"But I figured that... like..." Sharp Quill laid back against the grass, staring up at the starlight. "Mares totally dig getting gifts and stuff."
"See, there you go again," Rainbow Dash said, lying down a few spaces away atop the same hill. She fiddled with the necklace as her eyes traced the clouds floating against the constellations above. "'Mares dig this.' 'Mares dig that.' Not all mares think alike."
"Well, I know that," he said, then squirmed. "Er... at least you do."
"For real. Even mares who... er... want a stallion to hit on them aren't all the same. Don't you get that?"
Sharp Quill sighed. "I guess I don't..."
"I mean, receiving tokens of affections can be a great thing. But you gotta time it just right," Rainbow said. "Giving me the necklace today was waaaaaaaaaay too soon."
"You think?"
"Dude. Even if I was into you, it was—like—our first 'date.' And only 'cuz Rarity set it up like that."
"Uh huh..."
"It just comes across as super awkward. I didn't even know what to make of the thing when you first hoofed it to me."
"Yeah..."
"And then you started laying it on thick with the 'you're beautiful' and 'you have a nice mane' or whatever the heck you said." Rainbow giggled out the side of her muzzle, smirking. "That's more creepy than romantic, pal."
"Yeesh..." Sharp Quill grimaced. "I never ever wanna be creepy."
"Well, deep down, you ain't a creep," Rainbow said. "At least, I'm convinced of that."
"You are...?"
She turned her head aside, looking at him from across all the tall grass. "Only 'cuz I got a chance to talk to you... y'know? One on one? From one pony to another?"
"Yeah..." Sharp Quill exhaled. "If only I could get that to work with a marefriend."
"And—like—why can't you?" Rainbow shrugged. "Marefriends are ponies too."
"I'm well aware of that."
Rainbow giggled again. "A-are you?! I swear, until you figured out that I wasn't into you, you treated me with foam horseshoes!"
"Eh...?"
"What I mean is..." She sat up, looking down at him. "Things were only ever awkward the moment when you decided to—like—go into full Saint Valentrot mode. For a while there, I'd say we were hitting it off well!"
"We were?"
"Super well, as a matter of fact!" Rainbow smirked. "Cuz all we did was chat about Rarity and Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus and... and..." She shrugged. "Simple, innocent, pegasus stuff."
"Well, Rarity was with us at the time," Sharp Quill said. "I... I-I felt like just being friendly."
"Right!" Rainbow nodded. "And you kinda sorta have to be friends first before you're anything else." She winced slightly, glancing at the dark rooftops of Ponyville. "Well... in most cases, I guess."
"You... you mean to say you were even enjoying my company for a while there?"
"Listen, Sharp, you're a pretty nifty guy," Rainbow said. "So long as you're not trying so hard to be romantic, you're A-okay!"
"Pffft. But I'm about as insecure as it gets."
"Coulda fooled me."
"For real?"
"And, y'know, if I was a mare who was into dudes, and I got to know you well enough..." She shrugged. "I probably wouldn't have cared all that much when I found out about you having the same sort of problems that every other pony has. Because—like—at that point in time, I would have gotten used to you."
"Hah!" He rolled his eyes with a smirk. "'Getting used to somepony' is not the same as 'falling in love with them.'"
"Look. I'm talking stallions and mares, here. I'm reaching. Cut me a break."
"Heheh... alright."
"And, for real, all lovey-doveyness aside..." She squinted at him. "You really gotta believe in yourself more. Stop being so down on yourself. I can't imagine that many mares are really into that. Or, at least, the ones who are into self-deprecating stallions are the sort of ponies who get a kick out of stomping on more than just their hearts, if you catch my drift."
"Erm... I-I'm not sure I want to..."
"It's an ugly world out there. Trust me."
"I almost wanna stick to farms, now that you say that."
"Well, don't, y'know?" Rainbow smirked. "Don't go into hiding. And you'd sure as heck better not let this silly day set you back several steps."
"Nah..." Sharp Quill sat up with a sigh. "If anything, I think I'm a lot smarter now, 'cuz of talking to you."
"Well, awesome." Rainbow smiled.
"Don't come on too fast..." He gulped. "Don't be big on lavishing gifts. Believe in myself more..."
"You've got the basics down pat, it seems."
"I've got more to work on than just those," he muttered to himself. "At least now I'm cognizant enough to admit it." His nostrils flared. "I just... g-gotta stop trying so hard."
"More like you gotta stop listening to mares like Rarity talking you into stupid blind dates." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "They never work, by the way."
"Huh?"
"Blind dates. You gotta be desperate or stupid to think otherwise."
Sharp Quill winced at that.
"Er..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "I-I didn't mean it like that, uhhh..."
"Nah..." Sharp Quill sighed. "It's okay. I need a harsh reality check, is all."
"Just... don't take it too hard, alright?" Rainbow smiled gently. "You're an alright stallion. I dun wanna see your dreams get crushed."
"Me neither. They're very good dreams." He turned towards her, blinking. "Mind if I ask you a silly question?"
She shrugged. "I really can't see how our discussion could get any sillier."
He bit his lip, squirming a bit. At last, he asked, "What is it that you look for in a mare?"
She blinked. "For real?"
"I mean... if it's too private of a topic—"
"Heh... no more private than if I asked you."
"It's just that I've never talked this long with a mare who... likes other mares."
"How different could it be?" Rainbow shrugged. "I... I-I guess I like mares for all the same reasons a stallion like you would."
"You mean you've always wanted a partner who's demure, cute, soft and gentle in all the right places, and will gasp in delight at the merest nuzzle?"
"... ... ..." Rainbow blinked. "Erm... okay... so maybe it is different." She gulped. "Like... super different."
Sharp Quill chuckled.
"Nah... I mean..." Rainbow brushed her bangs back. "I guess I sorta used to like ultra-femme... femmes. But something sort of clicked in my heartspace around the time I was a teenager. I realized that I deeply... secretly wanted to be with somepony bigger and stronger than me." She smirked. "Only cuz, as I grew older and awesomer, I found it harder and harder to meet mares who could beat me at anything."
"So..." Sharp Quill smirked. "It's you who wanted to be the demure one."
"Pfft. It's never that simple, buddy," Rainbow said. "It's not about filling certain slots or roles. It's... all nebulous, really. I just felt more comfortable... more loved around a pony who I felt could 'take care' of me and wanted to. Heck, I got really obsessed with it for a while. Maybe a bit too much." She sighed out her nostrils. "'Cuz it got me in super depressing places that were really hard to crawl out of."
Sharp Quill stared at her. "You... uh... h-had a bad relationship?"
Rainbow gulped. "Two of 'em. I'm not very proud of it."
"I'm very sorry to hear that," he said. "That sounds horrible."
"Pffft. It'd only be horrible if I never got out." She smirked at him. "Look at me. Do I strike you as a defeated pony?"
"Heh. Not in the least."
"Dang straight."
"Have you been in a relationship since...?"
Rainbow bit her lip.
Sharp Quill blinked. "But... but you know in your heart that—"
"There's only one pony for me," Rainbow Dash said. "Even if... I-I may not be the pony for her."
"I see..."
"And, I guess, when it comes down to it... I-I don't really have a detailed description for what I look for in a mare. Because there's only one mare." Rainbow Dash smiled warmly. She hugged herself as her wingtips fluttered. "A mare who... is so much more awesome than me... so much so that I d-dare not tell her about it. And each day, she only becomes more and more amazing." She sighed. "A mare who cares about others first. A mare who loves her family and her friends and her work. A mare who... who has a deeper and even warmer love beneath it all—I'm sure of it. A love that... Celestia willing... could be reserved for a pony who can love her back, in ways she's never been loved before... in the way th-that I love her..."
Silence.
"I... I-I'm no idiot, Sharp Quill," Rainbow Dash muttered, staring dully at the necklace in her hooves. "I know how friggin' hopeless I am deep down. But... as pathetic as it sounds... it's what keeps me going these days. There's... uh..." She sighed. "...there's a lot of lame stuff in my life, both literally and figuratively, and it's nothing that I wanna burden my best friends with. Even if they helped me become a better, healthier pegasus overnight, I'll feel like I've lost something... sacrificed something. It's more than just a stupid little fear. Beneath all of this miserableness, there's something warm and precious that I don't want to lose... not until I can afford to share it, even if that sharing is impossible. I just..." She sniffled. "I-I just gotta have faith, y'know? Even if it's one thing I dare to believe in, I'm clinging to it for all it's worth. I dunno how I'd manage things otherwise..."
More silence.
At last, Sharp Quill spoke. "I won't say anything, Rainbow Dash."
She looked over at him.
He was staring at her sincerely. "If that's one of the things you're afraid of, don't be." He smiled weakly. "You've done so much for me in one evening." He shook his head. "I wouldn't do anything to wreck your trust."
Rainbow Dash took a shuddering breath. "Thanks. That's... uh... th-that's super cool of you."
"But I wish you would say something."
She winced.
Nevertheless, he continued. "I wish you'd trust your friends... all of your friends enough to let them know how you feel. Even this one mare whom you're so ga-ga for." He gulped. "Take it from a stallion who's used to rejection. No matter how painful it may appear to be, no matter how much you think your life is gonna shatter apart, sometimes it's best to move on. And you strike me as a mare who deserves the best."
She slowly nodded. "And... uh..." Blinking her eyes dry, she smiled back at him. "You strike me as a stallion who could use a little more faith."
He smirked slightly. "I'm getting there." He nodded. "Thanks to help from unexpected places."
The two shared a quiet moment.
At last, Rainbow cleared her throat. She untangled the necklace, stood up, and hoofed it over towards him.
He looked at it, then at her. "What... what are you—?"
"I really don't deserve this," Rainbow said. "It was a sweet gesture and all, but we both know that there'll come a time in your life when a much more deserved mare will—"
"I gave it to you," Sharp Quill said. "And you should have it."
"Pffft... come on, dude..." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Rarity put you through enough expense as it is. Besides, what the heck am I even going to do with this?"
"Wear it around your secret marefriend."
She rolled her eyes. "Sharp Quill..."
"Please. It's yours." He stood up, smiling at her. "All things considered, I couldn't have asked for a better evening."
"But—"
"If I could give a gift from my heart to every friend I've made, I would." He grinned, teeth showing. "It's never too late to start, huh?"
"... ... ..." She clutched the necklace tight. "Yeah, okay..."
"I... uh..." He fidgeted his hooves in the grass. "I'd love to chat and hang out with you again sometime, Rainbow Dash," he said. "I think it'd be good for the soul."
"Heck, why not?" She flapped her wings, winking. "What are friends for?"
"So, let me get this straight," Lancie muttered from where he paced on the floor to Rainbow's bedroom. "Rarity set you up on a date... with a stallion... and although you two had absolutely nothing in common, you still chatted late into the witching hour like cuddling lovers?"
"There was no cuddling and there was no loving," Rainbow muttered. She stretched out the lengths of the necklace and hung it around a lamp on the beside table. The rainbow-colored gemstones glittered in the starlight from her window. "If I can make a friend out of a mutant talking statue, I can sure as heck made a friend out of a wishy-washy pony with five legs."
Lancie skidded to a stop. He spun about, squinting up at her. "Do... do you really mean to imply that you and I are friends?"
"Is that what I said?" Rainbow droned, staring dully at the necklace. "Maybe Zecora's brew is finally having its side effects."
"If you ask me, you've been upside down for a lot longer than you've known me." Lancie smirked. "Tell me one thing. Would it really be so strange?"
"Would what be so strange?"
"Choosing stallions over that one freckled mare," the statue said. "Seems to me like a much more lucrative market, all things considered."
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "It's never going to happen."
"Because Celestia-forbid that you ever pine for something that would pine back, Sparky."
"There's only one stallion I've ever loved," Rainbow Dash said. She opened her mouth again, but lingered. Her ears folded as a shudder ran through her tingly limbs. A whimpering voice finally came out. "He held out for me so long, Lancie." She brought a hoof up, rubbing her cheek dry. "And now... I-I'm doing the same thing he was, and it's g-gonna kill me too." She gulped, her eyes glossy in the starlight. "Someday. Heartbroken or not. Dead."
He stared up at her in total silence.
Rainbow Dash inhaled through a hard frown. "It may be a lonely wait getting there, but I won't die alone like he did." She tried growling, only for it to come out as a squeak. "I won't let him down. I won't let myself down."
Lancie leaned his head to the side. In a calm voice, he said, "I sincerely doubt your father died alone, Sparky. After all, he had you."
The mare shuddered, staring down at the floor. The silence beyond the cloud home was deaffening. It leeched the brew's work on her limbs, so that she was forced to stumble towards the bed.
"I gotta... I-I gotta rest up," she murmured. "Traveling to Orlandoats... in a f-few days. Don't wanna... let AJ d-down..."
"You're... not going to shoo me away?" Lancie muttered, stone eyebrow raised. "Toss me into a garbage can across the house and slam the door shut between us?"
"Whatever," she grumbled, fwomping on the bed. "I don't care..." She curled up in a little blue ball.
Lancie glanced aside, fumbling with his talons.
Rainbow Dash had her eyes clenched shut to the starlight. She gnashed at her teeth as a few tears leaked out. When a little stone figure pawed up onto the bed and nestled against her side, she said nothing. The pegasus wrapped a limb around him, holding him tight as she gently wept into the shadows. Lancie was silent the whole time.
Eventually, night ran its quiet, comforting course.
So what would Dash/Lancie be... Dancie?
This set of chapters has been a little bit of a feels trip.
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What, no six words? Or is that done with?
Anyway, she really needs the guts to tell her friends that she's gay. Hell, I'd tell my friends that too....if I were gay.
Wow Lancie, that's some serious empathy and compassion you're spouting.
Who are you? You can't be a part of Discord.
I'm really loving the development of Rainbow's and Discord's relationship, especially with regards to Discord's more serious and sensitive moments. It really makes me hope that all the Discord stuff isn't just a side-effect of the potion.
When Discord is re-formed from all the shards, he'll also be reformed by this relationship with Rainbow Dash. He'll discover true friendship, just like he did with Fluttershy in an alternate universe. This reformed Discord will cure Rainbow Dash (and will have to, because she will always find something else to use any future shard's magic on).
And it looks like there will be more of my namesake in future chapters. Maybe RD could set me up with Derpy? You know, put everything I learned to use. Then she could also come along on the trip to Las Pegasus to retrieve a shard.
There has to be a shard in Las Pegasus. Lots of money and corruption there.
5287189 You read the secret future plot like a book.
5287086 I think exposure to a 20% cooler environment is having serious drastic effects on him.
Random plot idea: just before leaving for Orlandoats, Rainbow Dash manages to step into some poison joke. As a result, she has to spend the entire trip with AJ as a heterosexual mare.
Damn, I was all ready to comment on how heartfelt the scene with Sharp Quill was...
But that Lancie scene. Hit diddly damn, that was poignant as all get out. Especially coming from a pair that, 90% of the time, plays the comedic marries couple role for laughs.
For real, man, you're way too good at this character stuff. I'm invested up to my eyeballs in this relationship, and it isn't even the one on the cover!
Oh no. Please tell me I'm over-analyzing. Oh no.
That's okay. I didn't need an intact heart anyway.
But seriously, the last few chapters have been great. Not sure how much longer this arc will go on, but even if this was the last chapter for it, I wouldn't mind, and it wouldn't feel out of place, especially with Lancie's bit at the end. I also wouldn't mind seeing Sharp Quill again the near future.
Also appreciating this longer chapters.
5287314 or as a stallion. Who, given the proximity to a mare they find almost unbearably hot... Well, you can guess.
5287441 You are. Given the talk they had, he knows who it is, and his promise to not say anything rather implies he won't go after AJ.
Cold stone heart, eh Lancie? You're not fooling anyone. Least of all yourself.
5287660
Oh okay. I guess I missed the part where it was implied that he guessed who it was.
5287722 hm. Looking back at it, she doesn't say anything other than its one of the other five... Still, I just get the impression he's just talking about the farm as a place to be/work that he's used to, rather than for AJ herself.
Why do you make me feel!? And for ponies, no less!
Rainbow MUST tell AJ during the trip. I wish I had a similar chance with my secret crush.
hahaha who put these onions here
5287100
Shh! I'm trying to ignore any and all possible causes for Discord being there that aren't due to exactly want JE said. I don't want it to be an illusion!
I swear, if Lancie is just a hallucination bought on by the drugs (wasn't he found before the potions anyway?) then I am going to punch my computer. And last time I did that... Well, let's just say there's a reason I'm almost broke.
5287660 That doesn't work as well. AJ would noticed if RD became a stallion. She would insist RD get cured, even if it meant delaying her trip a day or leaving her behind. Worse, even RD would notice something's wrong and have a good idea what caused it. By going straight, no one would be the wiser until it was too late. It would be so subtle a change that she might not even have a clue how it happened (she's too smart to knowingly step in poison joke, so she wouldn't necessarily be aware that she came into contact with it; maybe Pinkie Pie pranked her). This creates a lot of internal turmoil for RD while AJ is blissfully unaware (because what would RD tell her? Nothing). And the poison joke laughs its flowers off.
Yes, I'm taking this idea way too seriously.
5288732
5287100
If Lancie is a hallucination, then the amnesia spell is a little hard to explain, not to mention Photo Finish's miraculous cure.
5289085
Thank you! I needed that reassurance. Goodness knows how much money I would have had to spend on new computers if I had continued to doubt lancie's existence.
P.S. I hope your character stays in this - he's great! A little desperate, but still...
5289085 Well, it could all be an hallucination that started a little after RD took the first potion and has been in a coma ever since.
5289150 And Bobby Ewing had just come out of the shower.
(I can do 80s TV references too!)
5289214 Ow, I wasn't actually referencing anything or at least not intentionally. I just thought of it as it has been used in stories before as an 'this explains everything" explaintion that might actually makes a little sense.
5289595 No, I was making the reference. But it is relevant…
Patrick Duffy decided he didn't want to do the TV show Dallas anymore, so his character was killed off. A year later, to fix falling ratings, he was persuaded to come back. Well, obvious problem. So in the season premiere, his character comes out of the shower as if nothing had ever happened. His wife, still in bed, sees him, and realizes that the entire last year was just a dream. It was as bad as it sounds.
As would everything that has happened since Rainbow Dash took her first dose of that potion being a dream.
(My parenthesized comment was addressed to JE, not to you)
5289085
Like that other guy said, it's always possible that all the adventure arcs are hallucinations. It's just... ever since Zecora mentioned the potion having hallucinatory side-effects, it's hard not to be paranoid. It would be kind of odd to include that at all unless it was going to be relevant, and yet, we haven't really had any explicitly hallucinatory happenings (aside from a few East-tilted dream sequences).
That said, you're probably right about them not being hallucinations. I certainly hope so. Like you said, it would be kind of a bummer to learn that all of Rainbow's triumphs have all been in her head.
Then again, with this author, you never know...
5290210
I don't see how they can be hallucinations. We know who and what Discord is from the main universe, but RD doesn't, so how could she possibly hallucinate him? I mean, to hallucinate that you're going on a quest to retrieve the chaos-infused shards of a statue that used to be Discord, Lord of Chaos, and that there's a tiny animated part of him who is sarcastic, snarky and tries to pretend to be heartless and evil (with some success most of the time, but falling down on it lately), you kind of already have to know that that particular statue of the creature with the mixed up body is the petrified form of Discord, Lord of Chaos, who is a sarcastic, snarky being that tries to pretend to be heartless and evil, with frequent success. Dash does not strike me as the kind of pony who goes into flights of fancy about some statue she saw on a field trip one time, and besides, given how ponies describe Discord as a mwahahaha evil type, how would anyone ever guess what his personality is actually like?
Dash has to genuinely be in contact with Discord to know anything about him, but Lancie, while slightly off from what we'd normally expect from Discord (which could have a lot to do with being mostly powerless and depending on RD for all of his contact with any other sentient being, and given that Discord has actually admitted to loneliness, this may be having a profound effect on him), is too much like Discord for anyone who's never met Discord to make him up. So he really can't be a hallucination. Besides, several of the things Dash has done since taking the potion involved interacting with Scootaloo, who's writing the story as an adult, and who describes those events as if they really happened. So the "it was all a dream" option is really tremendously implausible.
5287316
Save me from ArcheAge! I'm about to take over the server Applejack-style! :flail:
5289214
I was going to say it would end like The Sopranos.
Slowly catching up.
This chapter made a critical hit to my feels center. Especially the last bit with Lancie.
Why you have to be such a fantastic writer?!
Really loving this. I feel bad for Sharp Quill and if he were gay, I would totally date him. Lol.
Hear her voice with every east wind.
These last couple chapters have been a highlight of the whole story.
Screaming buffalo and giant magic discs are all well and good, but I'm a real sucker for feels most of all.
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I guess lancie DOES have a heart. It may be hard as stone but....
6922849 i am really enjoying lancie. Im... kinda super excited to see the culmination of their time together after the last shard.
I need to take a minute to appreciate the fact that Rainbow Dash is actually giving somepony good relationship advice.
awwwww
The fact that RD is being hypocritical is annoying.
The fact that she acknowleges she is being hypocritical doesn't make it any less annoying.