The song of love.

Chapter 20. Meeting.

Rarity and Soft made their way toward the Boutique Carousel, Soft started to get more nervous. His mind was being filled with 'what if' questions. Looking to the ground, he didn't notice when a tree got in his way.

"OUCH!" The shriek of pain encompassed the loud 'thump' that his head made at the contact of the tree. Correcting his position, he just shrugged and kept walking.

Rarity turned to see him and noted his concern.

"Are you alright, Soft?"

"Yeah, just hit a tree. Don't worry, I'll live." Soft said while passing next to her. Rarity just chuckled at this, but after that, her smirk got away to be replaced by concern.

"Just, don't worry Soft. I'm pretty sure everything will be going smooth." Rarity assured him. Soft turned and gave her a thankful smile. However, her smile faded into a frown as his sight fixed on something behind her. Rarity turned around just to see the nocturnal shades of Ponyville's streets. "What is it?"

"Nothing... just thought that I saw something..."

"Or somepony," Soft thought to himself as he fixed his sight to focus on a small patch of black.

"Oh, well. It might be only your nervousness." Rarity said while turning to him.

"Yeah, sure, let’s keep going," Soft said while making a sign to Rarity, just like a Gentlecolt would do.

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"I TOLD you! I think he heard you, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo said while poking her head out to inspect their surroundings.

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo. But you really think I'd let this mission to go through without the musical part?"

"Maybe not, but having you around without the ‘turu taran' thing would be easier."

"Would you two shut up? We're near!"  Apple Bloom said at the sight of Carousel Boutique in the far side of the street. "Silence mode." She whispered while falling to the ground and crawling toward the next site.

The three of them crawled while a low humming was heard from behind of them.

"Turuuu tururuuu tururuu taran,"

"Sweetie Belle, cut it out!" The other two mares shouted in annoyance.

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Soft turned his head again to search for the origin of the sound. He thought that he might be crazy... but he was sure enough that somepony shouted just a few meters away from where they were.

"Hey, relax. Everything will be fine, I swear." Rarity just smiled at him and kept walking.

Soft just took a quick glance before walking away.

"Call me crazy... but I'm totally sure that somepony's following us."

"Oh, it's just you. Relax, try to enjoy Luna's beautiful night."

To say at least, Rarity was right: the night was beautiful, not to mention the huge white moon above them. It all seemed so peaceful, so quiet. Soft closed his eyes to feel the smooth wind passing through his mane, caressing his fur and bringing to his nose sweet scents of the flowers and other things.

Opening his eyes, he just sighed with a deep feeling of tranquility on his mind.

"Alright, let's keep moving, then." Soft suggested before starting to walk away.

Rarity, however, just stood in there, observing him intently. The way his mane moved to the wind, how the moon made him bright. She almost felt sorry that she wasn't his special pony. She could give him so many great times. And he could be totally hers... totally hers just to be with her, help her, court her, and make love with--

"Miss Rarity," Rarity suddenly awoke from her dream just to note Soft a few meters away from her. "Ladies first," Soft said while pointing her toward the street. Rarity forced herself to keep going while trying to shake away those images from her mind. Those enticing images... those images about how she'd offer to him...

"Get back to reality, Rarity. Those thoughts are just part of your temporal heat... they'll go away in a certain time... though, it would be much faster if he... if he..."

"Miss Rarity, you okay?" Soft asked while turning toward her, noticing her blush. Rarity realized what she was thinking and just shook the idea away.

"Perfectly fine, my dear friend," She said, trying to fake a smile.

Soft just shrugged and kept walking, he had other things to worry about.

Just a few minutes of silent walking, they got to Rarity's house. Soft was trying that his legs couldn't fail him, which caused them to tremble uncontrollably. Worst of all, he started to get more and more anxious, to the point where his forehead became a waterfall of sweat.

Stretching his hoof to knock at the door, he stopped for a few moments, hesitantly. Looking to the floor, he made the necessary movements to knock. However, what he didn't note was that the door had been opened a few moments before to reveal a serious Magnus there. Therefore, Soft couldn't believe it when his hoof didn't made contact with the door, but with something soft and furry. Lifting his sight, his eyes widened at the sight of his hoof making contact with Magnus' nose.

"... I... I... uh..." Soft stammered what few words came out of his mouth. He closed his mouth to think for a moment on what to say. He opened it again to say something, but no words got out.

Suddenly, Magnus took off Soft's hoof from his nose with his own hoof. He wore a serious, almost neutral expression on his face.

"I take it that you didn't note when I opened the door, right?" Magnus asked with a neutral tone on his voice. Soft could only nod nervously.

"Crap. I'm doomed..."

"Doesn't matter," Magnus said while moving from the door. "We have some things to discuss."

Soft nervously entered, being followed closely by Rarity, who had her typical posture of a lady. However, Magnus watched her intently, almost like if he could see something inside of her that nopony else could.

Suddenly, the metallic sound of a trash can caught his attention. Turning around, he saw a trash can rolling smoothly in the street. Soft suddenly showed up at his side.

"Somepony has been following us, almost since we got out of my house." Soft stated, narrowing his eyes while trying to see something. Magnus just nodded and closed the door.

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"Oh! He closed the door! Usually, he leaves the door opened." Sweetie stated, poking her head out of their hide.

"Duh, usually, as you said. However, it's not every day when somepony's following you!" Scootaloo said in a matter of fact tone.

"Will you two shut up? We're here! We just need to get to the roof and make sure that Soft is okay. Scoots, we need you to tie this rope up there." Apple bloom said while lifting a rope over her head.

Scootaloo took the rope in her muzzle and took flight. Upon reaching the roof, she tied it to a near pillar. Just at her side, a window showed the insides of the room.

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"Now, mister Soft, let's have a seat," Magnus said while walking toward the table, which had four cups on it, each one containing a brownish tea.

Once he reached his seat, Magnus just sat in there and pointed Soft to a seat. Soft just sat while nodding, seemingly nervous. Rarity sat at his side. Magnus wife came in and sat at her husband's side.

"So..." Soft finally said, overcoming his nervousness. "... Your letter said that you wanted to talk about two things, right?"

"That is correct. First, I'd like to talk about yesterday." Magnus stated, while Soft started to sweat. "I read about it in the newspaper. And guess who appeared on the main page?"

Magnus took a newspaper from who knows where and passed it toward Soft. Soft's eyes just widened at a picture of him running in front of the crowd of crazy mares. Rarity just smirked.

"I must admit that you look very funny with that face, Soft."

Soft just frowned at that comment. But after a few moments, he realized that Rarity was right. His face was contorted in a curious way: his eyes widened, all his teeth showing in a strange faction while his neck made a perfect 45 degrees inclination forward. He couldn't do anything but chuckle.

"Yeah... maybe you're right." Suddenly, Magnus made and 'ahem', gaining Soft attention. "Oh, yeah, this is a…long story."

"I'm not in a hurry."

"... Crap. You won't believe it if I tell you, but here goes nothing." Soft said at the time he took a sip of his tea and prepared.

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"What are they doing?"

"I think they're talking."

"I know that. But about what?"

"How do you want me to know? There's a huge window in the middle. I can't hear anything!" Scootaloo suddenly lifted a hoof and hit the window.

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"What the hay?" Soft said at the sudden noise that filled the room. It sounded like glass breaking. But nothing in the room seemed broken. Shrugging, he returned his attention toward Magnus, who was trying to understand what he just heard. Soft gulped at the thought of having his skin being pulled again, before being thrown out.

"... Wow..." Magnus said after a few moments. "I would have never thought that my little filly would want to poison somepony just to make them happy."

"Not an easy thing, I know. But that's not all of it." Soft said, considering that maybe telling him all the truth might be just the right thing to do.

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"What are they saying?" Sweetie Belle asked, growing more and more nervous.

"I don't know! I can't hear!" Scootaloo almost shouted.

"Then just stick your ear at the glass. Like this!" Sweetie Belle said while the other two did the same.

They started to hear something, but not voices. It was more like the sound of glass breaking. Suddenly, they felt the window breaking apart.

"OH, HORSE-APPLES!” Apple bloom shouted while they fell through the window.

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"What do you mean that it's not all of it?"

"Well... let's just say that Sweetie Belle... um... she..." Suddenly, Soft's attention got caught by a small object falling in his cup. That certainly caught the other's attention. Inspecting it, Soft noticed something weird. "... It's... glass... But it came from-"

"OH, HORSE-APPLES!" A mare suddenly shouted from the ceiling.

Soft's sight just lifted to see a blur of orange coming toward him.

"...Rats."

Then, Soft was pinned to the ground by Scootaloo's rump, something not too pleasing for her, while Sweetie Belle and Apple bloom were caught by Rarity's magic. They all opened their eyes, just to see the situation they were in.

Suddenly, Sweetie's attention focused on the object under Scootaloo.

"Scootaloo, there’s something--!"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"No look, below you!"

Scootaloo did as Sweetie Belle ordered, just to find that she was sitting in Soft's back, pinning his face to the floor.

"Oh my… Mister Soft? You okay?"

"... Been better." Soft answered while lazily getting on his hooves.

"Sweetie Belle?" Magnus' voice filled the place.

Turning around, Soft saw his surprised expression which was focusing on Sweetie Belle. Soft got on his four again and turned toward Magnus.

"... Now, THAT is all of it." Soft said while Magnus eyed his daughter, confirming that he was seeing an adult version of his little filly. "She's a mare now."