Avalon

"I could feel at the time," Fab cooed. "There was no way of knowing..." The two of us sipped our champagne.

"He's brilliant," Derpy whispered, falling into a smooth semi-dreamland.

"Fallen leaves in the night," Fab sang, going down on his knees besides a gaggle of freckled fillies. They shot their hooves up, and Fab touched a few of them.

"Who can say where they're blowing?" I sang along with Fab, soft enough that only Derpy could hear. She snapped her head over, and I feared that she'd glare at me for having ruined the mood (just like my near perfect past record for "blowing the moment"). Instead, her cheeks seemed to lighten up. Oh, Praise Celestia!

"As free as the wind," I went on, "Hopefully learning..."

"You know this tune?" she mouthed, hoof still rubbing up against my side.

I nodded. "Why the sea on the tide..." My head bopped to the music, and I kept one eye on Fab as well as another on Derpy's beautiful face. "Has no way of turning?"

"Ooooooh," she murmured, bringing in some gently backing vocals.

"More than this," I sang, "you know there is nothing."

"Nothing," she repeated. Her head seemed to just instinctively lean against mine.

I heard the clinking of new champagne glasses behind me, and I didn't know whether to curse Fresh for interrupting the moment or praise him for giving me more liquid confidence. Wow, Derpy's gone a long way from yelling at me to snuggling up with me... or maybe she's just a real, real lightweight. I tried to recall how many drinks we'd both had.

I didn't want to care. I wanted, as the old cliche goes, to make the moment last forever. The Avalon filled up to the brim with chill, sophisticated pop music. All of the ponies-- from the bratty foals with big plates of spaghetti at the nearby table to the handsome stallions with hooves tapping against the hotel entrance to the wonderful mare at my side and elsewhere-- drank in the beautiful atmosphere.

A dream couldn't be as good as this. The warm, yellow lights seemed to project a haze over everything. I closed my eyes, and I just let the rest of the song flow into my soul. Derpy, never having heard the song before (oh, how I pitied her), tried to repeated a few lines. It sounded rough and slipshod, as well as completely adorable.

The song came to an instrumental break, and the band broke into some filler material. Cranberry, the co-manager of the whole club, trotted out along the side of the stage and pulled Fab aside for something. My ears perked, although clearly I couldn't hear a thing. I wonder why on earth Cranberry, such a normally cheerful unicorn, would have such a cold expression over his old face.

I turned to the side, coming face to face with Derpy. I counted at least three glasses right below our noses. Hmmm... I'd better be more careful about these. Still, I shot out a hoof and commanded Fresh to keep the sparkly bubbled train a going.

"You clearly know the place," Derpy said.

I nodded. It shouldn't have been a point of pride; how hard is it to find a club and drink there every single night? Still, I felt a puffy chest coming on all the same. "Yes, this is basically a second home," I replied. I chuckled. "In all honesty, more like a first home."

"So, everypony knows your name?"

I froze. Names, faces, dates... I hate that. I always have. For a moment, I flashed back to a bunch of moments in life where I've had family members, co-workers, classmates, and others that I've known for years talk to me and I've been unable to recall their face. "In a way," I cryptically answered.

Derpy didn't seem to like that answer, ears moving up.

Honesty is the best policy. Not for ninety percent of girls, of course, who just want endless happy lies. It's for ones with the kind of inner sweetness that Derpy has. "I'm pretty much the type to fade into the background," I commented, sipping my latest glass. "That's my life." I winced. Ugh, it's seduction time. Not pity party time. My face drooped down. You're going to ruin this like you ruined your old job, like you always ruin everything.

"Ugh, I wish!" Derpy called out, wings rubbing up against the counter as she twisted in her seat. "If only I could just fade into the background." She put hooves against her head.

I felt some feathers against my shoulder, a dream come true already being fulfilled. I fantasized about feathers in other places for a second, but I shook my head, snapping out of it. "Why?"

"Oh, for Celestia's sake," Derpy began, and she scooched upwards with her bottom hooves smacking against the chair. "My life, it's just been... I can't believe it. Not just ponies losing it over my eyes, although for that what do I care. They're just ignorant. No, the other things has just been worse... so worse..." I saw her face seeming to bleed, little pains bursting across. I realized that she flashed back to dozens of awful moments from her childhood.

"Derpy," I muttered. I hovered my hoof over her hoof, not sure if we had crossed the line of that kind of physical intimacy yet.

"Wreaking Ball!" Derpy moaned. She swatted her mane over he shoulder and reached for another drink. Fresh hopped around in the back to keep us getting more and more loaded. "They always called me that. Even the ponies that didn't care in the slightest-- the slightest--" She smacked me on the shoulder, emotions dripping off of her face. "Knew that they couldn't do anything serious around me." She sniffed, holding back tears. "Klutz would be the worst kind of understatement. I've destroyed buildings."

I felt the oddest combination of emotions. I wanted to kiss her, hug me, and scream at her that it's all alright since I can relate so well. I simply sat back, breathing hard. The alcohol had started to do its work on both of us; I could tell.

"You hear me, Cinnamon?" Derpy muttered, head going down onto the counter. "I've destroyed buildings. I've tripped. I've slipped. I've bounced. I've gone down wells. Down wells, having to climb out like a dog. I've never had a good, steady job. They know. They should know." She stomped a hoof down, almost breaking a glass. "I don't ever do it quite right enough. It's a guessing game, and I can just ruin everything."

I didn't care if it was the right moment. I had enough alcoholic courage to slide over and put a hoof around Derpy's back. Her wings drooped down low, sadness almost oozing off her body.

"It's fine."

"I might even destroy this place. This club. They could kick me out right now, for their own safety." I saw drips of tears upon the counter below her. "I lost the map for good. I almost lost my hotel voucher at least three items now."

"I live in Canterlot, after all. I'll tell you whatever you need to know." I rubbed my hoof against her. Praise Celestia, I felt like holding a treasure; I had never touched a more tender thing in my life.

She snapped her head back, snorting hard. She gave her a slanted look. "Right, like I need another guy to hold my hoof and help me to do things other normal ponies can just do by themselves. I don't need that." Her tough front melted, and I could tell the vulnerability in mind eyes. "Another so-called savior that would just... just... walk right out of my life again." She slumped back in her chair. "Walk right out as easy as he walked in."

Her mood is swinging like a gate. I sniffed, rubbing my nose idly with my hoof. That was one of my body's own little cue's that my own tolerance had just about reached its limit. I decided to boldly go forward, and I muttered over for two smaller, more intimate red wines instead. I didn't quite know what I wanted from Derpy. I just sensed that she needed an ear, and I owed her that, just as common courtesy as a fellow pony.

"I'm sorry," she said, and she nudged closer to me. She scoffed at herself. "First, I snap at you for standing up for me. Second, I snap at you for listening to me and getting me drinks." She made a low moan, eyes blinking. "Funny, I'm the deepest extrovert in the world, and I always say the wrong thing."

"No kidding, I know, doing that myself. I know too blasted well," I replied. We exchanged a silent moment of understanding. We glanced out at the stage as the band picked up and Fab hopped right onto stage. He did one of his classic little moves, twirling his front hooves in an imaginary loop while curling the microphone in between his legs. He looked so ridiculous, and the crowds always loved it as much as I did. He made some small talk with the audience that I tuned out of pretty fast. Come on, now, you idiot! Make some kind of move on this goddess besides you!

"So, what's your story, then." Derpy pointed an accusatory hoof towards my chest. "How did you ever end up in Canterlot, fading into the wall of the poshest place I've ever seen?"

"I used to live in Ponyville..." I started, both my hooves rubbing my thick glasses and going down my skinny, brownish-grey body. I wasn't sure what to say-- feeling even more awkward than usual. I knew that these killer moments, in which one tried to find common ground with the mare of your dreams, oftentimes ending with a snide accidental remark and wine thrown at one's chest.

"Really, wow. I'm from there. My daughter is staying with Fluttershy right now around by the city hall there."

Daughter? That word felt like a knife through my back. I strained to think. I don't see a ring. No bracelet. Nothing there meaning anything... what on earth is going on? Oh, well. I wrapped my knees against the bar.

"Sure, so..."

"So..." She seemed totally oblivious to the pains that had enveloped me.

"I guess Fluttershy, your wife, is going out with your daughter and then, uh," I said, trailing off. I wanted to just crawl up into a little ball and cry myself to sleep.

To Be Continued