"Well met." Fancy dipped his head at Sugar Belle. "It is lovely to finally place eyes on you, ma'am."

"H-hello." Sugar raised a hoof to wave, seated across from him, beside Big Mac. "I've heard about you." What she got for getting those magazines from Canterlot.

"Good things, I do hope." But he looked to Cadance instead. "As the mediator, do you have a proposed itinerary?"

Cadance brought her hooves together silently. "Thank you for asking. I do. Now, this situation has a few possible routes. I'm tempted to just throw the cards on the table for you all to gape at..." But she wasn't doing that. "Let's start with more basic steps than that." She looked to Fancy Pants, gesturing at Big Mac. "You see before you a simple apple farmer. He works hard for his family and friends and lives a completely pedestrian, but laudable, life. I would hear, and would like the others to hear, your opinion of this pony. Speak only the truth. This is hardly the time for anything else."

Fancy Pants adjusted his monocle, horn glowing. "Were I asked a few moons ago, I would have barely given it a thought... They come from a different world than I live in." Big Mac shrank away at that. "But I would have... in the back of my mind, considered. Canterlot has many sights worth seeing, and ponies worth knowing." He was one of those. "But few of them are, shall we say, physically built. And the one that comes to mind doesn't have a personality to go with it, no insult meant on that pony."

Sugar Belle slapped a hoof on the table, eyes wide. "You like his muscles?!"

Fancy coughed into a hoof softly. "Among other things, ma'am. Strength alone has no interest to me, but strength with a large heart, and a kind soul? It's a heady mixture, as I'm sure you agree."

It was Sugar's turn to darken. "Y-yes... Hm. Do you know how we... became a thing?" She waved between herself and Big Mac.

"I would be thrilled to hear it." Fancy took a sip of a floating cup of tea. "Please, regale us."

"Please, share," joined Cadance. "Nothing like the start of romance." She sighed with happiness and half-lidded eyes.

Big Mac gave a loud ahem as he sat up. "Ah was visitin'... an' ah couldn't take mah eyes off her. She was... captivatin'... But she was also bein' chased by another pony."

Cadance raised a brow. "Really? This is important. Please go on."

So Big Mac told the story of how he won Sugar's heart away from the pop singing pony. "Weren't mah strength that won the day."

Sugar leaned against him. "It was showing he cared, and giving the gift of time and love, instead of bits or just showing off."

Fancy deflated visibly. "I see..."

Big Mac perked at that. "W-wait! This ain't a knock on you, Fancy Pants. Yer gifts were right thoughtful."

Sugar blinked with confusion. "Gifts?"

Cadance thrust out a hoof. "Stop!" Her cheerfully going mediation had taken a sharp turn towards dangerous areas. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We're here to dispel such misconceptions, hm? Now, Fancy Pants. Tell us about these gifts."

Fancy Pants raised a hoof behind his head. "I felt like a complete fool, realizing how terribly I had mis-stepped with Miss Orchard Blossom, Mister Big Mac, and Miss Sugar Belle. I had come between them without even realizing, and the guilt was too much to simply wave away."

Cadance smiled gently. "So you...?" She rolled a hoof with purposeful slowness, prompting him onwards.

"So I thought of what would bring the most smiles to their faces." He set his hooves down with an ahem. "And, to make it clear I wouldn't get in the way in the future, I presented a ring to him." He pointed to him. "To present to her." He swung the hoof on Sugar Belle. "And it would make it clear to all ponies."

Sugar blinked slowly. "What ring?"

Big Mac sighed dramatically, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the fuzzy box it lived in. "Ah didn't know what to do with it... It's... Ah didn't want you ta feel bad not havin' one like it to give back. " He set it on the table, still hidden in its small box. "Not that ah'd care. Any ring ya gave would mean the world t'me..." He cocked a little smile. "Even if it was just a few flowers in a circle."

"Aw." But, curiosity was a thing. She reached for the box and pulled it over. "It can't be that bad." She popped it open, reflected light shining over her face as her eyes went wide. "Fancy Pants!" She pointed at the box and the ring inside it. "This is a ring for royalty, not me!" She shoved the box away, cheeks bright red. "I'm flattered you think I'm worthy."

Cadance inclined her head. She had seen the ring, eyes dilating a moment, but she kept her expression under control. "Fancy, you knew that was a bit over the top. Why?"

Fancy's magic took hold of the box, lifting it up towards himself. "I... Perhaps... I was not completely honest with myself." He set the box between his hooves to hold it gently. "Miss Sugar Belle, please forgive me."

Sugar Belle swallowed thickly. "Ain't... How do I forgive that? You weren't attacking me, just going a bit overboard with a gesture... Now..." She swallowed thickly. "About why?"

"Yes, why..." He pushed the box left and right with his hooves. "When I first encountered Orchard Blossom... I was fascinated, entranced... There was a mare I wanted to know more about, but she had no interest in me. That is... I speak not with false bravado, a rarity in itself, and only enhanced the allure. She had her eyes set on justice, and helping other ponies. I could only lend a few bits and give a few encouraging words. I was won over before I even fully realized."

Big Mac was busy trying desperately to raise the temperature of the room with his burning blush. "Ah didn't... know."

Sugar joined Big Mac in awkward coloring. "But you gave that ring to be given to me."

"I was thinking... It was all I could do." Fancy let out a small breath. "What kind of mare could win the heart of such a creature? What sort of paragon must they be? The more I thought on this, the more I became convinced..." He batted the box. "They must be something amazing... Something truly remarkable... Everything I saw in Miss Blossom? It had to be at least echoed, if not better. I had to get her something worthy of such a pony..." He batted the box back to the first hoof.

Cadance waved at Sugar Belle. "Well, here she is." Her eyes followed the line between the fancy pony and the simple mare. "What do you think of the real mare, instead of the dream of one you had?" She surely had a hint.

He sat up, standing on his chair. "I would be delighted to learn more, Miss Belle. Have you even heard of me? Canterlot is some distance from here..." He looked to the tall mountain off in the distance that hid his home.

Sugar recoiled at that. "Have I heard of you?" She clopped a hoof down. "I may be a simple country mare, but even we've heard things about the Fancy Pants. The pony one has to know..." She sagged back in her seat. "You're different in person."

He smiled gently. "As are you from my thoughts, ma'am." He looked instead to Big Mac. "But this is hardly fair. You--"

Cadance raised a hoof in quiet. "Big Mac."

"Yes, ma'am?" He smiled as best he could.

"Your girlfriend knows him." She inclined her head at Fancy Pants. "Favorably, it would seem."

"Uh huh."

"Does that bother you?" Cadance leaned in a little, calculating eyes on the red apple farmer.

"N-no... Um... He's a right nice pony. The, uh, gifts were a bit much..." He dared to look Fancy Pants in the eyes. "Why'd you get me that one?"

"That one?" He raised a brow finely. "Which one do you refer to, sir?"

Big Mac reached behind his back. He had brought it, in case it came up. It felt like a day it might. With a thud, he placed the yoke on the table with Fancy Pants' embroidered cutie mark on display. "This."

Sugar could feel the heat rushing into her head, heart thumping in her ears. "Fancy Pants!" she got out in a startled yelp.

Cadance smirked softly. "What an... interesting choice of present." She angled her head towards Big Mac. "You're wearing something quite like it, though lacking that... extra detail." Or being made of excessively ornate parts.

Fancy Pants let out a strained laugh. "Ah, yes... Yes..." He brought his hooves together silently. "I suppose I should be more... honest. This entire affair isn't the only time I've seen you, sir. But I brushed it off. Different worlds, as I mentioned. Still..."

Sugar fanned herself rapidly. "You were hot for my boyfriend before this even started!"

Fancy folded his ears back. "It was not meant with any untoward gestures. The one you have." He pointed to Big Mac's worn yoke. "It shows sign of wear and use, from the hard work you put it through daily. I just thought it would be a welcome token..."

Sugar thumped the top of the yoke, where Fancy Pant's cutie mark rested. "Why is this here?!"

Fancy Pants sagged with a tired little laugh. "Would you believe it was entirely on accident? I had ordered the yoke and they thought to personalize it, for my greater satisfaction. I never asked for it to be placed there..."

Big Mac sat up. "Oh... Oh!" He clonked his forehead with his own hoof. "Well, now ah feel silly. Jus' a mistake?"

"Just a dreadful mistake," agreed Fancy Pants. "It would be... improper... in this situation..." He reached for the yoke. "I can have that removed, or just be rid of--"

Cadance's hoof landed on Fancy Pants'. "Not so fast. I have a question."

"Yes, Your Highness?" He didn't move his hoof, pinned gently under hers.

"How did you know Big Mac's yoke was in need of replacement?" She leaned in, the answer clear in her eyes, but she didn't say it.

Fancy Pants coughed into his free hoof. "Well! You see... I do visit Ponyville once in a while."

Cadance pressed gently. "And, without speaking to him, you took notice of his yoke. You determined its quality and upkeep... enough to remember to act on it, some time later?"

Fancy began to darken as vividly as the others had done. "Well, you see..."

Big Mac's jaw hung in the air. "Were you... um..."

Sugar was less shy about it, thumping against Big Mac. "You liked him before! This whole time... Did you know they were the same in the first place? Did you know the entire time?!"

"N-no." Fancy Pants willed his cup over for a fresh sip. "When I first met her, she was, to put it bluntly, a mess. But she was already trying her best to do right by the world, and she... had his physique. Perhaps that is part of what attracted me? That powerful build, with a kind smile and a large heart." He set his free hoof down, the other still pinned. "This isn't fair, madame. I have only just met you. As I said, anypony that can get their attention must be worth the time. And I would gladly give it."

Cadance released his hoof, her own steepling. "How does that make you feel, Sugar Belle? Fancy Pants would like to get to know you better." Her smile became even more impish. "And he already liked your boyfriend, and he likes your girlfriend."

All eyes were on Sugar Belle, the most pressing opinion in the room.

Author's Note

Oh my. Emotions are being laid out for all to see. How obscene...

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