustration. Understanding and empathy only filled those blue, glittering eyes. “Of course something is going to go wrong. Something always goes wrong.” The corner of her mouth quirked upwards. “Mur-hay’s Law, some call it.

“And yes, they may have been disasters on some level,” she said, holding up a hoof to forestall any of the rebuttals ready on the tip of Amethyst’s tongue. “But Amethyst, be reasonable. We live in Ponyville. I love this town with all of my heart, but it’s come to the point where a bug bear has become a nuisance rather than a threat. Take some perspective—what happened with Winter Wrap-Up those few years ago was no parasprite infestation or rampaging ursa minor. It wasn’t even as bad as a herd of stampeding bunnies.”

A sour taste filled Amethyst’s mouth. “They were still bad, you just admitted it. Minor disasters are still disasters.” Frowning into her tea, she voiced a question prickling at the back of her mind. “Why did you keep on giving me those projects? I never asked for them, especially after the first time.”

“I gave you them because you are one of the best I’ve ever seen at that sort of thing.”

This time, Amethyst did scoff. She hoped it wouldn’t cost her her job. “All of the evidence suggests otherwise. Really, I’d much rather just be at my desk. That’s what I’m good at.”

“You stubborn mare.” Taking off her glasses, the Mayor rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. “That’s precisely the problem.”

Amethyst’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She swallowed a lump and worked her mouth. “I—Being good at my job is a problem?”

“No, the problem is that you refuse to leave your comfort zone.” The Mayor fixed Amethyst with a flat stare. “Amethyst, you’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. You are young and smart and talented, yet here you are, content to sit at your desk all day. You could be doing so much more and be so much more.”

“You’re not all that much older than me,” Amethyst mumbled.

A smile and a snort of giggles cracked the Mayor’s composure. “Thank you, but my point stands. Every time I’ve brought you an opportunity to prove yourself, you’ve declined. So, I decided to accept for you and use my authority as mayor to make you lead for Winter Wrap-Up and our Nightmare Night festivities.”

“So far all it’s gotten me is grief and sleepless nights. Maybe I’m where I’m supposed to be.” Amethyst dropped her eyes to the faded red fabric of the sofa. A brown spot caught her eye—a coffee stain? She would have to send for the cleaners.

Again, the Mayor sighed. She rested her hoof on Amethyst’s shoulder, nearly making the younger mare flinch. “You are capable of so much more. You’re scared to put yourself out there, though, and I understand. It isn’t easy. The first few times may not have worked out for you, but that doesn’t mean they all won’t. Stand up and try again, Amethyst.”

Letting out a low whine, Amethyst’s eyes skittered around the office. Her mouth opened and closed, her throat bobbing but no sound came out. She rubbed her eyes. “But what if I fail?”

“You’ve never failed at being my assistant,” Mayor Mare said. “And what about Cranky and Matilda’s wedding? I honestly would never have guessed on how little notice it was put together if I didn’t already know what was going on.”

Amethyst’s eyes found purchase back in the Mayor’s. She searched them for any sign that her words were honeyed and sweet to console her but empty of meaning. What she found instead was an earnestness she had come to know in the mare. “You sound like Blossomforth.”

Mayor Mare tilted her head to one side. “Your friend?” When Amethyst nodded, she smiled. “Then maybe you ought to listen to her a little more. It sounds to me like she has a good head on her shoulders.”

“Yeah . . .” Amethyst thought back to earlier this morning. I’m not giving up, even if you are. Stroking one of her forelegs with the other, she stared off at nothing. “I really should.”

“I’m glad we agree on that much at least,” the Mayor said, a light, teasing quality to her voice. Wincing as she stretched her legs, she stood and ambled back around her desk. “And while this has been a good chat, we should get back to work. Tea time has passed.”

Nodding, Amethyst wordlessly slipped off the couch and on to her only slightly shaking legs. Her magic wrapped around the doorknob and she turned to go.

“Before you leave,” Mayor Mare said, a knowing smile dancing over her face. “There’s something I wanted to show you.”

Amethyst lingered in the doorway, her drooped ears perking up as the Mayor sifted through a small pile of envelopes, rolls of parchment, and twine-bound stacks of paper.

“This just came in the mail this morning. It was addressed to the both of us, and I’m afraid I forgot to mention it to you after I sat down to work. Tea has a way of revitalizing my memory, though,” the Mayor rambled on as she flipped through the mail. Finally, she stopped and pulled out a single postcard. “Ah, here we are. Take a look.”

The offered card floated over to Amethyst in the grip of her magic and her head tilted as she regarded the postage stamp. “Prance?”

“Turn it over.”

Amethyst did as instructed, eyes widening when she did so. Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda, photographed at a small outdoor cafe by a river, gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes, heedless of the photographer who snapped the picture on the flipside of the card. A light blush coloured Matilda’s cheeks and even Cranky, scowl lines etched forever into his face, smiled in such a way as to make him look warm and friendly. A couple meant to be, away on the perfect honeymoon.

“How do they look to you?”

“Happy,” Amethyst mumbled, levitating the card back to the Mayor. “They look really happy.”

“They do, don’t they? I think it’s safe to say that whoever took this picture captured a rare moment of happiness in anypony’s life.” Mayor Mare’s smile was warm as she set the postcard down on her desk. “Do you know why they’re so happy?”

“They’re married,” Amethyst said, smiling in return. “They spent their whole lives looking for each other, and now they have each other for the rest of their lives.”

“And do you know who is responsible for helping them achieve that happiness?”

“Huh?” Amethyst stumbled a step, caught off guard by the question. “Uh, whoever brought them together, right? So . . . Pinkie Pie?”

The Mayor tilted her head to the side and stared off at the ceiling. Scratching her chin she said, “I suppose that’s true, yes. She did reunite them.” With a chuckle she steepled her hooves and leaned forward over her desk. “Though, to be honest, I meant you.”

Another staggered a step backwards, and Amethyst found herself on her rump. “Me?”

“Yes, you. In their time of need, you stepped forward—oh, alright, you were dragged forward, don’t give me that look—and you made their wedding possible.” Mayor Mare chuckled some more, her warmth filling the office. “Without you, their wedding would have been cancelled. Thanks to you, Amethyst Star, they found their happy ever after. So don’t you even think of coming to me, pretending that you aren’t one of the best detail-oriented ponies in town.”

“Me?” Amethyst repeated in a whisper of a breath. The looks of love and happiness on Cranky and Matilda’s faces, the joy, comfort, and warmth of their eyes captured in that fleeting second. Those were possible because of her?

“That wedding was something even the likes of Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight would be hard put to best. You should be proud, Amethyst, not skulking behind your desk where nopony will ever see you shine.”

It was only after the first giggle left her lips did she realize she was smiling a broad, toothy smile. “I shine?”

“You do, and I’m not the only pony that thinks so. Your friend seemed to think awfully high of you. Speaking of your friend, you should probably talk to her.”

Nodding fervently, Amethyst stood to her sturdy, non-shaking hooves. “I owe her an apology. She was only trying to look out for me, and I pushed her away.” With a long exhale, she faced the Mayor without the trepidation or weight that plagued her before. “I’ll find her after work.”

The Mayor hummed, perching her glasses on the end of her snout. “No, I don’t think that will do. You’d best take the rest of the day off.”

Amethyst’s ears perked, standing straight up as fresh panic flooded her face. “What?! But—”

“Rest of the day off. No buts. It sounds to me like you have a close friend to reconcile with. That’s more important than filling out my timetable for the day.”

“But my inbox—”

“Will still be here tomorrow morning. I can handle myself for one afternoon.” Mayor Mare smiled a kind smile and flicked her hoof at the door. “Now go, shoo, or else I’ll have you doing inventory of the weather team lockers!”

Bubbling laughter fought its way past Amethyst’s lips. She returned the Mayor’s smile with one of her own and rubbed her eyes. “Okay! Thank you, Miss Mayor! Just—thank you! I promise I won’t let you down!”

As Amethyst turned and cantered out of the office, she heard Mayor Mare’s laughter follow her out. A knot that had wound its way around her chest began to unwind—whether that was from the tea or from the talk she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had a friend to see.

Then maybe, just maybe, she would do something about those troublesome lovebirds.

3. A Picnic By Sunset

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The weather management offices were abuzz by the time Amethyst trotted through the door. The front desk, much like her desk at town hall, was situated in the middle of the room. Mail boxes with missives and letters coming to and from Cloudsdale and other weather offices around Equestria were mounted on the wall behind the desk.

Sunlight poured in from the pony-sized windows above, where most of the weather ponies flitted in and out of the building on their way to manage the skies and everything in them. Usually, the building was empty save for the secretary and the few earth-bound ponies working for the weather team. Such ponies were responsible for monitoring weather from the Everfree and in other cities, plotting out the forecast, and placing orders to Cloudsdale for shipments of rainclouds and thunderheads. The pegasi, by and large, stopped by the office to clock in, receive their assignments, pick up their lunches, and then clock out.

It was just around noon when Amethyst poked her head through the door, arriving with the pegasi flying in to grab their lunches. Many of them she recognized, and many of them paused to smile and wave at her, but nowhere did she see any flashes of white or the bobbing of a green-and-red mane.

“Excuse me! Pardon me!” Amethyst said above the chatter, ducking as ponies flew by overhead. “Sorry, I’m just trying to—ow!” A sharp, stinging pain radiated out from her nose where a swinging pale blue hoof caught her by surprise.

“Oh, jeez!” The same offending hoof that knocked her shnoz landed a hoofstep away. “Are you okay? I didn’t get you too hard, did I? Please tell me I didn’t just break Mayor Mare’s assistant’s nose.”

Hissing in pain, Amethyst pulled her hooves away from her muzzle and blinked open her eyes. No blood. “Ow, ow, ow.” Once the pain receded, she glared at her attacker. “Watch where you’re swinging those hooves!”

Her attacker, whom she recognized as Cloud Kicker, winced. At least she lived up to half her name. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I was talking with Medley and White, and then you came out of nowhere and I—” She sighed and scratched the back of her head. “Was a total ditz and wasn’t looking where I was flying.”

“I’ll say!” Amethyst cupped her nose with one hoof and used the other to point at Cloud Kicker’s legs. “Aim those things at the clouds, not ponies, okay?”

The pegasus chuckled at that, though her wings gave a nervous twitch. “Yeah, will do.” She cleared her throat. “I’m taking it this means I didn’t break your nose and I’m not going to get in trouble?”

Amethyst glared at her. Cloud Kicker was, as far as Blossomforth told her, a good pony. A little reckless with her cloudbusting sometimes, but one of the first pegasi to welcome Blossomforth to the Ponyville weather team. That earned her a few points.

Then again, that was a pretty good kick. Her nose still hurt.

“Did I mention I was sorry? Super sorry?”

Blossomforth. Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

The pain had distracted her. She had come here seeking out her friend, to apologize and to thank her for being an amazing friend when Amethyst wasn’t. Hooves to the face were simply a workplace hazard at Ponyville Weather Headquarters, anyways.

“Sorry with cloudberries and sprinkles on top?”

Amethyst blinked again. Right, Cloud Kicker. “Uh, what?”

“Cloudberries and sprinkles,” Cloud Kicker chirped. “It’s what I used to say to my folks whenever I got in trouble. It means I’m really, really sorry and you definitely shouldn’t be mad at me or tell Blossomforth and get her mad at me. I know how tight you two are and I’m not keen on finding out if that mare has a bad side.”

Amethyst giggled. “Well, okay!” She extended her hoof, which Cloud Kicker shook with a relieved exhale. “Even though I’m a little curious to see what Blossom’s bad side looks like, apology accepted! Now that you’ve brought her up, though, have you seen her around? I’m looking for her and figured she’d be around here for lunch.”

“You figured right. I saw her grab her lunch from her locker just a couple minutes ago.” A frown pulled at Cloud Kicker’s lips as she rubbed her chin. “She looked pretty bummed now that I think about it. Did you two get into some kind of fight or something?”

It was Amethyst’s turn to wince as she sucked her lips in between her teeth. A twinge of guilt pulled her ears down. “Not really. Kind of. It’s a long story.”

Cloud Kicker arched a brow. “It’s not couple stuff, is it?”

“What?!” Amethyst blanched, guilt overridden entirely by a hot wave of embarrassment that painted her muzzle red. “I—but—why would—who else—no!” Her and Blossomforth? Blossomforth and her? “No, no, no! We’re just friends, best friends!”

Cloud Kicker raised her hooves in a placating gesture, though Amethyst recognized the mischief twinkling in her eyes. There was a good chance her stammering would come back to bite her in the derriere later. “Okay, cool, that’ll teach me to listen to locker room gossip. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Dread filled Amethyst’s core. “Locker room gossip?” she mouthed, her eye starting to twitch.

No, focus.

“Yeah. It gets pretty colourful sometimes.” Cloud Kicker snickered. “I’m kind of relieved, though. Makes me feel way less guilty about seeing her flying off for lunch with Thunderlane. Word in the mares’ showers is that he’s got it bad for her, but that’s neither here nor there.” She shrugged and pointed out the nearest window with a wing. “I overheard them talking about going to the duck pond.”

Wrenching her thoughts back to the task at hoof, Amethyst rubbed her face. “Duck pond, got it. Thanks, Cloud Kicker, try not to kick anypony else today!”

“Hey!”

With her head lowered and her eyes tracking other pegasi around her, Amethyst worked her way out of weather management and broke into a gallop as soon as her hooves hit cobblestone. Luckily for her, the duck pond wasn’t too far from the office.

By the time she got there, it took her only a few seconds to spy Blossomforth sitting underneath the shade of a tree, a sandwich in her hooves. Thunderlane sat on her left, his black feathers puffed up and his chest stuck out. As he talked, his wings furled and unfurled and he subtly shifted the way he sat to accentuate the toned muscles of his body.

Locker room gossip might have some credence to it after all.

“Blossom!” Amethyst called, nearly breathless, as she neared the pair of pegasi.

Blossomforth’s ear flicked and she looked up. When their eyes met, Amethyst’s ears folded back and she slowed her trot to a standstill. With a demure grin, she sat on her haunches while her friend swallowed her mouthful of sandwich, said a quick word to Thunderlane, and flew over to meet her.

Blades of grass tickled Amethyst’s rump as they swayed in the breeze made by the gentle flapping of pegasus wings. White hooves settled in front of purple. The smile she worked on her face turned sheepish at the lack of emotion on Blossomforth’s face and a spike of fear shook her confidence.

“Um, hey,” Amethyst said, digging into the grass with her hooves.

“Hey,” Blossomforth replied. Concern bled into her voice and she quirked her head to the side to catch Amethyst’s eyes. “Are you okay? Is something the matter?”

Amethyst exhaled, relief sagging her shoulders. Angry Blossomforth was something she had never had to deal with. Worried Blossomforth was much more up her alley of expertise. “I’m fine, Blossom,” Amethyst said, lifting her head to show her her smile. It was small, but it was genuine. “Or getting closer to it, at least.”

Blossomforth blinked slowly, then her tail swished behind her. “That’s good to hear, Amy.” In a flash of white, she lunged forward, giggling and hugging Amethyst. “I was really starting to worry about you.”

Stunned for only a second, Amethyst returned the giggle and the hug in kind. “I know. Thanks for keeping your head straight when I lost mine.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Blossomforth said as they pulled out of the embrace. “But what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at work! You’re not getting in trouble and playing hookie just to talk to me, are you?”

“Mayor Mare actually gave me the afternoon off so I could come and find you.” Amethyst chuckled and tugged at a few bits of grass. Her eyes flitted from her friend to Thunderlane waiting back under the tree, trying to look patient and nonchalant. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I? We could always talk later.”

“You’re not interrupting anything! Thunderlane asked if I wanted to have lunch with him, that’s all.” Blossomforth turned, waved, and smiled at the stormy grey pegasus. In return, he smiled a handsome smile at them. If it went noticed by its intended target, it didn’t show. “He won’t mind. Besides, there’s something I need to say, too.”

Amethyst stopped herself short from rolling her eyes as Thunderlane sucked in a breath and puffed out his chest. Though he was by no means unattractive, all that muscle made him too blocky for her tastes.

“To be honest, I was going to see if Thunder would cover for me so I could sneak back to town hall and see you before you finished work.”

At that, Amethyst’s ears flicked and her eyes snapped back to her friend. “What?” Between the two of them, it was more likely that a new alicorn would be born than either of them skipping out on their jobs.

Blossomforth nodded and ducked her head, her ears folding back to her scalp. “I wanted to find you and tell you that I was sorry.”

“I—what?” Amethyst blinked and shook her head. Wasn’t this supposed to be the other way around? “What do you have to be sorry about?”

“For not being supportive enough.”

A beat of silence passed.

A spurt of laughter sputtered out of Amethyst’s mouth. She couldn’t help it, even as she covered her mouth with her hoof, trying to hold back her giggles and snorts. “You? Not supportive enough?” Though her frame shook with unexpected mirth, she reached out and rubbed Blossomforth’s shoulder. “That’s crazy talk!”

The pegasus mare jerked at the touch, her ducked head almost level with the ground.

“Blossom?” Amethyst asked, laughter ebbing from her voice. Gently, she squeezed her shoulder and rubbed it in small circles until Blossomforth lifted her head. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“I do, though.” Wings a-flutter, Blossomforth shifted her weight as her tail flicked back and forth. “I wasn’t supportive enough when you first got the idea in your head to set Applejack and Rainbow Dash up. I should’ve been there to encourage you and help build your confidence instead of dragging my hooves through the mud. You deserve more than that from your best friend.”

Amethyst’s lower lip quivered for a second before she threw her forelegs around Blossomforth and hugged her tight. “You silly pony,” she said, noting with some amusement the confusion and flash of terror that lighted Thunderlane’s eyes. “Don’t be sorry. You were there with me for every step and believed in me when I wouldn’t.”

Blossomforth sniffed and squeezed back. “I still feel like I could’ve been a better friend. What if I shot your confidence before you even got started?”

Is that what she thinks? Amethyst wondered. Here she was, nervous and chewing her lip over apologizing to her best friend for acting like a foal. At the same time, that very same friend had been agonizing over something just as foalish. We’re terrible at this.

A smile split her face as she pulled away, nuzzling Blossomforth’s neck as she did so. “You’ve been the best of friends, you silly filly. I came here to say I was sorry to you!”

Blossomforth wrinkled her snout. “What for?”

“For being such a big ball of angst and depression this morning!” Amethyst rolled her shoulders and scuffed the ground. “You were only trying to help, and I brushed you off.”

“That’s nothing to be sorry about, Amy,” Blossomforth said, confusion evident in her tone. “I of all ponies know how much you worry about putting yourself out there and how seriously you take your work.”

“I still shouldn’t have dismissed you like that. You’re my best friend. Tea with Mayor Mare helped me get my head straight.” Amethyst grinned and stood her tallest. Matilda and Cranky’s smiling faces floated in her mind’s eye. That picture, and the knowledge that she helped make that possible, filled her being with warmth, confidence. “She also helped me get back in the saddle.”

“Does this mean . . . ?” Blossomforth let the question hang there, her eyes wide as she leaned forward on the tips of her hooves.

Unabated, scenes from the wedding that made two donkeys the happiest in Equestria frothed forth. Details, like the wonderful performance by Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, the cake, baked to exceed Princess Celestia’s high standards, and the venue itself, decorated to perfection with enough care to fill Matilda’s eyes to the brim with tears came flooding back to her.

Each of those were arranged by Amethyst, so caught up in the fray that she had no time to second guess or doubt herself.

A new feeling welled up in Amethyst, one that made her stand taller, swish her tail happily behind her, and meet Blossomforth’s gaze with enough intensity as to make the pegasus suck in a breath.

Pride. Pride in her talents. While far from perfect, they were enough to bring praise from the Mayor and bring joy to those she helped.

“I think it’s time those two crazy ponies told each other how they feel, don’t you?”

With a squeal, Blossomforth flung herself forward into their third embrace in the last hoofful of minutes. “Yes!” Just as quickly as the the hug started, it ended, and she sat at attention, smiling brightly. “What do we do?”

Amethyst allowed herself a blink. “We?”

Blossomforth’s smile never faltered as she wiggled her ears. “I told you I was going to support you, so I’m sticking with you through the end. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” Her chest swelled. “Until those two are wrapped up in each other’s hooves, I’m your mare.”

Sucking her lips between her teeth, Amethyst schooled herself. Though her mouth wobbled, threatening to break out into an eager grin, she persevered. “Okay, okay.” She exhaled, raking her thoughts over everything she knew about Rainbow Dash and Applejack—where they liked to spend their free time, what they liked to eat, what interests they had in common. All of this she researched, though now she could only recall bits and pieces. It wasn’t enough. Snorting, she stomped her hoof.

Blossomforth winced. “That doesn’t sound encouraging.”

“This would be so much easier if I still had my files!” Amethyst started to pace in front of Blossomforth, very aware of how her eyes tracked her. Why, oh why didn’t she take the time to make back-ups? Her ears slicked back and she bowed her head. “Why’d I have to get rid of them? They had everything!”

“Amy, what are you talking about?” Blossomforth cocked her head to the side. “You didn’t get rid of them. You gave them to me.”

“Yeah,” Amethyst said. “To get rid of.”

“I said I wouldn’t give up on you.” Blossomforth smiled and giggled. “Do you really think I’d throw them out? They’re fine, just how you left them.”

Wheeling around, Amethyst’s grin would have put most others to shame. “They are?”

“Of course! I was hoping to change your mind, so I just put them in my locker for safekeeping.”

Her eyes lit up. On trembling legs, her pacing took on a frantic edge. Fevered thoughts raced as dozens of ideas popped in her head. None stuck, though, as she reached for another thread as soon as she thought she had settled on one. Restaurant, or picnic? High class, or comfort? Dozens of questions, dozens of answers, but there could only be one to bring two ponies together.

Like Cranky and Matilda’s wedding, it had to be perfect for them.

“First, no restaurants. That was a mistake before,” Amethyst said. That would make over half of her data superfluous, but that was manageable. There was still information she could use—tastes, preferences, and whatever else she could collect from small talk and observation. “Neither of them are big on formal dos.”

“Okay, sure. No restaurants.” Blossomforth nodded and pursed her lips. “Then what do we do? Put them on a train to Canterlot for a concert?”

Amethyst shook her head. “Not enough time. The sooner we get these two together, the sooner they’ll be happy.” She coughed, pink tinging her cheeks. “Also, I don’t exactly have the funds to send both of them off on something that nice. Again.”

“Then what else did you have in mind?”

Humming, Amethyst drifted her gaze skywards. The morning had been beautiful, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The afternoon promised to be just as lovely.

Outside.

There was an idea. A few favours might need to be called in, but both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were very outdoorsy ponies, whether they were flying in the skies or tilling the soil for harvest.

Her humming stopped when she spotted a pair of pegasi pushing clouds to block out the sun. “Blossom, what’s the forecast for this afternoon?”

“Mostly cloudy,” Blossomforth said. “We promised the Agricultural Board a few days of rain to help the farmers get ready for harvest, so we’re getting things in place for a good shower tomorrow.”

A frown creased her lips and she rubbed her chin. The weather presented a wrinkle. “Any chance that could be changed?”

Blossomforth bit her lip and shook her head. “Probably not.”

“What if it was just cleared in one part of town? Like, say . . .” Amethyst waved her hoof, searching for inspiration. It found her and she gasped. “The gazebo in the park!”

“I suppose . . . This is for Rainbow Dash, so she’d overlook it, right?”

Amethyst grinned a wicked little grin. “Oh, she’ll be so busy with Applejack she won’t even remember it happening.” Rubbing her hooves together, she giggled. Or was it more of a cackle? “But first thing’s first, I need my files back. They’re in your locker, right?”

“Uh, yeah. I still have another half-hour of my lunch break, and I think I can get Thunderlane to cover me for this afternoon. Oh, shoot!” Blossomforth grimaced and cast a wary glance over her shoulder, where the aforementioned pegasus had long abandoned his cool and composed facade and now sat, scowling at the duck pond. “I completely forgot about him.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Amethyst said, stifling a giggle. With an easy wave of her hoof, she nudged Blossomforth towards him. “Promise him you’ll go to breakfast tomorrow or something and he’ll be right as rain.”

Blossomforth bit her bottom lip. “Okay . . . I still feel bad, though.”

“Then make it a bunch of breakfasts! Maybe a dinner if you’re feeling really guilty. Oh, and before you go, there’s something else I want you to ask him. It might cost you a couple more dinners, though . . .”

“And when I give the signal, the two of you start playing. Nothing too fancy or complex, just something to set the mood.” Several hours later found Amethyst at the Ponyville park gazebo. Few places were more picturesque. The Sweet Apple Acres orchards rolled out to the east and the town stretched out to the west, all under a sky beginning to melt from a bright blue to a glowing orange. “Any questions?”

An aquamarine hoof shot into the air. Its owner’s eyes twinkled when Amethyst knocked on her door. When she consulted her girlfriend, cooing and squeals of delight filled the little candy store as both of them offered anything they could to help.

As it turned out, Amethyst and Blossomforth were not the only ponies who thought it was about time Rainbow and Applejack got together. Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon were only delighted to be involved.

The third pony in the gazebo, Octavia Melody, took a little more convincing, some begging, a little praise for her performance at the last wedding, and a healthy nudge out the door by her roommate.

“Yes, Lyra?”

“What’s the signal?”

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Amethyst said. She crossed her eyes as her horn sparked to life, shooting out motes of pink light in all directions. “Once they’re here and talking, I’ll shoot up a few sparks. That’s your cue.”

“And what did you have in mind for us to play?” Octavia asked, raising a slender, black eyebrow. She rested her bow against her beloved cello and brushed her charcoal bangs out of her eyes. “I’m all for improvisation, but this sounds fairly important.”

“Something romantic. I want Applejack and Rainbow Dash to get lost in each other’s eyes and the music should lull them into it.” Amethyst raised her own brow in return and a teasing smile played across her lips. “Think you two can manage that?”

While Lyra beamed and nodded, Octavia pursed her lips and offered a flat stare. Not a moment passed before her expression relaxed and she allowed a prideful smile to show. “Please, Amethyst,” she said, adjusting her bow tie. “They’ll be putty in each other’s hooves before we finish the first song!”

Ah, an artist’s pride. The perfect motivation.

“Lyra, tell me, are you familiar with Tempo Rubato’s works?”

Lyra’s beaming smile fell into a confident grin as she readied her lyre and tuned a few strings. “Before or after his grand concert at Princess Luna’s night court?”

“Well, colour me impressed.” Raising to her hind legs, Octavia brought her bow to the cello strings. “Though I should expect as much from a fellow Academy graduate. I think it’s safe to say we’ll perform wonderfully together, Amethyst. It’s a wonder we haven’t before today.”

“Excellent. Music, check!” With an inner cheer, Amethyst ticked off a box on her checklist. A glance skywards told her that Thunderlane did his job and cleared the clouds around the park. The Agricultural Board and Weather Bureau might get their knickers in a twist over it, but it would probably be fine.

Though if they found out Thunderlane was responsible, there was always the possibility he would get in trouble. Probably no more than a stern talking to.

Amethyst frowned. Better ask Blossom to wear that little number she wore to Wildfire’s single mares Hearts and Hooves Day Party to make it up to him. Just in case. She scribbled a note in the margins and ticked off another box.

Her ears flicked and she swallowed against a lump in her throat. It was almost time. Everything was almost ready. Time to get into position. Now if only the butterflies in her stomach would settle down.

“Great,” she said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and took a steady breath. When she was confident her legs weren’t shaking, she looked up at the musicians. “Thank you both so much for helping out. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Octavia waved a hoof and offered a soft smile. “It’s my pleasure, Amethyst, and the least I can do after you stepped up to organize the wedding the other week.” She sighed. “Besides, Vinyl insists that I get out to see more ponies, and this counts.”

“Yeah!” Lyra grinned and winked, her golden magic lifting her lyre to rest next to her. “Bonnie and I have been wanting to see these two together for ages now. Also, Tavi—”

Octavia groaned. “Not you, too.”

“—we should all go out to dinner together sometime! Oh, actually, Bon Bon would love to cook for all of us! We could eat at our place. Her pasta bake is the best.”

“That sounds like a plan to me. I’d better go make sure everything else is ready, though. I’ll see you after the fact. Lyra,” Amethyst nodded her head and then giggled when she addressed Octavia, “Tavi. See you later! Thanks again!”

With a merry swish of her tail at Octavia’s groan to her nickname, Amethyst trotted away. She stuck her pencil behind her ear as she read over her clipboard for the fourth time in half as many hours. Everything had to be ready.

This time, it was going to be perfect. Or, as close to it as she could get.

Not too far away from the gazebo where Ponyville’s best classical musicians were getting ready, a checkered picnic blanket had been spread out over the grassy hill. Frowning, Amethyst lit up her horn and tugged the corners of the blanket taut, weighing them down with a few rocks she found by the lake.

She nodded and reached out for the picnic basket sitting next to the blanket with her magic. A flash of pink later and the basket, plates, a keg of Sweet Apple Acres cider, and an arrangement of flowers were set up in the middle of the blanket.

Humming in thought, she plucked the pencil from behind her ear and went over the itinerary one last time in the few minutes she had before she too needed to get into position. This time, there would be no allowance for mistakes.

With her clipboard at the ready, she opened the basket and, while she was at it, arranged them for when Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived. Two garden salads with a raspberry vinaigrette, harvested fresh from Golden Harvest’s fields; Mister and Missus Cakes’ famous cheese scones; cider and homemade apple fritters lovingly gifted by Granny Smith with a denture-filled wicked smile; and, to complete the package, two heart-shaped boxes of chocolates thrust into her hooves by Bon Bon as she left her shop with Lyra in tow. One was addressed, in the finest hoofwriting Amethyst had seen no less, to Rainbow Dash and the other to Applejack.

Then, next to the basket of goodies, was a bouquet of bright orange lilies, creamy white roses, and hot pink daisies carefully arranged by the flowers’ namesakes for no charge.

She waved at Thunderlane as he finished clearing the last of the clouds over the park. He saluted, winked, and offered a cheeky smile before he flew off with a flourish of his wings and an aerial somersault. Somepony thought the risk of changing the forecast was worth the reward.

Everypony threw themselves into helping her, into helping Rainbow and Applejack get together. Amethyst could picture Mayor Mare looking out her office window with that calm, knowing smile she had grown accustomed to in the years she’s worked for her. It was a smile that brought peace to her mind, and the older mare’s praise warmed her chest from the doubt and insecurity that so often made her breath catch or her stumbling hooves falter.

Amethyst went over her list once, twice, and three more times. Her ears flicked as Lyra and Octavia played a few notes, warming up for what would likely be their least appreciated performance. Yet they were willing to play all the same.

After one more check, Amethyst found herself pacing around the blanket and chewing her lower lip. Maybe just once more, to be absolutely sure. She stopped herself as she reached out for the picnic basket.

You’re stalling.

The chew marks around her pencil confirmed it. Bringing her hoof to her chest, she inhaled through her nose. Then, when she couldn’t hold it any longer, she let it out slowly through her mouth, feeling some of the tension leave her shoulders with the breath.

Everything was ready.

It was time.

As if on cue, a pair of familiar voices carried over through the park. “It was just over here!” one of them—Blossomforth’s—said louder than necessary. A warning, announcing their arrival.

With a squeak, Amethyst enveloped her clipboard in her magic and dove into a nearby bush, just far away enough from the setup so that she could hear whatever Applejack and Rainbow said without being caught. No sooner did she get a twig out from poking her flank did Blossomforth appear over the crest of the hill, Applejack following a few steps behind.

“Right,” Applejack drawled, her tone flat. “And what’s so important that you gotta drag me away from market at closin’ time?”

“You’ll see. It’s really, really important though. I promise.”

From her vantage point in the bush, Amethyst watched Applejack raise an eyebrow and give a look that would make anypony feel like they were caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Blossomforth ducked her head and smiled sheepishly. “We’re almost there,” she said before bounding on ahead towards the picnic blanket.

Applejack shook her head, but followed at a leisurely pace.

“See! Right here!” Blossomforth skittered to a stop a few steps from the blanket and hopped into the air on flitful wings.

Applejack stopped at the blanket’s edge, her brow furrowed. “What’s all this supposed to be?” She nosed the basket open, and Amethyst could hear her breath catch. Slowly, she pulled out the first of the heart-shaped boxes. A rosy hue graced her cheeks as she cradled the box and pulled out the second. Her mouth worked and it took her a couple tries before she said, “B-Blossomforth, what’re these doing here?”

There was no answer save for a gust of wind as Blossomforth darted away. By the time Applejack managed to tear her eyes off of the picnic, she was safely nestled in Amethyst’s neighbouring bush.

“Blossomforth?” Swiveling her head around, Applejack spun around, her eyes passing over their hiding spot without a second look.

Amethyst grinned and her stomach began to unknot itself as Blossomforth settled in her bush. So far, so good. Not that she was worried about her co-conspirator pulling through. That bit of anxiety was reserved for Cloud Kicker, on whom the rest of the plan relied.

“Okay, what featherbrain cleared the sky here?” a raspy voice demanded from up above. A sigh of relief pushed past Amethyst’s lips before she could clap a hoof over her mouth.

“I dunno, boss,” Cloud Kicker’s voice said, feigning innocence perfectly. “I was just finishing up over by the schoolhouse and saw this huge patch of blue. We’re out of clouds, too. The rest of them aren’t supposed to arrive from Cloudsdale until tomorrow morning for the shower.”

“Great. So much for my nap. The Agricultural Board is going to ride my tail for this!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack called, interrupting the pegasus just as it looked like steam was about to billow out of her ears.

In an instant, the fire behind Rainbow’s eyes died. Amethyst noted with some glee how a curious sparkling took its place, visible even from where she was hidden below. “Applejack?”

“Down here! Fly on down, will ya, I got a bone to pick with you!”

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!” Rainbow turned and, flicking her tail, descended and gently touched down with her back to Amethyst. Blue feathers ruffled as she took in the display. “Wow, nice setup. Hey, are those Granny Smith’s apple fritters?”

“Eeyup.” Applejack’s eyes bored into Rainbow Dash, and Amethyst chewed her lip. This was it. Days of stress, planning, and anxiety had all built up to these few moments. She flinched and bit her tongue to stop a yelp when a hoof squeezed her shoulder. A look to her right brought her to bright blue eyes and a reassuring smile.

Amethyst tried to return it, but the butterflies fluttering about in her stomach made it feel strained.

“Whoa, and Golden’s pasta bake? Score!” She could hear the swagger in Rainbow’s voice. “Somepony’s out to impress.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Applejack said, deadpan, though the roses in her cheeks had yet to vanish. “Anything you want to share with the class, sugarcube?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Applejack held out one of the boxes of chocolates—presumably the one meant for Rainbow Dash.

Judging by how Rainbow’s wings unfurled and the ways her feathers fluffed out, it was an accurate presumption.

“I—but—who—”

“I think you know darned well who.” Applejack’s eyes narrowed, though her voice came out soft and guarded, as if she were protecting it.

“I had nothing to do with this!” Rainbow protested, dropping the chocolates on the blanket and backing up a step.

“That a fact?” With her lead lowered, Applejack advanced for every inch Rainbow retreated and soon they began circling the picnic basket. “Then why’d you have Blossomforth lead me here and just happen to show up after she disappears faster than a rabbit in a fox den?”

Beside Amethyst, Blossomforth giggled.

“I-I didn’t have her do anything!” Rainbow sputtered.

Now that they had circled halfway around the basket, Amethyst could see her cerise eyes wide with terror and a streak of red painted over her muzzle. Between the two of them, it was a wonder how they were so oblivious to the other’s feelings.

Applejack scoffed. “Last I checked, she worked for you! What’d you do? Give her a couple days off for some big, romantic thing?”

“Romantic-schmantic! You were the one who called me down here!” Standing tall, Rainbow met Applejack’s gaze and stood her ground as the farmer closed the distance until their chests were nearly pressed together. Just a little further . . . “Somepony cleared the clouds out here and I came to check it out, that’s all. You set this up, didn’t you?”

“Did not!”

“Then where’d Golden Harvest’s pasta bake come from? I know how tight you two are!”

“I haven’t talked to Golden since her birthday party!”

“Well, I didn’t set this up!”

“Neither did I!”

They both stood over the picnic basket, muzzle to muzzle. Their eyes narrowed, and both held matching hues of red in their cheeks. Amethyst sucked her lip between her teeth and let out a low whine from the back of her throat. Just a little closer. All one of them had to do was tilt their head to the side and close that last, little bit of distance.

Rainbow tilted her head to the side.

Amethyst held her breath.

“You didn’t set this up?” Rainbow asked. Gone was the ire from her voice. In its place was something she might even call disappointment laced under the confusion.

Amethyst groaned. Next to her, she heard Blossomforth do the same.

“No!” Applejack shook her head. Defiance melted to confusion matching Rainbow’s. She scratched her neck and looked to the side. “You, uh, you didn’t either?”

“Nope.”

A beat of silence passed. Amethyst felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. Please work. Please, please, please.

“So . . .” Applejack’s hoof trailed over her box of chocolates. “Who did?”

Rainbow furled and unfurled her wings, her tail flicking back and forth behind her. “Dunno,” she said. After another beat, she added, “Somepony put a lot of work into this.”

“Eeyup,” Applejack replied. “They even got Granny’s fritters.”

“Yeah . . .” Rainbow fidgeted, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof as her wings twitched and fluffed, caught between fight and flight. “Looks really good.”

“Would almost be a shame to let it all go to waste.”

Another nod, another twitch of Rainbow’s wings. “Yeah, it would.”

Come on. Somepony go for it.

“Well, I don’t suppose you’d want to . . . ?” Applejack gestured to the feast, not looking entirely at Rainbow. “Looks like some cider’s here, too. I know you got plenty to do with this cloud stuff for tomorrow.”

“No!” Whipping her head around, Rainbow’s wings unfurled, as if ready to flare wide and high for the pony in front of her. “I mean, not no! Yes!”

Her hoof met her face as Applejack chuckled, a chuckle that Amethyst and Blossomforth quietly joined in on. “Alright, might as well. I could sit down for a spell with some good company.”

“Whatever.” Rainbow huffed as she sat down next to Applejack, close enough that Amethyst could see how her feathers brushed against the other mare’s sides. “Just give me some cider and one of those fritters.”

Inside, Amethyst cheered. Things were coming together exactly as planned. Now, for the finishing touch. When both mares were distracted by the cider and each other, she charged her horn and launched a volley of pink and purple sparks into the air.

A few seconds later, the first soft notes of a slow, serene melody reached her ears. Both mares on the blanket noticed. Their gazes turned to the gazebo, where Lyra and Octavia sat across from each other, eyes closed as they lost themselves to the music.

They’re not the only ones. Amethyst grinned as Rainbow and Applejack shuffled a little closer. There was no way either of them could pretend to ignore the warmth from the other now as they went about eating their food and drinking their cider.

Feathers of blue stretched out and delicately fell over toned, orange-coated flanks as the song came to an end. Their owner jumped at the contact. In response, the wing curled and its grip tightened, pressing Applejack’s side firmly against Rainbow’s. Somewhere in the neighbouring bush, Blossomforth shook with so much energy to rustle branches and leaves.

The musicians started the next song, and Applejack turned to face Rainbow, showing her tomato-red face. “D-Dash,” she said, in a voice so shaky that Amethyst had never heard before. “What are you doin’?”

With her ears folded against her scalp, Amethyst watched the ball in Rainbow’s throat bobbing as she leaned in to nose Applejack’s cheek. “If it’s all the same to you,” she said in a murmur that nearly went unheard, “I think there might be something I want to share with the class after all.”

Applejack rolled her shoulder. “O-oh yeah?”

“Mmhmm.” Rainbow nodded, ducking her head. Her tail swished to the side, hues of the rainbow falling over glossy blonde. “Thing is, I’m not that great at talking. I’m more of a show-and-tell kind of mare.”

Amethyst’s mouth ran dry, anticipation winding up in her chest. This is it.

Not giving Applejack a chance to respond, Rainbow darted forward, pressing their lips together. It barely lasted a few seconds before she pulled away, leaving both red faced and wide eyed.

“Yes!” Blossomforth cheered, erupting from her bush with her forelegs spread wide.

In a moment of panic, Amethyst jumped from her hiding spot and tackled her friend back into her bush. Twigs scratched her as they landed on the ground, unicorn pinning pegasus, purple hoof covering Blossomforth’s mouth.

“Shh!” Amethyst hissed, eyes darting to the gaps between the branches. She exhaled. Neither Applejack or Rainbow seemed to notice that little outburst.

“Sorry,” Blossomforth whispered, her face bright red.

Meanwhile, Applejack blinked owlishly. “Well,” she said. “I think I can only give that a passing grade, sugar.” Her eyes lidded and she reached up to cup Rainbow’s cheek, the touch enough to make the speedster’s ears red. “Here, let a pro show you how it’s done.”

One second, they were separated by a mere few inches. The next, blue wings wrapped around the pair, bringing them closer together as orange hooves ran down rainbow mane.

Amethyst looked away, giving them their privacy after weeks of tiptoeing around each other.

And just like that, it was done. Her legs felt like jelly, and it was only because Blossomforth laid trapped underneath her that she didn’t collapse entirely. Relief swept through her system, bringing blissful quiet to the nagging thoughts and doubts that plagued her mind. Then, a warming sensation crept up her spine, making her every fibre tingle with an energy that demanded to be burned.

She beamed. She held her cheer in her throat, having enough sense to clamber out of the bush as quickly as she dared. Leading Blossomforth by the hoof, they retreated down the hillside until the music was a faint whisper on the wind.

As soon as they were far enough away, she spun around and wrapped her very best friend up in a bone crushing hug. A squeal tore its way past her lips and her tail whipped from side to side. “We did it!” Nuzzling into locks of red and green, she squealed again. “We did it, we did it, we did it!”

The urge to dance a jig was too much, and with a skip in her step she led the pair in a little dance number around the edge of the park.

Blossomforth squeezed back, her wings flapping in a desperate attempt to keep them upright as they hopped and pranced about. “I know! I know! Wait.” Ducking her head, she slipped out of Amethyst’s forehooves. “We did it?”

Amethyst stumbled back a step, her hooves criss-crossed and searching for balance with the sudden lack of her impromptu dance partner. Gravity had other things in mind and she slipped to her flanks. “Um.” She blinked owlishly. “Yes?”

“No.” Grinning coyly, Blossomforth reached out and prodded Amethyst’s chest. “You did it, Amy.”

Cross-eyed and staring at her chest, Amethyst wrinkled her snout. She shoved the white hoof away. “Don’t be silly! I couldn’t have done this without you sticking with me, leading Applejack here, and pretty much being the best friend ever.”

Giggling, Blossomforth shook her head. “Nope!” Her hoof flicked upwards, booping the tip of Amethyst’s nose. “This one was all you. All I did was follow orders.”

“I would have given up if it wasn’t for you and Mayor Mare! That’s not counting everything Golden Harvest, Octavia, Lyra, Bon Bon, Roseluck, and everypony else did to make this happen!”

“True.” Mirth shone in those sparkling blue eyes and she wiggled her ears. “They wouldn’t have done that without you organizing everything. Sorry, Amy, you’re going to have to take credit for this one. Right now, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are finally showing each other how they feel, and that’s all because you took the time to set all of this up. Who knows how much longer they would be apart if you didn’t take the initiative?”

Any kind of retort or denial Amethyst had died on her lips. The last of the music faded, no longer necessary. The atmosphere was set, the ponies had arrived, and their performance was met with overwhelming success. Her eyes flicked over the hill, where she last saw Rainbow wrap her feathery blue wings around Applejack’s strong shoulders.

Matilda and Cranky’s loving smiles flashed before her eyes, their hooves gently holding one another. Rainbow and Applejack, entwined and full of fire and passion, ignorant to everything beyond those blue wings that enveloped them both soon followed.

“Well . . .” A goofy grin spread over Amethyst’s face. “I guess I had something to do with it, too. A small part.”

“Much more than that, I’d think!” a bright, chipper, and unnervingly familiar voice chirped from above them.

A shadow passed overhead, followed momentarily by the muffled sound of hooves touching down on grass. Resplendent purple wings fluttered as their owner landed. Her mane bounced and bobbed as she folded her soft, fluffy wings to her side, framing the bright smile on her face and her twinkling purple eyes.

Amethyst’s heart skipped a beat and the breath caught. Her throat didn’t seem to work and her mind screeched to a halt, the euphoria caught in a ball in her chest. Princess. Bow, the functioning part of her mind told her.

She was quick to respond.

In an instant, her head came within inches of the ground in a deep bow. “P-Princess!” she squeaked.

A soft hoof touched her shoulder, nearly making her flinch. The touch was reassuring, though, and brought her gaze trailing up to meet Twilight’s sparkling eyes. “Amethyst, I’ve already told you. It’s just Twilight. Formalities aren’t necessary, especially between friends,” she chided gently. With an uncomfortable twitch of her wings, she took a step back. “And please, don’t bow. Friends don’t bow to friends.”

“R-right.” Heat burned Amethyst’s cheeks as she stood up. She felt no less awkward, though, now that she was eye-level with Twilight. “I just—what brings you here, Prin—Twilight?”

Behind her, Blossomforth did a poor job of hiding her giggles behind a hoof.

Twilight’s eyes seem to glow brighter. “You, actually. I was wondering how your plan was coming along, so I thought I’d fly by to see what I could see.” A tinge of pink darkened the fur around her cheeks and she ducked her head ever so slightly. “And, well, what I saw . . .”

Amethyst sucked in a breath through her teeth. How much did she see? What were those two doing on that hilltop?

More importantly, did she want to know?

“It doesn’t matter,” Twilight said, clearing her throat. “All that matters is that they’ve finally gotten over their reservations. They’re happy.” She inclined her head, the warmth of her smile soothing Amethyst’s frayed nerves. “And I have you to thank for that. I would be lying if the rest of us girls were starting to groan whenever they chickened out of telling each other!”

Another question pricked at her mind, one that furrowed her brow. “Hang on, you knew what I was planning? How? When?”

“Ah, that.” Twilight’s eyes shifted to Amethyst’s left. Following them, she found Blossomforth looking to the side, her expression akin to that of a foal caught sneaking in after curfew. “Maybe it’s best if Blossomforth explains.”

Blossomforth whined, her ears pinned back.

“Blossom?”

“I may have told her everything,” she said, her hoof digging into the ground. “After I left town hall, I didn’t know what to do. You needed my help, but I didn’t know how to help you.” Taking a breath, she locked eyes with Amethyst. She licked her lips, her shoulders hunched up as if waiting for a verbal lashing. “I-I flew around for a bit, and then I saw Prince—Twilight walking back to her castle.”

“She caught up to me, asking for my help,” Twilight added, stepping to Amethyst’s side. The ascension to alicorn added a few inches to her height, something that had gone unnoticed until now. “Spike made us tea and she explained what you two were doing for Rainbow Dash and Applejack.”

Blossomforth nodded, guilt etched over her features. “You can yell at me now.”

“Blossomforth was only trying to help you, that’s all.”

Amethyst stared, processing everything. “I’m not going to yell,” she said slowly. “You told her everything?”

Again, Blossomforth nodded. “I showed her your files, too.”

“Which, I should say, were impeccable!” Twilight gave a happy swish of her tail and her grin became toothy. “Your attention to detail, the personal touches and considerations for the ponies in question, everything!” She beamed. “I had no idea you were so talented!”

“I’m not! I mean, that was just . . .” Amethyst scuffed the ground, the tips of her ears burning. “Stuff,” she finished lamely.

“It was excellent ‘stuff,’” Twilight said. “I could learn a thing or two from it all! And, after what I’ve seen here, I might have to up that to a thing or three.”

“See?” Having found the courage to slink forwards, Blossomforth nudged Amethyst’s side. “Told you you were amazing.”

“I—” Amethyst choked. It was all too much. Her vision blurred and she wiped a foreleg over her eyes, though her smile came unbidden. “I don’t know what to say.” She sniffed as Blossomforth lightly let a wing over her withers and as Twilight rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to say anything right now, Amethyst,” Twilight said, glancing at the hilltop. “I was actually hoping some food might help loosen your lips. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about over dinner, if you’re still interested.”

Dinner? She gasped. Their earlier conversation in town hall came flooding back. Right, dinner with a princess. No big deal.

“I think that’s a great idea.” Blossomforth smiled, winked, and took to the air. “We’ll chat more tomorrow morning at breakfast, okay?”

Not waiting for a reply, she flew off, leaving Amethyst alone with Twilight, who waited patiently and with a calm smile. “Well? My treat!”

“I, um, what did you want to talk about? You mentioned catching up on everything since kindergarten this morning.”

“Yes! But that can wait for another time. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about a job opportunity.”

Amethyst blinked. “Huh?”

Twilight giggled in response. “A job! After Blossomforth came to me today, I’ve been doing some thinking. Your organizational talents really impress me, Amethyst. If Mayor Mare didn’t sing your praises so often, I would wonder if she knew how lucky she is to have you at her side!”

“I—what—” Amethyst babbled, jaw dropped and eyes wide. Nope, this was all too much for one day.

“Not that I would ever want to take you away from her!” Twilight added quickly. “She might skin me alive, princess or not, for stealing you. No, what I had in mind was of a more . . .” Scrunching her muzzle, she waved a hoof through the air. “Casual nature.”

“Casual?” Amethyst parroted, her voice high pitched and cracking.

“Exactly. We would meet over lunch, say, a few times a week to talk about what’s coming up.” Twilight held up her hoof, the warmth of her expression hardening for a moment. “To be clear, you wouldn’t be replacing Spike. He’ll always be my number one assistant, but now that I’m a princess, well,” the hoof dropped and her wings wriggled at her sides, “there are some things I would like another pair of eyes to look at. Your eyes, to be specific.”

“My eyes?”

“I could really use a pony as organized and as passionate about what they do as you are, Amethyst. I’m actually in the middle of organizing an Equestrian-wide summit to take place in Canterlot in a few weeks, and I would really appreciate your help.” A dry chuckle floated past her lips. “I might actually find some sleep before the summit if you say yes.”

“I, um . . .” Amethyst swayed where she stood. When did her legs start to feel like jelly? Probably around the same time her head felt as light as air. It all sounded too good to be true. “This is really happening?”

A chime of giggles followed. “I promise this isn’t a dream. My offer from before still stands—I want to get to know you better and make up for those years I ignored you. If you’d like, we can start there and talk about the job at dinner. What do you say, Amethyst?”

“Amy,” Amethyst said through her dry lips. “My friends call me Amy.”

Twilight smiled, bright and beautiful. “Okay, Amy. Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” Amethyst said. “I think I’d really like that. And you’re sure this won’t impact my work with the Mayor?”

“We’ll work something out,” Twilight said as she started to lead them out of the park. “If you prove to be too good at the job, then I might be tempted to steal you away all for myself, though!”

Amethyst giggled at that and fell in line, their hooves clip-clopping on the cobblestone streets. As they walked, she dimly felt an ache building in her cheeks. Only then did she realize how much she had been smiling, shining as bright as any gem or jewel, even the ones adorning either side of her flanks.

All in all, after a few nasty hiccups and road bumps, she couldn’t be happier with how things worked out.

If this wasn’t perfect, she didn’t know what was.

The Perfect Setup

by Timaeus

1. A Starry-Eyed Encounter

2. A Teatime Chat

3. A Picnic By Sunset