Chapter 4

The morning went without incident as you settled into the routine of stocking shelves with new books, rearranging the merchandise, and helping to check out the purchases. All the while you felt a sense of accomplishment in what you had in your life and in helping others. It was almost perfect enough that the memories of the night before with meeting Moon Dancer and then the stranger encounter with Minueete faded into the background. To you it felt like this would be a one-time incident, never to be revisited upon. Everything would return to normal with your friendship with Minuette and life would go on. That was… until you heard the bell over the front door rang and in walked a face that you didn’t expect you would once again meet: Moon Dancer.

She didn’t see you at first as she entered the shop, bypassing the cash register as she disappeared among the stacks of books. You mulled over the situation, thinking about what to do next. It was inevitable that she would by ultimately reaching the cash register to pay for her merchandise, and she would see you. It was, after all, just you on the main floor as Twinkle Shine was in the stock room. There was the possibility that she wouldn’t recognize you as it wasn’t like you spent much time with her. But as the memories returned with your conversation with Minuette, you began to reconsider this as being far from a moment that Moon Dancer would forget.

There were a multitude of choices that flooded your brain as you watched Moon Dancer appear and disappear among the stacks. You could make a run to the back room or restroom as an excuse, but you couldn’t just leave the shop unattended like that. You could pretend that nothing happened, but this still wouldn’t help whatever happened between you and Moon Dancer before. There was only one choice: you had to talk to her in the hopes of fixing the broken relationship.

You were about to get that chance as you saw Moon Dancer mover closer towards the checkout with a few books in hand. There was no backing down now from what you planned, and if this meant repairing a bad relationship you were willing to take the risk.

“Here goes nothing,” you said as the unicorn mare approached the desk. For a moment you thought she didn’t recognize you. Then she looked up and stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes, or what you could see of them behind her glasses, went wide. She looked at you then glanced over at the front door as if pondering dropping her purchases and making a run for it. But with a blank expression she soldiered on and approached, setting the pile of books on the table with a thud as if to expound upon her displeasure of you being there.

“Um… hi,” you said as you began ringing up the books she had. She said nothing to you, her blank stare morphing into a frown. Clearly she didn’t expect you to be working here, and your presence was not a welcomed sight.

“Uh… fancy meeting you here… again!” you said hoping to add levity to the encounter as you continued to check out her books, noting that there were no fiction titles in the pile, just books related to high level studies of magic and science.

“Can you just ring up my books so I can get out of here?” Moon Dancer replied sharply, meaning how she was more interested in getting away from you than wanting to get away from the bookstore. Now it seemed that in her mind the two were intertwined.”

“Sheesh fine,” you said as you quickly scanned the rest of the titles. You were about to tell her the price when you noticed another pony in on the conversation. There stood Twinkle Shine, holding a box of books with her mouth agape at what was taking place. Casually, she set down the box she was carrying and stepped behind the counter.

“I think you should check the history section,” Twinkle Shine said, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

“Are you sure? I’m almost finished.”

“Trust me, this is for the best, ok?” she said alternating her gaze between you and Moon Dancer, making it clear that she wasn’t going to relent on this point.

“Fine, I go… check the history area,” you said as you stepped away from the counter, letting the other unicorn step in. For a moment you turned around, your eyes locking with Moon Dancer’s. You mouthed the words “I’m sorry” with a little shrug, something she acknowledged with an even more frustrated look. To your dismay, Twinkle Shine was also looking at you, wearing a lesser look of disdain as Moon Dancer but still not looking pleased. You turned and began to slowly walk towards the history area, feeling like it was you walking towards your execution. The history section was oh so conveniently located in the back of the store, which you knew was no mistake you being sent there, especially since the area was relatively untouched.

As you made your way there, you could hear Moon Dancer’s voice which was loud enough that you could hear saying, “What’s he doing here?”

“Moon, come on,” Twinkle said to her trying to soften the upset mare, “I needed somepony to help here and he needed a job.”

“But you knew that I’d be here!” the mare wearing the glasses protested, “Don’t you have any feelings towards your friend?”

“Moon, that’s not fair. He’s my friend too.”

“But why? Why do you and Minuette and Lemon Hearts still consider him your friend after what happened?”

“Moon…I….”

“Forget it,” Moon Dancer said relenting a little, “I have to get going. How much is it for the books?”

“Thirty-six bits,” Twinkle said with a sigh before adding, “You will come back, right? I don’t want to lose you.”

“Yes, I’ll come back,” she said setting the coins on the counter, turning around to see that you happened to be looking in the same direction of where she was standing, “Just have him leave me alone, ok?”

Not waiting to hear Twinkle Shine’s reply, Moon Dancer collected her bags of books left the store, making an effort to not catch your gaze. Then she was gone and once again you stood unsure of that missing moment in the past.

“What did I do to you?”

Author's Note

Yes, there is no mistake. The tag does say Romance, but this one isn't quite the smooth "Love at First Sight" tale.