Applejack: Howdy, folks! Ready for another one of DiscordantPrincess' stories? 'Cuz we've got one for y'all!

Thanks for the introduction, AJ! (high-hoofs AJ)

This is a sort of sequel to my previous story "Truly the Best Night Ever." If you haven't read it yet but would like to, please check it out. Like TtBNE, this story is dedicated to FairyTales And Pixie Dust, who encouraged me to write this and who has been a wonderful supporter of mine ever since day one. Here you go, hon!

Hope you all enjoy my story!

It was a sunny day in Ponyville. At Carousel Boutique, Rarity, a white unicorn with a perfectly coiffed purple mane and tail, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of diamonds, stood before a group of five other ponies. These ponies were her friends: Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn with a dark blue mane and tail with pink and purple streaks, purple eyes and a cutie mark of magic sparkles; Pinkie Pie, a pink earth pony with a curly dark pink mane and tail, light blue eyes and a cutie mark of three balloons; Applejack, an orange earth pony with a yellow mane and tail tied with red bands, green eyes, freckles, a cutie mark of three red apples and a cowgirl hat; Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail, blue-green eyes and a cutie mark of three pink-winged butterflies; and Rainbow Dash, a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, magenta eyes and a cutie mark of a cloud with a tri-colored lightning bolt.

"So why did ya call us here, Rarity?" Applejack asked.

"This better not be another one of your attempts to get us to model for you, because I ain't interested!" Rainbow added.

"Oh, no no no, Rainbow, it's nothing like that," Rarity assured her. "I called you all here to introduce you to somepony very special." She turned to a nearby door. "Come on in, darling." The ponies gasped as a handsome earth pony came in. He had a gray coat, a neatly-trimmed black mane and tail, gold eyes and a cutie mark of a pi symbol. "Everypony, this is..."

Twilight gasped. "Professor Ratigan?!" She approached the stallion. "Is it really YOU?!"

Ratigan smiled as he recognized the young unicorn. "Twilight? Twilight Sparkle?" The two clapped hooves as they recited together, "3.141592654!" They laughed and hugged.

"It's so great to see you again!" Twilight spoke up. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too!"

Rarity blinked. "You two know each other?"

"Professor Ratigan was my math tutor when I was studying in Canterlot," Twilight explained. "Next to Princess Celestia herself, he was my favorite teacher of all time!"

Ratigan smirked. "Second best to a princess...not bad. Of course, I can't take ALL of the credit. Twilight here was my best and brightest pupil. She has a mind like a little sponge, always absorbing new facts and willing to learn." He tousled the unicorn's mane, making her giggle.

"How do you two know each other, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"We met at the Grand Galloping Gala," Rarity explained. "He helped me pick up my pride after that fiasco with Prince Blueblood."

"Oh, hey, yeah, I remember ya," Applejack recognized the professor. "You're the feller who bought all of my goods that night! Thanks to you, the Apple family has a brand new roof!"

"And thanks to YOU, I gained five pounds," Ratigan retorted playfully. He smiled. "Your delicacies were QUITE delicious, by the way." Applejack smiled and blushed.

"And now you two are friends," Twilight concluded. "That's so great! My old professor making friends with my Ponyville pals! I love it!"

"Actually, Twilight darling, we're MORE than just friends," Rarity explained. "Padraic and I have been seeing each other ever since the Gala."

Twilight eyed them oddly. "Seeing each other do what?" Then, she realized what she was saying. "OH. You two are DATING?" She chuckled. "That's great! Just great!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you think so, Twilight," Rarity replied. "Because Padraic is moving here from Canterlot so we can be closer. He's taking a job at the Ponyville Community College and we're going to see so much more of each other now."

"It's going to be wonderful," Ratigan agreed. "And now it comes with an added bonus, because I'll get to be more in touch with my favorite student!"

"Y'know what this calls for?" Pinkie asked. "A super-duper totally awesome welcome to Ponyville party!"

Twilight sighed as her pink friend rattled off what she would need for her party. She was feeling very down.

She still felt down as she was at Sugar Cube Corner with her friends minus Rarity, who was busy helping Ratigan move into his new home.

"...and I'll need two dozen, no THREE dozen cupcakes," Pinkie decided, writing down what all she would need to bake for her party. "Ooh, and I'll make some of my special cherry-berry-grape punch! And a gigantic eight-tiered chocolate cake with pink frosting...no wait, pink might be too girly for him. I know, green frosting!" She wrote it down.

Applejack then noticed that Twilight was looking sad. "Why the long face, sugar cube?" she asked. "Ain't ya excited 'bout your favorite professor moving to town?"

"Yeah, I'm really happy that I'll get to see Professor Ratigan more," Twilight agreed. "I haven't seen him since I moved to Ponyville. I really missed him." She sighed. "What I'm NOT too excited about is him dating Rarity. I mean, I know I should be happy for them, and part of me IS, but the other part just feels...well...do you promise to keep a secret, AJ?"

"Sure thing, Twi."

"When I was a student, I had a huge crush on Professor Ratigan," Twilight explained. "He was everything I'd ever hoped for in a stallion; smart, strong, talented, kind, handsome. I knew that I could never date him since I was a student, but then, seeing him again, no longer having him as a teacher, I thought maybe I could ask him out. But seeing him with Rarity, I just felt a little sad, and maybe a little jealous." She whimpered. "Am I a horrible pony for feeling this way?"

"Heck no," Applejack replied. "Feelin' that way just means that you ARE a pony! But I think you need to talk to your professor."

"But what if he laughs at me?" Twilight asked. "Or worse, what if he thinks badly of me for my feelings?"

"If this guy is really as great as you say he is, then I'm sure he'll understand," Applejack reassured him.

Twilight smiled. "You're right. Thanks, Applejack. I'm going to go talk to him now." With that, she trotted off.

Twilight trotted up to Ratigan's new house. She was trying to plan out what she wanted to say to him, but she still felt a bit nervous. She gulped as she knocked on the door.

Immediately Ratigan answered the door. "Twilight! So good to see you!"

"Hi, Professor, may I talk with you?"

"Of course! Please, come in, my dear."

"Th-Thank you," Twilight stammered, walking in. She looked around. "Wow, things are really coming together for you." She walked over to the sofa and noticed what looked like a tawny cushion. "Cool cushion." Just then, the cushion moved to show a rather tubby cat with a purple bow tied on top of her head. "Oh!"

"Felicia, move over so Twilight can sit there," Ratigan told the cat. Felicia meowed, but she jumped off the sofa and dashed off. Ratigan chuckled as he and Twilight sat next to each other on the sofa. "Sorry about that. She can be a bit of a pain in the flank at times. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "I...I wanted to talk about you and Rarity."

"Oh dear. You're uncomfortable about me dating your friend, aren't you?"

"No! I mean, yes. I mean..." Twilight groaned. "I don't know WHAT I mean! I want you two to be happy, and she's a really great mare, and you're a really great stallion, and I just..."

Ratigan smiled. "I think I understand what you're saying, Twilight."

"You DO?"

"Oh yes. You see, I've known for a while now that you had a bit of a crush on me when you were my student."

Twilight's heart sank a little. "You DID?"

"Well, let's be honest, dear, you made it fairly obvious to know. I mean, your notebook had "Mrs. Twilight Ratigan" scribbled on it several times in different colors of ink, for Heaven's sake."

Twilight laughed. "Yeah, I guess that WAS kind of an obvious sign." She frowned as she played nervously with her mane. "You...weren't creeped out by it or anything, were you?"

"Goodness, no! If anything, I was flattered that you thought so highly of me. And it's not like you were the first foal to have a crush on a teacher." Ratigan smiled. "Just between you and me, when I was a colt I had a humongous crush on my French teacher, Miss Eclair. I was convinced for a while that I was going to marry her. But then she got engaged to our history teacher, Mr. Columbus."

"How did you feel?" Twilight asked.

"Are you kidding? I was DEVASTATED! I convinced myself that I would never love again...and then I met Ivory Tower." Ratigan stroked Twilight's mane. "Twilight, dear, you must understand that just because I'm dating your friend Rarity doesn't mean that I care for you any less. You'll always be my very favorite pupil, my little Twilight Star."

Twilight smiled. "And you'll always be my favorite professor." The two hugged. "Oh, thank you so much for being so understanding, Professor Ratigan."

"Please, Twilight, just call me Padraic. I'm not your teacher anymore, I'm just one of your plain old ordinary friends."

"There's nothing plain old and ordinary about YOU," Twilight sighed.

Just then, Rarity came in, carrying Felicia on her back. "Oh, your cat is just DARLING! We really MUST set up a playdate between her and Opalescense." Then, she noticed that the purple unicorn was there. "Oh, Twilight! I didn't realize you had come by, darling. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Twilight replied. "Just came by to offer you and Prof...I mean, Padraic, some help in moving."

"Oh, that is so wonderful of you, dear! I could definitely use some help moving some of the furniture in the bedroom. You should see it, it is the most finely-crafted furniture I have ever seen! Padraic has just the most exquisite taste in decor..."

Twilight smiled as Rarity went on. She felt much better about the whole ordeal. Although a part of her was still disappointed that Ratigan couldn't be her coltfriend, she was content in knowing that he was her friend.

Awwwwwwwwww! I know how you feel, Twiley, when I was a kid I had a crush on one of my teachers, too! And then reality has to come in and bite you in the tusch...aw well, she takes it gracefully!

OK, the hoof-clapping pi reciting thing with Twilight and Ratigan might have been a bit too unbelievable...I've had great relationships with most of my professors, but never enough to have a secret handshake with any of them. Oh well, it was meant to be cute, hopefully it succeeded.

Wow, pony Ratti seems to get the attention of all the mares, don't he? Such is the fate of one who is more sexually appealing than the article of clothing he wears on his torso...in other words, he's too sexy for his shirt! And yes, his cutie mark is a pi symbol; in my GMD fanfics he's a math professor, just like his Sherlock Holmes equivalent Professor Moriarty.

Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed!

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.