For the moment, the water was calm, occasional waves just barely lifting up Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy who sat on top of their respective surfboards. Rainbow Dash sat upright and eagerly looked ahead at the open water, while Fluttershy lay on her belly with clenched teeth looking from the water to the rest of her friends, enjoying themselves on the sandy beach of Baltimare.

“Any second now, there's gonna be a big wave.” Rainbow Dash said. “I can feel it.”

“Or, m-maybe there won't be?” Fluttershy responded meekly. “Maybe the water will stay nice and calm, and w-w-we can just enjoy floating gently for a while?”

“Fluttershy, you gotta relax.” Applejack assured her, touching the toe of her hoof against her shoulder. “You've gotten a lot better at surfing since this morning. Just follow our lead, and you'll be just fine. Trust me!”

“But, those were really gentle waves I was riding this morning, I don't know if-!”

“Ooh, here comes one now!” Rainbow Dash jumped up on her board, just as the water began to pull slowly in one direction. At first Fluttershy saw nothing, until just in the distance, she noticed a blue line steadily getting bigger. Rainbow Dash turned herself around and laid herself on the flat of her belly. “You ready?”

“No!” Fluttershy protested.

“That's the spirit! Alright, start paddling!” Dipping her hooves into the water, Rainbow and Applejack began to paddle horizontally to the shores of the beach, their timid friend reluctantly following behind. Fluttershy looked to her left and noticed that the wave was just a few yards away from them, and had pulled the water level down significantly.

“Now Fluttershy! Stand up!” Rainbow Dash commanded as she lifted herself up to her hooves.

Fluttershy only managed to lift to her forelegs, and kept her rear glued to her board before the wave lifted both pegasus's up. Rainbow Dash, standing proudly on all fours, was propelled forward along the rising current of the wave, and emerged from the spiral like a missile.

“Awww, yeah! Woo-hoo!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she glided along the water.

“Yeehaw!” Applejack exclaimed, following close behind her. Both of their cheers overpowered the screams of horror from Fluttershy trailing them as the fearful pegasus clung onto her board for dear life.

Though fall was fast approaching, summer was not quite finished with Equestria yet. The day was still warm enough for Ponyville's most prominent citizens to take a trip to Baltimare and enjoy a day of fun activities under the sun. While the three ponies rode the waves far away from the sandy shores, Rarity laid back on a beach blanket. Her white body soaking up the rays from princess Celestia's sun while her eyes were shielded by a pair of fashionable sunglasses.

Rarity had been laying on her back for nearly twenty minutes, and felt her eyes beginning to droop a little. The last thing she wanted to do was drift off underneath the sun, lest she risk burning her coat to a crisp. She sat upright and looked to her left, where she saw Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie each hard at work at sculpting their own sandcastles behind a barrier to protect themselves from any waves knocking into their work. Rarity looked down and saw the little dragon who had recently found his way into her heart, laying back with his own pair of sunglasses as well as a reflector to direct the rays underneath his chin.

“Spike, honey?”

“Yeah?” the little dragon replied casually.

“It wouldn't be too much trouble for you to rub some tanning oil on my back, would it?” Rarity asked him, with her hooves in between her hindlegs and her back arched slightly. She could have just as easily used her magic to apply the oil to her own back, but thought eliciting Spike's help might help her stay awake more easily.

Spike lifted an eyebrow as he smirked towards her, and hurriedly closed his reflector. “I guess I could do that for ya,”

Rarity beamed at him and levitated a small bottle of tanning oil resting beside her towards him. Spike opened the cap and squeezed the bottle over his open palm, but nothing came out except an empty puff of air. He shook the container a few times and squeezed again, but only obtained a small drop before another empty heave followed.

“Oh poo, is it completely empty?” Rarity asked, as Spike shrugged with a slightly wet palm. “Not to worry; I should have another bottle in my bag. Would you be a dear and fetch that for me?”

“Uh...” Spike looked over his shoulder, towards the small mountain of bags several yards away from them, close to where Twilight and Pinkie Pie were busy sculpting their castles. “Which one?”

“Top left, ultra-marine-blue bag with the pink strap adorned with diamonds.”

“Left, blue, diamonds. Got it. Be back in a jiffy!” Spike assured her, before hurrying towards her bags. On his way, he made a small detour to talk to the alicorn who was putting the final touches on her small sandy structure. “Hey Twilight,” Spike greeted her as he inspected what she had created. “Is that Canterlot Castle?”

Twilight's magical purple aura slowly worked to smooth out the edges on a long shaft with a few open slots around the neck, and a needle point sticking out of the top. “Why, yes it is Spike,” Twilight said proudly. “It's just Princess Celestia's tower though, since that's the building I'm most familiar with.”

“Wow, that's so funny!” Pinkie Pie commented as she leaned over the two of them and looked at Twilight's castle. Twilight and Spike were forced to crane their necks up to properly look at her. “You and I made the same thing!”

“Really?” Twilight giggled, then sat up and turned towards where Pinkie had been behind her a moment ago. “That is pretty funny. Let me see what yours... looks... like...” Twilight's words escaped her as she and Spike both looked with mouths agape towards the structure Pinkie Pie had made. What they saw was not only a model ten times bigger and more finely detailed than Twilight's, but along with it a replica of the entire city of Canterlot.

“Pinkie Pie... this is amazing!” Twilight exclaimed, wholeheartedly astonished at what she saw. “Spike, get the camera! We've got to get a picture before-!”

“Hi-YAH!” Pinkie Pie delivered a swift kick to the base of the sandy Canterlot castle. A small crack appeared in the shaft, which splintered outwards, and quickly overcame every building in the small city. In a matter of seconds, the fortress crumbled into a formless heap on the ground, with a cloud of sandy dust hovering above it. “Hm, what should I build instead?” Pinkie deliberated with a hoof to her chin, Spike and Twilight coughing through the sandy dust around them. “Ooh, I know! I'll make one of Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie used her mouth to lift up a bucket by the handle and happily pranced off towards the ocean to fetch some water, while Spike and Twilight stared at the destroyed sandy fortress on the ground.

Twilight shook her head, before turning to face Spike with a cheerful expression. “Hey, wanna help me out?” she asked him. “I'll bet you and I could make something almost as good as Pinkie Pie's if we worked together.” Spike responded with a very excited look on his face.

“Spike, darling?” Rarity's voice called out to him from the distance.

Spike turned his head back and forth from where Rarity was laying to Twilight who was looking down to him, her smile beginning to fade.“Yeah, be there in a sec!” he shouted back towards Rarity. “Sorry Twilight. Maybe later?” he said apologetically, hurrying towards the pile of bags adjacent to he and Twilight. Spike looked upwards and noticed the blue bag with the diamond strap towards the top left, just as Rarity had said.

Twilight moved towards Spike at the bottom of the mountain of bags. “Spike, you don't want to hang out with us? You and Rarity have been laying around doing nothing ever since we got here.”

Spike climbed the small mountain and reached into the bag, pulling out a bottle identical to the empty one he had squeezed moments ago. “We're not doing 'nothing' Twilight,” he assured her, as jumped off the pile and landed on the sandy shores. “We're tanning!” With nothing else to say, Spike hurried away from Twilight, quickly running back to where Rarity was still sitting on her blanket.

Rarity repositioned herself so that she was laying on her belly, her purple tail draped over her buttocks, which were primed upwards from her arched back. Spike squirted a dollop of oil in his claw and rubbed them between his palms before sitting on top of her lower back. With his feet straddled on either side, he pushed his palms against the middle of her back, massaging the oil into her white coat and moving up towards her shoulders.

“Aah...” Rarity sighed in satisfaction as Spike reached her shoulders, and gave them a firm squeeze. “Such a nurturing touch you have, dear.”

“ That's one advantage of having claws instead of hooves,” Spike explained as he moved his claws gently across her coat. Then he lightly scratched the back of her neck with the tip of his claws, making Rarity's butt wiggle behind him. As Rarity continued to vocalize her approval through various sighs and the occasional moan, Spike felt a bit of a tingle begin to mount between his legs as he moved his hand across her back.

“Spike...” Rarity asked softly, turning her face and looking up at him out of the corner of her eye. “What's that poking against my back, hmm?” She wore a devilish smile as she eyed him.

Spike ceased his motions as he looked downwards. He noticed that jutting out from the pouch between his legs was his gray length, not fully stiff yet, but slightly chubby and resting on her white back.

“Heh heh...” Spike lifted his claws off of her and smiled nervously. “W-where'd that come from?” he asked, as he felt Rarity's tail swish up and bop him on the back of his head.

“You'd better not be getting any ideas, you little stud,” Rarity teased him, her hips swaying back and forth slowly. “We're surrounded by our friends, you know...”

Spike's eyes shifted from side to side. “...So?” he asked carelessly.

Rarity gasped as her eyes lit up. “Spike, what kind of girl do you think I am? Do you really think I would want you to slip inside of me right here and now, and rut me like a mare in heat with all our friends watching? So uncouth, darling!”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on it, but now that you mention it…” Spike moved his palms down to the middle of Rarity’s back and turned himself around moved his palms over her rear, still primed towards the air.

“S-Spike…?” Rarity asked in a hushed whisper. Spike’s glaws grasped a handful of her rump and squeezed firmly as they spread her cheeks apart, effectively moving her marehood open as well. “Oh, darling…” Rarity moaned, feeling her lips begin to throb just slightly. Just as quickly as she had moaned, Spike released his grip on her buttocks and rolled backwards so that his head was laying against her mane as he laughed. “Spike? W-why did you stop…?”

“Heh, you really thought I was gonna go for it?” Spike chuckled, squeezing his legs together to hide his erection from anypony that might be looking. “I thought that was uncouth!”

"Oh, you tease!" Rarity quickly rolled off of her stomach, and Spike tumbled over her side. Rolling back over so that their stomachs were facing one another, Rarity stared at Spike with a wild grin on her face, before she plunged forward and kissed his lips intently. The two giggled amongst themselves as Rarity scooted closer to him, with her chest was pressed against his, and the underside of Spike's erection sandwiched between their midsections. Spike leaned his head to the side and let his thin tongue slither past Rarity's maw, into her mouth and dance across her tongue. He felt Rarity gasp inside his mouth, before she pushed herself more into him, loving the sensation of his tongue wiggling about inside of her. She drew the toe of her hoof against the top of his back as he held her underneath her forelegs.

While the two held and caressed each other, a pair of violet eyes watched over them. Twilight Sparkle wore a grimace on her face, and her eyes narrowed as she watched Spike's claw travel up and down Rarity's back.

Oh, you're tanning are you? Twilight thought to herself angrily. That doesn't look like tanning to me. She understood well enough that the two were in love, and she was happy for them. But she wondered why they had to flaunt it about in the open where everypony could see them, especially in such a crude way.

For the past three days after telling Twilight the big news of their relationship, Spike had been speeding through his daily chores at the library. He would finish them as quickly as possible so that he could visit Rarity in the evenings (where they would do who knows what to one another), and then return just before dark by the skin of his teeth. But the way the two held and kissed one another now, she would have thought they hadn't seen one anothers' face in years. Couldn't they just enjoy a day at the beach with their friends, and wait until they were alone together at Carousel Boutique before they started sucking each others mouths off?

Twilight’s chest inflated as she took a deep breath, and she turned away from them. Come on Twilight, settle down. They’re just really excited about their new relationship. Just try not to pay attention to them, okay? Twilight crouched down and stared intently at her sand structure, deciding that the windows over the southeast corridor could use some touching up. While she was at it, she might as well smooth out the edges to the top of the castle.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, a trio of soaking mares stepped out of the water and onto the shores of the beach. Pinkie Pie looked up from her unfinished model of Sugarcube Corner and bounced towards them. “Hey you guys! Did you have fun out there, or what?”

Rainbow Dash quickly shook the water off of her body, before jumping into the air and pumping her hooves excitedly. “Dude! That was so amazing! You should have seen me do that flip, I didn't even use my wings for that! Applejack, tell me you saw that!”

“You were something alright, Dash.” Applejack encouraged her. “I think Fluttershy did pretty good too. In fact, she almost made it all the way to the end of the wave before flipping over. That wasn't so bad, was it Shy?”

Fluttershy stood trembling with a dripping mane, her eyes wide open and hardly blinking. “I... never... want to... do that... again...” she stated, looking nopony in the eyes as she shook.

“Aw, cheer up sugarcube. You'll probably feel better once you get something to eat. What do ya say Pinkie, think it's 'bout time to chow down?”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I'm so hungry, I could eat a cockatrice!” Pinkie Pie held up a stick of dynamite made of sand, burning at the end of its wick, and flung it towards her sculpture of Sugarcube Corner and detonating it upon contact. The explosion caused a flurry of sand to fly out in the immediate area, landing on all of the ponies who took cover with their hooves over their manes.

Shaking herself free of the sand that covered her, Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, and with her hooves lifted around her mouth, shouted towards Spike and Rarity. “Hey, lovebirds!” She yelled, making them tear their eyes from each other and towards the hovering pegasus. “Unless you plan on eating each other, get over here and get some food!”

Rarity quickly sat up on her haunches and looked down at Spike, who remained sitting as he took a few breaths. Several seconds passed, and eventually Spike rose to his feet. The couple quickly trotted over towards the group, where Pinkie Pie pulled out a wooden picnic basket from the large pile of bags.

Applejack laid a large blanket across the sand, while Pinkie Pie reached into her basket and placed a vast assortment of food items across the blanket. In just under a minute, there was potato salad, deviled eggs, roasted vegetables, and an assortment of flower or oat sandwiches. At the center of the spread was a huge watermelon, so large that it could have reached up to one of the mare's chests had they been standing next to it.

“Shoo-ee, that's quite a spread you got there Pinkie,” Applejack said, as Rainbow Dash pulled a large cooler across the sand and to the edge of the blanket.

“Yeah, you got anything else in there?” Spike chuckled. Pinkie Pie thought for a moment, then stuck her head down into the basket to search. “Whoa whoa, hey, I was kidding!”

Rainbow Dash reached into the cooler, and tossed a can soda towards everyone around her, then opened one for herself and raised it up high. “Alright, let's get the sappy stuff out of the way so we can eat. All that surfing made me hungry.”

Pinkie Pie jumped in to the middle of the blanket, with her large watermelon right at her hooves, and cleared her throat. “As everypony already knows, today's Super-Fantastic Exponentially-Outrageous Beach-O-Rama Blast has been called today to mark a very special occasion. Today, we're all here to celebrate two wonderful friends of ours, Spike the dragon, and Rarity the unicorn, finally becoming a couple!” Everypony surrounding the aforementioned began to clop their hooves in celebration, as Spike and Rarity offered sheepish smiles towards all of them.

“Emphasis on finally,” Applejack nodded. “Care to say anything?”

Spike and Rarity glanced at each other momentarily. Spike closed his eyes and motioned a claw towards her, yielding the floor to the unicorn of his dreams.

“Hem hem,” Rarity lowered the can of soda in her magical grasp before she continued. “I have already said this to Spike privately, but I again wish to express my regret at not realizing what a remarkable young man I was passing up when he was right in front of me. For so many years, I have been waiting for the right stallion to come along and sweep me off my hooves, when in reality I should have been waiting for the right dragon. With that said, I would- ooh!”

Taking a cue from Rarity's speech, Spike swept Rarity off of her hooves and knocked her off balance, catching her facing upwards in his claws before she fell too far. Though frightened for a moment, Rarity fluttered her eyelashes and smiled at Spike who looked down at her with a devious glare. The sound of laughter coming from the onlooking mares quickly turned to whoops and cheers as the two closed their eyes and lightly pecked each others lips.

The only mare who wasn't cheering was Twilight, who watched them intently. The bottom of her left eyelid was twitching, and her teeth were grinding in frustration.

The watermelon in the middle of the blanket was surrounded by a purple magical aura, and before anypony noticed it, the fruit inflated to twice its size and then exploded with a large pop. The sudden outburst caused everypony in attendance to shriek as they were covered in chunks of red fruit and green shell.

“Oh my goodness, what happened!?” Fluttershy cried out, hiding behind Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be wearing more of the fruity mess than her yellow friend.

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to her forehead and wiped the mess downwards off her face.“The watermelon just... blew up...” she said, puzzling over the fact as she stared at the small fragment left in the middle of their spread.

“But, why?” Rarity asked, as she climbed out of Spike's grasp and stood on her hooves.

“Aw, darn it!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I must have accidentally mixed up the real watermelon with the prank exploding one from the shop!”

Applejack used her hoof to scrape off the chunks of watermelon clinging to her chest. “Yup, that must be the only explanation. Can't think of another one,” She asserted. Twilight did her best to look just as surprised as anypony else, but couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with them.

“Sorry everypony,” Pinkie apologized, sounding disappointed. “Guess we’re not having melon today”

Coated in the splattered fruit himself, Spike shot out his tongue and wrapped it once around himself with the tip touching his ankle. Spinning around quickly, his tongue moved across the rest of his body, slurping up every bit of himself until he was licked clean, and then swallowed what was in his mouth in one gulp.

“Oh my,” Rarity remarked as she watched Spike's feat. “While a bit crass, I must say I'm impressed.”

Spike winked at Rarity proudly. “You look like you could use some cleaning too, babe.”

Rarity looked down at herself, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was in such a state. She grinned as Spike jumped on top of her, and giggled with his long tongue draping out his mouth and slithering all over her body.

After everyone cleaned themselves off relatively well, they began to help themselves to the various dishes scattered across the beach blanket.

What is going on with me? Twilight pondered as she carefully levitated a daisy sandwich from the table. Unwrapping the sandwich from its plastic. she let it dangle in front of her, inspecting the lettuce and tomato sitting upon the layers of dasies that made up the bulk of the sandwich. Just a few days ago, when Spike and I told Pinkie Pie all about it, I was excited for today. I wanted to come out and celebrate such a special occasion with all of my friends.

Twilight looked up from her sandwich and towards Spike and Rarity again. Spike had just finished licking her clean, and despite a bit of an uncomfortable shiver, seemed pleased with the results. The unicorn then heaved herself onto his shoulder as a result, rubbing her head against him lovingly.

Look at how happy they are. How can I get angry over such a thing? Am I really that petty? Twilight looked back to her sandwich, which was still floating beside her head.I should just be happy for them. There's no reason for me to be upset. Twilight pushed whatever irrational feelings of anger she had aside by thinking of how long Spike had been pining for Rarity, and how happy he must be after finally winning her affection. She bit into her sandwich, savoring the sweet chewy daffodils washing over her taste buds, and directed her attention towards Rainbow Dash, who had just started to tell the group a joke.

“Okay, this one's great. So, a zebra, a griffon, and a Saddle Arabian are all in line to meet Princess Celestia...”

The sound of a loud train horn rang out across the tracks, warning a straggling herd of deer to clear the path. The steam powered Friendship Express chugged forward, making a nonstop journey from the city of Baltimare to the little town of Ponyville, home to the seven present in the middle car of the train. Though Pinkie Pie seemed to be preoccupied with watching the mountains whiz by outside the window, quite a few of the others had fallen asleep from overexerting themselves on the beach. Fluttershy laid at the end of a cushioned seat, curled up and breathing softly across from Rainbow Dash, who was slumped up against a wall with her legs hanging over the seat and snoring rather loudly. Spike laid on his back, with his claw draped over Rarity's head, which laid upon his lap snoozing away.

Separate from all the others sleeping was Twilight Sparkle, who sat on her stomach with her legs underneath her, and her face buried in an open book: an adventure novel, about a young colt growing up in the city, whose best friend was his faithful canine companion. She had heard that many ponies who read this book would be reduced to tears, but Twilight knew how books centered around dogs usually ended. She was prepared for the worst, but still found herself enjoying it nonetheless.

“Psst; hey, Twilight?” a voice with a country drawl called to her in a hushed tone. Twilight looked up from her book to see Applejack barely a foot from her face, “Can I talk to you in private for a sec?” She asked, leaning her head towards the door in front of her, which led to the next car.

“Um, sure?” Twilight levitated her book closed, and pulled herself up off of her seat, following Applejack close behind. Applejack pushed the door open and the two mares stepped across the platform extending to the next car, a protective rubber barrier shielding them from outside. Once the two mares entered the neighboring car, Twilight closed the door behind them. “Everything okay?”she asked Applejack.

“Everything's fine with me, Twilight. How's about yourself?” Twilight looked puzzled at Applejack's words. “More particularly, how you doing with the whole 'Spike datin' Rarity' thing?”

“Oh, I'm fine with that! I can't tell you how excited I was when Spike first told me. He's been pining for her for years, and now they're finally together, and loving it. I am just so happy for them!” Twilight finished, stretching the corners of her mouth into a wide smile.

“M hm, and that's real nice of you.” Applejack nodded. “Now, how 'bout ya tell me how you're really feeling?”

“Applejack, I don't know what you mean. What makes you think I'm not happy for them?”

“Well, the fact that you blew up Pinkie's watermelon after seeing 'em kiss might have tipped me off.” She said with a smirk, making Twilight's head sink to her shoulders. “ Even before that, while we were swimming back to shore, I saw you shooting daggers at the two of them while they were making googly eyes at each other. That's a pretty far cry from 'being happy for 'em', don't ya think?”

Twilight looked down at the floor. She was so embarrassed that somepony had caught her acting in such a way, being so venomous towards her friends; friends she cared about, that she loved, in a platonic way. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what Applejack thought of her at the moment, lest they reflect what she currently thought of herself.

“Appejack... I am happy for the both of them, really,” Twilight explained, looking out the window towards the setting sunlight over the mountains. “I haven't had any angry or bitter thoughts about the two of them being together... until today. Spike has been making trips to Rarity's the past few evenings and rushing home at night, and I've been practically giddy that he's so happy. But seeing the both of them today, in front of me, touching each other and giggling and kissing, it just... ugh.” Twilight pressed her forehead against the glass in frustration.

“I hear ya sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her, stepping to the side of her and staring out the same window. “Matter o' fact, I used to the feel the same thing.”

Twilight turned her head, still pressed against the glass, towards Applejack. “Really?”

“Yup. I remember when Big Macintosh started dating Miss Cheerilee. I was real glad my brother found somepony that he liked, and you know I like Cheerilee just fine. But I tell you what, I did not like seeing her around him when she came to visit. She wasn't doing anything wrong, just touching noses with him, giggling alongside him, normal stuff couples do. But it made my blood boil all the same. Heh, I think I got more applebucking done than ever while they were dating. I just needed to kick something, y' know?.”

Twilight Sparkle pondered what Applejack had to say to her, the both of them remaining silent for a moment. It felt a little awkward that Applejack was using she and her brother to relate to herself and Spike. Is that how she saw the relationship between herself and Spike? As brothers? Spike was very close to Twilight of course, but she had never considered him anything like a brother, not like Shining Armor.

But, maybe she did consider Spike a brother, and wasn't aware of it? That brought up an unsettling thought with her: if she considered him like a brother, why was she okay with having sex with him before his relationship with Rarity? Was it a way to fulfill some deep unconscious desire to do something with a brotherly figure, without actually committing the sin of incest?

Twilight shook her head, trying to rid herself of some unwanted image of Shining Armor with his legs spread open and a seductive glare directed towards her. “So, what did you end up doing?” she asked Applejack after regaining her focus.

“Well, I don't know if it was my hooves all bruised and scuffed up, or my teeth grinding that gave it away, but Granny Smith sat me down and we had a little chat about it.” Applejack raised her hooves and forced her lips upwards, mimicking Granny Smith's withered complexion. “Now Applejack, yer brother's a grown stallion, and he's gonna be datin' whoever he likes. If ya really love him, ya gotta be willin' ta let 'im go, ya hear?”

Twilight laughed hugely at Applejack's impression of her elder. “That was amazing! I didn't know you could do her voice so well.”

“Now, I'm gonna spend five minutes looking at the wall, and then tell ya to come in here so I can tell ya a story I done told ya a hundred times already!” Twilight was nearly crying laughing at Applejack's performance and had to take a few breaths to calm herself down. Applejack lowered her hooves and returned to her normal voice. “Feel better sugarcube?”

Twilight let out a happy sigh, and smiled. “Yeah, a lot better. Thank you Applejack. You're a good friend,” She said, stepping forward and draping her wings around the farmer's back.

Applejack raised a foreleg and rubbed te back of Twilight's neck, “Heh, I know that.” She said before breaking away. “Come on, let's get back to the others.”

Twilight used her magic to slide the door open, and she and Applejack stepped through before she closed it behind her. Applejack let out a soft yawn and pulled herself onto the seat across from Rainbow Dash, leaning against the wall and lowering her hat in front of her face. Twilight stepped back to her seat and resumed her position in front of her book. Before she opened it, she stole a glance at Spike and Rarity, still asleep and in contact with one another. It still felt strange to see them in such a way, but she felt a little better knowing that she didn't hold anything against either one of them. It was going to take some time, but she promised herself that one way or another, she would learn to let Spike go. He was in good hooves with Rarity. Hopefully, that would be enough to put Twilight's mind at ease.

Author's Note

Hey look at that: after six months a new chapter that doesn't even have any sex in it... u mad?
Really sorry it's taking so long updating this story, I have not abandoned this story, things are just really tough with school and earning money right now. Please be patient with me.
As always, big thanks to Karrakaz for grammar and word use, as well as interaction and dialogue suggestions. And thank you all for reading this story as it slowly updates.