"So," Soarin picked up, "how do you guys think it happened?"

Thunderlane shrugged. "Already told you my guess."

"...That's it?"

"That's it."

"Eeyup."

Soarin turned to the farmer. "What about you, Mac? Any guesses?"

Big Macintosh shrugged. "To be honest, Ah ain't real comfortable talkin' 'bout friends behind their backs like this. Don't make much difference either way what happened b'tween Blue an' Miss Rarity, fact is they don' like each other now. Ain't that enough?"

Soarin and Thunderlane were taken aback, feeling just a little ashamed of having gossiped like that. "Yea," nodded Soarin, "you've got a point. We should probably go join Shining to talk to Blue." He beamed brightly. "And THEN we'll talk about what happened!" He got two bewildered stares. "What? It's not talking behind his back if he's right there. Besides, maybe we can just ask what happened."

Thunderlane rolled his eyes. "Anyway. With the time it takes to ride a train to Canterlot and back they should both be back some time around noon, let's head to the train station around then." The others nodded in agreement and headed out to start their day, not planning to say another word about Blueblood and Rarity's first meeting.

The other patrons of Sugarcube Corner, however, made no such promise.

"Did you hear that?"

"They said Rarity was-"

"It sounded like-"

"Do you think they-"
"-during the Summer Sun Celebration, right?"
"-but they don't actually know if-"
"-could have been a misunderstanding-"
"Maybe, but what if-"
"Ohh, I bet I know what happened!"

A little later, two mares stood by their flower stands in the market area. Rose Luck turned to Lily Blossom. "Hey, you seen Daisy today? She's usually here by now."

Quickly looking about, Lily shook her head. "No... Do you think something happened?"

"I don't know, but-"

"Yes," a smiling Daisy Wishes said from directly behind her friends, making both jump a meter in the air, "something most certainly did happen!"

Turning to her tardy friend, Rose huffed. "You, giving us heart-attacks?" She got an apologetic smile in reply.

"Haha, sorry, I just couldn't wait to share the news with you guys!"

Lily tilted her head a little. "News...?"

"So," Rose summed up, "one of the new guys in town, Pri-"

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "New? They've been here for months!"

"Whatever! Prince Blueblood did something with Rarity the day he got here and now they won't talk to each other?"

"Pretty much. What do you think happened?"

"Uhh..." Rose idly scratched her chin. "I, don't really know. I thought he made up with the whole town after the party that night, so anything that could have led to a lasting grudge like this must've been pretty serious." She smiled. "Oh, I've got it; you said that Junebug said that Bella Brella said that Shining Armor said that they kinda started flirting, right?"

Daisy smirked a little. "You're heartbroken that it didn't really go anywhere, I'm sure."

"Shut up," Rose muttered as she tinted red. When the giggles subsided, she went on. "I'm thinking they probably kept at it, one of them started up the sweet nothings in Prench, then they ran out of lines and moved to Germane, then to Horspanish, then put on some music and danced a zesty tango together until one of them tripped and fell into one of Rarity's designs, tearing it in half and shutting things down right there."

"Uhm," Lily interjected, "I might have heard wrong, but didn't they meet up in town hall?"

There was a short exchange of glances before Daisy shrugged. "She's right, that kinda pokes a hole in the ruined design theory, unless Rarity brought a ponnequin with her for no reason."

"Meh," meh'd Rose, who was really just content that a dateless flower mare might still have a shot with a bachelor prince, "what do you think happened?"

Beaming, Daisy grew starry-eyed and slowly waved a hoof through the air, beginning her tale as though narrating a storybook. "It was a meeting that shook the stars..."

"AND AT LAST," declared Prince Blueblood as he burst into Town Hall, garbed in a glittering, golden tuxedo and holding a rose between his teeth, "let never again the clinging cold of desolate loneliness plague your maiden heart, my dear, for I have traveled far to see that you know only the comfort of my company henceforth!"

Rarity, dressed in a long, soft-pink, translucent gown embroidered with flowery patterns, turned to face him, her heart already aflutter. "Plagued though I may be by a great many things, Stranger, of the utmost prominence to me in this instance is but uncertainty. Pray tell, what brings you to me this day, and what are these utterances you bestow upon my virgin ears? Be doubtless that such sentiments are not unwelcome, but so deeply perplexing!"

Prince smiled as he stepped closer, slowly, as though ascending the steps to a holy shrine as he neared his beloved. "Surely," he breathed, talking around the two roses between his teeth, "that we should convene like this was written in tomes far older than this world, for not duty, not words, not dreams, but the very crux of need itself lands me within your sight this day."

The lady quivered, but did not back away. "Your sentiment rings in my ears and resounds in my heart, but I know not what you say."

His smile was clear even through the three roses in his teeth. "It is as I have detailed, Fairest of Ladies, for from the depths of my soul do I profess that I cannot stand, cannot live, cannot be tied to this realm at all but for the chance to be graced with your company." Gently, as though handling the essence of life itself, he took her hoof and knelt. "Miss Rarity of Ponyville, it is my deepest wish, and my humblest request, that I should be with you for all of time, that when all that is ceases to be, we should remain frozen even in the unchanging void together, come what may."

Glistening tears streaming down her face as the heat of this declaration awoke fires hotter than Celestia's own sun in Rarity's heart, she too began to smile, leaning her lips closer to his and the five roses therein. Their burning hearts beat in rhythm as they drew nearer, the clouds parting that choruses from the sky may be heard to commemorate the union of two ponies not whole up until this precious moment in their lives.

But lo, disaster struck as a changeling infiltrator burst into the room from the decorated skylights above! Brutally did it descend on the pair, making its fiendish and cowardly move to bite and drain each of their power before either could be readied! Their love, their passion, their all-consuming feelings for each other bled from their bodies as well as their spirits before the monster fled with its dark harvest, leaving only two drained, hurt, and embittered victims in its terrible wake.

Thus was the tragedy of the pair's first meeting.

Rose blinked very, very slowly. "...What."

Daisy hadn't lost her starry-eyed gaze. "Don't you get it? They were made for each other and then torn apart! It'd be a best-seller!"

"Where were the flowers coming from? One might be romantic, but more than that and it looks like you're playing with your food."

"Oh?" Daisy had a particular look in her eye as she smiled. "You would have liked it better if he only had one rose in his mouth?"

The red-haired mare grew to resemble her livelihood, though without the petals and thorns. "Y-you, that, that's j-just-!"

The sputtering continued for several seconds, but Daisy just giggled to herself about not having heard a 'no.' Then she turned to Lily, who, judging by the perplexed look on her face, was still working out the joke. Probably better if she doesn't get it. "So, what do you think happened, Lily?" She giggled again as Lily snapped to attention, doing that adorable 'Huh-what?!' face.

"I... I'm sorry, what was it?"

"Your take on what probably happened between Blueblood and Rarity to get them so steamed at each other." She glanced at Rose. "In a platonic way." This won another blush, much to Daisy's delight.

As she recalled what she partially overheard from the prince and Him as they ran through town shouting at each other not terribly long ago, Lily tinted red too. "Well, uh, m-maybe he tried to something-her-something that time...?"

Rose and Daisy shared an uncertain glance before the first customer of the day approached.

"Hey there," Daisy said with a grin, "have you heard the news...?"

Prince was conflicted when he'd stepped off the train at Ponyville, but it was possible Shining had just been worrying over nothing. The sky wasn't falling, the buildings weren't eating ponies, there were no signs of virulent disease or violent dementia ravaging the population, not even a single giant vegetable monster. It was peaceful, from what he could see, birds chirping, foals playing, clouds drifting across the sky over ponies just going about their day, the whole idyllic-little-town shebang. That made Shining's unheard warning all the more worrying. It was with no small amount of dread that he kept an eye out for purple cloaks and pointy hats, but so far the coast was clear.

Dammit, I should have looked up that counter-counter teleportation spell while I was in Canterlot!

Calm, but not wanting to be caught out in the open if something was wrong, he returned to Golden Oaks Library at a brisk pace, not worried about the slightly odd looks he was getting for doing so. You'd think they had never seen a pony in a hurry before!

Safe at home, Blueblood pulled up a chair in the front room, grabbed a good book, and waited. About an hour and a half later, the door flung open. Pleasantries were abandoned right away as Shining charged across the room with a panicked look on his face, ran right up to him, opened his mouth to repeat whatever he shouted on the train, and was silenced by Blueblood putting a hoof to his mouth. "Stop. Breathe. Think. Then speak. Please."

Shining nodded, got his thoughts together, then summarized that morning's events at Sugarcube Corner, apologizing at least four times for letting slip everything he knew about what happened between Prince and Rarity. To his surprise, however, Prince only smiled.

"It's okay."

There was a long silence as Shining stared back at him. "What with the what now?"

"I'm not angry," he answered with a shrug and a small frown, "to be honest, I forgot that I'd ever threatened you back then, and if anything, I'm sorry you've spent this long worrying about it."

Shining smiled. "So, you're not mad, and I'm not fired?"

Prince smiled back. "Nope!"

"Thanks!"

"What are friends for?" There was an audible pause. "So, did anything else happen while I was away?"

"Uh... Nah, nothing all that interesting. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. What have the others been up to?"

At about that time, Soarin, Big Macintosh, and Thunderlane all arrived at the train station.

"Damn," muttered Thunderlane, "I hate looking for ponies at places like this. There's no knowing if they're here and just out of sight, still riding the train to get here, or got here already and left."

"Eeyup."

"Worse than that," remarked Soarin, "Blue's probably gonna be pissed when he hears what everypony's talking about if he hasn't alrea-"

"Serendipitous," cried a voice from nearby, startling the three stallions as they whipped their heads in his direction, "that's got to be it!"

Sitting on a bench with a crossword puzzle, Doctor smiled as he claimed the squares of the latest word. Then he looked up. "Oh, good day, fellows! What brings you here?"

Thunderlane shrugged. "Some stuff happened at the usual place this morning and now we're looking for Shining and Prince. What about you?"

His smile broadening, Doctor got up. "The same!"

Soarin tilted his head. "Really? Why?"

"With an ear to the ground and a bit of deductive reasoning, I noodled out that the gossip going around town would most likely have come from one of the three ponies it was centered around. As one is a lady that keeps to herself, another was out of town, and the last was seen coming here, patiently waiting in line, buying a ticket, and getting on a train to Canterlot, all while screaming at the top of his lungs (I'm told it made the line go faster), it seemed most likely that our accidental culprit was none other than Shining Armor."

The others stared at him for a long moment. "So," asked Big Mac, "ya seen 'im?"

Doctor frowned, holding up the newspaper. "No. I got really caught up in this crossword puzzle while I waited. The next one is a sixteen-letter word; a difficulty of communication between two or more parties..."

Thunderlane's eyes widened. "Are you doing that in pen?!"

"Maybe?"

"So," asked Soarin, "what have you heard? Does anypony actually know what happened?"

Doctor chuckled. "I don't think it'd be quite as interesting if ponies were sure of the details, but if I had to guess, I'd say it went something like this..."

Author's Notes:

Key difference between Daisy and Moondancer: Daisy just likes to talk about these things, more interested in the pairings than what they may or may not do together, let alone being involved herself.

Help Doctor with his crossword Puzzle!
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