"I love those 'love' stories. The one where... well, a lot actually. The ones where the guy is all shy and the girl gets it so she's all forgiving and stuff. Or the one where she had a tough past beforehand and then the dude makes it all better for her. Oh, the one where they both like each other but they're too shy to admit it-"
"OW! HOT!"
Electronic Notes spat his coffee out and ran for a cup of water. Soaking his already messy, brown mane. At the other side of the room, an earth pony with a blue coat and crimson mane looked at him with amusement.
"Lovely speech dude," Night Runner laughed at him. "Really had me going. Guess you can say that it got hot."
Notes stopped swishing the water in his mouth and spat it in the sink, still having that tingle from burning his tongue from his coffee. He saw a little water on his tan coat and wiped it off.
"I should kill you for that pun." Notes said as he looked at the earth pony with a hint of rage in his eye.
Night Runner rolled his eyes. "Pardon for trying to be funny."
Notes walked over to him, the Pegasus proceeded to slap him with his wing.
"Why you gotta be like that." Night Runner pretended to whine while rubbing his cheek. Notes ignored him and only grabbed his coffee again.
"Lets just go." He mumbled as he hovered out of the break room and sipped his coffee. Night Runner following.
The facility was busier than any day of the year. This weekend, they were all getting ready for the big setup. Nothing could go wrong and nothing is forbidden to go wrong.
The two passed busy workers that rushed around to work. Notes felt a little agitated when someone bumped and made him drop his cup off the railing and to the bottom floor.
"Man, I hate this time. They always overwork themselves." Notes complained as he heard a pony scream about getting coffee spilled on him from down below. Notes looked over the railing to see that it was his brother, who was part of security.
"Sorry dude." He called down.
"I hate you." His brother called up.
Notes looked back and grinned. "Brothers. They are such a love."
Night Runner raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"No, he's gonna get me back later." Notes said with a now deadpanned expression.
The two continued on with small chatter. Until a small set of hooves was heard running up behind them.
"Guys!" Rumble squeaked.
"Hey! Rumble!" Notes said as he put the small colt on his back. "How goes it?"
"Not good!" He said as he hopped off.
"This sounds bad." Night Runner said with a hint of sarcasm. "What happened?"
"The Mobian team failed!"
Both of them went wide eyed with shock and disbelief.
"Wow," Notes said as he laughed a little. "That sucks!" He exclaimed. "I just lost five bits to Blaze Streak!"
"They are the top of their game. How the hell did they lose?" Night Runner asked while laughing.
"It was a love triangle!" Rumble exclaimed, even jumping up and having his little wings buzz.
Notes looked at him. "No love in the end?"
"No!"
"Not even a kiss on the cheek?"
"Not even a glace!" Rumbles voiced cracked.
"For a team that has been in this game for such a long time, how could they fail with a near-perfect record." Night Runner asked rhetorically..
"Well that means we're the last ones to pull this off." Rumble seemed to be on the verge of panic.
Notes put his hoof on the colt to calm him down.
"We got this." He said.
"I hope so, wouldn't want a repeat of the Wildfire incident." Rumble reminded them.
Night Runner stepped in. "Relax, me and Notes got this in bag!" He exclaimed as the two hoof bumped.
"You better."
"Relax." Notes ruffled his mane. "You just worry about the chem's and we worry about our department."
"It is all under control." Night Runner told the Pegasus colt. Rumble only trotted away.
"I wanna know where they find these kind of ponies?" Night Runner asked as the two continued walking.
"The fact that his brother is also on the Security department would be a good place to start." Notes said as they reached the carts.
Night Runner drove down the path. "Still, I guess this means we can't fool around this year if we're the only ones."
"Not entirely. Turns out, the departments caught wind of you and me placing bets on who would get shipped."
"And..."
"I think we have a bigger betting pool this year." Night Runner told him.
The sounds of Hearths Warming music sounded from speakers as the two drove around.
"Sweet, more bits for me." Notes rubbed his hoofs greedily.
Night Runner looked around, "I think we can make it out if we bet on the right pony."
"Well who are you betting for?" Notes asked.
"I'll wait to see what pony's there are to work with outside."
"I mean like, inventory wise." Notes reminded.
Night Runner thought for a quick moment. "Do we still have Alicorn Twilight?"
"Sadly, no. She became self-aware and she hooked up Flash Sentry."
"That wasn't a glitch, right?" Night steered the cart around the corner.
"Kinda, she just suddenly realized she was a pony and not some mare who wants to make out and fall in love."
"Not like the Wildifre incident." Night asked.
"Never, that was a damn disaster." Notes shook his head as he remembered that year.
"But I'd definitely put my money down on the zebra chick we have. What about you?"
"I don't know..." Notes thought. "I can't decide till I see the guy." The Pegasus began to doze off a little.
"Well I think we can pull it off this year. We just need to not try to hard and not act like we're all dead if we don't."
"Relax Night, it's nothing we can't handle. We're third behind Mobian." Notes said.
"Well we got it." Night said as he parked the cart outside the control room.
The door opened...
... as light filled the room as a brown coated pony with a dark, shaggy mane ran out of his home.
'Gotta get there fast.' He thought.
Keynote rounded the corner and sprinted down the road of Ponyville. It was a sunny day during winter as ponies of all sorts went about their day. Some waved to him, others yelled as he almost ran into them.
Rarity hummed a happy tune as she placed clothes in her bag. A weekend away with her friends. 'How delightful!' She thought happily as she used her magic to see which clothes to take with her.
"Hm... don't want to take something I'm not prepared to lose."
She dumped the entire suitcase on the floor.
"Better safe than sorry." The mare shrugged.
Keynotes ran up to the door and knocked, waiting anxiously for an answer.
'Aw man, what of she's not home and I stand out here like a total doofus and that ponies think I'm a stalker or-'
The door opened to show the most beautiful mare in world's...
sister.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called out. "You have a visitor."
"Coming." Her voice sang as her hoofsteps sounded before getting closer to the door.
At the sight of her curled mane and perfect coat, Keynote almost fainted.
"Keynotes! You're right on time." She exclaimed happily and greeted him with a hug. "The rest of the girls and the carriage will be here in a few moments." Rarity explained to him as he entered her home.
"Sweet." He said as he waited.
The steel valve on the door spun before the door opened as the two stepped in. A unicorn stallion with a white coat and a blue mane waited for them.
"Names." He addressed the two.
"Night Runner." The blue earth pony showed him his badge.
"Electronic Notes." The Pegasus flashed his badge. "You?"
"Shining Armor sir." He said as the two walked over to the controls.
"No calling us Sir. I'm sure you had to do that in your guard days for royalty." Night Runner spun in his chair to face Shining. "But in here, you call us by name. Got it, Shining?"
"Yeah." Shining said quietly with a nod.
Night stared at him for a few more seconds before grinning. "Good!" he exclaimed as he spun in his chair to face the control board as Notes wheeled over on the chair to his side.
A large array of switches and and buttons laid across the control panel. Night Runner sat on the right side while Notes was on the left.
On the wall in front of them was the largest set of monitors Shining had ever seen. Each of them switched on to show several view points inside Rarity's house.
"Lets get this show on the road." Notes cheered.
"So... you looking forward to this weekend?" Keynotes asked to kill some time.
"As ever, I've been exhausted with work lately." Rarity stretched out her limbs and bent down.
She might have been in a bad angle though, as Keynote began to stare at...
"Dat plot." He said.
"What was that, deary?"
"No.. nothing." Keynote did his best to play it off, he pressed his back to the couch to keep his wings from popping up.
"Hey Rarity, what time do you and your boyfriend leave?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Keynotes face turned a deep red.
"Sweetie Belle, it's not nice to accuse of such things." Rarity said with a high-manner voice.
'So I'm not good enough for you or uh...' Keynote thought.
"Sorry." Sweetie Belle apologized, though Rarity didn't see the grin on her face.
"Terribly sorry for that." Rarity said as she walked over to Keynote.
"It's alright." He said.
As the rest of the girls arrived, Sweetie Belle deserted herself from them. When she was alone, she spoke into her hoof.
"You have five minutes to be prepared." She whispered.
"Got it, you played the part well." Night Runner spoke into the mic.
"Remember my pay." She said.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. "What part?"
Notes looked back at him. "Well the classic sibling that thinks they're together."
Night Runner looked at the large amount of screens in the room
Night Runner leaned back in his chair.
"I'm starting to think there isn't a betting pool. Pretty obvious who we're working with here." He wasn't the first to notice how the colt got nervous around the mare.
"Actually, I believe that the Security department placed their bets on her." Night Runner told him.
"Aw man, my brother is getting my money!" Notes didn't like the sound of that.
Shining had another question, "Uh... what bets?"
Notes turned around and quickly explained that "We had a bet on who we were shipping last year and now everyone's in on it." Notes lifted his head up and spun back around. "Tell me Shining, we have about over 100 mares in storage, plus the ones outside, who are you betting on?"
Shining Armor went a little wide-eyed. "A storage!?"
Notes let out a sigh and rubbed his temples with his hoof. "I hate telling the new guys."
Night Runner nodded his head. "Yes, I know." He cooed.
"I'm not gonna show him and explain again." Notes shook his head as he got up and walked over to a microphone. "Nope, not again." He got on the mic. "Security, can you send somepony over to show Mr. Shining Armor the storage." He ordered.
"You got it, Notes."
Shining seemed more confused at Notes reaction to his question. He remained silent as the two returned to work.
"Actually, keep those bets going, there are five other mares going." Night Runner pointed out as the door opened.
"Does that mean I can't bet on Vinyl Scratch?" Notes asked as he pushed a lever.
"Odds are, no."
The Pegasus threw his hoof down in frustration.
"Will I ever get to ship her!?" He cried out in dismay. Night Runner put his hoof on his back and rubbed it.
"Always next year buddy." He said in an effort to comfort his friend.
At this point, a green coated unicorn with an orange mane waring the standard security uniform walked in and approached the still confused Guard.
"Shining Armor?" He asked, sounding nervous at not finding the right pony.
Shining nodded.
"I'm Nova Burst, come with me." He said as the two walked out.
The six mare plus Keynote saw the carriage arrive at the front of Rarity's house.
"Alright girls, lets get going." Twilight said as she picked up her bags with her magic and walked to the carriage.
Pinkie hopped over excitedly. "This is gonna be the best weekend EVER!" She cheered as she hopped in the carriage.
Fluttershy instructed Spike one last time on how to take care of the animals, much to his dismay as she placed her bags in.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash butted heads as they rushed to sit in the carriage.
"Wait!" Notes said within the control as he watched the two mare go for the last empty spots that were next to each other. He reached for a small button.
Applejack was about to sit down when felt a small shock on her seat, she merely shrugged and sat across from Rainbow Dash, leaving two empty spots for Keynote and Rarity.
"Alright, Security won the betting pool." Night Sky announced.
Keynote sat down and watched as Rarity climbed and took the seat right next to him.
"Score." He thought.
"What was that darling?" Rarity asked.
'Shit!' Keynote looked to the mare next to him.
"No-nothing Rarity." He stammered a little.
Rarity giggled at his behavior as the carriage began to move.
"Settle in everypony, gonna be a while before we get there." Twilight informed.
The doors opened to the observation room, Nova trotted in happily after hearing his department won the bet.
"How's it going, boys?" He asked in a cheerful tone. One of the ponies looked back at him, Soarin to be exact.
"Shut up, we know why you're happy." He said, annoyed.
"Well, better luck next year." He said as Shining entered the room and had his jaw drop.
Cubes moved and shifted around that had a mare in each of them.
"Wh.. wha..."
"I love the look on their face when they first see it." Nova chuckled.
"How do we have-"
"Simple!" Nove began to explain.
"Easy, you see, the gods of love have chosen ponies that they want to see shipped. We are given them to let loose into the world." Soarin explained.
"But I saw that there was a mare out there-"
"Then we have a long-time crush kind of story going on outside. But sometimes, we need to release a mare out there in order to make some of the stories happen." Nova told.
Shining looked and saw Twilight, giving anypony that looked at her the bedroom eyes.
"There are ponies in here who already exist, how can we have two of the same?"
"Easy, they are released in a different Equestria that isn't ours. They are get set out with a different personality that in that world, is the norm for her. So that when that mare finds the stallion, she will behave how she was made by the Gods."
Shining saw this when he saw a normal, happy Pinkie Pie next to another Pinkie Pie that had latex on her hoofs while holding a ball gag and handcuffs.
"I assume some of these stories get a little..."
"Yep, cause that's what the gods want to see. If they send out that pony, then that's who they want to see shipped." Nova explained.
"Understand?"
Shining nodded. "A little."
"Good, cause you know how it is here, we have to not be in a relationship to work here. Last breach we had was bad when Alicorn Twilight took a guard and made-out with him in her cube prison non-stop.
"So that's it, they just make out with ponies?"
Nova looked at the array of cubes with mares in them. "Those mare's thoughts are love and making out, some different then others. Only when they're sent out into their world do they have a more basic intellect." Soarin said as he observed a mare bouncy around her cube and squealing in delight at the thought of making out with a stallion.
"What about the stallions?"
"They are already in the world."
"I mean... what kind of stallions do we ship?" Shining asked.
"Any. We even shipped some from this very work area. Like Thunderlane. I think we shipped you one year." Nova told Shining Armor, causing a shade of red to appear on the white unicorns cheeks. But stopped when he noticed he himself, was in the bundle of cube prisons.
"Why am I in there, and why am I a mare?"
"They also want us to ship opposite genders at times. I think all of the workers have their mare counterpart in there."
Shining thought for a long time on this subject, until the unicorn snapped him out of his thoughts.
"But enough talk, you got a job." Nova said. "Get back to the writing room."
Keynote sat and watched the view pass by as he looked back at the other passengers in the carriage.
'Hells yeah, six good looking mares and me in a cabin all weekend.' He practically shook with excitement.
As for the two in the writing room, they flicked switches and pushed buttons.
Pinkie seemed to notice how... "attractive" Keynotes was.
Twilight began to wonder what it was like to be with a stallion.
Applejack saw how Rainbow Dash was checking out the stallion and thought about getting him first.
Notes got on the mic. "Chem department, I need sleeping gas near pony 5."
"Copy that."
Rarity felt her eyelids heavy.
"Needs to be cold too." Night Runner pointed out.
"Way ahead of you." Notes said as he twisted a knob.
Rarity shivered a little and leaned to her left.
It also happened that Keynote fell asleep on his own, not noticing that Rarity had snuggled up to him.
At this point, the rest of the ponies had lost and even forgotten their original thoughts.
Notes leaned back in his chair and watched the two asleep on the screen.
"We have our ship." He confirmed.
Behind him, the Security department cheered for their confirmed winnings.
"Was in the bag the whole time." Nova declared happily with his friends.
The carriage pulled up by the lake as the mare looked at awe at the sparkling water and the green of the tree's. Birds sang as the wheels grinned the gravel.
Meanwhile in the Writers room, the staff all watched the screen.
"Should we wake them up?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight was about to say yes, until a small voice told her to let them be.
"They'll wake up soon." She said as they went to check out the cabin.
The two ponies who had pulled the carriage blew air out of their noses.
Night Runner got on the mic. "Wake up the stallion."
Keynotes sniffed around before waking up slowly. He felt as though he had one of the best naps in his life. The answer to why came when he saw Rarity's head laying on his chest.
'Oh man! what do I do? Do I wake for her to wake up or leave now? Wake her up?' He thought in a panic.
"Kiss her until she wakes up." Notes nearly yelled at the monitor.
Keynotes face was glowing red as he thought of how he could handle this situation. Rarity stirred around a bit, and seemed to get more comfortable with the stallion.
Suddenly, his face went from a bright red to pale as he felt a tingling in his wings.
"Oh no!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth.
Rarity moved again.
'I'm out!' He thought in a panic.
Quickly sipping out of the mares loose hold, Keynote ran to the cabin before his wings could get to stiff.
"AWW!" Cries of dismay sounded off from the workers in the Writers room. Night Runner stood up to address them.
"Alright people, that means we have a job to do. Chem department, take notes about the wing-boner thing. Tech, keep check on the lighting, Weather, make it the most lovely day outside, now move it ponies."
A picture of Rarity and Keynote along with their names appeared on two separate screens before joining on the one big screen.
"Operation Rarity x Keynote is a go." He said as he sat back down.
Notes looked with a hint of annoyance.
"Sorry we couldn't ship Vinyl Scratch like you wanted." Night Runner said to comfort his friend.
"Just shut up, please." Notes said as he flipped a few switches.
Twilight opened the door to see the cabin, which showed a basic kitchen with a couch.
"Well... it's not like we're gonna spend all weekend inside." She said as she stepped inside.
She walked in to explore the inside, having Pinkie Pie bouncing in while the rest followed.
Keynote poked his head around while thinking, 'I'm gonna forget that incident ever happened.' He thought to himself as the others went upstairs.
The stallions ear perked up as he heard somepony from outside.
"Thanks for waking me up." Rarity called out sarcastically while dragging her bags in. "Rude to leave a lady all alone." She said with a hmph.
'That being though, I still want to get with her.' Keynote thought.
Back at the Writers room, the two watched and took notes on which pony stayed in which room.
"I think I know a way to speed things up." Night Runner said as he got on the mic. "Stand by, Tech team."
Pinkie Pie hopped into her room as her door closed behind her. Rainbow Dash saw Applejack going for a room before saying "call it" and flying in.
Fluttershy saw Twilight walking to her door and stepped aside for her to have the room.
The timid pony looked and only saw six rooms, only two were left now.
"Oh my..." She said. "Rarity and Keynote are gonna have to share a room."
She walked to one of the open rooms. "Please don't have me for taking this one." She said as she closed the door.
Keynote and Rarity walked up to see a sight of horror for the stallion.
There were only two of them and only one room.
'I don't want to share a room.' He thought as he began to sweat nervously. 'Not with my sleeping habits.'
"Are there any other rooms left?" Rarity asked. All of the doors except for one were closed.
"Well, I can always sleep on the porch." Keynote said with a shakey tone.
Rarity gasped. "Nonsense darling, what kind of friend would I be if I let you sleep out there and get cold." She said as she put a hoof on his cheek, causing the poor stallions face to light up red.
"We will share this room." Notes whispered into the microphone before leaning back as Rarity repeated his exact words.
The nervous Pegasus nodded in agreement as they both walked in to see one bed.
"Now!" Rarity quickly chimed in, "I'm aware it's one bed. But we're both mature ponies, correct?"
"Totally." Keynote lied.
"He's bluffing." Night Runner commented in the writers room.
"Well now, it's not like we're going to bed so lets go down to see what the rest of the girls are doing." Rarity said as she walked down stairs.
Back at the Writers room, the two writers danced to no music.
"In the BAG!" Notes cheered as the monitor showed the two walking down stairs.
"We will have this done by night!" Night Runner proclaimed proudly. Shining Armor only watched the two as if they had just finished the job.
"You guys still need to work."
"We're on it, Shiny." Night Runner said as he got on the mic on requested the Intern to bring some snacks.
"Go check up on the Security. You're in that department anyways." Night Runner ordered.
Shining had enough and stepped out of the writers room, while noting that if someone broke in then it wasn't his fault since he has ordered.
"That will be on the report." He thought out loud as he walked among the facility.
The all stallion staff was keeping themselves busy in order to pull of the operation. A few of them waved as he passed by.
Caramel trotted by with bags of chips and a few bottles of sodas and to the direction of the Writers room.
Shining looked to see the security barracks. Unlike his standard Royal guard uniform, the ponies wore the fatigues of Military.
One of them, a yellow unicorn with an emerald green mane noticed him.
"Shining Armor." He said as he stood up and saluted. "Sir."
The guard was taken a bit back by this, not expecting a military-esque greeting.
"Uh... at ease." Shining said, remembering his old days in the guards before being transferred.
The unicorn lowered his hoof. "Doing a security check?" He asked.
"Uhm yes," Shining said as he looked around. "What do you got?" He asked, curious about how the security handled their jobs in this place.
"Since you're new here, and that you haven't worked with a unit like this before I will show you what we got." He said as he waved a hoof over to Shining Armor for him to follow.
"My name is Sharp Edge by the way."
The two unicorns walked through the locker room. An all stallion team would wave hello. Shining noticed that one of them looked like Electronic Notes, who actually was his brother.
"So what kind of system of security do you have here?" Shining asked.
Notes brother looked back at him, "We bring the pain to anypony that gets in." He said with with a rough rasp to his voice.
"Has anypony ever gotten in?"
"Only once." Hard Chord said as he looked over to Nova Burst. "Only once." He said again the two hoof bumped.
Behind them showed a window that had a view to nothing but pure darkness. Only to show a cube rotate to the view of the barracks.
Shining saw nothing in it as he walked over to see what was in side.
*smack*
Hard Chord let out a sharp chuckle as the white unicorn jumped back as the body of a mare jumped up on the glass.
"Look at that, she likes you." Nova commented as the mare drooled on the glass as she clawed to get out and get with the stallion. The group recognized her as Spitfire.
"Has that window ever broken before?"
"Yeah, but the mare was put down." Nova said as he looked at his carbine. "Had to put in extra strength glass."
"Killed?"
"Naw, these are designed to fire bullets that burst on impact and put the target to a deep sleep." Nova commented as he shot the window and saw a red splat appear at the corner.
"Wipe that off, let me know how your hoof feels." Notes said.
Shining went over to wipe off the paint, only to reveal a lusty mare staring at him, making the stallion jump back in surprise.
As he jumped back, he felt a small limp in his hoof.
"What happened?"
"It's a sleep drug that on high impact, will make the target become induced into heavy sleep."
The seven ponies ran around the green field as they traveled to the lake. Pinkie bounced and giggled happily while Rainbow Dash zipped around the sky as Applejack chased after her.
The sun shined down with not a single cloud in the sky.
As for inside, even Night Runner and Notes wanted to go outside.
"Really out-did them self's." Night commented as he snacked on potato chips.
"Yeah, they did." Notes agreed. "Looks like a happy, sunny winter day." He leaned over.
"Those exist by the way. Sunny winter days. They're real."
"Nice," Nighy said as he took a sip of soda. "nice.
The seven ran around happily.
"First step: Accidental contact, then comments from surrounding friends." Night Sky said as he slammed a button down.
Rarity ran happily towards Keynote before letting out s sharp yelp as something hit her left hind hoof. The mare stumbled forward as her cries caused Keynote to turn around as Rarity fell into him, making him fall on his back. Rarity tried to get up, only to feel her hoof slip out from underneath her and cause her nose to land softly on Keynote's.
"Ooooooooooooh!" Pinkie squealed out as she giggled happily before bouncing away.
As for Twilight, she started to just now notice how the two seemed to hesitate to get up. Almost like they're enjoying being that close.
She was about to turn away and forget about it when the lavender unicorn began to think about it once more, unaware of the gas rising out of the ground.
"That's right, you see what's going on." Notes said as the gas subsided.
Twilight began to see the gleam in their eyes.
"They like each other." Night Runner told her through the microphone.
'I'm gonna stay out of this one. I'm not one for-'' Twilight rethought before thinking 'Somepony is gonna need my advice.'
Night Runner cracked his hoofs together in the Writers room.
"Works every time." He commented.
"How can it be so beautiful out the day before Hearths Warming?" Fluttershy said in awe from the cabin window.
"From what I'm told..." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, "the weather pegasi kept the sky's clear for today." She gave a smirk. "I made sure. Tomorrow is gonna be snow." She informed.
Twilight paced back and fourth, wondering how she was gonna be able to approach Keynote about his obvious feelings for Rarity.
"Step two," Electronic Notes said "get a talk from one of her friends." He said in the Writers room.
"But who is Twilight going to talk to?" Night Runner asked, as Shining Armor reentered the Writers room.
"Lets bring up our statistics. Rarity is the one who we're shipping, Pinkie Pie is still childish to understand. Honestly, I think she can go talk to anypony she wants." Notes said as he chugged his bottle of soda.
"Don't you control everything?" Shining asked.
"We can't control everything." Night Runner said as he turned around. "If we did, the two would have made out by now. That's not what the god want to see, they want to see a love story and not two ponies kissing." Notes turned to face the white stallion.
"We have to make sure we follow the steps in order to make sure the story happens. I mean," he chuckled a little. "We hired her sister to make sure that she points out that she thinks they're together. It's basically a foreshadowing thing."
Twilight walked around till looking over at Keynote. If that nervous pony was gonna make a move, she would push him to it.
She trotted over rather quickly to the Pegasus in order to speed this up as soon as possible. Twilight, of all ponies, wasn't in the mood for earths Warming weekend to be spent with the two being nervous and awkward around each other.
She approached Keynote and said these words.
"Make your move." She said. The colt gasped in surprise at her words.
"Damnit," Night Runner slapped his hoof to his forehead. "remember the good ol' days when we had Cadence cast magic on ponies?"
"Tell that to Wildfire and her coltfriend who plays the mandolin while Lucky Clover sits alone in his house." Notes said as he got on the mic to tell Twilight what to say.
As the two forgot what Twilight just said, she began to speak.
"I'm aware of how you feel Rarity. It's pretty obvious." She pointed out. Keynote could only stand in silence with a blush on his face.
"I'm sorry. I won't go for her." He said in a panic. "She's your friend... and uh... I know I shouldn't get in the way of friendships and..."
"Stop, I actual want you two to get together." She said.
"R...re...really, why?" He asked.
Back at the Writers room, Notes pondered on what to say.
"Well, I can't just say that they have to in order to fulfill our promise to the publisher so we can please the gods."
Night runner went over to his spot. "Let me handle this." He said as he grabbed the microphone.
"You two like each other. And I haven't seen Rarity be this happy with a colt before until now."
"Wow," Keynote felt a warm feeling inside of him from her words. "Really?"
Night Runner bit on his hoof to prevent himself from screaming "hell yes".
"Yes, I can see it in both of your eyes. You both belong together."
"You're goddamn right." Notes said as he watched the two on the monitors.
"So... what now?" keynote asked.
"That is a good ass question." Notes and Night Runner laughed. "But first, we need step three."
Applejack paced back and fourth the hall way, knowing well about the obvious love affair going on.
"Rarity's gonna need some advice on this." She said with a shake of her head as she barged into the room and found Rarity fixing her mane.
"You know Applejack, it's rude for you to barge in without knocking."
"Step 3: A friend to help with the realization of their feelings."
"We need to talk about you and Keynote." Applejack said as she sat down.
"Hmm, what is there to talk about? Him and I are good friends."
Night Runner looked over to Notes. "She should be thankful we're here."
"Yes, sugarcube. I can tell your good friends. But," the cowpony looked the fashion mare in the eyes, "I can see that you two want to be more than friends."
"Nonsense," Rarity told her friend. "him and I highly treasure our time together, is all." She said as she fixed her mane some more in the mirror.
"Well, I can see it on his face." Applejack told her.
"What do you mean?" She asked, turning back to face her friend.
"Do you not see it?" Applejack nearly snapped.
"She's not supposed to." notes laughed as he flipped a few switches.
"She can't hear you."
"Don't kill my fun."
"See what? Well sure, he can be a tad nervous near me. Other than that, a stallion should be in awe by my looks." Rarity flipped her head back and patted the curls of her purple mane.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yes, but do you not see? He really likes you. A lot." She told her.
Rarity began to feel her cheeks heat a little. "Are... you sure?"
"Positive." Applejack said with a nod.
"Well then..." Rarity got up and walked out of her room.
"As for now, she ponders how she feels, lets check up on good all Keynote." Night runner said as he flipped the switch to show him walking through the snow.
"Just gotta tell her." He told himself. "She has to like me back."
The snow fell lightly, covering the ground a in a sheet of white.
"I know she likes me. She wanted me to come on this trip with her." He thought out loud.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a snapping branch.
Rarity paced back and fourth, trying to set her mind straight.
'Oh, why dies this have to be so complicated? That handsome stallion manage to steal my heart and I can't admit.' Rarity thought dramatically.
'I have to tell him. But he wouldn't think the sa-'
Rarity took a deep breath and realized.
'When I fell asleep, I knew I wanted to sleep in is hold. Sweetie Belle was right to confuse us, because we both wanted it to be right.'
She looked out the window and knew.
"I love him."
"That's great Rarity." Rainbow Dash said from the couch, not even startling the mare. "I'm going for a flight before the snow gets to thick." The Pegasus said as she zipped out of the cabin. Rarity followed out.
"Step five: confession. Our job is practically done." Night Runner said.
The Writers room watched as Rarity looked around for Keynote.
"Should we lead them together?" Notes suggested.
"Naw, let her find him. If it takes to long, then we'll bring em together."
"Aren't we about to do that."
Night runner pointed his hoof at notes in a joking matter, getting the joke.
Rumble ran in. "What are you idiots doing!?" He squealed in anger.
"Awww, is little Rumble mad that he doesn't have the awesome job that we do." Electronic Notes teased.
"You had one job. One job!" He exclaimed and jumped in the air.
"And we did it. Much like your department did."
"You idiots skipped a step!" Rumble yelled as he ran over to the controls to try to stop Rarity.
Night Runner sprinted over and pulled the colt off of the chair by his tail.
"We did?" Notes pondered.
"WE DID!" Night Runner realized they skipped step four.
"Chem department, mayday! Mayday! You need to send a mare that isn't Rarity. We have a catastrophic emergency if this isn't handled soon." Notes nearly yelled in the microphone.
"You idiots are lucky I sent Rainbow Dash out there first!" Rumble berated the two.
"Shut up Rumble. We can handle this." Night Runner scolded.
Notes got on the mic. "Give her what the mares in storage are hopped up on." He ordered. "I don't care if it may cause a different ship, what else can we do!?" He said as Shining Armor paced while chewing on his hoof.
Outside, Rainbow Dash landed, causing a twig to snap. She stretched out her wings.
"Who's there?" A stallions voice called out.
Rainbow Dash gulped as she cleared the branches of a bush to show keynote staring back at him.
"Oh... hi." He greeted.
"Hey..." Rainbow Dash commented. "Taking a walk?"
"Yup, pretty much." Keynote said as he felt his mouth go dry. "You?"
"Resting from... a flight...."
Rainbow Dash and Keynote lost it as the two began to make out with no sense in their minds.
"Step four: the tragic fight." Notes said as he watched the two make out non-stop.
"Okay! Okay! Now let the neutralizer loose!" Night Runner ordered, in a panic still.
The two ponies slowed down their actions. Still in a light make-out session.
Still caught up in the heat of the moment, only to be broken by a sharp gasp. Keynote pulled away to see Rarity staring back at them.
"Shit." Keynote gasped as tears welled in her eyes.
Without saying anything, Rarity ran off in a sobbing fit.
Rainbow Dash clutched her head in pain and realization.
"I'm so STUPID!" She yelled as she kicked the root of a nearby tree and anger.
"You're not the only one to blame, something came under me." Keynote said as he tried to fight back tears.
Knowing how badly she hurt the two, the Pegasus mare grabbed Keynote by the shoulder and told him only three words before flying off.
"Go after her."
Keynote took off running without any further delay.
Back at the Writers room, the two began to breath easy a little.
"The Publisher would have had our plots mounted on the wall if we failed." Night Runner said as he resumed controls.
Notes sat down and watched as the two approached each other.
"Rarity, I..." Keynote was near lose for words on how to apologize.
Notes grabbed the microphone. "Let me hand-"
"I have no idea what came over us. Rainbow Dash and I just lost control." He explained.
Night Runner turned knobs to release a very minor dose of the gas from earlier.
"It's just that, I really like you. And I thought there was no way you would ever like me back." He said as tears fell from his eyes.
"Damn, he should write an emotional love song." Notes commented. "He's good."
"And if you hate me, I get that. just ple-"
Rarity shushed him, and looked at him with a smile.
"That was all I needed to hear." She said as she pushed up on him.
Suddenly, the two fell backwards. An audible thump was heard in the Writers room as Keynote hit his head on the ground.
"We did it!" Night Runner cheered as cries of delight were heard throughout.
"Who would have thought that he would do our job for us!" Notes exclaimed to a group of ponies.
A party had all ready been planned. Hearths Warming music played in the Writers room as the stallions mingled and drank.
Rumble danced on top of Thunderlanes head as the older brother talked to Night Runner.
"Was close dude!" He cheered.
"Did it in the end, even if it feels half assed."
"So... did you get word from the Publisher?"
Night Runner thought for a moment, but came up with nothing.
"Wait..."
His pupils shrank as the blue phone in the room rang.
"Turn it off!" Notes called out as he trotted over and answered.
"Yes?.... They''re on top of each other. .... What do you mean they haven't kissed?.... Yes, we heard that thump."
He turned to the screen with wide eyes.
"He hit his head on the door!"
Keynote clutched his head in pain.
"Deary, the ground couldn't have been that hard." Rarity commented.
"Well, I hit it on a rock." He said, yet the ground looked flat.
As he cleared snow, he felt as of part of the ground was separated from the rest. He followed that with his hoof to feel a square shape from it.
"What the..."
Keynote brushed the snow to see bright green grass in a square. Rarity grabbed it with her magic and lifted it, it swung open. Keynote looked at her with a face that said that said 'what in the world is this'. Her face nearly matching his.
The two went in to find an elevator of some sorts. It has two walls made of steel and two made of glass.
Keynote looked over to see a control panel. He pulled it open to see two disconnected wires.
"Wanna see where this goes?" He asked.
Rarity nodded.
He put them together.
"I repeat, the two are coming inside." Night Runner said into his ear piece. "They're under the effects of the gas. It's just the two of them." He told.
"Which one?" Notes said as he scanned through live footage of the elevators.
"I just hope they don''t freak out for what they're about to see." Night Runner prayed.
The two stared into darkness as they descended, ascended, rotated, went side to side. It seemed as if they were alone in their own world.
Keynote looked to see the border of another elevator spin by. He went over to see if there was anypony else inside.
He tapped on the glass and jumped back when he saw none other than Twilight Sparkle staring back at him.
Just that, she gave him bedroom eyes.
And like, really extreme and really good bedroom eyes. As if she was a pro.
Keynote felt his face heat up as Rarity walked past him.
"Twilight, what are you doing here?" She asked.
Her only response was a cute giggle and a hand made out of magic that made the notion of calling them over with the wave of the index finger.
She descended away, but not before giving a wave with the fingers on the hand.
An elevator ascended up to their level. Inside showed A rather normal looking Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy?" Keynote asked, hoping it was the real her.
She only blushed heavily and looked away, as if she really liked him.
A lot.
Her elevator slid away to show a rambunctious Rainbow Dash that was practically licking the glass. Keynote looked away to see Scootaloo, who didn't even acknowledge the two there.
"What is this?" Rarity began to break down, nearly screaming as she saw her friends and other ponies around do nothing more than want to make out with them.
There were a lot. One for each love story. Whether it was a foals first love, or two kinky mares, they were all around them. Some even were originally stallions-now mares.
"They have to be in one of them. We're bringing them in and I don't care if they cause at with a gun to their head." Night Runner scolded.
"There!" Shining pointed out as he saw elevator number 209. The two holding each other.
"Bring them in." Night Runner ordered.
They felt the elevator descend past all the mares. To shocked for words, they only sat their in each others hold.
Suddenly, they stopped. Heard a ding and were greeted with an officer pony pointing a gun at them.
"FREEZE!" He yelled, alerting the two and making them stand.
"What is this?" Rarity asked instantly.
"No questions!" He yelled once more.
"Now kiss." He said in a smaller voice.
"What!?" Keynote asked, wondering if his hearing was off.
"Do it! Kiss right now!" He yelled.
The anxiety made Keynote swing his hoof and knock the officer out.
"Damn it, send in security team 1." Night Runner ordered.
"Team 1: Blaze Streak, Hard Chord, Sharp Edge, Thunderlane, Nova Burst, Braeburn, head to after them." Notes said through the mic.
"You got it."
Rarity and Keynote found themselves in a white hallway. Six doors, including the one they just came out of, aligned the walls.
"I know you're confused," An elegant female voice said over the intercom. "But if you knew the truth like we do, you'll understand. Sorry we had to use force."
Six stallions rounded the corner and opened fire upon the two. Taking quick action, Keynote grabbed Rarity's hoof and dragged her into a small room.
Red paint splatted the window as Rarity dove into cover. Keynote tripped over her and hit a button.
The shooting stopped, the two watched as the sound of moving elevators sounded, growing louder and louder.
It was when they stopped that scared them the most.
"We're so fired." Hard Chord said.
*ding*
The sound a mares squealing in excitement was heard as Blaze Streak turned to have himself knocked down by a force of fire and looked up to see Spitfire grab him and pull him with lips puckered into the elevator that Fluttershy flew out of and grabbed Sharp Edge by the tail and carry him away as he heard a cute giggle as a purple hand made of magic reached out the elevator and grabbed Hard Chord and pulled him in just as Pinkie Pie jumped out and tackled Nova Burst next to Eris who wrapped her tail around Braeburn and gave him a seductive smile and looked ahead to see Cloud Chaser and Flitter fly out and grab Thunderlane and argued over who was gonna have him before losing their grip and causing him to fly through the air and smash his face into the window.
Elapses time of events above = 15 seconds.
The alarm sounded as another security team ran through the halls. The sound f dismay from stallions sounded as they reached the hall.
Flitter and Cloud Chaser still fought over Thunderlane while Pinkie Made out with Nova non-stop. Flitter let her sister win and turned her attention towards the guards.
*ding*
Rarity and Keynote hid as they heard several stallions be made out with, one stumbled and put his hoof on the glass.
A different Pinkie Pie was shown being released, this one with hand cuffs and a ball gag. Cherilee was shown after the doors opened to one. A non-bedroom eyes Twilight leaped out of her elevator and on to Comet Tail.
Eris roamed around the panicked facility and whipped her tail at a stallion that was knocked into the path of Roseluck, who pulled him away.
Footage showed the kinky Pinkie Pie rubbing a sweating stallions chest while panicked workers ran away. Another one showed Fleefoot leaping onto a worker and pulling him away. One showed a confused Scootaloo looking at the camera with curiosity.
"This is Shining Armor. I need backup at the Writers room." He said as his horn flared up.
Rumble looked at all the screens that showed mares making out with Stallions that had better things to do then to make out.
"This is why we can't have nice things." He yelled as the door burst open.
Soarin, along with Caramel and Big Mac, tried desperately to contain them.
"I can stop these from relea-" *ding*
"Okay, but I can-" Another ding meant that he was failing at the controls.
"We got to get out of here!" Caramel yelled as he flung the door opened to show a horde of mare. Big Macintosh flung himself at them.
"Get out of here!" He yelled as he was over powered and swarmed on.
Soarin and Caramel ran as fast as they could before Caramels hoof was pulled out by a rope.
Applejack gave him the bedroom eyes as she pulled him into the broom closet.
Rainbow Dash flew through the window and found Keynote and Rarity's hiding spot. The two rushed out and into the hallway. Trixie tried to grab Keynote but was pushed off.
Rarity bumped into Soarin.
"You got to get out of-" Rainbow Dash grabbed and slammed him into the roof before locking her lips with his.
The two ran off.
Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence stormed into the Writers room, giggling while seeing the stallions there. Shining Armor attempted to stop them with magic blasts, only to have his hoofs held down while Cadence straddled him.
Notes looked over and called to Night Runner. "OPEN THE HATCH!" He yelled as Shining's horns began to glow.
"I putting the code in! Don't panic!" He yelled back as Rumble looked around in a panic.
Shining eventually casted a teleport spell, making him and Cadence disappear while Celestia, Luna and Notes were flung from the blast effect. Notes hit the wall and landed on the ground in a daze.
"Crap, my wing is busted." He groaned as he crawled away.
He stopped and began to savor the feeling of his feathers being preened. Notes always liked it when his mom did it to him as a colt.
Suddenly, he felt the preening go to the sensitive past of the wings. That's when he snapped his head back to show Vinyl Scratch staring at him.
"Are you kidding me!?" He called out as she slammed her lips on his.
Night Runner could see the mares tail swish around in the air in excitement as he finally got the emergency hatch open.
"Lets go Rumble."
An orange blur took him away. Making Night Runner the only one to get out.
He ran to see Rarity and Keynote running as well. They both turned to see a white Alicorn with a red mane.
"Greetings." She said. Keynote and Rarity approached her. "Hello Night Runner."
"Hello Publisher."
"Who are you and what's going on?" Keynote asked quickly.
"You're a story." She told them. "We need to make love stories, in order to please the gods beneath us. It is what they want." She explained. "And in a few minutes, they'll rise and destroy the world."
The two began to panic. "How do we-"
"Kiss." She told them. "It's the only way to complete the story." She said.
Keynote felt his face heat up. "Isn't there like ano-"
His words were cut off as Rarity grabbed his face and planted her lips on his. The shared a passionate kiss before being broken up by
"Touch hooves."
"What?" Keynote asked.
The Publisher shook her head. "Sorry, wrong kind of story." Her horn glowed. "Now be gone."
The cabin door opened to show the new couple stumbling through the door, covered in snow.
"Where have you two been?" Twilight asked.
"We were..." Keynote tried to remember. "Out."
"In snow all night?"
"I guess." He said with a shrug.
Twilight put her book down, before noticing how close they held each other.
"I'm going to bed." She said blandly. "Good night."
The two followed to their room and climbed in bed.
"Goodnight." Keynote said as he kissed Rarity once more.
"Night." She said as they fell asleep with a smile on their faces.
In the very early hours of dawn, in the snow covered field, the hatch opened. Night Runner poked his head out, cheeks covered in kiss marks and his mane a mess.
"I made it." He said as he watched the sun rise.
"No you didn't." Princess Luna said from behind as she grabbed him and pulled him back in before reaching up and grabbing the hatch and closing it.
