Sweaters, Seawater, and Sweethearts
“We’re almost there! Come on, Moon Dancer!” shouted Minuette, prancing ahead.
“Some of us… aren’t quite… used to running… so much!” yelled Moon Dancer between pants as she shot back a glare.
Lemon Hearts responded by sticking her tongue out at her as she, too, overtook Moon Dancer. “Don’t want to be late, either!”
Twinkleshine left a rush of air in her wake as she caught up to Lemon Hearts. “Maybe she just doesn’t want to get all sweaty. It is a date, after all.”
Twinkleshine had a good point. Moon Dancer slowed—just a little. She still didn’t want to be late. Well, not too late. As much as she was looking forward to actually dating another pony, she couldn’t help but keep her stomach from turning at the prospect. If she could stave that off for just a few more minutes, maybe she could collect herself just a little bit more.
They rounded the next corner, and the group slowed to a halt as the Manehattan waterfront came into full view. If Moon Dancer had any breath left, the sight probably would have taken it from her. Crystal clear water shimmered in the mid-morning sun, stretching all the way to the horizon. Reading about the ocean was one thing. Seeing it was another.
“Hey!” Moon Dancer’s thoughts were swept aside by the hairbrush that Lemon Hearts had pulled through her mane.
“Come on, Moon Dancer, you’ve gotta look your best.”
“Should’ve thought of that before we ran here.”
“We’d have been late. Now hold still for just a minute.”
Moon Dancer resigned herself to standing stock still as Lemon Hearts worked the brush through her thick mane until the last of the knots had been worked out, leaving it silky smooth as it draped over her shoulders instead of in her usual bun, and Minuette wiped away any lingering beads of sweat with a small towel. She did, however, raise a hoof in protest as Twinkleshine levitated an entire kit of makeup in front of her.
“Twinkleshine, I should look my best… but I still want to look like myself.”
“Ugh.” Twinkleshine pouted and began to stow the makeup. “That’s fair, I guess. Not even a little eye shadow, though?” She held up a small applicator. “Just a bit?”
Moon Dancer shook her head. “No, just ‘me’ is fine.”
“...if you’re sure.”
“So what do you think?” asked Minuette, floating a mirror up in front of Moon Dancer. “Lookin’ good, huh?”
“...I look just like Twilight.”
“Perfect! Nothing like looking like a princess to impress a date.”
A date… my date… Moon Dancer silently rolled the words over her tongue. Her eyes widened and her heart quickened. A real date. With another pony.
“Time to go, Moon Dancer!”
Right now.
“A—already?” Moon Dancer tried to lift her hooves, but they stuck to the pavement. “I can’t.”
“What? Why not? You can’t be having second thoughts now.”
“W—what if things don’t work out?” Moon Dancer looked down at her hooves and pawed at the pavement. “...What if I just get hurt like I did when I first tried friendship, Twinkleshine?”
“Well, yeah, that could happen—”
Moon Dancer’s head shot up. “What?!”
"—But you're not alone; you've got friends here to catch you. Now and forever."
A chorus of “Yeah!”s came from Moon Dancer’s friends as she found herself wrapped up in many sets of legs.
“That’s very reassuring, thank you,” deadpanned Moon Dancer.
Minuette squeezed a little tighter. “Glad we could help. Sometimes you just need a good old pep talk, you know?”
“That’s not what I—”
Moon Dancer stumbled forward when a pair of hooves ejected her from the hug.
“Now go on, get her! She’s probably already waiting for you.”
“You’ll have to tell us all about it later!”
Moon Dancer shook her head and smiled a little bit—but only a little. The tension in her chest came flooding back as she walked toward the predetermined park bench, and she focused on the sounds of her friends packing away all their beauty products, tuning out everything else around her. Anything to get her mind off of… things.
Thankfully, the metal park bench was cold in the crisp, morning air, and it gave her another sensation to refocus on after she sat down. She cast another, final glance over at her friends, who all gave her encouraging nods before trotting off, then closed her eyes, listening to the gentle sloshing of the sea, the lively chatter of the passerbys, and… very close hoofsteps?
“Moon Dancer?”
Moon Dancer forced her eyes open, looked up to the pony standing before her, and immediately had to fight back a blush. She hadn’t been expecting somepony so... cute. Attractive, sure, maybe. But cute? This was going to be hard; it was already going to be hard going on a date, let alone one with such a cute pony.
“H—hey.” Calm down, Moon Dancer. It’s just like meeting a friend. You’ve got this! She cleared her throat and tried again. ”You must be Coco Pommel.”
Coco Pommel giggled and smiled at her. “Just Coco’s fine.”
“Coco.” Moon Dancer nodded, then looked away and twiddled her hooves. A family—maybe two—passed by as she tried to think of something else to say. Something. Another pony stopped briefly to greet Coco Pommel and they quickly exchanged pleasantries. Anything. She almost squeaked out a panicked ‘help’, but Coco managed to speak first.
“Sooooo… I thought we could go for a walk down the waterfront today. It’s a beautiful day out, and... I couldn’t think of anything better to do.”
Oh thank Celestia. Moon Dancer let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”
Coco Pommel offered a hoof. “Shall we?”
Moon Dancer hesitantly took Coco’s hoof and hopped off the bench to trot beside her. They slowly made their way down the walkway, and Moon Dancer opened her mouth to say something once or twice, but found she couldn’t form any words. Instead, she contented herself with keeping next to Coco Pommel while she enjoyed the salty breeze against her face. Oh, how she wished she’d read that book on dating instead of just ‘going with the flow’, as her friends had put it.
“So what do you do, Moon Dancer?”
Moon Dancer jumped at the sound of Coco’s voice. “I, uh. I work at the Canterlot library.”
“I bet you work with lots of books, then?” Coco coughed. “No, no, of course you do. That’s a silly question.”
“Yep.” Moon Dancer nodded. “Lots of books.”
“Right.” Coco Pommel blushed and hid behind her mane, flattening her ears. “Um… how’s the weather in Canterlot?”
“It’s fine. Always sunny.”
“That’s good to hear. The weather’s always pleasant here, too… except in the winter. The pegasus ponies really like their snow, so we get a lot more of it than we need. It’s pretty and all, but they do go a little overboard, sometimes…”
Moon Dancer leaned forward slightly, her lips curled into a small frown.
“...it makes for some good ice skating, though. That’s always fun. Do you like any sports, Moon Dancer?”
“I play hoofball with my friends sometimes.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun, too. I never was all that into team sports, but this one time I—”
“How do you do it?”
Coco missed a step, almost tripping on her own hooves as she came to a stop. “Pardon?”
Moon Dancer scratched the back of her head and finally spoke up. “How do you talk so much?”
Coco Pommel shrank back and covered her mouth with a hoof. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I’m not letting you say much, am I? I just… talk when I’m nervous. A lot.”
“No!” Moon Dancer nearly shoved her hooves in her mouth. “No, no, no, it’s okay! I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t mind!”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I promise. I really am just curious. I find it so hard to talk to new ponies, and you make it look so… effortless.”
Coco tapped her hoof against the ground as she pondered over Moon Dancer’s question. “I guess... it’s just practice. I’ve been working with Rarity so long that I’ve gotten used to talking to new ponies a lot.”
“You know Rarity? Twilight’s friend?”
“Oh yeah, she and I go way back. She helped me start my fashion career several years ago, and she’s been one of my best friends ever since. I can talk to her about anything and everything, like who I’m dat—” Coco Pommel’s face froze and she stared right past Moon Dancer.
Moon Dancer waited a moment for her to recover, then waved a hoof in front of Coco’s face. “Are you okay?”
“Oh! Sorry! I just realized something.” Coco smiled and guided Moon Dancer’s hoof back to the ground. “You didn’t happen to talk to Princess Twilight Sparkle about dating, did you?”
Moon Dancer tilted her head. “She’s just ‘Twilight’ to most ponies. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you called her that. And how did you know? We talked over lunch about a week ag—oooooh.” She facehooved and rolled her eyes. ”They set us up, didn’t they?”
“I think so. This has ‘Rarity’ written all over it.”
Moon Dancer started giggling, and Coco Pommel followed suit. Before long, they lost themselves in full-blown laughter, leaning against each other for support. When their laughter subsided, they broke apart and smiled at one another.
“You know…” Moon Dancer felt her stress melt away as she looked at Coco’s comfortable smile. “I’m glad they did.”
“...me, too.” Coco’s face lit up as a thought crossed her mind. “Say, why don’t we go feed the ducks? I’ve always found that helps me relax when I’m feeling a little nervous, and it’s just a little further along the waterfront. Might be nice?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
They set off down the pathway, just close enough so that their fur would brush as they walked.
Hmmm. Pea soup? No, not today. Pumpkin soup? ...Tempting. Minuette’s eyes scanned further and further down her menu, nothing quite feeling like the soup of the day for her. The spicy black bean soup sounded good, but it was maybe just a little too early in the day for that. She huffed and turned the page, letting the menu fall, just ever so slightly. Just above the page, off in the distance, something caught her eye.
“Oh, hey. Look, look, look! Everypony!” she yelled, pointing frantically toward the sea, where Coco Pommel and Moon Dancer could be seen sitting next to each other, talking excitedly.
“Shh, quiet!” hissed Twinkleshine. “They might hear us.”
“Nah, they’re too far away.”
“I dunno, Minuette,” chimed in Lemon Hearts. “That squeal was loud enough to wake all of Griffonstone from here.”
Minuette bopped Lemon Hearts on the nose. “Hush, you.”
Twinkleshine held her hooves to her chest. “Aww, look, they’re feeding the ducks. They’re so cute together!”
Lemon Hearts propped herself up on Twinkleshine’s shoulder to get a better view.
Sure enough, Coco Pommel and Moon Dancer had closed the gap between them and leaned against each other as they laughed and took turns tossing bread into the water.