A Dance with the Moon

A Moondancer in the Vogonverse Romance

Chapter 1 Dancing with myself

There’s nothing quite as nice as a quiet library. Especially a library that’s rarely used anymore because everything else is almost completely digital. The old book in front of me smells of old ink, paper, and a faint hint of leather. There’s an actual weight to it, and the texture of the pages feel amazing. Sure, I could read the same exact book, in my immersion rig, and have a similar experience, but nothing, nothing replaces actually holding a book.

I look at the words dotted across the page. They’re uniformed, standing together to create a literary masterpiece, and I realize how that analogy relates to my own life. I’m like a word. Alone, there’s very little I can ever really hope to accomplish. Maybe that’s why so many people want to be in the digital world. There, it’s easy to be among people, to make a difference, to see the world constantly change and become something better.

I let out a sigh and closed the old book, one of my personal favorites, Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. Rising up I walk toward the routing shelf, place it on there, and know that in a few minutes I’m going to end up routing the book back to its proper place. I laugh a little as I think about it. Here I am, a dumpy twenty year old, and one that happened to be at the right place, at the right time. I do have to admit that walking into a federal auction was perhaps the best thing in the world that could have happened.

Walking past the desk, into a stairwell, and up the stairs I headed toward a small collection of offices that I had turned into my bedroom, kitchen and dining room, and lastly my bathroom. I took a look at the mirror on the wall. The same dirt brown hair and algae green eyes looked back at me. In truth, I was a little heavier than I’d like to admit. My skin was paler too, but I knew that came from staying inside almost all of the time.

I took a look outside at the mostly abandoned town. Several small towns, like this one, were deserted when the economic collapse happened. Oh sure, there was a few old timers that stayed behind. Those who had made a life in those towns, raised children, did the simple things that helped make a life worth living, but eventually those folks passed on. The Federal Government decided the best thing in the world to do with the land, the towns, and the buildings, was to sell them.

Auctions started popping up, and at first I guess there was a rush on them, but slowly people stopped really going and buying. Still, the auctions happened, and that’s what I happened to walk in on. Three credits, seriously, three credits, had bought me an entire town. Of course it didn’t come without its set of problems.

Most of the buildings had been abandoned for at least ten years. During that time many of them had fell into serious disrepair, but finding the library had brought my hopes back up. I touched the wall by the mirror. I could remember ripping the boards off of the front doors, walking inside, and seeing the thick layer of dust over everything. When I walked into the main section of the library I thought that I had died and went to heaven. Books, thousands, maybe millions, of books adorned the shelves.

Nerdy girl’s dream a reality, check, and double check. My brother, Jim, came along with me, and together we set on fixing the town up, or at least to make a few places liveable. I took the library, Jim decided that he wanted City Hall, which was just behind the library. I let out a yawn, walked past the mirror, and to the shower. Getting the water to working again had been an adventure and a half. We had to find the main water system, check the pipes, and then we had to check the pressure. In the end, it looked like the reason this town shut down was because of drought.

That meant that we’d have to order water, or hope for rain. Well, normally we’d have to do that, except for something Jim did. I always knew my brother was a brony. If the tattoo on his left arm being the sun, and the on his right arm being a crescent moon wasn’t enough then the tattoo of the elements of harmony on his back was a dead give away.

It still surprised me that he did what he did. No sooner had we gotten the power up and going, thanks to some solar panels, then he connected to an old cellular wifi signal and jumped online. I figured that he was just going to get his pony fix, watch the cartoon for a while, and then we’d get back to work. Instead over the next two months he kept looking like he was expecting something. When a large black transport van rolled up I saw him run outside to it. Out of the back stepped a winged helpmate. From where I was I could see that the helpmate was supposed to be a girl, and it appeared that she was a pony.

I rolled my eyes before I walked away from the window. I knew that my brother loved the show, read the stories, but to know that he had bought a helpmate fashioned after one of the things… I shook my head. I’d heard about them, in truth I think that everyone had heard about the helpmates, and those pony ones, Equestrians I think was the going name, were actually starting to appear in some places without being ordered.

“I suppose if it makes him happy,” I thought as I turned on the shower.

I knew that I had to limit the amount of time I spent in the shower. Finding out that there had been a massive drought, and then discovering that the little water we did have had to be purified before it could be pumped out was a setback. It meant learning how to operate the purifying station, getting it running, and pumping the water through it. Lucky enough this town had a mostly automated system, so all that was really needed was for one of the two of us to go and check the system every couple of days.

The extra water we got was ordered in from companies that were willing to deliver it. Of course that water was expensive as hell, and we didn’t do it too often. We had decided to order it in and fill an emergency water tower that was sitting about a block down from City Hall and the Library. Of course we made sure the tower would be able to hold the water, and when we were sure we had it filled. I still remember the creaking sound the tower made as it was slowly filled by the tanker that brought the water to us.

That water had been used to help flush pipes, clean, get things into order, and when it was done we began using the purifying station, and then we pumped the water back into the tower. Right now, that was what we were working from. I pulled my sweater off, letting it fall into the hamper. Slowly I completely undressed and looked back at the mirror again. God I looked pudgy. I pressed my arms toward each other, making my breasts squeeze together. Sure, I was lucky enough to have a nice set, but then again I don’t know why I was happy about it.

It wasn’t like I had anybody to really show them off to or for. Jim was really about the only person I could be around for very long without acting like a complete spaz. I turned the water on, knowing that the antique boiler in the building should have plenty of hot water ready, and stepped into the tub. The first sprays struck out and stung like angry hornets for a moment before it leveled out. I relaxed into the spray of the hot water, letting it mat my hair to my face. The wonderful feel of the shower made me relax a little.

I heard a chime, and cursed a little. Looking up I could see the intercom in the room, and clapped my hands together. I wasn’t sure if it would pick up the sound over the shower, but after a moment I heard the static from it.

“You’ve got a caller,” a gruff voice said.

“Thank you Boba, put him through,” I said.

“Sis!” Jim shouted over the intercom.

“Taking a shower,” I replied.

I heard silence for a moment, “Oh, so you’re having a little me time huh?”

I rolled my eyes. It never changed. Jimmie was the one who always liked to joke. He was the kind of guy that girls liked because he was mellow, but none of his relationships lasted more than a few days.

“Jimmie, if I was having some me time do you really think that I would have answered?”

I heard another pregnant pause over the line, “Jimmie?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking that it if was me I’d answer just to throw you off,” he replied.

I shook my head, grabbed the shampoo, and began lathering it up into my hair.

“Actually, that does sound like something you’d do. So, do you want to tell me about your friend?”

“You saw huh? I was watching my ponies, when I saw the advertisement. Alice, don’t… don’t be angry, but I need somepony.”

I sighed and looked closed my eyes I began washing the shampoo out of my hair.

“I know you do. So, is it like a real person?”

“She is. She’s more real than you can imagine. She’s funny, and fun to be around. I want to be her friend.”

That was certainly different. Before he was more focused on being a fuck buddy. I never thought that Jimmie would ever mature enough to want to even try to become friends with a girl. It was really a first step in establishing a long term relationship. In a way, it frightened me a little. Jimmie had been a major part of my life for so long. I wanted my brother to be happy, and if this would make him happy then I was all for it, but despite how things appeared I didn’t like the idea of being completely alone. I finished my shower, talked to Jimmie a little longer before we both got off of the line. I stepped out, clapped again, switching off the intercom, and headed toward my bedroom. I noticed that the flatscreen monitor, an older model I had found in a conference room, was blinking. I walked toward it, pressed my thumb into the reader, and a moment later it lit up.

Boba Fett, my Digital Assistant, appeared and I noticed the light on the camera that was on the top of the monitor began to glow.

“You’ve got a message from your brother,” Boba said.

“Play it.”

A moment later Boba disappeared and instead there was a netflix screen. I could see it, the first episode of My Little Pony. Jimmie had bothered me, for weeks, to watch the series, and I had told him no several times.

“Sis, I know that you’re looking at this and thinking that there’s no way you’re going to sit through it. Just one episode. That’s all I ask. Just one. Try it, and see if you don’t fall in love with it.”

I sighed, grabbed my immersion goggles, switched the console on, and pulled on my haptic gloves. A moment later I was sitting on my bed, the world around me changed, and I was standing outside of a large movie screen. I pointed toward the selection, chose My Little Pony, and pressed play.

As I watched the first episode I found myself really enjoying it. Hours passed, and I had finished the first season. I moved on the second season. over the course of the next few days I watched the entire series, all eight seasons of it, and I suddenly wanted to apologize to Jimmie for thinking that this was a weird little obsession of his. As the last episode finished I noticed a small advertisement appear.

"Imagine that perfect someone, or perhaps you prefer somepony. Imagine them being ready for you, waiting for you, loving you. Well friend, imagine no longer. Vogon Biotech has the answer for you today. And our answer is simple. Order your very own Help-Mate™! Fully functional, completely reliable, and the moment you touch them they bond with you for life. That's right, they bond with you for life. How much more perfect can they be? If you're interested please, click the order button," a disembodied voice said.

I looked at the order button, for a moment I hesitated, and then I pressed it. When the site changed I noticed a chestnut brown anthropomorphic stallion, with a blond mane, stepped out and approached me. He was dressed like salesman might would have dressed fifty years ago on an infomercial.

“Ms Rutherford, thank you for contacting Vogon Biotech. I assume that you are interested in a helpmate?” he asked.

“I… I’d like a friend,” I replied.

A warm smile crossed his face.

“We can do that for you. We can help you find a friend,” he said as he led me toward a large curtain.

He pulled a crushed velvet rope and the curtain opened. There behind it was the entire cast of My Little Pony, or at least most of them. Several had already been selected. The ‘mane’ six were already gone, as were the other princesses, but off in the corner with a small group of Unicorns was Moondancer.

I’d watched the series, completely, and she had appeared about three times. She was a little bookish, kind of nerdy, and quite a bit like Twilight had been in the beginning of the series. I walked toward her, being drawn to her, and I felt myself touching the screen where she was displayed. She changed, into an anthropomorphic version of herself.

“She is an excellent choice,” the stallion said.

“I… I want her,” I said, “But I don’t know if I can afford her. I’m trying to create a college.”

“Hmmmm… Well, she was a professor in the series. She did become one, and tell me, what was the pay scale you planned on offering a professor?” he asked.

“About thirty thousand credits a year. It’s not much, but their room and board was going to be completely covered, along with groceries,” I said.

“Well, then you’d be making a steal. Our helpmates are twenty-two thousand credits apiece, and you could, if you desired, ask her to take on the responsibilities of being a professor,” he suggested.

It was a great idea. It was perfect, perhaps better than perfect.

“I want her,” I said.

“Simply continue to touch her,” he replied.

A moment later she glowed, her eyes opened, and she smiled at me before she disappeared.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She is being prepared for you. You may choose the clothes you wish her to arrive in, if you would like,” he said.

The screen changed to show several different suits of clothes. One was a professor’s robe from Celestia’s school for Gifted Unicorns, and another looked like her sweater and a pair of blue jeans from her first real episode. I grinned, seeing those clothes, and touched them.

“She will be ready in two months time. I believe that you will find that she will be a great friend,” he said before he disappeared.

The room changed to a completely white room, and standing next to a register was the god of Chaos himself. Discord grinned at me, pulled up a receipt, and handed it to me.

“Friendship is important, I learned that from dear Fluttershy, and perhaps you’ll be able to learn how much your friendship means to you with Moondancer,” he said before it blacked out.

I removed my goggles, looked around, and realized that there was so much I needed to do. I knew that Moondancer lived in her old house, but more often than not she used the study/library that Twilight had let her use as both a home and study area. I figured that she would like living in a library, after all, I knew that studying was important to her. The where was simple enough. She could live in the library with me, but the where exactly was another matter.

The study apartment, or smaller library, that Twilight had let her used had a dedicated bedroom, bath, and kitchen to it. I knew that Spike had cooked dozens of meals for Twilight, and undoubtedly cooked many more when they moved to the Golden Oaks library, and then finally to the Castle of Friendship. Plus, from the few episodes she could remember, Moondancer had mainly eaten out with her friends.

There was a few diners here, but the only one that Jimmie and I even got close to looking like it could be able to serve food was an old Main Street Diner, which Jimmie intentionally misspelled so it read Mane Street Diner. At first I had been irritated, but I understood the pun now.

In truth I wanted to make this a college town, and I wanted to bring it back to life, but I was beginning to wonder, for the first time in a long time, if I might have bitten off more than I could chew. I sighed, leaned back, and thought about all of it. I had a couple of months to get things ready, and I also had that time, and longer, to figure out how to get people out here.

“One step at a time,” I said to myself.

Over the next two months I worked on an extra room, actually it was another office that I hadn’t considered, and at the same time I got to know Jimmie’s marefriend, as she called herself. Blossomforth actually came off as exceptionally nice, and she tended to have a great sense of humor when dealing with Jimmie. The two of them worked pretty hard with me on fixing up the room.

It was nearing a couple of weeks before Moondancer would be here, and I heard the most wonderful thing outside. I walked out to see clouds, dozens of dark storm clouds, gathering up around the town, and then a loud thunder clap, a lightening flash, and moments later rain, the first rain I’d seen since we’d been here, came pouring down. I watched as the rain began causing little puffs of dust to form, and then those puffs turned into mud.

Looking up I watched as Blossomforth glided down, getting out of the rain, and shaking it off a little. She looked at Jimmie and walked toward him. She glanced over at me and gave me a little smile.

“Sorry, but most of the clouds were really high up there. I’m no Rainbow Dash, but I had to help out. It’s just so dry around here,” she said.

I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. The rain, the wonderful rain, had came and was beating against the buildings and houses. I knew there was a few houses that would have leaks, and they would need to be serviced, but for the moment this was all I could ask for. A chance to bring this little town back to life. Of course the next few days were also filled with rain. Blossomforth explained that when she worked for the weather team in Ponyville they’d never had droughts, but she’d heard of some of her cousins having them in some parts of Equestria that was right next to the badlands.

Those places all had the normal scheduled cloud cover that Cloudsdale could provide for them, but she said that her cousins had said they had to save it up until there was enough clouds to bring a really hard rain. I could see what she meant. The town was getting tons of rain. I had went out with Jimmie, and Blossomforth, to the old park to see the dry creek bed filled with water completely.

I hoped that the roads weren’t flooded too much, and that Moondancer would be able to make it without any trouble. My fears were finally lifted when I heard the sound of something driving through the rain. I walked toward the large parking lot of the library, and watched a large black transport pulled up. I stopped, and I watched as two men walked with a third figure. They neared the building, and I opened the door. Moondancer looked up at me, confused a little, until I reached out to touch her. I felt a spark, a slight one, and then her eyes widened.

“Alice?” she asked.

My own eyes widened as she said it. They widened because when we touched I saw memories. Memories of being with Moondancer more than just the show. I saw us hanging out together, studying, of becoming friends again after Twilight made amends with her. All of it came rushing back to me. I had been there. I had experienced all of it, and now my friend, Moondancer, my friend was here. My smile brightened as I welcomed her into my home, the home I planned on sharing with her.

Author's Note

(I've played with the idea of writing a Moondancer in the Vogonverse story for a while. I figured that if I was going to do it, I might as well really enjoy doing it. So, I figured if I was going to do it then I might as well do it with some flair.)