Chapter 7: With a little Help from my Aunt

Velvet hadn't slept a wink last night. Zecora had done her best to calm the frantic mare down, after she had witnessed her daughter's apparent demise in a storm. The zebra had assured her that Twilight wasn't necessarily dead. Perhaps the breaking of the tracking spell had only meant that she had blacked out on impact.

Even so her daughter had crashed into the sea. At the very least she would be hurt. The only hope Velvet could hang onto at this point was that Rainbow Dash had been with her. Surely she would have gone straight after her and fished her out. That was, if she hadn't been brought down by the storm herself.

“Auntie?” Spike said, laying a gentle claw on her shoulder. “You really should get some sleep.”

She looked up at him with puffy eyes from the sofa she was sitting on. “Look who's talking.”

The dragon frowned, his bloodshot eyes bearing witness to his own restless night. He didn't have an answer. There was a knock at the door of the Golden Oaks Library. Taking another look at Velvet, Spike said: “I'll get it.”

Velvet buried her face in her hands again. What was she going to do? There was no way to get any information until the task force returned. But they would probably return to Cloudsdale, not Ponyville. “Oh, for the love of Celestia …” Velvet's eyes went wide. Of course! Celestia. How could she have been so stupid? “Spike!” she called. “I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia.”

“Don't waste the parchment, auntie,” he said with some awe in his voice as he came back to the living area. “You can tell her yourself.”

“What?” Sure enough, the Princess of the Sun entered right behind him, clad in a flowing white gown and flanked by two royal guards. Her incandescent, multi-coloured mane flowing behind her seemed to be sparkling less than usual, mirroring her sorrow. Velvet immediately went up to her. “Your highness,” she said breathlessly. “Where's Twilight? Where's my little girl?”

Celestia bowed her head, steeling herself to deliver the bad news. “I'm sorry, Mrs. Sparkle. She's missing at the moment. We don't know where she is or whether she's okay.”

Velvet took a shocked step back. The Princess hadn't even tried to soften the blow. The novelist spotted Rainbow Dash, standing a few feet back. There were dark lines under her eyes and one of her wings was bandaged. Her messy mane was even more frazzled than normal. “Rainbow Dash,” Velvet said forcefully, grabbing the blue pegasus by the shoulders. “You were with her. You were supposed to keep her safe. What happened?”

Rainbow looked at Twilight's mother, tears welling up in her eyes. “I …,” she began with a lump in her throat. “She fell. I tried to go after her. But I couldn't find her. … I … I'm so sorry.”

“You can't blame her,” a familiar voice said from behind Rainbow. “She's been leading the search parties to the point of physical exhaustion.”

Velvet looked at the owner of the voice and narrowed her eyes. “What the buck are you doing here?”

“She's my daughter, too, you know,” Night Light said uncomfortably, shrinking under his wife's gaze.

She stormed past Rainbow Dash and grabbed him by his collar, not caring one bit about wrinkling his expensive looking suit. “Then why aren't you out there, tearing Equestria apart looking for her?” she growled.

Velvet could feel a soothing hand being placed on her shoulder. “Please, Mrs. Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said in a voice that carried with it the calm and experience of millennia. “We are all worried about Twilight. But I can assure you that she is alive. The death of an alicorn would have not gone unnoticed by Princess Luna or myself. Search teams are still operating and my sister is back in Canterlot, attempting to find her location through dreamwalking. Maybe she got swept up by the ocean current and ended up on the coast of Saddle Arabia.”

“What if she's hurt?”

“If I learned anything about your daughter during the time she was my student, it's that you can never underestimate Twilight Sparkle. She'll find her way back to us somehow, if we don't find her first. But for the moment we have more important matters to discuss.”

Velvet whirled around, giving the Princess a glare. From the way she cringed back, nopony had given her a glare like that in a thousand years or so. “What could be more important than finding Twilight?”

“A bucking Changeling invasion, that's what,” a coarse voice said. It came from an orange pegasus stallion in a gilded breastplate. Velvet recognised him by his eye patch and cutie mark of an axe that was painted on his armour.

“You remember General Battle Axe,” Celestia said, having collected herself. “That's why we came to get them.” Velvet followed the Princess' outstretched hand and only now realized that all the Element Bearers were present.

“Bloody greenhorns,” the general spat. “First good fight in centuries and our best hope is the kindergarten division. I've been telling you for years we need a bigger military, your highness. Took that pansy to speak out for it, before you would even consider it.” He jabbed a thumb at Night Light.

Celestia gave him a stern look. “Getting into recriminations won't help us defeat them, General. Kindly set up for the briefing, will you?” After he had saluted, she turned back to Velvet. “You wouldn't mind, if we took this place for our temporary headquarters, do you?” She knew it wasn't really a question.

“This is my daughter's home,” she said with a clenched jaw. “And Twilight would never say no to you, Princess. I'll go make some tea.”

* * *

The situation report alone took the better part of the morning. A massive Changeling army had crossed the western border into Equestria proper and moved south from there towards Las Pegasos, raiding farmsteads and small villages as they went. Celestia had marshalled the royal guard and Canterlot militia and marched them down to Ponyville. Contingents from Trottingham and Manehatten were due to arrive tomorrow. Together they would form the backbone of the Equestrian army and outnumber Queen Chrysalis' army by 2 to 1, if the reports from the west were accurate.

After lunch the group reconvened to discuss the situation in more detail. Fluttershy didn't have much to add to the proceedings, so she occupied herself with consoling Rainbow Dash, who was quietly sitting in a corner and examining the floor.

“I shouldn't have snapped at her,” Velvet told herself quietly. “I'm sure she tried everything she could to find Twilight.” She would have to take the cyan mare aside and apologize later.

Rarity filled much the same role as Fluttershy, only giving a shoulder to lean on to Velvet rather than Rainbow. Applejack restricted herself to bringing up matters of support and feeding the army, coming up with several sensible ways to organize supply chains and even to smuggle food into Las Pegasos, should the city fall under siege.

But the most surprising of all was Pinkie Pie. The normally happy-go-lucky mare hadn't made a single joke that day and her mane was once again combed straight as she glumly poured over the map on the table and the reports. “It's a trap,” she finally declared.

“Oh, is it?” General Battle Axe sneered. “Do go on, enlighten us with your strategic genius.”

Pinkie pointed at the symbols of several farms that had been crossed out with red ink on the map. “They've been hitting the outlying areas, but they haven't come in sight of the city itself, right? What were our casualties?”

The general shrugged. “None, actually. When they saw the horde approaching, the residents fled to the city rather than stand and fight to protect their country.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well, so would I, if I stood alone against the Changeling nation armed with nothing than a frying pan and a dull cupcake. But that's exactly my point. You don't go farm raiding with your entire army. You send out smaller foraging parties. It's the same as Tartarus Valley.”

“I beg you pardon?”

“Mare's Head Valley in today's terms, General,” Celestia informed him. “But that's what it was called a thousand years ago and with good reason. It was the site of my greatest shame.”

Pinkie nodded. “And your sister's most decisive victory. During the early years of the Lunar Rebellion, the Nightmare forces had far fewer numbers than the loyalists, so they devised a scheme. They kept raiding the area around the valley, stirring up as much trouble as they could, and when the Equestrian army came in to deal with them, they retreated into the valley. With numbers on their side the loyalists proceeded into the forested area, only for the Nightmare forces to cut them down bit by bit with hit and run attacks. They would appear out of the shadows, pick off a couple of soldiers and then melt back into the dense vegetation.”

All eyes were on the pink mare. Her friends were regarding her with a peculiar mixture of awe and disbelief. “What? I've always been interested in the Lunar Rebellion.”

“I was inexperienced back then,” Celestia admitted grimly. “More than half of the Equestrian armed forces fell in that valley over the course of three days. It was the closest Nightmare Moon ever came to winning the war, before I resorted to the Elements and sealed her away. You think that's what they're planning?”

“They might not have the exact same thing planned,” the pink pony replied. “But they're moving up and down the countryside with apparently no other goal than to make as much noise as possible. They want us to come to them, so they can fight us on ground of their own choosing.”

The General nodded, giving Pinkie an appreciative glance, though he didn't say anything to her. “She's right, your highness. It is a trap. But we can't let them continue roaming free in the countryside. We have no other choice.”

“You're quite right,” Celestia agreed. “We're going to have to spring their trap, for better or worse. I'm not going to have my subjects terrorized by them any longer. But with any luck we won't need to fight them head on.” She stood up and beckoned Twilight's friends to do the same. “I'm taking you five along. The Elements of Harmony could make all the difference in bringing this conflict to a speedy conclusion. As of right now I'm field-promoting each and every one of you to the rank of a Captain in the Equestrian Armed Forces.”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to faint. Rarity seemed torn between determination and something else. Rainbow Dash didn't give much of a reaction at all, still pondering what else she could have done to save Twilight. Applejack simply nodded and Pinkie saluted smartly.

“You can't be serious,” Velvet protested, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. “They're children! You can't take them into battle. The Elements won't even work without Twilight.”

“They've achieved greater feats in their time,” Celestia maintained. There was no arguing with that. They had saved Equestria on at least three separate occasions. “Even if Princess Twilight doesn't make it in time, they'll still be invaluable to us.”

Spike had gotten up and marched to the side of his five friends. “Well, if they're going, so am I!” he declared.

The Princess shook her head. “I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Spike. I need you here. Night Light will also stay and coordinate the search for Twilight from here. I need you and your dragon magic to keep me appraised of what is happening.”

“But I …”

“This matter is not up for discussion, Spike,” Celestia said sternly. It was unusual for her to give a command that plainly and only further helped to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

The young dragon bit his lower lip, glancing over towards Rarity. “Yes, your highness,” he grated between clenched teeth.

Celestia took a deep breath, preparing to speak the words she had hoped to never speak again after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. “Gather what you need, my little ponies. Tomorrow at dawn we march to war.”

* * *

Velvet was tossing and turning in her bed that night. In the morning five young mares, whom she had come to consider her friends, would go to war with no guarantee that they'd come back. Worst of all her daughter was still missing.

“Princess Twilight has gone missing at a most inopportune time,” she had heard Princess Celestia say to General Battle Axe.

“Inopportune my flank,” Velvet mumbled angrily into her pillow. “That's my daughter you're talking about, not a magic artillery gun.”

Velvet turned again, knowing full well that the change in position wouldn't help her get to sleep. Knock. Knock. Great, now she was getting a headache, too. Knock. Knock. Wait a minute, she thought as her ears perked up. That wasn't a headache. Somepony was knocking on her window!

She threw a bathrobe over her night gown and went to see who it was. “Darling, are you awake?” a familiar voice whispered behind the glass.

“Rarity?” Velvet asked as she opened the window. It was indeed the white unicorn mare who stood outside her room on the ground floor.

“So sorry to disturb your rest, Velvet. I need to talk to Spike, but his room is on the second floor. Could you let me in?”

Velvet's eyebrow shot up. She had an idea what this was about. “You can't go through the front door. Night Light, Battle Axe and the guards are sleeping in the living room. They'd see you. Climb in through the window.”

“Thanks, darling,” Rarity said as she hoisted herself over the windowsill. “There's something I simply must tell him. But I'm not so sure Princess Celestia would think it a good idea.”

Velvet pressed a finger on her lips. “I understand. Just be quiet. Celestia is sleeping in Twilight's room.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. “Velvet, can we talk?”

She drew in her breath sharply. “It's Night Light. Hide!”

“I beg your pardon,” Rarity whispered.

“If he sees you here, he'll send you away and you're not gonna have the chance to talk to Spike, before you leave. Into the bed.”

Having little choice, the fashionista climbed into Velvet's bed and the latter threw the covers over her. Sitting down on the edge of the bed to hide the lump behind her, she cleared her throat. “Come in,” she called.

The dark blue unicorn stallion entered the room and pulled the door closed behind him. “We ought to talk.”

“About what?” Velvet said coldly, half because of what he had done and half because she wanted him gone.

He rubbed his hands together nervously. “Look, I know what I did in Canterlot was wrong, but that doesn't matter now. I want us to put the matter aside for now.”

“There is no us, Night Light,” she pointed out. “Not anymore.”

That seemed to sting and he nodded slowly. “Perhaps not, but Twilight needs both of us to be strong right now. We need to do what we can in the current crisis and since I'm staying here, I think we should work together. We can't just ignore each other. So let's try to be at least civil.” He gave her that look she knew so well. The one that said he still cared to some degree. “If not for me, do it for Twilight.”

Her emotions were fighting their own war inside Velvet's gut. Part of her wanted to smack him, the other part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and cry on his shoulder. Eventually she nodded slowly. “For Twilight.”

A relieved smile crossed Night Light's face. He walked over to her and bent down to give her a small kiss on the cheek, but Velvet turned away. “Don't,” she said.

With a look of disappointment he drew back. “I understand. But when all this is over, I want to have a long talk with you. I want you back, I realize that now. I still love you.”

Velvet didn't trust herself to speak and after not getting an answer he quietly said good night and left the room. There was silence for a minute.

“Why didn't you answer him?” Rarity asked, when she threw back the covers.

“You're one to talk. Besides, this isn't the time for this sort of thing.”

Rarity grimaced. “I shouldn't have waited with my reply. Who knows what's going to happen after tomorrow? And now all I have may be tonight.”

Velvet insisted that they wait a few minutes to make sure Night Light had gone back to sleep. To pass the time she asked a question that had been nagging at her. “Rarity, what exactly happened on your date with Spike?”

The dressmaker looked down. “I kind of panicked. It was all so romantic, the restaurant, the music, the flowers. I should have seen it coming. But I didn't. I completely blanked out, couldn't even say anything. So I simply stood up and … left.”

“Well, you might as well have hit him over the head with a frying pan, the way he acted afterwards.”

“Owww,” she wailed. “Don't you think I know that? I was awful. What if he hates me know?”

Velvet shook her head and patted the mare's hands. “Don't be silly. Spike loves you. I was just worried that you had turned him down on account of his age or the fact that he's a dragon.”

“Never! No pony can compare to the qualities of my Spikey-Wikey. His age and species have nothing to do with it. Granted, there will be difficulties, but I'm willing to give it a shot.”

There was a sudden noise at the door and Velvet signaled Rarity to be quiet, moving over to the door and opening it quietly. There stood a sheepish looking dragon with a flush on his face. Checking that nopony else had noticed him, Velvet grabbed Spike's sleeve and pulled him inside.

Rarity almost called out, when she saw who it was, but managed to suppress her yell of surprise. “I take it you were listening in,” Velvet asked archly.

The dragon nodded dumbly.

“Everything?” Rarity asked, her hand flying to her mouth.

Again he nodded. “I didn't mean to, honestly. I just wanted to talk to auntie. Guess you beat me to it.”

“What am I?” Velvet asked, scratching the back of her head. “The relationship councillor on duty tonight? Considering my own marital problems, I'm not exactly the expert here.”

But Rarity had already stood up and was standing in front of Spike with tears in her eyes. “Now that you know. Will you accept my apology?”

Spike reached out toward her, but stopped just short of actually touching the mare of his dreams. “I will. Will you accept my feelings for you? Are you really willing to give it a try?”

“Yes,” Rarity replied with a big smile on her face and then they kissed in the moon-lit room. It was a short and sweet kiss, but knowing what it meant to them, Velvet couldn't help but get all mushy.

“I'm so happy right now,” Spike said deliriously, tears rolling down his face. “I'm so glad auntie gave me that blowjob and convinced me to tell you outright.”

For a moment you could have heard a pin drop. Then the sound of Velvet's hand smacking against her forehead with a groan broke the silence.

Spike was frozen in shock, realizing what he had just let slip. Rarity turned her head and gave Velvet a glare that would have sent Nightmare Moon crying. “Care to explain, darling?”

Velvet coughed, her mind racing to think of a way to cover for Spike's blunder. “I just gave him the run down of what's what. Entirely for your benefit.” Obviously that wasn't enough for the white unicorn. “Oh, come now, Rarity. You can't exactly take the moral high ground on the fidelity front, especially considering this relationship is only two minutes old.”

“And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I would never dream of coming between the two of you, now that you're a couple, well unless you both wanted me to. Just like I suspect you won't take advantage of the 'House Special' at the spa any longer?”

Rarity gulped and then her face turned beet red. “Why … yes … I suppose that won't be necessary anymore,” she stammered.

Spike blinked, the implications having completely gone over his head. “So, you're not mad at me?”

Rarity looked at Velvet for a moment, then sighed, resting her head against Spike's chest with a chuckle. “No, I guess not. Now that I think about it, I couldn't have asked for a better teacher for you.”

Seeing them enjoy their hug, Velvet felt relieved. “I'm very happy for you both,” she said. “And may I say that it's long overdue. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Rarity pushed out her lower lip. “There is just one thing,” she said. “We're gonna need some help to cement this relationship and it needs to happen tonight.”

Spike blinked, then his eyes went as wide as saucers. “You mean …?”

“Why yes, darling. Of course. I'm going off to war tomorrow. After all it's taken us to get here, I'm not leaving without having done it at least once.” She looked over to Velvet. “But we'll need your help.”

The romance novelist rolled her eyes. Why was she such a sap? “Okay. I'll keep watch outside the door. Just make sure not to be too loud, you crazy kids.”

The smile Rarity gave her was radiant and it was at that moment she knew, these two were gonna be okay. She stepped out and closed the door behind her, peering across the corridor and through the darkness into the next room, where Night Light and the others slept. There was no movement, so she was fairly sure the coast was clear, so long as nopony else decided to pay her a midnight visit.

She sat down and leaned her back against the door, smiling faintly at the irony of the situation. “They better appreciate this,” she thought to herself. Then again, she wouldn't have been able to get any sleep tonight anyway. At least they'd make good use of the bedroom.

Velvet could make out the sounds of rustling clothes. Then she could hear Spike's voice through the door. “You're beautiful.”

“T-thank you.” Velvet had never thought that Rarity even could sound bashful. “You can touch me, if you like.”

After a moment soft moans were coming out of the bedroom. Velvet imagined Spike gently kneading Rarity's breasts, gulping and watching in amazement as they changed shapes beneath his palms. A slight yelp signaled a pinched nipple.

“Sorry,” Spike apologized quickly. “Did that hurt?”

“No, you just startled me, is all.”

The moans continued again. Velvet bit her lip. She really wasn't supposed to be listening in on this. She considered covering her ears with her hands, but then she wouldn't be able to hear anypony approaching.

“Hmmm, you're good at this,” Rarity gently encouraged him.

The foreplay continued for several more minutes like that and Velvet could feel her body growing hot. This was her nephew and his girlfriend during their first time, she reminded herself, grimacing. But she couldn't help but imagine what went on behind that door. She opened her bathrobe and lightly pinched her nipple through the fabric of her satin nightgown.

“It's not like this will hurt anypony,” she told herself.

“Can I take off you panties?” Spike asked. Almost on instinct Velvet nodded, only to be reminded that he wasn't in fact talking to her.

“Go ahead,” Rarity said. A silence followed after the rustling sound. Spike was probably simply staring at her. With a chuckle Velvet remembered his reaction when he had seen her bare chest for the first time. Lifting up her nightgown, she began to rub her tits directly now.

“Can you show me yours, too?” Here we go, Velvet thought as she could hear Spike's pyjamas fall to the floor. “Oh my … “ Yep, Rarity was shocked.

“Please say something,” Spike urged after a moment. “Do you think they are ugly?”

“Huh?” Sounded like Rarity had just come out of a daze. Velvet couldn't exactly fault her for that. “No, no, darling. They're lovely. I'm just … a little surprised. I actually knew you had two. Twilight told me once.”

Oh Twilight, Velvet thought. What were you thinking, when you told her that?

“So what did Velvet do?” the white unicorn asked.

“Is that really important?” the dragon wanted to know.

“Yes, it is. If she can do it, then so can I and I'll prove it to you.”

“Well, she kinda pressed her breasts around one and took the other in her mouth. Then she began to suck and move her body up and down. It was incredible.”

Velvet could practically see Rarity glaring at the naïve dragon. It would have been better, had he kept that last comment to himself, even though it made her a little happy hearing it. Nonetheless the slurping commenced. She was actually doing it and judging by his groans, Spike was enjoying every minute at it. Velvet was impressed. She knew from experience that this required both coordination and skill. She could feel herself getting wet as memories flooded her mind.

“Spike, what are you … ?“ Rarity's voice was cut off by a wet splurt and several more followed accompanied by Spike's groaning.

After an awkward silence the dragon spoke up. “I'm so sorry. I'm not usually this fast. It just felt so good.”

That's what they all say, Velvet thought to herself. She ought to have written out some pointers and made Spike learn them by heart. That's how Twilight would have done it. Flashcards would have been a good idea, she mused.

Contrary to Velvet's expectations Rarity took it in stride and giggled. “Oh, don't worry. You love me so much that you chose to show it to me by giving me a 'pearl necklace' as a present.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, never mind. I'm all sticky with your cum, but it feels amazing. Now we just have to get you ready to … go … again. How can you be still hard after spraying with so much?”

The dragon sounded a little surprised himself. “I don't know. It must be because of you.”

Velvet balled a victory fist. Finally he had gotten one right. “Oh, you're just saying that,” Rarity cooed. Obviously she agreed with her. The footsteps told Velvet that she was leading him towards the bed. “I can't wait any longer. I want to feel you inside me.”

Rather than being elated at the fact that the main act was approaching, however, Spike sounded dubious. “So how exactly are we gonna do this? I suppose I could lift up one of your legs, go at an angle?”

“There's really no need for that. They seem to be the right amount of space apart. You can use both holes, if you want.”

“You mean … ?” Spike left it hanging, his voice strangely croaking.

“Yes, if it's for you. I owe it to you for making you wait this long. But we're going to need some lubricant. I bet your aunt has got something around.”

Velvet stopped massaging her breasts and listened intently to the rustling inside the room. Were they going through her purse?

“We shouldn't be doing this,” Spike said guiltily.

“Oh, I'm sure she won't mind. Whoa! That's quite a collection!”

Velvet wasn't sure whether she should be angry about the invasion of her privacy or happy about the compliment.

“What the hay is that for?” Spike asked.

“Never mind, Spike,” Rarity replied. “That's a little too advanced for us to try out tonight. Oh, here we go.”

Velvet's mind was racing now as she imagined the unicorn mare lie down on her bed, lifting up her tail and waiting for Spike to rub the lube over her ass. Imagination was an essential tool for an author, but in this case Velvet could have done without the images in her mind being so vivid.

“Brrr, that's cold,” Rarity complained. But then she made a contented purring sound. “But your claw is nice and warm. Umpf.”

“Ready to go?” Spike asked.

“Sure am,” Velvet mumbled to herself, moving one hand into her panties and feeling the moisture. “Oh, buck it.” She tucked the hem of her nightgown between her teeth to muffle her own moans and began to rub her marehood.

“That's it, Spike. Just a little more.” Pleasure and pain were both mixed in Rarity's voice. No wonder. Taking a dragon cock into her ass and pussy simultaneously was quite a feat. “Ughn, I feel so full.”

There was no sound for a moment. But even imagining the dragon resting on top of Rarity, giving her time to adjust to the two massive cocks made Velvet even hornier and she began to thrust two fingers into herself.

“You can move now,” she heard Rarity say. There was no verbal response from Spike, but her moans clearly announced that they had started. Velvet cursed herself for not having gone all the way with Spike the other day. She wondered what it would have been like to be bucked in both holes by her nephew as she increased the speed of her fingers. Her chance had passed now.

Rarity had probably buried her head in the pillow in order not to wake the entire house with her screams. Even so Velvet could clearly hear the cries of passion. “I love you Rarity,” Spike said.

“I love you, too,” Rarity replied between two ragged breaths. “I wish this night could last forever.”

The trio increased their speeds, each drawing closer to their own climax. “Ungh, I can't hold it any longer,” Spike said.

“Do it, Spikey-Wikey. I want you to come inside me. Give me your hot seed.”

Spike began to growl and Velvet flashed back to her own time with the young dragon. The memory of his reptilian eyes sent a shiver down her spine. She knew he was pumping into the fashionista to the hilt now, trying to fulfill his desires.

Rarity didn't seem to mind being bucked to breaking point. Her own screams grew only more passionate. “I'm coming, Spike!”

Velvet could hear Rarity scream into the pillow and then another more pronounced orgasm, when Spike filled her up with his draconic semen. The writer bit down on the hem of her nightgown to keep herself from crying out loud as her vagina clamped down on her fingers and her panties became soaked in her juices.

All three of them had to catch their breaths for a while. “I love you,” Rarity mumbled drowsily. Spike mumbled something incoherent to Velvet in reply. Whatever it was made Rarity giggle slightly.

After a few minutes it seemed as if both of them had drifted off to sleep. Velvet grimaced. She didn't want to wake them now, but she'd have to sneak in and sneak Rarity back out the window and Spike back to his room, before anypony else woke up in the morning.

Banned from her own bedroom, Velvet considered her options. Sleep was out of the question, especially now that the afterglow had run its course, her thoughts drifted back to her daughter's current predicament. But she would drive herself crazy, if she kept thinking about that.

So she levitated a piece of parchment from a nearby table over to her and did what she always did, when she wanted to forget about her troubles and the real world for a few hours. “Chapter 7,” she began to dictate in a voice that was barely audible. “Young Love.”

Author's Note

Hm, this one turned out pretty light on jokes. I said the story would get a little more gravitas from here on out. Couple that with the fact that Sparity is my OTP, it was pretty much unavoidable

Tried something a little different by restricting the action to sounds and Velvet's imagination. Not sure if it worked as well as I'd hoped. Let me know what you think in the comments.