What We Have Become

Chapters

The Day We Finally Stopped Lying

The Day We Finally Stopped Lying

"Real Talk for a second, Rhyme. Who's got better curves: Me or Sweetie Belle?"

A metallic clang filled the kitchen as the spatula impacted against the pan it was perched above, my telekinetic grip failing me as my mind double checked that I had processed Scootaloo's statement properly.

It had been nearly three months since my falling out with Coda, and in that time Scootaloo and I had been nearly inseparable, constantly finding excuses to be at each other's side. With me trying to get my mind off the past and refocus on the present, and Scootaloo still trying to acclimate to life without focusing on flying, we had both come to lean on each other a lot when things got difficult.

We had also fallen into an odd habit of staying up into the wee hours of the morning, talking about all sorts of things, before Celestia’s sunrise finally coerced us to sleep. Both of our sleep cycles were completely shot, Scootaloo having ended up spending quite a few nights over at my place, and I found myself sleeping on the couch more often than in my room, the young mare having taken the liberty of commandeering my bed from me, only to rouse me from my desperate slumber in the living room only a few hours later to make sure I made it to work on time, then guilt tripping me into making her breakfast. Today was one such morning, hence her presence as she made her way into my kitchen as I did my best to prepare some eggs.

As for her particular line of questioning this morning, I had no explanation.

“I mean, yeah, technically she’s curvier, sure. But c’mon...” Scootaloo shifted her weight to accentuate her athletic flanks just a little bit too sensually for my comfort. “There’s something to be said about being toned, am I right?”

I peeled my eyes away from her, the task taking a few seconds longer then I would have liked, and picked up the spatula again, determined not to burn the eggs as badly as I usually did. "I don't think I'm comfortable with where this line of questioning is going, Scoots..."

"Aww, c'mon. You're a guy, you totally have an opinion on this, don't even try and deny it."

I made sure to stare at the eggs in case she decided to start posing again. "Why do you even wanna know, anyways?"

The sound of the chair scraping against the floor let me know that she had sat down and that it was most likely safe to make eye contact again. She smirked as soon as my eyes met hers, her chin perched on folded forehooves. "I'm bored. Humor me."

A quick flip of my spatula sent the eggs into the air as I tried to save my dying omelette. "So you want me to share my thoughts on our mutual friend, who is in a relationship with our other mutual friend, as compared to you, my best friend and now pseudo-roommate?"

"Pretty much."

"I think I'd feel safer navigating a minefield."

Her hooves met the table as she sighed in frustration. "Fine. Let's just talk general archetypes: Curves or Toned?"

Some shredded mozzarella made its way into my pathetic attempt at an omelette as a devious smirk crept on my face, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to poke fun at my houseguest, making sure to wait until she took a sip of the orange juice I left on the table before making my move. "Archetype? Wow, that's like… three whole syllables. When did your vocabulary expand above a second grade level?"

The predicted spit take occurred as Scootaloo’s eyes widened, glaring at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means you only use small words.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

I chuckled as I went back to rescuing our breakfast as she grumbled, fiddling with her now empty glass. "So maybe I've been poking around your bookshelf a little bit. Big deal..."

A faux gasp left my lungs as I placed the almost-omelette on a plate and made my way over to the table. "Scootaloo? Our Scootaloo? Reading?!"

She snatched the plate out of my magical grasp and began wolfing it down. "If it's cool enough for Rainbow Dash, then it's cool enough for me."

I took a bite of the eggs and winced. Another failure. "This coming from the pony who was adamant on never reading a book that didn't have pictures or panels in it."

"That was a long time ago!"

"That was last month."

The mare let out a huff, bits of egg leaking out of her mouth. "Yeah well, you're just dodging the question."

"And doing so quite masterfully, I might add."

"Whatever. I'm still waiting for an answer."

I let out pained sigh of defeat as I leaned back in my chair, taking another bite of egg and spinning the fork around in the air absentmindedly with some magic. "I dunno. I'm one of those weirdos who likes a pony for their personality, you know? Looks won't make or break it for me."

"So that means you like Sweetie Belle better."

I nearly fell backward in my chair. "What?! How did you get that from that? And what happened to archetypes?!"

She grinned. "We both know I was just saying that to get an answer out of you. And not being straight up means you're trying not to hurt my feelings."

Words failed me. Almost. "When did you become such a girl?"

She shot me a dirty look. "Uhh, I dunno, when I was born?"

I let out another heavy sigh as Scootaloo continued eyeing me with disdain. I fiddled with the remainder of my omelette, quickly having lost my appetite. "Look. I'm like an artist, okay? I can respect a mare with proper proportions. This means that there isn't a particular body type I enjoy, but instead, I can find appreciation in all kinds of forms."

She shot me another blank look as I again denied her a clear cut answer. I collected our dishes in my magical aura as I got up from the table, making my way over to the sink and dumping them in the dirty side to forget about for the next few days. I took a slight breath before my next statement. "However, if one were to twist my hoof over it..."

I glanced back and met Scootaloo's gaze with a warm smile. "I never did see the allure in voluptuous curves."

She got up and met me by the sink, cheeks tinged over the indirect compliment. "A wise choice."

She rubbed herself against my coat and gave my neck a quick nuzzle before taking off for the living room, leaving my cheeks even more flushed than hers were. She'd been doing little things like that a lot lately, questionably suggestive, and unquestionably adorable.

The scary thing was I hadn't yet made any attempt to stop her.

The clanging of pans and dishes filled the air of the kitchen as I hurriedly cleaned up the breakfast mess as much as I could, given the time allotted. It was getting late, and the bills sadly would not pay themselves. I was halfway out of the room when a thought struck me, and my horn sprang to life, grabbing a pair of sodas from the icebox, tucking one into my saddlebag, while passing the second to Scoots, who grabbed it in her forehoof with a cute little grin.

"I gotta head out. Feel free to stick around as long as you want. Grab a shower if you need to, you know where all the necessities are." My scarf made its way over from the hanger by the banister and settled around my neck as I made my way to the front door. "Oh! And if you run into Bloom, let her know I was hoping to place an order of Sweet Apple Select. It's a little late, but they usually got some excess stock kickin around. Tell her she or AJ can swing by later today."

Scootaloo just nodded, fiddling with her hooves, her cheeks again turning a bit pink as her eyes darted around the room. I took a few moments to look her over and her eyes met mine, and she shrank back into the couch a bit. Confused, I flashed her another wary smile before I made my way to the door. "All right then. I'll cya later."

"Wait!"

I unthinkingly raised an eyebrow as I turned back towards the young mare. "What's up?"

Her cheeks were still flushed, and she was tapping her forehooves together, avoiding eye contact with me. "You uhh...you get out of work a bit early today, right?"

"Yeah. Thursdays are my short day. Should be free around oneish.” I shot her a suspicious glare. “But you already knew that..."

Surprisingly, the comment made her shrink back into the couch even further. "Heheh… yeah well… I was just wondering, if you got nothin’ else to do, if maybe… you maybe wanted to go out for… uhh..."

I felt a blush suddenly forming on my face as well as my mind took the statement in a million different directions simultaneously. "For...??"

"For uhh... crusading! Yeah that. Crusading!”

The comment somehow managed to force my raised eyebrow even higher. “Crusading?”

Scootaloo nodded a bit too enthusiastically. “Yeah! Cuz we're the only Crusaders left, and we haven't done any... crusading… in a while… you know?"

I was eyeing her rather incredulously at this point. "Sure... That's… exactly what I was thinking. Let's do that, then."

"Great! Great… sounds great!" She stammered. "Why don't we meet up at Clover Café at 1 then!"

"Yeah… oneish… I'll see you there. Later Scoots."

I slowly made my way out the door, my eyebrow once again finding itself in an upright position as I eyed Scootaloo on the couch as the door slowly closed behind me. Our eyes met for the briefest of moments before the door closed completely and Scootaloo jumped, averting her eyes almost instantly. The soft click of the doorknob catching broke my train of thought and reminded me I needed to be somewhere, so I took off towards Sofas and Quills at a light canter. My gaze drifted upwards as I took a few deeps breaths, attempting to collect myself and figure out what exactly it was that just happened...

_________

If one did their best not to think about it, they could almost call the weather pleasant.

The biting cold and blistering winds of late December had given way to a more subtle chill of mid-March. The citizens of Ponyville had already gone through the (quite literal) song and dance to shift the season; the gloomy skies were cleared, the little critters awakened, and the tiny seeds planted. Yet the remnants of the cold still lingered, and would probably outstay their welcome for the next few weeks until spring had been given time to properly settle in. Despite the crisp air though, it was hardly what most ponies would consider uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for me, I was not most ponies.

Whether it was because of some genetic disposition, environmental maladjustment, or simply because I was a wuss, winter was not yet wrapped up enough for my taste, and my disdain was rather markedly apparent as I scowled and grumbled whilst locking up the front entrance to Sofas and Quills, the weather doing nothing to help alleviate my tension. Despite having only opened a few hours beforehand, I felt mentally exhausted, my shift feeling like anything but my short day. Celestia’s sun had crept through the sky at an agonizingly slow pace, to the point where I was beginning to suspect she might have somehow picked up on my agitation, and was torturing me on purpose.

Clearly my post-employment appointment was getting to me.

Today had felt like time itself had been dialed down by a factor of ten, and my patience had waned with it. My eyes continually drifted to the clock, expecting hours to have passed, when in reality it had been merely minutes, sometimes seconds, and I suddenly felt like I was in grade school again. It wasn't so much because I disliked my job, I mean of course, there were better things I could think of doing with my time, but working inventory at Sofas and Quills was hardly what one would consider grueling, my admittedly menial duties were normally rather therapeutic, especially when one had the benefit of unicorn magic. They provided welcome distraction from fixating on my own problems, as I instead busied myself in issues of inventory and customer service, which, while presenting their own difficulties, hit far less close to home. The few customers the store welcomed each day I greeted with a smile, and usually got a pleasant conversation out of the exchange before they made a purchase. The stocking in the back, where the majority of my time is spent, always proved to be an interesting puzzle as I threw on a record and attempted to maximize spatial efficiency by squeezing as many pieces of furniture into as tight a space as possible. Kinda like a real life version of that one game with the stacking shapes. The name escapes me at the moment…

Today though, had been a different story. Customers entering the store agitated me, and were met with a glass-eyed nonchalance and monotone single word responses at best, or passive aggressiveness at worst. Their attempts at conversation utterly uninteresting. Stocking shelves in the back proved to be an exercise in frustration, the anger stemming from the annoyance of the task at hand compounding on itself, dulling my mind and causing the task to become more difficult, and me more irate, rinse and repeat. All this a side effect of being at the mercy of the painfully plodding passage of time

No, said snails passage of time was more likely a repercussion of my desire to be with my new “roommate”. My time in Ponyville certainly couldn't be described as lonesome, but after coming home to an empty house for nearly four years, suddenly knowing that, more often than not, there was going to be somepony waiting for you on the other side of your front door after a hard days work was borderline addictive. I found myself coming to take great comfort in having Scootaloo at my side, ready to throw a snarky comment at a moment's notice, or a sweet compliment and a quick nuzzle at the smallest provocation. Time spent with her was becoming more and more precious, and any time separated all the more grueling. Even a few hours apart was becoming a difficult task, my mind had been clouded with thoughts of her the entire time I was at work today. After this morning’s conversation, I couldn’t bring myself to fully commit to any of the tasks at hoof at work, my mind fixating on an image of Scootaloo slowly poking through my bookshelf, searching for a title that she could understand with a typeface large enough to stave off her intimidation, followed by timidly plopping down in my armchair and slowly making her way through perhaps ten pages or so before her fidgeting finally got the better of her.

It was an adorably out of character scenario.

My heart skipped a beat as I once again drifted off to contemplating who and what I was about to do, her smiling face clearly visible in my mind’s eye. I was feeling like a grade schooler in more ways than one.

My mind began chastising itself for even considering such a mindset. Don’t be ridiculous. We’re going crusading and that’s it, she said so herself. We’re going be exploring far too deep into the Everfree Forest, or attempting to bungee jump in Ghastly Gorge.

Actually, I hoped we didn’t end up doing that. The first time was as close a call with death as I felt like experiencing.

If anything I should be terrified for my life, not nervous like a schoolcolt nursing a crush.

Which, of course, I wasn’t doing. Because that would be ridiculous. And irresponsible. And wrong.

Right?

Hayseed. Maybe we should just go bungee jumping again.

Nature decided to cut in on my musings and rebuked my earlier criticism by kicking up a particularly aggressive breeze, and I found myself stifling a shiver as I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck, my distaste for the season guaranteed to make the short trek from work to Clover Café an exercise in middling unpleasantness at best.

Clover Café was an interesting oddity in Ponyville, a stark contrast to nearly all of the town's small business in both concept and execution. While most of the shops I had explored reveled in the small town charm that permeated Ponyville, and dialed it up to eleven in their visual presentation, Clover Café instead attempted to provide a bastion of culture amongst a swath of rustic antiquity. However, unlike a small business akin to, say, Carousel Boutique, Clover Café was only partially successful in it's endeavor, for a multitude of reasons. While the interior design of the dining establishment was a dead ringer for the classier eateries in Manehatten or Canterlot, before being bought by its current owner, the building itself apparently used to be a humble barber shop, so from the outside it looked just like any of the other country shops littered throughout town; its utilitarian architecture was a far cry from the extravagant exercises in excess that Canterlot was known for.

More damning, though was the help that Cover Café employed. High class dining is, of course paired with high class service, and while the shop owner did his best to instill some level of sophistication in his employees, his hires were all native to Ponyville, and most of the juvenile fillies and colts working as waiters either didn't have a grasp on high class culture and clumsily botched the motions, or merely didn't attempt them at all, both cases providing a rather jarring contrast as their "charmingly rustic" demeanor broke the immersion that the interior design so painstakingly attempted to set.

But the food was fantastic, so it was rather difficult to hold that against them.

Scootaloo in particular was a markedly enthusiastic fan of the place, or at least the food: the intricacies of high class culture were as lost upon on her as the next Ponyville native. As a result, she had dragged me there a couple times now when my poor attempts at cooking became too much for her to bear, so I wasn't entirely surprised when she suggested the place. One had to wonder what a restaurant had to do with getting cutie marks, though. It was pretty clear to me at least that cooking was not a skill that either of us excelled at.

Then again, this is Scootaloo we’re talking about. She’s hardly one to turn down a meal, especially if I’m the one paying the bill.

I broke into a lazy trot as Clover Café came into view. The usual hustle and bustle of the outdoor dining area was comparatively reserved this afternoon, the majority of the restaurant's patrons apparently sharing my distaste for the lingering cold. A quick survey of the establishment showed no sign of my company for the afternoon so, begrudgingly, I took a seat at one of the outdoor tables and began waiting for her to show up, fervently rubbing my forehooves together and hunching over the table in an attempt to stave off the cold. It didn't take too long for my antics to catch the attention of one of the servers, the Earth Pony mare quickly making her way over to me, laying a menu down on the table. If she had any thoughts concerning the odd display I was putting on, she thankfully made no mention of it.

“Welcome to Clover Café, sir. Is there anything I can get to start you off with today? Perhaps an appetizer or drink?”

Another chilly breeze kicked up as she finished, running through my coat and sending the freshly placed menu flying off into the distance. We traded a look of amused annoyance before I retrieved it with my magic and floated it back in her hooves, the sudden swell of cold finalizing my decision. “Yes. A table inside, if you wouldn’t mind.”

_________

A contented sigh filled the air around the table I had claimed inside Cover Café as a particularly pleasant blend of tea caressed my palette. While the restaurant walls gave my poorly insulated body sufficient respite from the chill outside, a nice warm beverage was the true cure to the kind of cold that would settle in your bones and linger. Combine that with the familiar soft ache of a hard day's work, and the warmth coursing down my throat and settling in my core couldn't be more welcome, and I reveled in its pleasant complexities.

"Sir... Is everything alright?"

A young Pegasus mare timidly made a motion towards the kettle in her grasp, her face painted with concern. "Is the tea not to your liking, or..."

I waved a dismissive hoof her way with a smile as a spark of magic returned the teacup to the table. "Not at all; it's excellent. My apologies, I’m actually waiting for somepony to join me. Apparently I'm more anxious to see them than I thought."

She seemed to jump at the opportunity to help. "Oh! Does the host upfront know? I can let them know for you!"

I once again found a smile on my face as a raised hoof calmed my server down. "No need. I let him know on my way in. Thank you for the consideration though."

She smiled, and after a customary offer concerning anything else I might need, she took off, promising to be back in a few minutes to take my order.

The small corner that nested my table lit up with a dull cyan glow as I kept the cup of tea afloat with my magic, absentmindedly taking the occasional sip as I rubbed my forehooves together to banish the last lingering sensations of cold, nothing left to do but wait for my company for the afternoon to show up. A cursory glance at the clock on the far wall showed me it was nearly twenty past one. Scootaloo was late, a disappointing if not entirely unsurprising revelation; she never had been one for punctuality. Why I continued to hold her to her word when it came to such things was anypony’s guess. A deep sigh left my lungs and I let myself sink further into my chair, slowly bringing the teacup back to my lips as my hooves tapped out a poor attempt at a rhythm, silently taking bets on when Scootaloo would finally decide to show up.

"Guess who?"

A pair of hooves with an almost comedic sense of timing covered my eyes, snapping me out of my musings and caused my body to tense up, bolting upright from the unexpected interruption, nearly spilling the piping hot tea all over my coat. If the initial question and orange blur blocking out my vision didn't clue me in to my attacker's identity, the unmistakable laughter at my minor panic attack sealed the deal. My heartbeat quickened, and was sustained both by nerves and excitement, a smile reflexively forming on my face, her very presence somehow able to flick a switch in my mind, making the entire world seem just a bit brighter.

"You know, this trick works better when your presence isn't expected."

Scootaloo granted me my vision back, letting a forehoof linger and dance along my muzzle for a few precious seconds before letting go completely, still staying out of sight. "And yet I spooked you anyways. I say the results speak for themselves. Sneak attack successful."

I sighed and slouched back into my chair as my heartbeat returned to normal. “Yeah whatever…”

My eyes went wide when I felt her forehooves drape around my neck, and her chin come to rest atop my head, deciding to mock me in a sing song voice. “Aww, is somepony being a sore loser? I'll try my best not to gloat, okay?”

I gave her a sharp huff and shifted back upwards into a more natural sitting position, forcing her to remove her hooves and chin, part of me regretting the decision. “Speaking of which, what exactly is your master plan for the triumphant return of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” A horrifying possibility lodged itself in my mind, and the next statement just kind of fell out. “Please not bungee jumping again. We promised...”

Scootaloo let out a nervous laugh as she made her way to the seat on the other side of the table. “I think we all learned our lesson the first time.” She made her way to the chair across from me and I finally got a good look at her. “Funny thing about that though… Apple Bloom was usually the one who came up with all our crusading ideas, so I really couldn’t think of any…”

If Scootaloo had continued talking after that point, my mind tuned it out, far too flabbergasted at the sight on display before me, and I couldn’t help but squint a few times to make sure I was seeing things properly.

The mare in front of me looked like Scootaloo, sounded like Scootaloo, but there was just no way a mare this, well, put together could be the filly I’d known all these years. It took me a second to place why her face looked different, until I noticed her ears. I had no idea if they had always been pierced and she simply never bothered to mention or make use of it, or if she had merely gotten inspired during the last few hours, but regardless, the outer edge of Scootaloo’s left ear was now home to a pair of small black earrings, providing a striking contrast to the bright orange of her coat. Speaking of which, her fur was similarly entrancing for a reason that at first eluded me; Scootaloo's coat shimmering as she moved under the low lighting. My best guess was it had been treated with sort of product Scootaloo could barely pronounce, let alone afford, as its luster seemed more befit of somepony obsessed with self-image like Rarity, rather than the rough n’ tumble Pegasus. Her mane, usually frazzled and sticking out in all sorts of directions at once and casually coaxed into a single general direction with little more than a quick flick of a forehoof, actually seemed to have been given the attention of a comb for the first time in all the years I'd known her. Instead of simply falling over her face in large tufts, Scootaloo's hair had been painstakingly styled to drape down slightly to the right and frame her face, the end of the main tuft curling back up slightly to add the impression of additional volume. A few extra tufts of hair had been coaxed downwards to fall across the left side of her forehead, framing her eyes and preventing the manecut from feeling too imbalanced. Her tail had been given a similar treatment; the knots and tangles rigorously combed out of it, and her magenta accents shone with a similar brilliance as her coat.

There was one change about Scootaloo that trumped them all, though. The one thing that, for all her newfound beauty, resonated with me even deeper.

Her wings.

You would have thought Scootaloo considered herself an Earth Pony after the… "incident" a few months back. Despite our nearly continuous accompaniment, I hadn’t once caught her even stretching the things, her weak wings having been relegated to purposeless stumps strapped to her back, for in her mind that was exactly what they had become. She couldn't bring herself to bother with their upkeep now that their primary use was out of her reach. As a result, their condition was in shambles, the feathers a mangled mess, twisted and strewn about in a medley of disjointed directions.

Until now that is.

Like the rest of her, Scootaloo's wings shone with a striking exuberance, her primary feathers straight and organized, framing her athletic figure perfectly; her entire sophisticated style looking right at home against the Canterlot-inspired decor of Clover Cafe. The entire image was refined, but still somehow carried a bit of an edge to it that was inherently Scootaloo. The whole transformation seemed to perfectly compliment the Pegasus’ natural, unconscious grace, and I found myself entranced by the interplay of the two as she continued shifting her weight, explaining the details of a story I couldn't find the will to focus on. She suddenly stopped moving as she finished her story and looked over to me. Noticing the look of shock clearly plastered over my face, her cheeks lit up.

“Oh… yeah… this…” A nervous giggle left her lips. “I kinda forgot.” She suddenly seemed a fair bit less comfortable as she shrank back, looking herself over. When she looked back at me, her eyes were filled with uncertainty. “ It’s not… bad, is it?

Being as my jaw was extended as far towards the floor as my anatomy allowed, a response on my end failed to materialize. Scootaloo took my silence entirely the wrong way, wincing a bit as her posture slumped. “I knew it! I knew this was a dumb idea! I told Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon not to bother, but noooo! They just had to get their hooves involved! This is all their fault! Now I look stupid! I swear when I get my hooves on them I’m gonna-”

I stopped her shouting with a hoof on her chest. I blinked a few times and coaxed my jaw back to a normal position. My eyes met Scootaloo’s face, and I couldn’t help a blush from meeting mine. I dug deep, trying to bring forth some sort of elegant compliment befitting her image.

“You… look… amazing…”

Not exactly the greatest example of the depth of my vocabulary, but, judging from the brilliant shade of red that met her cheeks, the comment served its purpose adequately enough.

"Oh... well..." She gave me a playful punch in the shoulder. “How about you pipe up a bit sooner next time so I can spare myself a public tirade?”

I smirked as I picked up my teacup. “Sorry, my brain needed a second to process all of this. It's quite the image change."

She huffed as she looked herself over again quickly before flopping into the seat across from me. "Well don't get too attached to it. This is hardly gonna be a regular thing. This took almost two hours to pull off. I can't even imagine putting up with that every day." She leaned back in her chair, adopting a casual posture that clashed with how well put together she was. "Not to mention it was Sweetie Belle who did most of it. She tried to explain everything to me as she went, but it didn't stick. I couldn't even pronounce half the stuff her and Spoon were telling me about. Most of it was all in Prench."

I couldn't help but grin with a subtle sense of self satisfaction as I shifted back in my chair to match, happy to see her more relaxed. "Those two do know a lot about all that froofrooey stuff. Rarity must be in heaven having two liked-minded mares in her midst." I grabbed my cup of tea and levitated it over to Scootaloo. "Thirsty?"

The cup was relieved from me most eagerly. "Parched."

She took a rather aggressive gulp of tea, not realizing it was hot, and struggled to keep face as she forced it down her throat. After taking a moment to collect herself, she began taking sips in a more reserved manner. I couldn't help but eye her curiously. "So, what's the occasion for the new look?"

Scootaloo nearly choked on the tea. "Occasion?"

"Well, yeah. I can't see any crusading scenario that requires us to get all prettied up, unless you wanted to try and get our cutie marks in modeling." I chuckled a bit. "Which it doesn't sound like either of us have the patience nor the vocabulary for."

"No, no, it's nothing like that. This... wasn't for crusading or anything. I just..." Scootaloo broke eye contact and began fiddling with the teacup in her hooves. "I just wanted to look nice for a change." She took a moment before slowly brought her eyes up to meet mine. "I thought maybe you'd like it."

Her forehooves tapped together nervously as she played with the empty teacup. "Do you like it?"

I felt my jaw once again go slack. All this for me? Certainly she had to know that none of this was necessary. That she didn't have to try and impress me. She’s never had to try and impress me.

I looked over at her again, her appearance at once foreign and familiar, and my stomach did another flip flop as it dawned on me. That was the point, wasn’t it? She stepped out of her comfort zone, did something she wouldn’t have otherwise done, not because she thought she had to, but because she wanted to. She wanted to do something nice for me. To make me happy.

Words failed me.

Scootaloo leaned in closer across the table, her vulnerable expression snapping me out of my musings. She was still waiting for a response. I struggled for another moment trying to come up with the best possible response, before simply settling on the truth. I gave her a warm smile and leaned over the table to meet her, taking her forehoof in my own. "I love it."

Her cheeks once again burned red, and though she tried to hide her face, I could still notice the stupid grin on her face. Her grip remained steadfast on my hoof, and she let her touch linger, running her hoof up and down my foreleg absentmindedly. I contented myself to simply observe with a smirk as she sat entranced at at the simple sign of affection, still smiling ear to ear. She suddenly seemed to realize what she what doing and seized up, her hoof shrinking back to her lap at a breakneck pace as her eyes widened in panic. “H-How ‘bout lunch? You hungry? Let’s order something, huh?”

For a brief moment I didn’t hear her, my hoof still chasing after her touch before finer logic prevailed, and I retreated to my side of the table. "Sounds good to me."

Scootaloo spent the next few minutes desperately attempting to flag down a waiter, making sure her gaze was focused anywhere but on me. Eventually her manic eyeballing caught the attention of an overly peppy Unicorn server who gave us both a glass of water and took our orders, all too willing to clue us in on all the specials and combos on offer today. Ironically, Scoots seemed to be even more uncomfortable with our waiter's forced enthusiasm than she was with herself, as her face grimaced and contorted as she awkwardly spat out what she wanted when prompted, then proceeded to focus her attention on her drink as I figured out what I was getting, as well as ordering us an appetizer. As soon as our server trotted off an audible exhale left the Pegasus as she slumped into her seat a bit further.

"Well that was borderline creepy." She threw a glance back towards our server at the next table over to emphasize her point, already going through a similar song and dance with the family seated there.

My glass met my lips as I thought her comment over for a moment before deciding to play defense for our poor server, my present company not yet privy to the pains of working in customer service. "We all have our own ways of coping with work. For some people, it's easier to just turn your brain off and go through the motions."

She must have caught on that I was speaking about more than just our enthusiastic waitress. "Well how do you deal with it, then?"

"Me?" I pensively put hoof to chin. "Well when things get tough at work, I just think about what I can look forward to when I get home."

"A strong brew?" She teased through a smirk.

"If you had asked me a few months ago you would have right on the money. But now?" I shook my head before throwing a sincere smile back her way. "Great company."

Her eyes lit up at the compliment as an increasingly familiar tingling sensation welled up in the pit of my stomach, and I was suddenly inspired to open up to her a bit more. "I... I'm not sure if I ever properly thanked you for staying with me that first night. Or any of the ones that followed. I know its stupid but, after everything that happened it’s just... reassuring to have somepony from my new family there." She was blushing profusely now, and I could feel my cheeks tinged a bit as well, but for some reason looking into her eyes only incited me to continue even further. "A-as far as I'm concerned its just as much your home as it is mine. The place just feels empty without you now. Work is becoming harder and harder because it takes me away from you a-"

The next statement died in my throat when I finally looked over at Scootaloo again. Her fiddling with her drink had ceased, and she stared at me unblinking, hooves pressed against her muzzle, saying nothing. I suddenly felt incredibly awkward as I struggled to play defense. "Sorry... That kinda just came out of nowhere. Just forget it, okay?"

If the statement bothered her, she didn't show it. "Y... You really think about me like that?"

I averted my gaze as well as my cheeks matched hers. "Well yeah. All the time..."

She nearly hid behind her drink in embarrassment, my own muzzle buried between my hooves as a cocktail of embarrassment and giddiness permeated the atmosphere surrounding our table, my brain desperately searching for a topic to clear the air. "So uh... you were mentioning something about Crusading earlier?"

Her face shot up suddenly. "Right! Yeah! I did! Is that okay with you? I mean, you totally don't have to if you don't want to. I know it's not that exciting."

"Is what okay with me?"

The Pegasus across the table shook her head and sighed. "I just explained the whole thing. Weren't you listening?"

I let out a nervous chuckle, silently preparing myself for a verbal thrashing. "Sorry, I was a bit distracted by all of..." I waved a forehoof at her, "that."

"Oh... right." She smiled as her gaze drifted down to her immaculate coat. Apparently complimenting her appearance again was enough to get her to forgive my lack of attention span, as she let the topic lie at that. She exhaled sharply before slumping back into her seat, flicking the air with her forehoof in an attempt of nonchalance. "Well, I actually couldn't really come up with any interesting crusading ideas. Apple Bloom was always the one who came up with 'em back in the day, and she's off working the Orchard with Big Mac today so..." She paused and ran of hoof through her mane momentarily before realizing she was ruining Sweetie's horn work, quickly pulling her hoof back to her side. "Anyways, I was thinking maybe you might wanna spend the day at the park instead." Her eye contact faltered. "You know. Just the two of us."

"We don't have to give up so easily if you don't want to," I offered a bit too hastily, tripping over my words as I tried to keep the butterflies in my stomach contained. "I mean, I'm no Apple Bloom, but I'm sure if we put our heads together we could think of someth-"

"No!" she shot up, eyes wide, her protest loud enough to attract the attention of some nearby diners. "I mean, its okay. As long as I'm spending time with you, that's all I really want..."

I took another sip of tea, the now lukewarm drink provided little of its previous comfort, but giving me an excuse to look away for a moment as I mulled over her offer. It was still a little too cold for my liking to be gallivanting in the park, but considering the pony extending the invitation, there was only one possible answer to give.

"But like I said you totally don't have to! I know you were trying to get an order in with Applejack, so if you need to do that I was gonna go see if I could track down the newest Daring Do movie anyways s-"

I stopped her stammering with a forehoof to her lips. "The park sounds great. I'd love to join you."

_______

The rest of lunch proved to be comparatively uneventful, Scootaloo regretfully asking about my day at work, eyes glazing over with boredom as I described the fascinating life of a retail back of house worker, mercifully giving her the short version, followed by her filling me in on how Sweetie and Spoon were doing and what they were up to today. Conversation after that proved to be pretty light, as it was apparent that Scoots was itching to get to the park, our meals arriving just as our conversation began to wane, and we departed shortly after, our time spent at Clover Café proving to be relatively short lived.

Just long enough to make the cold unfamiliar again.

Another shiver ran through my body, coaxing a grumble out of me as I was once again exposed to the elements, inwardly weeping at the prospect of having to spend the next few hours in the waning winter chill, the thought of such an exercise unbearable if not for being with Scootaloo. The young Pegasus was marching along a few paces ahead of me, her face glowing and a noticeable spring in her step as she continued to revel in her menial victory.

"I still can't believe you convinced me to let you do that."

My comment put a hamper in said spring, and she turned to face me with a huff, annoyance all over her face. "Are you still going on about that?"

"Yes I am, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Why didn't you tell me you were going to pay for lunch?!" I sighed. "And after I ordered that obscene appetizer too..."

She continued skipping along as she rolled her eyes at me. "An appetizer that I mostly ate, anyways. I told you, don't worry about it. I wanted to do something nice for you, Goddess..."

"But I'm the one with the job..."

"And you're also the one with bills and an embarrassing alcohol addiction to fund.”

“Hey, I’ve cut back a bit! You even said my beer gut was going away!”

“Going, but not gone.”

I groaned. She was right.

She fell back a few paces, moving closer to me. “Just gimme this one thing, okay? I wanna make you happy, and your dumb guilt is ruining my moment."

I winced. "Sorry. I'm just not used to it. Still feels like I'm imposing..."

The Pegasus scoffed. "Hardly. I owe you a lot more than some free eats for all you've done for me."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You make it seem as if you haven't given me anything all these years."

She shrugged, still unconvinced. "Company and the occasional kind word is hardly worth free room and board whenever I feel like it."

"Well it's all I've ever really wanted."

Another shudder ran through my body as the wind picked up again, and I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck. Doing so almost made me miss Scootaloo's cheeks once again turning pink. A quick spark of magic sent the tail off it wrapping around my neck, giving my armor another layer. Scootaloo looked on at me and couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you serious?"

"Huh?"

She raised a hoof towards my neck. "At first I thought you were just wearing the scarf to be fashionable, but that's so unlike you." Her eyes lit up with a devious gleam. "You really are still cold in this weather, aren't you?"

I shrugged. "So what? It's not that weird."

The Pegasus nearly burst out laughing. "It totally is! It's spring. Do you see anypony else still done up like its winter right now?"

A quick glance around us confirmed I was the only one accessorizing this afternoon. I picked up my pace and did my best to ignore her. "Not another word..."

She ignored my advice and started giggling. "Look at you. Its almost spring and River Rhyme still needs his widdle scarf to stay all nice and warm!" Her giggles escalating into full on howling. "You are such a baby..."

"And I'm also the one lacking a generous amount of down feathers, so before you act all high and might-"

The chill of winter was suddenly slightly abated by a warm orange body pressing itself against me, the texture of her coat rubbing against mine a pleasant sensation as the muscles in her legs under it worked overtime attempting to keep pace with my larger strides. She let out a calm whistle in a poor attempt at nonchalance. Her closeness was as unexpected as it was exhilarating.

"W-what are y-"

Scootaloo nuzzled my neck, attempting to find a comfortable spot to rest her head as she pressed against me further, letting her weight lean into me. "Keeping you company. That's all you've ever really wanted, right?" Her head finally decided on a spot and stopped moving. "Helping any?"

My eyes leveled with hers before I let my head come to rest against atop hers, its presence spoiling the styling of her mane a bit again. This time, Scootaloo put up no argument. A subtle sigh of defeat escaping my lips, glad her position allowed me to to hide my rose cheeks from her view. "Yeah..."

Our trip to Ponyville Park became rather silent after that, both of us too busy digesting to carry on a conversation, content to merely be in each others presence. Scootaloo contentedly stayed glued to my side as we slowly made our way through downtown Ponyville, our clumsy gait drawing the curious gaze from the occasional onlooker, only to snicker and carry on with their day as I acknowledged their puzzlement with a soft laugh and an exaggerated eye roll. As we made our way downtown, a sudden thought struck me.

"Hey... you know where we are right now?"

Scootaloo lazily turned her head as she raised an eyebrow, taking in our surroundings. "Uhh... Sugarcube Corner?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Well yeah. But that's not exactly what I meant." I looked around for a moment, Scootaloo following my gaze with pensive curiosity. I pointed out a space a few feet in front of us. "Go stand over there."

"Huh?"

"Trust me, just do it."

The Pegasus shot me a look like I was crazy before acquiescing, hesitantly leaving my side and moving to the designated spot. "Here?"

"Hmm... A little to the left."

She rolled her eyes and took a half step to her left. "Now?"

"No I mean my left."

She groaned in frustration as she moved a bit to her right. "Are we done yet?"

"Perfect! Just stay right there!" I walked over to meet her. "Now I just have to be right about here aaand... Done."

"What's done? What's going on?"

I looked down at her and smiled. "This is the spot where we first met."

Scootaloo's eyes widened as she looked around again for a few seconds, putting hoof to chin. "Hey yeah, you're right..."

I fell back on my haunches to take in the scene from a similar perspective as the first time I had been here, having been knocked over by some pony's scooter. The quaint country stylings of Ponyville had been simultaneously inviting and intimidating then, that day having been the first time I had ever been so far away from my home and my family. The first time I had truly taken my life by the reigns. I had been elated by the possibilities, but terrified of the prospect of failure, my inner insecurities clashing with the welcoming atmosphere of Ponyville itself.

And now, this same perspective now filled me with an insurmountable sensation of bliss, the past insecurities and fears conquered, if not forgotten. Ponyville had welcomed me with open arms, and, despite some bumps along the way, in the end I had graciously accepted it.

I was home.

My eyes traveled over to the mare that had gotten me started down this path all those years ago in this very spot, her gaze similarly distant. The glow of childish naivety that had been so apparent in her eyes that day as she looked over her scooter had been replaced with a worldliness that came from experiencing hardship. From growing up. It was a look that scared me at times. Her world was no longer so small that I could always come to her rescue. There had been, and would continue to be, instances where I didn't have a quick and easy answer for her anymore, the best I could offer her a shoulder to cry on and the promise of things getting better.

But to have had the privilege of being able to be there, to watch her grow, to get to the point where if I did offer her my shoulder, she would take it, was more precious to me than anything else I had experienced these four years. Life may have dealt her a difficult hand, but she had risen to meet it, and the journey had tempered her into one of the greatest ponies I had ever known. I was honored to call her my friend.

She was family.

I let out a slight chuckle. "Its crazy..."

Scootaloo’s head tilted and her brow arched, inquiring details.

I raised a hoof and brought both of our gazes to my left. "See that road over there? I distinctly remember taking a moment considering going down that road instead of continuing on this one." I let my gaze rest on what could have been for a moment. "If I had, I never would have run into you that day. Sweetie and Bloom never would have come over later. I never would have met Applejack and gotten into the local brewing scene and met Carmel and Sass as a result. And I never would've met you. I wouldn't be here right now." The sound of hoofsteps toe my gaze away from the road and back to her. "In fact, without you to slap some sense back into me, I'd probably be back in Trottingham at this point."

She flashed me a smile, but the possibility festered in my mind. "Its actually rather unnerving, thinking how easily I could have missed all of this. How I could have missed you."

She smiled at me sheepishly, bridging the remaining gap between us. A grown up mare, a far cry from the little filly I had bumped into that day in that same spot all those years ago, moving with a confidence and grace that was always pleasant to behold. Her forehoof softly ran down the bottom third of my leg, her eyes tracking the motion before looking right at me as her hoof came to rest atop my own, her words barely above a whisper. "But you didn't."

The butterflies tortured me again as I gazed into her eyes again, a stupid grin spreading uncontrollably across my face. "And thank the Sisters for that..."

My free forehoof wrapped around the filly's back and pulled her into a hug, Scootaloo letting out a squeak as she nearly lost her balance. After a few seconds she started fidgeting a bit. "Uhh, Rhyme? Ponies are staring."

I gave her a quick tighter squeeze before letting go, unfazed that the action has attracted attention. This was the pony that, in all honesty, had saved my life.

That alone was worth leaving my dignity on the ground here a second time.

“C’mon ya big sap, we’re supposed to be going somewhere.”

I followed behind Scootaloo for all of a few paces before something caught my eye.

"Huh... Is that new?"

My stride abated slightly and I slowed to a stop in the middle of the road again as my attention meandered towards the sight in front of me. Scootaloo took a few extra steps before noticing I had stopped and followed suit, turning around to find out what I was on about.

"Oh yeah. A new sports shop moved in a little over a week ago."

I took a moment and let my gaze wander over the window displays, large bold advertisements for unfamiliar brands plastered over the majority of the glass. "That long ago, huh? Wow..." So much for this place being my home. "Have you been inside yet? Seems like your kind of place."

Her expression was less enthused than I would have liked. "You know I don't do that kind of stuff anymore..."

I did my best to ignore it. "Let's at least go check it out and say hi to the owner. Is he new in town?"

"I'm not really sure."

"All the more reason to go visit." I took off towards the small shop. "Come on!"

"But what about the park?!"

I replied without turning around. "We've got all day! We'll get there!"

The young mare groaned at my insistence, but the sound of hoofsteps confirmed she was right behind me as I threw open the entrance to the store, holding the door and letting Scootaloo in, not missing an opportunity to glare at me as she walked past, of which I returned with an innocent smile.

I eased the door shut once Scootaloo was inside and turned to get my first good look at the place. There were few places in Ponyville that made me feel truly out of my element, but a quick look around Mareathon Sports, and the store was almost instantly added to the short list. The walls were lined with all sorts of jerseys, specialty horseshoes, bats, and tons of other merchandise that I hadn't the first clue what it's purpose was for, my face completely blank as I made my way through the store, vaguely recognizing perhaps one out of every fifteen items that caught my eye.

Scootaloo on the other hoof seemed to be a bit more at home, moving from one display to the next with a bit more purpose. She grabbed a ball in a forehoof and gave it a few bounces, then slammed it down with a good deal more force, spinning around 360° and, with a smirk, sent the ball sailing back into the basket she got it from with a flawlessly timed smack of her tail, hitting it just as gravity started claiming it again. I gave her a small stomp of approval from across the store, causing her to blush and immediately restrain herself. "Shush, you."

I made my way across the store and joined her as we made our way through a few more aisles, Scootaloo occasionally stopping to mess around with something easily within reach. We were about to round the corner to the next row of items when something familiar caught my eye.

"Well, well! What do we have here?"

I called her attention to a particular item hanging on the wall, flanked with a plethora of printed fanfare. An advanced (I assumed), modern looking scooter. I instantly levitated it off the shelf and passed it over to the filly, a stupid grin on my face. "Check it out!"

Scootaloo looked over the humble vehicle, not unlike her iconic scooter from her youth. Just seeing it in her hooves filled me with an almost illogical sense of giddiness. The sight before me simply felt right. While initially a bit underwhelmed, the longer it sat in her hooves, the more her curiosity began to get the better of her. She held the device by the neck loosely for a moment, getting a feel for the weight, tossing it back and forth between her forehooves a few times before setting it down on the ground, getting low with it, running her hoof over the metallic deck, a far cry from the splintered wood of the scooter she was used to. In a single swift, elegant motion, Scootaloo spun the scooter around 180 degrees, resting it upside down at an angle on its handlebars and the back of the deck. She spun the front wheel and leaned in close, listening to the fine noises of the bearings for a few seconds before repeating the process with the rear wheel. A quick smirk and a nod, and she flipped the scooter back over in a second display of finesse before looking at me. "Yeah. It's not too bad."

I smirked. "Try it out."

"What?!"

"You just said it was good. Give it a try."

She shook her head. "No way! This is a two wheeled scooter. I've never ridden one before. Heck, I haven't even ridden a four wheeled scooter in Celestia knows how long! I'd fall flat on my face!"

I dismissed her concerns with a smile. "I'm sure you can figure it out."

Her eyes traveled down to the scooter at her hooves, then back up to me. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Dead serious."

A smile began forming on her face. "Can we even do that?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure." I turned my attention towards a middle aged stallion manning the counter, who was already watching us with a smirk. Not exactly the kind of pony you'd expect to be running an extreme sports shop, though his cutie mark of a spoked bicycle wheel with a flame trail seemed to fit the bill well enough. "Can we take her for a spin?"

He chucked and have us both a nod. "Sure thing! That's part of the reason you can pull em off the shelves fully assembled." He made his way out from behind the counter towards the front door, winking at Scootaloo as he went by. "This I gotta see."

Scootaloo turned towards me, none too thrilled about having a second audience member.

"Oh come on," I prodded. "Would Rainbow Dash complain about performing in public?"

Her eyes narrowed and she raised a hoof to fight me on it, but any protests died in her throat, and she grumbled under her breath as she made her way to the door, dragging the scooter behind her. "I hate you right now."

I simply laughed and followed her out the door.

_________

Scootaloo took a moment to size up her opponent again, giving it another once over now that she was actually going to be riding the thing. The shopkeep turned to me, puzzled. “You sure she’s done this before?”

“Just watch.”

He simply shrugged in response, turning his attention back towards the mare in question. Scootaloo looked back over at us, then back towards the scooter. She let out a deep sigh, and at long last hopped on the scooter itself.

Her enthusiasm was subdued at first, hesitant to even try moving anywhere at the start, Scootaloo contenting herself with simply standing there, turning the handle bars, leaning into some false turns, and lifting a hind leg to try getting used to the way it felt to be balancing on two wheels instead of four, the initial sensation taking her by surprise as her eyes widened. She turned back towards us, not yet convinced.

"This is totally weird!"

The shopkeep just tilted his head in confusion, still not sure where this was going.I took a seat on my haunches as I continued watching with a goofy grin. "Keep going. I have faith."

Scootaloo placed a hind leg on the deck, taking a moment to test the grip tape before letting any weight lean against it. After finally getting some confident footing on the board, she gave the ground a soft kick and propelled herself forward. A yelp immediately left her lips as she wobbled around sporadically, desperately attempting to keep control of the scooter, the motions seemingly alien after nearly a year of dormancy. After a few intense moments gravity finally won out and Scootaloo fumbled, flying off the scooter without warning, struggling to keep her balance as the thing impacted against the ground. Her eyes were full of shame as they met mine, as if her rough start was supposed to have somehow disappointed me. Regardless, I simply stared at her with a smile on my face, urging her on with a wave of my forehoof. She rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance, but was unable to keep the smirk off her face as she got back on the scooter and tried again.

She took the handlebars in her hooves slowly, her eyes filled with vigor as she looked over the vehicle before leaning low and kicking off again, hard, letting the increased speed help keep her balance, as she took off down the road, the wind running through her mane and mostly reverting it back to it's natural state. She gave the ground another pair of swift kicks with her free hind leg, propelling herself even faster, leaning forward, the tension leaving her body, a grin spreading across her face as she let out a whoop, her inner speed demon at last let loose on the innocent streets of Ponyville once again. The shopkeep next to me let out a whistle. "Hayseed. She's pretty good!"

I didn't even attempt to mask the pride dripping from my voice. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Scootaloo suddenly took a sharp turn, leaning low, her left forehoof leaving the handlebars and lighting dragging on the ground to help keep her balanced as she swerved, and made her way back towards us. As she got closer, I could see a fire in her eyes that I had almost thought had been permanently doused, the need for speed finally having been rekindled, the motions at last returning to her, the tool in her hooves now an extension of her body, a servant to her every whim. She began to get more bold, starting with some simple jumps and flips, effortlessly adapting her technique from her youth to the new stance requisite of balancing on two wheels. She jumped and kicked the deck of the scooter, causing it to spin around, letting a forehoof hang off the handlebars and grab the deck as it came back to its starting position and let her hind legs come to rest on the grip tape again just as they both came back to earth, effortlessly sticking the landing. She gave the ground a few more kicks, picking up more speed, making no attempts to hide the elation on her face as she looked around for a bigger challenge.

And then, it happened.

Noticing a collection of abandoned 2x4's sitting near a currently unoccupied stand, Scootaloo swerved to her left, making a beeline for makeshift ramp, placing both hind legs on the deck of the scooter,picking up speed as she leaned even further forward, her face absolutely alight over what she was about to do. She hit the beams at precisely the right moment, and both filly and scooter went airborne, catapulted into the sky above me.

And then, right at the apex of her jump, with timing not the result of training or practice, but from raw skill, from talent, she opened her wings.

Her feathers were at last free, tasting the current for the first time in months, extending to full mast, her primary feathers forming a firm boundary layer, catching the current, stifling her descent. She gave them the first sharp flap in Celestia knows how long, the force of the downstroke motion generating just enough lift to cause her to hind hooves to lose contact with the deck below her.

And just for an instant, she flew.

The moment seemed to happen in slow motion, the Pegasus closing her eyes and stretching her forelimbs, letting go of the scooter completely as it followed her trajectory below her, the crisp spring air nipping at her coat and running through her freshly preened feathers, her wordless scream of elation calling attention to herself from a few onlookers, but she neither noticed nor cared, lost in the ecstasy of claiming the fleeting sensation of her birthright, if only for a moment.

Scootaloo opened her eyes again as she began to lose altitude, grabbing on to the scooter as they both impacted against the ground, using the energy from the fall to prowl her upwards into another kick flip before taking a sharp turn and immediately stopping, her breathing heavy as her gaze sat unmoving at the now familiar device below her. The shopkeep stamped his hooves in approval, and I immediately jumped up and made my way over to her, doing my best to contain my glee. "How are you feeling?"

The filly's body was still trembling, Scootaloo still riding the adrenaline high. "Goddess..." She stopped to take another breath. “Hayseed. I've missed that, Rhyme. More than I'd realized."

My smirk somehow got even larger as I motioned to the scooter with a forehoof. "So you like it then?"

She looked down at the scooter. "Heck yeah!" It was intense!"

"Good." I turned back towards the shopkeep, making his way over to us. "We'll take it."

Scootaloo's eyes widened in a panic. "Umm, no we won't. This thing is stupid expensive. I don't even have half of what something like this would c-"

The shopkeep and I both chucked a bit as I grabbed him the money he was owed out of my saddlebag. He quickly counted the bits and after an approving nod, he looked up at me, then to Scootaloo. "Pleasure doin' business with ya both. Enjoy it, miss, it was made for you." A cordial nod and he made his way back into the store as he tossed the loose coins in a forehoof, leaving me with a very flustered filly.

"What was that?"

"I believe that was me buying you a present."

"No. No Rhyme. You are not allowed to do that!" She glanced at her new scooter. "How much was this thing?! It looks brand new! Totally top of the line!"

I shrugged. "Ehh. It was enough."

"Oh hay no. Don't you dare pull that cryptic crap on me!"

I laughed. "If you want to know so bad, just go inside and look. I'm certainly not stopping you."

Her face contorted in anger and she started storming off, but suddenly stopped. "You know what? No. If you won't tell me then it was bad. And I don't wanna feel even more guilty than I already do. "

I tapped a hoof against my chin as I pretended to ponder. "Hmm... What was that you said earlier? Something about dumb guilt ruining one's moment? I think I get what you were going on about now..."

Scootaloo shot me her trademark adorable glare, her entire body trembling with energy, about to continue the debate, but the response seemed to sputter out and die in her throat. Instead, she made her way over to me and delivered a playful punch to my shoulder. "... Why?"

"Because..." I started, about to make another lame joke, but the look in her eyes coaxed out the truth. "Because I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time. And that's worth way more to me than money."

Her cheeks flushed. Another point for me.

I grinned. "Just consider it payback for springing lunch on me."

"But... you just... you can't..."

She nearly tackled me with a hug, wrapping me in her wings and burying her face into my fur in the hopes that I wouldn't notice her tears. "You are such a bastard, you know that?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're welcome."

Scootaloo buried her muzzle into my coat and wiped her tears away with it as subtly as she could. "C'mon you." She wasted no time hopping back on her scooter, running a few circles around me, ending with another playful blow to my shoulder. "We still have a park to visit."

________

"Goddess this is embarrassing..."

A deep splash punctuated my frustration as a small stone sank into the pond we were both called on front of, my actions keeping a certain orange Pegasus thoroughly entertained as she confined to mock my failings. "Yep."

"The fact that I have unicorn magic on my side and I'm being outclassed by a teenager using her wings is just shameful."

Scootaloo gave her left wing a sharp flick, sending the small stone in it’s grasp skipping across the pond, getting almost six bounces before it disappeared beneath the cerulean surface. She started giggling as her hooves looked around for another stone. "Yeah, it kinda is."

I huffed. "Kids these days. No respect."

"Give me somethin' to respect and maybe we'll talk, old man."

She looked at me with a devious smirk, barely able to contain her laughter as I raised an eyebrow. A quick spark of magic and I grabbed the stone she had selected out of her forehoof. My eyes narrowed, looking out into the again tranquil waters, trying to recall the technique the filly to my right was using, not that there was much to gather from her wing technique that translated over to unicorn magic. I started spinning the flat stone in the air before I let it loose, arcing its trajectory slightly. After a few seconds in the air, the stone impacted against the pond’s surface once, and only once, immediately sinking to the depths below.

I sighed in defeat, flopping back onto the ground under a tirade of Pegasi laughter, leaning against a small tree that flanked the alcove off the park trail where we had taken a break from our walk. "Well... I think I'm done here. My ego is bruised enough for one day. Enjoy your meaningless victory."

She suddenly seemed concerned. "Are you not having fun?"

"Hey, I never said that." I smiled, waving a forehoof at her. "This 'old man' just feels like taking five."

She arched an eyebrow. "You feel like taking a break... from our break?"

"We've been walking around here for two hours! That's more physical activity than I've gotten all year! Excuse me for wanting to take a load off for a second!"

"First of all, it's only March so that's not saying much. Second of all, that's still pretty sad anyways. Third of all, I'm still raring to go."

My eyes narrowed. "Which one of us tooled around on their shiny new scooter the entire time, and which one of us walked?"

"Pretty sure it was the same one who was showing off their awesome but physically demanding moves the whole time, while the other was complaining at them to slow down."

I had nothing to come back at that with.

She sent another stone across the pond, only getting five skips this time. "Pfft, you unicorns. Never had to deal with a hard day's work."

This statement, on the other hoof. "Excuse me, missy?"

My objection didn't faze her. "It's totally true. Using your magic for everything, thinking you're all that. As soon as you gotta get your hooves dirty though, you fall apart. And even then, you can't even skip a measly stone with the stuff." She shook her head. "How embarrassing."

She looked over at me with a smug smirk, wiggling her brow as she attempted to egg me on. Instead, I merely closed my eyes and rested my head against the treetrunk. "You know what? I may suck at skipping stones, but perhaps I'll have better luck at skipping fillies."

Her eyebrow arched, puzzled. "Skipping fillies? What's that supposed to... Oh hay no Rhyme you better n-"

Her statement was interrupted by a squeal of terror as her entire body was enveloped in my magic, and I lifted her into the air, slowly levitating her flailing form over to the pond, eyeing her with absolutely evil intent as I ignored her desperate pleas for mercy.

"Rhyme! No! What are you doing?!"

I responding by repositioning myself more comfortably against the tree, making the whole task appear a lot easier than it actually was. "So you think we're lazy, huh? That we use magic as a crutch, huh?"

After floating her out about fifteen feet or so into the pond, she came to a stop, her body only about three feet above the surface. I kept her there for a few seconds with a smug sense of satisfaction. "Looks like unicorn magic has it's uses after all, eh?"

Despite the task being rather impressive as far as average unicorn magic users were concerned, Scootaloo wasn't in the best position to appreciate the fruits of my labor doing inventory at Sofas and Quills. "As Celestia as my witness Rhyme, if you even think about dropping me in here, there will be nothing and no one in all of Equestria that will be able to save you!"

I ignored her, breaking eye contact as I studied the intricacies of the bark pattern of the tree next to me. "Are you going to apologize?"

"For what?!"

"For disrespecting your elders and the majesty that is the unicorn tribe?"

"Majesty my flank! If this is your tribe's legacy I'm not impressed!"

"That's a shame." I let out a pretend yawn and stretched. "This old unicorn is starting to get tired..." I let my grip waver slightly and Scootaloo fell a few inches, her scream of abject horror echoing across the park.

"Just tell me Unicorns are superior to Pegasi and you can come back."

"Drop dead!"

I raised a hoof to my ear. "What was that about dropping?" I let her fall another foot and Scootaloo screamed again, and desperately started flapping her wings, fruitlessly doggy paddling in the air trying to get some traction and make her way back to shore.

"Okayokayokay I'm sorry!" She screamed in desperation. "You aren't that old! Unicorns are awesome! Magic is cool! Just get me out of here!"

My brow arched as I considered her words, slowly bringing her higher above the water again. "You're apology is... acceptable."

My horn's glow bathed the surrounding foliage in cyan light as I quickly brought her back next to me, softly depositing her onto dry land. I raised my chin in a faux sense of snark. "Now, what have we learned from all this?"

When no reply came, I opened an eye and peeked over at my Pegasus companion, her expression filled with vitriol, and she let out a loud snort. Panic began to settle in as I realized that these next few moments might be my last in this world.

"... I'm going to start running now."

"You have three seconds." She grinned. "Use them wisely."

The wisest course of action at that point seemed to run for dear life, and so I did just that, taking off down the park trail at a full gallop, silently saying a few prayers as I waited for the inevitable sound of hooves and the buzzing of Pegasus wings that would usher in the end of my life.

I took a brief moment to recall the look on her face when I dropped her the second time.

All things considered, it was totally worth it.

It only took Scootaloo a few seconds more than the three she had given me to catch up, my clumsy gait no match for her athletic form. Add to the fact that I had just bought her a scooter and well, the odds never were in my favor. The sound of metal impacting against the ground and a primal battlecry could be heard from behind me, and suddenly I was in freefall, orange hooves mercilessly battering my body as Scootaloo mimicked every kung fu sound effect ever put to film, a flurry of playful blows accompanied the full on tackle.

We collapsed in a heap of hooves, horn, and feathers, rolling along the ground a few times before Scootaloo ended up pinning me, the high of victory painted all over her face as she looked over her victim, leaning in close to make sure I heard every last syllable.

"What I learned, you piece of crap, is that you are damn lucky that you're so adorable, otherwise I'd feathering kill you!"

She punctuated that statement with a heavy huff, her breath tickling my muzzle, and it suddenly dawned upon me just how close we were, our faces only a few inches apart. Scootaloo seemed to realize it too, as her cheeks lit up, and she swallowed hard as her forehooves lept off my chest. "Uhh... I mean..."

Despite this realization though, neither one of us took the initiative and moved a muscle, content with merely staring at each other, lost in the other's eyes.

"Ahem!"

A voice to our right nearly gave me a heart attack, and we both jumped. An elderly Earth Pony couple eyed the two of with a mixture of confusion and shame as they slowly made their way past. "Control yourselves, would you? You're in public for Celestia's sake! Have some common courtesy!"

Neither of them gave us a chance to defend ourselves, content to simply pass their judgment and move on. The old man let out an exaggerated groan of distaste, just loud enough to make sure we both heard it. "Kids these days..."

Both Scootaloo and I watched as the couple slowly made their way out of sight before turning back to have each other, bursting out laughing at nearly the exact same time.

"Okay, so maybe you aren't that old."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh gee, thanks."

"He's right though, we probably should get up."

"Yeah, probably."

We stayed there for another five minutes, swatting at each other with our tails and giggling like idiots. It took an increase in the chilled air around us as the sun began to set to finally get us moving again.

"It's getting late Scoots, anything else you wanted to get done here before we call it?"

"Nah. Beating your sorry flank is all the accomplishment I need for one day."

Scootaloo lagged a few steps behind me as she hopped back on her scooter, me already taking off back towards the park exit. "You know, it's not too late to go take a swim in the pond. Care to join me?"

Her wings suddenly stopped buzzing. “Did I say ‘beat your sorry flank’? Cuz, what I meant to say was ‘hanging out with my best friend who would never abuse his unicorn magic’.“

I simpered without looking back at her. “That’s what I thought you said.”

Her wings started up again as she quickly caught up to me, keeping pace at my side. "So now what do you wanna do?"

"Hmm... I seem to recall somepony mentioning an interest in checking out the latest Daring Do film?"

"Yeah! It's supposed to be the best one yet!"

I chuckled. "Well then, that's settles it." I motioned back towards town with a forehoof. "Lead the way."

And with that she took off, rocketing down the trail, wings abuzz, leaving me to clumsily stumble along behind her as best I could.

_________

“Would you just shut up for five feathering minutes and enjoy the movie?!”

Scootaloo delivered the umpteenth shove to my chest, pushing me further into the cushions of my couch and sighed as I once again piped up with my similarly frequent instance of backseat directing, giving Daring Do and the Dome of Destruction no quarter in my scathing shot-by-shot literary analysis.

"Come on though! How does that even begin to make any sense?! Aliens? Really? Why are we shoehorning sci fi elements into an archetypal adventure story in the third act?"

"Uhh, I dunno, cuz aliens are cool, maybe?"

"Yeah, they are cool." I conceded. "When the genre they appear in makes sense. But we just spent the entire first hour of this movie laying down the groundwork for a fantasy world full of mysticism and ancient artifacts, and then at the last minute they're all 'Surprise! The Dome is actually a flying saucer!' I have to call foul!"

"It's just a movie!"

"I get that it's just a movie, but if they want me to take their movie seriously they should at least make some attempt at believability, least of which is adhering to the tonality that you established. Is that so much to ask?"

"It’s not the movie’s fault, though! This is just what happened!"

I paused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Daring Do is a real pony. All this stuff actually happened.”

I took a few seconds to process her statement before abjectly laughing my flank off.

“I’m serious! Rainbow Dash met her! They went on an adventure together and everything!”

I snorted. “And who told you this, Dash?”

She started to get a bit angry as my laughter only intensified. “Well yeah!”

“Do you always believe everything Rainbow Dash tells you?”

“But everything Dash said happened ended up being in the next Daring Do book. She was even on the cover!”

My laughter suddenly ceased. “Wait… what?”

"You didn't know that?"

"So you're telling me that not only is Daring Do a series of biographies, but come time for that book to be made into a movie, that Rainbow Dash is going to be both a Wonderbolt and a movie star?"

Scootaloo pondered for a second. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'm honestly not sure which is more terrifying."

The sound of a death ray from the movie caused an eerie realization to dawn upon me.

“Wait… if what you’re saying is true… and all of this is real… and this movie has aliens in it…”

The room all of a sudden got very quiet as two pairs of eyes insecurely looked up towards the ceiling, considering the stars above it.

“Well…" Scootaloo chuckled nervously. "Rainbow Dash is known to exaggerate things, right?”

“Indeed she is.” My sudden cough caused her to jump a bit as she latched on to me a bit tighter. “Let’s just… go with that.”

Scootaloo let out another nervous laugh before lying back down on my lap, nuzzling one of my forehooves while I continued to run the remaining one through her mane and down her back absentmindedly, not even realizing I had been doing it until about halfway through the movie. We both sat in silence at that point, simultaneously contemplating our place in the universe as the movie started wrapping up, me doing my best to be the gentlecolt and refrain from any further snide comments as the aliens thanked Daring Do for her assistance in flawless Equestrian, before getting on their ship and taking off, in a long winded sequence of glory shots that probably accounted for nearly a quarter of the film's budget. The hum of the ship faded out as the camera panned down from the horizon, leaving the titular mare alone with the token love interest of the flick, his presence too throwaway to be able to remember his name. He made a rather predictable pass at Ms. Do, and Daring tossed a detached but cool response his way before taking him in her hooves, the film fading to black as they shared a kiss, the quiet backing track waning to a booming orchestral theme as the credits started rolling.

“And she gets the guy at the end. Gee… didn’t see that one coming,” I mused sarcastically.

Scootaloo seemed rather unenthused. “Yeah…”

I looked down at the mare in my lap, her cheeks slightly flushed. “What’s the matter?" I prodded. "Starting to realize how trite that film actually was?”

“No it’s not that, I still think your taste in movies sucks.” I scowled at her and she perked up for a second before turning away, her next sentence soft. “It’s just… this is gonna sound weird but…” She took a few more deep breaths before finally spitting it out rather loudly. “You don't... have an eye on anyone in Ponyville, do you?”

Thank Celestia the lights were off. I could feel my face going pale. “What, you mean like, am I... interested in anypony?”

Her eyes evaded me as her hoof started tapping against my leg. “I guess so, yeah.”

I swallowed loudly as my heart skipped a beat. “I dunno kiddo. I mean, you know better than most that I’m kind of a mess right now. I barely have my affairs in order. Doesn’t really seem right to be thinking about adding somepony else into the equation like that, you know?” I chuckled. "Besides, who in their right mind would wanna date a old blank flank drunkard like me anyways?"

Scootaloo let out a very audible huff as she gave me a slap.

"Oww... why do you ask?"

“Nothing. It’s that… well… I think I might like somepony…”

How that statement affected me was difficult to put into words. It hit me like a ton of bricks, my stomach twisting into a tight knot and my heart pounding in my chest for multiple overlapping, indiscernible reasons. An emotional tonic of pain, pride, joy, rage, sadness, and fear all descended upon my being and ravaged my heart and mind in a such a tight synchronization that discerning any understanding from the feeling was impossible, resulting in an emotional numbness, the response that followed uttered in a stuttering monotone. “T-That’s awesome! I’m really happy for you. Does he know yet?” I paused. “Or she! She is fine too of course!” I chuckled, still shaking a bit.

Scootaloo sat up and stretched her neck with a soft groan before continuing, giggling slightly. “I thought he knew, but suddenly I’m not so sure. I haven’t told him about it yet.” She started staring directly into my eyes, making sure to sit in such a way that she was blocking my view of the television. “What should I do?”

My breathing suddenly became more pained as nervousness and fear began to rise above the rest, Scootaloo’s lidded gaze unflinching and dominating my vision, giving me nowhere else to look. “I dunno… maybe… tell him or something?”

She's fast. She's always been fast. Now that she was using her wings again though, there are times when she stopped being a pony and turns into a Celestia-damned orange lightning bolt. This was one of those times. A quick flex of her wings and she's straddling me, forehooves wrapped around my neck, eyeing me with a raised eyebrow and a stupid grin, utterly dumbfounded.
"There is no way you're this feathering stupid."
And then she kissed me.
Barely more than a friendly peck, but that little bit more made all the difference: her sharp inhale as the gravity of her action sank in tickled my muzzle, her lips lingering on mine just long enough for me to appreciate their softness as they gently caressed my own, her tongue leaving her mouth just for an instant, tasting my lips but resisting the urge to part them.
In a moment it was over, but it felt like the act had caused time itself to freeze. Scootaloo slowly pulled herself back, sitting half on the couch, half on my lap, as the rest of the world came back into focus. She wasn't breathing, her eyes shimmering, the content of my response whether the inevitable tears would be of joy or sorrow, the side effect of baring her soul to me without care for the repercussions. When a few seconds of silence had passed, she stroked the back of my neck and leaned in close again, hiding her eyes from me, her voice barely above a whisper, dripping with emotion as her words tickle my ear.
"I love you so, so much."
She pulled me close, hooves tightening their grip and eliminating any lingering distance between us. Her touch around my neck was divine, a welcoming warmth that enraptured me and begged me to come closer, and I graciously accepted their invitation. Her touch coaxed a soft exhale out of my lungs, and my muscles went limp, my head drooping around her neck as her forehooves ran up and down my back in a soft massage. I gave her a sweet nuzzle of approval, and my nose fell into her mane, and she giggled under her breath, continuing her sensual touching. I inhaled deeply, and the overwhelming aroma of whatever angelic concoction of beauty products Sweetie subjected her to this morning filled my senses, combined with her own natural scent. I pulled her closer and dove deeper, digging my muzzle into the back of her neck as I ran my own forehooves down her back, and she cooed as her wings fluttered in approval.
Oh Goddess.

This was Scootaloo.

What was I doing?

"...I can't."

The embrace ended abruptly as I pushed her away with more force than i would have liked as my eyes shot open, a miasmic sensation of guilt beginning to permeate my whole being as what I was doing began to truly hit home. Scootaloo eyed me with renewed fear, and the prospect of hurting her redoubled the ill sensation in my gut. "What's wrong?"

I slowly pulled away from her. "Scoots I... I can't... You know I'll always be by your side..."

Her lower lip began to tremble. "No..."

"But I can't be with you like this..."

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Please Rhyme... Don't do this..."

"We just... can't..."

My hooves felt like lead as I moved away from the couch as quickly as possible. Orange hooves reached out after me halfheartedly, followed by a broken body sinking into the couch. I glanced back at her and instantly regretted it, the image of the broken filly too heartrending to continue looking at.

The door to my room closed with a rough application of magic as I desperately took solace in having a barrier between us, my mind filled with conflicting emotions. Mattress dominated my vision as I collapsed onto my bed in a heap. I suddenly felt unfathomably cold, and I practically seized up over what has just happened. What had I done? How could I have let that get as far out of hoof as it did? How could I ever face her again? How could I ever look her in those bright lavender eyes again? Did her left cheek always have that adorable dimple when she smiled? How could I have never noticed that tiny patch of brown fur lost amongst a sea of orange nestled in the crease where her muzzle met her face?

Hayseed… how could I have let myself enjoy that so much?

The sound of abject sobbing could be heard outside my door, slow to start as the proud Pegasus tried to keep herself under control, but quickly escalated as her broken heart inevitably got the better off her, continuing for a moment before being muffled, affinely by a cushion. Scootaloo was crying, and while it was hardly the first time I had been witness to her tears, it was first time I couldn't blame it on somepony else. Every scream, every tear, every wave of agony that ripped through her chest was entirely my fault, and it made each heart wrenching sound all the more agonizing, a flurry of emotional daggers reducing my hearts to a bloody pulp.

For the first time, I was the bad guy.

The noise came to a halt, replaced with an eerie silence that was somehow even worse, part of me wanting run out there and take Scootaloo in my hooves and make sure she was okay, but another part unsure of what I would be able to do after that, or if my presence would even help.

"You liked it."

Her voice cut through the silence, and i dared not say anything back, too afraid at what might leak out. I hadn't heard her open my door, so her voice took me by surprise. The inflection was filled with pain, and I couldn't bring myself to roll over and face the door. Face her. After a few seconds she continued.

"You liked the kiss. The closeness. The warmth. Just as much as I did. I know you did." A few muted hoofsteps told me she was inching through the door. "I know you like me."

I finally built the courage to face her, and the sight of her nearly killed me. Scootaloo's posture was bold, but her eyes red and her cheeks matted with tears, her lower lip wavering with questionable resolve. The words left my mouth before I knew what was happening. "Of course I like you! Hayseed Scoots... I lo-"

I was barely was able to stop myself from saying it, but the slip of the tongue was all she needed, and it filled her eyes with hope. "If you love me, why did you get up? Why am I standing over here and you're over there?! I love you! You love me! We both enjoyed that! What's left to think about?! How much longer are we going to keep lying to ourselves?! I can't feathering stand it!"

She began tearing up again as she slowly made her way further inside my room, each step punctuated with a statement. "I wanna take you out on a real date, and not have to lie about going crusading of all things to get you to show up! I wanna finally get that kiss goodbye I can see that you wanna give me before you leave for work in the morning, and be able to give you an even bigger one when you get home! I wanna be able to hold you without trying to come up with some stupid excuse to do so, and have to let go before I'm ready! I wanna love you."

"And I know you do too. Otherwise, today wouldn't have happened. We both know what today was really about, and it was amazing. Hayseed, this entire year has been amazing, and it's all been the exact same thing. Us. Together. In every way but admitting it."

She made her way to my side again, taking me in her hooves and I put up no resistance, the sensation of her hoof caressing my face euphoric. A soft sigh of approval left my lips as I let my head lean into her embrace.

"I'm done lying to myself. Lying to you... I love you." She said it again, and the swell in my chest was unparalleled, each syllable like music. Scootaloo suddenly pulled away from my side and everything instantly felt cold. "But, if you can look me straight in the eyes and tell me you don't love me back..." Her gaze wavered as her inflection filled with fear. "I'll drop this. I won't believe it for a feathering second, mind you, but I’ll get it. I'll drop it. We can go back out there, put our masks back on, and keep pretending for each other. "

She suddenly giggled, of all things. "So what's it gonna be? I love you. You stupid, lazy, beer guzzling, artsy fartsy, namby pamby, smug and utterly adorable stallion, and you mean absolutely everything to me."

Her hooves wrapped themselves around mine as she returned to my side. "So what do I mean to you?"

For the first time since she entered the room, I looked her directly into her eyes. They were filled with love, hope, and fear, completely unsure of what was about to happen, but utterly convinced of what she had said. She gave me a soft smile and she tightened her grip on my hooves. Bliss ran up my forelimbs and settled in my core and I found myself smiling back.

And suddenly my lips were pressed against hers.

The sensation, her taste, the simple feeling of her lips against mine, her sharp exhale from the sudden action caressing the tip of my muzzle, was electrifying, my stomach flip flopping in a concoction of elation and terror as what I was doing sank in: this wasn't just a simple peck or a quick touch of the lips. I was kissing her. I was making out with Scootaloo. The concept only moments ago was so taboo, so unthinkably off limits, and now, on the other side of the action, I couldn't possibly fathom going another day without experiencing it. The look in her eyes, the taste on my lips, the smell of her coat, all of it greater than I could have ever hoped to imagine. The feeling was intoxicating, infecting every last fiber of my being, my mind begging me to bring her closer, and to never let go. The young mare returning my affections with fervor as she softly moaned into our kiss. I felt a foreleg wrap around my neck and push me closer into the embrace and I followed suit, our chests pressed together as the rest of the world began to melt away.

It was over far too soon. Our lips parted as we both caught our breath, my heart threatening to burst as it pounded in my chest. For a moment, neither of us made eye contact, my floor suddenly becoming very interesting to both of us, the air filled with nothing but the heavy breathing of two ponies catching their breath and processing their actions.

I didn't even need to say it, the look in my eyes all the cue she needed. A quick flap from her wings and suddenly she was on top of me, pushing me back onto my bed. She went to kiss me again but the downward motion stayed our lips, and we both fumbled for a moment as we collapsed onto the mattress on top of one another, our cheeks flush and our breath short. A quick moment to get our bearings and our lips met again, Scootaloo taking me in an even tighter embrace before diving back in. What started as a single kiss quickly dissolved into a flurry of passionate pecks all over each other's faces and necks. It became a game, as we dodged and weaved out of each other's way, delivering quick kisses while denying the other the pleasure of returning them, the air filled with the mirthful laughter of lovers. Scootaloo quickly gained the upper hand due to being on top of me, restricting my movements, and I surrendered to the onslaught of affection as she planted kiss after kiss on nearly every square inch of my face, neck, and torso, the pure, undiluted joy threatening to burst as happy tears leaked from my eyes, and I embraced it, never wanting the feeling to end.

One of her kisses happened to land on the inside of my ear, and my heavy breathing was suddenly interrupted by a harsh gasp, the move eliciting and unexpected extra sensation. Scootaloo stopped for a fraction of an instant before a lustful grin appeared on her face as she looked down at me with lidded eyes.

"Oh you like that, huh?"

My pupils shrink, at once nervous and intrigued. "What? Uhh... I don't really know I-"

A second, more purposeful kiss graced the same spot, this time with a soft application of tongue, and an embarrassingly high pitched moan left my lungs without my permission, a radial numbing pleasure emanating from the spot she had discovered. The mare on top of me giggled. "I think I may have found something..."

She continued to take great pleasure in torturing me, laughing at each new noise she was able to rouse from me, her kisses to my ear becoming more and more extravagant, until she was essentially just licking me, and for some reason I was absolutely elated by the act, my ears of all places setting every nerve ending alight as pure bliss rocketed through me, reducing me to a numb, spasming body. Halfway through she decided to end each kiss with a soft nibble to the top of my ear. The action reduced me to putty in her hooves as my limbs twitched with ecstasy from under her, and my mind blacked out, conscious thought surrendering to a continual strain of guttural moans as she continued her ministrations, subtly shifting back in forth between ears to keep me invested.

After nearly five minutes of blissful torture she paused, letting me catch my breath, the simple action being incomprehensibly exhilarating. Before she could react I took her into another kiss, unable to restrain myself as my entire being was devoted to pleasing her, hooves, magic and tongue, caressing her body in any and every way I could think of. She started giggling through my ministrations as she slowly loosed herself from my grip, much to my dismay.

“Whoa! Down boy.”

I scoffed between breaths. “You want this just as much I do. Hayseed, you started all this.”

She gave my ear another nibble and I melted, then quickly pulled away again, any airs of my masculinity dying as I whimpered in disdain. The Pegasus above me reveled in her position of power, eyeing me coyly. “True… but you made me cry. And teasing you is just oh so fun…”

Her forehooves started stroking my chest with careful, deliberate motions, doodling intricate patterns in my coat, her expression giddy. My forehoof was finally allowed to find her body again, gently caressing the back of her neck, running it up through her now familiarly unkempt mane, taking care to gently massage her neck muscles and scalp on the way up. The action elicited a soft coo from her, and she stiffened for a moment, letting out a subtle shiver. Seizing the opportunity, a quick tug at the back of her neck threw her body back down on top of me, her entire frame stretching out and coming to rest as I pulled her into another embrace, both of my forehooves wrapping around her shoulders as she slipped hers around my neck, the warmth of her body resting atop mine utterly nothing less than perfect. I gave her another long kiss, parting her lips with my tongue. She gasped before giving in to my ministrations, and I felt the weight of her head push down on mine and her hooves slightly relaxed their grip as she passed control over to me, my forehooves caressing her back in time with my tongues motions, taking special care to give her lower lip soft nibbles in between kisses, each bite earning a moan of approval from her. Forehooves ran up and down her barrel in a delicate dance, caressing her coat, being sure to give special attention to the area on her back where her wings met her spine, each deep stroke around her wing's base causing her tail to twitch wildly.

An idea suddenly struck me, and I broke off from her lips and began delivering pecks along her face until I made my way to her ear, delivering a similarly wet kiss to the one that had set me off only minutes earlier. After placing a few more kisses, I noticed her hips had stopped moving and her panting beginning to die down a bit. I stopped and looked down at her. "Not doing anything for you, huh?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Sorry. Guess that's just your thing."

"Oh don't you worry..." I gave her another deep kiss, earning me another adorable moan. "I'm sure I'll find something..."

Her body shuddered below me as her eyes darted around the room momentarily, before she started slowly dragging her hind legs up my torso. “A-actually…” She looked down at me, flustered. “M-my hooves..."

"Huh?"

Her hind legs made their way down my side again. "I've... kind of always been interested in having my hooves touched... and stuff..."

"No way..." An amused grin sprang up as my head tilted in surprise. "Really?"

She looked away from me as her cheeks lit up. "I know it's weird, okay! You're the first pony I've ever told about it."

"Hey hey... it's not weird..." I pulled her face back towards me and gave her a soft kiss, her body shuddering in my grasp. "More like 'Adorably Unorthodox'. " I gave her another kiss for posterity's sake. "Let's see what we can do with that..."

More soft kisses peppered her coat as I purposely meandered my way down Scootaloo's body, her legs leaving my side, allowing me to sit up as we slowly rolled over, giving access to her hooves themselves.

I took a hindleg in my grasp and started stroking up from her hoof to her inner thigh, then back down again. Scootaloo blushed, leg fidgeting in my grasp as she tried to contain herself, her trail twitching with nervous energy, ticking my stomach. "This is so embarrassing...

"This is so cute..." I countered, running my hoof along the edge of hers, and she gasped, her leg shuddering as I amused myself at her reaction.

"H-hey! How many times to I have to tell you not to call me cu-" A spark of cyan light filling the air around us as I just barely brought some warm, tangible magic up against the soft pad of her hoof.

"Oh Celestia yes..." Scootaloo cooed as her eyes fluttered, forelegs trembling as the sensation hit home. I split the energy into two distinct sources and roasted then counter to one another across her hoof, the act doubling my audible signs of approval. She begged me to continue in between gasps for breath, but a few seconds later I stopped.

"Hmm... Nah. I can do better than this." The cyan glow ceased, and I brought my muzzle down in front of her hoof, a purposely sharp exhale dancing across its surface. I looked up at Scootaloo with lidded eyes, and hers widened as she realized what I planned on doing. Before she had a chance to tell me to stop, I ever-so-slowly ran my tongue across the soft pad of her front right hoof, and was treated to the same reaction as before, only multiplied thrice fold, a sharp, high pitched breathy cry punctuating the sensation as her body tensed and relaxed, twisting in my grasp, leaving the Pegasus gasping for breath once I was done, utterly at my mercy.

The grin on my face only grew further as my eyes met hers, her leg still in my grasp, devious glee all over my face, a stark contrast to her excited terror. "I think I may have found something..."

Her response was shaky, voice quivering under my ministrations. "Well, t-technically... you didn't really find it, per s-ahhh!"

My tongue shut her up as it greeted the bottom of her hoof again, dancing across its surface in a haphazard spiral pattern, and she let out another moan, louder this time, her voice cracking and her breathing instantly becoming the heaviest it had been all night, hips bucking in all directions, attempting to do something with her nervous energy. Despite not being on the receiving end, I found my pulse was racing even faster than when I had began, her energy infectious. I glanced down at Scootaloo, and she locked her gaze on to mine again, her whole body shivering from the overwhelming sensation, her cheeks flushed and her eyes silently begging me to continue. The fact that she was experiencing such bliss, and that I was the one giving it to her, was more satisfying than any simple physical sensation.

I let her hoof fall from my grasp and a mixture of confusion and disappointment painted Scootaloo's face. Confusion turned to fear when I grabbed her left hind leg.

"What? No Rhyme! No, nonononon-"

Her protesting devolved into another breathy moan as I took the majority of her hoof into my mouth, nibbling at the rougher edge with my teeth as I punctuated the move with a growl. My tongue continued caressing the soft padded center across her hoof. Her back arched, wings sputtering haphazardly as her mind blanked out, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she continued to writhe all over the bed, lost in the throes of ecstasy. Her other hoof started stroking my back, desperate for attention, and her breaths grew sharper and higher pitched, soft moans having regressed into a constant staccato of screams, interspersed with a rapid fire blaspheming of Celestia's name and praising of mine.

I made my mistake when I attempted to switch legs. As soon as I let go the Pegasus sprang to life, wrapping both her hind legs around my barrel and thrusting me back on top of her and shoving her muzzle into mine, initiating our wettest, sloppiest kiss yet. A wave of new sensation washed over my being, starting at my muzzle and coming to a crescendo in my hooves, causing me to shudder on top of her as I moaned deeply into our out of control kiss. I dove in further, thrusting my entire body into the kiss, and she arched up into me, our tongues and bodies moving in sensual syncopation, both of us becoming addicts to each other's warmth. Hooves and wings caressed every part of the other's body that we could think of in a primal dance of unfettered passion, conscious thought cast to the wayside as giving and receiving pleasure became our sole reason to be.

"That was... sweet Goddess. I can't believe you went that far..."

I nuzzled her cheek. "Anything to make you happy."

She gave me a coy smirk. "Anything, huh?"

Her wings dug into my shoulder blades and I fell on top of her, succumbing to her touch. Forehooves found their way into my mane as her wings made their way down my spine. "Well, in that case..."

Scootaloo's muzzle made its way back to the base of my ear again, her breath tickling from its proximity. Her tongue slowly, agonizingly, made its way around it's perimeter, more effeminate moans escaping my lungs as she once again abused my soft spot. Teeth met flesh as Scootaloo took most of my ear into her mouth, letting out a soft sensual groan that reverberated through my eardrum and dominated my senses, dragging her teeth with just the right amount of pressure and letting her tongue caress the inner edge and I squeaked, my body reduced to putty, her ministrations playing me like her own personal instrument. Her muzzle left my ear just far enough to tease me again with another soft breath, the sensation of it running across my saliva coated ear sending a chill up my spine.

And then she spoke, her statement barely discernable over her heavy breathing, it's contents nearly stopping my heart as she whispered two, simple words.

"Take me."

Everything came to a standstill. The creaking of the mattress ceased as both of our bodies came to a halt, only one of which was intentional. The air became thick with tension as our heavy breathing subsided, mine stopping completely. Even the background noise of the crickets outside seem to fade away. My entire world seemingly simplified into nothing more than the anxious mare beneath my hooves and the implications of her invitation against a vast void in indecision.

"I... Scoots... I don't think we... you can't be s-"

The soft caress of her forehoof sent a chill down my spine and silenced my protest simultaneously, my eyes fluttering as she once again manipulated me masterfully. "Rhyme… please." Her voice quivered a bit as she shifted under me, rubbing our coats against one another. Her back arched upwards a bit and pushed her chest further into mine. She let out a soft sigh as she relished the sensation, letting her eyes close and her head lean back as she continued. "I want this. I wanted this before I even knew what this was." Her forehoof traced the contour of my cheek as she brought my face in line with her, our eyes locked to one another, and her lips nearly touched me as her breath tickled me face. "I've wanted you."

I let out a gasp as my body finally remembered it needed air, the first few breaths heavy due to a mix of nerves and arousal as I struggled to come to terms with what was happening. Scootaloo's hind legs wrapped around me, using the soft pads of her hooves to massage my lower back as she pulled me even closer, my weight collapsing on top of her. She shifted under me again and suddenly I could feel her heat against my shaft, her wet arousal intentionally rubbing up against me. My heart pounded in my chest and my eyes shrank to pinpricks as they met hers, lidded with desire. "...please..."

She kissed me again. A deep kiss. Slow and deliberate, filled with passion, and I couldn't help but return it in full, the act able to communicate feelings that words no longer could. She parted my lips with her tongue and thrust her hips ever so slightly upwards, and my length lined up with her lower lips. She moaned into the kiss as orange forehooves began caressing my sides in soft, delicate patterns, bringing the kiss to even further heights. My hind legs gave out and I sank ever so slightly inside her, a grunt escaping my lungs as I felt the first real sensation of her velvet walls.

Scootaloo cried out, forehooves squeezing me in an even tighter embrace as she thrust upward more to meet me, her inner walls clenching around my stallionhood, a sensation of utter perfection shooting through my entire body as her flower attempted to keep me inside. Intellect yielded to instinct, and I dove forward, wrapping my hooves around her, burying my muzzle in the crook of her neck, pulling her as close to me as possible as I attempted to love her with every inch of my being, her every breath, every moan, every subtle sensation of her coat and feathers caressing my own deepening my addiction to her body. It was no longer enough to merely be this close, I was still a separate entity. I needed more. And she was offering me just that.

I had to take it.

My tongue danced across her neck and her breaths became short, my ministrations subtly becoming more aggressive as I began to take the reigns of our movements. Scootaloo cooed in approval and submit control to me as I began peppering her body with a mix of soft bites and kisses, making my way up from her chest to her neck, ending the assault with a soft peck on her nose. My forehooves came to rest at her sides and I looked straight at her, my gaze soft but unyielding as I stared into the soul of the one pony in all of Equestria I cared for most, and she stopped moving below me, the room silent save for our heavy breathing. For a moment, there was nothing. My thundering heart kept time to a symphony of self doubt that began flooding my mind the instant I looked down at her, the gravity of what was about to happen starting to become clear. Things would be different after this. Our relationship would never be the same after taking this step. I broke the silence to speak the only words left that mattered.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

She ran her forehoof through the back of my mane, letting it come to rest right at the base of my shoulders. She nodded.

My motions were slow, cautious. The closer my length came to properly lining up with Scootaloo's entrance, the more her nerves became visible on her face. I took her cheek in my hoof, running it up the side of her face and caressing her mane, attempting to ease her nerves without cluing her in that I was just as terrified as she was. Magenta hair cascaded across a rough forehoof and a contented sigh told me my company was at ease, no longer bothered that I was pressed up against her entrance. Her eyes found mine from behind her mane and a subtle nod wordlessly gives me permission to continue.

I ran my hooves up her chest, my horn lighting up and gently guiding her forehooves out across the mattress. My hooves followed as they ran down the length of her forelegs, gently caressing the fur of her coat until hoof met hoof, the position bringing us nearly face to face, willing to give up a bit of leverage if that meant being closer to her. I settled my muzzle to the left of hers, running my cheek against hers in one final bit of foreplay. Right before I began, I whispered one final thing into her ear.

"I've always loved you, too."

The warmth took us both by surprise, my length easily sliding past her entrance after such lengthy foreplay, and her inner walls greeting me with a wet heat that caused both to cry out.

"Oh Goddess... Rhyme... this is..." I pushed forward again without thinking, a bit more boldly this time, and the rest of Scootaloo's words died in her throat, replaced by soft moan as and she bit down on my lip. The move pushed me over the brink, and any last vestiges of doubt were cast from my mind as I at last thrust forward properly, committing to the act completely.

Conscious thought ceased, and my mind desperately attempted to tread water in a sea over overwhelming elation. Warm, numbing bliss ran up my core and reverberated through my limbs as the sublime sensations of sex entranced us both, our bodies becoming one. Scootaloo gasped, embracing me even tighter and taking me into a sloppy kiss, sporadically pulling away to audibly punctuate her pleasure as our hips attempted to find a rhythm, our noises filling the otherwise empty bedroom as her wings twitched in time with our motions.

I began to get a bit more liberal with my motions, chancing a bit more aggression, pulling her hips close and going deeper than before, and Scootaloo nearly screamed, stifling the noise by pulling me close and taking me into another kiss as her walls tantalized my member, her tightness sending me into a frenzy. I went to thrust again, but this time she was ready, arching her back upwards and meeting my motion, and we both cried out simultaneously as I buried my stallionhood inside her, stretching her deepest area, filling her completely. Her voice rose past a scream to a sharp gasp, her legs twitching, forehooves desperately clawing at my shoulders to bring me closer.

"Oh Goddess Rhyme I c-"

I didn't give her time to recover before slamming into her again, becoming addicted to the sensation of her walls undulating around my sensitive shaft as I parted her lips, feeling every last detail of her along my length as I continued to dive further and further inside her. Scootaloo screamed, grinding herself wildly against my length, her vocalizations reduced to nondescript guttural punctuations of elation, her walls tightening around my shaft as she continued to meet my hips as we established another rhythm. Her noises and muffled praise spurring me onwards.

She climaxed first. A poor attempt at a warning in the form of a stifled moan was acknowledged and ignored as I embraced her, thrusting deep. Her inner walls tightened around me, and she screamed, calling out my name in between desperate gasps for air. Hooves impacted against the mattress and her back went perpendicular, her body acting of its own accord as her mind retreated into the throes of ecstasy, bathing my shaft in her nectar, her wings and tail spasming as she rode out her orgasm.

The sight and sensation of her climax brought forth a familiar pressure, and I knew my release was right behind her. I resisted giving in to the sensation, struggling to stave off my orgasm as long as possible, not yet ready for this moment to end. Scootaloo however, had other plans. Having recovered from her afterglow, she began bucking her hips up to meet my thrusts in near perfect syncopation, the action filled with even more gusto than before. Her eyes locked onto my face, her expression filled with determination, determined to bring me a similar high as she just experienced as her body drove me to ever ascending heights of pleasure. With one particular thrust, Scootaloo tightened her core as she met my hips, and I could feel every last crevice of her tunnel hugging my shaft. A heavy, breathy moan escaped my lungs and my legs buckled, able to hold off the inevitable no longer. I began to pull out, but was stopped by a pair of hind legs wrapping around me, pulling me back into her depths. For a the briefest of moments we were still, Scootaloo's sudden assertion catching me off guard. Her hind legs wrap themselves around my back again, and she leans up slightly, placing her muzzle right next to my ear.

"Don't you even think about it."

She finishes the statement with a soft nibble to my ear, and its over. Her hips slam into mine one final time, and I meets her in kind, her hind legs forcing us even closer as the most powerful orgasm of my life claimed me, burying my face into her mane as her scent of sweat, shampoo, and arousal fill my mind as I fill her with my seed, forever tying together the two sensations.

Scootaloo didn't even give me a chance to breathe, my afterglow interrupted by a pair of eager lips taking me in another passionate kiss. I scooped up the Pegasus in my hooves and rolled over, continuing the kiss with her on top. The embrace lacked any attempt at elegance, but neither of us cared, the act a wordless affirmation to each other that what just transpired was good. Was right. Was real.

Minutes pass before Scootaloo finally broke the kiss and sat up, looking down at me with those beautiful eyes, filled with the life and happiness that had been so frequently missing from them for the last few months. I couldn't help but let out a laugh as I took her hooves in mine. This was perfect. That was perfect. She was perfect.

I had to tell her.

“Scoots...”

“Yeah?”

"I have a confession to make."

For a moment there was fear in her eyes. "What?"

“I think you’re way hotter than Sweetie Belle.”

The fear melted away and she laughed. “Please. You don’t think I already knew that? You couldn’t hide your prying eyes if your life depended on it.” Her wings wrapped themselves around me as she snuggled up to me a bit closer and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “But thanks for finally ‘fessing up anyways.”

_________

Soft, peaceful breathing was the only sound that interrupted the tranquil silence that had claimed my home, an orange Pegasus wrapped around my torso, a look of elation on her face as she slumbered, utterly spent. A hoof ran through her mane as I looked down at her again, a feeling of abject bliss flooding me for the hundredth time tonight. I never did like the idea of having the responsibility of caring for a foal, yet here I was, wrapped up with a kid, in more ways than one.

Then again though, Scootaloo wasn't a kid anymore, and I suppose that was the point entirely. What had started off as merely indulging the desires of a trio of children had eventually led me to finding the one pony I ever truly confided in. She took care of me just as much as I took care of her. Scootaloo had asked what she meant to me, and I found even now a concrete answer to be difficult to put into words.

Whatever it was though, I was glad to have it.

I let my head fall into my pillow's soft embrace, and the movement caused Scootaloo to stir a bit, shifting her weight momentarily, before settling into place against me again. Her forehooves gave my barrel an extra squeeze, and she exhaled softly with a cute little sigh as she drifts off again, and it dawned on me that, while she has slept over my house plenty of times in the past, this would be the first time that we would be sleeping together in the same bed.

Tonight seemed to be hosting a plethora of firsts.

I let out a deep sigh of my own as I finally allowed my heavy lids close, letting my weight rest against her smaller frame. Bringing everything that had happened over the last four years back to the forefront of my mind, I couldn't help but wax existential for a moment, my mind never one to miss an opportunity to wallow in its own insecurities.

I still couldn't help but scoff at the idea of me having a destiny, still unable to wrap my head around the concept. Maybe I never would. Maybe my flank would always be as bare as it was the day I was born, my talent too poisoned by past regret for me to ever be able to fully embrace it again. Maybe I was completely off base, and my true talent was still a mystery to me, and my fixation on poetry was blinding me to making any progress. Maybe Coda was right all along, and I left my destiny back in Trottingham with Mum and Dad, and salvation was as simple as merely returning home after all. Maybe in the back of the mind of Ponyville and beyond, I would always be seen as the weirdo who lacked a purpose, cursed to meander the world aimlessly without direction, a somber example to all who saw me of what not to do with your life. In all honesty, I don't have a clue about any of that stuff.

What I did know is that, right now, I have a mare in my arms who, Celestia knows why, thought nearly as much of me as I did of her. I wrapped my hooves around the tranquil body, basking in her warmth, relishing her touch, silently reaffirming my devotion to her. My lips met an unknown part of her body as I gave her a kiss without opening my eyes again, their lids too heavy, sleep at last beginning to claim me, the subtle hum off the crickets lulling me into Luna’s dreamscape. Despite the fact that I closed my eyes on a life in complete shambles, wrought with uncertainty and self doubt, I know for a fact that she would still be there when I woke up tomorrow, ready to face whatever challenges awaited with me.

So maybe I didn't give a damn.