In the Sea of Amorè with a broken paddle.

-----------Back at Golden Oaks-----------

"Come again!" Twilight called out as the most recent customer left with their books. The following silence was both welcome and a little boring. To kill some time, she decided on a little light reading until somepony else arrived.

"Let's seeee..." She hummed, scanning over the titles on couple of shelves, "Tales of Equestrian Heroes and Heroines? Maybe later...A Thousand and One Saddle Arabian Nights? Tempting. Huh?" Her eyes landed on a thick paperback, "What's this doing here? The A to Z of Segallop game cheats??"

Twilight sighed, "Button Mash's mom really needs to find a better way to get him to tone down the video games. What's he see in those things, anyway?" She asked herself, flipping the book open, "Golden Saddle: All Stage 1 hidden rooms...infinite lives...huh, sounds like that'd take the challenge out..." Her voice dropped to a mumble as she glanced over the page, chuckling a bit at how silly some of them seemed to her.

That lasted, however until..."Never fail the potion mini-game..." Twilight's amused express expression faded quickly when she saw those words.

Never fail the potion...fail the potion....fail...potion... what if the potion failed.. "GAH!" She yelled, shaking her head vehemently, "Now stop that, Twilight Sparkle!" She chided herself, "You were supposed to have quit that habit a long time ago!" With a less than dignified snort, she put the book down and grabbed the Saddle Arabian Nights one to clear her head.

A few pages and Twilight had managed to relax, "Oasis' eyes widened in excitement as she read the scroll, "This is it! Just the thing to wreck that harlot's potion!"

'Thump!'

Twilight slammed the book shut, a deadpan expression on her face

Owlowiscious, woken up from his nap by the noise, looked at her, "Hoo?" He called out sleepily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Owlowiscious. I'm just trying to get my mind off that stupid thought of the potion Spike's getting from Zecora possibly failing." She chuckled, "I know that's ridiculous; In all the time we've known her, she has yet to make a faulty remedy! The worst that could happen is it wears off or she doesn't have....anything..." Twilight's eyes widened slightly, her mind grabbing the notion and running.

What if the potion she gave him wore off, especially at a bad time? What if she wasn't able to help??

"I...I need to talk to somepony; I mean, in the slim chance Zecora can't help." She said to the less-than-lucid owl, "But who? There has to be somepony who might know a bit about preventing pregnancy before their ready." A mare would probably be the less awkward to ask.

"Hoo.."

"Given how Spike reacted, Celestia is out of the question. Wondering how she'd react even makes ME a little nervous. Maybe Granny Smith might know? She's seen a lot in her time and been a mother, so she's bound to have some idea." As she talked, Twilight's currently active imagination was painting a picture of how that meeting might go...

"Why in sam hill are you asking me, girl? Ah ain't seen a feller's pecker since Ah was Mrs. Cake's age!"

Twilight shook her head and cringed slightly for some reason, "Maybe somepony else. Yeah, definitely somepony else."

Owlowiscious shook his head, "Hoo."

She started pacing, "Wait..the Cakes! Maybe Mrs. Cake has a little advice. She's a recent mother; of twins no less..."

"Oh, well, I'm not sure what to tell you, dearie. Ever since the twins were born I haven't really had much of a chance to hop onto Carrot's happy train, if you get what I'm saying. Although...Carrot Jr. does seem to favor my flank as his hidey-hole..."

"I really didn't need to picture that....!" Twilight muttered, trying to think of something else, her cheeks blazing.

Owlowiscious quickly covered his face with a wing in an attempt to not look amused at her reaction.

"No, No. Maybe I need to approach this on a more scientific level." She snapped her fingers in realization, " Or medical; Nurse Redheart!"

"I believe we might have something to help you, Miss Sparkle. Stallions looking for contraceptives , although rare, do show up on occasion. Now, I'll just need you to answer a few questions. General procedure, I assure you. Now: What's his length? Width? Have you had initial penetration? Vaginal or anal? Have you performed fellatio on him?"

"Eek! Nonono!" Twilight squeaked, shaking her head almost violently.

"Hoohoohoo!" The owl snicked. He wasn't sure what was going through his owner's head, but her reactions were pretty funny.

"It's not funny, Owlowiscious! I need to find a solution to this; neither me or Spike wants him to unintentionally make a mother out of a mare before she's ready." Her eyes lit up, "Mother...of course! I'll ask Mom. Why didn't I think of this before!?"

"Oh! Sweetie! I just KNEW you and Spike would make a WONDERFUL couple! Now, tell me how it started." Her smile turned lecherous as a notepad suddenly appeared in her hand, a slight hint of blood trickling from her nose, "And spare NO details!"

Twilight simply blushed and whimpered at the thought, "I..I forgot how much of a perv Mom can be..." She slumped into a chair, "There's gotta be SOMEONE I can ask for help..!"

Noticing her distress, Owlowiscious decided to take pity and looked around for a photo he remembered her bringing home once. Sighting it on top of a nearby shelf, he quickly flew over to it and hooted loudly to get her attention.

"Huh?" She looked over, "Owlowiscious? What are you..?" She trailed off as he gestured a wing to the picture he now sat beside.

It was her photo of Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding. Her face brightened significantly, "Owlowiscious! You're a genius!" She squealed, immediately hugging her pet, "Who better to ask then the 'Princess of Love' herself? I mean, it has a factor in parenthood too." Letting the owl go, she promptly summoned a scroll and quill, "Owlowiscious, as soon as I'm finished writing this, I need you to take it to Cadance ASAP, ok?"

"Hoo!" Came the response, owl chest puffed out in ready.

"All right, let's do this!" The quill began flying across the paper, "Dear Cadance..."

-----------Outside the Boutique-----------

"Ok, ready? Three...two...one...go!"

"Rock!/Rock!/Paper!" Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo called out in unison, their fists held out.

"Aw, come on!" Apple Bloom pouted, looking at the flat palm of her Pegasus friend.

"Yes! I get to ask first!" Scootaloo jumped in excitement.

"Can't Ah get a do-over?"

"No way, Bloom!" She grinned, "You'll just have to try and beat Sweetie for second place."

"What in Equestria are you three doing?" Rarity called out from the door, looking at the trio in a mix of apprehension and confusion.

"We're seein' who gets to ask Spike ou...!" Apple Bloom managed to get out before Sweetie Bell clamped hand over her mouth.

"What..?" Rarity deadpanned, her eye twitching slightly.

"We're going to ask Spike about some of the jobs he's picked up around town, may see if we can work up a few extra bits of our own!" Sweetie Bell piped up, smiling as innocently as possible, "We're just seeing who gets to ask first."

Rarity stared at them for a moment, suspicion etched on her face before going back in.

Once the door close, she sighed in relief and let Apple Bloom go "That was close!"

"What the hay was that for THAT for, Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked indignantly.

"Shhhh! It's still kind of a sensitive subject." She whispered, "You should've seen her the other day; when Spike didn't act like he used to while he was helping with a cloth delivery, she almost wore the varnish off the floor with her worried pacing." Sweetie Bell sighed, "I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that he's not pining for her any longer."

"Does it matter?" Scootaloo asked, a hand on her hip, "Nothing personal, Sweetie, but your sister had her chance."

"YOU wanna be the one to just blurt out that he's lost interest in her? Guys, she tried flirting with him. RARITY. STYLE. FLIRTING. All he did was tell her 'thanks'! She was up all night eating ice cream after that!"

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad." Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Bell looked at her, "All the ice cream in the fridge AND the freezer in the basement: TWENTY-THREE quart containers! And she was doing that annoying 'nom nom nom' noise THE. ENTIRE. TIME!

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other for a moment, "Good point." They said in unison.

"Exactly." She took a breath and relaxed. "Anyway...where were we? Oh yeah!" She stuck her fist out. "Get over here, 'Bloom! Scoots may be first, but I'm going next!"

"Says you!" Apple Bloom grinned.