Chapter 2

Chapter 2

You made your way down the street, pausing at certain restaurants or shops that caught your attention. Before you took little notice of the area as there were places nearby your university and foalhood home that you could visit, but now that this was your neighborhood you needed to know where certain places were. After all, you couldn’t spend your life cooped up in your apartment!

Even though you were locating many places to eat, shop, and have fun in this part of the sprawling city, there was something else that seemed to dominate what was important in your mind. Brushing your hand by your pants pocket and hearing the tell-tale rustle of paper made you remember the strange encounter with the mare just a few moments ago. Who was she and where did she come from? You wondered why you kept think about her and the paper you found after the encounter even though to your knowledge you couldn’t decide if you knew her. She certainly wasn’t the warm and friendly type of pony accepting your apology or offering even the slightest hint of getting to know her. Maybe it was the fact that since the two of you met on not the best circumstances you felt the need to clear things up and start again by offering the lost piece of paper as a gesture of goodwill. There was always a time for a second change, and besides that you were often one to jump in and help when it was needed.

As you turned away from a particular restaurant, you couldn’t help but think that somepony called your name. It was faint but somehow familiar, but try as you could, nothing came to mind with whose voice that was. You looked around the scene but saw nopony you recognized or who looked like they were calling you.

“Must have been the wind,” you said as continued on your journey, “Or maybe it was somepony else calling to me.”

You were about to stop again and read a menu at a restaurant, the need for food building in your stomach, when you heard your name called again, this time clearer than before. Now you knew you weren’t hearing things!

“Hello?” you said to nopony in particular, getting the reaction of a few ponies passing by with a friendly hello, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. That was when you saw a familiar face in the distance, trotting towards you at a fast pace. She was a blue unicorn mare with a mane and tail two shades of blue. Her most defining feature though was the wide smile that she wore perpetually on her face.

“Oh hi there!” she said wrapping you in the biggest hug you ever received, “I thought I spotted you in the crowd. You remember me from school, right?”

“Minuette?” you said half surprised that in the big city you’d meet a former school mate and half as a guess.

“That’s me!” she replied, “You do remember! Wow, I haven’t seen you since we graduated from college.”

“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t meet with you before. I was busy with finding a job and such.”

“Oh believe me I know that feels! So, what are you doing in this part of town?”

“Well, actually, I live here now.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I just finished moving in and I figured I’d treat myself by checking out the neighborhood. And that’s when I met you. Looks like a nice place with lots to do.”

“That’s wonderful that you came here. This is a nice place, and all the ponies are friendly here. Actually, I now live just a few blocks away, so now we’re kind of like neighbors, just a little further away!”

“Great!” you said to your friend, “I’m glad to at least know somepony in this neighborhood.”

“Speaking of neighborhood, it is getting about to be supper time. Want me to take you someplace really neat? Trust me, once you go here you won’t have to worry about being hungry!”

“Sounds like a plan,” You said with a smile, “lead the way!”

You followed Minuette through the crowd and away from the block where your apartment was before suddenly turning a corner to find yourself standing in front of a very familiar sight. It was a little place on the corner, brightly lit and welcoming in its appearance. Looking inside the squared off restaurant, there were booths circling the outer portion of the room and tables staggered about in the center. Near the back of the space was a counter with seats and a set of doors leading to the restrooms to the right and a door to the kitchen to left. With a look on his face he knew that was Pony Joe’s, a place that he, Minuette, and other friends frequented during their time in college. The two unicorns entered in and found a seat in the corner, chuckling how they chose the very spot they always had. The conversation continued over their meals, filled with laughter and memories. Just as you imagined it, Minuette found a career in creating wonderful timepieces. She seemed to have a gift with how much sand was needed in an hour glass, or how gears can be put together to create precision timing. You felt a little bad that you didn’t have your start but you knew it was only a matter of time to find your way. But as the conversation shifted, that moment before you met Minuette came to mind.

“Hey Minuette, you knew many of the ponies from school and still stay in touch with them, right?”

“Well, some have moved away from Canterlot and some I’ve lost touch with, but most of the class I still see.”

“Great, because I think I may have met somepony from school.”

“Really?” Minuette said as she looked up from her dinner, “Who?”

“Actually, I don’t know,” you said sheepishly, “It was kind of a surprise. I was just leaving my apartment when I kind of, collided into another pony.”

“Oh my gosh!” Minuette said as her expression turned from cheerful to that of concern, “Are you ok? Was the other pony ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, and I think she was although she looked none too happy that we bumped into each other. Before I could apologize, she left, but she dropped a piece of paper. It looks important so I want to find her and give it back to her.”

“Well I’m glad that you two are fine,” Minuette asked as she sat, “So what did this pony look like?”

“Well, things were kind of a blur, but she’s a unicorn with a beige colored coat, and a red mane and tail.”

“Anything else that you remember, like how she was dressed?" Minuette said as her curiosity was peaked.

“Well she was kind of… frumpy.”

“Frumpy?” Minuette said as if you were speaking in another language.

“Yeah, you know, wearing clothes that were extra baggy, mane and tail in a mess, thick glasses to cover her eyes?”

“Oh my gosh!” Minuette suddenly said loudly causing some of the other ponies to turn her way, “You met Moon Dancer!”

“Moon Dancer?” you said trying to remember her in school now that you had a name to her face.

“You probably don’t remember her. She was kind of quiet, almost introverted. But she is smart, very smart. Always got the top grades. My friends and I tried to help her come out of her shell a little and she eventually took time out from her studies and came with us to see a movie or to dinner. For a moment she looked like she was ready to make friends.”

“So what happened? When I met her she looked upset, not just from me bumping into her but something deeper, like she was upset seeing me personally.”

“You don’t remember, do you?” Minuette said as all cheeriness faded away into a solemn tone.

“No, I don’t. Now that you mentioned her name I kind of remember a Moon Dancer in some of my classes, but beyond that I’m sorry but I can’t.”

MInuette sat back again and let out a sigh before continuing, “I think you’re going to have to remember that for yourself.”

“So you don’t know?”

She said nothing to you, making you feel that there was more than she let on. Minuette was usually a pony who would freely tell you things, but there was something about your connection with this Moon Dancer that left a sour taste in the blue unicorn’s mouth. Perhaps she too was upset about you for something in the past, although she was more open to meeting you that Moon Dancer was.

“Did I do anything to upset you?” you said.

“No, you’re fine with me,” she said with a smile, “You’re a good pony, I know you are, but if I told you the truth I’m afraid you’d only bring up bad memories to Moon Dancer, especially that one night.”

“Wait, what night?”

“I said too much already,” Minuette said, “Can I ask you to do me a favor, as a friend of Moon Dancer and your friend?”

“I’m I guess,” you said unsure what she would ask of me.

“I want you to give me that paper you found and let me deliver it to Moon Dancer personally.”

“Why can’t I give it to her? It’s like you’re asking me to stay away from her completely.”

“I am,” she said, her words stinging her on the inside as much as it pained you to hear it, “I can’t force you to not see her, but I’m asking you to please resist the urge to do so. Will you give me the paper?”

You pulled the neatly folded paper out of your pocket and gave it to her using your telekinesis as she quickly snatched it away before you had any second thoughts.

“Thank you,” she said, “This will mean a lot for me and Moon Dancer.”

With the dinner eaten and your conversations running dry, especially after the awkward events that took place with your unknown connection with Moon Dancer, you bid farewell to your friend. Minuette promised that if you needed any help or just to chat again she was not far away.

The parting though was awkward as it felt like Minuette was trapped between two friends, unable to bridge the gap between you two.

“What happened in college?” you asked yourself as you watched Minuette disappear into the crowd once again, “How did I know Moon Dancer? Whatever happened, it must have ended badly, otherwise why would Minuette tell me not to see her?”

The thoughts swam through your head as you returned home with both your stomach and mind filled. There was no use exploring the rest of the neighborhood, not when it was getting late and your mind was on the strange encounter. Pondering the situation, you could only put aside mulling over how to proceed if at all for later. Tomorrow you started your new job, and you wanted to be ready for that time.

As you drifted off to sleep, you couldn’t help but think that this day would be the last would see Moon Dancer.

Author's Note

So we got a mystery on our hooves, don't we? I wanted to try something different from my other fanfics where "You" meets (insert character) and has a friendship develop from the start.