An Infinite Loop

Someone said my name. I inhaled and focused on the screen. Circles with initials in them. Right. Work.

I unmuted myself and said, "Sorry, I was muted." Muting and unmuting my microphone had been a real problem for a while, until I learned the relevant keyboard commands. After that it became a cheap excuse. As it was for everyone else, I figured.

Devon said, "Mhm," as if it wasn't obvious. "So, release testing? How's that going?"

"Right. That's in progress. I'll have it done by tonight."

"Sounds good. Seems like we're in a good place for the release. So... If nobody else has anything, I guess I'll say Merry Christmas."

And then we moved on. And I kept thinking about her.

Everyone kind of assumed I knew what Christmas was about, and I kind of pretended I did, too. Seemed similar to Hearth's Warming, and it made no difference to me as long as I got a week off before school started again. I wondered: was the same true of Fizzlepop? The time off, that was, not the confusion about Christmas. I'd only find out if I saw her again, and the chance of that was pretty slim.

There I was, mid-slurp, and she was looking right at me!

Fizzlepop had a box of food in her mouth that she must have just bought at a stall here, and she must have been looking for a place to sit down - finding me at the only table built for ponies. That left me with half a mouthful of noodles and that heart-stopping feeling that I was about to choke on something.

I had two choices: finish the slurp, or whatever you'd call it; or bite it off and swallow what I could. The way things were happening in my throat there was a good chance it would come out my nose if I tried the first option, so I tried the second. Swallow. Just swallow! It was the most normal thing in the world, and I'd been doing it all my life. I wasn't going to let myself screw it up this time.

She was halfway here. Any second now she would ask, 'Is this seat taken?' and I'd have to say something. Finally, the last hanger-on came free, dropping into the wax paper box. I swallowed all I had, and had just enough time to wipe my muzzle before the words came.

All she said was, "Hay," around the box handle, before she sat down on the opposite chair and started opening things up.

False alarm. No reply needed. I just nodded and pretended I was normal.

But this wasn't exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted to talk to her, to figure her out. To get to the point I could swipe right. Maybe.

A glance or two couldn't hurt.

She was even taller up close, but she wasn't reedy like some unicorns were. With broad shoulders and a strong neck she was built more like an earth pony. That might have been related to her horn if she'd lost it when she was young. And her coat wasn't as dark as it looked from far away - it had a pearlescent quality to it, shifting from burgundy to violet as the light bent around it. I would have liked to get a better view of her cutie mark, but leaning over the table to check it out would be a little too obvious.

Without looking up from her pierogies, Fizzlepop said, in a half sigh, "You can ask, you know."

I grunted, "Huh?"

Next was a full sigh, and she looked through me with dark cyan eyes. "The questions you're dying to ask. Everypony wants to know. It's fine."

I had no idea what she was talking about, until my eyes flicked up to her horn, and then down to her scarred right eye. Of course. But I wasn't going to ask that! "Uhhh," I said, trying to think of a different question. "What brings you to Earth?"

That made her raise an eyebrow as she looked back down at her food. "Hmmm." She stuck a pierogi with a plastic fork and ate it before she answered, "Just trying to figure things out. You know, find my place in the world. Or worlds - plural." She chewed on another pierogi. "You?"

I considered going back to my noodles, but I didn't want another repeat of that disaster, so I just let them cool and turn to mush in their box. "I get it. I'm here for school, but I guess I'm trying to figure things out, too. Things are..." I didn't want to go too dire on her. "...different now. Hard to know where you'll land, right?"

"Right," she said, as if she knew exactly what I meant, even though I wasn't sure I knew exactly what I meant. Then she extended a hoof across the table. "I'm Tempest."

I bumped her. "Sea Swirl. Nice to meet you!"

Then I looked down at my noodles.

Tempest? Not Fizzlepop? I was sure it said something different on her profile. Was it out of date? Or was she giving me a usename?

As I thought about it, I realized it didn't matter. I was going to use whatever name she gave me. And what I was going to say still kind of worked.

"You know, 'Tempest' and 'Sea Swirl' are both spiral-themed names, when you think about it..."

"Oh, great, name analysis," she groaned, in a tone I took as slightly sarcastic, but it was hard to tell. Then she pointed at her forehead. "I think I'd rather answer awkward questions about my horn."

I grimaced. "Sorry. Though, now that you mention it, I am curious..."

She covered her mouth with a hoof and snorted.

"Sorry..."

That made her laugh even harder, which made me laugh. By the third time I said, "Sorry," there were tears in her eyes.

Her HoofPrint profile was exactly the same. Same strong, beautiful face, same proud expression, same confusing name. This was the same pony who was sitting across from me in a cafeteria an hour ago.

She wasn't anything like me. I'd lived a pampered life, compared to most ponies, at the hoof of the capital. I had never even left Ponyville before the tunnels opened. And I wouldn't have even gone this far if I hadn't had a reason. But Tempest had seen the world, and now spent her time traveling this one. She probably had a reason - more substantial than 'putting distance between myself and the ursa minors', as she'd joked - but I couldn't guess.

And there she was on my phone. If I swiped right, I might have a chance to talk to her some more. But it might also come off as creepy. Like I was stalking her. I didn't really know what I'd do if I was in her position, but I might be worried somepony was stalking me again. Maybe.

But if I didn't swipe, I might never see her again.

Caught in a loop of indecision. I felt like I'd been here before. I didn't know how to get out of it.

My phone falling on my face put a stop to it.

By the time I got it back in my hooves, Tempest was gone. Must have closed HoofPrint off my snout or something. I was too tired to think about it.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'd change things. If I saw her again.