AutoD
A surprise ship, to be sure. But a welcome one!
Phew, boy, this one's been sitting in my files for a while now, so I finally got around to finishing it! Hehe, this is definitely one of my favorite ships in my next gen canon! It's kind of an odd pair, I know, but hear me out!
Pony Joe and Moondancer first met when Minuette and the other girls decided to meet up there for coffee one day, and almost immediately Joe developed a crush on her, although at first Moondancer was distracted with chatting to notice him that day. Later on, Moondancer began to frequent the donut shop for an occasional cup of coffee and for a nice place to study outside of the library, much to Joe's joy and despair. He was way too flustered to talk to Moondancer on any occasion, feeling that he'd only make a fool of himself, especially since he felt she wouldn't be interested in him because of his smarts (poor guy!). Enter Spike! On a trip to Canterlot, Twilight reunites with her old friends at Joe's donut shop, where Spike notices his old pal's crush and decides to help a buddy out with the help of Minuette, who's noticed Moondancer's more than frequent trips to the shop. Unbeknownst to Joe, Moondancer had been interested in a little more than the donuts each time she had swung by! Spike and Minuette schemed a little plot to get the two to talk to each other, without letting Twilight know because, hehe, Twi would probably spill the beans (sorry Twilight!). With a little nudge from both Spike and Minuette, Moondancer and Joe are well on their way to a date, probably for some coffee and donuts, haha!
I had a lot of fun with this one, and Moondancer's design was definitely my favorite part of this whole piece. Moondancer's changed a lot since she decided to give friendship another try in the future. She's much more outgoing thanks to her friends, and while talking to ponies can still be a little difficult, I imagine she's gotten much better at interacting with others. I wanted to give her a new manestyle and a new pair of glasses to show off her newfound confidence, too. Still, some things have stayed the same- Moondancer knows that large sweaters and cardigans are still the comfiest thing in the world, hehe.