Hair Flips Will Not Work
The crowd waiting in the station pulsed to life as the train came to a halt. This was the moment they had been waiting for. As the door to the first car opened, dozens of ponies, almost all of them young mares, shouted in excitement. Cameras from a handful of photographers began to flash, not wanting to miss an instant of the arrival.
There he was. Equestria's newest pop sensation about to begin his very first nationwide tour.
Seeing all of these folks here to greet him was exactly the sort of thrill Feather Bangs had been hoping for when he'd agreed to this. In the light of the camera flashes, his butternut coat shined, but not as brilliantly as the tips of his mane as he gave a flip of his hair. Some of the mares screamed again.
"Hello ponies of Canterlot!" Feather Bangs shouted to the crowd. He flashed his thousand candle smile. The ponies began to get closer, but were stopped by the security ponies who rapidly formed a barrier between the star and his adoring fans.
"That crowd is really hyped," said a voice from inside the train.
A light blue unicorn with an impossibly curly mane emerged onto the platform. He had several "cases" of music equipment piled on his back. Instead of conventional road cases, these cases were all made out of many colorful balloons. As ridiculous as they looked, they actually proved to be quite good at protecting the equipment from shock forces. And the luggage never got confused with anypony else's.
"This is nothing," said Feather. "Just wait until the concert tomorrow night. It's gonna be so lit!"
"Luckily, we'll have security there, too," the unicorn responded. "I'm glad you took that advice from Starlight's stage magician friend."
"I'm glad you came along for the tour, Party Favor," said Feather Bangs. "You're just as important as the security. When I lost my roadies, I didn't know if I could still make this work."
"Sorry things didn't work out with them," said Party Favor. "Both professionally and personally."
"Eh, it's alright," Feather Bangs said. "Thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I can talk to any mare in Equestria. And with how much everypony loves my singing, I think I could get a date with anyone now."
"Well, not just anyone."
"Do you see this crowd? I bet you 20 bits I could get a date with any mare you can point to."
To that, Party Favor put a hoof to his chin and looked around the train station. In every direction were young mares with looks of total adoration on their faces as they waved and held signs in the hopes of getting Feather Bang's attention. The stallion seemed to have a point. However...
"Okay, what about her?" Party Favor pointed out the doors of the station. It took a moment for Feather to realize where his friend was gesturing.
There, on the street right outside, walked a mare with her head stuck in a book. She wore a dull black sweater and had an unkempt mane done up in a lone hair scrunchy. She seemed totally uninterested in all the activity going on even just a few paces away.
Unfazed, Feather said, "You're on. 20 bits." He held out a hoof for a hoof bump.
"Uh, if you're sure," said Party, gently tapping Feather's hoof with his own. "I've had my eye on Cheese Sandwich's new book and with 20 extra bits, I can get it at full price plus let dinner be on me."
"Oh, dinner's gonna be on you, alright," said Feather. "I'll definitely pay on the first date, and I'm going to be taking that mare someplace nice this evening with your 20 bits."
Party Favor raised an eyebrow. "You really have a lot of confidence considering how things went down with Sugar Belle."
"With my new talking skills, and my now world famous mane," Feather Bangs gave his hair a flip, causing several of the young mares in the station to swoon and one to literally faint, "I've got this."
It took over a minute to make his way through the crowd, but after signing a few autographs, giving a few more hair flips, and with the help of security, Feather Bangs was out on the street and spotted the mare Party Favor had indicated a few blocks away, still reading her book. Some might have thought that her plain-ness would make her blend in, but in the high-society city of Canterlot, it instead made her easy to spot.
After a brief gallop, Feather Bangs was approaching her and said, "Excuse me, miss." He could hardly wait to see the look on her face when she saw who was talking to her.
The young mare turned around and lowered her book. "Yes. Can I help you?" Her expression was rather subdued.
Feather put on his winning-est smile. "Hi there! Name's Feather Bangs, but you probably already know that."
The mare put on her confuddled-est frown. "Uh... I don't know that. Why would I?"
"Oh, you might've seen me around before." Feather repositioned himself so that he was standing directly in front of a light pole with a poster for his concert on it.
The mare looked carefully at his face. As she made note of his features, Feather Bangs performed one of his trademark hair flips. It was perfect, as the sun flawlessly caught and accentuated the light colored tips at the end of his bangs. The act even brought the attention of a random mare across the street, who let out a light fan-girl squeak as she waved in the hopes of being noticed.
However, the mare in front of him came back with, "Nope, sorry. I'm pretty good with faces and I don't believe we've ever met before. Maybe you're confusing me for Rainbow Stars? She moved to Canterlot recently and we do look superficially similar." At that, she went back to her book.
"What? No, we haven't met. You might know who I am because I'm on posters all over town. See." Feather Bangs pointed to the poster. Once more, the mare pulled her face from the pages and looked up, this time at the light pole.
"Huh, so you are." With a curt nod, she returned to her book and began walking away again. "Congratulations on the concert. Break a leg and all that."
Okay, this is not working like it's supposed to...
Feather ran around to stand in front of the mare. This time, when she stopped, she didn't just lower her book. She returned it to her saddlebag. "What do you want now?" she said, not even bothering to hide her annoyance.
"Let's try this again," Feather said, holding out a hoof. "My name's Feather Bangs. Who are you?"
In response, the mare gave an impressively lackluster hoofshake. "Moondancer."
"That's a really beautiful name," said Feather. "It reminds me of cloudless nights in my village when I used to imagine that the stars were dancing around the moon as they twinkled. I could write a song about a name like that."
"You can thank my parents for it. They gave it to me. I didn't have anything to do with it."
"You certainly wear it well," he said, with a smile.
Rolling her eyes, Moondancer said, "Is there something I can help you with?
"I was just thinking that maybe we could go do something together," he said. "You know, like, chat and get to know each other over a cup of tea?"
"Why...?" Suddenly, Moondancer's eyes widened. What Feather Bangs said reminded her of something important she'd forgotten.
Sitting across from her friend Twilight Sparkle, Moondancer took another sip of tea from her cup. It was a nice, sunny afternoon as the pair sat together in the West Castle Courtyard. They had been talking about Moondancer's recent shopping trip with Minuette when Twilight asked a question that was becoming all too common at their get-togethers as of late.
"It's great that you're spending time with our old friends," said Twilight. "Have you happened to make any new friends since we spoke last?"
"Uh, no, I actually haven't. But I'll get around to it."
The alicorn's mane was blowing slightly in the breeze of the courtyard. Or perhaps for another reason... her mane had seemingly started blowing a bit on its own now and then recently.
Twilight said, in a tired tone, "Moondancer, you really should try to make more friends."
"That's easy for you to say," said Moondancer. "You are literally the Princess of Friendship. I heard you actually managed to befriend a rock."
"All the more reason why you don't have an excuse," said Twilight as she stirred a bit more cinnamon into her tea. "If Boulder and I are able to make our friendship work—long distance no less!—you can make friends with a pony."
"This is the eighth time you've brought this up," said Moondancer, exasperation dripping from every syllable. "You're really never going to let this go, are you?"
"You make it sound like a punishment! I just want you to be happy. You've renewed your old friendships, and that's great, but I think it would really benefit you to start off fresh with somepony new."
Moondancer groaned. "Fine. If it means that much to you, I'll make a new friend."
"Good." Twilight took a rather long drink from her teacup, then said, "Of course, you'll be bringing this friend with you to our tea time in two Saturdays."
"Really? Are you serious?!"
"Absolutely," said Twilight. "But I'll make it worth your while. I promise."
"Go on," said Moondancer, leaning in to hear the Princess' proposal.
"In exchange for taking my advice, I'll show you a new amniomorphic spell trick taught to me by none other than Star Swirl himself."
"Really! Are you serious!?"
"Absolutely. But, you need to bring a friend with you to our next tea time."
"Ponyfeathers!" Moondancer cursed under her breath. It was already Friday. There was no way she would be able to find a new friend to bring with her on such short...
She looked back at Feather Bangs.
"You said you wanted to get tea together?"
Feather nodded. "Or coffee works, too. You know, if you're into that instead."
"No, no. Tea is perfect," said Moondancer. "Let's meet in the West Castle Courtyard tomorrow afternoon at 1."
"There's a tea shop on the castle grounds?"
"Not exactly, but there'll be tea and a table. We can do the chatting and getting to know each other thing you wanted."
"Sounds cool." Feather's smile returned and he went back into his smooth, cool-guy voice. "I look forward to spending time in the courtyard with a might-tea fine mare."
Moondancer's brain half-fried at the painfully-forced pun pick-up line. If she didn't need to bring somepony new with her, she probably would've called it off. To be fair, she never would've agreed to it in the first place if not for that, but still...
Forcing a smile, she came back with, "Thanks, it'll be great to get to know such a... talented stallion like yourself. Now, uh, if you'll excuse me, I've got a... um... a library book to return. See ya tomorrow!"
And with that, Moondancer trotted away as quickly as possible.
At just before 1pm the next day, Feather Bangs arrived at the West Castle Courtyard. It was a sunny day. The blue jays and green jays and pink jays were singing in some nearby trees. He honestly couldn't have imagined a better setting for a first date. Apparently, Moondancer had increadibly good taste.
Looking around, he spotted a table with a tea pot and cups on it. As he walked over, he noticed that there were 3 cups. His eyebrow raised at that.
"Feather Bangs, is that you?"
The voice came from behind him. He was pretty sure he recognized it and, upon turning around, he confirmed his suspicions. "Princess Twilight? What are you doing here?"
To that, the alicorn looked confused. "Uh, this is my bi-weekly tea time with Moondancer. She invited you, didn't she?"
"Uh, yeah," Feather said. "She didn't mention that you were gonna be here, is all."
"I see," said Twilight.
The pair could hear the crunching of some grass not far off and both looked over to see that Moondancer had arrived.
"Hi Twilight," said Moondancer. She looked at Feather Bangs and immediately realized that she had forgotten his name. "Hi... you."
Twilight smiled. "Hello Moondancer. Would you like to introduce me to your new friend?"
"Oh, of course." A bead of sweat became visible above one of Moondancer's eyebrows. "This is... Plume Boom."
"Feather Bangs," he said.
"Right, Feather Bangs, sorry." Moondancer looked at Twilight. "You know I've always been terrible with names."
"Moondancer, did you tell Feather Bangs that it was going to be just the two of you here today?"
Uh-oh! They were talking before I got here... Moondancer thought. She knew she should've arrived first. "Now, in my defense," she said. "I didn't say anything about how many ponies were going to be here."
Twilight shook her head. "Moondancer, you can't trick a pony into thinking you're taking him on a date when you're just looking to be friends."
A crushed look appeared on Feather Bang's face. "You didn't want to go on a date with me?"
Moondancer sighed. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice pony, or whatever, but to be frank, I only invited you here so that Twilight would teach me one of Star Swirl the Bearded's spells."
"What?!" Of all the possible explanations, that one was nowhere to be found on Feather Bangs' list.
"Yeah, she promised she would teach it to me if I brought a new friend to our next tea time. And since you wanted to go out anyway, I figured, hey, why not you?"
Feather Bangs opened his mouth and then shut it again. He shook his head. "It was nice to see you again, Princess Twilight." Head down, Feather Bangs walked away from the scene, leaving the two mares alone.
Twilight was staring at Moondancer, who was now blushing furiously.
"Alright. Maybe I should've been a bit more tactful," said Moondancer.
"Walk with me," said Twilight, turning and heading deeper into the castle grounds.
Moondancer winced before following. This was rare. In fact, she could never remember a time when Twilight had spoken to her like that. Even though Twilight was the same age, Moondancer almost felt like she was being disciplined by one of her parents.
After walking for about a minute, the pair arrived at an empty plinth in the garden. Moondancer was well aware what used to sit upon it.
"When Discord ruled Equestria," said Twilight, "he had plenty of magic. He had the power to bend reality to his will. It was everything he ever wanted, but in the end, he was willing to give it up for the one thing he actually needed. Do you know what that was?"
"Friendship?" Moondancer half groaned on the word.
Twilight looked over at her. The look on her face made Moondancer's ears flick down against her head. It was an expression that proved in an instant that Twilight was Celestia's true successor: that peculiar blend of disappointment and expectancy that could only be provided by deep-seated, undeniable wisdom. "I know it may not make much sense to you now, but I promise you that there's more magic in one friendship that in all the spells I could ever teach you."
Moondancer sighed. "So, you think I should go apologize to Feather Bangs?"
"I have a feeling you already know the answer to that."
After finding her way to the arena where Feather Bangs was performing, it took Moondancer a while to locate his dressing room. Once she saw the door with a picture of his cutie mark taped to it, she made a beeline for it. As she approached the door, however, a stallion in a black t-shirt swiftly moved to stand in her way.
"Uh, excuse me, I need to go in there to talk to Feather Bangs," said Moondancer, trying to get past the guard.
"Yeah, you and half the mares in Canterlot," he said. "Just go take your seat. If you bought a VIP Pass, you'll get to see him after the show. Otherwise, you ain't seeing him today."
"You don't understand," said Moondancer. "It's really important that I talk to him."
"Oh, this oughtta be good," said the security guard. "Let me hear it."
"I'm here to apologize to him, and to try to be his friend, on the personal orders of Twilight Sparkle."
"Of course you are! And right after my shift, I'm due to be knighted by Prince Shining Armor for exceptional valor in defending Mr. Bangs from fanponies like you."
Moondancer sighed and adjusted her glasses. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"I have a feeling you already know the answer to that."
Sweet Celestia, what am I supposed to do now? Moondancer thought, looking around the room.
"Hey Party Favor," said the guard to somepony across the room.
A light blue unicorn with an impossibly curly mane had come around the corner. Resting on his back was a book. On instinct, Moondancer made note of the title. It was the new book by Cheese Sandwich. She had heard about it from Twilight. Apparently Pinkie Pie was involved in getting it to market. Of course, Moondancer had no real interest in reading the book herself. It wasn't the sort of thing she ever got into.
Got into...
Acting quickly, she said to the guard, "Well, I can see that I won't be getting past you today. Have a good evening, sir."
The guard nodded and prepared to move aside so that the new arrival could enter.
While that was happening, Moondancer dove around the corner and immediately began to focus her magic.
"Sorry I'm a bit late," said Party Favor. "Somepony told me that a book store on the other side of Canterlot was having a sale on this new book I wanted to get."
The guard moved aside so that the blue unicorn could pass. "No worries. Feather Bangs just got here, too."
Neither of the ponies noticed the gentle flash that appeared on the edges of Party's book.
Party Favor entered and found his friend sitting in front of the mirror. It didn't take a scientist to recognize the look on his face as moping.
"I take it the date didn't go well?"
"You were right, Party," said Feather Bangs. "She wasn't interested in me. She was just using me to get Princess Twilight to teach her a new spell."
"Ouch," said Party Favor. "But, to be fair, you were only asking her out to win our bet."
"You made a bet on me?!" said a muffled voice from inside the book.
Party Favor jumped and the book fell off his back. It skidded to a halt on the floor between the two. The stallions both stared at it. Then, in a flash, Moondancer appeared on top of it. The mare's gaze immediately found Feather Bangs.
"We need to talk," she said. "But first..." Moondancer turned to Party Favor. With her magic, she levitated the book toward him. "Sorry for going inside your book without your permission."
"Oh, it's no big deal. Happens all the time," Party said, still flabbergasted from the mare's sudden appearence.
"Maybe you could go read it outside for a minute?" said Moondancer. "Given your cutie mark, I'm sure you're really gonna like it. There's a whole section dedicated to balloon animals."
Party Favor glanced over at the other stallion. Feather Bangs nodded that it was okay and then Party Favor left the two alone.
For a while, the two were quiet. Every few seconds, one of them would look at the other and then back to the floor. Moondancer normally enjoyed silences, but those were in libaries while she was studying. This was an awkward silence and she could feel it growing more awkward with every passing moment. When the pair's eyes finally met during one of their glances, they both said, "Sorry."
"You go first," said Feather, gesturing with a hoof.
"Feather Bangs, I shouldn't have lead you on like that," said Moondancer. "You honestly seem like a really nice stallion. Well, betting on going out with mares aside."
"And I shouldn't have done that," he said. "I was just letting the rush of fame get to my head. I thought I could get any mare in Equestria to go out with me."
"If what your security pony said is anything to go by, that's probably not an unfair assumption."
"But it was still wrong of me to use you like that. You deserve better..." A flash appeared in Feather's eyes. The stallion walked over to the trash bin by the door and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
"What's that?" asked Moondancer, walking over to him.
"It's a song I wrote. I was gonna sing it for you on our... well... not-date."
"You actually wrote me a song?" As a filly, Moondancer had fantasized about a stallion writing her a poem or a song at some point, but as she got older, and her mane got less tidy, and her social life got—well frankly, totally obliterated by her unending studying, that fantasy had long ago died.
"I wasn't kidding when I said I think your name is beautiful," said Feather Bangs. "And I think I owe you more than an apology. But I think I need to change a couple things." He walked over to the little desk by the mirror, dropped the page, and pulled out a quill. After a moment, Feather nodded and picked up the paper again.
"So can I read it?" asked Moondancer.
"I'll do you one better." And he sang:
When the sun in the sky
Says its goodbye
And the lights of the night come to play
The moon glows so bright
The stars are just right
For a happy night-time ballet
Yet there was one star above
Bright white as a dove
Danced along to her own song
Was amazing to see
Swore she was dancin' for me
But it turned out that I was wrong
She's my Moondancer
In the heavens she soars
She's my Moondancer
I hope someday you find yours
She's my Moondancer
Seems brighter than the sun
Do you see my Moondancer?
She must be havin' so much fun
O even if she didn't want me to romance her
I'm so glad I saw my Moondancer
By the end, Moondancer's mouth was literally agape. The idea that somepony would take the time to write something like that just for her was remarkable, beyond unexpected. All she could bring herself to say was, "That was wonderful."
"Well, I had wonderful inspiration."
In the moment, it felt natural for the two to come together in a hug. Feather Bangs felt the gentle bump of her glasses against the side of his face. Moondancer felt the gentle whish of his mane against hers. They held each other for a few seconds before coming apart again.
"I'm gonna be honest from the start this time," said Moondancer. "I'd like to just be friends for now."
Feather Bangs nodded. "Well, even if 'for now' turns into 'forever,' I'd be lucky to have a friend like you."
Moondancer smiled. If he said more things like that, and less cheesy one-liners, then she could imagine "for now" wouldn't stay that way for very long at all.