May......meets somepony?

May strolled into the tavern, tucking her dagger discreetly into her cloak. She glanced about, taking note of all the ponies. She looked rather casual, merely another pony entering. But she was so much more, and her mind reeled as she observed the crowded building.


She walked up to the counter, ordering a glass of cider and taking a seat at the bar. As the bartender prepared her drink, May examined the room again, taking in all the ponies.

Shy trotted into the pub. Oh bugger was it busy tonight. He looked around- most ponies were sitting and chatting calmly. Give it about an hour and this place will be a right tip. He did his usual and ordered himself a cider then sat in a booth. He looked around seeing all these ponies chatting and laughing. He had to admit he felt a little jealous. Then again, he supposed that even if he ever did actually feel like talking to anypony he'd need somepony similar.

Why was he even thinking about this? He didn't really want anything like that. He just wanted to be left alone for now. He finished his cider. Normally he'd just leave but he felt like another for the hay of it. He pushed his way through the crowd and ordered himself another cider. Unfortunately he couldn't get through the wave of ponies behind him when he'd got his drink. He sighed, then sat down on one of the stools at the front next to a grey coated mare. He drank his cider quietly, trying not to make eye contact.

He took a peek at this mare. For some reason he didn't feel what he normally did when he met a pony- exasperation- instead he felt a bit calmer. Interesting. 'What could be causing this?' He thought.

May tilted her head slightly as a blue pony sat next to her, looking rather grumpy. He peeked at her, rather discreetly for a stallion. Only May's expert eyes could tell he was looking. She laughed, well, breathed more air out of her nose than usual, that's how she laughs.

The bartender finished with her drink and sold it to her, she caught it lightly, ignoring the loud, obnoxious crowd of ponies. Sipping the cider, she glanced lightly at the blue stallion. He had a short red mane, and green eyes.

He peaked an interest in May, but she brushed it off as drunkness. The cider must be stronger than she thought. Although, drunk May was actually ruder than sober May.

The mare next to him exhaled rather heavily. Was that her way of laughing or something? She was looking a bit at him too. He had to admit, if he hadn't noticed her earlier he probably wouldn't have noticed her. This one was good. He laughed a little at that thought.

Wait, since when had he last laughed? He wasn't exactly a positive pony, so why was the simple prospect of this mare he'd never met before actually making him laugh? This mystery intrigued him. He studied her more carefully, albeit discreetly. She had red eyes, which was pretty unusual for a pony. Shy had seen the odd one but they were pretty uncommon. She also did her mane quite interestingly- at first glance it seemed like she kept it messy, but looking closer Shy noticed it was actually just done quite abstractly. He turned to her, feeling the need to make conversation.

"Are you OK? You seem a little drunk."

"Drunk?" May snorted, "I've only had one." she raised an eyebrow, turning to face him. She pulled her hood down to see him without hindrance. He looked rather normal to her, but something seemed off.

May wasn't sure what, but it interested her. "Are you?" she asked, laughing again.

He was different from the others, he seemed like her. Unsocial.

Shy laughed along with this new pony.

"No I'm not drunk as far as I know. What's your name anyway? Mine's Shy Smiles."

He downed his own cider and looked around. Not much seemed that interesting to him. What was so special about this mare that captivated his attention? It burned within him to find out what.

"So, do you normally get that drunk?" He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing to say- not very good at being social. The bartender gave him a sort of look. It was kind of congratulatory? Proud? Shy couldn't tell. For whatever reason that pony seemed pretty happy for Shy.

May followed Shy's stare to the bartender, but didn't care enough to find out what it was about.

"I'm Marie Darknight, May for short. And I'm not drunk, just a bit tipsy." she laughed, finishing the rest of her cider in one gulp. She signaled to the bartender for another one, and turned back to Shy.

She wondered why the stallion was talking to her, ponies normally knew enough to stay away, or were scared. With good reason, as May always carried her knives with her. But this pony was different, rather brave, or just stupid. She wasn't sure which one Shy was. May took a large sip of her drink, eyeing Shy. She smirked and set the glass down, leaning on the counter. She pondered the thought of Shy, he was definitely more intriguing then the other ponies in the bar, but she didn't know why. She just couldn't pu her hoof on it.

Shy laughed. That's exactly what a drunk would say. He didn't say so out loud though- this mare was interesting but he couldn't let his guard down. She gave off a dangerous vibe. For some reason that just spurred Shy on to continue talking to her. He couldn't figure out what exactly it was, and it was annoying yet amusing him. He grinned at her.

"Are you planning to get drunk?"

He snickered a little at that statement. He wasn't usually like that to ponies- he normally tried to just keep them away from him, but for some reason he kept wanting to get closer to her.

"If so, fancy a drinking contest? Betcha I'll win."

"You're on." May replied, downing her drink in one gulp. She signaled to the bartender for shots, "get ready to lose." she laughed.

The counterpony returned with 20 shot glasses full of cider. May picked one up slowly, "ready, set, go!" she yelled before gulping down her first shot.

She quickly downed 5 more glasses, not even glancing at Shy to see how far he got.

Shy grinned. Really? 20? After that deep drink he had a few weeks back he could tank pretty much anything he drank. He downed several shots in quick succession. He wasn't even counting; all he knew was he was drinking a massive load of cider shots. Eventually, most they were all gone. He leaned back in his stool.

"You had enough yet? Or are you up for another round?"

He signalled to the bartender, this time for 30 shots.

May cocked an eyebrow, having already finished her set.

"Yeh I'm up for another round, though I would prefer not to get too drunk." She laughed.

May was surprised at how much she was laughing, normally she ignored things that were laugh-worthy. What was it about this pony?

The shots arrived, but May lazily tilted back, holding one in her hoof. She swished the liquid around in the glass, not drinking

Shy finished his lot, then noticed May was just playing with her glass.

"Well, judging by your lack of drinking I guess I've won."

While not drunk, he still felt a little light headed. He shrugged and looked to May. He couldn't think of much to say, but he didn't want to leave this mare. He was still mystified by her- he had to figure out what it was that was causing it.

"Alright mate, what's the look?" He'd finally had enough of the bartender, so he turned to the guy. "You've been giving me and May here looks for a while now. What is it?"

The bartender appeared flustered, but decided to reply honestly.

"Well, firstly I've never seen anypony drink that much and still be conscious, let alone stable. Secondly, I just like observing shy ponies interacting like this. I find it amusing."

Shy sighed. Well, the stallion wasn't doing any harm.

May glared at the bartender, "I'm not shy" she snapped rudely. She returned to facing the counte in front of her and toying with a glass.

Granted, normally she would have left by now. But first, she wanted to figure out why Shy intrigued her so much. It bugged her, and she cast glances at him now and then. Her eyes searched te tavern as well, seeing if anypony else interested her. She came up empty handed.

Shy laughed again when May snapped at the bartender like that. The expression on his face....priceless! He looked to her swirling her drink around. He had half a mind to ask her if she was leaving any time soon, but he'd sound rude. Besides, he didn't want her to leave. He felt a blush come on when he thought of that. 'Damnit Shy! Always with the mares!' Was his main thought at the time.

So, he liked May. Not a chance of course. Shy was pretty unremarkable and he wasn't exactly nice. What kind of pony would actually like him? Well, Sweet and Burning he supposed, but then again they were under the effects of a love potion and desperate for love, respectively. This mare had no such effects- she was perfectly sane at that point. But then again, why would she stay near him? It was clear that she was delaying something. Argh, this was annoying. He decided he might as well come out with it.

"A-are you delaying something? I've noticed you keep sort of swirling your drink around. Are you waiting for something?"

He wanted to add in these feelings he had, but stopped himself. That'd be too sudden.

"I'm delaying returning home." she replied, her voice calm and mostly emotionless. There was a touch of curiosity, she wondered why he asked. May turned to him, openly observing him. She didn't really care that he could plainly see her.

"Why? Are you doing the same?" she laughed.

She realized the emotion she had was a new one. No pony had ever caught her attention the way Shy had. May understood the new feeling was, interest. Or, a crush. She had never experienced this before, and wasn't sure whether it was a good feeling or not. But she was curious to find out.

Shy laughed when she asked that.

"Maybe I am. What're you delaying it for? You don't seem like the most social pony."

He downed another cider to pass some time. He looked around the pub, ignoring the feeling in his chest that he got whenever a mare got to him. He was rolling the idea about in his head, unsure of whether to try and go further along with it. On one hoof, he didn't even know if she liked him. On the other hoof, that's what he'd thought with Burning, but guess who hunted him down the following morning? Ah, hay with it. Wouldn't do any harm to give it a go he supposed. He'd proceed with caution- if things didn't seem to be going that well he'd just leave. Simple.

He looked at May. He had to say she really did look good. The mane and the eyes clashed together well, and he found her attitude alluring. Of course, he wouldn't say so aloud since he'd probably get a slap or a dagger in his guts for his trouble.

"I'm not, I just...don't want to go home." May replied, a bit unsure. She noticed he was looking at her, but she brushed it off. Turning to face him, she smirked and signaled the bartender for a glass of water.

May bit the inside of her lip, mulling the thought of Shy over and over in her mind. He hasn't run screaming out yet, he was even talking to her, still she hoped he would stay, and was shocked by this. He had caught her attention like no other could. She found herself wanting to stay.

Normally, she would have just had a few drinks and left. But she couldn't, and she didn't know why.

Shy thought a little at that statement. She was obviously hiding something from him. Could she be feeling the same? He still wasn't sure. If only he wasn't so bloody shy, he'd be able to come out with it. As it stood he had to simply stay quiet. He asked the bartender for some hay fries- he was getting hungry.

As he ate the hat fries, he turned to May. He felt this was the best way to do it:

"To be honest I don't want to go either. I feel like something's keeping me here."

He passed the box of fries to May. "Fancy some?"

May nodded, taking a hoofful of fries. She ate rather slowly, as she wasn't very hungry. Her eyes probably betrayed her interest, looking at Shy.

"Any idea what?" she asked with a smirk. This pony was certainly shy, and May was too, at this time. Really, she wasn't. She was just sarcastic, rude, mean, and scary. She wasn't shy. But she was now for some reason. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but decided against it. She took a sip of her water, trying to clear her head.

Shy blushed a little when she asked. Should he say it or just button it? Wait, he had an idea on how to get himself on top with this.

"I might. D'you know have any idea what's keeping you here?"

It was kind of tough now to not say it- she was overwhelming him. Her eyes, her mane, her face...it was all pushing down on him, metaphorically speaking. He was enjoying himself though- May clearly had no idea what was going on either, and Shy certainly had an inkling but he was still unsure as to whether he actually liked her or merely identified her as one of his own.

He thought that bit over. She certainly was similar- she seemed pretty rude and sarcastic. Shy was like that a lot of the time. He thought he'd mostly gotten over the whole thing- he mostly avoided social contact not out of fear, but out of hate for most ponies. Yet here he was, nervously sitting next to a mare he liked.

"Sort of." May replied shortly, eating another fry. A smile played on her lips, a rare occupancy besides smirks.

A thread of her mane fell into her face, and she tucked it behind her ear. Setting her drink down, she pulled a tie out and put her mane up. She preferred to keep it out of her face. She blinked, and drank her water.

"Why do you care?" she asked, trying to not be rude.

Shy was a strange one, certainly very similar to May. But May had no idea how to speak of the new emotion. Her mind reeled, trying to figure it out.

Shy was left thinking a moment. She resounded in exactly the same way he did. Well...he could admit it in a platonic sense. Oh for Celestia's sake, she wasn't making this easy for him. She was playing with her mane and smiling. That was starting to drive him insane for her. He decided he'd just come out with it, in the vain hope she felt the same.

"Well, you're kind of the thing keeping me here. Something about you is blocking me from leaving and I'm going mental trying to figure out what. As for why I care, you've been responding to my questions similarly to how I've answered yours, so I'm curious to see if you feel the same."

Damn. 'Feel the same.' Might have been a giveaway. Shy braced himself for the inevitable attack.

May eye widened slightly, she was rather surprised Shy had said that. He had seemed way too, well, shy. Nevertheless, May responded,

"Well I must say, you intrigue me. Yes, I suppose that's the word. And yes, you that is the reason I can't leave. Er, you're the reason." she corrected her mistake quickly. She looked at Shy, actually looked. He was rather handsome, in May's opinion. Though that may have been the cider talking.

May brushed the thought out of her head, unused to such thoughts.

Shy was taken aback at that. So she was thinking the same way. Well, he had an idea of what to do next, so he sat back, mulling that idea over. Well, it wasn't technically a date as they were simply trying to leave together. Oh Celestia, that sounded even worse...

He looked at May. Well, it was clear there was an attraction there but was it actually what he thought it was? And even if it was, would they get on? Well, he'd never managed to keep a conversation going as long as they had this whole time, so it seemed fairly obvious. Ah he'll with it, it was worth a shot.

"Well, if neither of us can leave because of the other, how about we leave together?"

He blushed a little, looking right at this really nice looking mare. He clearly had something for her, and with luck she'd have the same for him.

"Well why not." May said, nerves kicking into her voice. She brushed a stray hair away. Standing up, she turned to Shy, "you comin?"

She laughed, walking towards the door. She glanced behind her to make sure Shy was following. As she approached the door, she opened it lightly and stepped outside. A cool breeze touched her cheeks and she grinned, staring up into the dark sky.