"Nerd shit, huh?"

Moondancer snapped up against the back of his chair, forelegs flailing to keep from tipping over. He managed to grab the edge of the table and pull himself back to stability, heart thundering with heaved breaths. He shot a glare at the sniggering green pegasus leaning against his table, elbows on it and supporting his head. He looked handsome, young—definitely a first year—and wore a red flag of a cocksure grin that told Moondancer he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this stallion.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Moondancer glowered at him with thick, knitted brows. "Go away."

The pegasus got off the table and took the seat directly across from Moondancer, despite there being an orthogonal chair to maximize distance between himself and the unwanted pony. He slung his saddle bags—designer ones, Moondancer noticed—onto the chair next to him, but didn't take any study materials out. He just propped his head on his hooves again and looked at Moondancer, "So, what's that nerd shit you're reading?"

"Why would I talk to a rude pony that nearly sent me into cardiac arrest?"

"I have been known to stop hearts, but this is the first time hearing it from a stallion." Moondancer hated his smirk.

The pegasus tilted his head to read the titles of the textbook pile that dominated Moondancer's side of the table, "Damn, dude, this is like, the motherlode of nerd-dom. Stellar Rotation, Mana Collisions in the Interstellar Aether, Magnetohydrodynamics in Binary Stars? The fuck's a VLBI?"

"Something a pony studying liberal arts could never understand." Moondancer dug back into his open books, willing himself to block out the prattling pony across from him.

"My reputation precedes me! I didn't think a fourth year would've heard about me this early in the semester, but hey, I guess I'm just that good."

"Good at annoying ponies…"

"The name's Source. Anonymous Source. And you are...?"

"Studying. Leave me alone."

"And you said I'm rude. Can't I get your name, cutie?"

"Don't call me that."

"Why not, cutie? Cuties like you need to be told you're cute or you'll waste all of your time on nerd shit."

Moondancer realized he had re-read the same sentence five times in a row. He sighed, magicking up his taped glasses in a pink glow. "What do you want?"

Anonymous flipped his black mane out of his eyes, "Uh, your name?"

"No. Why are you bothering and insulting me?"

"Felt like it."

Moondancer grimaced. Anonymous was the worst kind of pony. The inconsiderate type that runs on emotions, acting and speaking without thinking. He looked back at his book, "Stop bothering me."

"Why won't you tell me your name? Is it 'cuz I called your nerd shit nerd shit? 'Cuz it totally is nerd shit. Nerd."

With gritted teeth, Moondancer glued his eyes to the page. Scanning, scanning, where did he leave off? Right, key points. He began reading: All objects displaying blazar behavior have strong flat-spectrum thaumic cores—

A hoof caressed the outside of his left hind leg, from fetlock to knee. Moondancer pushed himself away from the table in shock, the scrape of his chair legs echoing in the empty library floor, "BUH"

Anonymous stifled his laughter with both hooves, purple eyes crescents of malicious mirth. Moondancer took deep breaths as the adrenaline from sudden contact wore off. "What is your problem!?"

Between giggles, Anonymous managed to give an intelligible answer, "You still haven't given me your name, nerdball."

"Asshole!"

"Wow, your parents must've hated you."

"That's not my—ugh!" Moondancer hopped off his chair and started packing his saddlebags, "I'm leaving."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that, Asshole." Anonymous snickered, "Just tell me your name already. Room number works too."

Moondancer's face got stuck between frowning and confusion, "Why would I give you my room number?"

"I mean, we could go back to my dorm, but I'm stuck with other first years and figured you'd like some privacy. Fourth years get those one-bedroom dorms."

Moondancer's curiosity overtook his annoyance. He couldn't keep himself from asking, "Privacy for what?"

"Are you serious?" A wide grin spread across Anonymous' face when Moondancer cocked his head in response, "Luna's teats, you're a virgin. You're already, what, twenty-two? Are you seriously a virgin?"

"W-What's that got to do with—" The innuendo finally clicked. Moondancer's flattened ears tinted in embarrassment, "Th-That's none of your business, jerk! You can't ask somepony you just met stuff like that!"

"Oh, Celestia, you totally are. Holy shit, that's incredible. What the fuck have you been doing for the past four years?"

"Studying! This is an institution of higher education, not some bar to hook-up at." Moondancer shoved the last of his books into his bags, leaving the reference material he was reading on the table.

"Institution of—you're such a fucking nerd. Uni's all about making friends and connections and shit. Nopony comes here to study."

Moondancer slung the bags over his back. "I don't know where you got that idea from, but it's wrong. I'm leaving."

"Aw, where're ya going, cutie? I'll come with." Anonymous slid out of his chair. Moondancer could see the pegasus' cutie mark; a red question mark, feathered, ending in a quill's nib.

"Do not follow me."

"Why? You look like you could use a friend~"

Moondancer snorted and walked out of the library, taking the stairs down to the first floor. He looked over his shoulder as he exited through the revolving doors and was relieved to see Anonymous hadn't followed him. I hope I never see him again, he thought. He's going to flunk out before the semester ends. His kind always does. They show up, go to parties and get drunk and screw like rabbits. Then exams come around and, uh-oh, you mean I actually had to study?

Moondancer sighed, passing through morning shadows of the quad’s trees back to the third year dorms. I'll just have to come back tonight or tomorrow. The jerk'll probably be off 'partying,' i.e. acting like an animal, hung over, or something else and take the rest of the week off. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, I'll skip to week four, I suppose, since I won’t have access to those reference materials.

He went back to his dorm and settled in for a long, peaceful study session before classes officially began tomorrow.

"'Sup, nerdball."

Moondancer didn't respond. That was his mistake yesterday, responding. Anonymous was a troll, a bully. He was looking for a reaction. All Moondancer had to do was not respond, and he would get bored and go off to do... whatever it is attractive extroverts do. Probably drugs and sex.

"Hey. Heeeey. Ground Control to Major Asshole, do you read me? Heeeeeeeeyyyyy."

Supernovae are classified by their optical spectra—

Anonymous puffed up and shook Moondancer's book, "Stop ignoring me, Asshole. I'm talking to you."

Moondancer focused on the words: if a supernova does not show hydrogen lines in its—

Black, shiny hooves attached to green legs covered the textbook's pages, "Asssssshooooooole."

The book slam,ed shut in Moondancer’s magic, missing Anonymous’ hooves by a hair, “Whoa! Careful there, you could’ve scuffed my hooficure. Not very friendly of you.”

Crap. He responded. Now Anonymous was going to stick to him like glue until afternoon classes started. Moondancer sighed, “Please, please leave me alone. I want to study.”

“What are you even studying for? All morning, it’s just been syllabus this, introductions that, read these pages for next class. You’re going to finish the semester before the first week’s even over.”

“I like to keep up with my classes. And fourth year courses assign a heavy workload at the outset because it’s expected of fourth years to know what higher learning is.” Moondancer opened his book and nosed back to the page he was reading, muttering under his breath, “Not that a first year would understand.” He levitated a quill and scratched out notes as he read.

Anonymous leaned back in his chair, hind hooves braced against the table, pushing it enough for Moondancer’s quill to ink over his previous notes, “First years get easy courses because faculty understands we gotta hop on makin’ connections. By the time you’re a fourth year, like you, it’s expected that you already have a network of peers and professors to help you once you graduate. You do have a network, right, Asshole?”

Moondancer scrunched and pushed the paper aside, copying over his notes, “My name isn’t Asshole, and I’m a third year, thank you very much. Stop bothering me.”

Anonymous snickered, “The mystery of Asshole thickens! His name unknown, his intellect unmatched, his bed unused.”

Moondancer grumbled and read over his copied notes. Satisfied, the ruined sheet is magicked over to the recycling bin and he resumes reading. A blissful twelve seconds passed, fooling Moondancer into believing Anonymous got bored, before the young stallion opened his stupid mouth again, “Speaking of thick mysteries, dat flank tho’.” He let his chair fall and slid with it, hind leg stretched out to press into Moondancer’s squishy flank, “Where do you get that cake from?”

Moondancer yelped and scrambled out of his chair, anger overtaking shock as he shouts, “What is your problem?!”

Anonymous put a hoof against his trembling lips, body shaking with suppressed laughter, “Quiet, Asshole. This is a library.”

“MY NAME ISN’T ASSHOLE!”

“Am I speaking Prench, here? Did I not just say that this is—”

“A library. yes. If you have another outburst like that I will have to ask you to leave.” An old yellow earth mare with a gray bun and horn-rimmed glasses on a turquoise bead necklace approached Moondancer’s study table. The library’s top floor was the designated quiet study area, although as there was nopony else around, she had let their conversation slide. “We can hear you downstairs. Do not disrupt others like that again.”

Moondancer’s ears pinned back in apology. “Sorry, Quiet Time. But this jerk keeps—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, too. Anyways, I gotta catch my next class. See ya around, Asshole.”

Anonymous picked up his saddlebags and trotted off. A vein bulged on Moondancer’s forehead as he hissed at the retreating pegasus, “My name is not asshole!”

Quiet Time looked between the two and shook her head, “File a complaint next time instead of shouting, Moondancer. I’d hate for you to be barred from the library.”

He hung his head, rubbing one foreleg with the other. “Yes, Quiet Time.”

“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Quiet Time, but right now all I need is peace and quiet.”

Moondancer got back into his chair and relaxed. Finally, he could do some intensive studying. He still had about an hour before his next class, so he should be able to get into a good rhythm. And he did, for close to half an hour. He shut his textbook and went to the reference book he had to abandon yesterday.

He nosed it open to the page he dog-eared and came face-to-face with a drawing of a mare presenting for the viewer in vivid, but cartoonish, detail, cutie mark reminiscent of dancing. ‘Foxtrot’ was scribbled in looped cursive, and below that read ‘I can hook you up. She eats virgins. ;)’ The signature for the ‘artist’ read ‘Anonymous.’

He took the picture out and tore it up into small pieces in his magic with a full-toothed scowl, flinging the ball of lewd confetti into the recycling bin. He had no desire to look at that—that garbage. He didn’t want to meet this ‘Foxtrot’ or have some soulless fling. He wanted to study. That’s what he wanted. To study in peace.

He gave up trying to focus on his studies soon after and decided to go to class early. Maybe he’d get some coffee. The cafe on campus knew how to brew it strong. He sighed, packed up his saddlebags, and trotted off for caffeine and a clear head.

Author's Notes:

Moondancer's textbook lines were picked at random from The Role of VLBI in Astrophysics, Astrometry and Geodesy.