Reading by Moonlight

Chapters

Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04

Chapter 01

Frost hefted a duffel bag on her back, head high as she stepped out of the Lunar Barracks. She paused and glanced back at the old building. Memories. Like most recruits, she’d lived there during basic. As an officer, she’d held a decent office. But that was over now. She was officially a civilian. Medical discharge, honorable, pension, everything.

She’d miss it.

The thestral shook her head and settled the bag between her wings. A pair of smoked goggles was the only thing saving her eyes from the harsh light of day as she made her way into the city proper, hauling the last of her belongings to her home.

She took the scenic route, around the city’s rim. The view was simply amazing—a pony could see for miles, and spot a half dozen villages in the distance. Ponyville was a splotch of color, almost close enough to reach out and touch, with the dark woods of Everfree just beyond it.

Frost found herself distracted though. She nudged the goggles up a bit, her pupil shrinking to a thin slit at the sudden intrusion of light. She sucked in a hiss of pain…but it was something she’d need to get used to. And the view was simply beautiful. The bag slid from her back, thumping to the ground as she took it in.

Green and tan, as far as the eye could see, broken only by equestrian villages and towns. She breathed deep, letting the scent of the park she stood in rush through her. Some mountains in the distance, breaking up the horizon, a barrier between earth and sky. Clouds floating gentle in the endless blue, few airships making their way along, a balloon burning as it crashed towards the ground, and birds riding the winds as-

Wait, what?

-|-

“Crap! Crapcrapcrap!”

Reed had been having a pretty decent day. He’d gotten to spend some time with the research department, managed to get his hooves on an extremely rare magical tome for a little over an hour, and he’d even been picked to make a delivery of books to Princess Twilight’s new library, installed in her crystal castle. He’d been looking forward to meeting Equestrian’s newest royalty—from what he knew of her, she’d take this shipment personally.

Of course, that was before the balloons burner had made a funny noise. A rather gravelly noise not dissimilar to a dragons cough. A noise that preceded the nice, steady, even flame it produced turning into a raging inferno. It had gone from a controlled burn to using up all of its fuel reserves in roughly thirty seconds—and setting a decent chunk of the balloon on fire.

Reed felt his heart twist as he heaved another box up to the side of the basket, letting them tumble into the air. He had to lighten the thing up! He was going to crash, and hard, but if he could slow the damned thing down he had a decent chance of being able to walk away!

Well, limp. Maybe crawl.

He reached for another box and paused as the sound of fraying ropes starting to snap reached his ears. He looked up and whimpered—two of the four main ropes holding the basket to the balloon were burning. One was already halfway gone…

With a resounding crack, it snapped and the basket tilted to one side, starting to swing and sway. He screamed and clutched to another rope as tightly as he could, clinging with all of his inconsiderable might.

This worked surprisingly well until the second rope burned through enough to snap. The basket swung wildly, books spilling out in a rain of white paper.

(No one believed Berry when she claimed she got the idea for her newest drink when a hardback copy of “A Guide to Equestrian Beverages” struck her head. Regardless, the “Pageturner” was a moderate success at her bar)

Reed managed to hold on, whimpering and trying not to sob, for a grand total of thirty more seconds before his hooves slipped and he fell, screaming wildly, to his death.

He was rather surprised that “death” smelled like sweat and cinnamon.

After a moment more of wind whistling past his ears, he dared to open his eyes. He found himself staring up into the face of a grey furred pony wearing smoked goggles.

Fortunately for him, he was too frozen in fear and shock to start trembling or struggling enough to risk her grip on him until she was just a few feet from where she’d started. The thestral dropped him to the ground and landed next to him. Poor thing was trembling like a scared foal after that. She glanced back out, taking note of where the flaming wreckage was drifting towards before she turned her attention back to the civ.

She shook her head. Her fellow equestrian—can’t think of them as civs, Frost. She stepped close to where he’d collapsed in a shaking heap and patted his shoulder. “Hey, you ok? That was almost a nasty fall. You didn’t get burned, did you?”

To her mild surprise, the stallion took a deep breath and climbed to his hooves. “I-I uh. I’m ok. No burns.” He was still trembling, but not quite as badly as before. “Thank you. Thank you so much, you saved my life.” He said, stumbling over the words in his rush to say them. “I, I don’t know if I can ever repay you.” He shook his head, taking in another long and shuddery breath.

She chuckled. “No worries. It’s my jo—was. It used to be my job. Just keeping in practice.” She grinned at him. “We’re gonna have to report that crash though.” She glanced back just in time to see the flaming wreckage smack into a tree. She could make out clouds scurrying towards it—at least the fire-suppressor team was on it. “You know where the nearest guard station is?” He shook his head. “Alright. You good to walk? Theres one up the street.” He nodded. The trembling was down to a light shake every now and then. He seemed ok.

“Lead the way. Thanks again.” He said, somewhat quietly.

“Like I said, no worries. Oh, names Frost.” She stuck a hoof out. He bumped his against it a touch tentatively, and she resisted the urge to snap. He’d just gone through a major near-death experience—that’d make anyone a bit shaky. Not necessarily tribalism.

“I'm Reed." He replied.

Chapter 02

Frost handled the majority of the report. She knew the ins and outs of the guard well enough that it only took a few minutes of her explanation, a short excerpt from Reed, and contact information for both of them, and they were on their way.

She stepped back out into the sunlight and suppressed the instinctive wince, dragging her goggles back in place. She’d have to get used to that, but damn, it was going to take a while. She glanced to the side and found the stallion she’d rescued staring out over the rim of the city, still visible from where they stood.

“…Hey. You ok?” She said quietly. He didn’t respond until she nudged his shoulder with a hoof.

Shaking his head, he sighed. “My boss is gonna kill me.” He said glumly. “Losing a shipment is bad enough, but a shipment to a princess, and the balloon?” he sighed again. “I need to go let them know, and see if I can beg well enough to keep my job.”

She felt a pang of sympathy for the stallion. Hell, she wanted her old job back, and she hadn’t even been fired, really. “That sucks.” She tilted her head, an idea percolating idly. “Hey, I’ll come with you. I can corroborate your story. Not like it was your fault, so there’s no way they can fire you. Especially with me as a witness.” She said with a grin.

He blinked at her, looking somewhat startled. “Are you sure? I uh. You don’t have to do that, really.” He said, ducking his head to one side.

She shrugged. “Yeah, sure. If you don’t mind swinging by my place on the way there so I can drop my stuff off. It’s getting a bit heavy to lug around.” She said with a chuckle, nodding her head back at her pack.

He gave her a tentative smile. “Sure. Only fair.”

They fell into step beside one another, Frost leading slightly. “Where do you work anyway?” She asked curiously.

“Hmm? Oh, I’m a librarian, level three, second class, for the Royal Library & Archives. Mostly work as a general archivist, with some time at the front desk or re-shelving.” Reed responded.

Frost nodded, mentally discarding everything other than “Librarian” and “Royal Library” as unimportant. “Huh. That must be interesting.” She said in a non-committal tone.

“It’s pretty nice. Unlimited renewals are always sweet, and they have the best collections. I’m trying to get up to fourth level, but I have to hit third level first class before that can happen.” He looked stricken for a moment. “Oh, this is not going to help…I really hope they don’t bust me back to third class.” He muttered.

She shook her head, nudging his shoulder with her own. He twitched away, and she bit back a snarl which turned to confusion at the slight redness she spied in his cheeks. She was saved from having to puzzle it out by their arrival at her flat.

The thestral took off, skipping the stairs with a few wing beats and dumped her stuff inside. She took a look around the place—not quite untouched, but it didn’t quite look like a place someone had lived in for a few years. Still, that would change. She dove back to the street after locking up and gave Reed a smile.

“Lead the way. I’m sure they won’t go too hard on you. After all, it’s not like it's your fault.”

-|-

Frost could hear the yelling from her seat outside the office. At least there was plenty to look at while she waited.

The Royal Library & Archives was an interesting place. Scores of bookshelves, radiating out from several central areas, each filled with tables and papers for those doing research and taking notes. She sat near one wall, examining the carvings that served as book ends on the shelf facing her. The one on the left, to her eye, was either an extremely ugly gryphon, or possibly a brilliant surrealist satire of Celestia’s rule.

She wasn’t an art-pony, so she couldn’t really tell.

She’d been waiting for perhaps ten minutes on a rather comfortable bench. They’d been whisked away by one of the surprising number of ponies working to a stern looking mare who took both their statements. He’d said his piece, she’d said hers, corroborating him as much as she could. She didn’t know him well, but he seemed nice enough. She hardly wanted him to get in trouble for something outside of his control.

She glanced over at the mare sitting next to her, studying a clipboard—the same one that had brought them here. Mmm.
“So, you think he’ll keep his job?” She asked out of the blue. The mare looked up, a touch startled, and she gestured towards the door from whence the ranting was coming.

The mare shrugged. “Probably. If everything’s as you said, the worst that could really happen would be a small fine for losing so many books, and even that’s unlikely. Reed does a good job. Book End’s just had a stressful day. I imagine she’s taking it out on him.” She looked a touch sympathetic. Maybe she’d been the brunt of such venting herself.

Frost had had more than a few seargents pull something similar on her from time to time…she could sympathize as well. “I hope he’s ok.” She glanced at the door, but her attention was pulled back by a burst of giggles. She quirked an eyebrow at the mare, who had a fore-limb pressed against her mouth to help silence the laughter. “What?”

“N-nothing! You just…sorry. Kind of an inside joke.” She responded with a little giggle. “You sound like you’re little sweet on him.”

Frost was still rather puzzled. “….And? I’m not seeing the funny.”

The mare raised her own eyebrow. “…You really don’t know him that well, huh?” She paused, both eyebrows shooting into the air. “Hey, wait, are you actually interested?”

Frost’s eyebrow climbed higher. “Not really? I mean, he seems nice enough, cute, if a bit…reticent.” She recalled the way he moved away from her touch, and stifled, again, a flare of annoyed anger.

“Reticent is one word for it.” The mare said dryly. “Completely hopeless is another.”

“How do you mean? Headmare a massive bitch or something?” Frost asked.

“Reed was hired here just a couple of years before me. He’s been working here for about six or seven years. Maybe eight, but somewhere in that ballpark.” The mare explained patiently. “In all that time, I have never once seen him ask anypony out or flirt with one. And anytime somepony tries to flirt with him, it either goes completely over his head, or…” She trailed off, looking thoughtful. “Honestly, it’s almost like he panics. I’m surprised he managed to even talk to you, considering, well, you’re pretty darn good looking.” She said with a shrug. “So, if you were thinking of something along those lines…It’d be an uphill battle. At best.”

A pony that had spent some time developing more martial skills might have caught the odd little gleam that slid through Frost’s eye at the tail end of that little speech. A pony that had spent more than ten seconds with any of the Cutiemark Crusaders would have likely run screaming from it. The librarian mare speaking with the thestral was neither of these ponies.

Frost glanced up as Reed stepped outside, looking slightly more chipper than most might after being yelled at by their boss for several minutes. Not exactly happy go lucky, but he didn't seem like he'd just gotten a pink slip.

"So, how'd it go?" She asked, eyeing him with an odd, thoughtful expression that he completely failed to notice. Uphill climb. Bit of a challenge. Hmm...

"Oh, not bad. I'm suspended with pay until the investigation is complete, but as long as the Guard can confirm what happened I'll be reinstated without penalty." He said, offering her a shy smile. "Thanks again. It really helped that you spoke up for me." he said, glancing down at his hooves.

Well...he was kinda cute, if a bit, shall we say, softer than she was normally interested in....

"Awesome. Glad I could help. Suspended? So, guess that means your free tonight then?" She said easily. His head bobbed back up and he blinked owlishly at her.

"I...yeah, I suppose." He said.

"Got any plans?" She asked. The mare she'd been speaking to was looking at her with wide eyes, glancing at Reed curiously.

"Not really? I guess I'll catch up on some light reading, maybe try out a new game or something." He looked just a touch confused. She was happy to relieve him of that confusion.

"Well if you don't mind putting all that off, how about dinner? Can call it payback for the whole “rescuing you from a burning balloon” thing!” She said with a teasing grin. “There’s a nice cafe down the street from my place, think we passed it on the way here. Meet me there about..." She trailed off, glancing up at the clock as she hopped to her hooves. "Five thirty? Couple hours from now. Sound good? Great! See you then!" She said cheerfully, trotting past a rather stiffened Reed.

-|-

Frost leapt into the air once she was out of the library, angling towards her apartment. A part of her was somewhat reluctant or even apprehensive after asking the colt out—he seemed nice enough, sure, but if what that mare had said was true, then tonight might be more than a little awkward.

Still, she knew she’d been on worse dates. A scene of a crying unicorn mare covered in spaghetti sauce and a righteously annoyed thestral storming off rose to her mind, and she snorted. There was no way shy-colt could be nearly as bad as Miss “Everyone knows Thestrals give it up on the first date” and her stupid mane-do. She still had to get Gleaming Edge back for that setting her up with that prat.

Yeah. Worst case scenario, a mildly awkward dinner. And that’s only if he turned out to not like mares at all. She was sure she could get through to him. The mare had to be exaggerating—shy was one thing, but panic? He couldn’t be that bad.

-|-

Reed stood, seemingly petrified, as several of his coworkers circled him curiously.

“What happened?” A teal maned mare asked, poking at Reeds shoulder.

The mare Frost had spoken to looked like she was stuck halfway between concern and a case of the giggles. “Reed’s got a date!”

Three mares looked at one another, looked at the frozen Reed, and promptly dragged the one pony that had seen what had happened away.

There would be much gossip in the coming days! Soon, bits would pass hooves as bets were made.

Reed stood there, almost as petrified as a cockatrice victim…

Chapter 03

Frost stepped into the diner and sighed happily. She loved this place. It was an odd little thing, run by a Neighponese Pegasus and her Zebrican lover. The two worked together the make the most amazing food, mixing both their cultural cuisines with the local flavor to make dishes Frost had never tasted elsewhere and doubted she ever would.

It was also one of the few places not run by a thestral she could reliably indulge in some of the odder aspects of her diet, but she thought she’d stick to some of the more normal dishes for the time being. No reason to freak her date out.

She’d arrived a few minutes early, wanting to settle in and order some appetizes to nibble when he arrived. Seem’s she wasn’t the only one with that idea. To her surprise, she spied Reed already seated, staring at the tabletop as if it held the secrets of the universe. She opened her mouth to speak to him, and it stayed open as she became aware of….It.

It was huge. It was hideous. It was violently orange. It seemed to glint malevolently, as if cursed—wait, no, it was just dusted with glitter.

It was the bowtie Reed had around his neck.

It was so astonishingly ugly she was amazed it existed. It seemed like Celestia should have destroyed it on general principle. It represented almost everything the solar alicorn wasn’t. Like a relic of some forgotten age of chaos, a reminder of a time long ago, when order was a thing that happened to other planets and mad gods turns clouds into sugary confections.

-|-

“Discord? Discord, are you ready? We really should be going soon. I mean, um. If that’s alright with you? It’s just that, um, the play starts soon, and I was…was hoping to get some popcorn…”

“I’m sorry dearest Fluttershy!” The mad mishmash of monstrous mayhem snapped into being alongside what appeared to be a high-school locker, plucking various articles of clothing from it and tossing them over his shoulder. Each promptly turned into a winged spider that settled on Fluttershy, starting to turn her mane and tail into intricate non-euclidean braids. “I wanted to dress nicely for our night out, but I simply cannot find my favorite bow-tie! Ahh, celery.” He pulled a piece of it out and bit a chunk off before twisting the crisp vegetable like a pretzel and sticking it to his neck. “This will just have to do for now. Let us make haste! The Sounds of Mayhem call!” He snapped his fingers and floated out of a window, Fluttershy following after carefully placing the winged spiders back into Discords locker.

-|-

Frost shook her head and slid into the seat opposite the stallion. She’d seen worse outfits before. She couldn’t think of any off the top of her head, but…she had. She was pretty sure at any rate.

He…did not seem to notice her arrival at first, seemingly fascinated by the tabletop. She waved a hoof and—wait, nope. Cleared her throat? Nope. One of his hind legs was jittering against the ground, making the table vibrate slightly. She poked the tip of his horn with her hoof—that got his attention!

His gaze snapped up, and Frost got to see quite possibly the fakest smile she’d seen since the last time Blueblood had tried to chat up a mare.

“H-hi! I, uh, I hope I’m not late.” He said quietly. “How…uh, how was your day?”

She flashed him a grin. “Not bad. Got a good run in this morning. Saved a stallion from a burning balloon. The usual. How was yours?” she said, a little tease in her tone.

He blinked and looked back down at the table. His leg was jiggling worse now. “O-h, right. Dumb question, I g-guess.” He stammered, his voice even softer.

Their server showed up, grinning at Frost, and distracting her from Reeds reaction. “Heya bat-butt. Wow, a whole three days without seeing you. You’re usual?”

Frost smirked at the snarky Pegasus and stuck her tongue out. In a mature fashion. “Yeah, sure. Extra bell peppers this time around, hold the special ingredient.” She might enjoy seeing the looks on some ponies faces at times, but not on a date.

The pegasus turned to Reed, who looked moderately terrified. “Heya sugar. Need a menu and a minute?”

For a split second, Reed looked odd, as if reading off some internal notebook. He glanced at Frost shyly, asking, “Since you s-seem to come here often, a-any recommendations?”

She thought for a moment. “They make a pretty nice flower stir-fry, if you want to try something a bit different.” She offered.

He nodded and gave the earth pony a tight smile. “I’ll have that. Um. And some ice water?”

She gave him a broad smile and nodded, trotting off.

“S-so. Um, how—“ he caught himself, and she couldn’t help but smile as his cheeks darkened. “Um. I uh…” he stammered, trying to find a topic. The thestral decided to jump in and save the day.

“Heh. Hearing your boss today reminded me a bit of bootcamp.” She said.

He didn’t look up, though an ear perked. “O-oh?”

“Yeaaaah. Hardass sargent had it out for one of my squadmates. Nice gal, but not the brightest star in the sky, huh?” She chuckled. “One time, she got a good reaming, when she-“

Frost paused mid-word and looked at Reed. Really looked at him, using the analytical body-language skills the guard were taught. Useful when trying to ascertain whether the pony raving about the Solar Tyrant and how her regime must be brought down was a harmless nutter, or the kind of nutter that had a knife hidden under their wing.

It didn’t take long, really. A cursory scan. Despite his eyes being wide enough to swim in, his pupils were practically pinpricks. And that’s when he was daring to look at her face. His seeming fascination with the tabletop was more than simple shyness, it was more like he was afraid of meeting her eyes.

Scratch that, he was afraid, period. There was a slight tremor that spread through him more than once, a little symptom that he was suppressing the urge to simply start shaking. Probably part of what was causing that slight stammer. Now that she was looking, she could see the nervous sweat rolling down the side of his neck—hells, she wouldn’t be surprised to see him worked into a lather just sitting there.

The stallion was freaking terrified. She’d seen ponies in interrogation less worked up.

Ok. Now, the question: Why? Why was he so scared? Her? He hadn’t reacted this way first meeting her, so he wasn’t scared of thestrals in and of themselves. Because he’d found out she was ex-guard? Nope, he knew that before she’d asked him out, and he’d seemed ok with it. Reticent, but she could chalk that up to normal shyness. But…the date itself? It was the only factor that had changed.

Ok. So, for some reason, being on a date had him worked up like this. Solution: remove the offending element. Carefully was better than not in this case.

“—actually, never mind. Dumb story.” She hummed, glancing up at the zebra behind the counter. Catching her eye, she jerked her head to the door and smiled apologetically. The zebra rolled her eyes and nodded. “Anyway…” Trailed off thoughtfully, studying him more openly than she had before. She didn’t let it linger too long—no reason to make him squirm.

She smiled and said, softly, “Hey, Reed? You don’t look like you’re having much fun.”

His head jerked back upright and he looked oddly horrified. She cut him off before he could start babbling apologies. “No worries, it’s kinda stressful, I get it. Wanna go take a walk towards the Rim? No date, just hanging out. Friendly like.” She suggested.

He looked frozen for a moment before nodding slowly. “I uh..um. I—yeah. S-sure.” He followed as she slid out of her seat, pausing as they walked past the counter. “er—what about our o-order?”

“Don’t worry about it, they can put it on my tab. I come here a lot.” She said cheerfully, bumping the door open with her shoulder and holding it with a hind-hoof as she adjusted her goggles.

They set off, silent for the moment. The main roads thinned into the walking paths popular around the Rim—if you needed to get somewhere fast enough to warrant a taxi or a carriage, you took a straight road, you didn’t follow the curve. Another of the parks that festooned the Rim came into view, and soon enough they were among the carefully sculpted trees and flowerbeds, stepping over tiny streams, and enjoying the sight of the sun heading towards the horizon. The sky was painted in brilliant reds and golds, purples shot through.

Even through her goggles dimmed everything to a level that didn’t sear her retina’s, she could still appreciate it.

Glancing to the side, it seemed the walk had done her not-a-date a bit of good as well. His breathing was way more normal, and he didn’t look like he was about to bolt at any moment. He was staring up at the scintillating sky and heaved a sigh.

“…M’sorry.” He mumbled, looking down again.

“Hmm? For what?” She sat down beside him, his own flanks following suit soon after. “The date?” She nudged his shoulder with her own until he looked at her. “Hey, I’ve had worse. Really, that’s not even in the top ten worst dates I’ve had.” She paused. “Bottom ten? I dunno. Point is, it was awkward, and you looked like you were close to a panic attack. Big deal. No pony got thrown through a wall, there was no property damage, no fires, and at no point did I consider dumping a pitcher of cheap beer on your head.”

That got a look and a choked back laugh from the stallion, to her grin. “You’re co-workers told me you were shy. Guess I didn’t take them seriously enough.” She said with a shrug.

He rubbed the back of his head, combing his hoof through his mane. “Still, I mean…you saved me, then asked me out, and—“

She held up a hoof again. “Ah! Uh-uh. None of that.” She shrugged. “Shit happens dude. That’s all there is to it. It’s not like you pulled a Blueblood.”

He cracked a smile at that. “I suppose.” Even the librarians, sequestered in their not-so-little corner of the Palace, knew some of those stories.

She looked him over again for a moment. “…Hey, you don’t have to answer, but…why does being on a date freak you out so badly?”

He glanced up, looking thoughtful for a moment. “I…honestly don’t really know. I just start to think of everything that could go wrong. Everything I could do wrong. It doesn’t help that I…er. I don’t date much. Or…at all, really, so I don’t have any experience with it. I tried to research it, but there was so much conflicting data…” he sighed.

She blinked, staring at him. “…Research?” she said questioningly. How did you research dating? Like…stalk a bunch of mares with their stallions? Watch a herd with a telescope?

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s my special talent.” He grinned. “If I have a few hours to do proper research, and I’m give the proper information, I can do almost anything! Just need some time to read and experiment a bit.”

She opened her mouth, and managed to NOT say something about experimentation that likely would’ve made the shy librarian’s head explode. “That sounds…useful. Kinda interesting.”

He chuckled. “Not for everyone. But I like it. Learn a lot of neat stuff. And I have a pretty nice set of spells I can use, even if I’m not the strongest caster around.”

Frost nodded, glancing back out at the horizon. Still a few hours until the sun was completely gone, but…Celestia had broken out the paint a bit early it seemed.

“…I should probably be getting home.” Reed said quietly. “I...sorry, again.” He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “See you around?” he said with a shrug. She grinned and held up a hoof. He smiled and gently knocked his own against it.

“See you around. Maybe another time.” She said. He gave her a small smile and trotted off.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay! Hope to have another chapter of this done within a week or so, and finishing up a chapter of Symphonic Fusion soon as well.

I'm not very pleased with this chapter overall, but I've let my perfectionism get in the way for too long as it is. (Seriously, way too long). Still, the next few should be fun. ^_^

Thanks for reading!

And thanks to Maskinos for giving it a pre-read for me! Go read their stuff! Its awesome!

Chapter 04

Frost was not a morning pony by any means. Even before the shift from night to day she'd hated waking up early, and the sun lancing into her eyes did not help. This might have contributed to why she did not roll out of bed until almost noon, using a pillow to block the little spear of light that was stabbing her in the brain. Still, when she did wake up she was feeling frisky. She wanted to go on a run. Maybe a circuit around the rim, or perhaps hitting a mountain trail before going for some break--

There was a loud growl, as if a timberwolf had snuck into her apartment. She glared at her traitorous stomach.

Ok. Food first, a walk until everything had settled nicely, and THEN a nice ten mile run to kick off civilian life!

And since the date had not ended with a meal…might as well head back there and apologize for the trouble and get a little something to eat. Something with plenty of those oh so tasty little extras she’d declined the night before. The trot to “Kula Shokuhin”, as the lovely little place was dubbed, didn’t take long and she was quite happy to see that she’d missed most of the lunch rush.

She breezed in and shoved her goggles up, waving to the Pegasus behind the counter. “Hey, Zephyr. What’s shakin?”

The mare fixed her with a knowing little smirk. “Probably your bed from what I’m hearin.” She said with a snicker as she leaned on the counter.

Frost blinked, mouth working a bit. She managed to articulate her confusion rather cleverly: “…huh?”

Zephyr rolled her eyes. “C’mom, Frost. We’ve known each other long enough. Hell, I know your full name.” Zephyr’s smirk grew. “I dunno what you did to that colt, but it must’ve been something pretty nice considering what he was just doing.”

Again, the silvered tongue so many accused thestrals of having showed itself. “…What?”

“You serious?” The pony behind the counter asked. “You don’t know?” Frost could only shake her head. “The colt you were in here with last night, he came back and paid off your tab. I mean, I could guess why you two got out of here so fast, but must’ve—“

She was cut off by Frosts raised hoof. “He paid off my tab?” She asked, the confusion writ on her face. Sure, it wasn’t like it’d been accumulating long—she paid it off every couple of weeks—but still, that was edging pretty close to the fine line between “socially inept” and “creeper”.

“Yeah. Kinda sweet, I guess. You just missed him too. If you’d been, like, five minute earlier you would’ve seen him.”

"Really? Which way did he go?”

Zephyr quirked an eyebrow. “He took a right after he left here. Whats wrong?”

Frost flashed her a grin. “Nothing really. Sorry to bug you!” She stepped outside and took wing then.

It didn’t take very long to find him—just a few minutes and a few blocks later she spotted him coming out of a little shop with a bag hanging in his magic.

She dove down and landed off to one side before calling out. “Hey!”

Reed looked around, eyes going wide when he saw her. Huh. It was odd. She could see the abrupt nervous little lines of tension settle around him. Not nearly as bad as during their failed dinner-date, but still there.

“Hi! Um. How are you doing, Frost?” he asked.

“Ok, I guess. Sooo…” She trailed off, studying him for a moment. “Thanks for paying my tab off at Kula’s.”

He looked down, away from her face, nervously. “Oh. I uh…um. Yeah.” Scratching the back of his neck he glanced back up. “Kind of an apology, I guess? For how the uh. The date went.” He seemed rather contrite about the whole thing.

She let a smile break the neutral expression she’d been sporting. “Well, that puts me in a bit of a bind.” She said nonchalantly as she fell into step beside him.

“It...I uh. Huh?” He articulated himself almost as well as she had.

“I appreciate the gesture, but you paid for more than just our meals from last night.” She flashed him a grin. “To my mind, that puts me in your debt, and I’m not a fan of that.”

He shook his head rapidly. “Oh, that’s not, I mean I kinda screwed your night up, and—“

She held up a hoof and poked his shoulder. “Hey, we talked about that yesterday. Shit happens! Anyway. You paid too much, even to just make up for a lousy date, so I owe you.” She glanced around. “You’re still suspended right? No plans for today?”

Reed stared at her, mouth half open. “…I uh. I bought some new figs to put together, and a new book, but…”

“Awesome! So nothing right now?” Frost grinned at him, though she had no idea how someone put fruit together. Was he making a smoothie? Did figs go in smoothies? Were figs fruit?

“…I suppose?” he said guardedly.

“Awesome. Pizza?” She pointed to the end of the street they were on at a rather large pizzeria.

“You…really, you don’t have to.”

“I know! Gonna anyway. So, pizza now, or pizza later?” She said with a chuckle. She didn’t really know why, but she wanted to try and break this colt out of his shell. A moments thought and she held up a hoof again. “To clarify, not a date. No freak-outs necessary. Me getting to know you over a slice or three, as payback for going overboard in apologizing. Got it?”

The stallion nodded slowly, looking a touch contemplative. “I uh. Sure? I guess. So…lead the way then?”

-|-

Frost sat back with a sigh, licking her lips. “Greasy goodness.” She grinned, patting her now very full stomach. Mareo’s did a hell of a slice, and she had one more to try and tackle. She glanced over, waiting quietly for Reed to finish his second piece. A white mare with a glaring blue mane was sitting across the restaurant, chatting with a mare with green spikes forming a Mohawk. A surprisingly prim and proper looking mare sat next to the two of them, looking increasingly annoyed.

A glance back, and the bags taking up the third seat at their table caught her attention. She eyed them curiously, wondering what he was going to do with figs. Was he a chef? Or on some kinda diet? A critical look at the colt did reveal that he had a softness, almost a pudge, that spoke to a few too many meals in the kind of establishment they were in.

She leaned over the table, making her interest in the bags a bit more obvious as he finished off his slice. “So, what’re you gonna do with those?” she asked.

He tilted his head, horn lighting up as a small box slid out of the bag. “I figured I’d put them together tonight, and start painting tomorrow since I have some free time.” He sounded a lot more at ease than before. Seems like he’d relaxed a bit. Score one for Frost.

Though now she was confused. Paint? Why would you paint a fruit? “What do you mean?”

He turned the box in his magic, showing her a picture of a dragon on the front. It had mechanical wings, spread wide in a dramatic pose while rearing up, lashing out with its fore claws. “I’ve been wanting a Clockwork Drake for a while now, but they’ve got a lot of fiddly bits and hard to paint parts, so I figured now was as good a time as any.” He said cheerfully.

She looked the box over curiously. Huh. So ‘fig’ meant ‘figurine’. She hadn’t seen anything like this bef--oh, wait, actually yes. Not this one, but she’d seen similar little statuettes on Captain Armors desk from time to time. She didn’t realize that he’d painted it. She was half aware of Reed explaining some more about the figurine, talking about the game it was used for.

Yep. Just like Captain Armor.

She flashed him a grin when he wound down, poking the box with a hoof. “Neat! That looks kinda fun. How many’d you buy?” She’d never been a part of that little circle of guards, the ones with the funny dice and weird books, but hey, it got him talking!

“A couple. That’s the most complex, the others are just some player pieces for “Badlands” and “Ogres & Oubliettes.”

She had only the faintest idea of what those were, but, eh, everypony has a weird hobby or two. Everypony but her, come to think of it. She’d never gotten into much beyond trashy pulp fiction novels. She mulled over what he’d been going on about in the back of her mind for a minute or two as she studied the box.

“Think you could show me how to put one together?” She gave him a look of sincere curiosity. Heck, even if it wound up boring she’d tried. And it was another way to get the stallion to open up a bit.

He looked a touch surprised but actually managed a grin in response. “Sure! I think I have a couple of the simpler pieces if you want to practice first. And we can paint’em!”

She smiled, enjoying the little burst of outright enthusiasm from him.

A few minutes and half a slice each later and they’d made plans to meet up the next day so she could try her hoof at it.

-|-

Later that night, dice rattled on a table was laden with snacks, bouncing off the chineighse take-out boxes and settled near an open bag of cheese puffs. “Ok, nine. That puts me…” A piece slid across a game board, and a stallion groaned. “Aww, damnit, seriously? The Black Hole again?”

“THAT’S RIGHT MAGGOT!” Thundered an elderly stallions voice. “YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN THE BLAGHOLE, SPOONY—“ A hoof slapped the recording crystal to shut the damn thing off as a disgruntled earth pony settled back in his chair.

“Oh shut the hell up.” Muttered Fresh Dough. He was a speckled sort of tan, with a wheat gold mane. “Guys, can we play something else? I swear that Gatekeeper idiot has it in for me.”

“Normally I’d say you were just being a sore loser, but that’s like, the fifth time this game alone.” The observation came from a sky blue mare with a light pink mane. Rough Hewn was peering with some curiosity at the game’s crystal. “Maybe it’s screwed up?”

“I don’t think so.” A rather soft voice belonged to one Spread Sheet. The unicorn stallion shrugged. “Luck of the draw, really. But I’m not a fan of the voice acting anyway. Wanna switch it up? ‘Settlers’ is always a fun one.”

“You would want the game all about resource management.” A burnt orange pegasus stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled good naturedly. “You guys wanna take a break actually? I need to stretch a bit before we throw more dice.” True to her word, Take Point hopped up and spread her wings, arching her back with a series of pops and clicks as her spine realigned itself to something approaching straight. “Oooh, Celestia’s rump, that’s better.” The mare groaned, flopping down listlessly. She reached up, pawing at the table until she found the cheese puffs and pulled the bag down to munch from her new position. “Oh, hey, you guys busy tomorrow? My cousins are in town, and they’d love to get in on a game or two.”

Fresh smirked and started to open his mouth.

“One’s single, but he’s not into stallions, so Fresh can shut up.” Point added. Fresh scowled but kept quiet.

Reed leaned back in his seat, feeling his own spine protest his bad posture with a few pops itself. “Nng. Ow! Owow—better. Ah, sorry Point, no can do. I got a friend coming over. She wants me to show her how to put some basic models together.”

That got some attention. Namely, a bemused snort from Fresh Dough.

"Dude, you have a mare coming over? Seriously? You?"

Reed’s ears went back a bit at his friends derisive tone, but he couldn’t really argue it. “Yeah. What? She’s a friend.” He said, just a touch defensively. “Besides, she kind of saved my life.”

That got everyone’s attention. Point’s head came back up above table-level, fixing him with a shocked look.

“Dude. What?” asked Point

Reed felt a little tongue tied at the sudden interest, but managed to relate the story of his failed balloon trip without stumbling too much. He even managed to get through the failed date without much more than a blush. His friends knew about his particular issues there. Considering how long they’d been hanging out, they knew quite a lot about one another.

Fresh Dough spoke up again. “So, just so we’re getting this right, a smoking hot bat-guard saves your ass, then talks to your boss for you to save your ass again, asks you out, and doesn’t get mad when you have one of your freak outs. And today she buys you lunch. And tomorrow she’s coming over to build models with you.” He leaned over, staring at Reed. “Despite having never done so before.”

Reed leaned back, looking at him with wide eyes. “…Uh. Yeah, I suppose?”

Fresh stared at him for a long moment before he huffed a breath. “Dude. You are the luckiest son of—OW!” he yelped as something impacted his shin. Point looked remarkably innocent. “What the hell? I’m just say—Damnit!” he hissed. Spread Sheet was examining his hoof for any trimming that might need to be done.

“Hey, Fresh, I just remembered, I need to talk to you for a bit! Outside! Alone!” Point grinned a touch manically and bit the bakers ear, dragging him out the front door.

The protesting stallion managed to free himself a few steps out of the door and fixed the pegasus with a glare. “What the hell?! What was that for?”

Take Point glared, wings bristling. “Dude, can you not go and ram both hooves in your mouth? Why are you trying to ruin this for Reed?” She said testily.

Fresh just looked confused. “What are you talking about? I’m just trying to—“

Point sighed. “You’re trying to make him realize this filly might be interested in him, ‘cause he’s denser than Spread Sheet when it comes to mares? Yeah, I got that.”

“Then why the buck’d you kick my shin?!”

She rubbed a hoof against her temple in exasperation. “Dude, Fresh, you know how he gets if he thinks he’s getting near anything romantic.” She snorted. “Luna’s Teats, he couldn’t look me in the eye for a week after Rough made him think I was interested in him, and he’s somehow gotten worse since then. What do you think he’s gonna be like if he thinks this mare’s trying to be anything more than a friend?”

Fresh worked his mouth for a bit before he settled on a thoughtful expression. “…Shit, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking. Hell, I’m sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head for a moment. “That kick really hurt though.” The ghost of a grin slid across his lips. “Kiss it and make it better?”

Point rolled her eyes. “In your dreams lovercolt.” She said with a grin. “Seriously though. This is probably Reed’s best shot since that bitch screwed him up, so try not to screw it up. If you wreck this for him, I’m gonna burn your next five character sheets.” She threatened. “Now come on! We gotta help him clean.”

"Clean? What? Why?" Fresh seemed confused, and Point was happy to explain.

"Mares tend to prefer stallions who can keep the level of slob low enough that they don't have to wade through old pizza boxes." She said wryly. "So we get to play cupid and make sure this place looks presentable. Besides, we probably doubled the level of geek-funk in the place since he hosted game night. Now come on!"