Deathlight

Anton was floating in the water on his back, his eyes closed against the mid-morning sun. The river was a lot more comfortable than his bed, not to mention significantly cooler. He debated whether he could get away with staying out there for the rest of the day. It would cut down on the amount of heat he'd need to tolerate. If he could keep himself comfortable until evening, there was one more day of work, and then some cool, refreshing rain on the weekend.

Something bumped his shoulder and Toni jerked in surprise. The sudden movement dunked his head under water and he inhaled an ungodly amount of water. He surfaced with much splashing and coughing, which fully occupied his attention before he could really look around. The perpetrator was staring at him in consternation and alarm. She was a light blue pony, with a stubby horn poking up from her two-toned, white and navy mane.

"Gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I was just curious!"

It took Toni a few more minutes to hack up the rest of the water, along with his lungs and a few other internal organs he probably didn't need, before he could talk. "It's fine," he said in a raspy voice.

He had to pause for more coughing and the effort was starting to make him dizzy, so he struck out for the shore. The new mare kept pace with him, legs kicking in a steady rhythm. She still looked alarmed, and her voice betrayed her consternation: "A-Are you alright? I'm really sorry!"

"'s fine! Some water went the wrong way. I'll live."

He was breathing heavily by the time his feet struck and he could stand up. At least that freed his arms and he could wipe some of the water from his eyes. That allowed him to take a better look at his would-be assailant.

The mare looked sheepish and flashed him an uncertain grin. "Are you the human?" she asked.

"What gave it away?"

She quickly blushed a pleasant pink, highly visible on her light coat, and her ears splayed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess that was a stupid question..."

"Name's Anton. Toni for short."

He held out a hand and the pony paddled closer to him until she could reach out. He grabbed her foreleg and shook. "Minuette," she replied. "Sorry, again."

"Don't worry about it. You're not from Ponyville, are you?"

She slipped from his grasp and swam closer to the shore, until she could stand too. Toni obligingly followed, but he folded his legs underneath him so he wouldn't loom above the mare and so he would remain submerged in the clear, cool water.

"Just visiting. I'm heading back to Canterlot tonight, in fact."

Anton glanced around, but there was no one except for the two of them. The spot wasn't well known among the ponies in Ponyville, which made Minuette's presence even stranger. "How do you know about this place, by the way? Most of the townsfolk bathe on the other side of the village. The river's closer that way and there's a proper bank, with sand and everything."

"I've been here a few times with Pinkie Pie."

"Oh, you know Pinkie?"

Minuette gave Toni a strange look, accompanied by a raised eyebrow. This time he felt silly for asking.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting. Everyone knows Pinkie."

"That's who I visited. I come down every now and then for a cupcake and a chat."

"Sounds nice."

"Mhm."

Toni didn't know what else to say, so he began looking around the lake instead. He didn't mind sharing this bit of the river, but he was thinking of swimming a bit further out this time to give them both some space. He saw that Minuette was doing much the same, but then her ears lowered and she turned her eyes on him once more. "Anyway, I saw the newspaper articles, but I've never seen a human before. That's why I- you know. Just now?"

"Nearly drowned me?" Anton made sure to smile as he said it and the mare picked up on the joke. Her mouth split open in a mischievous grin. "Not intentionally," she whined, "I just never thought humans were such bad swimmers!"

"Bad swimmer my ass! I can swim better than you."

Her eyes narrowed and her ears lowered, even as her grin widened and became almost shark-like. "Prove it," she said.

"First one to the other side of the river and back?"

Minuette looked to gauge the distance, then gave a sharp nod. "Loser has to buy the winner ice cream back in town!"

"Deal!"

Toni turned to get ready, but Minuette laid a hoof on his shoulder to stall him. "No fancy human magic, okay?"

"I don't have any. No fancy unicorn magic!"

She looked almost offended at the suggestion. "I would never cheat!"

"Count us down."

They both dug into the river bank to kick off, and Minuette did as she was told: "Three. Two. One. Go!"

Evening brought welcome relief from the heat and Toni accepted Minuette's invitation to walk to the train station with her, which was the least he could do. She had kept her word and paid for their ice cream. Not that he'd been worried about that - pony folk tended to be extremely honest and trustworthy as a rule. More importantly, she wasn't a sore loser. After he'd edged her out by a nose on their little swimming race, Minuette hadn't been upset by it, and she'd happily conceded that Toni's long limbs gave him the edge. She'd asked to examine his hands and feet, too, and he'd obliged her curiosity. It wasn't a common request, at least in the recent past, but it also wasn't unheard of.

Now they were strolling through the park to the train station as the light slowly bled out of the sky.

"When did you say the train leaves?"

Minuette levitated a pocket watch from a pack strapped to her side and flicked it open. "Twenty minutes," she said, but her voice was doubtful and it almost sounded like a question.

"Yeah, don't worry, we can easily make it."

"Hmm?" Minuette had to create a tiny ball of light so she could see where to stow the watch, but it vanished as she glanced at Toni.

"You sounded worried," he explained.

"Oh, it's not that," she reassured him with a quick grin. "I'm-" She fell silent again and Toni thought she was biting her lip as they passed by one of the magical lanterns along the path.

He tried to guess what the problem might be and why she would be reluctant to say it: "If you don't have enough money for the train-"

Minuette's amused snort silenced him mid-sentence. Her tail flicked and she took a deep breath. "It's not that either. It's just- Toni, it was nice meeting you. I don't know what I expected, but this was nice. The ice cream was nice."

"Already blocked the memory of your defeat?"

"Pfft!" the mare blew him a raspberry. "We were about tied, I was just too polite to argue. Also, I didn't mind buying you ice cream. Your world sounds so interesting!"

"Tied my ass..."

"Oh, hush and let me say this!" They both fell silent and Minuette turned those large, sapphire eyes on Anton. "I had a nice time. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Their pace hadn't been particularly fast to begin with, and now Minuette had completely stopped. Her forehoof dragged a few lines in the sand before her. "You know, I took tomorrow off, too. Kind of like an extended weekend."

"That's nice. You'll get a chance to rest up after that gruelling race."

He could clearly see how her eyes rolled, but Minuette's smile remained in place. "What I was going to say, Toni, is that maybe I don't really need to catch this train. M-Maybe, I go back and take a room in town, just for the night. I haven't bought the ticket yet anyway, so it doesn't matter when I go back."

He could guess pretty well what she had in mind, and Toni's stomach suddenly clenched. He would have to gently let her down. Hopefully she'd take it well and he'd get to keep a friend. "Minuette-"

She ignored him and simply continued talking: "We could grab some coffee tomorrow, and I could take the mid-morning train. We could talk some more today. I'd like to hear more about your movies."

Anton blinked a few times in surprise. He'd been expecting an invitation to her hotel room, and had been bracing himself to decline. It was never easy, not when these equines were so utterly charming and adorable. Besides, he was lonely after Twilight had gone, and it would be some time before he saw her again. Some company did sound nice.

"I guess that could work. I'm working tomorrow, but we could take a coffee in the morning. I'm sure AJ won't be mad if I'm a bit late. I can stay up a little longer."

"Yeah! We can go back and take a table outside the Sugarcube Corner, maybe take a couple of donuts, or a muffin."

"Or, we could have dinner. Something that isn't sweets."

Her ears had been completely flat, but now they perked up and Minuette's eyes widened in delight. "Yeah, a nice, friendly dinner." Just as the silence was becoming uncomfortable again, she broke it: "Look, I read about what happened with Twilight. I'm sorry, and I'll understand if you- if it's too soon. It can just be dinner."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

The temptation was as powerful as it ever had been. Toni knew very well what he'd promised Twilight, but Minuette was right there and she wanted to get to know him better. Her eyes gleamed in the soft moonlight and her ears were splaying as she caught his gaze. Her mane was untidy, messy from the water, and would likely require a lot of brushing to get it in order, but Toni thought it was more beautiful this way. Less artificial. The cold lump in his belly began to thaw a little as he considered where the night might go. It didn't have to go anywhere. Minuette was right, and it could just be a dinner between two new friends. A flick of her tail told him she might ask for something more, but Toni didn't think she would push too hard, not if he didn't want her to.

After all, he'd promised Twilight...

"Okay, you paid for ice cream, so I'm paying for pizza. They know me at the Hay Burger so I can get one without, you know, hay."

"You don't eat hay?"

Toni shook his head and turned on his heel to begin walking back to the town. He didn't know exactly when he'd decided to keep talking with Minuette, nor how far he wanted to go, but he knew the evening wouldn't end quite yet.

"Humans generally can't eat hay. Don't worry, the pizza they make is still great."

"Okay, and you're paying?" Minuette asked slyly.

"You'll have to get a hotel room just to chat with me, it really is the least I can do."

His concern made the mare titter and she pranced a few happy steps. "Don't worry, I get a decent salary. I can afford a hotel."

"Where do you work, by the way?"

"I run the store for a watchmaker, and I help with repairs."

Toni snapped his fingers and pointed at her saddlebag. "Oh, I was wondering about the pocket watch. It's a nice one!"

Minuette's horn began to glow and she pulled it out again and floated it to Toni. "Yeah, it was an anniversary present for ten years working there."

The watch landed gently in Toni's palm and he gingerly examined it. It was mostly gold, at least judging by the weight, and there was an etched inscription on the inside cover. He couldn't read it in the dim light. "Very nice," he complimented. He held it up to his ear and tried to hear the ticking, but couldn't catch anything. The mechanism was probably extremely fine. Toni turned the watch around a few times, then held it out to Minuette.

Her magic enveloped his hand with a familiar tingling sensation as she accepted it. "Where do you work?"

"Haven't I said? Right now I'm helping AJ sell their wares. They're always short-handed in the summer. I kinda move from job to job, wherever my talents fit in best."

"Oh, that's right! You did say. Sounds exciting, though! I bet you get to try your hooves at all kinds of stuff."

They were about to go down the wrong path and Toni held an arm in front of Minuette to redirect her.

"This way. The Hay Burger, remember? Oh, unless you want to go to the hotel first to drop off your bag?"

"No, let's go eat first!"