The Unexpected Love Life of Dusk Shine
Chapter 27: Intermission Chapter: The Date
Previous Chapter Next ChapterDusk Shine stood outside Fluttershy's door and sighed to himself. The sigh’s purpose was partially to calm his nerves, and partially to suck in one last leap of courage. This was the day he was going to ask Fluttershy out on a date.
He had planned several ways to ask out anypony he wanted, all written down on The Chart. Until today, he never actually had the chance to use any of them. He had hundreds upon hundreds of strategies prepared for Fluttershy, but he had picked the simplest option: The direct approach. He was just going to go to her cottage and ask her.
Unfortunately, this was also the hardest way.
Of course, that’s why he needed to do this right now, before he lost his nerve. With a hoof that was shaking with sweat and adrenaline, he knocked on the door.
There were light scampering sounds as Fluttershy’s countless critters and animals went and scratched furiously on the other side of the door, curious at who the unknown visitor could be. If you’ve ever owned a pet dog, you’d perfectly understand why they would do this.
Fluttershy opened the door with a soft creek, and looked at Dusk. “Oh, hello Dusk,” she said in her casual friendly manner, missing the tension of the situation. “Did you need something? You look so sweaty. Are you coming down with a fever?”
“N-no,” Dusk stuttered, “I kind of wanted to ask y-you something.”
“You did?” Fluttershy said, cocking her head to the side. “You came all this way to my house just to ask me a question?”
“Well yeah, it’s a little important. It’s important to me, at least. Fluttershy... will you... go out... w-with m-m-me on Friday?”
NOW Fluttershy felt the tension at full-force. It did not bond well with her. She got nervous. And whenever she got nervous, her voice tended to drop considerably lower. “Oh w-wow, I have s-such a b-busy schedule...”
“Please, Fluttershy?” Dusk begged. He was afraid his plan was headed for failure very, very fast.
Fluttershy was hiding her face behind her mane. Her posture was submissive and cowardly. Her body language basically said, “Please go away, I’m trying to shrink to the size of a pebble so I can hide away from the rest of the world.”
“W-why don’t you ask Rarity instead? She told me she has her eye on you, and I really don’t want to invade on her personal life.” Fluttershy said quietly, backing away nervously and beginning to close the door. “I also don’t want to drive a wedge between us or anything... you know, because Rarity and I are such good friends? Please don’t ask me...”
Dusk went out on a limb and improvised. “It doesn’t have to be romantic or anything! It can be anything you want. Do you like picnics? I can go for a picnic! Really, anything you want. Does a picnic around lunchtime sound good?”
Fluttershy had a miniscule amount of experience in directly saying the word ‘no.’ It was always a bit of a habit of her’s to always say ‘yes’ to any invites, offers, or favors that were asked of her. She had this nagging insecurity that somepony would think less of her if she said ‘no’ too often, so she was a pony that generally avoided the word.
This would all change when she would one day meet an assertiveness guru by the name of Iron Will, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
For instance, at this time, Fluttershy’s brain was saying this to her:
“Alright Fluttershy, just say you want to stay friends.”
At the same time, her mouth decided to go with its base instincts and began to form these words:
“W-well, since y-you want to go out with me so badly...”
Her brain went into overdrive, trying to regain control. “ABORT! ABORT! GET OUT OF THERE, SHY! RARITY WILL HATE YOU FOREVER!!!!!”
Joining into the act of defiance against her brain, Fluttershy’s feet went and trotted up to Dusk Shine, where he could hear her more clearly.
Her brain made one last attempt to reason with her haywire body. “WE’RE NOT READY FOR A SPECIAL SOMEPONY YET! HE’S TOO RISKY! THERE’S NO WAY WE COULD HANDLE THE PRESSURE! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF LUNA’S MAD MOONFEVER, SAY NO!!!!
Completely ignoring her brain, Fluttershy’s vocal chords gathered up the audacity to raise her voice all the way up the to normal speaking volume and said with a confident (and rarely used) tone:
“...I suppose one date wouldn’t hurt.”
In turn, we look inside Dusk Shine’s brain for his thoughts on Fluttershy’s words of acceptance.
Needless to say, he was glorified. That faint squee-ing sound you hear right now was all he could process at the moment. Without another word, he cantered off with a grin spreading across his face like wild fire and mind in a blissful daze, as if he was drifting off on a cloud.
Fluttershy calmly closed the door, and waited a few seconds in silence. Then, she came about several revelations that came down upon her with the ferociousness of a crashing waterfall.
Her first revelation was a simple acknowledgement of what had just happened to her.
“I have a date on Friday.”
Her second revelation was a bursting wave of shock, nearly knocking her to the floor.
“I HAVE A DATE ON FRIDAY!”
The next revelation was the next level of shock, due to the details on how this situation came to be.
“I just agreed to having a date on Friday! Just like that!”
Her next revelation was a rapid succession of statements that expressed panic and regret.
“What was I thinking?? I don’t know how to go on a date! What do I do? How do I act? What do I wear? Do I talk about his interests or mine? What are his interests? Who asked me on a date again?”
After this small brainfart-
“Oh yes, it’s Dusk Shine.”
-Fluttershy experienced her most painful revelation.
“...Oh no, it’s Dusk Shine.”
This particular revelation was an emotion that had no actual name in the Equuish language. This emotion was the vague fear you have of something because you’re constantly uncertain of what you feel about that particular thing, and it makes you question yourself to no end. You also feel the unpleasant sensation that this thing you’re afraid of shall become very important and urgent one day, and you will be forced to face the issue head-on against your will.
This emotion had a name in the native tongue of the goats, however: They named it uf’jrk. Of course, none of the goats could actually pronounce this word out loud, so the existence of it became a useless, scarcely-known fact.
Fluttershy, unfortunately, often felt tremendous amounts of uf’jrk towards Dusk Shine. He made her profoundly nervous, and thinking of his feelings towards her made Fluttershy’s guts all queasy, as if a million butterflies invaded her stomach. (No pun intended.) And to top it off, Dusk had six other mares actively seeking him, and all of them were personal friends of Fluttershy’s.
She also secretly harbored a nightmare where he would one day openly reject them all for a new mare that strided into town one day, and their entire fellowship would be in dire jeopardy. Sometimes, in the more intense dreams, the new mystery mare that won Dusk’s heart would be replaced by none other than herself.
Over the time she knew Dusk, she coped by just pretending the unfolding romance between her friends didn’t happen. She knew open denial about the subject was unhealthy, but she made it work. For example, here was a conversation that she shared with Rarity on their weekly spa date.
”Thank you so much for coming over, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, slipping out of her custom-made bathrobe with a stylized R perfectly sewn on it to go into the spa’s hot tub. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“You’re welcome, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, delicately stepping into the jacuzzi, being careful not to sear her tender skin, “it’s always a pleasure spending some private time with you.” She briefly waited to hear the inevitable string of gossip that Rarity constantly had in store for her, but Fluttershy never got it.
“I want to talk about something other than gossip today, darling,” Rarity said after a moment of silence.
“Oh?” the winged caretaker questioned, soaking herself in the soothing heat of the water. “Is something the matter? What on your mind?”
“I want to talk about boys,” Rarity said simply, bringing the subject forward gradually. “Specifically, one boy in question. I want to hear your thoughts on Dusk Shine.” She stared at Fluttershy expectantly, analyzing the pegasus’s response to this closely.
Fluttershy was taken aback. “Umm… He’s… uhh… nice…” She lowed herself in the waters of the hot tub, getting all the way down to chin level.
“Don’t be so nervous, Fluttershy,” Rarity reassured her friend. “We’re all friends here. I promise you, nothing we say shall ever leave this room.”
Fluttershy wasn’t very moved by this statement. “He’s a nice colt. That’s all there is to it, honest.”
“Come now darling, don’t pretend that I didn’t notice that he’s taken quite a shine to you,” Rarity said with a suggestive smile.
“Meep!”
“I want to know what you think of him in return.”
“I… well… umm… think of him a very good friend. Nothing more.”
“Really now?” Rarity said suspiciously, arching an eyebrow. “Because there’s this funny little rumor going around town about how you two shared a small kiss when he first got two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.”
How did she find out about that?! Fluttershy wondered to herself.
“A rather long kiss, in fact.”
“Really Rarity, he’s just a friend,” she protested.
“I believe it involved tongue? Lots of it?”
“I’m n-not that kind of mare.”
“Darling, just what exactly are you hiding from me?” Rarity pressed, looking Fluttershy dead in the eye. “We’re friends, remember? Friends don’t steal each other’s boyfriends, do they?”
“OH WOW, TIME’S UP ALREADY?” yelled Fluttershy, changing the subject with all the grace and subtlety of a charging rhinoceros. “We’d better get out of the jacuzzi now before our hooves start to prune up. What’s next, mud baths? I SURE could use a mud bath right about now!”
And now, Fluttershy just accepted a date with Dusk Shine. It was indeed a perilous situation. Right now, she needed advice. So, she went to her best friend in the entire world, Angel. Her pet bunny had been for her through and through, and now she needed him more than ever. Of course, she couldn’t really talk to Angel directly, but she had an obscure understanding on what he meant on most things.
“Angel, I’ve got something to ask you,” she said, going into the kitchen where Angel was currently eating. “Do you remember Dusk Shine?”
What, that one unicorn that made those insulting faces at my masculine glory when I raided the ponies’ marketplace? thought Angel, silently looking back at Fluttershy through his adorable beady eyes. What does the Maiden of the Stare want with him?
“Well, he just asked me on a date, and I said yes.”
Ah, I see. The Maiden wishes to continue her family line with a new generation. Good for her. About time she had her share of nookie.”
“B-but it’s sort of complicated. You see, all of my friends want to be with him, and I’m afraid they might hold a grudge.”
“What’s this? Competition for the mate? She should challenge them to combat, as is tradition!”
“And I’m afraid it might ruin our friendship. I don’t really have any friends outside them besides you and the rest of my animals. Oh Angel, what should I do?”
Angel let out a sigh, and attempted to communicate to Fluttershy through a combination of charades and a crude form of sign language. “O Great Maiden of the Stare, you have provided the rabbit warriors of Clan Cottontail with food, shelter, and lesser pets to push around for countless generations. We have watched you grow from a helpless filly to a beautiful, helpless adult. Today, your old life ends.
“Now that you have found the one to pleasure your nightly desires with, it is time for you to leave your past self behind. Cast down the chains of weakness, and prove the world that you will never, under any circumstances, surrender any challenge that stands against you, for that is truly the one path to greatness.
“Now Maiden of the Stare, to find this path and win the desire of the one you target, you must answer this question that lies among the sleeping fires that dwell within every warrior’s blood and soul: WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE?!!”
Of course, Fluttershy didn’t exactly catch all that. Instead, she interpreted what Angel was saying into something like this:
“Momma, I know you’re sad, and this is most definitely a scary time for you. But if you follow your heart, all your dreams will come true! Now, let’s hug. You can never have enough hugs, you know.”
“You’re right as always, Angel,” Fluttershy said picking her pet bunny up. “I should follow my heart. I'll try following through on this date, and we’ll see how it turns out. And yes, we can have a hug.” She gave him a loving squeeze. “Hugs are truly the best in life, Angel.”
When his owner put him down. Angel looked at the floor in disappointment. “She is not ready,” he said to himself. “One day will be, but that day has not yet come.” He solemnly hopped away into the many underground rabbit holes that connected into the cottage.
On the following Friday...
Dusk was almost ready to head out the door of the library. One by one, Spike checked off the necessities for the date.
“Picnic basket packed?” Spike said.
“Check,” Dusk replied, still psyched for his date with his dream mare.
“Picnic blanket?”
“Check.”
“Silverware?”
“Check.”
“Plates?”
“Check.”
“Beverage cooler?”
“Check.”
“Day, place and time of date confirmed?”
“Check.”
“Breath mint taken before you go?”
“Check.”
“Every mare that’s after you NOT informed of the date, so nopony can muck it with any zany hijinks?”
“Checked that one three times already, Spike.”
“You listed it three times already.”
Dusk Shine put on his sunglasses. Shining Armor always said that sunglasses looked cool, no matter who was wearing them. Dusk never really understood the precise concept of it to this day, but he did it anyway.
“Wish me luck, Spike! Watch the library while I’m gone!”
“Yeah, like we have any customers anyway,” Spike laughed to himself as soon as he shut the door
Dusk showed up on the spot of the date (a nice, sunny hill covered in bright, green grass) ten minutes early out of habit. Fluttershy showed up five minutes afterward the agreed time, attempting to be, as a dating magazine called it, ‘fashionably late.’ They both greeted each other, sat down and started eating. The dialogue they shared went as so:
“Hi, Dusk.”
“Hi, Fluttershy.”
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Can you imagine the audio reading for this?
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“Oh, would you look at that,” Fluttershy finally said, breaking the awful, painstakingly awkward silence. “We’ve finished all of the food two hours ago.”
Dusk looked in the picnic basket, seeing that the tree was astonishingly correct. “Huh. Well, this was... nice.” he said.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Do you wanna do the same thing next Friday?”
Fluttershy cheeks turned pink. “I’d like that very much.”
Next Chapter: Rarity's Pussy Pt. 2 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 13 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
If you look carefully, you can see that one of the "..." has FOUR dots instead of three.