Two shy, yellow ponies meet and hit it off. But friendship problems don't stop just because romance is on the table.
Moon Dancer has been awarded a prestigious grant to study the Everfree Forest and its history, and so she's moving to Ponyville. In the midst of settling in and making new friends, she meets and becomes completely enchanted by a shy, animal-loving pegasus.
But as these two nervous little weirdos start an adorable, awkward relationship, it becomes clear that not everyone is happy about this turn of events.
"Here it is!" Twilight said proudly, as she led Starlight Glimmer into the former storage room, which had been equipped with two bookshelves, a cheap desk, and literally nothing else. "Careful, I'm still setting it up."
"Um, this is the new pony's lab?" Starlight Glimmer asked, ticking an eyebrow. "It's... kind of small, right?"
"Yep!" Twilight said cheerfully, levitating manuscripts from a cardboard box and into one of the bookshelves. "I know not everypony is as spartan as I am, but believe me, Moon Dancer is. She'll spend most of her time in the library or the field, anyway. If her lab is too big, she'll probably just fill it up with trash."
Starlight frowned, very obviously refraining from even looking into the dark corners of the room, where no janitor had ever set foot. "Still, compared to the rest of the castle, this is pretty, uh, stripped down, isn't it?"
Twilight shook her head, still grinning happily. "Oh, no no no. Trust me, Starlight, she'll think this is cozy."
"How do you know?" Starlight asked. "You act like you know this pony. Did you meet her at a conference or something?"
"What?" Twilight quickly trotted out of the room and then trotted back in, levitating a small, potted plant with her. "No, Starlight, this is Moon Dancer. Remember? That pony whose party I skipped and she got so mad at me?"
"Wait, hold on a second," Starlight said, bugging her eyes out. "This is that pony you were friends with? The pony you're giving a huge grant to... is your old friend from school? Twilight, are you sure this is ethical?"
Twilight fixed the leaves on the plant, then she fixed them again, then she kept fixing them a bit obsessively. "I was worried about that, but it was Princess Celestia who made the final decision, and she thinks it's fine. Moon Dancer really is the right pony for the job."
Starlight narrowed her eyes. "If she's such a brilliant Gifted Unicorn, why did she need this Everfree grant, then? Shouldn't she be set for life?"
"She was doing fine, but not reaching up to her potential," Twilight sighed. "Moon Dancer could be the smartest pony I've ever met, but her career has had no focus, so far." She gestured over to the bookcase of manuscripts. "I mean, look at some of the things she's published! 'A History of Griffon Marble Sculpture, from the years 805-815.' 'The Effects of Neurotransmitters Galaxompin and Whizzatandril on Unicorn Illusion Potency.' 'The Coffee Plant as Sign of Earth Pony Cultural Prestige.' Look, she wrote this biography of Emperor Green Grass II in Ancient Equestrian. Her grammar is perfect, but I don't even know why she did that!"
Starlight blinked. "That's... wow. She's certainly well-studied, at least?"
"Yes, but there's no rhyme or reason to it!" Twilight huffed. "That's why this job is perfect for her. There's countless things about the Everfree we don't know, and this grant will let her study any and all of it, using any methods she wants. She has to focus, but she also has flexibility."
"Well," Starlight pouted, "I guess you'll have a great time with your brilliant, awesome friend from school working next door."
Twilight gawked at Starlight in alarm. "What? Starlight, are you jealous?"
"No," Starlight answered, jealously.
"Starlight! No, it's not about that. I'm trying to build an academic community here in Ponyville, and you're a big part of that, too! I want you guys to be able to work together, okay? I think you'll really like her. Right?" Twilight giggled with a tinge of mania. "You'll like her? Oh please like her I kind of accidentally ruined her life for a couple of years."
Starlight chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'm excited to meet her. And I bet she'll fit in with Trixie and Maud, too."
"I mean, maybe not Trixie..." Twilight mumbled quietly.
"Oh, and we could start a reading group, or something? That doctor pony might be interested, and maybe Cheerilee?"
"there's nothing wrong with her she's just not a scientist," Twilight continued, and then much more loudly added, "Yes, I think that's a great idea."
"I think so, too," Starlight said. She paused, glancing around nervously. "Um, so, are we just pretending we don't see Pinkie Pie, or...?"
"What?" said Twilight, and then Pinkie fell from the ceiling, face millimeters from her own. "Augh!!"
Pinkie stood, frozen, staring into Twilight's eyes. She was dressed as a ninja clown, and she had the most serious expression on her face that Twilight had ever seen. "Twilight," she whispered harshly. "Did you ask her?"
"Pinkie! What...?"
"Did. You ask. Moon Dancer. About. Her going-away. Par. Ty."
The word 'party' clicked something in Twilight's brain, and she calmed. Pinkie was a ninja clown who could walk on the ceiling because she wanted to do a party; okay, things made sense again. "Oh, yes I did," she said. "She says it's fine. She's happy to have another Pinkie Pie party after she ended up enjoying the last one so much."
"Yay!" Pinkie screeched, suddenly no longer wearing a costume. "It'll be so greaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." her voice receded as she galloped down out the door, down the hallway, and through a nearby open window.
"Oh, so you didn't even see her?" Starlight asked, smirking. "I guess my Pinkie Senses are..."
"Wait." Twilight help up a hoof.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then, just faintly, they could hear it: "..aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! OH HEY GUYS I FORGOT!" Pinkie stuck her head into the storage room, grinning wildly. "Dress nice! It's a Caaaaanterlot Party. Bye!"
Twilight smirked back at Starlight. "The Pinkie student has not yet become the Pinkie master, it seems." They both laughed, though it ended with a sigh from Twilight. "Um, could you help me get those plungers off the ceiling?"
Twilight was clearly a wreck, which made Fluttershy feel a little better. That was a terrible thought, and it put Fluttershy in the uncomfortable but not unfamiliar situation of trying to explain to her own mind that the thing she just thought was not meant as bad as it sounded. They were all on the train on the way to Canterlot, to this... party. It was going to be fun, Pinkie Pie parties were always fun, but they were also… a big deal. Twilight being upset just meant she wasn't the only one nervous about things.
"Sugarcube," Applejack was saying, sounding exhausted. "It's really okay. Pinkie's got it all worked out."
"Yes, but," Twilight said, pacing back and forth several times in the space of a few seconds, "Rarity, are you certain you brought all the dresses? Remember, Lyra wanted..."
"Twilight." Rainbow Dash reared up and put her front hooves on her anxious friend's shoulders. "Chill. Okay? It's fine. Chill."
Twilight gaped at her frantically for a moment, then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and dropped to a sitting position. When she opened her eyes again, she looked more reasonable. "I'm fine. Sorry, girls. I just... I've spent so much time talking about how she was the past couple of years, I've made her seem like not a nice pony. But she is. Right, Spike? Isn't Moon Dancer nice?"
"She gave me a lollipop once," Spike confirmed.
"Well, if she's so nice, then everypony's going to get along, right?" Rainbow prodded. "So you can just sit down and relax."
Applejack sighed. "Look, we all understand you have good reason to be fretting about this after the last time she had a party, but y'all had a new start. She'll be happy if you have a good time."
"Yeah!" Rainbow added. "And the Wonderbolts are all gonna be there! And your brother, and the princesses. This is way different."
Twilight seemed convinced, which relieved Fluttershy, though her mood darkened overall. She did not need to be reminded that all of Rainbow's Wonderbolt friends would be there, not to mention Princess Luna. This was going to be a huge party, and it seemed like everypony else had Canterlot friends they were looking forward to visiting.
She started in surprise as somepony sat down next to her. "Oh! Um, Starlight Glimmer, hi."
"Hey, Fluttershy." Starlight looked over at the rest of the group tutting over Twilight, a soft smile on her face. "It makes me anxious to see Twilight so anxious, so I thought I'd come over here and take a little break. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Fluttershy replied, not really lying. "How are you?"
"I don't love trains, to be tell you the truth. The... shuffling gets to me. It feels good to sit down." Starlight looked over, raising an eyebrow. "Really, are you all right?"
Fluttershy nodded hesitantly. "Yes? I mean... Canterlot always feels a little weird to me."
"I don't blame you. It's a weird place. But, are you looking forward to the party?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy smiled. "And I'm looking forward to meeting Twilight's friend. If Twilight's so worried, I'm sure she's special."
"It doesn't take much to make Twilight worried, but I think you're right." She beamed at Fluttershy. "Talking to you always calms me down. Thanks." Her smile faded slightly. "But really," she said, "how are you doing?"
Fluttershy blinked at her, stymied for a moment. She wondered if Starlight was expressing surprisingly good social skills or surprisingly poor ones. She spent a few seconds trying to sum up her feelings before giving up and giving the closest answer that was not an outright lie: "I'm fine, really."
Starlight nodded, either satisfied or ably pretending to be. The train suddenly lurched around a curve, and her face turned green. She lay back against the seat.
Without thinking, Fluttershy reached over and rested her hoof against Starlight's steadily. She wondered if Starlight knew that putting her in a caretaker role would calm her down, and, not for the first time, she marveled at Twilight's friendship training abilities.
"Oh no!" Twilight suddenly burst out. "I just realized, what if I say her name wrong?" She shifted her weight from left to right, trying out various pronunciations of her friend's name. "MOON Dancer. Moon DanCER. MOon DANcer."
Spike touched her wing gently. "Um, Twilight, maybe we should just go back to the sleeping car and lie down, all right?"
"Yes Spike I think that would be best Moon DANCER," Twilight replied. She let herself be led out of the car. "Moon DANcer. Agh, it doesn't even sound like words anymore!"
The door slid shut behind them. The remaining ponies glanced at one another in concern.
Moon Dancer smiled at Lyra. The silly, green pony was telling some sort of ridiculous story about popcorn, acting out the exploding kernels as they grew out of control and apparently filled her kitchen (it was a ludicrously improbable story, though she supposed Lyra was capable of it). Her slightly more benign doppelganger-in-strangeness, Minuette, laughed uproariously. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts laughed too, but more quietly. Bon Bon, Lyra's "best friend" (Moon Dancer almost snorted with amusement after hearing that euphemism) looked decidedly less entertained from having to relive the story.
Moon Dancer's smile was real. She was... actually happy. All around her, the party was active and boisterous, and it had been in full swing for almost three hours. The courtyard was filled with happy, smiling ponies, well-dressed and handsome. She had seen Twilight and they'd had a really good conversation. She actually combed her mane and put on a nice suit and make-up and ponies told her she looked good. She felt a bit gleeful.
"How do you put up with her?" Moon Dancer asked Bon Bon, chuckling along with the others. "She was burning toast when we were fillies. I can't imagine living with her now."
"I'm a secret agent trained at handling dangerous monsters from Tartarus," Bon Bon answered seriously, and everypony laughed more.
Moon Dancer's glee slipped, though her expression did not crack. Had she just implied Lyra was difficult to get along with? Yes, but it had been a joke. Right? Everypony knew she had just been kidding. She wouldn't insult Lyra right to her "best friend's" face, wouldn't ponies understand that? Oh, she loses track of herself for one second, and she just blurts out a mean insult, that was just like her...
"Hey." A hoof waved in front of her face, and she blinked in surprise. Her friends were looking at her, concerned smiles across all their faces. "You were kinda in your own head, there," Lemon Hearts said. "Do you need a Moon Dancer Minute?"
Moon Dancer chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "Yeah, probably. Big party, you know?"
"We get it," Twinkleshine said. "Have one of those puff pastries, maybe? They're delicious."
Moon Dancer nodded, and she turned and left her friends behind, strolling casually towards the snack table.
A Moon Dancer Minute (coined by Minuette, who quickly started calling it "Moon Dancer Minuette," which was nowhere close to as funny as she thought it was) was when Moon Dancer was in a social situation and her thoughts got dark. It could be caused by practically anything, but it happened quickly. Disappointment or anxiety or resentment just bubbled up inside her, and she just could not talk with other ponies and deal with those feelings at the same time. And it turned out, the solution was simple: she would go off by herself, refocus on things, get a hold of her thoughts and emotions, and somehow things would get better. Her friends understood. Sometimes, Moon Dancer just needs a minute.
She looked around her at the guests. She saw her sister and brother-in-law talking to one of the castle pegasus guards. Off to the side of the courtyard, next to some columns, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor laughed at a joke Pinkie Pie was telling (and Pinkie somehow, in the middle of her punchline, without anyone else noticing, caught Moon Dancer's gaze and winked). Twilight Sparkle and one of her Ponyville friends, the one with the hat, were talking pleasantly to the Canterlot librarian. "Congratulations, Moon Dancer!" said a passing stallion she remembered from school.
This was her party. It was much bigger than she'd expected; Pinkie had taken it upon herself to invite lots of ponies she barely knew. But many of these ponies, these glamorous, happy ponies, were gathered here because of her. Because they actually liked her, they were proud of her for getting a big new job, and they wanted to celebrate her before she moved.
Moon Dancer smiled softly to herself. She levitated a puff pastry from the table and prepared to toss it into her mouth.
She missed. Her mouth hung open, the pastry bouncing off her cheek and falling to the ground.
While idly looking around, her gaze had tracked to the shadowy corner of the courtyard, near some bushes. There, half-hidden, was the most absolutely stunning pony she had ever seen, wearing a green dress, pink mane sleek and sparkling down her back.
Moon Dancer could hardly understand it. How could one pony be so striking? Princess Celestia was here (Moon Dancer glanced over and saw that the Princess was laughing merrily during a conversation with Twilight's old student, wanting to confirm her esteemed guest was having a good time even in her distracted state) and she looked like a piece of lint by comparison.
Moon Dancer simply stood in shock for a few moments, but then her analytical brain kicked into gear. She frantically looked around for the closest pony she recognized.
It was not a pony. "Spike," she stage-whispered. The baby dragon, who had been quite enthusiastic about nibbling up a tasty puff pastry he had found on the ground, looked up in surprise. "Spike," she repeated, gazing back at the mythical shadow-pony of beauty.
"Um, yeah? It's okay if I eat this, right? You didn't seem to want it."
"Spike," she said a third time. "Who is that."
"Hm?" Spike looked up, scratching his head. "Oh. That's our friend Fluttershy. You should talk to her, she's really nice. Seriously, it's just going to go to waste..." Moon Dancer idly noticed him speaking but could not look away from the angel in the corner.
"'Spike,'" Spike said, affecting a falsetto, "'I demand you eat that puff pastry or I will completely give up on friendship for two years.'" Moon Dancer did not respond. "'Oh, of course Moon Dancer,'" he continued in his regular voice, "'I guess I have to, then!'" He popped the treat into his mouth and chewed happily.
"I'm glad it all worked out," Moon Dancer mumbled. Still without changing her gaze, she reached out her hoof and patted him on the head, before walking away, her mission decided.
The party was crowded, but Moon Dancer walked with purpose. She was buoyed by her Moon Dancer Minute and intoxicated by gratitude to her loved ones. "Am I really doing this yes I am doing it!" she thought madly as she nodded politely to some passing acquaintances. "I am just going to walk up to that gorgeous pony I've never talked to before and make friends." She almost burst into maniacal laughter, but instead she smiled apologetically to the somewhat large unicorn she was scooting past.
Fluttershy had never been more miserable in her life, a thought which caused immediate regret as soon as she had it. She was certain that all of these ponies were very nice. But the thing was, she didn't know most of them, and the ones she did know were all busy talking to the ones she didn't know. (Unfortunately, she thought she had glimpsed Photo Finish off to the side, which did not help her mood.)
At some parties, Pinkie Pie would periodically bounce over with some friendly stranger she could talk to, but not this time. Rainbow Dash had her Wonderbolts friends, of course, and the rest of her Ponyville group was mingling. Mingling. Fluttershy nearly shuddered at the word. Fluttershy felt like they all showed up at the party and she just turned around and they'd all disappeared into the crowd.
She sighed, then froze, because sighing might make ponies notice her. Remaining unnoticed was a high-risk-high-reward strategy at parties, Fluttershy had learned. If she was successful, the time passed quickly and relatively painlessly. But there was nothing worse than being noticed trying not to be noticed. Luckily, she was at the top of her not-being-noticed game, tonight.
Suddenly, a pony strode directly up to her and looked her right in the face. "Hello!" she said, boisterously. "I couldn't help but notice you standing there!"
"Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed.
There was a pause.
The friendly (or perhaps insane) pony wore glasses and was staring at her through them. She looked smart. And Canterlotty. "Um," she said.
"Eem" Fluttershy replied.
The pony seemed to recover. She smiled wider. "Hi. I'm Moon Dancer. This is my going-away party. And... I didn't know you, so I thought I'd come over and say hello?"
"Oh." Fluttershy looked up with a soft smile. Moon Dancer! That was Twilight and Spike's friend! They said she was nice. "Hello. I'm Fluttershy."
Moon Dancer smiled back. "Good to meet you. I hope I didn't startle you, just walking up out of the blue. I never know what to do with myself in big crowds."
Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, I completely understand. I'm always a little awkward at parties. I'm kind of shy."
"That's funny!" Moon Dancer bellowed.
There was another pause.
"...What?" Fluttershy said.
"Oh no, I mean... your name? Fluttershy? I read some research once about ponies' names and personalities. Because, I mean, isn't it weird you'd be named Fluttershy and also be a shy pony? And also... fluttery? Because. I mean I've never danced on the moon. Ha ha! Right? But see... you. Um."
There was a very long pause. "....butterflies," Moon Dancer finished weakly. Fluttershy's mind swirled with helplessness.
Meanwhile, Moon Dancer's thoughts had not turned dark; this situation was far too ludicrous for that. She felt like she was watching the exchange happen from a long distance away, not far enough to find it hilarious, but also not very far away from that. She had one more weapon in her arsenal: if this didn't work, she'd have to leave the terrified, gorgeous pony in peace. "So," she said, with very weak confidence. "What do you do?" Moon Dancer's arsenal was not well equipped.
Fluttershy tilted her head forward, her mane streaming down over her face. "Um. I run the animal sanctuary in Ponyville."
Moon Dancer blinked. Her awkwardness was instantly forgotten, replaced with something comfortable and familiar: intellectual curiosity. "Oh! Sweet Feather? I read about that! I've been wanting to meet the ponies who run it."
One of Fluttershy's eyes peeked through a slit in her mane. "You... have?"
"Oh, yes," Moon Dancer said, nodding. "I've been really interested in animal behavior for years, and I was amazed that you're able to have habitats for all of them so close together. I saw a picture, and you had a badger just standing right next to a bear. How do they coexist?"
Fluttershy had almost her whole face out from behind her mane. "No, badgers and bears can get along well. They only fight where they don't feel comfortable."
"Really?" Moon Dancer asked, her awareness of Fluttershy's beauty once again becoming prominent. "Every book I've read says they're natural enemies."
Fluttershy shook her head vigorously. "A lot of what ponies think they know about animals comes from watching them in zoos. But you can't really get to know them in a place like that."
"Wow," Moon Dancer said, meaning it.
"Every animal has a different way of feeling comfortable," Fluttershy continued. "And in the wild, they're made to find those places that make them feel that way, and if they can, then they'll be peaceful. It's like they have a sense for it. But in a zoo, even if we try to make something they'll really like, we... pony it up. We put things in that we would like if we were that animal, not what THEY want. They're totally different from us, but they're the same at the same time. Um. It's hard to explain."
"I get it," Moon Dancer said. "It's like this party. Pinkie Pie is really good at making ponies feel happy and have fun. But even when she tries really hard, she puts some Pinkie in it. She can't always see that some ponies are different."
"Yes." Fluttershy looked at Moon Dancer with soft intensity. "Yes, that's it. Exactly." Then the intensity faded and just softness was left. "Um... but please don't tell Pinkie Pie I said that, okay?"
Moon Dancer laughed. "Okay." There was yet another pause, but it was very different from the earlier ones. "Hey. Do you want to get out of here?"
Fluttershy looked up, startled. "What?"
"Yes, good question, what?" Moon Dancer thought, but she said out loud: "Do you want to go? Like... somewhere quieter, maybe? I think I'd like to."
"But it's your party," Fluttershy said, hesitation on her face.
"I think it's okay if I sneak out," Moon Dancer said, with surprising confidence given that fact that she had rendered the inside of her own mind a gibbering idiot. "But... let me say goodbye to my friends? I'm still going to see them all the time, but this is technically my going-away party."
Fluttershy frowned, then she slowly, slyly smiled. She nodded once. "Okay," she said. "Okay, let's do it."
"Give me one second, all right?" Moon Dancer matched Fluttershy's smile with her own. When she turned around to walk away, she very silently freaked out harder than she had ever freaked out in her life.
She found her friends across the courtyard. They were chatting and very unconvincingly pretending like they had not been watching her the whole time.
"Um, hi girls. Sorry, I... um. Got pulled away for a minute."
Minuette and Lyra looked absolutely unable to contain their glee. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts were more composed, but still practically vibrating with excitement. Bon Bon, to her credit, only made a small show of her annoyance at having to be the grown-up. "Oh, that's all right. We were just talking about... your school days. Right, Lyra?"
Lyra nodded. "Yes. If you and Fluttershy have babies, will you name one aft..." and then Bon Bon spilled her drink onto Lyra's face. Lyra was undeterred, grinning at Moon Dancer like a maniac.
Twinkleshine literally sniffled because she was literally tearing up about this. "We're sorry, Moon Dancer, it's just... she lives in Ponyville, and Lyra and Bon Bon say she's really great. We're excited."
Moon Dancer nodded stiffly. "Well. Fine. Thanks. I'll see you girls tomorrow, and then I'll be back at least every Tuesday. So. Yes."
They looked back at her warmly (though with a subset of them still smiling like idiots). She turned around to leave, then turned back. "Um," she said, "I love you girls. Okay, bye." She whirled around and walked quickly to where Fluttershy was waiting.
She woke up early like a dummy, and she still couldn't find Fluttershy and neither could Applejack. So, not only had Fluttershy just wandered off from the party (a party the Wonderbolts were all at), she had gone and gotten lost somewhere in Canterlot. It was her own dumb fault for hiding in the dumb corner all the time! Twilight only cared that her dumb egghead unicorn friend apparently disappeared, too, and they all had to spend like half a dumb hour convincing her Moon Dancer really did enjoy herself. Pinkie had been weirdly unworried about the whole thing, but she wouldn't say why. Dumb Pinkie. Dumb Rainbow being up at dumb sunrise.
"Graugh!" she exclaimed, scanning over the buildings. Fluttershy was fine, probably. "Fluttershy is fine, probably!" she said to nopony.
"Yes, Fluttershy is fine," a voice replied below her. She blinked, then looked down. Spike was walking along, munching on what looked to be a fresh cruller.
Rainbow Dash zipped into his path. "How do you know?"
"Because I just saw her. She was at Donut Joe's."
"What? Why was she there??"
Spike shrugged. "It's the only place open so early. Hey, settle something between me and Twilight. Is it gross to eat food you find on the ground? It's totally not, right?" But Rainbow Dash was already gone.
Rainbow neared the donut shop suspiciously. Spike had been right: Fluttershy was right there, smiling in an odd way that was visible even though the window from the street. She was talking to some very boring-looking unicorn. They looked... very engaged with one another.
Rainbow walked to the shop and carefully opened the door. The owner cast her a friendly glance, but she ignored him and focused on the conversation that Fluttershy was having. Fluttershy looked.... weird.
"...so, remind me, you have to use books and records, even if it's about Everfree animals?" Weird Fluttershy was saying.
"Oh no," the egghead replied. "I just like books and records." They both giggled like idiots. "Celestia and Twilight were really specific: as long as it's about the Everfree, I can use any methods I want. And you've convinced me, if it's about cockatrices, I should ignore anything anypony has written about them and find some way to study them in the wild. Without, you know, turning to stone."
The idiot-giggling happened again, and Rainbow decided she'd had enough. "Fluttershy," she said, walking up to them crossly. "Are you okay?"
"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy looked over in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! You just disappeared, Fluttershy. It's morning. We have to go soon."
"Oh!" Fluttershy looked out the window as if she was just noticing for the first time that the outdoors existed. "Oh my goodness, Moon Dancer, we talked all night! I didn't even realize it! I hope I didn't worry anypony, Rainbow."
Rainbow glared slightly at the dumb egghead Moon pony, then looked back at her friend. "No, but have you been here the whole time? Didn't you see Spike?"
"Spike was here?" Fluttershy asked, blinking. "I guess we got pretty wrapped up into our conversation."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Agh, whatever. Come on, we have to go pack to get ready for our train."
She turned around to leave, expecting Fluttershy to mumble an apology and follow, but instead she called out, "Wait a second, Rainbow!" Rainbow looked back, trying her best not to be irritated.
Fluttershy turned back to Moon Dancer.. "So... I guess I have to go."
"Yeah," Moon Dancer said. Rainbow Dash glanced at her watch.
"I... had a really good time," Fluttershy said.
"I did, too." Moon Dancer replied. Rainbow Dash glanced at her watch again, putting more of a show into it this time.
Fluttershy batted at the ground softly. "So... you move to Ponyville the day after tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well... when you get settled... I think... it'd be really nice to talk again?"
Moon Dancer looked dazed. "Yeah."
Rainbow officially ran out of patience. "Okay, yes, fine, we gotta go now." She grabbed Fluttershy and pushed her out of the donut shop. "Bye bye, whatever your name was. See you around."
Fluttershy, for her part, simply kept a glazed smile across her face as she trotted along next to Rainbow. Rainbow was annoyed to notice that when she looked back through the window, Moon Dancer had the same expression.
Twilight watched her blue friend pace back and forth through the train compartment. "So.... what's the problem?"
Starlight, Spike, and Fluttershy were in the sleeping car. Pinkie was who-knew-where. The rest of the group was watching Rainbow with varying bemusement. "It's not a problem," Rainbow clarified. "It's just... weird! The whole thing is weird."
"You're the one who's acting weird," Applejack sighed. "What's so weird about it, anyway?"
"Nothing! I mean... Fluttershy's shy, right? And you said Moon Dancer was shy. So why would they like each other?"
Applejack leaned back against the seat cushion, pushing her hat brim down over her eyes. "You're just not makin' any sense, there, Rainbow."
"Uh, I'm confused, too," Twilight piped in, hoping to avoid an argument. "Moon Dancer and Fluttershy became friends. Isn't that good? I mean, hello, Princess of Friendship, here."
Rainbow rolled her eyes, "I don't think it was exactly friendly, Twilight."
"It... what?" Twilight asked, confused. "They were... mad at each other?"
"No! Twilight, you know what I'm saying!"
Twilight blinked. "Um, I reaaaaally don't, actually." She looked around. All her friends were staring at her like she had three heads.
"It was like a date, Twilight," Rainbow said.
Twilight blinked. "What? But Moon Dancer and Fluttershy are both mares." Her friends were now staring at her like her three heads had each grown seven necks. "That would mean Fluttershy is..." Her twenty-one necks grew grapefruits. "What? No! Fluttershy can't be..."
Suddenly there was a blue whoosh, and furious red eyes glared into hers threateningly. "Hey!" Rainbow bellowed. "And so what if she was, huh?? There something wrong with that?"
"Agh, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed, jumping in fright.
Rainbow Dash blinked as if suddenly realizing where she was. She laughed nervously. "Sorry," she said, pulling back from Twilight's face. "That's kind of a force of habit I picked up at flight camp. I, uh, really made sure nopony bullied her."
Rarity cut in, bothered by the tension, "Yes, but of course Twilight would never judge Fluttershy for her preferences. Right?"
Twilight nodded vigorously. "Of course! But what I meant was... if Fluttershy was gay, wouldn't I have heard something about this already? Why did nopony tell me?"
"Oh, darling, it's not a secret," Rarity said smoothly. "I just don't think it comes up much, because the poor dear is so shy. Why, it's pulling teeth to get her to talk about her love life at all."
"But... did all you girls know but me?" Twilight sat down sadly. "Really? Everypony? Applejack, you knew?"
Rainbow gaped. "Um, Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy used to date."
Twilight did not fall down, but she spent so much energy mentally congratulating herself for not falling down, she could not think of a response.
Luckily, Applejack spoke up. "Consarn it, Rainbow, don't say it like that! It was one date Pinkie set up right after she moved to town, and it took us ten minutes before we realized we liked each other better as friends." She looked at Twilight with empathy. "I don't think I would know about Fluttershy if it hadn't been for that. It's just not something she ever talks about."
"Oh, she talks about it sooommmmeee," Rarity sang, clearly happy to have the inside scoop. "She does want to have a special somepony, but it's not a big priority. And she gets crushes!" She scratched her chin. "Although, darling, your friend Moon Dancer is charming, but I didn't think that was Fluttershy's type."
Twilight raised a hoof. "Um, girls? Is it really okay to talk about this behind Fluttershy's back?"
Rarity nodded to her smartly. "I have explicit permission to talk about this with anypony, as long as Rainbow Dash is around. I think you saw why."
"I guess." Twilight knew she would regret her next question, but she could not stop herself from asking. "So what is Fluttershy's type?"
"She usually likes older mares. And earth ponies." Rarity beamed in recollection. "There was that musician? She didn't even know her name, so she just called her Bowtie. Oh, it was so sweet and adorable."
Rainbow nodded. "Maud Pie? For like a minute."
"Oh yes," Rarity mused. "Mayor Mare, of course."
"Oohhhhkay," Twilight cut in. "I have no idea what you just said because my brain rejected it, but if Fluttershy likes a different kind of pony, maybe Rainbow just... misinterpreted things?"
"Trust me, I could tell what was going on," Rainbow said, snorting.
"And these were just idle crushes," Rarity added languidly. "Perhaps it's different for an actual special somepony."
"Special somepony!" Rainbow barked with derision. She crossed her hooves in front of her chest with a humph.
"Um, Rainbow..."
"I'm not yelling!" Rainbow yelled.
Applejack rolled her eyes, making sure Rainbow could see it. "Anyways, Sugarcube, most of this came out before you moved to town," she said reasonably to Twilight. "I promise, Fluttershy probably thought you knew. And I'm sure she wouldn't be dating your friend if she didn't really like her."
"Nopony likes eggheads," Rainbow muttered.
"Moon Dancer is a very pretty mare," Rarity said quickly. "And very nice. I for one am looking forward to getting to know her, as Fluttershy's special somepony or otherwise."
"An egghead's an egghead," Rainbow grumbled.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said sharply. She softened. "Come on, that hurts my feelings."
Rainbow sighed, looking exhausted. "I'm sorry, Twilight. Whatever. Look, I'm just upset because I thought Fluttershy was missing." She ran a hoof through her mane. "I'm going to go get some sleep. I'll see you later."
She quickly walked out the door and slid it closed behind her. The other three ponies looked at each other uncomfortably.
Rarity was the one to finally break the silence. "Twilight?"
"Yeah?"
"Just so there's no secrets between us, I like stallions."
Twilight snorted a laugh. Applejack rolled her eyes.
Rarity looked at them very seriously. "I like stallions a lot."
"Okay, Rarity."
"Come on, slowpokes, we're almost home," Applejack called in to the sleeping car, rapping on the door. The very idea that sweet, introverted Fluttershy might be dating made her happy, but she could not keep herself from having some irritation, too. It was simply just wrong to stay up all night and then to sleep during the day. Starlight was motion-sick and Spike was a baby; they had excuses. But Fluttershy should know better than to pull a Rainbow Dash.
She stopped in her tracks and shook her head quickly. Of course, she knew ponies were different; some of them enjoyed being up at night... academic ponies like Twilight and Fluttershy's new girl-beau especially. That didn't mean they weren't working hard. She was being no better than Rainbow carping and hooting about 'eggheads.' And Fluttershy's happiness is what matters!
But still, she couldn't help it. Nighttime is for sleeping. Nighttime is not for donuts.
She walked back to the group, bustling around and busily fixing their bags. Twilight was obviously still pretty keyed-up from the whole trip, and she was chatting frantically with Rarity and Pinkie.
"Oh!" Twilight suddenly froze, looking off into space. She smiled widely at Rarity as if proud of herself for figuring out a math problem. "Tree Hugger! Right?"
"Uh, no, darling," Rarity said. "They were just friends."
Applejack had secretly been wondering about that whole situation herself, so she could only manage a half-hearted, "Aren't y'all done gossiping about this?”
“Goodness me, it’s not gossip,” Rarity said. “I’m just catching Twilight up with some of the… friendship subtext she missed out on.”
“Friendships shouldn’t have subtext,” Applejack said.
“Come now, everything has layers of nuance,” Rarity insisted. “Why, I still think Tree Hugger liked her, but Fluttershy was adamant… oh, here they come.” She slyly winked to Twilight and Pinkie. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Applejack rolled her eyes, noticing, not for the first time, what different planets she and Rarity lived on. She tried to once again remind herself to be tolerant and once again had difficulty. Some ponies just liked to think about these things, these flirtations and non-romances and crushes. Some ponies liked to stay up all night. It took all kinds.
Three miserable-looking ponies and one chipper-looking dragon walked up to them, loaded up with bags. Starlight mumbled something, and Rainbow was clearly still ornery.
“Hi, sleepyheads!” Pinkie greeted. They responded vaguely. Luckily, the train doors opened, delaying any potential social discomfort for a few minutes. They stepped out onto the platform.
Starlight requested stomach medicine, so they all waited while she went into the small drug store just outside the station. Standing together in a group, it was very difficult to ignore the weird, chilly tension suffusing them all. Applejack did not like unspoken things, but she also could not think of what to say.
Twilight smiled brightly. She was still trying too hard, but she seemed much happier than yesterday. "Well! This was fun. Thanks for coming, everypony."
"No, thank you!" Pinkie replied cheerfully. "I never get to throw Canterlot Princess parties!"
"You did a wonderful job, Pinkie," Rarity said.
"Yeah, great floor-food," Spike added, ignoring Twilight's glare.
"Hey Fluttershy," Rainbow said bluntly and suddenly, "You're not really going to go out again with that egghead, are you?"
Fluttershy froze in place like a prairie dog sensing a predator. The others looked at each other with varying degrees of awkwardness.
"What's going on, anyway?" Dash continued. "You don't date anypony for years, and now this? Twilight didn't even know you were gay. This is super weird."
"Um." Sweat visibly began building up on Fluttershy's body as she cast her gaze around helplessly. "I. Twilight, I thought..."
Suddenly, a pink blur pounced between the two pegasi. Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders, grinning maniacally. "Date??" she burst out. "You're talking about Moon Dancer, right? I can't believe it! I thought you two would be friends, but I never let myself DREAM you would like each other that much! That's so exciting!"
Fluttershy gaped at her friend. "Pinkie, you... set us up?"
"Noooo! I mean, kinda? Parties are complicated, you can't ever predict exactly how they'll go. But I thought maybe! Tell me all about it!" She led Fluttershy away, ignoring them all.
"Hey..." Rainbow said, too lost in her bewilderment to say any more.
Applejack disliked the subtlety, but she knew good social skills when she saw them. She pointedly trotted after her two friends, right past the flustered pegasus. She noticed with relief that everypony else followed behind her, trailing after Pinkie's continuous chatter and leaving Rainbow behind.
Less than a minute later, Starlight emerged from the drug store, looking around woozily at her solitary, angry friend and nopony else. "Um... Rainbow?"
"What's so good about it!" Rainbow snapped, launching herself into the sky.
"...What?" Starlight watched her friend whoosh away. Perplexed, she sat down in the road. "...Somehow, this is trains' fault, I know it."
Twilight poured herself a cup from Spike's fresh pot of coffee. Her life had been filled with surprises and new information recently, but for the moment all that mattered was it was morning and mornings are awful.
Especially this morning. Especially the morning when her good friend and brilliant colleague (and source of insecurity about her ability to be a decent pony) started working in the office next door.
She was definitely not in any state to think too hard about the previous few days. She had developed a sense of when a friendship problem was looming and when one was not, but this particular situation was confusing for a million different reasons. Her old friend had just moved to town and was about to start working with her, and she was maybe dating Fluttershy, who was gay, and maybe Applejack was gay?, and Rainbow was being weird about the whole thing, and Spike apparently had no problem with eating food directly off the ground...
As much as she loved Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, she trusted they could work out their own issues. But Moon Dancer... Twilight sighed and glared into her coffee. How could she be a good friend to a pony who made her worry very justifiably that she was incapable of being a good friend? Twilight mumbled non-words to herself. Mornings are awful.
A quiet trotting sound made her pause. She looked and saw Moon Dancer standing awkwardly in the doorway, a pained smile on her face. "Um... hey."
"Hi!" Twilight attempted friendly cheerfulness, but she ended up sounding like a creep. "Welcome!"
Moon Dancer looked at her, expressionless. "I was hoping to get a cup before we get started?" she asked, even though it was not a question.
Twilight nodded, and Moon Dancer began pouring coffee into a clean mug on the counter. There was a terrible, terrible silence, made more terrible by the fact that it was the morning, and mornings are awful. Twilight took a sip of her coffee. "Everfree!" she said.
Moon Dancer coughed slightly. "...Yeah."
"Lots of history to discover!"
"Sure. Gotta... do that research."
They looked around the room at whatever they could find that was not each other. Twilight wailed internally. Things had been so smooth and easy at the party, but now it felt like talking to a stranger.
"Um, so..." Moon Dancer began, "Um. Speaking of history... before I start work, we need to talk."
Twilight nearly dropped her coffee mug, but she did her best to keep her expression pleasant. "Oh? Are you... are you okay here?"
Moon Dancer managed a small smile, which had an extremely tension-releasing effect on her friend. "Yeah. I am, I'm excited to work here with you. But... I'm going to tell you two things, all right? And I'm going to tell you them in the wrong order."
Twilight was confused, which was actually somewhat pleasant compared to the awkwardness. "Oooookaaaaaay?"
"Um." Moon Dancer was blushing, but she still had that smile on her face. "I think I'm going to go on a date with your friend Fluttershy."
Twilight nodded and sipped more coffee. "Oh, yes. I knew that. Rainbow Dash told me."
"Oh. Right."
Another silence, less awkward this time. "Moon Dancer? What was the other thing?"
Moon Dancer looked at her over the rims of her glasses. Her mane was scruffier than usual. "I'm gay."
Twilight nodded again. "Yes," she said clinically. "I guess that makes sense."
Moon Dancer blinked at her in surprise. "Oh... that's it? I told Minuette and the others that, and they made a big deal about it."
"Good big deal or bad big deal?" Twilight asked, concerned there was a new, hidden Friendship Problem revealing itself.
"Good. But still, it was kind of strange."
Twilight sipped her coffee again. With the beautiful taste and the caffeine starting to kick in, it suddenly occurred to her that Moon Dancer was telling her important, personal information, and that her reaction had not been terrible, because of course she would react well; it's her amazing friend Moon Dancer. She wondered why she had ever felt awkward with her at all.
Moon Dancer looked at her, bemused. "What."
"What?"
"You're giggling."
Twilight realized it was true: she had been giggling. "Oh. I'm sorry, it's just... you and Fluttershy. One of my best friends from school, and one of my best friends from Ponyville. It makes me really happy to think about."
Moon Dancer broke into a grin. "Really? I think she's pretty great." She giggled too, dorkily. They both giggled at each other.
"I'm rooting for you guys, Moon Dancer. Thanks for telling me."
Moon Dancer nodded. She paused, and then the next part came out in a burst: "I think one of the reasons the party thing hurt so much back then was... I was gearing up to tell you?" She looked down. "I mean, tell somepony. But it was going to be you."
Twilight's stomach dropped into the floor. She started to speak, but Moon Dancer held up a hoof. "Please don't apologize again. It's really okay. But. If you were confused about why I was so upset, that's part of it. I thought you deserved to know that."
There was a long pause as Twilight felt her vision misting over. Moon Dancer looked up at her with an uncomfortable smile. "Um.... so.... thanks for the job?"
Twilight threw her front hooves around her friend, tears shooting from her eyes like little geysers. "Moooon Daaaannnncerrrrrr!"
Moon Dancer stiffened but could not keep a smile from forming. She returned the hug.
A voice interrupted them. "What's going on?" Spike ran in, looking at them in alarm. "Twilight, are you all right?"
Twilight nodded, tears sill streaming down her face. "Moon Dancer is gay and I lovvveeee herrrrr!" she burst out.
Spike blinked. He blinked again. "Okay..." he said finally. "Well, just keep me updated on everything." He turned around and walked quickly out of he room.
As Twilight continued to sob, Moon Dancer sighed. "I'm simultaneously mortified and happy. That's, like, peak Twilight/Moon Dancer, right?"
It was too cold to sit outside, so Rarity and Fluttershy found a table in the corner of the cafe, away from any other patrons. Fluttershy thought she knew why. She had been prepared for this, and although it wasn't something she was completely dreading, it still loomed in her future. It was like having to take a test in school; even if it's a subject you're good at and enjoy, you still know it's coming.
Rarity certainly was dragging things out. She got the most elaborate coffee order Fluttershy had ever seen, and then after she got it, she spent several minutes adding a tiny iota of cream or sugar, tasting her drink, adding more, tasting again, and so forth. Fluttershy looked down at her mint tea. It seemed dreadfully bare, but she couldn't help it. It was her favorite.
Finally, Rarity arranged her drink to her satisfaction. She brought the mug up to her lips and sipped with contentment. "So," she said, peering over the edge of the mug coyly. "Darling."
"Yes, Rarity?"
"Darling." Rarity put her drink down and smacked her lips. "You know, of course, that I would never ask you to talk about something that made you truly uncomfortable."
"Yes, I know that," Fluttershy replied sincerely.
"However, you must also know that I am not above staring at you in silence until you talked about something that made you uncomfortable," Rarity said, grinning. "Perhaps tearing up and sniffling, as well."
"Yes, but Angel Bunny does that a lot, and I'm very good at resisting him."
"Oh, please. Angel Bunny is an amateur compared to me." They laughed softly, and Rarity's expression got a bit more serious. "All right, I feel I've paid enough lip service to respecting the boundaries of our friendship. Darling." She looked across the table with deep purpose and intensity. "Tell me."
"Um," Fluttershy blushed deeply, but she was still smiling too. "About... Moon Dancer?"
"About Moooooon Dancer," Rarity confirmed, stirring her coffee unnecessarily.
Sometimes, Fluttershy's timidity felt like its own, different pony living inside her head. It was a part of her, but it also felt like it had its own needs. At times like this, it needed to prance around a little. It knew it wasn't going to win; it even knew she didn't want it to win. It just didn't want anypony to forget about it. "Um," Fluttershy said. "Well, okay." She looked at Rarity quietly, through her mane.
Rarity blinked, then leaned back a bit. "I suppose it'll help to be more specific," she sighed. "Do you like her?"
"Oh, Rarity, I think I do!" Fluttershy suddenly burst out with soft vehemence. Her timidity had been satisfied. "I think I really do."
"Eeee!" Rarity squeezed her eyes shut and galloped in place. "Fluttershy! Tell me more, tell me everything."
"Well, we've just had two dates," Fluttershy said, playing with her front hooves. "But we talked a whole lot during them, for hours and hours. Rarity, she's so smart, but she takes me really seriously, especially when we talk about animals. She gets kind of gruff and awkward when she doesn't know what to say. It's so cute!"
"Aaa!" Rarity jumped up and down in her joy. "What was your last date?"
"Oh, we went to the sanctuary and just took a walk? The animals were so sweet. Henderson... that's the elephant... lifted us up to the the squirrel's tree house, which they'd decorated all nice just for us! And we ate dinner there and watched the sun set."
At 'watched the sun set' Rarity literally swooned. "And then? What happened then?"
"Well. We just talked. But at the end, I think... I think she wanted to kiss me? Is that okay to say?"
"YES!" Rarity said, nearly throwing her coffee mug across the room. "Did she??"
"...no. But. I." Fluttershy looked down at her tea. "Um."
Rarity leaned forward. "Fluttershy," she whispered, "I absolutely demand that you say it out loud."
Fluttershy looked up, enormous grin almost covered up by the intensity of her blush. "ikissedher."
Rarity literally vibrated. "I think this is how Pinkie Pie feels all the time," she said, with something like awe.
"It was nice. It was really nice. Um, but I bumped her glasses off. She didn't mind."
"When are you going out again??"
"Tomorrow night? But I was thinking maybe I'd bring her coffee tomorrow morning at the castle and surprise her just for a visit. Is that too soon?"
"DO IT!" Rarity screeched. "That is such a sweet idea." She lay her head down on the table, completely exhausted. "Fluttershy darling, I just can't say how happy I am for you. You have deserved something like this for a long time." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well... there is one thing, though..."
"This is about her sweater, isn't it?"
"That sweater is terrible!" Rarity exclaimed, pounding the table with a hoof. "I'm sorry, but she is SO pretty when she cleans herself up. She's always beautiful, of course, but she looked absolutely glamorous at her party, in that handsome suit."
Fluttershy smiled at the memory. "Yes, she did. I like her sweater, but she told me she was interested in some of your clothes, maybe. I think she wants to impress you."
"Oh, how wonderfully flattering," Rarity said modestly. "But I'm easy, I'm already sure we'll be the best of friends. The difficult ones will be Angel Bunny and Rainbow Dash."
Fluttershy frowned. "Rainbow."
"Have you talked to her yet?" Rarity was clearly keeping her voice as kind as possible to minimize the chance that Fluttershy would start fretting.
Fluttershy fretted. "No. She's been at the Wonderbolts Academy a lot, and I think she might be avoiding me."
"Oh, don't worry, dear," Rarity said. "She's just protective of you, and to be honest, Moon Dancer isn't really the kind of pony she'd naturally be friends with. I'm sure the Cutie Map will send the two of you off to moderate a dispute among dik-diks, or something along those lines, and you'll get a chance to work it out."
"Maybe." Fluttershy sipped her tea, worried she had wrecked something Rarity had been looking forward to. She smiled softly, remembering something better. "Oh, but Moon Dancer met Maud Pie the other day."
"Oh?" Rarity asked, grinning. "How did that go?"
"I'm... I'm going to do my best impression of it, okay?" Fluttershy said, wondering idly if she was pulling off being mischievous. "Maud just walks up to us. 'Hi. I'm Maud. I like rocks.' 'Hi. I'm Moon Dancer. I like rocks too.' 'What's your favorite kind?' 'Metamorphic.' 'Nice.'"
Rarity nearly fell over laughing at Fluttershy's expressionless delivery. "Was that it? Was that really the whole exchange?"
"No, then Maud walked over and elbowed me and said, 'Good catch, Fluttershy,' and she walked away. Then Moon Dancer said, 'I like her.'"
Rarity smirked. "Oh dear, and where did your mind start going from that, hmm?"
Fluttershy's face turned scarlet. She had known this was where the conversation was probably going, but apparently the timid pony inside her head was caught unawares. "Uhm. Erm. Nice... places." She suddenly looked up in alarm. "Oh, but I really am over Maud! I don't think I've ever liked a pony the way I like Moon Dancer! The Maud thing wasn't really ever that big a deal. Rainbow just thought it was funny, for some reason."
Rarity's face fell at another mention of Rainbow Dash. "If you need help talking to her, please let us know. I must say, I am a bit irritated with her for the way she's acting."
Fluttershy frowned into her tea. "Rarity," she began hesitantly, "do you ever think Rainbow... I mean, I've known her forever, but we've never talked bout her.... see, sometimes there's been times when I thought maybe... um." She suddenly shook her head. "No, sorry, never mind. I'm being silly. Um, do you think we could talk about the dinner I'm planning to make Moon Dancer when she comes over?"
"Of course!" Rarity agreed, beaming. Fluttershy filled the rest of the conversation with mundane plans and stories about her new relationship. She was happy to enthrall her friend so completely, and she was so grateful to be so supported. Things were almost wonderful.
Twilight was doing her very best, but Trixie was just objectively not helping. She kept taking Twilight's parchment and trying to read it, even though Twilight was still using it. "Starlight, could you... control her, or something?"
Starlight gasped. "Twilight! You know I don't do that anymore."
"No, just--Stop it!" She yanked the parchment out of Trixie's blue magic aura and folded it up. "Can't you just talk to her, so we can get through the instructions? We don't even need her until we're done with this part."
"Well, pardon me, Twilight," Trixie said huffily. "You're only asking to trigger magic off my horn. That's where my mane is."
"Yes, but you agreed to this," Twilight objected. Then, after a sad look from Starlight, she added, "I mean, thank you for volunteering to help. But this part is for the mares casting the spell. Not the mare whose horn the mares casting the spell are casting the spell on."
Trixie huffed. "I just want to see the spell. You know, to make sure you didn't make a mistake."
"Make a mist..." Twilight caught herself and sighed. "Gah. Okay, okay, you can read it." She unfolded the parchment and floated it over to Trixie, who spent a fiftieth of a second smirking in between her perfectly innocent expressions. Still, Starlight Glimmer smiled at her gratefully, so she assumed she had done the right thing.
"Twilight?" A subtly amused voice came from the doorway. She turned to see Moon Dancer walking in. "I dug up some new sources, I wanted to talk to you about it when you had a minute."
"Of course," Twilight said, turning to her old friend. "Come on..." she trailed off as Trixie pranced past her towards the newcomer.
"Why, who is this?" she chirped, tossing the parchment she had been reading onto the floor. "Are you the new unicorn working here?"
Moon Dancer looked back, bemused. "Yes. Hello."
Trixie twirled, bathing herself in sparkling light. "I'm Trixie, showmare extraodinaire, best friend to Starlight Glimmer, and master of mixed-media art installations."
"I'm Moon Dancer." She paused. "I sang karaoke once."
Twilight looked back up from brushing the dust off her parchment in annoyance. "She's our new Everfree researcher. And she wanted to talk to me about her science, so..."
"Oh please!" Trixie tut-tutted. "Trixie is a scientist! Performance is her graduate school." She looked back at Twilight haughtily. "And if you don't mind, I am trying to make a friend, so let me make a good impression."
Starlight stepped in. "You're doing great, Trixie, but not everypony likes such a... forceful approach. She put her hoof around Trixie's shoulder and led her back a few steps. "Moon Dancer has only been working here a few days, so she's having to get used to a lot."
"Oh. Well, that's fine. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other." She leaned in close to Moon Dancer. "Come see my showwww," she whispered.
Twilight was about to jump in, but she was stopped by an extremely quiet and extremely polite cough. She turned and saw Fluttershy hovering in the window, holding a cup of coffee between her front hooves. "Um, hello, everypony. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought Moon Dancer might like a cup of coffee and a short break?"
Moon Dancer blushed and Twilight could not keep herself from grinning. "This is so nice," Moon Dancer said, walking up to Fluttershy and taking the coffee. They simply glowed together for a moment. "Uh, Twilight, is it all right if I take fifteen minutes to drink this?"
"Of course!" Twilight said joyfully. The pair floated out of the room, one literally, both figuratively.
Starlight looked at Twilight quizzically. "Um. Whaaat was that?"
"What do you mea--Trixie!" Twilight yanked away the quill that had been about to doodle on her parchment. Trixie giggled, unperturbed. Twilight sighed. "Sorry. What do you mean, Starlight?"
"Fluttershy and Moon Dancer were acting really weird. You didn't notice?"
Twilight froze, wondering how to get out of the situation, but fortunately(?) Trixie rescued her. "Oh, my my my," she said with amusement, trotting over and putting her hoof around Starlight's shoulders. "I keep forgetting how innocent you are. They weren't acting weird, they were acting in loooovvvve."
Starlight jerked away from Trixie. "In love?" she gasped, her nose screwing up with what might have been surprise but also might have been something else. "Fluttershy..."
Suddenly, a cerulean streak burst into the room, and Rainbow Dash stood face-to-face with Starlight, growling. "Hey!" she bellowed, "You got something to say about Fluttershy?"
Starlight jumped in surprise, falling over onto her back. "Augh!"
Twilight sprang forward, "No, Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed. "Starlight was just caught off guard. She's okay with Fluttershy, right?"
"Yes, yes!" Starlight agreed frantically.
Rainbow Dash blinked, then shook her head back and forth rapidly. "Oh. Uh. Hey, girls." She looked around with dawning realization of her surroundings. "Dang it, I was right in the middle of breakfast. Can't everypony just deal with Fluttershy being gay, already? I can't really turn this off." Grumbling to herself, she flew back out the window.
Starlight watched her go from the floor, nonplussed. Smirking, Trixie pulled her back up onto her hooves. "I knew Fluttershy was gay since I first met her," Trixie said, fluffing her curls. "When you look like I do, ponies can't help but give themselves away. Right, Twilight?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. (She noticed that Trixie had somehow managed to write 'trxy = hottie' onto her parchment, but she didn't have the energy to spare on that at the moment.) "I, for one, am very happy for Moon Dancer and Fluttershy."
"Yes, me too," Starlight said, frowning. "Um, except..."
"Except what?"
Starlight glanced out the window, worried, then looked back at Twilight. "It's just, Moon Dancer is new in town, and most of her friends are also Fluttershy's friends. What if they break up?"
Twilight mirrored Starlight's frown. She tried to wrap her head around the idea of Fluttershy breaking somepony's heart, but she was not able to. "I think that's a friendship bridge we'll cross if we friendship come to it?" she offered hopefully. "I was kind of already imagining them as little old ladies sitting on a porch together." She giggled. "Try it, it's really fun."
Starlight sat down. "Believe me, I hope it works out!" she said. "But Moon Dancer takes things really hard sometimes, right? Would she be okay?"
Twilight sat down, too. She could not think of anything to say in response. There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Hey," Trixie piped up. "I've got something that will take your mind off all this."
"What's that?" Twilight asked, not even thinking to regret it.
"The word you misspelled on line six."
Twilight grabbed her parchment in shock, while Trixie just laughed and laughed.
"I'm excited to meet him," Moon Dancer said, walking down the lane toward Fluttershy's cottage. "I just don't see why I needed all this mental preparation time."
"Um, Angel is very special," Fluttershy replied. "But... he's also very, um. Ssssspecial? Some ponies find him... esssspecially hard to get along with." She arrived at her front door and looked back uncertainly.
""Fluttershy, it's fine," Moon Dancer said with confidence as Fluttershy opened the door. "He's a bunny. He's your bunny. I'm sure he's..." She trailed off when she walked inside the cottage and saw the rabbit standing there, looking at her. He had obviously been waiting for her. His front paws were clasped behind his back, and his eye glinted ominously in the light. "Uh... is he wearing a little karate outfit?"
"It's jiu-jitsu, actually," Fluttershy said, walking in and closing the door behind her.
"Huh. So, he's taking woodland animal jiu-jitsu classes, is he?"
"Oh no." Fluttershy hung up her scarf and Moon Dancer's hat on the knob near the door. "He teaches them." She started for the kitchen but looked back hesitantly. "I need to go check on the food. Are you two okay in here by yourselves?"
"Oh! I'm sure we are," Moon Dancer replied, very unconvincingly. Angel Bunny cracked a knuckle.
Fluttershy entered the kitchen, fretting less than she thought she would. The rabbit had been informed very clearly what would happen if he didn't behave, but still, Angel was Angel. If he was a little naughty when they first met, then that was just Moon Dancer seeing him how he really was, and Fluttershy really wanted that to happen.
She opened the oven and glanced in. The savory winter-root pie was bubbling, but the crust still needed to turn golden. She looked over her shoulder back to the living room. "How are you two doing?"
"Fine!" Moon Dancer called back. "He's, um, showing me a demonstration? I think?"
Fluttershy chuckled and closed the oven. She was about to go back into the living room, but she stopped when she heard a tapping sound come from her window. Confused, she flew over and opened it.
A blue pegasus grinned in at her. "Hey!"
Fluttershy started back, frowning. "Um, Rainbow Dash. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah!" Rainbow was smiling, but her expression looked odd. "I was just flying around, and I thought, I haven't spent time with Fluttershy for a while. So, hey, let's have dinner. Burritos? Burritos." She stuck her head in through the window. "You're alone, right? All free?"
"Actually no," Fluttershy said hesitantly. "I'm introducing Moon Dancer to Angel Bunny right now."
Rainbow's smile disappeared. "Seriously? Come on, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy could feel herself getting angry, but she was not quite even sure why. "What do you mean, 'come on?'"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Nothing. So, no burritos, then? Because you have this new Canterlot 'best friend' you can't hang out with me?"
"What?" Fluttershy almost felt something Iron Will-y lurching up inside her, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "No. If you want to come in and spend time with us for a little bit, then that would be fun. But you'll have to leave before too long, so we can have dinner. Is that okay?"
"Um, Fluttershy?" Moon Dancer's voice called in from the other room. "He's-- ow. He--OW! Um, he's just kicking my leg over and over? What should--OW! Um, what should I do?"
Rainbow Dash pulled away. "No, whatever. I'm cool. You guys have egghead rabbit fun." She darted off into the night.
"Fluttershy," Moon Dancer called with increasing urgency. "He stopped kicking me, but um, a monster just came in? Ow! Now the monster is kicking me! Stop it!"
"Monster?" Fluttershy stiffened in consternation, secretly grateful something so alarming was happening, so she would not have to think more about the interaction she just had. She darted into the living room.
She was surprised by what she found, though in retrospect, she should not have been. Moon Dancer cowered on the floor, a lizard foot perched atop her back. Attached to the lizard foot was a hodge-podge of nonsense looking very proud of itself.
"Discord!" Fluttershy yelped, darting over. "Let her up!" Even in the midst of the chaos, she noticed that Angel had been wrapped around Discord's neck in a futile attempt at a rear-naked choke, and she allowed herself a tiny bit of pride.
"That's... Discord?" Moon Dancer murmured dazedly as the draconequus snaked his way off of her.
"You should be thanking me," he said huffily. "I just helped Angel stop that strange nerd-pony who broke into your house."
Fluttershy knelt over Moon Dancer with maternal concern. "She's not strange," she said crossly. "I invited her in, and you shouldn't just kick somepony just because Angel Bunny did. Angel Bunny can be very naughty, but you should know better."
Moon Dancer stood up, wavering unsteadily. She gaped. "I can't believe it. Discord, the living embodiment of chaos, is your friend? ...and he just lets himself in whenever he wants, apparently?"
Discord curtsied. "Aleteoshy's casa es... er, Discord's casa," he said. "Now, who are you, hmm? A new pal?"
He had not even accented the word 'pal,' but it felt that way to Fluttershy. Moon Dancer looked over at her with understanding, but Fluttershy closed her eyes and just said it: "No, she's my special somepony."
"Special Some Pony?" Discord shook his head disdainfully. "What a stupid phrase. She is certainly some pony. But what makes her so special, is it the glasses?"
Fluttershy glanced at Moon Dancer for help, but the other pony seemed to have fallen into a blissful stupor from hearing the way she was just described. "No. She... uh. That's something we say when we talk about ponies in. Um, a romantic relationship."
Discord threw up his hands in frustration (then caught them again and put them back on). "You ponies with your pony feelings and your pony words for your pony feelings! What in Equestria is a romantic relationship? Is that like a chicken?"
Fluttershy sat down, helplessly. Luckily, Angel Bunny smacked his forehead in frustration, ran up Discord's back, and perched on his griffon shoulder. He whispered into Discord's ear.
"Oh?" Discord listened carefully. "Oh!!" He looked at Fluttershy with a grin she was not sure she liked at all. "Well now! Why didn't you say so?" He set Angel on the floor and snaked himself around Fluttershy's shoulder.
"I'll just get out of your way, then." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, then reappeared directly behind Moon Dancer, who jumped in shock. "But I insist we meet more formally sometime soon, hmm? I think you'll find that our dear Fluttershy can inspire a bit of protectiveness in others." He did a backflip and was gone.
Fluttershy's mouth fell open. Of all the things that had happened, she noticed that she was somehow most surprised by the fact that Discord and Angel had both just showed better social skills than Rainbow Dash. "Um," she said, desperately trying to think of something to say. "So, that's Discord. We're actually very close."
Moon Dancer stared at nothing. "A rabbit beat me up and then I met chaos and I'm your special somepony."
Fluttershy smiled softly. She leaned forward and pressed her neck against Moon Dancer's. "You are." She paused. "I mean... you are, right?"
"Yeah."
Fluttershy closed her eyes and felt Moon Dancer's warmth and heartbeat. It was, at least for now, enough to distract her from the mock-retching noises Angel was making as he witnessed their sweet moment.
Rainbow Dash snorted.
Pinkie gave her an adorable little head-tilt. "Sooooooo, you saw her go into her cottage with Moon Dancer, and then you acted like you didn't know she was with Moon Dancer, and then you got mad at her when she said she was with Moon Dancer?"
Rainbow Dash snorted again.
Pinkie tilted her head the other way. "I'm not wearing my detective costume, buuuut... oh wait! I forgot to tell you, I have a new detective costume! It's for when I solve mysteries. Do you want to see it?"
"Pinkie!" Ranbow snapped. "Really not in the mood, okay?"
"Okay," Pinkie sighed. "Anyway, I'm not dressed in my flattering new detective costume... but, it kind of seems like you were just setting yourself up to feel bad and have a fight? But that doesn't make sense."
"I know it doesn't!" Rainbow yelled, then she backed down at Pinkie's startled reaction. "I know it doesn't," she repeated more calmly. "I know I'm not making any stupid sense and I don't know why."
Pinkie rolled over backwards onto her head. "You're proooobably jealous? I get jealous sometimes over my friends and it makes me act totally nutty."
Rainbow whipped her head towards Pinkie. "I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?" Pinkie just looked back at her. Rainbow Dash shook her head angrily. "Not. Jealous."
Pinkie rolled back over onto her hooves without breaking eye contact. "I think you'd like Moon Dancer? She's actually really funny. Like Maud! Quiet, but then pow! She comes out with this silly joke you'd never see coming!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. Pinkie opened her mouth, but Rainbow cut her off. "No! I know what you're going to say, and no. I'm not going to talk to her about books. She likes stupid books about stupid things. I like awesome books. We don't have anything in common there."
Pinkie was silent. Rainbow instinctively took a step backwards. "Um... Pinkie? Everypony home, there?"
"Oh! Yes, I was just trying to think of another word that means 'jealous' since you didn't want me to use that one."
"Pinkie..."
"Oh! Envious!"
"...Pinkie. I just don't like Moon Dancer because she's an egghead. Fluttershy should be... I don't know, she should be dating somepony cool!"
Pinkie Pie squinted at Rainbow. "I reeaaaaally think I should be wearing my detective outfit for this. Gummy helps! I dress him up as a little basset hound, and..."
"Agh!" Rainbow suddenly squawked in frustration and stomped her front hooves. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not true. Fluttershy's always had lame taste in girls. It's not like I didn't know something like this was going to happen."
Pinkie glowered. "Rainbow, you're my very bestest friend, but Moon Dancer and Fluttershy are my friends too. Sooooooo..."
"All right, all right! I'm sorry." Rainbow lay down, defeated. "So, being around them makes me really mad and I don't know why and I'll probably just start a fight, but I want to apologize. What should I do?"
Pinkie looked at her seriously. "Four words: Construction paper. Macaroni. Glue."
Rainbow stared back blankly. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie," she said. Pinkie just gave her a dazzling smile.
For the first time, Lemon Hearts felt like she knew what it really meant to be the Magical Princess of All Friendship. In such a short period of time, and from just a party and an apology and a hug, Moon Dancer had gone from a caustic, bitter hermit to... whatever in Equestria this was, sprawled out on the picnic table and cooing.
"Yo, we're glad you're happy," Minuette said, "but careful there, you're going to spill the cocoa."
Moon Dancer was clearly in no state to care about cocoa. "You giirrrrllls," she said blissfully. She apparently felt no need to add more.
Lemon Hearts caught Twinkleshine's eye. Her white-coated friend was always a bit less successful on the romantic scene than the others had been, but even she seemed nothing but amused about seeing somepony so lovestruck. "How many dates has it been so far?" she asked.
Moon Dancer tilted up onto her back and held up all four of her hooves. "Not counting my party." She dropped her legs to the table, as if completely exhausted. "She called me her special somepony."
"We know, kiddo," Minuette said.
"Her mane is... pink," Moon Dancer said, staring up at the sky with quiet intensity. "Not just pink. Like... cream pink?"
"Light pink?" Lemon Hearts offered.
"No, it's not light pink. Have you girls ever read Buckomachaen Ethics, the White Wolfsbane translation? Aristrotle talks about the principle of rationality bearing no weight on the desired virtue of subsequent societal joys, but rather the choice of the greater good from wisdom, not knowledge." She smiled at her friends lazily. "Fluttershy's mane is like that, but for pinkness."
"So, she called you her special somepony, did she?" Minuette said loudly, clearly worried they were losing control of the conversation. "That's a big milestone. What do you have left?"
Moon Dancer sat up, never able to resist delineation. "Hm," she said, scratching her chin. "I saw her house. I saw her work. I ate her cooking (very good by the way). I met the rabbit, and I met Discord. Her best friend Rarity told me that she wants to have lunch next week, and I think that's kind of a test to see if she approves of me? I mean, I think that because she told me it was and that I already passed and that she loves the color of my coat, so I'm not too worried about it."
"Has she been to your house?"
"Um. No." Moon Dancer sighed apprehensively. "I'm still living out of boxes, and... well, I'm kind of weird about my space, you know that. She said she gets it." A soft smile. "She said she's looking forward to coming over when I'm ready. I think it'll be soon."
"What about her friends? Jumping right into the middle of the Elements of Harmony, that's gotta be intimidating."
"Oh no, they're great," Moon Dancer said. "Well. Her friend Rainbow Dash is being kind of weird? But Pinkie said she was going to throw a party next week where things could be cleared up."
Lemon Hearts beamed. "How far have you and Fluttershy gotten?"
"Um. We... kissed. We've only been together a month, is that too soon?"
Minuette burst out into laughter. She noticed nopony else was laughing and she stopped. "Oh," she said, "You were serious. No."
"I've waited longer than that," Twinkleshine said.
"I mean, I guess I've waited longer than that?" Minuette said thoughtfully. "But none of the guys I've dated have been anywhere as hot as Fluttershy, anyway."
"But it's not... normal?" Moon Dancer asked.
"Oh, nothing's normal," Minuette said breezily. "I'm definitely not normal. One time I picked up a guy while magically hypnotized by a changeling."
Twinkleshine gawked. "What? How'd you do that?"
"I honestly have no idea, just went out and met him. That thing was so boring. What'd you do the whole time you weren't pretending to be a bridesmaid?"
"I just stood there and stared off into space the whole time!" Twinkleshine snapped. "I was magically hypnotized!"
"Well, so was I!" Minuette said defensively. I can still get lucky while hailing the all-powerful Princess Cadence, can't I?"
"I guess you can. Whatever."
"Whatever?! Listen..."
Lemon Hearts was torn: she had never heard her friends so openly discuss what must have been a traumatic experience, but this was seeming like just another iteration of a very old argument between Twinkle "Insecure" Shine and Minu "Can't Take Criticism" Ette.
But suddenly, strangely, Moon Dancer spoke up. "Um... she was a changeling queen, right?"
The two arguing friends stopped and looked harshly at her. "Yes?" Minuette answered, annoyed. "So what?"
"So, changeling queen mind control magic focuses on biology and neurochemistry." Moon Dancer adjusted her glasses. "You weren't actually hypnotized; that's a very different phenomenon (the distinctions are very interesting if you want to hear about them later). Instead, it works by flooding the amygdala and the inferior candratum with particles that mimic magical neurotransmitters. That's why it works so much better on unicorns! But these particles are transported directly into the tactites of the white matter. So, your feelings and your behaviors were totally altered, but your tendencies and habits and personalities were the same. So it makes total sense that an extrovert like Minuette would deal with the stress by going out, but an introvert like Twinkleshine would just stay in, even if there's nothing to do. It just affected you differently."
Her friends just stared at her. Then, like a sudden gust of wind, Minuette started to laugh. She clapped Moon Dancer on the back. "All that studying keeps on coming in handy, huh?" She looked back at Twinkleshine. "Hey. Sorry I was joking around about that whole thing."
"It's okay," Twinkleshine said softly. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, too."
Lemon Hearts gaped up at Moon Dancer in quiet awe. She had never seen that particular fight end so quickly and easily. "I think you're going to be fine with Fluttershy," she said. "You've gotten pretty good with ponies. Just be yourself."
"Be myself?" Moon Dancer asked, her face contorted in genuine confusion. "How could I be anypony else?"
"Right," Lemon Hearts said. "Just like that."
"Like what?"
"Exactly."
"So, that was when she said to me... um." Moon Dancer paused as Applejack and Twilight watched her expectantly for the end of her anecdote. "I'm sorry, what was I talking about? Thermodynamics?"
"The funny thing Lyra did yesterday." Twilight offered back, helpfully.
"Oh." Moon Dancer scratched her chin in thought. "That's thermodynamics! Everything is thermodynamics, if you think about it."
That was when Applejack suddenly realized: Moon Dancer was drunk. It took a while to notice, because she and Twilight had been talking all smarty the way they do, and because the cider Sweet Apple Acres had provided to Pinkie's little gathering was just barely past the line of being called 'hard.' Applejack glanced over at Twilight and received a look back that communicated her shared awareness of the situation, with just a hint of "isn't it adorable what a lightweight my friend here is?"
"I'm thirsty," Twilight said. "I'm going to go get a glass of water. Do you want one, Moon Dancer?"
"Water is the most abundant substance in Equestria," Moon Dancer replied.
"I'll assume that means yes," Twilight said. She turned and walked off towards the kitchen. Moon Dancer watched her go with a slight wobble, then her eyes lingered across the room, where Fluttershy was talking quietly with Trixie and Starlight.
Applejack chuckled softly. "I hope you liked the cider. It's from my..."
Moon Dancer suddenly held a hoof up in her face. "Applejack." She stared, completely expressionless. "Applejack. I need to tell you something."
Applejack froze. "Uh. Sure?"
"Applejack. I." Moon Dancer looked more sincere than any pony had ever looked. "I want to thank you. So. Much. For your hospitality and your generosity. Your family is the absolute heart of Ponyville, and so your kind friendship has made me feel like I could truly have a home here."
Applejack blinked. "Well, shucks," she said, blushing a bit. "I haven't..."
"Oh for the love of..." Applejack forced herself to calm down and sighed. "Listen, sugarcube, Fluttershy and me are good friends, that's it. And..."
"I'm inebriated," Moon Dancer said suddenly, sitting down on the floor. "I had two ciders."
Thankfully, Twilight returned with a glass of water, which Moon Dancer took gratefully. "The second cider was some poor judgment," Moon Dancer said, gulping down a sip. "I certainly hope I haven't been rude."
Applejack smiled warmly. "No, you've been fine. But me and Fluttershy aren't exes."
Moon Dancer looked skeptically at Twilight, who merely shrugged. The bespectacled pony downed the rest of her water. "The first cider," she announced, "was because it is still somewhat difficult for me to be open with my emotions and thoughts, and you girls here have established a set of social norms characterized by honesty and candor. I respect those norms, and I want to live up to them." she blinked languidly. "I think the first cider worked." She tried to drink again, realized she was already out of water, and set the glass down sadly. "The second cider was because Rainbow Dash is here, and Rainbow Dash terrifies me."
Twilight frowned and glanced across the room, where Rainbow was chatting with Pinkie. "Did she even say hi to you?" she asked.
Applejack answered for Moon Dancer, glaring. "Nope. Ignored Fluttershy, too." She gave Moon Dancer a look that balanced compassion and irritation as best she could. "Listen, none of us really know what's going on with Rainbow these days, but we're all right fed up with it. You know those whadijacallit norms you were talking about? She's not doing those very well."
"I just know she's been such a good friend to Fluttershy, and to you, Twilight," Moon Dancer moped. "But I come in and everything gets weird."
Applejack stomped her foot in frustration. "Hey now, don't blame yourself. That pegasus is stubborn as a rock."
"I think it might be some kind of foalhood thing?" Twilight offered. "She and Fluttershy have a lot of history."
"It don't matter none what the problem is," Applejack grunted. "You don't just ignore a friend like that."
Moon Dancer blushed at Applejack's defense. She sighed and leaned against Twilight. "Fluttershy's ex is a very nice pony. Your Ponyville friends are all great. Even Rainbow Dash, I bet."
Applejack rolled her eyes but did not try to protest. "Now I need a second cider. Are you two okay, here?" Twilight nodded and leaned back against Moon Dancer gently as Applejack walked off.
Huddled together, alone, with Moon Dancer, it suddenly occurred to Twilight that Fluttershy might get the wrong idea. But she caught her friend's eye across the room, and she simply smiled back. "Are things going well between you?" Twilight asked.
Moon Dancer nodded. "Do you remember how I get nervous about my place? I don't want other ponies there. It makes me feel... invaded." Twilight actually did not remember that, and she had to remind herself again not to self-flagellate over her previously shoddy friendship skills. Luckily, Moon Dancer continued without prompting: "I've invited her over for a date at my place Saturday night. It feels like a big deal."
"I'm looking forward to it a lot," a soft voice said. Fluttershy gently alighted in front of them, giving Moon Dancer a quick peck on the cheek.
Moon Dancer hung her head. "I had two ciders."
"Aw, honey." Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her special somepony's shoulders.
"Hey, Fluttershy," Twilight said, smirking. "Good news: Moon Dancer gets along with your ex."
Fluttershy looked at her blankly, then glanced around the room in confusion. When her eyes fell upon Applejack, her face blossomed into an enormous blush. "One date!" was all she could sputter.
Twilight leaned closer to Moon Dancer. "I had two ciders, too," she whispered cagily.
Moon Dancer started to laugh, but she was suddenly jostled from behind. They turned and barely caught a rainbow-colored tail disappearing out the door.
"Is she... leaving?" Twilight asked. Nopony replied, but the dismayed look on Pinkie Pie's face across the room answered her well enough.
Rainbow Dash burst out the door of the party, shaking her head in disgust. She would not have been able to stand another second of that. She remembered a drink Pinkie gave her once: honey pureed with cake batter, lemon-lime soda, and marshmallow creme. If she could taste that conversation Fluttershy and Moon Dancer and Twilight were having, she bet it would taste like that stupid drink.
She was supposed to apologize. That was supposed to be the whole lame point of the whole lame party. But how was she supposed to do that when Moon Dancer and Fluttershy were being literally the most annoying ponies in the history of The Land Of Annoying Ponies?
Grunting in frustration, she kicked a tree. Then she flew up above the tree and kicked a cloud. Then she flew down and kicked another tree.
She sulked. Pinkie was going to be really upset with her. Everypony else was going to be upset with her too, of course, but Pinkie was going to be really mad. Pinkie knew Rainbow had wanted to apologize, she set up the whole party so they could all start to get along again, and Rainbow had just stormed out and wrecked everything because Moon Dancer sucks and so does Fluttershy.
She kicked yet another tree. It said, "Ouch!"
She blinked and took a step back. The tree slowly faded into a shadow and slithered into a familiar but very strange form.
Rainbow glared. "Oh. It's you."
Discord glared back, hands on where his hips would be if he had any. "Yes, it's me. Aren't you a gloomy little happy little pony!"
"Whatever." Rainbow sat her haunches down on the ground and looked at him moodily. "I'll proooobably regret this?" she said cagily, "but what are you doing here and why were you a tree?"
"Why, I'm on my way to a party," Discord replied with a touch of haughtiness. "But I got a bit distracted by being a tree. Ah, well, better to be fashionably late, yes? Hey, you have a piece of macaroni on your face."
Rainbow started. "What?"
Discord leaned in closer, inspecting the side of her face. "Elbow macaroni. It looks to be glued there. Stylish."
"Wagh!" Rainbow flicked her hooves up and down against her face frantically. "Why didn't anypony tell me?"
"I thought it looked cool." Discord reached down, picked up the piece of macaroni off the ground, and tossed it into his mouth. "Tastes terrible, though, yuck."
"I didn't mean to do it!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I was making a stupid poster to apologize to stupid Moon Dancer, but it didn't work out."
Discord raised an eyebrow. "Moon Dancer?" he asked curiously. "I met her. She seems nice."
"Well, she's not," Rainbow snorted. "She's mean. And she lies, I bet."
Discord frowned. "Lies? But... doesn't she make Fluttershy happy?"
"No!" Rainbow stomped her hoof. "Fluttershy just thinks she's happy, because she has lame taste in fillies. Moon Dancer is mean and lame and thinks she's better than everypony else." She stomped both her front hooves together like she was banging on a huge drum. "Get this. She doesn't even let Fluttershy come over to her house."
Discord's frown got bigger. "What?"
"Yeah. And then she said she planned some biiig date this Saturday at her house, and Fluttershy's all happy about it, even though it's just at her house. She gets all this credit for just inviting somepony over. Like 'Oh, excuse me, hello, I'm so smart and library and unicorn books that you can come over and it's a huuuge deaaaal.'"
Discord's entire body began to turn into a frown. "Why don't you tell Fluttershy this?"
"Oh, she wouldn't listen, because she's 'in love' or whatever." Rainbow actually made air quotes with her hooves, which caused a thought to pop into her head that she was out of control. She disregarded it.
"This is awful!" Discord exclaimed. "Now that I think about it, I don't think this Moon Dancer said much of anything when I met her. Probably because she knew that I can smell a lie!"
"Yeah, well, good luck doing anything about it," Rainbow Dash said bitterly. "Moon Dancer is just terrible every time she does anything, and Fluttershy will just put up with it forever, I guess."
Discord's jaw fell open. "Forever?" he asked, his voice weak.
"Probably!" Rainbow snapped. "That's what happens. You just get stuck with somepony lame and it doesn't matter how cool anypony else is." She glared at nothing. "Somepony needs to just rip off the band-aid, show her that Moon Dancer is bad and dumb. But no, it's Fluttershy, so we all have to be sweet and pretend we like boring, snooty eggheads."
"Fluttershy is going to be sad because of this Special Some Pony forever?"
"Yep," Rainbow replied bitterly. "And we can't do anything about it. It's just impossible."
Discord smiled, but it was somehow his frowniest expression yet. "Impossible, hm? Looks like I have some research to do." Without another word, he shifted to a shadowy worm and slithered away into the night, towards the party.
"...and she has stupid, ugly glasses. ...hey, wait a minute." Rainbow looked around, noticing she was alone now. "Whatever." She had trees to kick.
Twilight gave her best optimistic smile, but she could feel the first meeting of the Ponyville Scientific Salon slipping away from her. She had only learned one thing so far: It was possible, solely through facial expressions, to communicate the idea "I will never forgive you for letting Maud choose the article for us to discuss." Nearly every other member of the salon seemed very eager to teach her this fact.
Maud carefully finished her too-boring-to-determine-if-it's-even-relevant musings. Cheerilee, whose benign nature was apparently completely unflappable, smiled at the geologist. "Um. So... that's very. Nice. About the shale. But... I'm not sure I fully understood the part in the article about the mica?" She looked around to the group optimistically. "Maybe we could all talk about that? The mica part?"
Maud opened her mouth to speak, but Starlight suddenly slammed her hoof down on the table. "No. I can't. I can't. Maud?" She gazed at her friend imploringly. "I love you, but Maud. I can't with the mica. Not any more. Not after twenty pages describing mica and slump."
"Um, yes," Doc piped up, clearly relieved the conversation was going this way. "I grant that this was written by the pre-eminent scholars of mica slump, but I'm afraid this article was like jumping in the deep end of a pool. I didn't have the basic knowledge to really help me understand their findings."
"I didn't read it at all!" Trixie boasted shamelessly, the ridiculous 'intellectual' glasses she insisted on wearing slipping halfway off her face.. "But slump is a funny word."
Twilight held up a hoof. "Hey, everypony, this article was challenging, sure, but that's what this salon is for, right? Discussing new research? Branching out and learning new things?"
"Not about mica," Starlight protested. "I have a mica limit." (Maud snorted in amusement from that for some reason Twilight thought she might understand if she was a pre-eminement mica scholar). "I know Maud's field is important, and I believe her that this article is important, but I just can't retain anything from this, and I can't spend my Saturday trying to discuss it."
Twilight looked around helplessly, worried conflict would wreck her very first salon. "Moon Dancer? You think we should keep discussing the article, right?"
Moon Dancer looked at Twilight seriously. "What kind of music does Fluttershy like?" she asked.
Twilight's mouth fell open as Trixie chirped with laughter. "Moon Dancer!" Twilight sputtered, "We can't..."
"Twilight, it's okay," Starlight said calmly. "I think we're all fine with moving on."
Twilight looked helplessly at Maud, who simply gazed back. "I want to talk about Fluttershy and Moon Dancer," she said. "They're cute."
"Okay, fine," Twilight sighed. She turned her attention back to her school friend. "What were you asking?"
"What kind of music does Fluttershy like? She's never mentioned."
"Um, I actually think she mostly just listens to birds."
"Birds?"
"Yeah. Just birds. You know, chirping and singing."
Moon Dancer frowned. "I can't get any birds," she mused. "Does anypony know of any musicians that sound like birds?"
"I heard Sapphire Shores compared to a flamingo recently," Doc offered. "But I don't think it was a compliment."
Cheerilee nudged Maud. "Hey, I bet I know what your favorite music is," she giggled. "Rock music, right?"
"I like old-school hip-hop," Maud said. She stared, impassive. "Hoof-Tang Clan is forever."
"Um. I see."
Moon Dancer rubber her front hooves together anxiously. "We're having a date at my house tonight, so I wanted to pick up something she'd like. I've, um, never had a mare over before, so I want it to go really well."
"You've never had a mare over before?!" Trixie barked, seeming legitimately flabbergasted. She recovered and gave an apologetic smile. "I'm not saying there's anything bad about that, but..." She thought for a moment about how to complete that sentence and then gave up. She shrugged.
"Different ponies move at different speeds," Twilight said defensively. She paused, suddenly nervous. "...Actually, I was wondering something about that, and this might be the right group to ask. Has anypony noticed that it might be especially hard for... the academically inclined to find a special somepony?"
"Hmm," Starlight mused, scratching her chin. "I don't know. I spent most of my life focused on, um, being an evil villainous mastermind. I never really put much effort into dating."
Cheerilee smiled kindly, as was her habit. "I'm not really a real academic, but I've never noticed a problem. Ponies seem to like it when I talk about things I learned getting my degree."
"I feel like I do pretty well," Doc said, trying half-heartedly to be humble.
"I dated a rock, once," Maud said. There was a long pause. "He was a really gneiss guy." There was a very long pause. "That was a joke. I've never dated a rock."
Trixie smirked. "Twilight, are you just talking about yourself?"
"No!" Twilight burst out, her face reddening. "I mean, yes, I haven't dated anypony. But... like, Princess Celestia is single, and she's an academic!"
Moon Dancer sighed. "She's also Princess Celestia. You can't really generalize from her."
Cheerilee's expression shifted from gracious to benevolent, then to warm. "I think I read once that academics tend to settle down later in life? It makes sense that more introverted or ambitious ponies would be less interested in dating."
Twilight nodded. "Now that I think about it, none of my close friends have had special someponies except Fluttershy and Moon Dancer," she mused. "They're all building their businesses and things like that." She sighed. "It still seems like a really big milestone. What's it feel like, Moon Dancer?"
Her friend thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Nervous-great? Anxious-fun? It's hard to describe. But it's not half as hard as friendship was, to tell you the truth."
"Trixie can confirm that scientifically," Trixie piped up. "Romance is easy. Just ping pang poom, and you got it. But friendship? That doesn't make any sense half the time."
Twilight very briefly considered asking what 'ping pang poom' meant, but she decided against it. "Maybe," she said, unconvinced.
Cheerilee sat up straighter in her chair and somehow commanded the attention of the whole room. "I have something I always tell my students when they're at the age they start getting crushes on each other," she said brightly. "These are just fleeting, weak feelings, but the kids think they're just the most important thing in the world, and it happens very suddenly.
"I always try to tell them, 'Ponies are just ponies.' Do you know what I mean? Every relationship you have with a pony is special, no matter what kind of relationship it is. Whether it's your best friend or your wife or your cart repairer, it's always the same thing: you and another pony. I think it helps keep them from getting too carried away."
Starlight smiled. "I like that," she said.
"Me too," Moon Dancer added, nodding smartly. "Thanks, everypony." She glanced at the clock and then looked apologetically at Twilight. "Do you think we've reached an ending point for the salon? We've already gone over the time, and I only have a few hours before my date tonight."
Twilight sighed. "I guess so. I hope everypony had a good time?"
"Oh, it was great, great," Trixie said dismissively, trotting over to Moon Dancer. She nudged her New Good Friend in the side. "Hey, you need any ping pang poom advice, I'm your pony."
"Um."
Maud walked up and stood on Moon Dancer's other side. "I can tell you interesting things to say about rocks," she offered.
"Please leave me alone."
Trixie looked over at Maud with pride. "We're really good at making friends!" Maud just nodded.
Twilight considered interjecting into their conversation. But she had learned to err on the side of letting others be friends with Trixie if they wanted, and she was unable to determine if Moon Dancer's staid distress was facetious or genuine.
"Hey," Trixie said, "Who's your favorite member of the Hoof-Tang? I like Equestra Deck. 'I bomb atomically...'"
Maude considered the question seriously. "I like Ghostface Cantah."
Doc walked over. "Pasture Killa is very underrated," he said.
"I admit, I haven't listened to them much," Cheerliee said, trotting close. "I really only know B.R.E.A.M. Which one raps on that?"
They all stood together, having their animated, baffling conversation. Twilight caught a glimpse of Moon Dancer's expressionless face in the middle of the cluster of ponies.
Moon Dancer made eye contact. "Twiiiliiiight," she mouthed, "heeeeelllllllp."
"Ffffffffluttershy!" The greeting echoed through Sugarcube Corner like a sonic boom. Fluttershy stood in the doorway, nonplussed, while Pinkie Pie just waved at her from behind the counter. "Fluttershy! Hi! Hi, Fluttershy!"
Eventually, Fluttershy recovered and finished coming through the door. "Um, hi, Pinkie."
"It's so good to seee you!" Pinkie said, grin overwhelming her face. "Didja come to get something scrumptious?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Well, you know Moon Dancer doesn't really like to have ponies over to her place?"
"I did know that!" Pinkie confirmed. "It's in my little black party book." She grabbed from nowhere and held up a notebook open to a dog-eared page. It had a crayon drawing of Moon Dancer, and scribbled next to it was, "LIKES: Books, Minuette crew, Jelly beans, Twilight, Fluttershy. DISLIKES: Visitors, Being put on the spot, When ponies don't come to her parties, Twilight." This last item was crossed out with a smiley-face next to it.
"Oh." Fluttershy looked away politely, despite her curiosity about Pinkie's research. "Um, well, she's inviting me over tomorrow night for the first time, and so I wanted to bring something for dessert maybe?"
Pinkie threw her little black party book (Fluttershy noticed it was green and actually quite large) onto the floor. "What a great idea! What do you want?? Pecan pie? Stroopwafel? Berliner? Oh wait, we're out of Berliners. That's weird. Torte?"
Fluttershy surveyed her options. "I was mostly just hoping for something that will still be good tomorrow night?"
"You're in luck!" Pinkie dipped down and reappeared with a plate of tan cookies balanced on her head. "Friday is shortbread day, so these are brand new! And shortbread will absolutely still be tasty tomorrow night."
"Oh, how nice," Fluttershy said pleasantly. "She probably likes shortbread. Everypony likes shortbread, right?"
"Everypony I know! Except Cranky. Although he's not a pony. And Cranky just hates things sometimes."
"Um... okay. I'll get some. I just hope she likes them."
Pinkie slid the plate off her head and onto the counter. "Hey, you're not nervous, are you? Why are you nervous?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Fluttershy pawed the floor nervously while Pinkie placed her cookies into a box. "It's just a big deal for her. And. I mean. At my house, there's always critters around. So. It's never private. Um."
Pinkie simply gave her a sly grin and dropped an extra piece of shortbread into the box.
Fluttershy shrank back slightly. "I guess I am a little nervous."
Pinkie smiled more genuinely and slid the box toward her friend. "You're not meeting her until tomorrow night, right? Then that's a whole ton of time to get ready!"
"Get ready?"
"Yesindeedy! Think about it like you're training, okay? Like a bodybuilder."
"Oh my," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah! But instead of pumping the iron, you're pumping the ol' Fluttershy brain! So get some reps in, tonight. Look in the mirror and say 'Moon Dancer likes me. Moon Dancer likes me.'"
"Moon Dancer likes me."
Pinkie cheered. "Yes, just like that! She really, really does, by the way. I know because I put it in my book!"
Fluttershy nodded. "Moon Dancer likes me." She could barely believe it, but it was sort of working. She lifted the box of cookies onto her back. "Thanks, Pinkie."
"Let me know how she likes the shortbread!" Pinkie called after her as she walked to the door. "Gotta keep up to date!"
"I will!" Fluttershy called back, and then the door closed.
Fluttershy stood alone for a moment, inhaling and exhaling once with conviction. She felt stronger in that distinctly Pinkie kind of way.
Still, she did not know that she was being watched.
Moon Dancer pushed the fork in so it was a centimeter closer to the plate. Then she pulled it back half a centimeter. She moved over to the side to see from a new angle, realized it was crooked, and pushed it back in.
She grunted in frustration and conjured a tape measurer. Just as she was laying it down, she realized what she was doing and shook her head to clear it.
"Chill," she said out loud. "It's fine. It's a fork. Chill."
She paced to the nearest mirror and looked into it. She then walked to her other mirror in another room and looked into that. "It's just another date," she said.
She went to check on the cooking food, but got distracted by cleaning a speck of dirt off the floor. "You've had half a dozen dates already. It's fine. You're going to kiss and... and that is all you're going to let yourself expect, Moonie."
She looked at the clock again. "She's just ten minutes late. Angel was fussy. Chill! Sit down, read a book."
She picked up a book and then put it back down. The record she had bought on the way home, Ambient Sounds: Birds of the Forest, squawked and tittered from the other room. She could not believe her luck: after Starlight and Twilight rescued her from the conversation she was trapped in, they all agreed to go shopping with her. Moon Dancer had found the record in minutes. She considered it a good omen.
She hated considering things good omens, because usually that just led to disappointment.
She paced, which surprisingly helped a little. "Wouldn't it be really funny if she came in and saw you talking to yourself? 'Welcome to my home; I talk to myself here!' That'd just be totally classic Moon Dancer, right?"
Her stomach felt like it was becoming a black hole. She felt it twisting and tightening, and she realized her breathing was twice as fast as it usually was. "Chill! It's just thirteen minutes! Stop counting minutes, even though it's thirteen minutes now and that's a lot." She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
She looked at the clock again. "Fifteen minutes. She's on her way. Chill."
An hour and a half later, the clock had been taken off the wall and placed face-down on the floor. Every book in the house had been picked up and put back down, and the table settings in the dining room were strewn into every corner. Moon Dancer sat alone, laying her head on the kitchen table. The oven was open; the night's dinner burned into a black scar of carbon.
Only two sounds filled the house: bird songs softly drifting out of the record player, and the soft, hitching sobs blubbering pathetically in the kitchen.
At exactly the same moment, Fluttershy stood at home, in front of a full-length mirror. She glanced behind her at Angel, who pointed back authoritatively.
She nodded and looked back to the mirror. "Moon Dancer likes me," she said, her voice beginning to imbue with confidence. "Moon Dancer likes me."
Twilight groaned in frustration. "For the last time, Spike: because the ground has germs on it!"
"Yes, but food is delicious," Spike argued.
"That's not the point."
"It is to me!" Spike said stubbornly. "And I eat precious stones! Those ARE the ground."
"Those are washed, and..." The castle's magic doorbell chime interrupted Twilight. She gave a consternated grunt. "I'll get it. Wait, but you do wash your gems before you eat them, right?"
"Um."
"Spike!" The doorbell chimed again, somehow sounding slightly woeful. Twilight gave the dragon a glare and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
She reappeared just inside the front door of the castle. She realized for the first time that it was unusually late to have visitors, so she called out, "Hello? Who's there?"
There was no response. Beginning to get slightly nervous, Twilight tapped her horn against the door, causing a peephole to grow from the wood. She peeked through and saw an enormous, yellow frown looming at her through the fish-eye.
"Moon Dancer?" Twilight pulled open the door and took in the full sight of her friend.
Moon Dancer looked more miserable than anypony Twilight had ever seen. She was not wearing her glasses, and her face was streaked with tears. Her mane was a non-euclidean nightmare. Her sweater was bundled up around her shoulders, because one of her legs stuck awkwardly through the bottom instead of through the sleeve, which dangled limply and appeared to be covered in dried snot.
Twilight reached forward in concern. "Are you all right? What happened?"
Moon Dancer just sniffled disgustingly in response.
Twilight was used to Friend Crises, but this kind of anguish was new. She reached out to touch her friend's shoulders and a puff of smoke surrounded them both.
When the smoke cleared, they were back in the pantry. Spike looked up from an amethyst cookie in alarm. "Twilight? Hey, is Moon Dancer all right?"
"I don't know." Twilight's magic grabbed hold of her friend's sweater and pulled it off, noting no resistance. She gently floated the sweater over to Spike. "Could you put this in the laundry, please? I'm going to try to figure out what's going on."
She watched Spike run out the door, and then when she turned back, Moon Dancer had fallen over onto her side. The pitiful unicorn simply lay there mounfully, staring at nothing. She sniffled again.
Twilight cast a quick examination spell and determined there was nothing physically wrong. She sat awkwardly, feeling powerless.
The two of them stayed in silence for a few moments, and then finally, creakingly, Moon Dancer spoke. "I think Fluttershy dumped me."
"What? Why?"
"She didn't come to my house tonight." Moon Dancer slowly struggled to a seated position, tears beginning to flow down her face again. "She knew it was important. She said she'd come. And she just... didn't."
"I can't imagine she'd do that, she..." Suddenly, Twilight realized why this particular situation felt familiar. "Oh. Oh, Moon Dancer, I'm so sorry."
"She's very sweet," Moon Dancer said, heartbreak somehow dripping from her like sweat. "She probably thought it'd be easier than telling me face-to-face."
Twilight blinked. "Wait, are you sure she's okay? She might be hurt, or..."
"No, she's fine. I cast a locator spell a little while ago. She's just at her house, moving around like normal. She's fine."
"Still, it could be some kind of..."
"Twilight, please." Moon Dancer stared up at her with anguished eyes. "I can't."
Twilight looked around the room, completely unsure of what to do. Moon Dancer was breaking again, she was going to spiral just like she did before.
Twilight dumbly realized that Spike had come back in at some point. He stood in the doorway, looking like he felt as helpless as she did. They shared a confused, lost moment.
"I'll talk to her," Moon Dancer rasped.
"What?"
"I learned a lesson from the princess of friendship, right?" Moon Dancer emitted a hacking squawk that was probably an attempt at a laugh, but which was mostly swallowed up by phlegm and misery. "I promise, I'll go talk to her in a bit. Figure out what happened." She looked at them plaintively. "But will you just sit with me for a little while first? I need... I need friends."
Twilight just nodded. She walked over and wrapped her wing around Moon Dancer, feeling tears soak into the fur on her side. Spike wordlessly came close and hugged one of Moon Dancer's front legs.
They just sat there for nearly fifteen minutes, silent except for the soft crying.
Moon Dancer approached the cottage, mind buzzing with a surprising lack of anxiety. Crying so much had left her dry and numb, and her brain felt like it was made of hair, like herself-but-not-really. She noticed dispassionately that the lights in some of the windows were on. Twilight had been right: Fluttershy stayed up late. There was always an opossum or a skunk to feed after the sun went down.
Moon Dancer parked herself before the front door. She reached up to knock, then stopped, regarding her own hoof curiously. Were these the last few minutes her right-front hoof would belong to Fluttershy's special somepony? The thought struck her as terribly sad, in an abstract and distant way. She looked at her other hoof, plaintively spending its last few moments as Fluttershy's special somepony's left-front hoof.
It wasn't all lost... she still had her job and her friends. But this brief, wonderful period of her life, the Fluttershy Epoch, was about to end.
But. She had to be respectful; she had to face her fears and communicate with ponies, even when it was awful. She knew. She would do it. She had to be strong and dignified and fair. She had to stand up for herself. Sighing, shaking, heartbroken, she raised her hoof again.
Suddenly, an aye-aye jumped out of one of the windows of the cottage and landed on her face.
She had not cried so much that she was unable to feel very appropriate emotions in response to this turn of events. She screamed. The aye-aye held on to her hair, chittering madly, as she flung herself in a small circle.
A muffled voice: "Tsiory? Where'd you go?" and the sound of a door opening. Moon Dancer came out of her frenzy, dumbly looking at six upside-down, yellow legs. She realized three things: The aye-aye was gone, she had somehow ended up lying on her back with her rear legs sprawled over her head, and Fluttershy was looking down at her in alarm.
"Goodness, I'm so sorry, Tsiory is so mischievous, he thought you were playing..." Fluttershy's cooing filled Moon Dancer's head as she found herself helped to her hooves, led inside, and supplied with a cup of tea and, for some reason, a shawl.
She was three sips in before she had the wherewithal to even speak. "Um. What was that?"
Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together, embarrassed. "That was Tsiory. He's an aye-aye, and he's visiting his friends in the sanctuary tomorrow night, and... well, he's very playful. I'm so sorry, I didn't think he would jump out a window like that! Tsiory, you should say you're sorry."
Moon Dancer realized the aye-aye was sitting on top of Fluttershy's head. It stared at her with giant, bulbous eyes.
Slowly, it reached out a hand towards her, extending a long, spidery finger. Without really thinking, she reached her leg forward in response. The finger poked her hoof, feeling clammy and bony.
Fluttershy looked very pleased. "That's better!" She reached up and set the aye-aye down on the floor. "Now, please run outside. I'll take you to see your friends later." He scampered off, sounding like a beetle scraping along on the wood.
"Um," Moon Dancer said, completely baffled.
Fluttershy's apologetic eyes filled her field of vision. "I'm so sorry again," she said. "I didn't realize you'd be out there! Uh... of course I'm happy to see you... but why are you here so late? Is everything okay?"
Moon Dancer blinked. "Is everything okay?" she repeated dumbly. "Really?"
"Yes?" Fluttershy shrank back a step. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" Moon Dancer knew she sounded foolish, just echoing what Fluttershy said, but she did not have the mental energy to do anything else.
"Yes?" Fluttershy looked dumbfounded.
Moon Dancer stomped her hoof. "You didn't come!"
"...What?"
"I waited for you. At my place." Moon Dancer surprised herself by feeling tears in her eyes again. "I waited all night. Did you forget?"
Fluttershy stared at her in horror. "Moon Dancer," she said, "that's Saturday night."
Moon Dancer felt like she was either going to burst into laughter or go completely insane. She drank another sip of tea. "Yes, and today is Saturday, Fluttershy."
"No, it isn't! Today is Friday!"
"What are you talking about?" Moon Dancer could feel herself filling up with rage, not at Fluttershy or herself, but at the entire world. This whole thing had been a misunderstanding? "I know today was Saturday. I didn't have work! I went to Twilight's salon, and that was scheduled for Saturday."
"But... but yesterday was Thursday, I know it! Rarity came back from her Manehattan trip. And... oh, wait here!" Fluttershy disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a paper box. She thrust it forward. "Look at the sticker! I bought these from Sugarcube Corner today, I promise! See? It says Friday! And they're fresh."
Moon Dancer pressed a hoof against her head, a pain beginning to poke between her temples. "Fluttershy... this..." She took a deep breath. "Look. I know today was Saturday. I know for sure."
"And I know today was Friday!"
"Fluttershy..." Moon Dancer had almost run out of words; this entire night had been ludicrous. "How could this be? You're saying today was Friday for you and Saturday for me. That doesn't make sense!"
Fluttershy froze. The expression on her face slowly shifted from shock to something that looked completely unfamiliar on her. "You're right," she said, "it doesn't make sense."
Moon Dancer suddenly realized the look on Fluttershy's face was fury. Fluttershy stomped across the room. "Where are you?!" she barked at absolutely nothing. "I know you can hear me!" She stormed to her chimney and stuck her head in. "Come out!" She flew up and banged her hooves against the ceiling. "I promise, if you don't come out, I will never forgive you!"
A shimmering light hesitantly began to flicker in the middle of the room. It gradually formed into a draconequus that looked very uncharacteristically nervous. "Why, goodness," he said with obviously feigned nonchalance. "Who are you talking to? It couldn't be me?"
Fluttershy hovered in front of his face, glaring. She did not speak.
Discord took a step back. "It couldn't be your old friend Discord?"
Fluttershy simply looked at him. "Have you ever seen me this angry?" she asked.
"Errr. No."
"Do you ever want to see me this angry again?"
"No."
"That was the wrong answer, Discord." Fluttershy alighted, face contorted into a grimace that used muscles she had never used before. "Because if you don't tell me what you did right now, I will never, ever talk to you again. You won't see me angry, happy, sad, or anything else. You will be out. Of. My. Life. Do you understand?"
Moon Dancer was almost too turned on to notice, but this threat had a clear effect on Discord. He shrank to half his usual size and hung his head. "I did it," he admitted. "I mixed up your days."
Fluttershy nodded smartly. "Thank you. Now..."
"But I had to!" Discord shot up in height, pointing a finger at Moon Dancer. "You were going to be unhappy forever with Some Pony! I did it for you!"
"Unhappy? Moon Dancer doesn't make me unhappy!"
"Ohh, that's what she said you'd say. She said this liar pony will make you sad, and it'll be forever unless someone breaks you out of it. That's what I was trying to do!"
Fluttershy sat down dumbly. "'She...?'"
"I refuse to name my sources," Discord said, examining a fingernail smugly. "Just suffice it to say, she knows the situation very well, because it's Rainbow Dash."
"Rainbow." Fluttershy glowered at the floor. "Oo, I am just going to..." She stomped her feet and flung herself up into the air, eyes busting with flames. "I am so!" She zipped out of the room and returned with a large plushie shaped like a minotaur. She threw it on the ground and began kicking it softly. "I am so! So! Mad!"
Moon Dancer and Discord watched this display, nonplussed. Finally Fluttershy grabbed the plushie in her mouth, shook it back and forth, and tossed it into the corner. She stood in the middle of the room, panting.
"Um," Discord said hesitantly, "...do you feel better?"
"I do feel better, thank you." Fluttershy blinked, then glared. "No, not thank you. I'm still mad at you."
"Maybe he's right." Moon Dancer had not even realized she had spoken until she saw Fluttershy turn and look at her in shock. But she continued: "Maybe I'm wrecking everything."
"Moon Dancer..."
"Your friendship with Rainbow has been a huge deal your whole life. I don't want to..." Moon Dancer had no more tears, but a wave of sadness washed over her. "I don't want to break up, but maybe it'd be for the best? I don't want an Equestria-saving friendship to end because of me."
Discord whistled, his eyes wide. "Wow, she's good. If I didn't know she was a liar, I'd believe everything she says."
Fluttershy whirled on him. "She's not a liar, Discord! Rainbow said those things because she was jealous. She's been unfair and mean to Moon Dancer for weeks." She turned and reached out to lay a hoof on her special somepony's cheek. "I don't want to break up, either. I think me and Rainbow will be okay, but... but if we're not, it's not because of you. It's because she never knows how she feels, and I never know how to talk about things."
Moon Dancer nuzzled into Fluttershy's neck. They stood for a second, feeling warm, before a nervous chuckle interrupted them.
Discord was actually blushing. He pressed his index fingers together nervously. "So," he said with feigned confidence, "if what you're saying is true, then... I just did something really bad, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did."
Discord looked like he was in physical pain. "I'm.... sorry."
"For what?"
"Uh. Trying to manipulate you."
"Instead of?"
"Instead of talking to you about it."
Fluttershy did not respond. She tilted her head towards Moon Dancer.
"Grrph." Discord clenched and unclenched his fists. "I'm. Sorry. To you, too."
Fluttershy finally smiled. "Thank you, I know that was hard."
"Does this mean you forgive me?"
"Yes. But." She looked at him with steely confidence. "I'm still mad. I don't think I want to spend time with you for a little while."
"What...?"
"It'll be okay, Discord." Fluttershy rested her chin on Moon Dancer's back and closed her eyes. "Just give me some time to cool down, all right?"
Discord just stood as they refrained from looking at him or reacting to him at all. He tensed and grimaced, as if ready to shout and argue, but then he slowly deflated. He gently faded out of sight.
Moon Dancer felt Fluttershy take a huge, relieved breath. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Sometimes I really hate that I learned how to be assertive." Fluttershy pulled away and smiled softly. "Now. Rainbow."
Moon Dancer blinked. "Now? Tonight?"
"It should have been weeks ago. Years ago." She started to turn away, then looked back. "Actually, wait."
"What? You..." Moon Dancer was interrupted by Fluttershy's lips pressed aggressively against her own. Her mind went bleary, but she could feel her eyes closing and mouth doing what her mouth wanted to do at such times. All the numbness that had been filling her up just evaporated away.
Fluttershy finally pulled back. "I really, really like you."
"I like you too," Moon Dancer replied, completely on autopilot.
"I know." Fluttershy yawned adorably. "Okay, now we can deal with Rainbow. Um, you don't have a wake-up spell you can cast on me, do you?"
Applejack had been asleep for at least an hour, and Rarity was preparing for bed (and vocally thankful she had not yet removed her make-up). However, Starlight and Pinkie were used to being awake late, and Rainbow was doing some unofficial night training. Twilight felt minimally guilty for rounding them all up, especially given how serious the situation was, and gathering in the castle made things feel official and important.
Still, they were not all inclined to be forgiving. "Twilight, I know this is tragic," Rarity was saying, "and of course we'll all be there for poor Fluttershy. But they need time to work it out. I hardly see why we all need to be meeting on this right now." She cast a slight glance over to Rainbow, an acknowledgement of the chill between the pegasus and the rest of them. None of them had even seen her since Pinkie's party. Twilight was grateful to have even been able to find her.
Twilight shook her head. "No, you don't get it," she said. "Something weird happened, here. Would Fluttershy just stand Moon Dancer up out of nowhere? That doesn't seem like her. And there's something else..."
"It was probably just a misunderstanding," Starlight replied.
"Yeah, and whatever it is, it's between them," Applejack added. "Fluttershy and Moon Dancer will come to us if they need to. But right now, we can't do anything for them."
"No, listen..."
"Darling, I would feel terrible if they were to break up," Rarity said with a touch of condescension. "But we have to respect what Fluttershy wants."
Spike rolled his eyes and stepped up in front of the hapless princess. "Quick, what day is it?" he asked.
"Friday," Pinkie and Rarity answered.
"Saturday," Applejack and Starlight said at exactly the same time.
They all looked at each other.
"See?" Twilight said. "Something weird."
Starlight blinked. "What happened? Time travel? Some kind of mind control? ...I'm implicating myself, here, aren't I?"
"No, it's... all stranger than that," Twilight said. "I can't figure out what could have happened. It's a mystery."
"Mystery?!" Pinkie shouted. She galloped out of the room and instantly returned, wearing a rumpled shirt and tie with a large, wrinkled, grey raincoat over it.
Rarity's mouth fell open. "Darling, what are you wearing?"
"This is my new mystery outfit," Pinkie explained, affecting a gruff, scratchy voice. "I wear it when solving mysteries." She strode around the room thoughtfully, squinting. "See, the thing I couldn't get my mind off of, was the missing berliners."
"....Berliners." Applejack said.
"Right. Three fresh berliners, right there in Sugarcube Corner. Somepony probably stole them, but I couldn't figure out why those and only those. But then I remembered." Pinkie bopped herself lightly in the head, pantomiming a rattled brain. "Berliners are the favorite pastry of a certain Mr. Discord."
"Discord?" Twilight gasped. "Oh, why didn't I think of that? His magic doesn't make any sense; he's the only one that could do something so illogical. But... what do the berliners have to do with anything?"
"I was stuck on that same thing," Pinkie answered. "Discord doesn't usually break into bakeries." She pulled a cigar out of her coat, lit it, put it in her mouth, and instantly spat it onto the floor. "Gack! Gaugh!" She looked around at her friends, perplexed. "Sorry to break character, but... bleh, are they all like that, or did I get a bad one?"
Twilight pressed a hoof against her temple. "Pinkie..."
"Oh, right. The berliners." Pinkie cleared her throat, scrunched up her face, and resumed her rasping squawk. "So Discord isn't the type of guy to sneak into a bakery for a snack; he can just make his own. But then I thought: What if something else was the real target, but those berliners were just too good to ignore?" She held up a large, green notebook. "My little black party book. Full of secrets and preferences of many ponies. And including a little tidbit about Moon Dancer's hatred of getting stood up. And it just happened to be stashed next to the missing berliners."
Applejack frowned. "That actually makes a lot of sense, Pinkie. Discord snuck into Sugarcube Corner to find out from that book what Moon Dancer hates, and then he does some crazy magic to make Fluttershy miss their date."
"But why would he do that?" Starlight asked. "Discord is... a lot of things, but he adores Fluttershy. Why would he hurt her?"
"He does get possessive sometimes," Rarity said. "Remember the Gala?"
"Even he wouldn't need to learn that lesson again," Twilight pointed out. "And this is different, because he had to know how sad she'd be."
"I think somepony must have tricked him," Pinkie said. She pulled a piece of paper from her coat, walked over to Rainbow Dash, and passed it over. "I took some notes about this, but I forgot my glasses, can you read that for me?"
"You don't wear glasses," Rainbow said.
"Oh, yeah. Can you make out what I wrote, there? My mouthwriting is really bad."
"Pinkie, this just says 'Hi, Rainbow Dash.' What are you doing?"
Pinkie looked sideways at her. "It's probably nothing, but it occurs to me, when I think about it, that you might have been the one to talk to Discord."
Rainbow's face turned white. She took a step back. "...What? No!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "You have been quite critical of their relationship."
"It wasn't me!" Rainbow barked. "I haven't even talked to Discord for months. You saw him way more recently than I have, at that party of yours. I haven't seen anypony; I've been training all week!"
"Oh." Pinkie shrugged. "See, the reason I ask is I couldn't help noticing your body language when we started talking about Discord. It was like you felt guilty about something. You got all stiff and funny."
"What?" Rainbow said stiffly. "No, I didn't," she added funnily.
"Well, I imagine things sometimes, so..."
"Yeah." Rainbow stared her down. "It's... it wasn't me."
"Oh, okay," Pinkie said lightly, "I guess that settles that! Rainbow didn't talk to Discord." She turned and walked away from Rainbow, then stopped in her tracks. "Well..." she said, turning back around, "there is just one more thing."
Sweat began to bead on Rainbow's forehead, but she kept her confident expression. "Uh, what?"
Pinkie tilted her head and squinted at Rainbow. "If you haven't seen Discord, and if you haven't talked to any of us, then how did you know he went to my party?"
Rainbow froze, pale and sweating.
Rarity gasped. "Rainbow, how could you?"
They all faced Rainbow Dash, contorted with shock and disappointed and anger. She opened her mouth to speak, but after some sputtering, all that came out was "It all went wrong!" And then, faster than they had ever seen, she disappeared out the window and into the sky.
"Rainbow!" Applejack yelled, running to the window. "Dang it, we'll never catch her." She pounded the windowsill. "What in tarnation is wrong with her?"
"What do we do now?" Starlight asked, but before anypony could answer, a puff of smoke exploded in the room and Moon Dancer appeared.
"Twilight!" she shouted. "Rainbow Dash talked Discord into messing with time to sabotage my date with Fluttershy so I would break up with her, but it didn't work! Fluttershy has a plan! I need your help and also coffee!" She blinked and looked around. "Um. Hi, everypony. Why is Pinkie dressed like Coltlumbo?"
They were all gathered in the library, yawning and cranky. It was well past midnight, and only Fluttershy maintained her poise, sipping her coffee and staring at the wall intently.
Rarity gave an unladylike stretch, apparently past the point of caring about decorum. "Did we ever figure out what day it was, really?" she asked.
Starlight looked up from her pile of nails. "Oh, yeah. I contacted Princess Luna, and according to the phases of the moon, which I confirmed, it's officially Friday."
Moon Dancer gave her a look. "Friday?"
"Friday. So tomorrow is Saturday again." Starlight and Moon Dancer looked at each other, sharing a shiver. The mica was not over, after all. There would be another day of mica.
Twilight came in through the window and landed softly in the middle of the library. "Well, just like we thought, she's not at home," she announced. "We'll have to go with Fluttershy's plan after all."
Rarity nodded, hovering a stack of boards onto a nearby table. "I think we're finished setting up."
Applejack frowned. "Are we really sure this will work? She didn't seem like she wanted to come back here for anything."
"It will work," Fluttershy said confidently. "I know her. This always works." She looked over across her friends. "Could somepony please take the window?"
"I'm on it!" Pinkie cheered. She bounced over to the main window, standing ready beside the shutter.
Twilight gave the room an apprasing once-over. "All right. We agreed: we listen to her, and we don't let her run. And we let Fluttershy take the lead." She smiled at her friend. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Fluttershy downed the last of her coffee and set the mug down with a hearty clank. "I'm ready. Moon Dancer?"
"Uh, what?" Her special somepony blinked in surprise.
"I think you should say it."
"Me? Are you sure?"
"Yes, then I'll know it's not true. Please say it."
Rainbow Dash flew.
The air was getting colder, and she vaguely noticed clouds around, but other than that, she had no real idea where she was or where she was going. All she knew, despite strong, constant effort to stop knowing it, was what she was going away from.
She lied, she got caught, and she ran.
A sob burst from her mouth, and even though there was no possible way for anyone to have heard, a wave of embarrassment crashed over her. But the embarrassment was a welcome relief from the shame, which welled back up in only a few seconds.
Rainbow was not an introspective pony; she did not tend to distinguish between 'embarrassment' and 'guilt' and 'shame' and 'anxiety' and 'humiliation.' They were all just 'feeling lame,' and who cares about going any deeper than that? But now that she was filled with all of them all at once, they were as easy to tell apart as the different-colored streaks across her mane. She had lied (guilt), she got caught (humiliation), and she ran (anxiety).
And, of course, she had probably wrecked Fluttershy's relationship (shame, a lot of shame).
The first time, Fluttershy had said it almost distractedly, just while they were hanging out one day. Rainbow had been talking about their flight instructors, and Fluttershy just suddenly said, "I think I might like fillies as much as I like colts." She got through the whole thing smoothly, no stammering or anything, but it had been very, very quiet. And Rainbow just went, "Yeah? Cool. Anypony bugs you about it, just tell me."
That cloud looked familiar. Was she just going in circles around the same cloud?
The second time was this huge deal; Fluttershy told her to come alone to her room at night and all the lights were out and Fluttershy was literally hiding under her bed. And from under there, she had sputtered and hemmed and hawed and finally, finally managed to get it out: "I don't think I was right about the part with the colts." Rainbow went and sat by the bed and stuck her hoof under there so Fluttershy could hold it and she didn't say much, and all she wanted to do in the entire world was keep her friend from getting hurt. And everything she did was right: every impulse, every unthinking action, every primal desire ended up being exactly what Fluttershy needed to feel supported.
Fluttershy had needed her. She had been needed.
How had it all gone so wrong? How could her feelings push her to do the exactly right things when she was young, but exactly terrible things now? Why was she so mad? Why had she ruined everything? She was crying, but if she flew fast enough, she could convince herself it was just the wind stinging her eyes.
Abruptly and unexpectedly, some primal part of her heard, very very far away, somepony saying, "I don't like it that Fluttershy is attracted to mares!"
The world turned white and there was a furious whoosh.
Rainbow Dash was suddenly indoors, tensed up and aggressive. "Hey! What do you...uh..." The pale glare faded and she noticed who exactly she was looking at: messy mane, yellow face, square glasses.
A sudden slam resonated through the room, and she turned and saw the big window suddenly closed, Pinkie Pie standing in front of the shutter like a football linebacker. Frantically, Rainbow looked around for another means of escape, and impossibly, bizarrely, all the doors and windows had been nailed shut. She sputtered, realizing she was trapped in a room with exactly the ponies she did not want to see.
Number one on Rainbow's list of ponies she did not want to see strode up to her, pink mane flowing around an angry, yellow expression. "Rainbow," she said.
"Fluttershy! You..." Rainbow shook her head to refocus. She looked around, narrowing her gaze. "What, you all had to trick me to get me here? That's low."
"We have to talk about this," Twilight said.
"Well, I don't want to!" Rainbow snapped, but she darted up to Fluttershy anyway. "I didn't do anything! I didn't mean for anything to happen, I didn't want Discord to do whatever he did. I promise, okay? I wouldn't do that."
"Then what happened, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.
"I was just talking! You know, just venting to him about Moon Dancer. I don't even remember what I said."
"You said she was a liar," Fluttershy replied icily. "And that she would make me unhappy forever."
"Well, maybe that's all true!" Rainbow barked. She knew this was it: this was that line her shame and guilt had kept her from crossing. But, if she stayed mad, she wouldn't have to feel anything else, so she just kept going and going. "She hurt Twilight and she'll hurt you. And look at her! She's not in your league. She's not cool. You should be with somepony cool." Rainbow kept her angry pose and expression, but tears were beginning to stream down her face. She noticed that Moon Dancer did not look angry. Fluttershy looked absolutely furious, but Moon Dancer did not. She just looked sad.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy said, aghast, "how can you say that?! You don't... you don't get to be my big protector anymore! I'm a grown mare!"
"Well, maybe you need a protector!"
Sobs rang out across the room; Pinkie Pie had burst into frantic tears from watching her friends fighting. The whole thing was falling apart.
Fluttershy was crying, too. "What's wrong with her? She's beautiful, and she treats me so well, and she makes me so happy. Don't you want that for me?"
"There's nothing wrong with her!" Rainbow shouted. "Of course I want that for you!"
"Then what's the problem? Rainbow, why are you..."
"I just don't want anything to change!!"
There was a sudden, dumbfounding silence. Even Pinkie froze mid-sob, staring at Rainbow in the aftermath of her confession.
Rainbow sniffed, wiping away tears angrily. "You've always been there, Fluttershy. All of you. And now it's all going to go away."
Fluttershy took a step forward, expression caught equally among anger, compassion, and bewilderment. "Change?" She made a clear decision to go with anger. "Change?! Rainbow, I have an animal sanctuary! Twilight grew wings! You're a Wonderbolt! Things are always changing!"
"Not like this. Special someponies change everything."
Fluttershy sat on the floor, looking suddenly exhausted. "B-but..."
"Friends are a young pony thing," Rainbow spat. "You all know it. Come on, my parents don't have any friends. They just hang out with each other and think about me all the time. Pinkie! Mr. and Mrs. Cake don't have friends, right?"
Pinkie shook her head. "No, they do!" she sniffled. "I'm their friend."
"You work for them, Pinkie, that doesn't count. They have their bakery and their foals and each other and that's all they have time for. Um, so yeah, I'm a Wonderbolt, that's the point."
"But the Cutie Map?" Twilight said hesitantly.
"The Cutie Map is work!" Rainbow snapped. "The only thing keeping us together for real was, none of us had special someponies, and now that's over!"
The ponies all around her were awkward and speechless, which filled her with manic sureness. She fixed Fluttershy with a steely gaze. "Listen. Can you really tell me that you're going to have time for all your pets and your animal sanctuary and the Cutie Map and Moon Dancer and your friends?" She snorted, advancing closer to the other pegasus. "That's not gonna happen. And listen, whatever. This was always gonna happen sooner or later, right?" She poked a hoof in Fluttershy's face. "But don't expect me to be all happy about it!"
Fluttershy's mouth hung open. More than anything else, she looked confused. "But Rainbow Dash," she said, "I love you."
Rainbow had no idea what she expected Fluttershy to say, but whatever it was, it was not that. In her head, it was like a radio turned to static had suddenly been shut off; the world was bewilderingly still.
Fluttershy waved her hooves around vaguely. "I never know how to act when ponies are mad, so I might not understand. But... um. I'm not going to let myself lose you. I won't."
"What, just like that?"
"I think so." Fluttershy's voice was maternal and childlike at the same time. "I think just like that."
Rainbow sniffled. "You can't know what's gonna happen" she said. "It was easy when we were kids, but now..." She trailed off and shook her head. "We can't keep up with everything."
Fluttershy started to reply, but she stopped when a hoof touched her shoulder from behind. Moon Dancer stood there, calm confidence on her face. "I'm sorry," Moon Dancer said, "but could I have a minute with Rainbow?"
Fluttershy paused, then smiled and softly murmured assent. They looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was not happy about this idea, but who nodded sharply.
Suddenly and very unexpectedly, there was a bright yellow flash, and Rainbow and Moon Dancer were gone.
Rainbow jumped in surprise, because the darkness of the nighttime desert came so suddenly, she honestly thought she was blind for a moment. As her eyes adjusted, she realized the full moon cast enough light to see clearly. On one side of her was shimmering sands out to the horizon. On the other side was an enormous pyramid, formed impossibly out of ice-like crystal. She faltered; this setting looked bizarrely familiar. "Hey, is this...?"
"The Sidereal Tomb," Moon Dancer said, walking up hesitantly behind her. "We're in 'Daring Do and the Giant Pile of Skulls.' Do you like it?"
Rainbow turned in a slow circle, amazed. "How did you do this?"
"It's a spell Twilight taught me. I thought this might be a good place to talk?"
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "Talk?"
"You're right, Rainbow Dash," Moon Dancer sighed, sitting down in the sand. "I'm not cool. I'm not cool at all. This was the coolest thing I could think to do, and it's hanging out in a young adult adventure novel."
"...Young adult?"
"But you." Moon Dancer fixed her with an intense look. "You are very cool. Intimidatingly cool. Intimidatingly, petrifyingly cool."
Rainbow sighed impatiently. "It's not about being cool," she said.
"...all I mean is, I know I'm a very strange pony in a lot of ways. And I can be a grouch, too. It would be totally okay for you to not like me. I want us to coexist, but you don't have to like me. Nopony wants you to have to pretend."
"Give me a break," Rainbow said dismissively. "You're basically exactly Twilight, and Twilight's great."
"Look, I don't not like you," Rainbow interrupted. "I don't even know you. Weren't you listening out there?"
"Yes, I was." Moon Dancer took a deep breath, flop sweat beginning to bead lightly under her mane. "I wanted to say something to you about that." She patted into the sand distractedly. "I don't know if you know about the whole thing between me and Twilight, but I tried to live without friendship for a long time. And it sucked, Rainbow Dash. It was awful."
She had built a little sand castle, and she gazed down at it. "Friendship isn't second-place to a relationship for me. That would be a terrible way to live. I'd never, ever want to make Fluttershy live that way."
Smiling softly, she stomped down, flattening her sandcastle, and looked up at Rainbow. "I don't think either of us are 'casual' ponies, so I think... I hope... that I'm going to be around a long time. But not at the expense of her friends. I'm promising you, right now, I wouldn't let that happen."
"What can you do?"
"I don't know. But that's three ponies all working really hard to keep the friendship together, and... I think we can do it. Don't you? Isn't Rainbow Dash always working together with ponies to smash down challenges?"
Rainbow looked over at the pyramid. Daring Do ended up having to shatter it with a magic hammer to get to the treasure inside. She got the hammer from her old, estranged mentor, and once it was stolen by Nightshame, she needed those two orphans to steal it back for her. "Can we really do that?"
"Yeah. Like... I don't know. I can say, 'Hey, Fluttershy, I bet Rainbow would really like to see the new peregrine at the sanctuary, why don't we invite her over?"
Rainbow looked up, feeling how soft the sand felt under her. "What's a peregrine?"
"It's a really fast bird. And you'd help me out too, right? You'd say, "Yo, Moon Dancer, you've had your nose stuck in a book all week and it's making Fluttershy feel lonely, stop it.' I guarantee you'll need to do that every once in a while."
Rainbow sat quietly. "So like... we're teammates?"
"Yeah. Yeah, exactly."
"I hadn't thought about it like that," Rainbow said. After a moment of thought, she smirked. She strode up to Moon Dancer and held out a hoof.
Moon Dancer looked down at the outstretched hoof blankly. "What?"
"It's a hoof-bump," Rainbow said.
"Hoof.... bump?"
Rainbow picked up Moon Dancer's front leg and tapped their hooves together. "You are such a nerd," she said.
"Yeah," Moon Dancer agreed, "I really am such a nerd."
The desert disappeared.
When they rematerialized in the library, they were somehow already hugging. Rainbow pulled away and looked around at her friends, who were all gaping in shock at the sight before them. "Hey Fluttershy," she said, "your special somepony is pretty cool."
Fluttershy reflexively blushed. Before she could recover, Rainbow darted close. "And I've been a huge, huge jerk," Rainbow said, hanging her head. "To you and Moon Dancer. And Pinkie. And everypony." She pulled back and sighed. "I totally understand if you don't trust me, but I promise I'll do everything I can for you guys from now on."
Fluttershy frowned gently. "Just talk to me next time," she said.
"I hate doing that. So do you."
"This is worse."
They both looked at each other, and then, like a magic spell, they were suddenly embracing, front hooves and wings wrapped around one another. A cheer went up from the always mercurial Pinkie Pie.
Rainbow suddenly pulled away and looked at Fluttershy with alarm. "Oh, do you need me to do anything with Discord? I really didn't mean..."
"No, it's okay, we worked that out. It actually ended up being pretty easy. You know, Discord isn't very subtle."
Nearby, Twilight put a wing around Moon Dancer, who looked like the apocalypse she had been prepping for had suddenly been cancelled. "What book did you go into?" Twilight asked softly.
"Giant Pile of Skulls."
"She loves that one. How did you know?"
"I'm a researcher, Twilight. I know things."
Applejack walked into the center of them all. "I'm happy this worked out and all," she said, "but I am going to throw a fit if I don't get some sleep. Is everything okay?"
Fluttershy walked over to Moon Dancer and flopped down next to her. Rainbow watched them, thoughtful. She felt like back when Discord's chaos spell had been broken: the same things just suddenly looked brighter and nicer and realer. Fluttershy was finally dating somepony; she had started out hiding under the bed because she was so scared everyone would find out she was gay, and now here she was, dating this cute, brilliant genius and running her own animal sanctuary. How had she ever looked at these two dorks snuggling together and felt mad and scared? How had she felt anything but pride?
Fluttershy caught her gaze. Rainbow had never been good at controlling her facial expressions, whatever she felt in the moment just showed up there, completely at the mercy of her impulses.
Whatever the expression there was, Fluttershy saw it and smiled. "Yes," she said, "Everything is fine."
Fluttershy worried momentarily that she was finding this whole situation amusing for dark, mean reasons, and she was secretly still upset about the way everything had gone. But no, she reminded herself: Rainbow Dash was up in the early morning trying to mentally prepare for a private, all-day seminar about the importance of macaroni art. That was just objectively funny.
Rainbow grimaced and sipped her espresso. "I mean, I do feel bad," she said. "I totally left her out to dry when she was just trying to help. But I didn't know she was going to insist on... this."
Rarity looked at Rainbow in concern. "I just have a hard time understanding how even she could talk about macaroni art for eight hours," she said.
"She gave me the schedule," Rainbow replied wearily. "An hour on glue, an hour on refrigerator hanging. Two hours on just 'respecting the construction paper.'"
"Oh yes," Fluttershy said, nodding sagely. "You have to respect the construction paper."
Rainbow glared. "Hardee har har." She gulped down the rest of her espresso. "Okay, I have to go. Wish me luck." She turned, then looked over her shoulder. "Oh, Rares. I don't really remember everything I did, so let me know if I gotta make anything up to you, all right? I'm probably going to be on this apology tour for a while."
"I'm fine, Rainbow, but thank you," Rarity said. "Say hello to Pinkie for us."
"Will do." Rainbow hesitated. "...see you around, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. Maybe... come by my cottage afterwards, if you're not too sleepy? Moon Dancer and I were going to go to the bookshop. You can come with us, if you want."
"Yeah." Rainbow smiled confidently, but Fluttershy could tell she was relieved, too. "I'll do that. Okay, bye." She darted off into the sky.
Fluttershy and Rarity gathered the coffee cups and began on their way to the place the path split between Carousel Boutique and the castle. They walked in silence for a few moments.
"Thank you for getting coffee with me," Fluttershy said finally.
"Oh, of course, I love a break in the mornings," Rarity replied. She grinned. "I'm so glad to see you and Rainbow getting along again."
Fluttershy nodded appreciatingly.
Rarity's grin became an outright smirk. "You thought she had a crush on you."
"Eep!" Fluttershy nearly dropped the coffees she was balancing on her back. "No! I... thought she MIGHT. ...Is that okay?"
"Yes, darling." Rarity smiled wistfully at her friend. "I thought she did, too. She probably does, even if it's not romantic."
Fluttershy blushed, but she nodded. "Maybe. I might have that kind of crush on her, too." She paused, looking down at the ground for a moment. "Rarity, do you ever worry about the things she was saying? About us not being friends when we get special someponies?"
Rarity faltered a half-step but quickly recovered. "Well... I'm lucky, I suppose," she said. "It isn't really a problem for me. I get so enthusiastic for romance and intrigue, I can integrate that into my friendships, but some ponies can't really do that so easily."
"Is that why you get so excited about talking about Moon Dancer? So we could still be friends even after I started dating?"
"Fluttershy, I get excited about Moon Dancer because she is charming, because she is good to you, and because she is letting your brother and myself give her a makeover. But even if she wasn't so wonderful, I'd probably try my best."
"I think you'd probably like anypony I dated."
Rarity smiled. "Maybe so. But I'm still quite grateful to you for making it so easy."
Fluttershy gave a blushing smile back. She had meant it to just be a blush, but the smile came so easily, it just appeared on its own.
"Twilight?" Moon Dancer was always hesitant to interrupt her employer's conversations with Starlight, but she seemed quickly encouraged by their welcoming expressions. "Um, I forgot to tell you, I had a chance to interview your friend in the Everfree last week. The zebra."
"Oh yes!" Twilight said happily, before noticing her friend's wavering tone. "What's wrong, was she unhelpful?"
"No! ...no. She's probably the best source I've ever encountered for Everfree plant life. And she was very kind and welcoming." Moon Dancer scratched the back of her head. "It's just... uh... what's with the rhyming?"
"Oh. Yeahhhhh, I don't know." Twilight blinked, suddenly alarmed. "Wait, you didn't say anything about it, did you?"
"Of course not!" Moon Dancer exclaimed. "I just... I couldn't tell if it was a deeply important zebra cultural norm, or some kind of unfortunate psychological compulsion." She frowned crossly. "And she rhymed 'lichen' with 'liken,' which... I don't know, it seems like a cheat to me."
"Spiking!" Spike declared, strolling into the room. He pointed back over his shoulder. "Hey, MD, Fluttershy's here with some coffee for you."
Fluttershy poked her head through the doorway. "Actually, it's for everypony?" she said. "I mean... if you want it." She crept in, a tray of coffees on her back. "We all just had to stay up so late over the weekend, I thought you might want some."
"Wow, thanks so much!" Twilight enthused, levitating a cup towards herself. "I'll never say no to coffee."
"Yeah," Starlight agreed, taking one of the coffees. "Though, when you think about it, we basically did all have a three-day weekend."
Moon Dancer gave Fluttershy a quick smooch and took the last cup. "Is this going to be a regular thing? Stopping by to keep me from getting too buried in my work? I won't complain."
Fluttershy smiled. "Maybe."
They all took a savoring sip, appreciating the taste and the company in silence.
"Oh," Starlight said with genuine innocence. "How did your date go? You guys got to have it, right?"
Before she even finished speaking, Moon Dancer and Fluttershy were both fire-engine red. They continued reddening. "It went well," Moon Dancer said. Fluttershy just nodded vigorously, her mouth and eyes shut tight.
Twilight checked that Spike was indeed perplexed by the couple's behavior, and she noted with some dismay that Starlight seemed equally baffled. "I'm glad," Twilight said simply.
Starlight looked back and forth among the ponies in the room. "Um, am I missing something? Why..."
"Hey!" Moon Dancer interrupted. "On a very deliberately different note, I just realized something. This Rainbow Dash thing was an actual, real-life Elements Of Harmony Friendship Crisis, wasn't it?"
"Um, I don't reaaaally know if that's a thing," Twilight said. "It was just... some ponies working out issues. It's not special or magical, any moreso than any other friendship event, anyway."
"No no, she's right," Starlight argued, always jumping at any opportunity to demonstrate her friendship expertise. "This sort of thing happens around here a lot."
"Right," Moon Dancer agreed, nodding. "And so, there has to have been a moral, right?
"A moral?"
"Yeah, like in the book! A lesson!" Moon Dancer seemed absolutely delighted. "Come on, friendship specialist, what did we learn?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Are you making fun of me?"
But Starlight stepped up. "Oh, I can do this. Um... 'As you get older, friendships require more effort... they aren't just default anymore. So you have to prioritize them.'"
"I think it's more about trust," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Something about, 'You should talk to your friends instead of stewing about it if you have a problem.'"
They all thought in silence for a moment.
Spike raised his claw. "'It's perfectly okay to eat food you find on the ground.'"
Twilight narrowed her eyes further. "That is not the moral, Spike."
Fluttershy closed her eyes and announced, "'Aye-ayes might seem creepy and strange, but they're actually very sweet creatures.'"
Twilight sighed. "I'm not so sure you guys are taking friendship studies very seriously."
"'Dear Princess Celestia,'" Moon Dancer said, "'Fluttershy is cute.'"
"Guys!" Twilight stomped her hoof in frustration. "Don't make fun of friendship lessons!"
They all looked around at each other, only Fluttershy with the decency to look ashamed.
"Okay," Moon Dancer said, "That works. 'Don't make fun of friendship lessons.'"
Starlight and Spike snorted with laughter, and Fluttershy giggled softly.
Twilight flew dramatically into the center of the group and landed amongst them with a thud. "No," she growled. "I'm the princess of friendship, and here's our lesson: 'Your old pal from school might move to town, and as a result all your other friends might start to get reaaaaaally sarcastic.'" She held her glare for one more second before breaking into a warm grin. "'But she's pretty great anyway.'"
Fluttershy beamed. "I like that." She leaned in and kissed Moon Dancer on her blushing cheek, but then she stopped and looked at Twilight with diffidence. "I mean... the Moon Dancer part. Not the sarcasm part."
Twilight blinked. "Yeah. I... got that. I didn't think you.... yeah. I was trying to say something nice, but it might have been..."
"Oh, no no," Fluttershy sputtered. "I knew that! I just didn't want to..."
Moon Dancer took a step back. "Is this my fault?"
Starlight started walking nervously in place. "I think it might be my fault."
Twilight cringed. "No, I was the one who..."
"Hey!!" They all turned in surprise to see Spike standing with his claws on his hips. "Sheesh, you guys can't have one good moment without awkwarding it all up, can you?"
They all looked at him in silence. Suddenly, slowly, Moon Dancer started to chuckle. Twilight joined in, and soon all the ponies in the room were laughing, probably much harder than was warranted.
Spike looked around at the ponies around him in confusion. "I don't really get what's funny," he said. "This is nicer, but it's still pretty weird."
Moon Dancer wiped tears from her eyes and leaned against Fluttershy with obvious glee. "That sums us up pretty well, I think," she said.
