Life's Left Hook

That voice...

It was unmistakable.

There was only one filly in the world with that voice.

So bright, energetic, and...

Tomboyish.

It's been ages since you've played with her.

Your eyes widen, and you turn around.

"Scootaloo?!"

You look down, and you see the spunky orange filly staring at you, her eyes as wide as grapefruits.

"Anon?!"

Just like that, she gallops through the legs of a few ponies in front of her, makes her way up the stairs, and leaps onto you.

"Oh my gosh! Anon! It's been, like, forever! Where ya been, dude?!"

You catch the filly in your arms and hug her tight before setting her down.

"Oh, me? I've been going around. Been with my, erm..."

You glance at the three mares behind you.

Best not to say anything too drastic in public yet.

"Friends. I've been with my friends for the past few days."

Offering a smile, it's your turn to ask questions.

"But you, you little shit? You've been gone for almost a month! Where have you been?"

Scootaloo pauses for a moment, and looks down at the ground.

"Uh, I've been, uh... Crusadin'. Doin' stuff. Y'know, the usual."

You raise an eyebrow.

Her tone was a bit off.

"Without Bloom and Belle, I take it?"

She nods.

"Yeah. They don't really wanna do stuff with me anymore, since Apple Bloom got her mark and Sweetie Belle's been outta town with Rarity so much."

That's a damn shame.

"Ah. That's a bummer. Well, what brings you all the way to Windsoar? And who're you with?"

She looks to her left for a moment, thinking.

"Uh... I was gonna ask you the same thing, actually."

She's quick to change the subject, it seems.

Typical.

"Why are you here with... Trixie? And that grey pony? And- Wait, is that Princess Cadance?"

As Scootaloo looks up in awe at the Princess, you look behind you.

You're holding up quite a line...

"C'mere, Scoots," you say, grabbing her. "We'd better get going."

The group starts walking, and Scootaloo starts talking a mile a minute to Cadance about a whole bunch of royal mumbo jumbo.

Her wings flap and spaz idly in your arms as you walk and as she talks.

Most of her words are lost as you start walking, and Cadance pretends to have a conversation.

"ohmigoshohmisgoshIcantbelieveanonymousiswithyouandwhatareyoudoingwhyareyouhereomigoshitscadacne"

Cadance just smiles, nods, and keeps trotting as the filly shoots out words like a machine gun, and humors her.

After a while, the traffic jam is gone, and you're halfway up the stairs.

Your legs are tired as hell, and the altitude is starting to give you a headache.

But you keep going.

Eventually, Scootaloo stops talking, dangling in your arms.

The princess turns her attention forward, and Trixie and 'Tavi are having a chat.

With this, you look down at the bubbly filly.

"Well, anyway. What ARE you here for?"

She looks up at you, a bit surprised.

"Oh, uh, I just... I just wanted to stop by my old place. Say hi to my friends."

Old place?

"Wait, you used to live here?"

"Yep!"

"Huh. Well, that's new."

"Yep."

"Do you know where you're going?"

She nods.

Something wasn't quite right here.

She didn't want to talk much, that's for damn sure.

Ah well. Maybe she doesn't want to say much.

Perhaps her friends are notorious?

Or maybe it's a surprise?

Hah. Classic Scootaloo.

You decide to leave it be, and you keep walking up the stairs.

What seems like hours later, you reach the top.

You set Scootaloo down, and rustle her hair.

"Well, you said you'd better get going?"

"Yeah, I do. Wanna get there so I still got lotsa time to play an' stuff."

You chuckle, scratching her ear.

"Well, all right, you little rascal. I better let you go. Meet be at the Dawnstar Cafe later?"

She nods, smiling. "Sure! When?"

"After the concert. I'm guessing, like, seven?"

She nods again. "Course! I'll try to be there!"

"Great. See you around, Scoots!"

"Later!"

With that, she buzzes off in the opposite direction.

What an adorable little thing...

You look at the trio ahead of you.

"Sweet Celestia, she's adorable," Octavia says, looking at the filly as she runs off.

"I have to agree," Trixie says, "even though I know how troublesome she can be at times."

"She really loves to talk, doesn't she?" asks Cadance.

"Heheh, yeah. A lot. She likes to run and play tag even more."

A collective 'd'awww' comes from the group as the thought of you playing Tag with Scootaloo comes to mind.

After a short pause, Octavia speaks up.

"Well, Anonymous? Trixie? Cadance? I need to do a legal check-in before I go to the concert hall," she says, handing the map to Cadance.

"Here's a map of Windsoar. The hotel is marked, as well as the best places in town to eat, go sightseeing, and all those delightful things. Among them, the Dawnstar Cafe I brought up."

Cadance takes it, nodding at Octavia in thanks.

"Goodbye, dears!" Octavia says, trotting off.

"Farewell, Octavia."

"Goodbye, hun!"

"See ya later, sweetheart."

Some time later

The group has parted ways, for once in quite some time.

Cadance went to the hotel room; she wanted to check in and get most everything ready now.

Even when there's a whole new city to explore, her mind is still in bed...

Trixie took a left, and went downtown.

Her showbiz lifestyle, albeit crude and frowned upon, still stands strong in her heart. She thought perhaps she could put an act together, be it sexual or not.

You, however?

You had nothing to do.

And, a thought crossed your mind.

There's a certain someone you really haven't given the attention she deserves.

Octavia, this whole time, has had hardly any time alone.

With you.

And, oddly enough, she's the whole reason you're here.

And, in a roundabout way, you're the reason she's here.

After making up your mind, you set after following the grey mare.

Hopefully you can make her day a little less dull than it normally would be.

You manage to catch up to her, shouting her name.

"Tavi! Tavi! Hold up!" you yell, jugging up behind her.

She parks for a moment and waits for you.

"Yes, Anonymous? Forget something?" she asks, smiling at you.

God, you love that smile...

And those deep purple eyes...

It sends a little chill up your spine.

Calming some butterflies in your stomach, you continue.

"Oh, not at all. I just didn't want to follow the other two to where they were headed. I wanted to follow you."

She continues trotting forward, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? And why me? All I'm going to be doing is more boring paperwork and such, alongside other tedious and trivial—"

"Exactly."

She hesitates for a bit, looking up at you with a surprised look.

That must have caught her off guard.

"Come again?"

You smile at her, and try to give her a hopeful look.

"To be frank, I felt like I haven't been spending enough time with you. Just the two of us together -- no Cadance, no Trixie, no anyone. And, if I can make that happen, if I can make your day a little less dull and boring, I'm going to take that chance."

You see a light blush come to her cheeks, and she lets out a little giggle.

And, then, out comes a light sigh.

"You have a point. Cadance and Trixie are both a little clingy."

"A 'little'?"

She chuckles a bit, looking ahead.

"Oh, I'll admit, they're very clingy. I've been longing for some alone time with you, as well. As lovely as Trixie is, my heart's torn in two. It's a little out of balance as it is."

"Well, hopefully I can fix that today."

"You already have."

Octavia really knows how to use her words sometimes...

After a long walk and some small talk, you arrive at whatever this place is.

A giant skyscraper, it seems, in the dead centre of town.

"What's this place?" you ask out of curiosity.

"Another building for foreign affairs," she replies. "Oh, and it doubles as a tourist attraction. The SkyDeck."

Now, that sounded a little interesting.

"Sky deck?"

She nods.

"It's on the 102nd floor of the building. You can step out in a glass box and see the whole city underneath your hooves. I've heard it's amazing, and a bit frightening at the same time."

Oh yeah. Heights.

You didn't like heights much.

"I was thinking of going up there once my business was finished here. Care to join me?"

"Of course I will!"

Anonymous.

What are you doing.

What have you gotten yourself into.

Acutally, fuck it. You've done far worse and far stupider things and you've gotten away with more money, love, and admiration than the fucking queen of England.

Let's do it.

Octavia walks up to the booth, and is directed to a room to the left.

You're told to wait in the lobby.

For three hours.

Joy.

You twiddle your thums, sleep, daydream, and otherwise pass the time as you wait for the business to finish up.

And, finally, retribution, after what seemed like an eternity.

Tavi comes walking out of the antechamber to hell she was in, and waves at you.

"Come come, Anonymous! We don't have much time on our hooves."

You stand, cracking your back and grumbling.

"No, we don't. You spent most of it in that office."

She rolls her eyes at you and smiles.

"You'll have to get used to it, darling. The waiting times get worse as we get to the Hooviet Union, and to even more border-tight areas."

What'd she say?

All you heard was 'darling'.

Heh, you're a darling.

"Ah."

The two of you walk up to an elevator, and Octavia pushes a button.

She would make Stanley proud.

She looks over her shoulder at you.

"Get ready to pop your ears again. Altitude is irritating."

"Yeah, I know. The climb up here was terrible."

"It gets worse."

A sly smile slides on your face.

"I'm not so sure about that."

The elevator doors close, leaving only you two in the room.

And you take total advantage of it.

As Octavia opens her mouth to ask what you meant, you grab her by her shoulders.

With a humph, you hoist her up and bring her into a tight hug.

Just like a teddy bear.

Only this is a pony.

And it's alive.

And you love it to pieces.

"Anonymous..." she grumbles, trying to pretend to be irritated.

You know she loves it, though.

It's now you realize she can't move.

Her forelegs are pointed out, and with the force applied by your hands and gravity pulling her rear down, she can't move them an inch.

Her hind legs dangle below her, idly kicking now and again.

She looks at you with a look that reads 'I am 10,000% done with your shit', and the ears are flopped to the side of her head.

"Put me down, Anonymous." she says bluntly, glaring at you."

"No."

The elevator starts to rise, and you both feel the G-force.

"Put me down!" she commands, glaring harder.

And, as much as she tries to hide it, you see her lips curling into a smile.

"No!"

"Put me down!"

"No!"

"PUT ME DOOOWN!"

She's flailing and kicking lightly with her hind legs.

"Fine, fine, I'll put you down."

"Just one last thing."

"What?"

"Look at me."

Those purple eyes look up into yours.

And you feel that shiver again...

After a moment, you give her a quick peck on the lips, and set her down on the ground.

Her cheeks were shining red through her grey coat.

"Great. Now my shoulders are going to be sore," she pouts.

"Want me to give you a massage later?"

"I honestly don't see how-Wait."

She looks at your hands.

"Those! Those things would-"

She takes a moment to stare at your hands.

"So you want a massage then?"

"Yes."

"Remind me later tonight."

"I'll be sure of it."

You smile, resting back against the wall as you pop your ears.

Floor 87.

Almost there.

*Beep*... *Beep*... *Beep*...

After a long silence, you finally reach floor 102.

You can feel the building swaying a little in the wind.

And you thought heights were scary before...