The Romance of Invention

A/N: I’m sorry for taking so long to update, I feel bad about it and I’m sorry to the few loyal readers I actually have. My job has actually started taking up real amounts of time again (I had December off mostly) and this chapter was super tough to write for some reason.

Chrome blushed beet red as he tried his best to fight the urge to just back away from her slowly. He struggled to find the words to fill the growing silence between them as he tried his best to try and control his breathing and calm down. The tension between them seemed to once again thicken to palpable levels; it seemed like this time he would need a machete if he wanted to force his way through. As he stood there the shock of what just happened still resounding through his body a quiet buzzing started to fill his ears and he had to focus very hard to not let the dizziness overcome him.

Did that just happen? Did Fluttershy understand it the same way I did? Is she expecting me to say something now? Oh Luna what on Equestria do I do now?

He continued to stand there awkwardly shifting back and forth between his hooves and diligently avoiding her gaze until he was shocked out of his reverie when the monkey on his head gave a playful tug at his mane. He couldn’t help but laugh quietly as he reached up with a hoof and tickled at the offending creature, the tension between the two of them seemed to melt away immediately. Chrome found himself unable to hold back a bright smile and Fluttershy let out a quiet giggle as she watched the two of them playing again.

“So… Fluttershy, what just happened?” He managed to ask after a moment of hesitation as he bashfully forced his gaze back towards the canary mare.

“I-I don’t know. I think Pinkie just tricked us…”

“Yeah me too, I thought she was asking us to come to a party at first…” He scratched the side of his head with his hoof nervously as the obvious question hung in the air between them remaining unspoken. They shared a nervous glance and it seemed to him like Fluttershy was thinking the same thing.

Oh man she’s going to make me say it isn’t she? Damnit Pinkie Pie… she’s got me good this time too. I can’t really wriggle out of this at all can I? If I try then Fluttershy could get the wrong idea, and I can’t just leave at this point either she’s expecting me to say something. Think Chrome think!

He let out a frustrated sigh as he mulled it over in his head; this elicited a concerned look from Fluttershy, but he was too absorbed in his own self pity to notice. Every moment he didn’t say something it felt like there was a vast chasm widening between them. Thought after thought on how to get out of this passed through his head but none of them were good enough. It seemed like no matter how he tried to get out of it the danger of offending Fluttershy was too great. Finally he heaved another quiet sigh and with great force of will pulled his gaze up towards her.

He flushed red in the face as he finally came to the awkward conclusion, there was only one way out of this mess and his body seemed set against it. His legs were trembling slightly as he suddenly was filled with another wave of dizziness. His heart pounded in his chest so hard that he could actually hear the sound coming up through his throat. It took all of his willpower just to force himself to keep his gaze directed at her while he waited for her to notice. Finally as she turned her gaze back towards him he mumbled a quiet “Luna preserve me…” and tried his best to just say it.

“S-so, I guess I’ll see you Saturday then? If you still wanted to that is…” He finished weakly as his voice trailed off into nothingness as he had to try very hard to keep his voice from cracking under the pressure. His gaze immediately went back down towards the ground afraid to even peek at her reaction.

“I-I…” She murmured the rest so quietly that it came out as an adorable little squeak. It startled him out of his daze though and he looked up to see her mirroring the exact shy pose he had been holding a second ago. She dragged her hoof through the dirt slowly, the longer he watched her the more nervous she appeared rather than shy.

Chrome’s heart seized up and he felt his eyes starting to water as he held his breath in anticipation of the incoming rejection. He looked back down and forced his eyes shut as he tried to hold back the tears and turned his face away from hers completely. Why did he care so much anyways? He didn’t even want to go on the date with her to begin with, but now that she was about to reject him he just couldn’t help himself... He should be glad that he is getting an easy why out, but he couldn't stop himself from reacting this way as he had to reach up with a hoof to clear his eyes.

“I-I don’t have any plans… So if you still want to then I-I guess…” her voice trailed off as his heart once again skipped a beat before started to race again. He turned his gaze back towards her tentatively afraid to let get ahead of himself.

“I-I mean you don’t have to… I don’t want you to think you’re being forced into it by Pinkie…” She squeaked out finally before she had to turn her face away as it flushed deep red.

Chrome’s heartbeat seemed beat even more erratically in his chest as even his body was having a hard time of figuring out what was going on now. His legs shook slightly under him again and he felt like he might collapse again. He had to stop and consider it for a moment; she didn't say no, but she also didn't say yes. She was leaving it up to him...

Oh hell… what do I do now? I especially can’t wriggle my way out now, I guess I’m committed at this point…

“O-okay, I guess I’ll see you Saturday then?” His lips said before he was even fully aware of what they were doing. He tried to smile but all that came out was a nervous laugh. “Th-thanks again for the help with… everything.” He added awkwardly as he kept his gaze focused on the dirt in front of him. The little clumps of dirt almost looked like constellations if you looked at them the right way.

Chrome happened to glance back up at Fluttershy right as she did the same and for the first time since the awkwardness had fallen they caught each other’s eyes for just a quick moment. Her teal eyes flashed with something unrecognizable before the both of them turned away. She let out a quiet squeak of embarrassment and hesitated visibly. He turned back towards her and she flicked her gaze to him to make sure he was looking before she merely nodded her head and hid her face from his gaze with her mane.

“O-okay then… It’s a date… for real this time I guess” He chuckled nervously and watched her for a moment. She continued to stand there hiding behind her mane and didn’t give him any more signs.

“I’ll see you then okay Fluttershy?” He asked tentatively and then after a moment took the silence as a yes and turned to walk away. He couldn’t help but glance back at her nervously several times just to make sure she wasn’t going to change her mind suddenly. Finally as his heart started to slow down and his legs seemed willing to carry him normally again he heard her voice call out just loudly enough for him to hear.

“S-see you Chrome…”

Immediately his heart was thumping wildly in his chest again and he turned back trying to force himself to say something but simply turned away and galloped off in frustration after he couldn't manage it. His pulse was racing quickly through his temples and he couldn’t keep up this pace for very long. The physical effects of the conversation tolled heavily on his body as he stumbled up to the edge of Ponyville and collapsed on the ground.

“How are ponies even supposed to deal with this kind of thing?” He complained out loud as he let his head rest gently on his forelegs. His question was answered shortly there afterwards by another playful yank at his ears from the monkey still perched on top of his head. He was suddenly wracked with guilt at the realization that the animal was still up there, how could he have forgotten? What if he had tumbled off and Fluttershy had seen? She would hate him for mistreating the little animal; she had even said she only cares that they went to a loving home and he had completely forgotten about him.

He put his head down and tilted the little monkey off onto the grass gently. For the first time the little monkey seemed content to stay put and just look back at him curiously. All sorts of questions seemed to be filling his head now, how was he even supposed to take care of a monkey? She had said he was a hooffull and he’d never even really had a pet before. He  rubbed the creature with his muzzle affectionately as he continued to wonder about it.

The more he wondered about it the more he worried, he had absolutely no idea what monkeys even ate besides the comical conception of bananas. Did monkeys actually eat bananas? Did they need more to their diet to stay healthy? His eyes wandered around the area curiously. He couldn’t very well go back to Fluttershy’s and ask after that debacle. He needed some pony else who would know about monkeys…

There wasn’t much here at the edge of Ponyville for him to look at and he couldn’t remember Pinkie introducing him to anyone useful in this matter at the party. He nudged his head forward and waited for the monkey to climb up on top of his mane again as he made his mind up and stood up. He started to walk towards the center of Ponyville feeling much calmer now that he had something concrete to worry about. He had to make sure he knew how to take care of his new friend, suddenly this worry seemed to make the huge worries about Fluttershy seem slightly more manageable. As he kept walking his eyes kept being drawn towards one area of town in general and as he entered the center of town he could just barely see the top of the giant tree over one of the buildings.

*****

“Wait, you need a what?” Asked an incredulous Twilight as she stared at him inquisitively from the door of the library.

“I need a book on exotic animals, how to care for them something like that. You said you had books on almost everything but still I doubt you have a book like that dedicated to just monkeys so something with a chapter on it? Please tell me you do?”

“Uhhh Chrome, not to pry but why do you need a book on monkeys?” She asked as she gave him a deeply concerned look and quirked her eyes at him.

“What?” He asked taken aback. “Isn’t it obvious?” He tilted his head upwards slightly indicating that she should refer to the monkey on his head while he tried not to tip him off backwards. As he did this though his heart skipped a beat when he noticed the lack of the familiar weight on top of his head. Suddenly his eyes were wide open and he was turning in place a look of panic stricken across his face as he looked all around the ground for the little monkey.

“Oh Luna… Where did he go? Oh this is bad… This is bad…” He pranced in place lifting his hooves up off the ground one at a time and made a nervous clacking with them at the doorstep as his face spread into a manic look of terror. Twilight couldn’t help but take a few steps back as she observed the apparently crazed pony.

“I didn’t even give him a name yet! How am I supposed to call out to him? I can’t just yell out MONKEY! MON MON MONKEY!” He fell to the ground and covered his head with his hooves as his whole world seemed to drop out from under his hooves. Fluttershy was going to hate him now, he’d just started feeling welcome In town and he’d have to leave. Rainbow would hate him too for blowing things with Fluttershy and would never talk to him again either. He had no choice he’d just have start packing as soon as possible.

“CHROME! What are you talking about?” Twilight snapped at him then switched to a concerned voice as she seemed clearly afraid he was about to have a psychotic breakdown.

“My monkey! I’ve lost my monkey! I got him from Fluttershy, and I was on the way home when I realized I didn’t know the first thing about monkeys or how to take care of them. So I came here to find a book on them and now he’s gone. Now Fluttershy’s going to hate me and I’m going to have to leave Ponyville…” He ground his hooves into the top of his head as he tried to just force himself to fall into a deep slumber in the hopes that when he woke up everything would return to normal.

“Chrome! Get a hold of yourself, we can look for him it’s not a problem… seriously. Also I doubt Fluttershy would hate you over something so simple. I’m not even sure she’s capable of hating any pony…” She added thoughtfully as she tried her best to awkwardly comfort him. After a long pause she stepped out of the doorway and gave him a sharp prod with her horn.

“Now get up! First thing you need to do is CALM DOWN you’re never going to find him if you’re panicked like this. Come inside we’ll figure something out.”

Chrome sighed and let himself get walked into the library as Twilight rambled on seeming to ask an endless torrent of questions. She didn’t even appear to notice that he wasn’t paying attention as she didn’t even wait for him to answer before she jumped headlong into the next series of questions. The entire time she was doing this she was pulling books off the shelves two and three at a time while discarding them almost as fast. He found his mind wandering to how he could get himself out of trouble, he certainly wasn’t going to be able to find a replacement…

That wouldn’t work anyways, Fluttershy would know immediately. He really was going to just have to move away wasn’t he? How was he supposed to find such a tiny little animal in a town as big as Ponyville? Sure he’d come here for the small town atmosphere but it wasn’t really a small town these days. His welcome party alone had taught him that, and they all seemed to adore Fluttershy so he’d be shunned. What if he couldn’t even buy food?

“CHROME!!!” Twilight yelled into his ear suddenly and he stumbled backwards knocking over a small table as he nearly fell over with a clatter of hooves.

“You only just noticed he was missing right? What were you before you came here? Did you come here straight from Fluttershy’s? What were you doing there anyways? We need to retrace your steps to the library and figure out what the last place you knew you had him was.” She reasoned logically as she turned back to him from a book impatiently and glared at him waiting for him to fill her in.

“Well, I stopped at the edge of Ponyville to gather my thoughts. My visit with Fluttershy was rather eventful and I had to stop and clear my head. I walked into Ponyville looking for anything to help with the subject of monkeys and how to care for them. I had him on my head when I started to walk but I didn’t check again until you mentioned it…”

“So he could be anywhere between Fluttershy’s house and here?” She sighed audibly and put her hoof to her face. “What exactly happened that had you so distracted that you didn’t notice a monkey jumping off your head and running off?”

“Ugh, you’re going to find out anyways. Pinkie ambushed me at Fluttershy’s…” he blushed as he even started to think about it then suddenly had to raise his hoof and shake his head suddenly at the look Twilight was giving him.

“N-nothing like that! She found Fluttershy and myself after she gave me the monkey and asked if we were free on Saturday. We both assumed she was inviting us to a party… But then she stopped and told Fluttershy I’d pick her up at seven then bounced off without mentioning anything about one. She got me good Twilight, we were both so scared to say anything that it gave me a lot of time to think. I couldn’t get out of it; no matter what I did she would take offense if I tried to pass it off so I had to ask her out… for real. As you can imagine I was slightly distracted on my way over here…”

“WAIT! So you’re going on a date with Fluttershy!?” Twilight exclaimed loudly as she pranced around and tapped her hooves on the floor excitedly her entire worry about the monkey forgotten as she started to pull books off the shelf again.

“Oh my gosh! That is so awesome I’m so happy for you two! I have the perfect book! Ah here it is, Dating 101: Everything you wanted to know about dating but were afraid to ask…” She hummed quietly to herself as she opened the book even as Chrome got a horrified look on his face.

“W-w-wait Twilight! That book isn’t…” He covered his face with his hoof as he wasn’t quick enough to stop her. Her face suddenly turned bright red it looked like she was about to start leaking steam out her ears from embarrassment.

“WH-WH-WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE A BOOK LIKE THIS?!?” She yelled loudly as her magic flung the book violently away from her and she shook her head violently trying to clear it from what she had seen inside. Chrome couldn’t help but let out a long suffering sigh as he buried his face deeper in his hoof.

“Look I appreciate the offer Twilight, but I don’t think a book is really going to help here… Anyways besides having absolutely no idea what I’m going to do about the date we still have to find my monkey…” Chrome couldn’t help but let his voice trail off as a bizarre scene unfolded in front of him. Spike suddenly tore into the room giggling like a little filly as he ran around the room with a small monkey chasing him. Finally he laughed out loud and scampered around behind Twilight where he could make faces back at the monkey from his hiding spot.

Then with a loud squeak the monkey saw Chrome and started tearing his way across the room at full tilt before it jumped into the air and flew right into his chest. The monkey tittered happily with its arms around his neck and Chrome couldn't help himself as he nuzzled the animal and tried not to cry. He laughed as the monkey climbed back on top of his head and started tugging on his ears again. A huge sense of relief filled him as he let out a long sigh before he remembered Twilight and resolutely turned back in her direction just to see her grinning from ear to ear.

“So I guess we’re back to that other problem huh? And I know the PERFECT solution!” She tapped her hooves excitedly on the ground as she thought about it making him let out a quiet groan of frustration. Why couldn’t he try and deal with this without every pony getting involved?

“Okay Twilight, what is it?”

“You, need to go see Rarity!” She exclaimed proudly as she suddenly forced him to turn around and pushed him straight out the door.

“Right down that way it’s only a few buildings over, gigantic carousel, windows filled with dresses you can’t miss it!” She added with an excitement that filled his every muscle with foreboding.

“Okay okay, but do you have a book on monkeys Twilight?.” He sighed as he stopped in the doroway.

“Of course here! Oh cheer up Chrome! You’re going to make an awesome coltfriend for Fluttershy!” She quickly thrust a book into his chest with her magic then prodded him again with her horn. He put the book into his saddle bag and grumbled under his breath as he walked off in the direction she had indicated. He kept nervously checking to make sure the monkey was still perched on his head as we went afraid to have to go through that again. Finally after what seemed like much more than a few buildings he walked up to the only building in Ponyville that could possibly match Twilight's description.

He reached his hoof up to knock at the door and started to make his way inside after a voice called out from inside the shop. His entire body filled with dread as he remembered the disaster of a meeting he'd had with Rarity at the party. So as he walked into the shop he really wasn't that surprised about what happened next considering how well the rest of his day had gone up to this point.

The only thing in his field of vision was Rarity with a look of abject terror as she tried her best to throw her hooves up over her face and screamed at the top of her lungs. While Chrome looked at her with a puzzled look on his face it turned into a look of shock as he saw the scene in unfold in near slow motion in front of him. The monkey flew off his head just barely coming through the top of his vision and as it jumped through the air he saw the monkey reach out with his paws outstretched right towards her mane.

Oh Luna what did I do to deserve this?