The song of love.

Chapter 19. The letter.

Sweetie opened her eyes when the soft sound of music reached her ears. She lifted a hoof to hold to the couch, but discovered that she was covered by a blanket. Turning back, she saw a pillow just where her head was. She glanced around the room and saw her two friends in the floor, snorting loudly. What caught her attention was that they had a blanket on them, along with a pillow for each one of them. Sweetie recognized those obvious signs of a good heart.

Getting up, she heard the music coming from the kitchen, so she decided to go and take a peek at whatever it was. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she noted that it was totally clean. The ice cubes that she spilled all over the floor were gone, and the floor itself was shining. She then remembered about the bathroom.

Opening the door, she found it clean, too. But Soft didn't was in there, neither. Suddenly, the front door opened slowly, only to reveal soft carrying something on his saddlebags, as well as carrying a few letters on his muzzle.

"Hello, mister Soft.  How you doing?" She greeted him with her usual cheer.

"Oh, hey there, I'm doing fine. What about you? Slept well?" Soft asked while putting his bags in the floor and spitting the letters on the table.

"I'm doing fine. Umm... how much did I sleep?"

"A couple hours, it’s almost the evening, so I brought some food to dinner." Soft said, opening one of his bags, revealing some ingredients for a good dinner.

"Oh, that's great mister Soft!" Sweetie jumped with glee while seeing the contents of the bag.

Soft suddenly looked at her with a frown on his face.

"Do you really have to keep calling me mister Soft? I mean, it's not like if I don't enjoy it, but... feels kind of weird."

"But I like calling you like that!"

"... Ha ha, never mind." Soft said with a grin.

Suddenly, the music in Soft's radio came to an end. Soft, upon seeing this, went toward the radio, inspecting it.

"Oh, well. Looks like the cd's over." Soft said while removing the disc from its place.

"I didn't know you liked music." Sweetie said while rushing at his side.

"Why, of course I like music! I listen to it while I work." Soft said in a matter of fact.

"While you work…doesn’t it distract you?"

"Not really. Sometimes, my work can be really... stressing. So, I like to hear relaxing music, like the one you heard before, while working. It helps me to keep my mind clear and work better."

Sweetie just nodded at his statement, not really knowing what he meant. Suddenly, a box full of discs caught her sight.

"Wow. You really have a lot of music." Sweetie said, inspecting the box closely.

"Yeah, I really like a ton of songs."

"Do you have a favorite one?"

"Umm... I really don't have a favorite one. I mean, I like many songs, but... nope. I don't have a favorite one." Soft said while thinking deeply. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "... Well... maybe there's one..."

Soft started to search for something in his box. After a few minutes of searching, he took out a disk in whose title had two ponies with different helmets on them. Opening the box, Sweetie noted that, while the box seemed old, the disk was still as new.

Soft pushed a button on his radio to open it, and put the disk in. Suddenly, an electronic music at a quick pace started to sound. At first, it seemed awful to her, but passing a few moments, she felt herself relaxing a little, enjoying the music.

Soft tapped a hoof against the floor in a melodic way, following the rhythm of the music. Turning his head, he saw Sweetie Belle jumping around at the same rhythm.

"Some kind of dance I suppose."  Soft said to himself.

When the music finally ended, Sweetie stopped jumping.

"Woo! That was awesome, mister Soft!" Sweetie said while walking toward him.

"Yeah, it was."

"Sure it was, no wonder why that is your favorite song!"

"Oh, that. I didn't say that was my favorite."

"It isn't?"

"Nope…" Suddenly, some knocks on the door sounded. Soft turned toward the clock on his wall. "Huh. Wasn't expecting any visits tonight." He stated at the time he went to the door.

Opening it, he was surprised to see Rarity standing in there.

"Good evening, my dear friend." She said in her lady voice.

"... Umm... good evening, miss Rarity."

Soft could guess that something was off with her. Usually, she was always smiling, but something deep inside of her made him tremble. His suspicions were confirmed when her right eye twitched a little.

"Uhh... Do you... want to... come in? I mean, for a tea or something like?" Soft said, nervousness growing in his voice.

"Why, thank you, good pony. Tea with milk would be fine." She said while entering.

Soft suddenly felt her flank push him lightly in an enticing way. Soft just sighed at the thought that he might be committing a mistake by allowing her in.

Turning around, he closed the door with a slight kick of his back hoof. Suddenly, he got caught off guard when Rarity walked toward him, the same hunger from earlier showing in her eyes.

“Uh... What's up?" Soft said while backing away from her.

Rarity didn't make a sound. She just kept walking, swaying her flank more than usual. Soft started to panic as his back touched the wall.

"Umm, Miss Rarity. I don't think that this is a good time to... you know..."

"It's always a good time when you are in heat."

"In heat, But it isn't your-?" Suddenly, realization hit him when he remembered that she was beside him yesterday, when the love poison made its effect. "... You inhaled the poison, didn't you?"

Rarity suddenly used her body to push him between the wall and her, sandwiching him. Her flank was almost below of Soft's chin. Soft only hummed while receiving his answer. Rarity, by her part, just stood in there, pinning him to the wall. Suddenly, her flank touched his chin, making Soft's eyes wide.

"See something you like?" She said, moving her flank slowly.

"... I'd be lying if I said no. But, miss Rarity-" Soft's talking was cut off by her tail moving to his lips, silencing him.

"You talk too much." Rarity said, freeing him from her sandwiching grip.

She turned around to have Soft staring directly into her face. Soft was sweating heavily at that moment, almost making a cascade in his front. He was even trembling. But what caught her attention was that he wasn't looking at her: he was looking behind her. She turned around to see her own sister watching them intently--In her face, a mix of curiosity and surprise.

"Oh! Sweetie Belle! How long have you been in there?"

"i just got here. What were you two doing?"

"Umm... We were... umm..." Rarity stammered, trying to find a good answer.

"We were only... uh... she... wanted to..." Soft, too, started to frantically look for a good answer.

"To... to... put an adorn in his wall!" Rarity suddenly climbed atop him and stuck to the wall a huge diamond.

"Yeah, an-- adorn?" Soft asked to her, gaining a nervous look from her. "Whatever." Soft said at the time Rarity got off of him.

Soft got out of there, heading toward his kitchen. Suddenly, the letters he brought earlier caught his attention. Taking a seat, he started to open the first one, immediately stopping when the photo of a grey Pegasus in a sultry pose came in sight. Turning it around, he saw the words written in a twisted hoof-writing: From your secret lover.

"Yeah, you could pass as a secret agent, Derpy." Soft thought to himself and suddenly his eyes noticed another letter, this one with a style he hadn't seen before. It seemed fancy, almost as if it was written by a high-class pony. Opening it, his eyes got wider while reading the content of the letter.

Soft Heart.

We need to discuss some matters of high importance. The thing is... we've noted the affection Sweetie has shown you the last days, noticing too the growth it's making.

Also, it has come to my ears a rumor about you. It involves with the rampage that happened just yesterday.

We really want to talk about it with you.

Come to Boutique Carousel to have a talk.

Magnus (Rarity and Sweetie Belle's father)

P.D. Don't you dare try to ignore me, or else...!

Soft dropped the letter into the table. He was too lost in thought to notice Rarity walking in. What brought him back to reality was that Rarity took Derpy's photo. In a quick motion, he tried to take it off from her, in vain.

Rarity just opened her eyes wide at the sight of Derpy in that pose. Glaring at Soft, she just showed the photo to him with a serious look. Soft just gulped at the sudden feeling of nervousness.

"I swear that I don't have the slightest idea of where that came from." He said in a calm tone, suddenly starting to think deeply. "Well... maybe I DO have a clue." He said while looking at Rarity, who just stood in there silently.

"Long story--Short version: I made the mistake of giving her a dozen of muffins as a tip while receiving my mail, giving her the wrong idea. She has been sending every now and then those kinds of letters. To finish, just yesterday, she was in the market, too."

Rarity just laughed at that sentence. She knew Derpy was the daring type, but she didn't know that she was like that. Though, she really had to admit that she looked cute like that. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted at the sight of Soft making circles with a hoof in the table.

"Soft. What's wrong?" Rarity said in a truly concerned tone.

Soft just levitated Magnus's letter to her and Rarity read it once and twice, making sure that she understood everything that was said on it. Once finished, she just let out a sigh.

"Oh, dear..."

It was then that Sweetie Belle came in.

"What's wrong?" She asked at the sight of the nervousness of the two of them.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, Sweetie...Your father sent me a letter saying that he wanted to talk with me." Sweetie's face showed surprise at first, but then concern, remembering the time when her father kicked him out of her house.

"What do you think they want?"

"... Don't know. But just hanging around won't do anything." Soft said with determination while standing in all fours. "I have to go. And face it like the stallion I am."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom woke up slowly, feeling marvelous. They felt like if they had run for hours, but it somehow felt good. Stretching her hooves, they got on their hooves lazily. That was until they were startled by a sudden scream.

"AHHHH!"

The two of them turned to see Sweetie Belle starting at them.

"Sweetie Belle... what's wrong?" Apple Bloom lazily asked.

"Mister Soft... he..."

"He's... what?"

"He...he... HE HAS BEEN SUMMONED BY MY DAD!"

"What?"

"What’s he been summoned for?"

"I just found this letter! It says that he wants to talk with him about how I've come in love with him!" Sweetie Belle said, showing them the letter she had just found.

The other two mares trotted toward the letter. Reading it more than one time, they just started to get nervous.

"Well... Maybe he really wants to talk with him..." Apple bloom suggested.

"What if he doesn’t?" Sweetie Belle suddenly faced her like a maniac and her wide eyes standing just a few inches from hers. "What if he doesn't approve our relationship? What if he wants to send him to another country, just like what the princess did with her sister, What if--?" Suddenly, an orange hoof came to her lips, silencing her.

"Sweetie Belle, I don't really think that he wants to do that. Plus, he's not a unicorn. He's an earth pony."

"But earth ponies are stronger than us unicorns! Remember when my dad kicked mister soft out of the house? He literally picked him up by the neck and the back and threw him! Don't you realize what he can do with that strength?"

Suddenly, the other two mares' minds became filled with scenes of an horror movie they saw a while ago, in which, a zombie earth pony took an alive pony one and tore him apart. The scene was changed in their minds, this time, Sweetie's father being the zombie pony, and the terrified pony, Soft.

They just looked at each other for a few minutes, before exploding in an echo of shrieks and screams.

"OHMYGOSH…!"

"What are going to do...? WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?"

"What are you three doing?"

"AHHHH!!!" The three mares hid behind the couch at the fourth voice suddenly sounding in the room. Turning around, they saw Rarity and Soft standing in the corridor.

"Mister Soft?"

"Uh... yeah…Listen, girls. I'm going to go for a while. As you read, and I'm pretty sure you sneaked on it, I'm heading towards Rarity's home. There's some food in the kitchen." Soft turned around, being followed by Rarity. Before exiting the room, he turned to them. "And, PLEASE, don't go burning it." Soft said while picking a brown jacket and putting it on. "I'll be back in a few hours."

And with that, they left the house. The three mares just stood in there, thinking about what they could do. Scootaloo, bored, opted to go to Soft couch and inspect the room. Soon, his T.V. with some movies at its side caught her attention.

"Hey girls, look, movies!" Scootaloo said while taking out some to see them better. "Wow. Impossible Mission... Jurassic Park... Le-Les miserable…?"

Apple Bloom got curious about it and went to see it for herself. Sweetie, not really having another thing to do went there. Soft had a large variety of action movies, as well as some more cultural ones. However, something caught Sweetie's attention.

"I GOT IT!" She screamed while holding a movie on her hooves.

"You got what?"

"I got the way of watching over mister Soft. Look!" She said while holding in her hooves the "Mission Impossible" movie.

"...you watch him over with a movie?"

"No! I mean that maybe we can do the same things that he does!" Sweetie said while pointing to the pony in the movie's front. "Also, we might earn our cutie marks."

The others just turned around to face directly at her. Thinking it for a moment, Scootaloo suddenly got on her hooves.

"Sounds like a good plan!"

Apple Bloom just shrugged, thinking about having a spying cutie mark.

"Then, what are we waiting for...Cutie Mark Crusaders Spies!" Sweetie Belle shouted while lifting a hoof.

"Yeah!" The three of them said while clapping their hooves in the air.