My Little Pony: Friendship is Bothersome

Dusk stormed as grouchily as always to the Carousel Boutique. That blue Pegasus had done nothing to improve his mood despite his epic win, and having humiliated her had gone so far as to put Barb in a bad mood.

The boutique looked like the kind of place foals were warned not to go into because there would be a scary witch pony waiting to fatten them up and stick them in a stew. Then again, that candy shop they had passed by fit the description better.

Dusk entered of his own accord and took a quick glance of the lobby.

"The decorations look impressive enough." he commented, ticking off 'decorations' on the checklist.

"Beautiful." Barb added with a tinge of awe. Dusk considered the word for a moment.

"Yes, I suppose you could say they're beautiful, but I'm not really an appropriate judge." he replied.

Barb groaned and grabbed his maw, turning it as she corrected him. "Not the decorations, her!"

Dusk's eyes were led to a white mare with a Victorian styled purple mane and tail. It was that shade of purple that was often associated with royalty or nobility.

"Again, not the right judge." Dusk said, pulling his face from the dragoness' grip. The conversation seemed to attract the attention of the mare in question.

"Oh hello, darlings. I'm sorry to say we're closed today, I've had to focus all my skills on preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration."she said. Her accent was thick with the tongue of Canterlot Nobility. It struck Dusk much like Rainbow Dash had earlier. This mare was a high-class wannabe in a low-class town. He was in the damn Twilight Zone.

"That's good to know. We expect the best and the most dedicated to possess such a role as yours. Had you not focused your time solely on the celebration, your suitability for the role may have been brought into question." Dusk replied. Barb smacked her face, ashamed to even know the unicorn beside her.

"Uh... I... Suppose. Exactly who are you?" the mare asked, giving Dusk a warning look.

"I'm-."

"Going to go outside and leave this to your assistant so you don't piss off another local." Barb interrupted, shoving him out the door.

"I'm so sorry about him. Dusk's... Difficult to get along with. I'm Barb and I'm here to check up on the progress of the festivities." she said.

"Ah, excellent! Well you'll be happy to know I'm almost finished with it all, I just need to add the final touches to the sun designs. I've managed to procure some yellow gems and I need to stick them to this." She led the dragoness to the grand design; It was a fabricated sun with a mixture of red and orange inlays around the circumference. It looked like a giant more detailed version of the Princess' cutie mark.

"That. Is.... Amazing." Barb was beside herself. Still looking at the sun, she ticked the 'decorations' box off.

"Alright. I'll leave you to it, because if I stick around, chances are you'll find yourself short a few dozen gems." She said. Rarity giggled and shook the dragon's hand.

"Ta ta, darling. Come and visit any time you want after the celebration. We'll do Lunch." Rarity said, accompanying the dragon out.

Dusk waited outside for his assistant, taking the time to calm himself down and try to improve his mood. It managed to work to an extent, until the inevitable interruption of an exiting dragoness. With a deep exhale, he addressed Barb and they were on their way.

"Looks like 'music' is up next and it's being choreographed by Fluttershy." Barb said. Dusk considered the name.

"Sounds... Timid." He said, keeping an ear out for any form of music. He quickly discovered a chorus of birdsong harmonising beyond their usual ability. Dusk motioned for Barb to follow and within a minute, they spotted Fluttershy standing in front of a low hanging branch with a number of birds perched on top. They seemed to be going through a warmup when Fluttershy addressed an individual bird.

"Um, excuse me Mr bird. If it's alright with you, could you possibly sing at a lower register? You're kind of out of sync with the others." She asked. The bird seemed bashful at her words and Dusk had to blink as he wondered how an animal could actually respond so sentiently to a pony.

"Hello?" Dusk called out. Fluttershy turned around and spotted Dusk. She jumped up like a frightened cat and froze in place as if petrified. Dusk seemed unsure and slightly curious. He waved his hand in front of her face and even clicked his fingers. She was unresponsive.

"Okay, this is kind of funny." he said, beginning to chuckle. Barb joined him.

"Yeah, kind of." She agreed. Dusk pressed the yellow pegasus' forehead and she began to fall backward.

"Oops." Dusk said, quickly moving to catch her. He lifted her up and let her down against the base of the tree.

"We'll I think she has the music under control. Let's tick that off the list and take a break. Maybe check out our sleeping quarters." Dusk suggested. Barb smiled and drew her claw along the checklist, ticking 'music' off the list.

As the pair left and headed towards the Library, Barb suddenly began to giggle.

"What?" Dusk asked, looking to the bemused reptile.

"You were very kind to that last one. I think you like her." She teased.

"Nonsense. I just didn't find myself hating her on sight due to her funny display." Dusk defended.

"Whatever, lover boy." Barb teased.

"I don't like her." Dusk said cautiously.

"Yeah, you do." She pressed.

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't!"

"You do."

"I don't!!"

"You do."

"I DON'T!!!"

Another voice entered the argument. "Excuse me." It said timidly.

"WHAT?!!" Dusk turned to the source of the voice, snapping like a dragon. He froze when he saw the topic of the argument sinking to the ground into a ball, tears threatening to surface.

"Oh crap." Dusk croaked, kneeling down to meet her level. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. My assistant was pushing my buttons. Are you okay?" As dusk spoke, he noticed his demeanour was the complete opposite to before when addressing the other ponies. He knew it wasn't a matter of liking her, he just couldn't bring himself to make somepony like her cry. He was cold, but not that cold.

The mare was still shaking and Dusk decided to take a different approach.

"Are you Fluttershy? My name's Dusk Shine." He said. She still shook like an earthquake. He tried to consider what he knew about her already and recalled her apparent affinity for animals.

"Hey look, a dragon!" He said, pulling Barb to his side. Fluttershy gasped with excitement that could combat her fear and threw Dusk aside. The stallion landed against the wall, making a unicorn shaped groove in it.

"Oh my goodness! A baby dragon!" Fluttershy exclaimed with glee.

"Princess, I don't want to be in Ponyville anymore." He prayed, falling out of the groove in the wall.

"Oh she's so cute! I want to know everything about you." She said.

"Where to begin?" Barb said, considering her life so far, such as it was.

"And that's my whole life so far." Barb finished. Dusk's eyes sagged as he began to feel drained of all appreciation for other living beings.

"And here I though your life consisted of; wake up, get up, eat, work, eat some more, work some more, eat and sleep." He said. Barb scoffed at him.

"We'll If you ever took your fat nose away from those books, you'd notice what I do for you. I mean seriously, I'm your only friend because you're intolerable and I grew up with you." She replied.

"You haven't grown since your third birthday. You're predominately short." He interjected. The dragoness huffed in annoyance and strode beside her new friend instead.

"So you're the Princess' personal student?" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Yes, though she has difficulty understanding my priorities. Instead of letting me investigate into a potential legend, she has me doing this; checking off preparations for the celebration." Dusk replied, his irritation seeping through his teeth like venom.

"That legend is nothing more than an old pony's tale. If you ask me, she sent us here to stop you from wasting your time with it." Barb commented.

"I doubt her wisdom allows her to perceive my intentions so haphazardly." Dusk replied, stopping at the entrance to the Library.

"Oh thank sweet merciful Celestia, we're here." He almost cried out.

"Don't go celebrating yet, Dusk. I'm sure Fluttershy is tired from her day of training her animal friends. Any good Stallion would invite her in for a drink and to let her relax." Barb stabbed his hopes like a needle with a balloon. He almost went so far as to almost let his legs buckle from under him.

“Alright, fine. But she’s your friend, so it’s your job. I’m going to get some sleep before the dawn of the celebration.” he said, opening the door. He was met with pitch blackness. Fluttershy wasn’t too keen on the darkness either.

“Who would be so idiotic as to draw the curtains during the day?” Dusk groaned, throwing one of them open. As he systematically went from one window to the other, Barb and Fluttershy saw the collection of ponies crouched behind him, wearing party hats and decorations hanging above them.

“Oh crap.” Barb let out as Dusk turned around.

“SURPRISE!!!”