Leash Day

Chapters

First Day of School
Interlude
First Day of School (Part 2)
Enemy at the Gates
Spoonful of Sugar
Relationship Spike
Looking for Group
The Jury is Hung (Over)
Good Vibes
Homecoming

First Day of School

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Scootaloo stirred awake with a great big yawn. After a quick stretch she made for the bathroom, scratching her side and smacking her lips. It was much too early for a schoolday, but she was kinda used to it now. Auntie Pitter Patter was a complete morning pony. It had been impossible to sleep in while staying with her, so she got up bright and early to avoid any problems. Scootaloo let her boxers drop while she walked, not bothering to pick them up again. There was no need to with her parents out of town. Again. Besides, she was busy. Her shower called.

While the water ran, she turned her still blurry gaze upon the bathroom mirror. Red eyes, bed mane, ruffled feathers. The shirt she'd slept in halfway hanging from her shoulder. Yeah, she looked pretty bad right now. Scootaloo couldn't suppress a grin.
"Not going to win any beauty contests that way," she told her reflection. It just grinned back. With a quick laugh she reached for a brush.

Now clean and with the worst of her morning prettifying over, she sat down for a hearty breakfast of stale cereal without milk. While not tasty, at least it was edible. As well as a good reminder that she'd have to buy some groceries later today; she could mooch off of Apple Bloom during recess to tide her over. Her granny always packed way too much, probably knowing she shared it with her friends.

Scootaloo paused as a new thought came up.

Apple Bloom had a coltfriend. Did she share all her treats with him now? And since it was Snips, would he really eat them all? He looked like he would! Maybe she would have to buy something on the way to school, too. Horseapples!
Ah well, nothing she couldn't handle. Scootaloo shrugged and let her spoon drop into the halfway empty bowl. Why bother with disgusting cereal when she had to buy something along the way anyway?

A quick look inside her wardrobe later, and she had thrown together her outfit for today. Black shorts, blue shirt, grey jacket, Scootaloo turned around in front of her mirror to view it from all sides. It looked fine so far. Perhaps a bit warm. Pegasi didn't feel the cold as much as other ponies. She shrugged and put the jacket back. Going without it should be fine. Plus, she looked good!

"Who's got two thumbs and the hottest scooter in Ponyville?" she asked while pointing with said thumbs, "That's right, this girl!"

The sun was already up outside. There was a saying that a lot of ponies rose with Princess Celestia.
The boys also said a lot of ponies went to bed with Princess Celestia, but that was just them being stupid, as usual.

Scootaloo straddled her wooden scooter and spread her wings. She'd needed to upgrade when her old one grew too small. And what a good idea that had been! She smirked as she glanced down towards her flanks, where the fabric of her shorts hid her cutie mark: A flaming wheel.

As it turned out, all the crap she and the crusaders got into really did prepare her for a cutie mark! Stuntmaring was a piece of cake compared to some of the things they'd pulled, or thought about pulling. Really, riding a giant eggbeater?
"Must've been dreaming that day," she muttered. With one forceful push of her wings she went off.

Scootaloo arrived way early at the thankfully unlocked schoolhouse. Even with a quick stop at Sugarcube Corner, where a slowly blinking mister Cake gave her two cinnamon buns for the price of one, mumbled something about 'twins', and dropped face-first into a pile of jelly donuts. She still had enough time to get comfortable even if she took her sweet time eating her sweet, sweet second breakfast. Which she had no intention of doing. A few bites later and it was gone forever. With nothing else to do, Scootaloo shuffled her chair around to watch the door. Who knows, she thought, maybe it'll be fun not to be the last to arrive some time!

She was right. The chance to watch all the other students arrive proved... interesting.

The first who did was Tootsie Flute. Scootaloo finally remembered her name.
She wore the same clothes as the day before. Still the same hot pants and tight vest. Maybe even tighter, if that was even possible. Tootsie was a skinny girl, but the outfit really helped to bring out her looks. She looked good.

And nervous. Very nervous. She barely noticed where she walked, always peeking at something in her bag. When she entered and saw Scootaloo she actually seemed startled, but caught herself just as quickly and gave her a shaky smile and a half-hearted wave. Scootaloo answered with a nod. No sense in scaring the poor filly any more.

Next to arrive was one of the rare colts in class. A Pegasus with a grey coat and darker mane. What was his name again? Roar? Anyway, he looked like a lot of colts that age did: Some blue shirt and jeans combo that did nothing to show anything off. His eyes grew wide when they met hers, but he looked away before she could make out why. What, did she have anything on her face today?
He plopped down on his seat and kept looking at anything but her. He was frowning. Like he was angry or something.

He could've at least said hello.

Shortly after Roar came a pair of ponies at the same time. And what a pair that was.
Peppermint Twist and a guy everypony only called Truffle, even though that wasn't his name. They were nuzzling and laughing together, with his hand firmly on the hip of her short plaid dress. She looked like a pony from half a century ago, all checkered in white and red. But she somehow made it work. Scootaloo saw her push a bonbon in his mouth, which he answered by giving her... flanks a squeeze?

Scootaloo blinked. Had he just... Naw. That was probably only her imagination running wild. She ducked her head to hide her blush, peeking out at the giggling and obviously happy couple. She wondered how having her flanks squeezed felt like. Twist had a lot more hip than she did. Probably a lot softer as well.

Scootaloo crushed that thought with extreme prejudice.

They soon caught sight of her. Twist tore herself away from her hubby, whispering something in his ear before skipping over to her desk. Whatever she told him had to be good, judging from the grin threatening to split Truffle's face. The redhead actually gave Scootaloo a quick hug. Wow, her body really is soft.

"Scootaloo! You're back!" Twist adjusted her glasses and looked at her from head to hock. "Looking good, Scoots, looking good! We kinda missed you. It'th—I mean it's not the same without you."

Scootaloo smiled back.
"Glad to be back. I see you've been working on your talking?" Twist's energetic nodding sent red curls flying everywhere. Scootaloo ducked away but couldn't stop a giggle of her own.
"I'm so happy for you! And I see things are still working out with Truffle. You know, I'm still surprised you were the first of us who found her special somepony."

Twist put her hands on her hips and sent a mock-glare in her direction. Whatever effect she was going for was ruined by the wide, bracer-filled smirk.
"I just knew what I wanted and took it. And yeah, he's a great guy." She relaxed, peering over in Truffle's direction, who was currently balancing three jelly beans on three fingers.

"He just... makes me so happy. He likes me for who I am. I can just be me and he likes that!" She turned back to Scootaloo. "Every filly should get to experience something like that. I bet there'd be a lot more happy ponies around if they did."

She got a shrug from Scootaloo in response.
"I suppose," she said, "the most important part is that he makes you happy. If I find some colt who does that for me, I'll go right ahead and ask him out. Don't wanna wait for the guy to work up the nerve, we'd probably have to wait for the next princess to set up a date in a thousand years otherwise."

She didn't get the laughter she expected. Instead, Twist merely stared at her, with a small smirk on her face. Nopony else was laughing either. Scootaloo suddenly had an uncomfortable prickling sensation at the back of her head. Like she was being watched. But when she looked around neither Roar nor Tootsie seemed engaged in their dicussion. Roar had his back turned to her while Tootsie lifted the lid of her desk to look inside.

"Yeeeaah," Scootaloo said. Twist didn't seem to have noticed her discomfort. She just patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Scootaloo! You'll find the right guy for you, I swear! You'll hang out together, and if you like you can take him out to auntie Bon Bon's shop for some sweets on a 'lovers' discount'. It'll be super fun for the both of you! Just you wait."
And with that she skipped away. Scootaloo had little time to process what she'd just been told, though.

"Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged back in," drawled a voice behind her. A high-pitched, squeaky, bratty voice. Not her least favourite voice in the world, but up there. Scootaloo groaned and turned around in her chair to greet the grey-coated, bespectacled filly who smirked down her dainty nose. She stood with her arms crossed and one leg out, incidentally showing off how tightly the fabric of her yoga pants clung to her legs. This one was a beauty in the making and she knew it.

"Hey Silver Spoon. Where's your friend Diamond Tiara? You two are usually joined at the hips."

Silver Spoon's smirk vanished. She raised her nose in the air and scoffed.
"Not that it should, like, concern you or anything," she said in what had to be practiced haughtiness, "but miss Rich and I have parted ways. It happened while you were gone."

"Did the two of you finally annoy each other too much when I wasn't around to torment?"

Scootaloo's mouth worked quicker than her brain did. The words only registered when they were already out, and she gave a mental grimace. Making a scene right before school didn't sound like a good idea at all. Scootaloo could see the red rise around Silver Spoon's throat as she grew angry, but before the earth filly had the opportunity to scream at her she was stopped by another voice:

"Spoony, please. Behave."

Scootaloo's mouth fell open when Snails of all ponies put a hand on Silver Spoon's head.
The filly's glare shot in the colt's direction, but it took less than five seconds for her to take a deep breath and nod. Snails grinned his dopey grin and patted her head like she was a puppy. He wore a green vest and brown trousers, all fairly conservative.

"Good girl," he told her, still as slow as ever, "now I want you to get along with Scootaloo. She came back just today. And hello, Scootaloo."

"Um... hello, Snails." Scootaloo had no idea what was going on right now. Snails for one beamed happily. He took Silver Spoon by her shoulder and led her away, giving Scootaloo one last wave on the way. Silver Spoon refused to wave, but at least she didn't look ready to bite her head clear off anymore. She followed the colt, completely docile.

"What the hay just happened..?" she murmured to herself.

Silver Spoon and Snails? On what planet was that supposed to work? But here they were. Snails kissed the filly's brow and she giggled like a schoolgirl. Which she kind of was, granted. But still! Snails?

The sound of several ponies coming from the window interrupted her thoughts.
There was a gaggle of her classmates was right ouside, the ones still missing. She saw Dinky in her low-cut dress, Archer in tight jeans and midriff shirt, Sweetie Belle in her miniskirt. She saw Pipsqueak in the dorky schoolcolt uniform his parents forced on him every day, Featherweight busily taking pictures of the scantily clad girls surrounding him.

And she saw Apple Bloom. Next to a strutting Snips, obviously proud of himself.
Apple Bloom wore a happy smile as she walked with him, swaying her hips with every step. She was almost a head taller than him. And she had several inches on most of the other students—she took after her brother in that regard. But what really drew Scootaloo's attention was something else:

She carried both their bags. One over each shoulder. She bent low to allow the colt to press a quick kiss to her blushing cheek.

White filled Scootaloo's vision. She looked up, startled by the sudden interruption. It was Sweetie Belle. She, too, wore a bright smile.

"I did it," the Unicorn squeed. She clapped her hands, very nearly bouncing in place from giddiness. If anything, Scootaloo was even more confused now.

"Did what?"

Sweete Belle leaned forward, looking deep into her eyes.
"I asked Spike out on a date! We'll go to the park today!" She pulled away again. Perhaps she waited for Scootaloo's answer.

The bell saved her. Not that the ringing did anything to rein in a group of teenage ponies stuck in one place. That job was left to miss Cheerilee, their teacher. The maroon mare cleared her throat and knocked on the blackboard.

"Alright, class, sit down please! Oh, hello Scootaloo. Back from your trip?"
The teacher came over to her. She wore the same open and affectionate smile Scootaloo remembered. She also wore the same long dress with the familiar flower design and her sleeveless vest. Scootaloo sheepishly grinned in return and nodded.

"Good! Maybe you'd like to tell us a little something about it later. For now, students, please open your Equish textbooks on page twenty..."

Author's Note

Whew! That took longer than expected.

Well, I think I like this chapter a little better. But what do you think? Any suggestions how to improve? Any mistakes you found?

And thank you for reading ^_^

Interlude

It had only been a few years since the destruction of Golden Oaks Library at the hands of Lord Tirek, and a few years since Twilight Sparkle had taken up residence in Friendship Castle. The crystalline structure allowed visitors to overlook the entirety of Ponyville, something Twilight's assistant had come to appreciate. Especially so since he'd grown enough to look out one of the windows without having to stand on a chair.

Spike leaned on the windowsill and let the breeze tickle his fins while the evening sun warmed his scales. He liked to do that. He didn't know why, but had some suspicions.

Even after he'd grown tall enough to look most mares in the eye, he'd showed no signs of wing development. Every doctor or scholar they consulted seemed baffled. All mentions of dragons in writing—what little there was—always spoke of them taking flight at some point in their lives, but he... didn't. For all intents and purposes, it appeared he would be grounded for the rest of his life. Twilight didn't say anything when they received the news; probably because she already suspected something along these lines. After all, she'd seen him all grown up before. And then again. And then again. She'd made notes about it every time, but never did he show even a hint of wings no matter why he grew.

She still bought him a bucket of saphire-sprinkled ice cream, though!

And it wasn't so bad, really. He didn't miss flying that much. He had no idea what flying by yourself was like, he'd only ever ridden one of the girls when he needed. That wasn't really an option anymore, with his weight giving anypony but Rainbow Dash pause. Plus, he had the castle windows if he really wanted to feel the wind on his face.

He'd never tell Twilight, but it was one of the reasons he actually preferred their new home over the old. True, the library held many fond memories for the both of them, from Twilight's first party (which she spent curled up on her bed with a pillow wrapped around her head and complaining) to the time he gave Rarity the fire ruby he'd been saving up, but it wasn't the same as living in their very own crystal castle. He liked crystals! They tasted good, and they reminded him of other happy times, like the Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire. Or Rarity's flanks.

Spike worked hard to suppress a giggle. Twilight surely would've called him immature for thinking about her friend like that. But who could blame him? Rarity still had some of the nicest flanks in town! Maybe he wasn't quite as head over heels in love with her as back then, but he could still admire how beautiful the Unicorn was from afar. Besides, watching the town from up here and thinking about his old crush beat—

"Spike, Where did you put the Almanac of All Things Arcane And Alchemical?"

"... Reshelving," he muttered. Ah well, back to work it was! "Coming, Twilight!"

He found the mare in question orbited by over a dozen tomes of various sizes, colours, and ages. She'd grown since her transformation, now standing taller than any of her friends by several inches. Despite the fact that she had to buy new clothes because her old ones wouldn't fit anymore, she kept to the same nerdy bookworm style. Sweater vest, plaid skirt, the only real concession to vanity was anything Rarity gifted, and those things she wore regardless of how badly they clashed. Rarity had noticed quickly and only gifted her with fitting accessories accordingly.

Even if they didn't actually live in a library anymore, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, would sooner trade in her crown than to be forced to live away from her beloved books. She'd immediately decided to equip the castle with its own library, with rather impressive results over the years. The castle library stretched across several rooms by now. They still didn't see as much business as they used to, much to her chagrin. But really, who went to a castle to borrow a book?

Well, Twilight probably would, he thought. He pointed a thumb behind him, at one of the shelves already filled.

"It's right there, under 'A'. Where else would it be?"

The Alicorn's face went blank. Spike's eyes followed her as she trotted over to checked for herself. Since he knew the book was there, he took the opportunity to lean back against the wall and look smug. For all her genius, she tended to get lost in her own archive system.
That's where her number one assistent came in!

In the face of ironclad evidence, she finally had no choice but to admit defeat. Spike took only a small amount of satisfaction from how she seemed to deflate.

"You're right, Spike. It's exactly where it's supposed to be."

"Told ya." He made as if to polish his claws on his shirt. He blew on the nails and faked inspecting them, and Twilight didn't hold back her giggle as she floated the rest of the books on top of another pile. She'd been at it even before he'd been awake, he knew. She was probably tired and hungry, and tired Twilight tended to make stupid mistakes. The trick was to allow her to work enough to satisfy her needs, but not too much for it to become a problem. Right now, it was time to put in the brakes.

"How about we stop for today? The books won't run away any time soon." He made a gesture in the rough direction of the shelves of books they'd already filled.
"Look, we've already done a lot in one day. If you keep going now, you'll lose track of where you put what, and that means we'll have to do half of it over tomorrow anyway."

Twilight hesitated. She pondered his question, he could see that. Gears in that brilliant mind of hers shifted lanes, new information was accessed, disseminated, stored away again... Thinking Twilight was, in many senses, quite a sight to behold.
A sheet of paper, most likely a checklist, floated over to the pondering Alicorn. She squinted to make out the words written on there, likely
barely readable by now. Tired Twilight also had horrible hand- and hornwriting, another reason she had to rely on Spike.

That, and there was a chance that she needed glasses. But he didn't want to tell her that just yet.

"You're right," she muttered. The royal checklist floated away, while Twilight slumped and lumbered over to one of the chairs not yet occupied by the Party of Itinerant Books. She plopped down awkwardly; even her wings drooped, and sighed deep from within her chest.
"We can finish this tomorrow. Or... the day after tomorrow. Not like anypony visits for books anyway."

Spike put a hand to her shoulder.
"Hey, it's alright. You can always order a royal grant for a new library or something."
The corners of her lips curled upwards.

"Like... in a big tree?"

"The biggest around."

That made her laugh. She took his hand gratefully and sighed again.
"Thanks, Spike. It's been years, but I still miss the old place sometimes. Even with all the touching up the girls did, it still feels a little empty sometimes. Canterlot Castle never felt this way." Twilight turned her stare to open doors leading to open halls and open rooms.

Spike shrugged.
"You could always put in a few guards. They make for a nice room decoration. Maybe ask Cadance if she knows anypony in particular," he said. The last part came with a smirk the dragon hid behind a fake cough. Of course he had a certain somepony in mind, and from the blush lighting up her cheeks, so did Twilight. And as if on cue came the cute stammers.

"N-no, I don't think that's, really, we shouldn't, um. Let's table this discussion, okay?" she finished lamely. She pushed her index fingers together, like a mare half her age. Or Fluttershy.

"Works for me," Spike answered. And it did. Twilight would work this out in her own time. And if she didn't, there was still the backup plan in the form of Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Love and All Things Shippy.

A single ringing tone shook them both from their thoughts—the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" he told her, pointing down at her seat when Twilight made to rise. "You stay here and get some rest, okay?"
Twilight only nodded gratefully, clearly too tired to disagree. Spike chuckled to himself as he went to greet whoever decided to visit them at this time.

As it turned it, said visitor was Sweetie Belle. He blinked at the expression on her face when he opened the door and caught her in the process of turning away from the entrance—something between relieved and a tiny bit panicked.

"Hi, Spike," she squeaked. Her voice broke right at his name. He had to admit, it was quite adorable.

"Hey, Sweetie," he smiled, leaning against the door frame, "what brings you here?"

He let his gaze travel over her body, taking it all in. Her miniskirt did nothing to hide her beautiful legs, her two-toned, bouncy tail, or her Cutie Mark in the shape of two bells before a heart. Her top was also cut low enough to offer a nice view. She shared with her sister what he'd come to call the 'marshmallow look': A brilliantly white coat covering gentle and inviting curves. But where Rarity had a sultry air about her, Sweetie Belle was... well, sweet. A very sweet, very pretty young mare just coming into her own.

She blushed a bit. Whether it was his words or the look, Spike couldn't tell. He was ready to apologise for either, but Sweetie beat him to the punch with a raised hand and a deep breath. Spike nodded for her to go ahead.

"W-well, I... I wanted to ask you whether you would... like to hang out with me? Maybe tomorrow? We could go for a picnic..." Sweetie Belle gave him the most hopeful smile he'd seen since Rarity had first lay eyes on his birthday fire ruby years back. Spike felt his heart melt at the sight.

"Um, sure. Why not?"

He did his best to act nonchalant. However, that became almost impossible when he saw the sheer happiness radiating from the filly. Her smile turned as wide as only Pinkie's normally would; any bigger and her lips would've met somewhere at the back of her head. She clapped her hands and bounced in place and sparkled her eyes at him. It was an effort to will not to lean back from her. Why was she acting like this?

"Oh thank you thank you! I'll have everything prepared for tomorrow! Oh, this is so great!"

Spike tugged at his collar. Was it getting warm in here..?

Sweetie Belle lunged for a quick hug that lasted only a few seconds at most, before she about-faced and skipped away, still giggling and waving to him. He waved back, still a bit confused. When she was out of sight, he went back inside.

Twilight had let her head drop down on the table while he'd been gone. He would've thought she was asleep, if not for her ears shifting in his direction.
"Who was it?" she asked.

"Well, that was Sweetie Belle."

"The Crusaders?"

"No, just Sweetie." Spike crossed his arms and glanced back the way he'd come from.
"She asked if we could hang out tomorrow for a picnic... Ah shoot! I forgot, we still need to organise the rest of your books!"

He wanted to go back to Sweetie Belle and call the whole thing off, but Twilight stopped him before he could take another step.
"It's alright, Spike. Like you said, they're not going anywhere. And you deserve a day off anyway." She made a shooing gesture, all without raising her head.
"So go, have fun with her!"

"Tomorrow, Twilight," Spike chuckled, "for now, let me make us dinner. I don't even want to know what you cook up when you're like this."

"Oh, hah hah."

He moved around the downed Alicorn, mindful not to trip over one of her hooves or any stray books.
There was something still bothering him, though. Something about what happened with Sweetie Belle. He chewed the inside of his mouth, but no matter what he couldn't quite tell what it was.

Perhaps Twilight has any idea?

"Twilight?"

"Yeah?" came her muffled answer. Spike struggled not to laugh.

"Yeah, well, there's something that's a little confusing. When Sweetie Belle asked me just now and I said yes, she was very happy. Like, exploding and then exploding again happy. I have no idea why she did that."

Twilight grunted.
"Maybe she just really wanted to spend time with you?"

"You think so?" Spike looked down at the ground, wondering if it was as simple as that. The way Twilight said it did make it sound that way.

"And let's not forget," she blew her bangs away from her eyes, which now held a mischievous glint, "Leash Day is coming up."

Spike nodded. That's true, it's Leash Day soon. Maybe Sweetie Belle is interested in me...

First Day of School (Part 2)

Well, this went down relatively normal so far.

Half of today's lessons were over by now, and Scootaloo was currently kicking back in recess. Miss Cheerilee went straight to teaching after greeting her. Talking about her trip hadn't even come up again. But if she was perfectly honest, Scootaloo wasn't all that interested in doing that anyway. To friends in a smaller circle? Hay yes. Before class? Not so much.

She stretched out her arms and legs and her wings. Joints popped in a very satisfying manner. That was one of Rainbow Dash's habits she adopted and it nearly drove auntie Pitter Patter crazy every time. With a quick smirk she crossed one leg over the other and reclined in place on one of the banks behind the schoolhouse.

The first thing Miss Cheerilee tackled had been a math problem, with predictable groans from the class. It was hard for the Pegasus to blame them, her own groan had been among the loudest. And yet, it went down like anypony would expect. Miss Cheerilee putting up some equations on the blackboard, all the colts and fillies staring at it like goldfish... with the exception of a few geeks, like Twist or Dinky.

Pretty much like every other day. Now why do I still feel weird?

"You were... really brave back there."

Scootaloo flinched as a quiet voice interrupted her thoughts. She spun her head to see who'd addressed her. The tone was familiar, even though its owner didn't usually say much at all. And like Scootaloo thought, it was Tootsie Flute. The petite Unicorn stood a little way behind her and pointedly averted her eyes.

"How you stood up to Silver Spoon, I mean. I know she gave you lots of trouble for a long time. Her and Diamond Tiara both. But you didn't back down this morning. I... I think you're really, really brave."

Scootaloo opened her mouth to reply. Her mind, however, drew blank, so she just said a quick "Thanks" and went back to staring at the other filly. It wasn't that she didn't know how to handle praise, she just hadn't expected it from this direction and for such a small thing.
For her part, Tootsie stayed right where she was. Fiddling her hands in nervous little twitches, and Scootaloo noticed that she was holding something in one of them, but couldn't make out what it was. Perhaps she still had more to say?

"Scootaloo? Um... is it alright if I... asked you a question?"

So she did. Scootaloo nodded. She didn't know Tootsie Flute very well, but if the filly thought she had something to share she would try. She swished her tail behind her and beamed a bright and—just perhaps—a little cocky smile at the other girl.

"Yeah, it's fine, Tootsie. What do you wanna know?" She motioned for the Unicorn to take a seat next to her. She did so, a little haltingly, and curled her own tail in a fine curve. If not for the fact that the fabric of her outfit—what little there was—left almost nothing to the imagination, she might as well have sat down at a fancy dinner table. Scootaloo scooted in place to face her.

Tootsie didn't look up at her. Her eyes were glued to the thing she kept hidden in the palms of her hands, slowly drawing her fingers over it as if to reassure herself that it was still there. Scootaloo caught a glimpse of red against Tootsie's blueish coat, but as soon as she did it was all covered up again. Whatever Tootsie Flute's mystery item turned out to be, it was obviously very important to her.

After a moment's hesitation, she finally seemed to find the courage to speak. Her grip tightened and her jaw set. Even now, though, she was too shy to meet Scootaloo's questioning gaze directly. She looked a little to the side, as if she was trying to convince herself Scootaloo wasn't really there and therefore she wasn't really speaking to another live pony.

"Well, it's... it's like this: I have a, a friend. And this friend has something she really, really wants."

Scootaloo raised a brow. Did Tootsie really just try the 'I have a friend who needs advice' routine? Who did that? She couldn't remember a time when that excuse had ever worked for anypony about any question.

"A friend," she deadpanned. Her scepsis must've been audible, as Tootsie Flute began fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat. Scootaloo decided to throw the poor girl a bone, so she tried her best to turn her own frown around and sound more believing than she felt.

"Okay, a friend. Sure, why not? So this friend needs some super-special awesome advice by yours truly?"

She mentally winced. Yeah, that probably was a bit much.

If Tootsie thought so too, she didn't show it.

"Y-yes. Like I said, she has something she really, really wants. And she, um, she wanted it for a long time now. For years. And now, she's afraid she'll never get it. That's it's too late to even try."

Tootsie's hand began to tremble as she spoke. Scootaloo thought she could make out a sparkle of unshed tears shining at the corner of the little Unicorn's eyes, even as she wasn't looking at her directly. It was like Tootsie was staring at a scene in her head instead, whatever it was that happened that day.

Oh geeze. This really bothers her.

"She... she could've had it back then. If only she'd been a little quicker, he would've taken it. If only—"

She took a deep breath to calm down.

"Nevermind. That was then, this is now. Dwelling on it doesn't help anypony."

"You're right about that!"

Tootsie spun around with a soft squeak. It seemed she had forgotten about Scootaloo even being around, or perhaps she'd expected her to be too bored to continue listening at all. The Pegasus filly was left with a sheepish grin and scratching her neck; she hadn't meant to startle the other girl, but to be fair, just blanking out on her was a little bit rude too. Scootaloo gave her a moment to calm down.

"Look," she went on, "your friend shouldn't let what happened back then hold her back. This is really important to her, right?"
It wasn't until she sent a sidelong glance in her direction that Tootsie found it in her to answer with a slow nod.
"Okay, then she needs to get off her butt and take the opportunity! Nothing's going to change if she just keeps sitting around doing nothing, that's for sure. Rainbow Dash always says it's important to look to the future and be as awesome as possible! So get up, take this opportunity, and be as awesome as I know you can be if you really put your heart into it!"

Scootaloo spread her arms wide and gave the other filly the most brilliant smile she could muster. Even her wings splayed out and open.
And Tootsie stared at her with huge, watery eyes. Her lower lip trembled, and Scootaloo swore she could feel the other filly's rising hope prickle her coat like the rays of the morning sun. Slowly, slowly... she returned the smile.

"You... you really thinks so? You really think I can be awesome, too?"

Scootaloo nodded her head and winked.

"I know so."

The shy little smile on Tootsie Flute's face grew wide. But then it faltered for some reason, sudden worry visibly clouding her mood. Scootaloo saw her knuckles show under the coat of her hands as the girl held her trinket right. The Unicorn glanced to the side, so quickly Scootaloo almost didn't notice. All she saw when she followed the look were a few of their classmates kicking a ball around. Or sitting around and eating, like Twist and Truffle, who had claimed one of the swing sets and were making a game of her flicking gumdrops in the air and him catching them on his tongue. Featherweight busily snapped shots of everything and everypony while Roar leaned against the side of the school with his hands in his pockets, staring at nothing.

"There's one more problem," Tootsie muttered.

Scootaloo suppressed the urge to sigh. Of course there is. The one time I get to use Rainbow Dash's awesome pep talk...

"The, um, the thing she wants," the Unicorn went on, "it already belongs to somepony. Kind of. Well, not really." She frowned. "This other pony may think it belongs to her but they didn't make it official yet. However... she had it for a while now. And I don't really want to fight with her. We've known each other for so long now. I like her. She's my friend. But at the same time I really, really want hi—um, it. I don't know what to do anymore."

Tootsie had apparently not caught on to her own slip-up, but there was little sense in mentioning it. A new plan formulated in Scootaloo's mind. The Rainbow Dash method was insufficient at the moment, so it was time to try a different approach.

"You're friends, right? Well, why don't you share?"

Tootsie looked at her like she'd grown a second head. Scootaloo felt one of her ears cock; she forced it back up.

"No, I really mean it! If you both want this thing so much, but you also don't want to fight each other over it, then share it. That way you both get it some of the time instead of one of you never. Look, Tootsie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and me often had to share whatever we needed for our Cutie Mark hunt. We didn't want one of us to feel like she's being left out. If you two really are friends, she'll understand why you're asking her for it. And who knows, some things are actually more fun when you're not alone!" She pointed at the group of students currently passing the time by passing a soccer ball from one pony to the next and seemed to be having a good time doing so.

"You see? Sharing is caring, after all! Ask her if you two can share and maybe you'll find it's even better together!"

Tootsie was still watching them kick the ball. She looked to be considering her words, judging from the way the tension slowly bled from her body until she finally turned around again. The hopeful smile had returned, this time accompanied by a by look that seemed almost a little embarrassed. She even wore a tiny blush around her muzzle.

"I, I didn't even consider that," she admitted. "Kind of silly, looking back. Was that another of Rainbow Dash's wise sayings?"

"Pinkie Pie, actually." Scootaloo grinned. "She's even got a song and dance number to go with it, but I couldn't squeeze that one in, too. We don't have a piano around right now and I couldn't play it anyway."

That one managed to coax a giggle from the shy Unicorn girl. One they both shared.

"Then I'll do exactly what you suggested. I'll get up, do my best, and ask my friend if we can share!" She quite suddenly lunged in to hug Scootaloo, who felt some heat rise in her cheeks from the way Tootsie Flute's nipples actually poked her through the material barely covering her upper body. She brought her own arms around across Tootsie's back, a little quicker than she usually would have. Scootaloo had never been one for impromptu hug sessions, even if this did sort of feel nice.

"Thank you, Scootaloo! You were a great help!"

She felt herself released as suddenly as the hug started, with Tootsie jogging away while waving over one shoulder. Scootaloo waved after her, mildly confused but happy to be helpful. As she went over the discussion in her head, she noticed that Tootsie never really told her precisely what her supposed friend was after. Scootaloo shrugged to herself. If Tootsie felt like sharing she probably would have.

Too bad her talk with Tootsie had kept her occupied. By the time they were done, her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both already busy. In Apple Bloom's case, it was with sticking her tongue down her coltfriend's throat. The two looked almost comical with how much taller the Earth Pony was, but what really drew attention was the messy, noisy way they made out right on the school's playground. Scootaloo quickly looked away before anypony could see her blush.

Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, talked to Miss Cheerilee about something or other. She hoped her friend wasn't in any trouble, but from the looks of things it was nothing serious or bad. Miss Cheerilee kept smiling cheerfully while she explained something to the younger mare, who followed every word with wide-eyed, rapt attention and frequent questions. Whatever it was, she really wanted to know about it, it seemed!

They actually caught her looking at them at some point. Scootaloo couldn't look away quickly enough; both Miss Cheerilee and Sweetie peered at her. Their conversation turned to a lull. Miss Cheerilee said something aside to Sweetie, who nodded and stepped back.

And then the teacher came over to Scootaloo. She wasn't smiling anymore.

Oh horseapples!

She'd walked up to Scootaloo by now, who pretended she hadn't noticed. Not that the Pegasus could keep from squirming in her seat from her teacher's attention. Miss Cheerilee pulled something from one of her pockets; it looked like a fairly plain envelope. Was... that a note to her parents?

Well fat chance of that doing anything! Not like they're ever home or something.

"Scootaloo?" Miss Cheerilee finally addressed her by name. Scootaloo hung her head and turned around towards her.

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee?"

The teacher took one last glance down at the piece of paper in her hand. She nodded and held it out for Scootaloo, who took it with a nervous feeling. She hadn't meant to do anything bad. And since when was looking a bad thing, anyway?

"Those are notes about the homework assignments for today. I want you to bring them to Diamond Tiara after school. She's been sick for several days now."

Scootaloo's mouth fell open in shock. Cheerilee held up her hands in a placating gesture.

"I know, I know. You don't have the best of relationships. But I want you to see this as an opportunity. You need to put in some extra work too if you don't want to fall behind too much. Maybe you can sit down together for some of it?"

"Why don't you tell Silver Spoon to give it to her?"

"I would, but they've stopped talking to one another. They've had some... issues, over something that happened with Silver Spoon," the mare explained.

Her feelings about that idea must've been obvious to anypony looking at her. Scootaloo heard her teacher sigh and saw her shake her head. Miss Cheerilee folded her arms with a tiny frown in place, then shook her head again.

"Don't you get tired of it?"

"Wha...?"

"Your quarrel, I mean," Cheerilee continued. "You've been fighting with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon longer than anypony. I realise they said some really mean and hurtful things to you in the past. It's true, they didn't give you any reason to forgive them. I understand. But it's also been years now. I believe you've changed, Scootaloo. I believe you've grown up to the point where it's time to let go of that grudge and bury the hatchet. They've also grown up a little, it's just harder to see. They're not trying to hurt you anymore, they're not the bullies they used to be. I would really like for you to try and make up with Diamond Tiara, at least. She's all alone right now. You're the closest thing to a friend she has."

Scootaloo gripped the paper tight. That wasn't fair to ask of her!

"Please, Scootaloo? Will you try for me, please?"

It took the Pegasus a lot to swallow down the lump in her throat. No, she didn't want to go to Diamond Tiara. She wanted to spend time with her even less. But as she looked into the gentle, hopeful eyes of her teacher for so many years, she felt her resolve crumble.

Dammit.

"Okay, I will."

Author's Note

God, this took painfully long to write! The scene with Tootsie Flute and Scootaloo alone gave me writers block for weeks. Write a few words, take them out again, sometimes the connection would eat any progress made... but now it's finally out!

Enemy at the Gates

The gates to Rich Manor were mostly like Scootaloo remembered them. A little more overgrown. A little more rusty, too. She could see it, at the corners of her eyes, when she pressed her forehead against the metal and blinked at the front doors. A little less clean. A little less welcoming, if they ever were.

She was a little less annoyed than she thought she would be. Nope, she was quite calm, actually. Totally relaxed.

She looked up the bars and briefly considered flying over them. Wouldn't that be something? Flap her wings and take one graceful jump, just to show she could. Kinda rude, but she guessed she deserved a bit of validation after years and years of being a flightless failure. She imagined Diamond Tiara's scrunched-up face slowly turning a darker shade of pink and chuckled.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, “who's the one who can't get off the ground now?”

Scootaloo sighed, took the knocker and gave it a few hard whacks. No sense dragging it out. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could go home and kick back. It took what felt like half an eternity, but after a while, the entrance to the manor house opened and an elderly Earth Pony came out on shaky hooves. Randolph, the Rich's butler.

Scootaloo grinned, waving a quick greeting to the old stallion. She'd always liked Randolph. He was kinda cool, especially for an geezer like he was. Way to cool to hang around a demanding brat like Diamond Tiara, that's for sure! Scootaloo never quite understood why the old man stayed at his crummy job, catering to the whims of the pink menace, but there was something to be said about loyalty even in bad times, and she could respect that. Hay, maybe she could just give Diamond's homework to him and be done with it?

No, she thought with another sigh on her lips, I promised Miss Cheerilee. She tightened her grip on the stack of papers.

There was something to be said about loyalty even in bad times.

Randolph had arrived at the gate by now. He looked her over with curious eyes set underneath bushy, raised brows. For a moment, Scootaloo worried he didn't recall her face. Why would he? The last time she'd been here, things hadn't exactly gone... perfect. Then, a broad smile turned his muzzle into one big collection of creases.

He was just a little bit older than she remembered.

"Miss Scootaloo! What a surprise! We haven't had the pleasure of your visits since... a while. How was your trip?"

Randolph's voice was like his walk—slow and slightly shaky. But the earther still projected an aura of calm competence; 'Venerable and distinguished', as Sweetie Belle would say whenever she tried to impersonate her big sister Rarity. Scootaloo was grateful Randolph was the one to answer the door. A bit more time before meeting up with Diamond Tiara herself was very welcome.

"Hi, Mister R, it was fine," she returned the greeting, holding up the papers where he could see them. "Got Diamond Tiara's homework here. Miss Cheerilee asked me to bring them around, so. Here I am!"

His expression didn't change as far as Scootaloo could see, but some of the cheer seemed to ebb away from Randolph's face. "I'm guessing you want for me to take these to the young mistress then? Well, if that is the case, please give them to me so you can be on your way. A busy young lady like you surely has other places to be," Randolph finished and waited for her answer. His arms stayed right at his sides.

As much as Scootaloo wanted to jump at that offer, she knew she couldn't. It wouldn't be right. And I don't wanna have to explain to Miss Cheerilee that I broke my promise, she thought with a mental grimace. This was one bullet she had to bite.

"Actually, could I talk to Diamond? In private? I heard she was sick, so I... I want to see how she's doing. Maybe just hang out for a bit. Talk a little. Nothing special. Just, the two of us." She tried to put on a smile, but it wouldn't come. Scootaloo's shoulders sagged. "Okay, fine. Miss Cheerilee didn't just send me here with DT's homework assignments. She asked me to talk things out with her, since... Well, you know."

Meanwhile, Randolph's smile shone as bright as it did before. Maybe a little brighter. Scootaloo didn't know what he was thinking, but she was glad he didn't ask her to explain in greater detail. A tiny voice inside of her was disappointed he didn't look ready to send her away; it was subsequently tied up, put on a boat, and exiled from the Great Nation of Scootaloo.

Randolph took a moment to fiddle with the gate, waving her in when it opened. "That's alright, Miss. Please, walk this way. The young mistress will be happy to have some company."

Even mine? the voice asked. Scootaloo vowed to have it thrown in a dungeon in the place it was exiled to next.

She followed a step or two behind Randolph, all the way from the outer gate, to the manor's front doors, to the wide entrance hall. This was an old house for Ponyville standards. The Riches had lived here longer than nearly anypony; only the Apples had a greater claim to that, and their house had to be rebuilt quite often. Rich Manor was old, drafty, quiet.

She never really liked this place.

There, along the walls, hung the portraits of the ponies who made up the illustrious line of the Riches. Stern Earth Pony patriarchs with unfortunate names and deep, shadowy bags under their eyes, and the sour-faced gentlemares who married them. They all peered out into the world in various forms of frowns and sneers and things that looked like it could've been a smile if one squinted reeeally hard.

Diamond Tiara's portrait didn't hang here yet.

They finally arrived at the door to Diamond's room. Randolph drew to his full height, coughed, and knocked.

"What?" came the muffled answer. He looked at the Pegasus at his side and spoke up.

"A visitor for you, young mistress."

"I don't want to see anypony! Who is it?"

Now the both of them exchanged a look. 'Typical DT', hers seemed to say. 'Quite', was Randolph's unspoken answer. His spoken answer was directed at the door again.

"It is very unfortunate that you do not want to receive her, seeing as how Miss S has taken the time to come here directly after school was over."

A moment of silence. Then, they could hear somepony hastily rummaging around behind the door, opening cupboards and slamming them shut, and and least once swearing. When things finally quieted down, Diamond Tiara called again.

"Send her in, Randolph." Scootaloo gave him one last, grateful smile, and stepped into the lion's den.

Diamond Tiara's room had been very much like Scootaloo imagined it, all the way back before she'd ever been inside. It was nearly unchanged from that time. One side was dominated by a huge canopy bed with enough space to accommodate four of five ponies of Diamond Tiara's size—were it not for the plushies arrayed like a regiment at the command of the room's overgrown filly tyrant. The walls were brightly coloured, there was a rug that looked like something exceedingly fluffy and cute had chosen this place to die.

And at the far side, directly by a spacious window, the girl Scootaloo was here to meet sat at a table set for two. Two cups, sitting on two saucers, with a teapot in the middle gently being heated by a tealight. Diamond Tiara had been looking outside; when she heard Scootaloo's hoofsteps, she turned around with a smirk.

"So, I guess I'm good enough for you again, S—" She paused mid-sentence. Her smirk collapsed. "Scootaloo?! What are you... oh. Oh no. Don't tell me. You are 'Miss S'?"

Scootaloo shrugged and tried not to look to smug herself. "Looks like. Heard you were sick. Brought you some homework." She waved them in Diamond's direction before dropping them down on her bed. The look of sheer irritation on the pink filly's face very nearly sent her into a giggle fit.

At a second glance, Scootaloo had to admit—once again—what a beautiful young mare her fillyhood bully had grown into. Diamond Tiara had a doll-like prettiness to her that many ponies admired, coupled with a body that had filled out nicely in all the right places. She could wear the girliest dresses anypony ever designed, like the lacy thing she wore right now, and still carry herself with confidence, even a hint of danger.

The only facet marring the picture was how her smile hardly ever reached her eyes.

Diamond growled in annoyance and crossed her arms. "Well," she began, "I guess I am supposed to thank you for that. And offer you tea while you're here. So. Tea?" Her glare sent a wordless challenge in Scootaloo's direction. The Pegasus reminded herself of her mission—Loyalty!—and sat down at the empty spot with a short nod.

"Yeah, tea sounds nice." Scootaloo looked about the room while her pink host poured her a cup. She saw the nightstand next to Diamond's bed. It held the usual: A picture of her family, a picture of her dad, a few books from some line of trashy romance novel or other.
Something was missing, though. Scootaloo frowned and turned back to the other filly.

"I don't see any tissues here," she told Diamond, who froze for a second. Scootaloo's eyes went wide, then narrowed. "You're not really sick, are you?"

Diamond put the pot back down, a little harder than necessary. "And you're a certified genius. Fine!" She threw up her arms. "You caught me. I'm not sick, but whenever I go to school right now, I feel like I'm going to barf."

Scootaloo frowned, shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. It's not important." Diamond Tiara steepled her fingers. In the most calm and collected way since Scootaloo had entered, she continued. "Please enjoy your tea. If you like it, I can tell you where I got it, you can ask me about the place I got it, and we can both pretend we're actually interested in any of that drivel so we get things over with faster."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. Just as she wanted to speak up, something else caught her attention. One of Diamond's fingers had a darkened spot. The short coat there was singed. It looked fresh. Scootaloo mentally filed it away for later.

"I'm sorry, DT, but no can do. Miss Cheerilee made me promise to try to talk with you, so that's what I'm gonna do. And seeing as how Silver Spoon and you had some kind of falling out..."

"No we didn't," came Diamond's immediate answer. She pouted and peered back out the window. "And even if we did, it wouldn't bother me. Like, at all. Besides, it's none of your business."

Scootaloo sighed and picked up her cup to take a sip. The tea was... surprisingly good. Some fruity, sweet blend that she took an instant liking to. She took another taste, and another, before putting the cup back down. Diamond hadn't turned around yet.

"Come on, Diamond. A blind pony could see it's bothering you." She waited for the other pony to react. When no reaction came, she pressed on. "Silver Spoon herself wasn't very shy about admitting you two had a fight."

One of Diamond Tiara's ears twitched.

"Is it about her and Snails?"

This got a reaction out of the pink filly. Diamond glared at her, then the teapot, and if looks could harm, it would've melted right throught the table.

"I don't know what she sees in that skinny idiot," Diamond Tiara muttered. Scootaloo leaned forward, tried to look understanding, encouraging.

"It happened while I was gone, right?"

"They got together while you were gone," she answered. "Snails had been trying to get Silvie's attention for months. He tried to impress her with stupid gifts, like rare bugs he found in the dirt. Bugs! Can you believe that? We always made fun of him for it. Silvie told him they were gross, and so was he, and then we laughed together. I don't know what changed."

Scootaloo nursed her drink while she thought about Diamond's words. Snails? Crushing on Silver Spoon for this long? The Silver Spoon? The filly with a coat of silver and heart like a rock? It sounded silly to her. And yet, they were an item. So who was the silly one here?

"That's strange. And she never returned any of his feelings before?"

"Well, maybe a little bit." Diamond Tiara shrugged. "I don't know if you noticed, but Silver Spoon can be a little dumb sometimes. Maybe she thought the way he tried to get her to notice him was kinda cute. In its own, disgusting way. You wouldn't noticed it anyway, what with being so clueless yourself."

"Hey!" Scootaloo's wings shuddered with her anger. "What's that supposed to mean?!" As soon as the words left her muzzle, she knew she'd made a mistake. Opposite her, Diamond Tiara slowly, deliberately, leaned back in her chair and put a finger to her cheek. She was obviously enjoying the turn their talk had taken, going by her shark-like grin.

"Scoots, have you ever felt like one of the colts is paying a great deal more attention to you than the others? Someone sitting close to you in class? Someone... with wings?"

Scootaloo blinked. "Featherweight?"

"No, you... Gah!" Diamond facepalmed. Dragging her hand down her face, remarkably without messing up her makeup, she fixated Scootaloo with a look made up of equal parts irritation and amusement. "I'm talking about Rumble. Rumble has been interested in since last year. Light coat, dark mane, too much of a pansy to talk to you. That Rumble."

Try as she might, Scootaloo failed to put a face to the name. It did sound familiar, though... "Do you mean Roar?"

Scootaloo didn't expect the fit laughter that followed her remark. Diamond Tiara first looked at her like she'd grown a second head, then she broke down and nearly fell out her chair as she doubled over.

"Hah hah hah! Hah, that's rich! You, you don't even know his name! Now I almost feel sorry for him, hahah!"

Scootaloo felt a deep blush coming on, right on her face. She couldn't meet Diamond's eyes. Fortunately, she didn't need to; the inside of her teacup was almost as interesting, and not nearly as mocking. Scootaloo waited until the other filly got everything out of her system before she murmured.

"Well, it's... H-he's so often in Cloudsdale, on some kinda training trip or whatever, and I'm away when he isn't, and we never really talk, and... Don't laugh again." It was her turn to glare. Diamond Tiara held up both hands.

"Fine, fine. No more laughing." The Earth Pony took a deep breath and slowly let it go again. "Talking to you really does help. You know, you were the first to say it, but... you're right. Isn't it weird how Silvie suddenly decides she wants to date that loser, Snails? Of all the... ponies in our class, she goes for the drooling mouthbreather. What's up with that?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Scootaloo wasn't still angry. No, not at all. She grunted when she burned her lips with the tea by accident, and wiped the spot with the back of her hand.

Diamond just shrugged again. "I would, but she doesn't talk to me anymore. I may have said some, well, not so nice things about her taste in stallions. However, there might be another way."

"And what would that be?"

"Scootaloo," said Diamond with an eager glimmer in her eyes, "how would you like to go sleuthing with me?"

Scootaloo briefly noted how Diamond Tiara looked a little less hostile than at the beginning of their talk.

Now if only she could decide whether that was a good thing.

Author's Note

Heyo. Took quite a while, didn't it? For all of my readers who haven't given up on my yet, thank you. You probably deserve more props than I do!

This took a long, long while to write. Part of the problem was how Crusaders of the Lost Mark came along and dashed the animosity between the CMC and the SS/DT duo to pieces. Needless to say, I'm not going to take that as canon in regards to this fic. I may pick some things I like, but overall, CotLM didn't happen.

Cheers!

Spoonful of Sugar

“Seriously, what makes you think this is, in any way, a good idea?” Scootaloo helplessly shrugged her shoulders. It wasn’t the first time she’d done so since Diamond Tiara announced her ridiculous plan. “It’s stupid. You’re going to stalk Silver Spoon like a creep? And you want to drag me into this, so I’ll end up looking like a creep too!”

“Stop whining, Scootaloo! It’ll be fun, trust me! An adventure, just you and me!”

Diamond’s voice was muffled, coming from inside her big walk-in wardrobe. For the last few minutes now the filly had thrown a number of outfits out of there into a slowly growing pile. Scootaloo suspected the dresses and tops and pants would have easily paid for a dozen new scooters or so. Not that she was envious or anything. Not of Diamond Tiara of all ponies. She wordlessly stepped to the side as a gem-encrusted black pleather belt sailed by and nearly hit her in the head.

“No, no, definitely no… Oooh! Now this is it!” A shapely young mare leg was the first thing that came back into Scootaloo’s sight, followed by the rest of its owner. Diamond beamed at her, halfway turning around to show off what she probably assumed an adventuring pony wore. To Scootaloo, the white and pink shirt and vest combo together with the cheerleader-like mini-skirt looked like what a pony who never went on an adventure in her life thought she should wear. If Daring Do’s outfit was a hearty meal, this one was a candy cane. Sweet, tasty. Not something to depend on. No matter what Pinkie Pie said. Or Twist, for that matter. “Tell me, Scootaloo, how do I look? Beautiful? Ravishing? Now now, it’s okay to be overwhelmed, I have that effect on ponies!”

Scootaloo resisted an eye-roll. “You look good. Not sure that’s the best choice to go sneaking around. Unless you’re trying to infiltrate a sweet shop…”

“That’s kinda what we’re going to do.” Diamond put her fists to her hips. Scootaloo had a quick impression of a drill sergeant for gingerbread ponies, and hid her grin behind a hand. “I know where Silver Spoon will be today. So, that’s where we’re going! I’ll get my booties, they’re in the hallway.” Without another word, and without waiting for a reply, the young mare was marching off. Scootaloo followed at a distance, slightly bemused. To the point where she flinched when suddenly, Randolph appeared behind her. She had no idea he could move this quietly, but after what she’d seen him do at their school that one time, she supposed she shouldn’t be too shocked the creaking of his joints and cracking of old bones didn’t give the elderly stallion away for miles.

“Apologies, Miss Scootaloo.” The old butler inclined his head. “I did not wish to frighten you. I was merely curious to see if the two of you had found a way to get along. By all appearance, that seems to be the case.” He looked away from her, down the hallway. Scootaloo followed his gaze, to where a muttering Diamond Tiara struggled to tie a pair of hopelessly expensive hiking boots. “It is good to see the young mistress up and about. The last few days she had stayed in her room, complaining about feeling under the weather, not even going outside into the garden. They are particularly pleasant this year. I worried about her wellbeing, all holed up in her room…”

“You know she wasn't really sick, right?” Scootaloo looked back to Randolph. She saw him cough into a fist, eyes still trained on the pretty young mare wrestling with her hoofwear, a dry cough like months of dust. “Diamond Tiara was never sick, she just faked it. That was all an act. She told me herself.”

The stallion merely shrugged. Bony shoulders lifted and lowered with dignified practice.

“I am happy to see a semblance of the energetic, vibrant, and perhaps a little too headstrong little pony the young mistress used to be. That she is better now, recovering from whatever malady it was that ailed her, no matter the origin. That is my most important concern.”

Scootaloo, for a moment, just stared at him. “You’re too good for her, you know that?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say too good,” Randolph chuckled. “Just the right amount of good. You should perhaps now join her, before Miss Diamond—”

“Hey! Are you coming, featherbrain?! Don’t make me leave without you, I totally will!”

“—loses her patience.”

Filly and stallion shared one last look. Scootaloo peered into the butler’s old, but warm eyes, noted the many, many lines in his coat she could see now that she was close enough to. Years of service in what had been, to her, a demanding little monster. And Randolph… he just smiled.

“Good luck on whatever undertaking the two of you agreed on.”

Scootaloo nodded. “I will. I promise I won’t be a stranger from now on.” As she turned away to follow behind Diamond Tiara, jogging to make up for the other filly’s head start, she could hear the warm smile following her in turn.

“Yes, Miss Scootaloo. That would be much appreciated.”

When Scootaloo agreed to take Diamond’s homework to her, she had not imagined she would end up huddling in the bushes around Sweetcream Scoop’s ice cream parlor. She had never considered the bushes particularly huddleable either. Now here she was, planning to spy on one half of her personal bully band… with the other half. A part of her, the rough and tumble tomboy one, was annoyed Diamond Tiara seemed to know better hiding places than her. Snobs shouldn’t make for good spies.

“This is silly.”

“I would have thought,” Diamond began in a voice dripping with false pleasantry, “ you are familiar with doing silly things, little miss Cutie Mark Crusader.”

“I got my Cutie Mark, thank you very much.” Scootaloo scooted further into the bushes for a better view. She kept her wings tightly pressed to her sides, not wanting to get them caught in anything. “Anyway, you think she’s going to be here? We’ve been waiting ten minutes or so by now.”

“She’ll be here.” The pink filly squatted close to the ground, skirt pulled up over her knees. “She always eats here when she’s alone. Silvie can’t resists a good cherry cream sundae, not even if her life depended on it.”

Scootaloo pushed a branch away that was getting a little too frisky. “You sure about that?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Diamond Tiara’s annoyance showed in the downward curve of her brow. She still looked pretty, but Scootaloo had been on the receiving end of that frown too often not to feel a little irritated herself. “I know her better than anypony! She always comes here about two hours after school has ended, gets a cherry cream sundae, and takes tiny bites with those ridiculously small spoons that are way too impractical to get done in any reasonable time!”

That was… detailed. Not for the first time, Scootaloo wondered if maybe Diamond Tiara wasn’t as okay as she had thought. “Okay, I know you’re friends, or used to be, but that’s kinda too much. Have you been stalking her?” Right after saying that, she put a hand to her forehead and groaned. “What am I saying? Of course you have. And now I’m doing it too. We’re doing it right now.”

A disdainful sniff. “Get with the program, featherbrain.”

“Up yours.”

“How witty.” Diamond rolled her eyes dramatically. “I keep forgetting how talking to you for longer periods of time is an exercise in frustration. If Silver hadn’t cut me of, I would—wait! There she is!” She pointed to a table outside the shop, one in the shape of a heart and given shade by a turquoise parasol. “I knew it! Hah! She’s come… with her coltfriend. Ugh.”

Like Diamond had said, Silver arrived with her beau in tow. Snails towered well over her, and with how lanky he was and that mop of greenish mane on his head, he looked a lot like a closed parasol himself. He pulled her chair into place, she sat down, touched his arm, and both smiled at one another.

“Yeesh.” Scootaloo shuddered. “They’ve got it bad. As soon as one of them calls the other shmoopy, I’m out of here.”

That earned her a confused look. “Shmoopy..?” Diamond repeated. Scootaloo wasn’t in the mood for it, though.

“Long story. Turns out goofballs in love say goofbally things.” She cracked her knuckles. Time for action! “How we doing this?”

“I don’t think that’s actually a word. But fine. We wait til he goes inside for whatever inane reason he has. And trust me, he has lots. When he does, I’ll go distract him. You go to Silver Spoon. Engage her. Try to find out what happened with her and the dork knight over there. After that, we regroup in Sugarcube Corner.”

“Why there?” Scootaloo asked, eyeing her from the side. “Has all that ice scream made you hungry for sweets?”

Diamond Tiara glared at her. For just a moment, however. When she turned her attention back to their targets, she might have blushed just a tiny bit.

“That’s not important! What is important is that you find out why these two suddenly turned into a couple.”

“I still say this is a waste of time.”

“Noted. Now get to it.”

Grumbling, Scootaloo got up, flexing wings and legs. Diamond Tiara rushed over to the shop’s entrance when their quarry wasn’t looking, somehow managing not to get a single frill caught in anything. Scootaloo rolled her shoulder and made for her own entrance.

Silver Spoon sat alone for the moment. She was idly fiddling with the menu, in Scootaloo’s opinion not really reading any of it. If Diamond was to be believed, she’d just order the same thing as always. Scootaloo sidled up to the filly until she was too close to believably overlook her, and did a double-take.

“Oh hey, Silver Spoon! You here too? Wow, that's so cool, you know what, I'm just going to sit down next to you!” Scootaloo hopped into the closest empty chair next to her and did her best to act casual, but open, with the most nonchalant grin she could muster.

For just a moment, the pretty, bespectacled filly looked close to shocked. That melted away from her silver features quickly, replaced by a look best described as bored annoyance. Silver Spoon took a napkin from the small pile already ready on her side of the table and proceeded to wipe her squeaky-clean glasses methodically.

“Hello. Scootaloo. I didn't expect to meet you. Here, that is. We see each other in school, like, often enough, but now you're here. When I wanted to enjoy a nice date with my coltfriend... alone. What a lucky girl I am.” She put her glasses back, not any cleaner than they'd been before. Scootaloo was treated to the sight of two rows of sparkling, perfect teeth, arrayed in what might have been possible to mistake for a smile. In the dark. At a distance.

She cleared her throat, hoping to swallow some of the awkwardness down. “Well, okay, yeah. I get it. I'm disturbing your date, and I'm real sorry for that. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. Since it looks like Snails is going to take a while and all.”

Scootaloo's muzzle snapped shut right after she blabbed that last part. She winced. When she saw the stare Silver Spoon directed at her, she winced again. Arms crossed, legs crossed, frowning like Scootaloo suddenly transformed into an icky worm. The Earth Pony sighed and began rubbing her temples.

“Where is she?”

Scootaloo blinked. “Who?”

“Diamond Tiara. She put you up to this.” Silver's hands fell away from her head. She gave her fellow filly a flat stare. “You don't have much reason to talk to me at all. Diamond does. But I'm not talking to her right now, so she has to use some... pony-pawn to do it for her. And it isn't me this time. What did she offer you, Scootaloo? Money? Favours? A kiss?”

Scootaloo didn't know whether she was blushing or growing pale. Something in between probably. “W-what?! No! Why would she—? Come on, Silver, that's not even remotely funny! Stop smirking! She didn't offer me any of that!”

That infuriating smirk only grew.

“But she did put you up to this?”

Scootaloo's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Racking her brain for an excuse that would work didn't help. And in the end, it wasn't worth the effort anyway. Why am I trying to lie for Diamond frikkin' Tiara? Maybe if she had promised me something..! Might as well go with the truth at this point.

Leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms too, Scootaloo nodded. “Alright, you got me. DT talked me into talking to you. Not for anything in return, though.”

Silver Spoon raised a brow. “You let yourself get roped into one of Diamond Tiara's schemes, without getting anything out of it yourself? Now that's the silliest thing I heard all day. Are you sure you're not the one who is sick?”

“Trust me, I've been thinking about that too.” Scootaloo chuckled and glanced in the direction the pink filly had wandered off to. Still no sign of her or Snails. It was a good thing the colt wasn't the fastest pony around, in any sense of the word. “Seriously, though. I'm kind of curious myself. You and Snails?”

“Oh my Celestia, this again?” Silver Spoon hid her face behind her hands. “She really can't let it go, can she?”

“Well, in her defence, I think it's kinda weird too.” Scootaloo shrugged. “Snails is a goofy, bumbling boy who likes to dig in the ground for new friends, and you, you're an old money rich snob who wouldn't be caught dead with a speck of dirt on you.” She paused. “No offence.”

The glare Silver Spoon shot at her through spread fingers suggested she had indeed taken offence. Scootaloo scratched her neck. She had trouble meeting her eyes.

“And you're, you know, pretty. Scratch that, you're gorgeous. And it's not like you're dressing to hide it. Any colt in our class must have been drooling after you at one point or another. You could've picked anypony, so... why Snails? What made him stand out compared to the rest?”

Scootaloo watched her counterpart turn a light shade of red around the edges of her muzzle. It suited her, Scootaloo decided. Silver quickly huffed and turned away with a pout that only made her look cuter.

“There isn't much to say that I didn't already tell Diamond Tiara! It's not my fault none of you mares can look beyond your noses!” She glanced over as if daring Scootaloo to disagree. “Snails is one of the kindest stallions I've ever met. He was nice to me, even when... I wasn't all that nice to him.” Her pretty face fell.

Scootaloo leaned across the table. “When you were with DT, right?”

That earned her a snort. “Don't get me wrong, I don't regret that! Time with Diamond Tiara was lots of fun, and we were on top of the world! But with Snails, it was... it was different. Mocking him never felt quite right.” Scootaloo bit her tongue. Literally. Now wasn't the time to point out how wrong mocking anypony was.

“He was always smiling, only not when we tore into him and his chubby friend. Then he got all sad and looked down at his hooves. It was like hurting a puppy. And that was before he told me he liked me.” Silver Spoon took a deep breath and slowly let it go again. When she was done, a happy little smile showed itself. “It was more show than tell, really. Who would have expected that one tall boy you called nasty names to come visit you at your own home, right? Well, he did. And he brought me a present.

“He had this big rock with him. All dirty, grimy, just like him as he held that thing up to me. He said it was like me. At first I thought he was joking. Getting back at me. 'Look, this ugly lumpy rock, that's you!' I totally would've bought it if he'd done that. Not like I didn't insult him first! But that wasn't it. The rock... it was a shell. A Fire Snail shell.”

The filly's eyes wandered wistfully towards the ice cream shop. Scootaloo wondered to herself why nopony had come out to ask for their order yet. Not that she wanted that to happen, not when Silver laid everything open like this.

“It was, like, totally silly. He said he found it in Ghastly Gorge. Who goes to there to look for things? Honestly! Well, he did, and he brought it back from there. To me. For me.”

Silver Spoon shook her head. She came to meet Scootaloo’s curious gaze again, and Scootaloo knew her curiosity was clear to see.

“It was weird, you know? Those things aren’t common. I do have more expensive stuff, but Snails doesn’t have much money, so he went to look for something nice to give to me. Fire Snail shells just look red on the outside, but on the inside, they glimmer like a rainbow fire! It’s still warm when I touch it. And this is going to sound like the corniest thing ever, but I think it was his way of saying ‘hey, I like you, you can be pretty on the inside too if you want it!’”

The two fillies looked at each other. For a moment, neither said anything. Silver Spoon leaned back, twiddling her thumbs, still occasionally daring a peek to the shop exit. Nopony came out yet, though. Whatever Diamond Tiara had pulled to keep Snails away, it had worked.

Scootaloo was the first to break the silence. She scrunched her nose like she'd tasted something that clung to under her tongue. “You're right. That is the corniest thing ever. And I watched two grown-ups calling each other 'shmoopy-shmoop'.”

Silver Spoon just shrugged. “Like I said. I’s nice thought anyway. It was also nice to be treated like Snails did just for me being me, and not because of Diamond Tiara.” The silver filly rolled her eyes. She propped her chin on her palm, staring off bored. “That's what I am to most ponies. That one girl hanging with Queen Mean of Ponyville School. Snails wasn't intimidated... like, too much. He kept trying to win me over after that first big gift. Visits, smaller gifts, lots of them. I guess it worked, after a while. I kinda liked having him around, even if Diamond Tiara couldn't stand him. And less than a month ago, it sort of... clicked between us.”

Scootaloo's ears snapped straight up.

“Less than a month ago? While I wasn't around?”

“Yes. Snails came for one of his 'secret' visits. I saw him stand there with this crooked flower in his hand, smiling like he just woke up from a funny dream, and we just started kissing. Right in the doorway. That was the best day of my life!” Silver glanced sidelong at her, with a smirk on her face. “While you weren't around. Lots of our schoolmates got hitched while you were gone. Ooh, maybe you not being around made everypony all romantic!”

She gave the girl a flat stare. “What was that about being pretty on the inside?” Scootaloo groused.

“Hey, I'm a work in progress! Canterlot wasn't built in a day, you know.” Silver shrugged again and crossed her legs the other way. “And Snails is totally helping me with that. When he's around, I can be sure he tells me when I'm being naughty. Not like that's always a bad thing, though...” She said that last part with a slightly different smirk. One that made Scootaloo blush a little and feel hot under her shirt. She was kind of glad when Silver directed it away from her. Scootaloo saw her narrow her eyes in a squint. Silver Spoon’s mischievous smirk broadened.

“Well! Talk of the Windigo! Looks like she finally made her move. Good for her.”

Scootaloo swiveled her head around to follow whatever Silver Spoon spotted. She sounded weirdly satisfied with what she saw. It took Scootaloo just a moment to zero in on the unusual trio sitting down at a table not that far from them. Through the hustle and bustle around them and because of her talk, she would’ve missed their arrival if Silver Spoon hadn’t mentioned it.

Truffle and Peppermint Twist took seats across from each other. They were all smiles, just like they’d been all day. Truffle said something and grinned broadly, Twist leaned forward in a way that surely let him peer right down her top, and the both of them laughed and turned to the third pony with them: Tootsie Flute. The cobalt filly wore an ill-fitting trench coat, the most modest piece of clothing Scootaloo had seen on any mare the whole day. She almost seemed to vanish into the thing.

Scootaloo blinked in surprise. These three were friends? She didn’t remember that. As she watched, Tootsie’s coat slipped down her left shoulder, exposing blank fur. Did she even wear anything below? Her company noticed too and apparently commented on it; Tootsie blushed but made no move to pull it back into place. Not even when the serving pony came to take their orders, a young mare perhaps a few years older than them.

“I didn’t know they were close,” Scootaloo said to herself. She heard Silver Spoon snorting in amusement.

“Now that’s a shock! My dear Scootaloo, you have all the romantic sense of a cucumber.”

Scootaloo tried to ignore the barb. Considering she had spent more than an hour in the presence of Diamond Tiara today, she’d had lots of practice.

The older filly returned, bringing with her a sundea easily big enough for all three hungry students. Truffle was the first to take a spoonful, then Twist helped herself to one. Scootaloo couldn’t see whether they even had a third spoon, but even if they did, they didn’t seem to want to use it.

Truffle scooped up some ice cream, turned halfway around and held it in front of Tootsie Flute’s muzzle. The little Unicorn’s blush rushed to cover most of her face, but she leaned forward to take the offered food. Twist said something and nodded towards Truffle, then she tugged on the belt keeping Tootsie’s trench coat closed in the front. Tootsie Flute, in turn, squirmed in her seat, yet she didn’t do so much as raise an arm. What she did was give the Earth Pony filly a look filled with silent pleading, which earned her a round of giggling from both both her table-mates. More words Scootaloo couldn’t make out, followed by Truffle bending over the table to give Tootsie a kiss on her flushed cheek.

And then Twist gave her a kiss on the other cheek.

Scootaloo’s jaw fell open.

“Hmm? Oh, they’re kissing already? Somepony is a lucky filly today!” Silver Spoon poked Scootaloo’s shoulder. The Pegasus flinched, brought back to her own company. Said company wore a wide, saucy grin and a breathed just a hint heavier than before. “Keep your mouth open like that, and anything could go in! You wouldn’t want to, like, swallow a fly, right?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “I was just, um, a little surprised. I didn’t expect… that.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw other ponies around them smiling at the trio currently sharing ice cream and kisses. Some of it dripped from Truffle’s spoon right into Toosie’s cleavage. Instead of her wiping it away, Twist pushed her muzzle down there, and whatever she did next, it had the Unicorn filly silently moaning. Scootaloo sensed her own cheek heating up at the sight, and she told herself it was from embarrassment. Pushing your nose down your friend’s boobs? Who even did that?

What does it feel like..?

“They look happy, don’t they?” Scootaloo couldn’t help but look back to Silver Spoon. The tone in her voice, it was suddenly unusually tender. She wasn’t looking at them, though, she was looking at Scootaloo. She couldn’t place the half-closed eyes or the small smile. “I’m happy for them. They deserve each other. So nice they agreed to share. It’s nice ponies can share, isn’t it? Sharing is caring, after all.”

Sharing is caring…

The words echoed in Scootaloo’s mind. She got up, so abruptly it made Silver Spoon flinch just as much as she had made her. Without acknowledging the Earth Pony’s bewildered look, Scootaloo turned to leave. “I gotta go. Nice talking to you, Silver Spoon.”

“Nice talking to you too…” it trailed after her.

As Scootaloo reached the exit, she saw Tootsie Flute had her wrists crossed behind her back. Something metallic blinked around them.

I gotta talk to DT about this.

Author's Note

Hey there. Looks like I owe several people an apology. Hopefully, I can make it up to anyone still willing to stick around.

As always, feel free to point out any mistakes or things you believe would improve the story!

Relationship Spike

“You look ravishing, my dear!”

Sweetie Belle smiled at her reflection in the wall-sized mirror. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rarity beaming at her, filled with pride. She twirled in place and curtsied when she came to a step, followed by her big sister clapping her hands gleefully.

“Wonderful! Oh, Sweetie Belle, this dress looks just divine on you! I’m sure he’ll think that too!”

Sweetie let the words sink in. She looked down at herself, at Rarity’s newest creation comfortably hugging her. She briefly imagined a different hug and grew the tiniest shade of crimson around her cheeks. Without taking her eyes off the dress, Sweetie Belle asked the question burning on her mind.

“Do you really think he’ll like it, Rarity? I know you did your best, it’s gorgeous. It’s, I just want everything to be…” She paused. She had to take a breath. “To be perfect.”

Hoofsteps. Rarity was beside her now. She felt her older sister’s reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she couldn’t help putting her own over it. Rarity was also looking at her in the mirror, her eyes two deep sapphire pools sparkling with something unsaid. Sweetie Belle turned away from her image to look at her questioningly.

“Rarity?”

“You grew up so quickly,” the mare said. When she saw Sweetie cock her head, she shook her own with a chuckle. Happy, but… something else as well. “Even after you told me, I guess I was stubborn about it. You were always my precious little sister. I don’t think that will ever truly change. Oh, listen to an old mare prattle on!”

Rarity knelt down, slung her arms around Sweetie Belle. After a moment, Sweetie returned the hug, throwing herself at Rarity’s neck and giggling. Her sister was warm, and comforting, and she smelled of lilacs. Sweetie Belle buried her nose in Rarity’s mane and clutched her tight.

“You go get him, you hear?”

Sweetie nodded.

“Boys don’t usually know what they want,” Rarity went on. “You have to push them. Get them to notice you. Make your intentions clear! Close in on your prey! And when the time is right, you must pounce!”

Sweetie Belle broke into a giggle. She looked at the bag she and Rarity had prepared for the picnic. “I will, promise! I totally will!” She gave Rarity a kiss on the cheek. “See you later, big sister! Thanks for everything!”

“Anytime, Sweetie Belle. Anytime.” Rarity followed the young mare to the door and waved as she skipped away. Only when Sweetie was out of sight did she step back through the entrance, pulled it closed behind her, and allowed herself a weary sigh and a shake of her head. She’s so hopeful. Oh, I hope everything works out for you, Sweetie Belle. Now, where did I put the yellow ribbon..?

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts. Had she forgotten to switch the sign to closed? Curious, she turned the doorknob. A shadow fell over her when she opened the door. A tall figure in a trench coat and a fedora drawn deep over their features greeted her. Her mouth fell open in shock.

“Miss Rarity. I need your help.”

“Hey, Spike! You’re already here! I thought I would beat you to it!”

Spike turned around at the sweet voice of a sweet filly. Returning her bright smile with one of his own, he let his eyes dip low for a moment. Sweetie Belle had dressed in something almost princess-like, a light contrasting her coat, more modest than what most young mares chose to wear these days… if one ignored the high-cut slits at the sides revealing enough leg to show she could not possibly be wearing long underwear. Blue gems of different shapes dotted the ensemble, clearly marking this as one of Rarity’s works, an unmistakable creative touch.

Sweetie had crossed her arms in her front, holding a bag in both hands, and it took Spike another moment to tear his gaze away from how that squeezed and pushed up her cloth-covered chest. Almost like she was trying to push it into his view. She wasn’t quite as endowed as Rarity, but still curvy for her age. Spike cleared his throat and held a claw out for her, which she took gracefully with a titter. She sat down besides himself. The bag was dropped off a little further behind her.

Spike suddenly felt horribly underdressed in his pants and shirts combination. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at his basket.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle. I thought I’d come a little early. Brought the blanket with me. Got a few snacks packed too.” His grin grew. “Nothing Twilight cooked.”

Sweetie Belle slapped his arm but she laughed at the same time. “Stop, you! She’s not that bad! Twilight’s a much better cook than I am! Trust me, I’m happy when I only burn toast or something.”

“In the interest of preserving our friendship,” Spike answered, “I am not going to comment.”

“One time I turned orange juice into a bubbling, grey sludge.”

Spike did his best not to bite his lip. “Again, no comment.”

Sweetie giggled again and leaned her head on his shoulder. It felt nice. Spike exhaled slowly to not disturb her resting place too much.

“You’re right, Sweetie Belle. Twilight’s not a bad cook when she’s not overworked.” Spike looked down to meet Sweetie’s curious emerald eyes. “In fact, she can be pretty good at it. She’s Twilight, after all. She’s good at almost everything she sets her mind to. Except dancing. Still hasn’t figured that one out.”

Sweetie Belle poked him in the arm. “You’re a good dancer, Spike.”

“What can I say, I’m amazing.” Spike grinned, and he saw the filly’s cheeks bulge as she held in a chuckle of her own. He reached out to touch her shoulder. “You did well too. Did Rarity teach you how to dance? I bet it would look great if you tried dancing in one of her dresses. Rarity is really good with all of that stuff.”

The warm presence left his shoulder; Sweetie Belle raised her head away from him, looking down to the ground, still smiling. “Yeah, she is. Rarity is really, really good at making dresses. And dancing, and singing, and all that stuff, like you said. She’s perfect.”

He cocked his head. “Well, I wouldn’t say she’s perfect,” Spike said with a shrug.

“There was a time you would have.”

Spike shrugged again. “Got me there. I used to worship the ground she walked on. It’s been a while since then. I moved on, I suppose.” He stretched out his legs and leaned back on his hands. Sweetie Belle stirred next to him but didn’t say anything. “I had it bad, didn’t I? The girls would tease me about it, sometimes. Celestia, I thought I was so subtle about it, but everypony knew. Except Rarity. She didn’t see it, even when I followed her around like a lovesick puppy.”

“Maybe she didn’t want to see it,” came Sweetie Belle’s nonchalant reply. Spike shrugged for a third time.

“Could be. Maybe she convinced herself there was nothing there so she didn’t have to hurt my feelings. It wouldn’t have worked out between us anyway. It’s for the better this way.” Spike paused. “Yeah, it’s better this way. Rarity is great. She’s graceful, and beautiful, and talented, and sure of herself. She’s like this rare one-in-a-million gems you can find out there. But we weren’t meant to be. And that’s okay.”

Sweetie Belle crossed her legs and wiped away a wrinkle in her dress he honestly couldn’t see. She looked very concentrated on her task, and one of her ears was still cocked in his direction. After a deep breath, she asked: “Spike? Isn’t it a little strange how… almost all we’ve done since we met here is talk about Twilight Sparkle and Rarity?”

Spike gave an awkward laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that, Sweetie Belle. I guess that just kinda happens, you know?” He scratched the back of his neck and grinned ruefully. “It’s like that when you grow up with somepony like Twilight or Rarity. Or Applejack for Apple Bloom, I suppose. You kinda tend to get hung up on what they are.”

“You get overshadowed, you mean.” Sweetie folded her hands in her lap, looking away from him now.

“I wouldn’t say it quite like that. Sounds very negative.” Spike sighed and peered at a random pony passing by further down the park. Somepony he knew from someplace, probably. “You’re not totally wrong with it either, though. Don’t get me wrong, Sweetie Belle, I absolutely love Twilight to pieces, but it’s something special to grow up with a genius super-sorceress hero for a… for family. Something special and different. Not too many ponies can relate to that.”

Sweetie’s answer came quietly. “I can.”

Spike gave her a sidelong glance. “True. You can.”

“Rarity is everything you said,” she went on, “and everything I said, and more. It’s hard to shine with her around. I thought I’d made peace with that, she’s a hero, and a legendary designer, and she’s one of the best singers I know. I shouldn’t try to compete with her.”

Spike sat up a little. “You’re competing?”

Sweetie let her eyes fall closed, slowly. “No. We’re not competing. Just like you’re not competing with Princess Twilight. You don’t need to.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a giant statue of you in the Crystal Empire, Spike. The Crystal Ponies worship you. You have a stained glass window in Canterlot Castle. You were there. You made some amazing friends by yourself. You made a difference. You’re your own dragon.” The corners of her mouth went up. “And I am really happy for you about that! You deserve it! But, well, it still means you have something of your own outside of Twilight Sparkle. I’m just some nopony from Ponyville.”

Spike turned around towards her. He gave her a serious look. When Sweetie refused to look back at him, he grew bold enough to put his claw on her knee. The filly tensed but did not move away from his touch. Spike tightened his grip, just a tiny bit more.

“You’re not a nopony,” Spike told her in as strong and serious tone as he could muster. “Not to Rarity, and certainly not to me. You’re special, Sweetie Belle. I don’t want to hear anything else from you, okay?”

Sweetie Belle sat still. Her chest rose and fell with gentle breath. “Okay,” she murmured.

“I mean it. You are special. You’re a Cutie Mark Crusader, you and AB and Scootaloo. You did a lot of good.” Spike felt a smile tugging at his lips as he called the pictures to mind. It hadn’t even been that long ago. “Like old Troubleshoes. Remember him?”

Sweetie Belle’s head bobbed in a nod, absently. Spike pressed on, drawing on his memories of what he’d been told.

“You turned his life around. Without you, he’d still be an unhappy outlaw hiding someplace. You three changed what was his worst day, into what’s probably his best. You and your friends, Sweetie Belle, your… you’r a team. Working all this time to find your Marks—”

He felt her shudder.

“—you stayed together. It couldn’t have been easy. But you pulled through, together. That’s dedication. That’s loyalty. And as somepony who’s worn the Element of Loyalty once, you know you can trust me.” He beamed at her. And she bobbed her head again. Spike hoped he’d gotten through to her, for real this time.

He withdrew his claw from her leg. He resisted the urge to touch her again, right in the same spot. He felt he should. Instead, he put his hands both behind his head and laid out on the blanket, staring straight up at the sky and the few clouds hanging over the both of them.

All that talk about food earlier, all that heavy stuff just now, and he wasn’t hungry. Weird.

“Hey, Spike?”

“Yeah, Sweetie Belle?” He peeked in her direction. “What is it?”

“I… brought a surprise.” The filly’s fingers fidgeted, like they were eager to get moving. The rest of her still sat calmly, at least as far as he could see. “For you. Do you want it?”

“For me? Ah shucks, you shouldn’t have! But since you did…” Spike closed his eyes. He knew he was smirking as only a dragon could right now. He didn’t care. “See? I’m not looking.”

“That’s good. You can look when I tell you.”

He heard her get up and move away a few steps. Probably to the bag she’d brought along. Yeah, that makes sense. She’s got the surprise in there. I wonder what it is. “So, are you going to give me any clues?”

“No. Don’t look.” There was some rustling. A ring like a chime or a bell, and two clicks. “You can look when I tell you. Not before.”

“Alright, alright. I won’t,” Spike promised. But I really want to, he added in his mind. “Is it something to eat?” Not that he was hungry, but… he wouldn’t refuse a gem if offered.

“No.”

“Is it… a pillow?” Some more rustling. “It’s a pillow, isn’t it?”

“No.” Sweetie’s voice was close again now, coming from slightly behind him on his right side. He heard her hooves’ muted clopping as she walked past him, and he turned his head her way by instinct. “Don’t look, Spike.” She sounded a little amused by now, he decided.

“I’m not! I’m not, I promise!”

Spike heard her take a deep breath. She was right in front of him, he could tell. Something soft tapped his knee. “You can look now.”

Spike opened his eyes.

Spike opened his mouth.

“So, Spike? Like your surprise?” Before him, Sweetie Belle knelt on the blanket. The dress she’d worn before was gone. Instead, she was clad in pitch-black lingerie, garter belts accentuating her shapely legs and a cut-out in the form of a stylised cat’s head allowing deep looks down her cleavage. The filly wore a choker around her neck with a round bell hanging from it. She raised an arm, and Spike saw that her hands were hidden away in two oversized mittens made to look like paws. Sweetie Belle playfully rubbed it against her cheek and smirked.

“I’m a kitty kat. Meow.” She winked playfully. Spike’s pants grew tight.

“Wow,” was all he could utter. Sweetie Belle laughed, a genuine happy laugh and she suddenly launched herself from her kneeling position, pushing the yelping drake backwards and toppling him over so he lay on his back and her boobs squished against him while she had one paw-glove on each of his shoulders. She bent low and rubbed her nose against his snout.

“I’m glad you like it,” the filly said. Her tail lashed the air behind her, and then it batted his leg like a silk whip. “I’m your little kitty kat, Spike. Do you want to play with me?” Her eyes sparkled.

Spike felt her soft body press against his hardened dragonhood. He gave the filly a mock glare. “You are a naughty kitty, Sweetie Belle.”

She tittered, and purred: “Yes, that’s me. A naughty, naughty kitty!” She wiggled her rump; taking it as encouragement, Spike raised his hands and clapped one on each jiggling buttock. She reacted with a gasp and a low moan as he squeezed, each clawed appendage now firmly grabbing a handful of buttflesh. Spike chuckled as he played with Sweetie Belle’s ass some more. Just firm enough to grab right, bouncy enough to make grabbing it fun, was Spike’s assessment.

“Yeah. I think I do like this surprise.”

Sweetie Belle showed him her teeth before laying her head down on his chest, nuzzling his shirt. Her nose caressed his bare flesh through two buttons. It made him wiggle in turn.

“Hey, are you trying to open my shirt or something?” Spike snaked his head around to peer at Sweetie’s mischievous grin. It told him everything he needed to know. She gave him a verbal answer too, however... along with her tongue poking out between her lips.

“Maaaybe.” Her ear twitched, her tail came to rest directly on his right leg. Like a soft blanket.

“Now now, Sweetie Belle,” Spike chuckled, “you can’t just start undressing guys like that. What are ponies gonna think?” To make his point, he drew his claw back a bit and slapped Sweetie’s almost-bare ass. It jiggled very satisfyingly. She gasped again, with a shudder going along her spine, all the way down to her tail. “You should just ask, kitty!”

Sweetie Belle peeked out from underneath her two-coloured bangs; even obscured like that and with eyes half-lidded, the impression Spike got was that of… hunger. If he hadn’t been hard already, he would’ve been now.

“I’m sorry… Spikey-Wikey.”

That sent a shiver down his spine. He cleared his throat. “You don’t sound sorry.” He let a talon idly feel the silken hairs at the base of her tail. Sweetie herself raised a brow, brought one of her paw-mittens up to her muzzle to nibble at a nail, all coy.

“Can you blame me, though? Oh, you totally can, like, I don’t really mind. I’m just a kitty-cat! A baaad kitty-cat!” She waggled a brow.

“Sweetie Belle,” Spike said with a sigh and a shake of his head, “what am I going to do with you?”

She stiffened. Before he began to seriously worry—had he said something?—she blinked and was all smiles again. Reaching back, Sweetie stroked his arm. “I think you’re doing pretty well.”

Spike’s scales prickled under Sweetie Belle’s touch. She was warm, and comfortable. And, he had to admit, she was sexy. Presenting herself to him as she was, emerald eyes all but sparkling at the sight of him, he could see her in a new light. She wasn’t a little girl anymore.

His eyes dropped a bit lower. No, not little at all.

A bright flash drew his attention away. Sweetie’s head turned as well, drawn by the same thing. A little further off hovered a pegasus pony. A scrawny colt at the cusp of becoming a young stallion, almost all skin and bones and strangely oversized ears. He was holding a camera aimed at them.

“Featherweight? What’s he doing here?” Spike nodded his head in the youth’s direction. “Taking pictures?”

Sweetie blinked. Spike saw her cock her head, blink again. “Maybe… he‘s trying to take pictures of… us?” She moved on top of him. Featherweight followed her, or rather, her lower half. “Oh. He’s trying to get booty shots. Of my ass. Do you want him to?”

Now Spike blinked. “Beg your pardon?”

“Do you want him to?” Sweetie Belle looked him right in the eye. Her face was neutral; Spike had no idea what she was thinking. “I’m wearing almost nothing. I’m showing off my ass pretty well too. He could take some very sexy pics of my butt, Spike, but I could do even better. But! But, but, but,” she giggled and winked, “I’ll only do it if you tell me to. So… do you want me to?”

Spike thought about it. Spike smiled.

“I think you should,” he told her, booping his snout to hers. Moving his claws up her back from her ass, he watched as Sweetie Belle bobbed her head in a cheery nod, hiked her tail up and to the side, and offered an unrestricted view of her lovely cheeks. Right away, the camera-wielding colt took the opportunity to shoot as many photos of Sweetie’s heart-shaped rear as he wished. And Sweetie Belle let him.

Spike cupped Sweetie Belle’s chin. She let him do that too. She looked happy to.

“Looks to me like you’re not that bad a kitty-cat after all,” Spike snorted. Sweetie Belle answered him with another titter.

“No, but I am naughty!”

“I can agree with that.”

They were almost too preoccupied to notice Featherweight shooting a round of pics from another angle, catching them smiling in each others’ faces and then take off with his newest scoop. They both glanced over to watch him leave, however. Spike was the first to break the following silence.

“Wanna go to his house later to ask for some copies?” he asked. The filly atop his chest swished her tail and took her time to answer.

“I think you should,” she finally said, mirroring his words to her just a few minutes ago. Sweetie Belle let her cheek drop on his chest again, with her boobs smooshed in between him and her, and sighed. “I’d like for you to have them. It’d be nice to know you like looking at me enough to keep my pictures. You used to have a picture of Rarity, didn’t you?”

She put her lips so close to his with the last words. Their breath mingled; her mouth stayed open slightly. Rising slightly from his own breath, up and down, up… and down.

“Sweetie Belle?” Spike barely noticed the quiver in his voice. It was there, though. She sought out his eyes, waited for him to continue. “Do you… do you want to… kiss me?”

He saw her blink owlishly. Her little muzzle opened and closed, without any sound escaping. Her cheeks flushed near-crimson, her eyes darted around, only coming to rest on him again after what felt like forever to him, but could only have been less than half a minute. He saw her throat move, swallowing before she said anything. Maybe not trusting herself to speak before.

“I, I do. I wanna kiss you, Spike. I want to… to…” She grimaced and buried her nose in his chest scales. “I want to do so much with you, but I… I don’t know how! I want to do the best I can, be the best you ever knew, but I don’t… I only…”

Spike suddenly felt something wet on his chest.

Tears.

Oh no.

“I didn’t expect you to ask already,” came Sweetie Belle’s muffled words. She clung to him. “I thought I’d be ready, but I’m not. I’m not ready. I’m not… I’m not ready!”

Spike brought a claw around to stroke her shoulder. She tensed up under his touch but quickly relaxed again. She didn’t flinch away, or tried to get him to stop, or anything. Good. If there was something Spike hated, it was seeing a filly cry. The more she relaxed, the further he allowed his touch to run over the snow-white slopes of her body, coming to rest just past her backside again. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. I didn’t meant to make you uncomfortable. Let’s take things slow, okay?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. Or she just rubbed her tears away on his scales. Either was fine with him. “Spike? Have you ever kissed somepony else?” the filly asked. Spike choked on a mouthful of air; it made her laugh.

When he was done making a foal of himself, he shook his head, wearing a wry expression. “Nope, haven’t had the opportunity once. Never got to get that, um, intimate with a pony, or any other creature for that matter. Although, there was that one time I almost kissed a mare…”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle leaned forward. “Who was it?”

“Applejack.”

A flat stare was his answer. “What?”

“Yup. I almost kissed Applejack one time.” Spike rolled his eyes. “I was off in a daydream about saving Rarity from a bunch of Diamond Dogs. One moment I’m down there beating up mutts, the next I’m opening my eyes to see I almost put a wet one right on AJ’s muzzle. Good thing nopony really made a big deal of it since. Hm. Your face is getting all scrunchy, Sweetie Belle. Are you trying not to laugh at me?”

“Snrk!”

“Oh, you are. Well then.” He made for a savage grin and with the one down at her bottom right, he gave her a quick pinch. Sweetie Belle jerked and squeaked. For a second, her tail curled almost over her shoulder before flopping down. “Naughty. Kitty.”

“Mmm. You bet.” Sweetie Belle cocked her head. Her face lit up. “I just got an idea. How about we ask Twilight for advice, Spike? She has tons of books on stuff! She could help!”

“Help with what?” he asked. The sudden swerve left him a tad confused. “Kissing?”

“Among other things,” Sweetie Belle allowed, sounding gracious to Spike. And excited. “Let’s ask Twilight, please! She won’t say no! I know she won’t say no!”

Something inside Spike’s brain coiled into a knot at the thought of asking Twilight Sparkle for… kissing advice. Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had less dates in her life than even he did. Since technically, he now had one. Not to mention, she was still his boss—sister—mother—thing. Right?

“I dunno, Sweetie Belle…”
She stared in his face. “I’ll sneak off some of Rarity’s baby-blue gems.”

“Deal!”

“Curse my weakness for tasty gems,” Spike muttered to himself. He and Sweetie Belle stood at the gates to Twilight’s castle. They’d knocked and now waited for the princess to answer the door.

Spike ventured a glance at Sweetie Belle. She looked… serene, he’d call it. Still only clothed in her bra and a thong, the rest of her outfit, she’d put in the basket. They’d drawn a few glances when they walked back, and no wonder: The filly was very easy on the eyes and tended to bounce in all the interesting places whenever she skipped happily. It was nice to see her happy.

Twilight Sparkle’s magic drew him away from his thoughts. The gates swung open, revealing Ponyville’s very own Alicorn Princess, looking better than the day before. Less sleep-deprived, in Spike’s opinion. She’d changed into new duds while he was gone. Now she wore a backless blue shirt, popular among pegasi for leaving the wings free, to the point where the style was often called ‘pegashirt’—he’d heard that one from Rarity, followed by a disgusted snort—and a dark purple skirt he dimly remembered from her later days at Celestia’s school. It ended well above her knees by now. It was a wonder she still had it. Twilight smiled brightly for him, a smile Spike returned with gusto.

“Hey, Spike! You’re back! And you brought Sweetie Belle with you. Did you want to continue here?” She drew a velvet hand up to her muzzle. “Oh no, I don’t have any snacks prepared! I should’ve thought about the two of you wanting to take things to the castle, I should’ve had something in store..!”

“It’s okay, Twilight.” Sweetie Belle answered the alicorn before Spike could. She’d leaned forward to touch Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder. “I’m only just here because Spike wanted to ask you a favour.”

Spike frowned. “Didn’t we agree to ask together?” he noted. They totally had, hadn’t they? So why was she putting him in the spot like this? Spike got a sudden urge to give Sweetie a slap on the bum for this—a light one—but shook the thought away quickly.

Sweetie Belle shrugged and smiled sheepishly, scuffing the ground with a hoof. “Well, yeah, but… I thought it would fit more if you asked. Please?”

She gave him the puppiest of eyes, in spite of her kitty-cat getup. Much to his chagrin, her’s was no less effective than Rarity’s. Must be something in the family.

“Oh, alright.” Spike rolled his eyes. Twilight followed the conversation of the two youngsters with mild confusion showing on her face. Spike put a hand on her shoulder; she looked back to him immediately, probably expecting an explanation. He took a breath.

“We had a lot of fun today,” he told Twilight, “Sweetie Belle and me. We hung out, and talked, and a friend took a few pictures, but when we… when we were about to…” He faltered.

A glance to the side, where Sweetie Belle’s big, bright, hopeful eyes were glued onto him. He felt his nerves settle.

“When we were about to get to the, well, the kissing and other, more intimate stuff, we kinda didn’t know how to go about it.”

Twilight’s brow creased. “About kissing?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Kissing and other stuff. So, like, we thought, since you have so many books on the subject… couldn’t you give us a few pointers?”

She stared at him blankly. “Pointers… on kissing?”

“And other stuff,” Spike said. The awkwardness of standing on the castle’s precipice, a word he’d learned by now, with Sweetie Belle barely clothed beside him faded more and more.

“Oh gee.” Twilight bit her lips. He saw her wings flutter behind her back. She did that little flapping when she was nervous, he knew. “Um, not that I’m not flattered, but isn’t that something you should ask Cadance about? It’s not really… my specialty…”

“Please, Twilight Sparkle.” Sweetie Belle had opted to take an active role in the conversation again, it seemed. She had her big fluffy paws pressed together under her chin like she was begging. “Please, we can’t ask Princess Cadance because she’s not here, but you are. Can’t you take us through things? You’re so smart and you know so much! We’d be so grateful!”

“Well, I,” Twilight stuttered. Her face scrunched up. “I, I guess I could… do a presentation? It’s not like Spike’s not at the age where we… where we should have the talk… Give me a day, I should have everything prepared by then.”

Sweetie Belle clapped her hands together—it sounded like somepony beating pillows against one another—and Spike, too, felt a little relieved. At least he wouldn’t be alone for the talk.
Although, would having Sweetie Belle be there for it make it worse..?

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The Alicorn found herself glomped by the near-naked filly. Before she had much time to react, Sweetie threw herself at her second target, and now drake and princess shared a startled and slightly blushing look. “Oh, this is going to be the best date ever! I can’t wait for tomorrow! Same time as today?”

“Er,” Spike answered.

“Great! I’ll be here!” She let Spike go. She was blushing too, and smiling. She fumbled to grasp one of his claws. She gave up quickly. “Thank you, Spike. For everything. I can’t wait until tomorrow.” She stepped away from him. “Okay. Okay, see you tomorrow. I’ll be going home now. I can help Rarity with dinner. Goodbye, Spike. And you too, Twilight. Thank you both.” Sweetie Belle waved a mittened hand.

“Um, Sweetie Belle?” Spike pointed at her hands. “How are you going to get in?”

She shrugged. “Eh, I’ll scratch on the door. I’m a kitty, remember?”

With a giggle, the filly turned away to leave; leaving a young dragon and his caretaker behind. The latter giving him a questioning look.

“She’s a..?”

“I’ll tell you at dinner.”

“Ah. So, about dinner, did you have anything planned for today?”

“You know,” said Spike, watching Sweetie Belle’s bouncing tail grow smaller in the distance, “I don’t know why, but I could really go for some hot buns tonight.”

Sweetie Belle skipped along the dirt road, almost back at Rarity’s boutique. She couldn’t wait to tell her big sister everything! About Spike, about their next date tomorrow… it was all so amazing! So amazing, in fact, she didn’t think at all when she felt a sudden itch on her back and reached back to scratch it.

Only to hear a muted ‘click’.

And feel a little more breezy around the middle.

Sweetie Belle looked down. On the ground right before her lay the beautiful black bra Rarity had made for her. She must have accidentally snagged the hook with her paw. And now her girls were bare to the world.
“Oh… my…” she whispered, sounding more like Fluttershy than she’d meant to. Sweetie Belle glanced left and right, but there was nopony there who could see her. Nopony who could see her… her boobies. She looked down on them. Put her forearm under them, pushing them up a little. She blushed. They did look nice. Creamy white, not as big as Apple Bloom but bigger than most in her class. Soft. Squishy. Would it… really be a problem if other ponies saw? Featherweight had pictures of her butt with barely anything on. And…

And…

Spike said it was okay. Spike said she should… show off.

Slowly, she bent down to pick the garment up again. It took a little fumbling on her part with the paws making things difficult. She managed, though it was clearly impossible to put it back on as long as she wore her mittens.

Sweetie Belle felt the warmth of an explosive blush covering her face. No, she couldn’t put it back on. If she met anypony on the way now, they would see her boobies in all their glory. Spike said she should show off. She wouldn’t cover them. Anypony could ogle her freely. It… it felt…

It felt right. If she wanted to have her clothes back on, she had to ask somepony else. She couldn’t do it on her own. It was out of her hands. Literally. That decision was somepony else’s to make. Spike’s cute grinning face popped into her mind. Oh…

So, what if she…

Sweetie Belle, blushing a deep crimson, brought a shivering hand to her hip. She felt the fabric of her thong catch on the mitt. And she pushed. Not a minute later and Sweetie Belle stood on the middle of the street, butt naked but for some bits on her hands.

She looked around again. Was that a shadow in the window across from her? Was somepony looking back? Maybe some stallion home early? She turned fully around. If there was somepony there, they… they deserved a good look. She straightened her back, presented herself. In her mind, Spike winked to her, nodding in approval and whispering ‘good girl’..

Carousel Boutique awaited her arrival, however. She had to leave. She could see it in the distance. A few minutes, tops. She began walking again, eyes straight on her target. One more thing to tell Rarity about. Speaking of Rarity…

Somepony just left Carousel Boutique. The front door opened—no, it slammed open, and out stormed figure in a coat and a hat covering almost all of them. The only thing Sweetie could make out was the hurry they left with, and… Rarity standing in the doorway. Glaring at them. With a glass of red wine in her hand.

It looked like Rarity had her own story to tell too.

Looking for Group

When Scootaloo arrived at Sugarcube Corner, Diamond Tiara was already waiting for her, sitting alone at a table for two. Arms crossed, shoulders set. Tail swishing.

The pink filly had a small glass of hot chocolate with a tiny crown of whipped cream sitting in front of her. And she was frowning so hard into it, it was like she was trying to will her drink to turn into mud from the sheer vitriol of her glare. Scootaloo felt her wings twitch in a subconscious desire to take her away from a potential threat, but she pressed them down flat on her back. There was no going back. She’d promised.

Diamond Tiara didn’t react when Scootaloo clip-clopped over to her table. Her sitting down only got her the Earth Pony’s ears rotating in her direction, while the rest of the her remained stony. Scootaloo scooted the chair she’d claimed closer and propped her arms on the table. She chanced a look down on Diamond Tiara’s drink. The cream was slowly dissolving into the chocolate, while the filly looked on like an evil god watching a ship-wrecked pony drown in the ocean.

Scootaloo was torn from the gruesome imagery by the sour-sweet voice of her… partner-in-crime, she guessed.

“Well?” She still wouldn’t look up. That normally cute face was a rigid mask of general displeasure trained on the tiny tragedy playing out in her drink. “Did you find out anything? What did you find out?”

Scootaloo took a deep breath and released it through her nose. She glanced about for a moment—not like anypony was listening in, the only other customer, some brown stallion she’d seen around town now and again, was currently chatting up Pinkie Pie, and it didn’t seem like they were going to stop any time soon. Besides, they weren’t doing anything illegal. She thought.

“Silver Spoon and Snails hooked up about the same time Apple Bloom and Snips did.”

Opposite her, Diamond Tiara finally looked up. Her muzzle scrunched up fiercely.

“That’s it? Nothing else? Seriously?”

Scootaloo felt her brows crease up. She tapped a finger against the tabletop. The tone in Diamond Tiara’s voice, she didn’t like it. Too pushy. She was always pushy. It was getting on her nerves. A lot.

“She did tell me about how their relationship started,” she relented. “One day, Snails came to her with—”

Diamond interrupted her with a dismissive snort. “A Fire Snail shell. I know that one. What a waste of time!” She stuck out her tongue, crossing her eyes and making a ‘blegh’ sound. Scootaloo stared at her, struggling with her growing irritation at the pink filly’s antics. She had the urge to get right back up and fly out the door. Literally.

You knew? You knew, and you didn’t tell me you knew? Scootaloo ground her teeth together. The nerve of this little—!

“Okay. So, what was the point of siccing me on Silver Spoon,” Scootaloo asked with a calm she didn’t feel, and she was sure she didn’t show cause her wings were flaring up, “if you already knew?”

The Earth Pony met her glare with a wave of her pink hand. “Eh, I thought maybe you could find out something new. Something that actually matters. Fat chance, right?” She crossed her arms and huffed, as if she was putting up with her, and turned away. “Should’ve known better.”

“DT, if you’d just told me in advance what the hay you knew or didn’t know, I could’ve made sure to ask for the thing you actually wanted me to find out in the first place! Don’t blame me for your plan not working if you don’t tell me the entire plan!”

Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Why should I tell you all the details when I’m the one doing all the thinking?”

Scootaloo’s tail lashed the air. She was this close to planting her fist in the other girl’s muzzle. She didn’t, because her vision was suddenly obscured by a small mountain of a hazelnut-and-chocolate meringue cake. She reeled back, blinked in confusion.

“Here you go!” Pinkie Pie’s shrill voice was in Scootaloo’s ear, sending it twitching away from the source. She turned her head to the mare and the horizon of pearly-white pony teeth that was Pinkie’s smile. “Sorry about the wait, just had to wrap up that last order, I was all set to get this one to you but they came in, and you weren’t here before they were done, but now they’re gone and you’re still here, so enjoy!” She giggled and winked. “Have fun, you two!”

Scootaloo, a little baffled, watched her pronk away, ‘la-la’-ing to herself and generally seeming happy as only a Pinkie Pie could.

“I was wondering when she’d finally bring you that,” Diamond Tiara said from across the table. She was still turned away and pouting. If she sensed the questioning look Scootaloo sent her, she didn’t show it, but she did shrug and kept talking. “I had enough time to order for you too before you showed. Honestly, you almost made me think you wouldn’t.” She closed her eyes, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

“No need to thank me. It’s quite alright. I don’t need your gratitude or something. I’m just doing this because you did something for me. That’s all.” Diamond Tiara waved her away again. “Go on. Eat. I’m not hungry.”

Scootaloo let her gaze drop to the delicious desert. It looked good. Really good. Sugarcube Corner made some of the best cakes in Equestria. The Cakes were famous for their… well, their cakes, even in places like Canterlot! She sneaked a glance at Diamond Tiara over the little hill of sugary, hazelnut-and-chocolate-y goodness. Perhaps this made for a suitable peace offering. For the time being. “Thank you, Diamond Tiara.”

The other filly reacted only with another huff. Scootaloo smirked to herself. Maybe it was ungrateful, but this opened up a golden opportunity. She could have a little fun at Diamond Tiara’s expense, couldn’t she? It wasn’t like she didn’t dish it out herself! And maybe she did promise Miss Cheerilee to try to get along with her, but a little ribbing wouldn’t be too bad... Flipping her small fork between fingers, Scootaloo put her tone as nonchalant as she could.

“You could have just asked me out if you wanted a date, but this will do, I guess.” And she took her first bite.

She shuddered with pleasure. Mostly from the awesome cake that set her tastebuds dancing, but also from the now-sputtering, increasingly red filly snob who looked like somepony had punched her in the stomach.

“Wha—you—I—tha, that’s, no, you can’t—!”

Scootaloo couldn’t help it. She broke into a full-body laugh, sending specks of chocolate and nuts flying. Diamond Tiara hastily pulled up a napkin to shield herself, then hid her flushed visage behind it. Just her eyes glowered murderously over at Scootaloo, who grinned with her mouth full.

“You’re disgusting.” Diamond Tiara’s voice was a growl. “In every sense of the word.”

“Up yours!”

“Find new material already.” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, lowered her impromptu shield and sighed to the heavens. “Celestia, why do I even try?”

Scootaloo ignored the barb. She got the better of her enemy, to her, this day was already somewhat a victory in and of itself. Even if they weren’t that much closer to any real answers. Then again, they weren’t done talking yet. She swallowed down another mouthful of cake and then pointed the fork at Diamond Tiara. “Seriously, DT. Why did you want me to grill Silver Spoon if you knew the reason they got together? You think she lied to you?”

“No. She wouldn’t.”

Diamond Tiara put her arms down on the table, leaning forward on them. The blush had mostly receded from her face, but traces of it were still there. She looked tired, all of a sudden.

“I really did think you might find out something I hadn’t seen,” she murmured, quietly. Almost as if Scootaloo wasn’t there. Just loud enough that Scootaloo didn’t need to strain herself. “It doesn’t make sense. Silver Spoon is classy, she’s as high society as Ponyville gets, outside of Sweetie Belle’s sister and the princess. Her family is very much invested in her future. She has the best tutors money can buy. She’s excellent in school. She’s clever, she’s studious, she’s one of the prettiest fillies in the whole town. So why, then, throw all of that away? To be with that… that mouldy hay fry?”

Scootaloo slowly closed her mouth. Swallowed down what she had between her teeth. “Do you really think being with Snails is throwing her life away?”

Diamond Tiara snorted, but it lacked the bite she usually had. It was more frustrated than angry, Scootaloo thought, and probably not directed so much at her.

“Well it’s certainly not helping her move forward with her life, now is it? What opportunities does Snailsquirm offer, huh? It’s a waste. A mistake. A tragedy in three acts. Because that’s as high as he can count.” She glared at her drink before picking it up, blowing on it, taking a sip and grimacing. “Nnn! She… she could do so much better!”

“Like who?” Scootaloo said the words before her muzzle caught up with her brain.

The pink filly opposite her stretched out her tongue from her muzzle. Scootaloo’s temper flared, but deflated pretty quickly when Diamond Tiara proceeded to wave air to the slightly-deeper shade of pink appendage.

“Ugh,” Diamond made her displeasure known. She went cross-eyed, staring down her own muzzle. “Hoght! Sthill hoght!”

Scootaloo couldn’t help herself, the sight was just too ridiculous. She snorted a quick laugh, earning herself an angry glare coupled with an angry blush that was simply too adorable not to crack an even bigger smile. For her part, Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to be in the mood to bite back. She just glared some more, then glared down at her hand. Drawing her tongue back into her mouth, she gave it a few experimental lip-smacks. “Getting burned too much today,” she groused.

“Kay.” The Pegasus didn’t quite know what that was about, and frankly, she was more interested in something else anyway. Even if the other girl’s antics were really funny... She took another bite of her treat, twiddled her fork in Diamond’s direction and steered the conversation back to the earlier question. “You said she could do better.”

Diamond Tiara looked up, blinked. “Who?”

“Silver Spoon.”

“Oh.”

Diamond fell silent. Her hand shook a bit, most likely to chase the pain away while its owner thought up her answer. Scootaloo busied herself with her desert in the meantime, waiting for the questionable nuggets of insight the Earth Pony was sure to hand her. Only, she didn’t, not right away.

Diamond Tiara carefully picked up the little spoon she’d gotten with her cocoa, dipping it into the rich dark brown drink. She appeared to try out a different approach, after burning her tongue on the drink directly; now, she brought the chocolate-filled spoon to her muzzle, blew gently on it, making it ripple like a soft breeze across a lake, then eased it into her mouth.

The pink filly gazed absent-mindedly at the table as she suckled on the sweet treat. She made a low ‘mmm’ as she did, and her eyes fell a little more closed. Still holding the spoon pinched between two fingers, she let her mouth open; the tip of her tongue lapped at the small shallow bowl with slow, deliberate movements. It moved to the underside next, and above again, circling the head of the spoon. As she teased the eating utensil, while Scootaloo stared at her with wide-open eyes, Diamond Tiara made a pleased-sounding little sigh before bringing her lips together and giving the head of her spoon a kiss.

Scootaloo gulped. Her throat felt a little dry. Which was not surprising, the room felt a little hotter too. “DT..?”

“Hmm..?” Diamond Tiara’s gaze snapped back to her.

“You,” Scootaloo began. She had to cough once. “Ahem! You wanted to tell me who you think Silver Spoon could do better with. Before you started, erm, doing all that… with your silver spoon…”

She grimaced internally. Smooth, Scoots.

“Well…” Diamond Tiara furrowed her brows. “Well, if it has to be one of the doofus twosome, why not go with Snips? At least that one has some actual business acumen! Now that would make some sense!”

Scootaloo found herself lowering her fork slowly. Never in a hundred years she had expected to hear Diamond Tiara actually praise one of her favourite bully targets. The sheer surprise at this statement left her staring open-mouthed at the pink filly like she’d grown a second head. A head reciting Ancient Ponish poetry.

“What?” Diamond noticed her shock quickly and didn’t seem pleased by it. She bristled and leaned across the table aggressively, an unspoken challenge to go along with the worded one. “What?! Stop that! You know I’m right!”

Scootaloo tried to wrap her head around what she just heard. Before her mind’s eye, she saw the colt in question with his mouth opened in a wide grin, a gleam of light reflected off of his exposed front teeth with a faint ‘pling’. “Snips? You think being with Snips makes sense?”

“Compared to Snails, yes!”

“We’re talking about the same colt here, right?” Scootaloo drilled on. “Short and chubby? Bushy eyebrows, buckteeth?”

“Yes!”

“The class clown? Biggest jokester in school? Has a history of making kinda silly plans to get stuff he wants?”

“Rich coming from you, but yes!”

“The guy called Snipsy Snap? That one?”

“Yes!”

Scootaloo paused. For a second or two, she pondered, and finally, mostly against her better judgement, asked: “Do… you like Snips?”

“Ye—NO!” Diamond’s eyes went wide while her face went pale… followed by a flush of crimson. She looked upset. No… she looked furious.

“Would you, please, take this seriously!?” she yelled. Diamond Tiara hammered the palm of her hand on the table, almost tripping over her hot chocolate and making Scootaloo jump in shock. It was the same hand she’d glared at just a moment ago, and when it slammed down on the wood the angry filly winced and hissed in pain. The murderous glare that followed told Scootaloo she was blamed for the pain… and she supposed it really was her fault just a tiny bit. “I try to explain something, and you just keep making these… these dumb jokes! I’m not here to amuse you, Scootaloo! Celestia’s Sake! First you say this dumb, dumb stuff about you, and now Snips! What’s next, are you going to bring up Babs Seed or something? You know what? Forget it. I’m done wasting my time with you.”

She made to rise. Only to have Scootaloo grab her dress to hold her back. Diamond Tiara flashed her teeth, but before she could unleash another angry tirade—and she looked very much like she was about to—Scootaloo cut in.

“Wait! Wait, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

The glower stayed frozen on pretty pink features, but instead of the harsh tongue-lashing Scootaloo expected to get, there was just a long exhale. Taking her chance, she continued; Scootaloo’s head lowered almost by itself, but she kept her grip on the dress.

“It wasn’t meant as a joke. I’m sorry. You normally don’t have anything good to say about either Snails or Snips, so I didn’t expect this coming from you. And it sounded like, well, like you actually had something you liked about him.”

Diamond Tiara gradually lowered herself back into her recently abandoned seat, stopping for a moment so that Scootaloo could let go of her clothes. She steepled her slender fingers in front of her face, taking another deep breath to steady herself. Over the tent of her fingertips, Diamond Tiara sent the Pegasus a calculating look. She remained quiet for now, nodding for Scootaloo to get on with it.

She did. “Even Silver Spoon admitted you two picked on Snails and him. Almost as much as you did with AB, Sweetie and me. You two wouldn’t give them the time of day. What did Silver Spoon say about Snips once? ‘Teeth like something that should be squeaking rather than whinnying’?”

That got an amused snort out of the other girl. “Yeah, that sounds like something she said once.”

Scootaloo allowed herself to relax a little. She felt her wings settle behind her. They’d begun spreading when Diamond shouted at her, but things seemed to be calming down again. Good. Trading a few blows with DT is one thing, but her flipping out like that made me feel like I’m the bully. “Yeah. So, when you said something nice about him, I was surprised. I’d be surprised too if you said something nice about, heck, me.”

Diamond Tiara’s features turned dark for a moment. At least that’s what it looked like to Scootaloo, because Diamond Tiara ducked behind her fingers again, leaving only her deep blue, piercing eyes, silently judging her.

“Well… I haven’t always been… very forthcoming with praise towards you and the other Crusaders…” she allowed with some noticeable reluctance. She looked away, towards one of the windows, and shrugged. “As for your question, let me reiterate: No. I don’t like Snips that way. I have zero interest in romantic matters, myself. Frankly, this whole ‘dating’ business can’t be over quickly enough so I get my bestie back.”

Scootaloo just about told her Silver Spoon was still there and she should just get over herself and accept Snails was a part of her friend’s life now, but shook her head instead, keeping it to herself. That wasn’t her battle. Diamond Tiara would learn, or keep up her little tantrum and lose her one true friend in Ponyville for good… if they had ever really been friends.

Scootaloo almost missed Diamond’s next words, when she kept on in a nonchalant tone. “Besides, even if I did like-like Snips—which I don’t—he’s taken. Last time I saw him, he was rubbing cheeks together with Apple Bloom like an overfed rabbit that thinks he’s a cat.”

Scootaloo raised her brow. “Not if you do the thing Tootsie did.” She met Diamond Tiara’s suddenly suspicious gaze with a neutral one of her own.

“What do you mean?” Diamond cocked her head to the side. “Did she get her nipples pierced with cheap rings? I hear he likes that.”

“How would you even—no. Well, not that I know.”

“Good.” The Earth Pony glanced down at herself, stroking the palm of her hand down over the curve of her top. “I’m not going to. And if I did, I’d make it more expensive.”

Scootaloo chuckled, brought her arm up and poked her in her chest. It was soft, and sort of squishy. Her finger sunk into the cloth-covered flesh a fair bit; somewhere next to it, she could feel something a bit harder… and turning harder still. “Like little diamonds, eh?”

The look Scootaloo earned for this, she couldn’t place. Diamond Tiara’s expression tightened up but relaxed so quickly, she wasn’t sure it wasn’t a trick of the light.

“I suppose,” Diamond Tiara almost-purred. “Now, what was that thing in the place with Tootsie Flute?”

Scootaloo sobered up quickly. “Something’s going on with Tootsie, Twist and Truffle, DT. It’s about the three of them,” she said. She shook her head again, took a last bite of dessert to give herself time to think. The fork plink-ed on the now-empty plate when Scootaloo put it down and licked her lips. “When you distracted Snails on his date with Silver Spoon and I talked to her, those three came in together.”

“Three friends going out for ice cream? Together? Oh no. Hold the presses,” Diamond Tiara threw in flatly. “Never seen that before. Never knew anypony who ever did something so heinous. Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

Scootaloo snorted, narrowed her eyes. “I never stuck my head down my friend’s cleavage while my coltfriend watched us.”

The other filly opened her mouth for another retort, but froze as the words sunk in. Her expression went from snarky to confused and questioning and curious, all without any apparent muscle movement in her face. Scootaloo thought she deserved a little smirk for that one, so she did.

“Yeah. They were very close.” Her smirk collapsed into itself. “The weirdest thing about it is, Tootsie spoke to me during recess. She wanted some advice. I think it had something to do with whatever’s going on between them. I feel… kind of responsible.”

Diamond Tiara stared at her with half-lidded eyes. “What did you tell her?”

“Uh…” Scootaloo shrugged helplessly and smiled. “Sharing is caring?”

“Because it is!!”

“Gah!”

Pinkie’s suddenly popping out of nowhere nearly sent Scootaloo tumbling off her chair. She barely managed to steady herself with a few flaps of her wings, which, fortunately, left her hand free. She needed it, to clutch her chest where her heart seemed to be wanting to jump out of her chest by her throat and explore the world without the rest of her. A quick glance showed Diamond Tiara was exactly as surprised as she was, leaning away from the older pink pony and flailing.

“P-Pinkie Pie!” Scootaloo wheezed. “Please… please don’t scare us like that!”

“Hah hah, oh yeah, sorry.” Pinkie scratched the back of her neck and grinned apologetically. “I just heard you saying that when I came over, and I totally know that one, and it’s totally true!”

Diamond Tiara had managed to calm down somewhat, judging from her slowly getting her breathing back under control. She blinked at Pinkie suspiciously. “Why did you come over anyway? I already paid. I’m not giving tips after I already paid.”

“Nothing like that!” Pinkie Pie waved her concerns off. Her smile, however, dimmed a tiny bit. She looked almost serious, even spoke less overly excited. “There was some yelling earlier. I wanted to check on my guests, because yelling ponies are usually unhappy ponies—unless it’s Bulk Biceps—and unhappy ponies can always do with a teenie-tiny dose of Pinkie Pie to turn their frown upside down!”

Scootaloo and Diamond shared a look. “Er… n-no need,” Scootaloo stammered, “No unhappy ponies here! We had a little disagreement back there, but it’s all cleared up now.”

Pinkie Pie stared at her for a long moment, Unmoving. Then she brightened.

“Okey-Dokey-Lokey! You two have fun! And remember to try not to disagree so loudly, everypony else stops having fun!” She waved, her arm turning into a pink blur, and pronked off again at the same time.

The two filles left in their seats both sighed. And Scootaloo couldn’t help but snigger. “Well,” she told Diamond Tiara, “at least she didn’t tell us to have fun on our date.”

Diamond Tiara sent her a dirty look. It only made her snigger harder.

“I really don’t like it when ponies make jokes about that at my expense.” Diamond Tiara’s nose twitched, and her eyebrows nearly touched, so hard were they drawn together.

“Don’t worry, last one for today. So, DT, what’s next?” Scootaloo asked. She earned herself a blink from the other filly.

“Next?”

The Pegasus gave her the cockiest grin she could muster. She felt a lot calmer now. Yet also excited. More focussed. “Yeah! Don’t tell me you’re not curious about what’s going on? You were all raring to go just a few hours ago!”

Diamond Tiara blinked again. And slowly, she began to smile herself. She leaned forward, elbows on the table. Behind her, her two-toned tail wagged side to side.

“I think you should go and ask your friend Apple Bloom next, about why she likes Snips.”

“Maybe it’s his ‘actual business acumen’?”

“Hush, you.”

Sweetie Belle had almost made it all the way up to the entrance of Carousel Boutique before her sister even noticed her. Instantly, the stormy clouds darkening the older Unicorn’s face lifted, making way for a radiant beaming. She could see Rarity’s gem-blue eyes light up like stars in pure, sisterly joy.

“Sweetie Belle!” she cried, levitating the glass of wine back inside her boutique without looking and spreading her arms wide. “Am I glad to see you! Give your big sister a hug, hm?”

“Who was that guy who just left..?”

“Unimportant!” Rarity shooed the question from her presence. “What is important, is you and your date! Come in, come in! You need to tell me ALL!”

After a brief but welcome embrace, Sweetie Belle was ushered inside by a smiling Rarity, who took the lingerie she carried under one arm with her magic, folded it and put it away for a later wash. Sweetie Belle watched on as Rarity fussed about in her shop, all the while talking excitedly and firing off rapid-fire questions:

“How did it go? Did it go well? Was he late? No, no, that wouldn’t fit Spikey-Wikey, he was early, wasn’t he? Did he dress nicely? Did he like your dress? Oh, I hope he liked your dress!”

“He did,” Sweetie said. She felt a hint of annoyance at Rarity bringing it all back to her dresses, but with a wry grin and a shake of her head, she decided to let it go.

Rarity is always going to be Rarity, that’s why I love her.

“He liked the dress you made for me.” Sweetie Belle nibbled on her lower lip. With a conspiratorial tone, almost wickedly so, she added: “And he liked the surprise you made for me, too. He liked it very much.”

Rarity paused, then she returned with well-concealed glee. “Oh, did he, now? Well, I am glad to hear that.”

Another pony might’ve missed it, but Sweetie Belle had no problem picking out how pleased her sister truly was. There was a happy, content warmth in her voice, a pride both about a job well-done, and, perhaps, pride for Sweetie Belle herself as well. She would have liked to think so.

Rarity’s smile slipped from her, though, and she cocked her head to the side to look at the younger Unicorn closely again, her lips pursing and a finger tapping against them.

“However, I did notice you were not actually wearing all of the surprise when you came back.” The smile came back to her, now teasing. It made Sweetie Belle blush and feel a little hot all of a sudden. “Just how far did your little date go, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle scratched her neck, still blushing. It wasn’t quite as easy with the big kitty mittens on. “N-not that far,” she stammered. “We talked a little, and I showed him the outfit, and then we cuddled a bit…”

Rarity’s eyes positively glittered. “Did you kiss..?”

Sweetie Belle made a face. “No,” she admitted.

Her big sister blinked, obviously surprised. “No? Whyever not? You were so looking forward to it, were you not?”

Now, Sweetie Belle crossed her wrists behind her back. She dragged her hoof in little circles on the ground, feeling embarrassed. “I was. I chickened out.”

“Oh, Sweetie Belle…” Rarity shook her head and reached out to hug her again. Sweetie stopped her with a raised mittened hand.

“But, we have a plan to solve that!”

“Oh?

“Uh-huh!” Sweetie Belle nodded, her mood lifting. “We asked Twilight for help! She’s going to give us pointers on that, and other things!”

She saw her sister grimace for some strange reason. “Pointers on kissing..?”

“And other things.”

“By Twilight Sparkle.” Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes. She sounded long-suffering, and Sweetie felt like there was a joke there she didn’t know. “Well, then. I wish you and Spike luck. And Twilight, too. You’ll need it. All of you.”

Shaking her head, she gave Sweetie Belle another once-over. “It’s really unfortunate you didn’t get to kiss Spike, or do more for that matter. I’d have thought with the top falling off…”

Sweetie Belle’s ears snapped straight up. “Wait. How did you know about that? I didn’t tell you yet.”

Now it was Rarity’s turn to blush. “Ah-hah-hah,” she laughed, in a way that sounded more than a little forced, raising her hands and shrugging helplessly, “you see, I might, perhaps, have put in a bit of a, shall we say, ‘weak point’, in order to facilitate your courtship. Only with the best of intentions, I assure you.” She swallowed, backed away. “Now, Sweetie Belle, I can see you are upset… ack!”

With a war-cry, equal parts girl and meow, the younger Unicorn jumped at her older sibling, paws stretched out and hitting her in the shoulders; barrelling into the mare sent them both tumbling to the ground, thankfully into a pile of unfinished—and un-needled—clothing, exactly as Sweetie had calculated. She was on top of Rarity now, growling and not just not laughing out loud, and bit at her sister’s dress, right at her neckline. Rarity shrieked but was powerless to stop her from pulling it down in one go!

Rarity’s creamy-white breasts popped free from their confines; they bounced with her heavy breathing, still held up from below by her dress but otherwise uninhibited now. The soft white fur on her chest was extremely smooth, Sweetie Belle found, as she pressed her own breasts down on them. Rarity’s breasts were as generous as Rarity herself, more than a handful each, heavy without sagging at all, the envy of many a filly in Sweetie Belle’s class and probably a lot of Ponyville’s mares. Their nipples brushed, sending a quick pulse of pleasurable energy up to Sweetie’s brain, and to her mild but delighted surprise, her sister’s pearls went stiff just as much as hers reacted to the stimulation.

Sweetie Belle spat out the dress’s fabric still in her mouth and smirked from one red-flushed ear to the other. “Now we’re even!”

Her sister gaped at her. Then, she broke into a giggle, Sweetie joining in quickly. “W-well, I guess we are! And I guess I do, sort of, deserve this after playing that little trick on you, though, again, with the best of intentions. Plus, this isn’t so bad. Freeing, in a way.” She emphasised that by wiggling her upper torso in place, sending her breasts jiggling side to side, and again rubbing their nipples together.

Sweetie suppressed a gasp, and after taking a long look and a deep breath, she pointed her nose down. “Rarity? Do you think I’ll get as juicy tits as you?”

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity gasped. “Language!”

“Sorry. Do you think I’ll get as attractive tits as you?”

Rarity rolled her eyes, though she did also smile good-naturedly. “Honestly… but yes. I do believe you will. You’re well on your way, I’d go as far as to say. I can see that. He will too. Trust me.”

Both sisters shared a smile. Sweetie Belle brought her head down to brush her cheek against Rarity’s and tried to embrace her, somewhat awkwardly, since neither their position nor those paws made it particularly easy. They did their best, though, and it made her happy. Very happy. This was easily the second happiest she’d felt today, so much so that she only reluctantly moved away again when her neck grew a little stiff.

Still smiling cheerfully, she looked over her shoulder. And realised something. “Hey, Rarity? We left the front door open.”

“WHAT?!”

Sweetie flinched from the sudden point-blank scream. Beneath her, Rarity scrambled in place but couldn’t free herself with Sweetie Belle on top of her.

“Oh no! Oh no, no, no, NO! I’m halfway naked! Exposed! What if anypony sees me?! What if a stallion comes to visit my shop and I am lying on the floor, flashing my bosom in his face?!”

“Would that really be so bad?” Sweetie Belle looked back to her sister. “I don’t think he’d mind. You have a very nice bosom.”

Rarity stopped. Slowly, the tension bled out of her. “It wouldn’t be, would it?” she murmured, and relaxed completely, to the point where she was like when she had been fully dressed. She turned her head away. Lost in thought, it seemed, her right hand went to give its corresponding breast a gentle squeeze. “Maybe he would’ve wasted less of my time as well, if I had shown them…”

“Who?”

“Unimportant.” Rarity closed her eyes, and after a while, opened them again, to look Sweetie Belle right in her. “I take it you’re no longer upset with me sabotaging your outfit?”

“No. Like you said, it was with good intentions.” Sweetie Belle thought back to when it happened. “And it was kinda fun, really. I couldn’t put it back on by myself. So I took off the bottom too, and walked back buck-naked.”

“Except for those adorable kitten paws and ears.”

“Yeah, except for those. I like those the most.”

“I’m glad.” Rarity raised her head up to rub her nose to Sweetie Belle’s. “If you want, I can make more things for you to entice Spike with. Maybe with more surprises, if you like the thrill. Do you?”

Sweetie Belle tittered, rubbing her nose right back. “I do! I like it!”

“Good!”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“Hey, Rarity?”

“Yes, Sweetie Belle?”

The filly leaned her head to the side. She licked her lips.

“Can you teach me how to kiss..?”

The white Unicorn was sitting alone at his table when the newcomer took a seat next to him. Without asking, he noted, and by turning the chair around so she could lean her forearms on the back, which he found almost as rude as just sitting down unasked. He stilled his blond tail which was threatening to twitch in annoyance and kept his ears strictly forward and trained towards his drink, no matter how much the intrusion into his wished-for solitude irritated him. And it irritated him. A lot.

He did not look at her. He’d only seen she was a mare because her flight suit clung quite tightly to her, no matter the bomber jacket hanging openly from her shoulders. He vowed not to let himself be drawn into some inane, time-wasting chin-wag. He had better things to do. Like enjoying his drink. One could trust the spirits, at least.

“Never seen you in Ponyville. What brings a fellow like you into a backwater dump like Ponyville, big guy?”

“Matters of the heart, if you must know,” the Unicorn said. And immediately cursed himself. Darn this deceptively mild-tasting, but potent brew! It had led him astray!

“Really, now? A stallion like you?” He could feel her weighing him with her eyes. Under different circumstances, he would have appreciated the attention. But he still refused to look at her, faintly hoping she would poof into thin air if he just ignored her hard enough. “I’m guessing you weren’t booked into Ponyville hospital, so… a mare. Or a stallion. I ain’t judging. Could be pretty hot.”

He groaned, put his face in his hands. “If I buy you a drink, will you then leave me be? I have better things to do than… whatever it is you’re trying to get out of me.”

She smirked in response. He just knew she smirked.

“And what if what I want out of you is a drink?”

“Then you can count yourself lucky to be getting that much,” he told her through gritted teeth and spread fingers, “and don’t push it further than that when you did. My patience has been thoroughly tested as of late. I would prefer if you did not add to the count.” He finally looked up at her.

She grinned, waved over the proprietor with a wing and brushed a hand through her scruffy, spiky mane.

She was a rather aggressive teal. Her two-toned, blond mane had the windswept look that came natural to many Pegasi. She was athletic, no doubt about it. Feminine, but with some well-defined muscles that made her look more streamlined rather than bulky. A racer, most likely, but her posture and demeanour betrayed the shameful lack of discipline too many of them evinced.

“Name’s Lightning Dust.” He mentally filed it away. It was apt, he supposed. “Fast as lightning, I let others eat my dust. What’s your name?”

“Charmed,” he said without meaning it, or answering her question. Either she didn’t notice, or she didn’t care, as she lazily held out a hand for him to grasp. He did so, because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do, and she might leave quicker then. Her fingers rested thin in his far larger hand, but he could feel a strong grip press down on his rings.

“Likewise! Now tell me a little about yourself, big guy.”

He snorted his displeasure. “I thought the agreement was you would not push it when I buy you a drink?”

“Drink’s not here yet.”

He opened his mouth to retort. His brain fired blank, however. Technically, she was right, her drink had yet to arrive. A quick look to the bar showed the purple mare who ran the place—Berry Something-Or-Other—was in no hurry to come to his rescue, even if she waved a raised thumb in the direction of his new table-mate. Finding no aid on that front, he relented. He cleared his throat, drew to his full height… or at least stopped sitting slumped over. He could project at least a modicum of dignity if he was to suffer her presence for any longer than a heartbeat.

“Well… I came to Ponyville in search of… a relationship.”

“Hah! I knew it! Now that, I have to hear.” Her grin grew wider. “Who was the lucky girl who broke your heart, chief? Or unlucky?”

“I wouldn’t put it quite in those words myself,” he said, flipping his mane. “And I think I told you enough, as it were.”

“Oh come on, don’t be a spoilsport!” Lightning Dust shook her head, spreading her arms in pleading. Or mocking, he couldn’t tell. “There’s a story there. Tell ol’ Lightning Dust what’s eating at you, you’ll feel so much better, chief!”

He glowered at her. “I don’t think that’s true. I think I may have to ask you to drop it, or that promised drink is void. So, no more, if you please.” Raising the tall glass of clear liquid in front of him to his lips with deliberate slowness, he sipped. It went down the wrong pipe, sending him into a coughing fit. It burned quite terribly; he clutched at his throat, doubled over. She just laughed, him managing to glare at her through the tears turning his vision watery, but she eventually did pat his back to help. It took a little, but the burning in his throat settled.

If only that infernal harridan in the guise of a Pegasus would stop laughing at him!

“Can’t hold your liquor, chief?” Lightning Dust’s head bobbed on her slim neck. “You Canterlot types are such lightweights! I bet chugging the whole glass in one go would knock you out cold, just like that!”

Something about what she’d said didn’t sound right to the stallion. He decided it was the comment about his ability to handle his drink that didn’t sit well with him. Nostrils flaring, he raised his chin defiantly.

“Oh? You believe this is too much for me?”

She shook her head. The smirk didn’t go away, exactly as much as the mare herself refused to. “Nah. I know so.”

His teeth ground together. He felt muscles in his arm bulge, one of his fists clenching. He narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits.

“Oh, it. Is. ON!”

His horn flared; a wreath of golden magic picked up the glass. Less chance of spilling any on his pristine, ivory suit that way. It floated to his lips, the stallion never taking his glare off of the offending Pegasus mare opposite him. Even now her cocky grin remained fixed in place. Challenging him. Daring him to put his money where his mouth was. He would. He was!

At the very least, he was putting his drink where his mouth was. He poured it down his throat in one go.

He blinked. Somehow, everything had become slightly… blurry.

Without any difficulty at all, and in a move that was definitely not letting his head drop forward and barely catching it in time before it pulled the rest of him from his seat, he fixated the annoying teal mare with a triumphant smirk.

“Shee! I—hold on, shome… I mean, something’s not quite right.” He pressed his eyes closed, opened them again. It only made him slightly dizzy. He didn’t feel quite as steady anymore. Had… had he not noticed the floor being built at an angle when he came in..? He licked his lips, tried again. “I meant to say, see? I am NOT a lightweight at all. I am, in fact, a very skilled… drink-person. Thing. Whatever that’s called. So there.”

Lightning Dust swayed before him. Or maybe he did. It was hard to tell. She’d raised a brow, but looked to the side to greet the bar’s owner with a lop-sided grin. The other mare shook her head and put down a glass in front of Lightning Dust. And after taking his now empty glass away, she put another one in its place.

He stared at it. Had he ordered another one… and forgot? Before he could ponder this particular mystery any longer, Lightning Dust’s scratchy voice drew his gaze up at her. She’d picked up her own drink and emptied it halfway like it was water. And she slurped as she did. “So, chief. You were telling me about this girl who caught your eye. Who was it?”

“I was?” he asked. She nodded casually. So casually, it was probably true. He picked up his drink—his new drink—with only the slightest bit of trepidation. No. He shook his head—regretting it a bit when the room swam. He did not feel any trepidation at all! He pursed his lips, sipped, resisted the urge to cough, and gave his answer. “Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

That, finally, drew something resembling a proper reaction from the mare. She whistled, poured the rest of her drink down her throat, and waved to the purple barmare in a hurry. “Holy hay, I need another one for that! You’re buying, right, chief?”

“Um…”

“Great!”

It didn’t take long for her ‘another drink’ to arrive. One for her, and one for him. They ended up nursing them for a little while, the stallion trying to remember if he had actually wanted another drink. Or when Lightning Dust had moved her chair. She was sitting next to him now, staring him in the face with open curiosity. She smelled of peaches and a hint of sweat.

“You want to get with Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Lightning Dust eventually said, breaking the quiet. She was looking him over, horn to hooves. “Who are you, anyways?”

“I didn’t mention? That’s so strange. I ushually—excuse me, I usually announce my name. ” The stallion wiped an errant strand of gold mane out of his face and gave his best regal look. “I’m Prince Blueblood.”

Lightning Dust’s eyes went wide as saucers. This, coupled with all the bright, shiny teeth he could suddenly see, reminded him of something. Something he’d seen years ago. When had he seen it..?

“Prince. Blueblood. What a lucky meeting! Let’s celebrate. More drinks, hmm?”

Oh. Blueblood finally remembered. She looked like one of those deep-sea fish he’d come across in a marine biology book. The kind with the glowy bobby things on their heads. It had taken him a little, but now he could place it.

She’d already waved for more drinks.

Author's Note

Special thanks to Sirius Face, Pone Peddler 9, Brony-wan-kenobi and O for helping me get this chapter on the road!

Stay safe, everyone!

The Jury is Hung (Over)

“Here you are, Your Highness.”

Blueblood gingerly took the offered saucer and cup. The darkly rich liquid inside was steaming and, he had to admit, smelled rather pleasantly. The set in which it was served was also finely made, a pure white with a gold trim that he immediately approved of. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his host sit down opposite of him with her legs crossed elegantly, her own tea held aloft in the aquamarine glow of her starfield.

“So. You say you need my help, prince. And I assume you are serious, because I could not imagine you taking the time to visit such a, ah, rustic locale as is my own hometown of Ponyville without a specific purpose in mind.” Rarity smiled brightly, but at least some of what she’d said sounded oddly forced. He couldn’t quite tell why since her words were quite apt.

“Quite.” Blueblood nodded. He took a sip, finding the taste fruity, sweet, and enjoyable in a quaint way. “I need your help in a matter not only of interest to my own royal person, but in a sense, of our beloved nation’s.”

“Good heavens!” Rarity leaned forward, her ears trained on him with rapt attention. “And you need my help specifically?”

Blueblood nodded again. “Your help, more than anypony’s. In this endeavour, I wish to lean on you as I believe you offer the best possible aid in achieving success.”

“This does sound most dire, Prince Blueblood! I hope I will be able to help. Pray tell, what is it?” Her clear blue eyes bored into his with a burning intensity, even as the floating cup moved towards her puckered lips.

“Well…” Blueblood paused to gather his thoughts. He had to approach this delicately. In a way that did not underplay the importance of it, but also wouldn’t intimidate the lady he was discussing things with. Yes, exactly, subtle, but not too much so.

“I wish to make Princess Twilight of Ponyville my bride.”

The cup of tea, halfway the way to Rarity’s mouth, resumed its orbit, while the rest of the Unicorn lady sat still as a statue. She blinked. Blueblood would’ve sworn he heard the blink. For what felt to him like minutes but could only have been seconds, they sat across from one another, unmoving, save for their shared quiet breathing.

“Excuse me, Your Grace.” She finally rose to her hooves, patted down her dress. Some of the excitement seemed to have fled from her tone, replaced by something decidedly more flat. “For this, I need something stronger.” Twirling about, she strode away towards the back of her shoppe. Soon enough, the chiming of glass suggested someone going through a great many bottles.

“Will you take a drop of liquor as well then?” came her voice just out of his line of sight. “I have here a rather lovely vintage given to me by a good friend. It’s made from apples.” There was a short silence. “Well, mainly apples. Or, a nice red? Very much fits the theme.”

“Uh,” Blueblood stared at the far wall behind which Miss Rarity perused her collection of beverages.

“Red it is. A red for me. Stars know I have a right to it.”

Miss Rarity returned with a glass filled almost to the brim with crimson, as well as a long-necked bottle that looked fully capable of knocking out a pony if swung at their heads for the few instances where the contents themselves didn’t suffice. Blueblood watched the slender Unicorn plop back into her seat, slightly less dignified now than the first time, and bring the glass to her muzzle for a long drink. A looong drink. In fact, she’d drained her glass dry before she set it aside and let her magic pour her more of the wine that brought a faint flush to her cheeks.

“Ahh,” the mare sighed, head bobbing in several nods, “much better. Much, much better. Now, prince. If I heard you correctly, and I have no obvious reason to believe I did not, you want to woo one Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship, Element of Magic, and my own, dear friend?”

Her question came with a scrutinizing gaze that made him uncomfortable. A little like when meeting high nobility of soon-to-be allied nations, but this wasn’t a diplomatic event as he understood it. “It is so.”

“And for that, you came to me.” Rarity shook her head slowly and shot a glance at the bottle of wine that Blueblood could at best describe as longingly. “Truly, the fates have a cruel sense of humour.”

Blueblood didn’t know where that came from, but he felt like the talks were beginning to slip from his grasp. He needed to retake the reins in this; he tried to draw her attention back to himself by leaning closer, crossing his hands in his lap and doing his best to sound like he really did need her help. Which, to be fair to himself, was very much the case.

“I came to you precisely because you are her friend, yes. However, it is not the only reason. I’ve heard from mutual acquaintances how much your own heart goes out to those in love. They have told me, repeatedly, that Rarity of Ponyville is a mare of great passion. One who longs to see love bloom between ponies.”

The Unicorn in question raised a delicate brow.

“Did they, now? Mutual acquaintances, you say? You would not happen to remember who it was that told you that, would you?”

Blueblood coughed into a fist and looked away. “Yes, well, their names escape me for the time being. They were quite adamant about your investment in amour.”

Despite his praise, Rarity’s muzzle scrunched up sourly. Had he said something wrong..?

“Your Grace,” the lady began, idly playing over the rim of her glass with a finger, “methinks this might be something that Princess Cadance could help you even better with. Seeing as how helping love spread is literally her Special Talent. While I am… flattered… that you chose to approach me in this, the princess is also quite familiar with Twilight. Yes, she might have other duties that take up some of her time, but as you so eloquently put it, it is a matter of great, perhaps even national importance. Plus, did I forget to mention, Special Talent?”

Now it was his turn to scrunch up his muzzle. It happened before he had any opportunity to prevent it. “I do not wish to involve Cady in this.”

She narrowed her eyes the tiniest bit. After taking another, smaller, draught from her drink, she asked: “Did you broach this particular topic with her before coming here?” After no immediate answer came from him, she took a deep breath. “I see. Prince Blueblood, let me ask you something.”

He crossed his arms in a huff. “And here I was under the impression you’d been doing so for most of this talk.”

Rarity ignored him. “You keep mentioning ‘love’. Now, I will not deny that love between ponies, or love between any creature for that matter, occupies a very special place in my heart, perhaps above and beyond most other Unicorn ladies my age. Believe me, it has led to more than one course of action on my part that turned out to be, in retrospect, not the wisest. It led to some painful moments, hurt feelings and the need to patch things up between myself and those I would call my closest friends. Twilight Sparkle is one of my closest friends, a wonderful, beautiful soul, and I would rather give my life than see her hurt.”

Rarity’s magic put down her half-empty glass; she steepled her fingers, looking more serious even than when he first asked for her help at all. She looked at him with all the attention to detail he expected of a seamstress of Miss Rarity’s reputation.

“Do you truly, actually, love her, prince?”

Blueblood hesitated. This was a question he hadn’t expected, yet it reminded him of something he couldn’t quite remember. He blinked, mulling over what he could say to this, and the expression on Rarity’s face seemed to darken with every second of silence.

“I see,” she repeated. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve said she was glowering at him now. “And why, then, do you wish to marry her, if this simple question gives you so much trouble? For that matter, tell me, what do you actually know about Twilight Sparkle?”

“What… do you mean?” Blueblood didn’t stammer, because a prince did not stammer. He merely… took his time to formulate a proper answer. Wherever was this coming from?! “She’s a princess. She has a castle in Ponyville. She’s an Alicorn.”

Rarity waved his points away, almost like they were boring her. “Not that. Everypony knows that. I meant, what do you know of who she is? What she does? What she likes doing? Do you have any idea about Twilight’s own passions? Take a swing at that one. What do you think Princess Twilight likes to do in her free time?”

“She… inspects Ponyville from the back of a cart?”

This time, he was sure he heard Rarity outright snort. “She reads, you dolt. Twilight Sparkle loves books. She used to live in a library. She doesn’t even own a cart. Goodness me, do you have any idea at all about her?! A cart! Hah! Try again, prince, what else can you think of?”

“Um,” Prince Blueblood tried, “she hosts, galas, in her palace..?”

“Twilight Sparkle. Hosting galas. In her palace.” Rarity rolled her eyes; two fingers began massaging her temples. “For the record, she does not enjoy Galas all that much. Nor the palace itself, come to think of it. She’s much more one for the more quiet, private parties among friends.”

Blueblood could hardly believe it. “What? But, but Ponies Magazine wrote that Princess Twilight loves lavish soirées!”

“You got that from a magazine?” The question came at normal volume. At first. “A magazine?! You think to make Twilight your bride and all you know about her is from a damnable magazine! And not even a very good one, seeing as how it prints such outrageous falsehoods! A MAGAZINE!”

Under the increasing furor of her onslaught, Blueblood found himself very nearly cowering in place. The Unicorn lady was smaller than he, but she seemed to loom over him nonetheless. For her part, Rarity appeared to grow more incensed by the minute. Snatching up her drink and throwing it down her throat struck him like trying to quench a fire, but it only fired her up more.

“And I almost let myself be roped into this! This… foolishness! Almost agreed to help your harebrained scheme to try to win my best friend’s heart, when you have not a scrap of knowledge about her worth anything!” Blueblood jerked back when the other Unicorn nearly speared him with an accusing finger flung at his face. “What, is this some power play? Some sort of misguided revenge? I’d thought you better than my first impression from that fateful Gala night, after we’d spent time together among Fancy Pants’s circle, but I can see now that you are still just a royal pain! You know NOTHING of love, prince, and by the Stars, I suspect you never will!”

Rarity’s anger left her chest heaving, her face red. She glared at him, wrathful as he’d only ever seen a mare once in his life—the very same mare grinding her teeth at him. He slowly looked this way and that. A lesser stallion would’ve had any hint of courage fail them, but he was not so weak. Was he? He put all his strength into his voice.

“S-so… is that a, a no, then?”

Blueblood went for his best winning smile.

Rarity’s expression turned neutral. Somehow, it did not give him much comfort. She reached for her glass, this time using her actual hands. She brought it up, drank a little, licked her lips, drank a little more, and shrugged.

“Prince Blueblood,” she stated, “please leave my house.”

“What? B-but I—”

“We have nothing further to discuss,” she interrupted him. “Your plan is ill-advised at best, and considering who is at the centre of it, arguably much worse than that. I strongly urge you to abandon it post-haste. Nothing good will come of it. Nothing good will come of pursuing a romantic relationship with somepony you don’t know better than from a magazine article or two. Even a foal would know that much. A grown-up stallion such as you should know better. Leave now, before you embarrass either yourself, or me, any further than you already have. I will personally escort you to my door, you will grab your ridiculous coat and hat on the way, and you will go. Hopefully to think about what a colossally idiotic thing you almost, almost attempted to do, and how you had best stay away from my friend.”

Prince Blueblood awoke. Probably from death, because he surely must have already left the lands of the living long ago, such as he felt.

He opened one crusted-over eye. The other stayed shut, as he currently lay on that side of his face. His mouth was slightly open, which went a long way towards explaining the sticky, wet mess the currently-down side of his face rested. Blueblood made a mental note to panic later about having slept in his own drool, as soon as the pony currently trying to shove a hot metal pipe right under his horn kindly stopped. For a change of pace, he moved his up-raised ear around. It hurt not quite as much as looking did, he found.

He heard a rush of water. Somepony nearby was taking a shower. Somepony was getting clean. And it wasn’t him.

In the murky soup that was Blueblood’s thoughts, a vague sensation of envy bubbled to the surface.

Something new drew his attention. Something hung just the tiniest bit out of sight from someplace up, dangling down somewhat close to his head. He couldn’t make out what it was, not from his current angle. But when he moved to get a better look, it moved as well. He moved, it moved. After a few more futile tries, Blueblood reached for it, grasped it—it felt like cloth, with a very smooth surface, rounded, stiffer in certain parts. When he tried to pull it down, he was faced with resistance and a sudden tugging on his neck.

Whatever it was, it was currently caught on his horn. After this remarkable epiphany, things made a lot more sense! He just had to pull it off of his horn first. Magic seemed the best option to him, so he concentrated, cursed the pony who invented alcohol to eternal damnation, gritted his teeth and slowly freed his own horn from the as-of-yet unproven to be, but mostly likely a, garment. Using his magic to bring it up close, Blueblood could now, finally, see just what had been lodged onto his royal alicorn.

It was a garment indeed, an unassuming sky-blue in colour. Two bulging cloth pieces, in fact, connected, cunningly, via a strap most likely to be worn in the back. He’d seen something like it before. His mind wasn’t operating at full capacity, but he was sure to have seen something like it once. Where was it? Cady’s room? It had a name, the piece...

Ah, right! A brassiere! Meant to hold a mare’s…

Blueblood felt like he’d had a bucket of ice water upended over him. He shrieked and, in what was certainly not a blind panic, threw the offending item against the opposite wall!

His head whipped about when a door he hadn’t noticed before slammed open with a very loud bang. And while the sound probably hadn’t also slammed his head open too, it more than hurt enough to give him the impression it just might’ve. In the now open doorway stood a wet, dripping, panting teal Pegasus mare with a bathrobe haphazardly slung over her lanky frame. As soon as she saw him, she groaned,

“Aw, man,” she whined. “I didn’t get to see it! Knew I should’ve waited with that shower.”

Several different questions competed for the, due to a combination of splitting headache and confused panic, currently rather limited headspace of Prince Blueblood. One jumped to the forefront, right to his mouth, which opened to utter:

“What?”

“Well, that.” The mare pointed to the wall he’d lobbed the feminine undergarment against just a few heartbeats ago, and where it now lay on the ground, almost accusingly. “I wanted to be there when you wake up and find that on your horn! I bet you made the most amazing face!” She snorted a quick and dirty laugh.

Blueblood closed his eyes. Blueblood opened his eyes.

“What?”

The mare laughed again. She closed the door, crossed her arms and leaned against it. Her bathrobe had slipped down her left side shoulder, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Still a little out of it, eh, chief? You really are a lightweight. I’ve seen fillies half my age down more than you and be fine the next day. Apart from some puking, maybe. You gonna puke? Bathroom’s behind me.” She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb.

Blueblood very nearly asked ‘what’ again, but stopped himself. This wasn’t getting him anywhere. He licked his lips—they felt parched. And his tongue like something fuzzy elected to rub itself all over it before dying. “You were… Lightning Dust, right?” he croaked. The mare shrugged.

“Unless my parents lied to me, I am still Lightning Dust. Nice to see you’re not totally lost there, Prince Blueblood. See?” She grinned sharkishly. “I can remember names too!”

Blueblood nodded. That seemed to be the appropriate thing to do. If he was honest with himself, he was also still confused and upset and she at least was something he recognised. He let his gaze roam around the rest of the room, nothing of which he had ever seen before. “Quite, quite. So, um, while we are on the topic of remembering things, we are here at..?”

“Whitetail B’n’B.”

“Right. I knew that.” Blueblood cleared his throat. The name of the establishment did not, sadly, clear things up as much as he had hoped. There were questions yet unanswered, questions such as where this strange place was, and how he’d gotten here. He looked down, thinking. Trying to think. His head still hurt.

The mare made an ugly, raspy sound in the back of her throat. “I know what you’re thinking, Blueblood.”

He blinked again. “You do?”

“I didn’t touch you while you were knocked out.” Lightning Dust pushed a raised finger in his direction. “I’m not that kind of girl. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re in your briefs ‘cause I didn’t think you wanted your expensive suit to get all crumpled when you keeled over here.”

Blueblood’s eyes went wide. The state of his dress—or lack thereof—finally sank through the mire in his brain left by the alcohol. The fact that he was in his underwear, even if under covers, made him feel nearly naked! In the presence of another pony! A mare! He swallowed down the whimper threatening to tear loose from his muzzle and pulled the covers just a little bit higher. Just… just a little bit.

His actions drew a further round of laughter from the leaning mare. She was eyeing him, teeth flashing in the cheap artificial light of the hotel room.

“But just ‘cause I didn’t touch you, doesn’t mean ponies won’t get ideas. You, a handsome young prince, paying for a stay overnight together with a famous stunt flyer? Ponies will talk, Blueblood. Ponies will draw their own conclusions.”

He stared at the Pegasus, not understanding a thing, until suddenly, it dawned on him. He was alone with Lightning Dust, in what went for a… a love hotel in these parts, or so his friends would think of it. If word reached Canterlot, this could ruin his reputation! He couldn’t have an affair, he was a Prince of the Realm! And it would ruin any chance of winning Princess Twilight Sparkle’s hand in marriage, if she came to think of him as a philandering ass!

He had to fix this!

“Especially if there are pictures.”

His blood ran cold. His heartbeat lurched. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “P… pictures..?”

“Yup. Pictures. A whole slew of ‘em. Taken by yours truly. And trust me, they’re amazing. There’s one with your hands on my ass and your head down my shirt, you naughty boy.”

Oh no! He shook his head. That could not, must not come out!

Before Blueblood had much chance to respond, Lightning Dust pushed herself off of the door and stalked towards him with her arms crossed. Blueblood found himself cowering before the second mare in so many hours. She stopped just as she reached the foot of the bed, regarding Blueblood with a strange look.

“You probably don’t want those floating about, hm? Think what would happen if some of the bigger newspapers got wind of it.” Her smirk grew the more she talked, while he winced and failed to push the mental images away. “Manehattan Post. Canterlot Times. Think about the headlines! ‘Canterlot Prince in affair with ex-Wonderbolt!’ My guess would be, it would be a bit of a scandal for you, chief.” She chuckled. “Princess Celestia would be so disappointed in you.”

Blueblood’s ears snapped flat against his skull.

“And your plans with Princess Twilight? You can kiss those goodbye, too. That mare, Rarity, will have told her about what you said to her by then, and you’ll look to the both of them like a cheating bastard.”

At that particular moment, Blueblood wasn’t quite sure what was worse: seeing his opportunity to marry the princess vanish into thin air… or Celestia’s frowning, upset face. It wasn’t a choice he wanted to make.

“Of course, that’s only happening if those pictures come out.”

Blueblood’s ears slowly perked up again. He raised a brow in Lightning Dust’s direction, for the first time since she started feeling some hope. “And… what would it take to have them not come out?”

Lightning Dust slammed her hands flat on the bed, besides his legs; she was strong enough that he bounced a little on the mattress, ‘eeped!’ and scurried backwards from her, holding the covers up like a protective shield. The Pegasus glared at him.

“Hire me!”

Blueblood stared back. “What?”

“Hire me!” she repeated. “As a guard! No, not just a guard—make me an officer! Hire me as your bodyguard, get me a nice rank! You’re a prince, you can expedite the process however much you order it! You do that, those pictures stay safely away from the public eye with nopony the wiser!”

He lowered the covers—just a tiny bit. Confusion warred with a growing new sensation: Anger. Blueblood clenched his fists. “And why, pray tell, do you think I can do something like that?”

There was a feverish glint in Lightning Dust’s eyes. She laughed again, slowly, with a bitter note.

“Did you know the Wonderbolts require a written exam before they let you join? They do. There’s a lot about military history in there. I know more about how your troops work than you do, chief. So don’t act like you couldn’t do it.”

“Just so I understand,” Blueblood replied, with a hint of anger creeping into his voice, “after what you did, you expect me to give you a position as a guard? As my personal guard? An officer’s post without any prior service?” He paused. Mostly for effect. Taking a deep breath, he yelled his next words. “Are you mad?! Who do you think you are!?”

“I’m the mare with a dozen pictures of you motorboating her tits.”

Blueblood’s mouth snapped shut.

She smirked. The way she did, she rather enjoyed shutting him up from the looks of it. He knew that look, that was the way classmates would look at him when they pulled a prank on him that they thought he couldn’t do anything about. She stood back up, casually rearranged her robes that were now hanging from her elbows. “To be honest, chief, I don’t know why you’re even hesitating. I already proved I got what it takes.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got your drunken ass to a place to crash safely. That counts for something.” She shrugged lazily, still grinning. “If I hadn’t come by, you’d still be out cold at Berry Punch’s. Or worse, some unscrupulous pony could’ve done something unspeakable to you. You are such an obvious mark, Prince Blueblood. I could’ve taken your wallet and your rings and be set for a while. That’s not what I want, though. I want a job. And you’re the one who’s going to give it to me.”

To Blueblood’s chagrin, her words had… some truth to them. Technically, she’d escorted him back after he let the wine get to him. A flash of pain helpfully reminded him of the hangover he was still, despite everything else, battling valiantly. His eyes snapped shut and he bit back a most uncouth curse.

“You don’t believe me, huh?” Lightning Dust drew his gaze to her when she audibly scoffed. The Pegasus glowered at him from below the wet bangs of two-toned mane hanging over the side of her face. She swept it aside, never losing eye-contact with him. “My dude, you’re talking to the best candidate the Wonderbolts ever had. I’m more than capable of flying rings around anypony in your guard regiment, with or without armour. I can outfight any six of them. At the same time. Rainbow frikkin’ Dash couldn’t keep up with me. You should beg me to let you hire me.”

He quietly admitted that all that sounded impressive indeed. And, really, he wasn’t entirely convinced of Equestria’s guard detail’s effectiveness. They seemed to have a rather frustrating rate of failure…

Still, this did not mean he could just let some ruffian Pegasus blackmail her way into an officer’s commission!

“If you need more proof… I got it right here.” Lightning Dust pointed to her cheek. “Hit me.”

Blueblood hadn’t expected to be surprised again during this talk. He’d thought all the insanity had been revealed by now. “Say what now?”

“Hit. Me. Right. Here.” She underlined every word with a poke to the soft teal coat of her cheek. “I’ll show you I can take it. I can take anything you can dish out, chief. Or are you afraid of hitting a girl?”

Girls are scary. He wanted to say that. For some reason though, the words wouldn’t come out. Perhaps some idiot filter had activated in his brain? Even he could see how silly that sounded. And he normally never sounded silly at all! He eyed Lightning Dust’s cheek like it was about to bite him, gulping. His throat was dry.

“You can’t possibly want me to hit you. That’s insane. You are insane.” Blueblood got up from the bed, making only slow movements. Partly because the mare was scaring him and partly because he kept the sheets clutched to his bare chest out of modesty. Now that he stood, that they both stood, he saw how much he towered over the lithe Pegasus.

“Just look at us. I’m more than a head taller than you.”

She just snorted dismissively. That drove a furious blush to his cheeks!

“Yeah, yeah. Look, chief, you’re a tall glass of water and all, and you got some heft to you, no doubt. But I bet you, your princely punches will not seriously injure me. Besides.” Lightning Dust’s eyelids lowered until her eyes were half-closed. “Your royal meals left a teenie bit of an impact on you. I hear the palace orders more cakes than anypony could reasonably eat without turning into a barrel. My guess is Celestia doesn’t keep all of them to herself, the way she looks.”

Blueblood straightened his back. “Princess Celestia is the very picture of loveliness!”

“Ohh. Got some auntie-issues, do you?” Lightning Dust poked him in the side with a smile from ear to ear. “No worries, I’m not telling! We all got our little secrets!”

Blueblood groaned. He slapped one hand over his eyes in exasperation, flinched when his migraine flared up and clutched the covers covering his body ever tighter. He slowly shook his head to make sure things didn’t get worse.

“Sun and Moon, what did I do to deserve this?” Blueblood muttered.

“Let a complete stranger get you drunk in a bar and walk off with them, without any backup. Imagine some crazy pony using an opportunity like that to take advantage of you?” When he slightly lowered his hand to glare at Lightning Dust, she pointed a finger at her own face. “Other than me. And I’m not crazy.”

He could only shake his head again. All of this was insane. He should never have left Canterlot. But then, how was he to get closer to his goal..? All these thoughts made his head hurt some more. That, or the lingering hangover. He pressed his eyes closed. Ugh, if only I’d let Fancy show me the magic spell to cure that..!

“No matter whether you are or not—and I reserve judgement yet, Miss Lightning Dust—I will not hit you. I am a stallion of standing and breeding. I refuse to initiate a physical altercation merely to satisfy some misguided need to prove your prowess. I am above such base acts!”

“You’re a coward.”

He fought to keep his mouth a thin, neutral line as he looked at her. “I will not be moved by petty insults.”

“Your hair looks stupid.”

“You take that back!” Before Blueblood truly knew what was happening, the sheets he’d held so close were thrown aside and he took a step towards the grinning Pegasus, pushing his index finger against her collarbone.

Or, he would have… if she was still there. He was poking thin air; Lightning Dust somehow moved from the spot, without him noticing. She’d dropped into a low stance, wings flared out behind her, one leg forward and the other behind her, arms crossed before her with her hands out and ready. She was flashing a dangerous smile. “Got you to move!” she jeered. “Though your form is awful. I could see you weren’t going for an actual punch from a mile. Who trained you? Did you get any training at all?”

Blueblood’s face felt hot. He might’ve been forced into a blush again. He pressed out the words between tightly-clenched teeth: “Fencing lessons. However, I am not part of the soldiery. I have guards for that.”

“Not here you don’t.” Once again she pointed at herself. “Unless you hire me.” She relaxed her stance and put her fist on her hips. The smile she’d worn turned to a frown as she looked up at him. Her sudden seriousness set his tail bristling.

“Listen, chief. You obviously need some push here. So what about this: Hit me, or the pictures come out.”

“What?! But—but you said..!” Blueblood stopped himself, clenching his fists as he scowled at the impertinent, predatory Pegasus making despicable demands! His shoulders shook, and his teeth hurt from holding them tightly together, and he felt confused and lost and he really needed a nice, long, bubble bath! Or just a shower. Blueblood raised his right arm, still trembling. It weighed a ton.

Lightning Dust shook her head. She clicked her tongue, put up three fingers. “On the count of three, I’m out of here, and the pics go with me. One—”

He didn’t understand what was happening. Blueblood let out a yell, that he swore did not at all sound like a pathetic shriek, as his arm snapped around like a rubber band. There was a sudden pain hitting the palm of his hand, making him wince. It wasn’t… that bad, actually, but he hadn’t expected it. He hadn’t expected anything. He looked down at his hand, at the soft, short fur covering it. The faintest hint of red shone through. Blueblood looked to the other pony in the room—she was halfway turned around… and rubbing her cheek.

Lightning Dust chuckled as she met his gaze. “Huh. Well. Not what I was expecting. But I think I should have, looking back.” The mare straightened her back, and as she did, her robe fell away from one side and exposed one breast down to the nipple. Blueblood hurried to tear his eyes back to her face. Her half red-cheeked face. “Of course a prissy wuss like you would go for a slap over a real punch.”

Blueblood shrunk into himself.

“Not at all a bad one, though. Got some power in your moves there, at least, big guy! Got some weight in that swing!” The grinning mare made a few boxing motions in Blueblood’s direction, who scrambled to get some distance between them. She let her arms drop and laughed some more. “Got some weight on you in general! Would’ve been a waste if you couldn’t put any of it to use!”

“Thank you..?”

“Now,” she went on, ignoring him, “it wasn’t good enough that I’d say you're well-practiced. Probably haven’t slapped a mare that often, have you?”

Blueblood looked down at his stinging palm again. “Er… this is my first time..?”

“Good. If you had, I’d beat you silly with your own arm and carry your unconscious carcass straight to the cops.” The unsettling smile on the mare’s face possibly frightened Blueblood more than anything he’d seen since he came to Ponyville. She looked completely serious. Blueblood could feel all blood drain from his face, likely leaving him whiter than a ghost pony.

“I, I would never lay a hand on a mare!”

“You just did.”

“Because you made me!”

“Excuses, excuses.” Lightning Dust waved her hand in his face, making him flinch away from her. She worked her shoulder after that, and Blueblood could see her jaw move, probably testing how her cheek felt from the inside. When she looked to him like she was satisfied with that, she eagerly showed him the other side of her face. “Now go for this one.”

“But… why?! You made your point!” Blueblood’s hand still hurt, and he clinched it shut. Now it hurt a little less. “Why in Equestria do you want me to hurt you more than I already have? Why have me go through this ordeal yet again? If I promise to get you the post you want, here and now, is that enough to stop this lunacy?”

“Hmm.” Lightning Dust rubbed her cheek. The unblemished one. “No.”

“For pony’s sake, why not?!”

“Because I want to do it for my sake. And yours, but mostly me. Who cares about anypony else?” Lightning Dust flicked the sole side of the robe still hanging on her away from her. Now she stood before him in the bare save for a pair of blue panties, and he could see quite clearly that she was built like a Pegasopolian statue of a mare. Powerful muscles subtly shifted under her coat. While she had some curves to her, she was indeed more on the streamlines side; everything about her spoke of speed and strength. She saw him staring and snapped her fingers. She was still grinning. “Eyes up here, prince. Where my cheek is. That’s your target. Unless you want to try to punch me in the stomach?”

Blueblood held up his fist to his eyes. “I would probably break my fingers doing that.”

“You probably would.” She nodded. “So, are you ready for take two?”

“No. Is that going to change anything?”

“Nope!”

Blueblood sighed and looked away. “I figured as much. For the record, I am acquiescing to your farcical demands only under vehement protest.” When his eyes met hers again, the mare was leaning forward slightly, hands clasped in the small of her back and her head turned so her unharmed cheek was presented firmly to him. He felt a sudden spark of self-loathing.

“This… this isn’t just a way to make me look like a domestic abuser on film, is it?” he asked.

Lightning Dust reacted with a giggle-snort he had not expected from a mare like her. She did not move from her position even as she shrugged. “Be real, chief. Everypony knows I’m way more dangerous than you. If you tried to lay a hand on me, you’d pull back a stump. This is just to show I’m tough enough to take it!”

He rubbed his thumb over the rest of his fingers; the pain had almost faded completely by now, but he contemplated using the other hand anyway. The angle would fit much better. He wasn’t extremely right-handed, as it were. In fact, his left was very nearly as good as his right. Ser Epeen was rather insistent on practicing swings even under non-ideal situations, and while this wasn’t a sword duel by any stretch of the imagination, it couldn’t be that different, could it? He was only about to strike a potentially insane she-pegasus across the face after being blackmailed into doing so! Twice!

The suspicion that he might, just might, be becoming just a bit hysterical in his thinking crept up on Blueblood. Without much further thinking at all, he flexed the fingers on his left hand and swung them, along with the rest of his hand and arm, at the mare that was vexing him so.

He struck true. Again a pain in his palm; he wasn’t used to the impact. He’d swung without too much force, fervently hoping she wouldn’t notice. Then again, perhaps it was enough? Blueblood had never made personal experiences with slaps himself. At least not before this day.

Lightning Dust herself let out a not-quite grunt as he smacked her. He barely moved her as well. She seemed ready for him this time, not letting the slap faze her. A quick look down showed her chest was rising and falling steadily, if more pronounced than before. Now both her cheeks were flushed.

“See? Nothing. I can take it. Toughest mare around, that’s me.” Lightning Dust’s face was one of self-assuredness, downright cockiness if Blueblood had to describe it. Her teeth flashed a pearly, flawless white that stood in stark contrast to the red imprints blooming right next to either side of her mouth. “One more? Two? How many it takes to prove it!”

Once more, Blueblood found himself impressed by this strange mare. This time not by what she touted about her skills, but by her actual resilience, self-control, her pride, and sheer, insane determination. It was contagious, he realised, a giddy madness bubbling up like sparkling wine. Was he drunk again? He must have been. He’d already lost his own control to her twice. It was already too late for rational thought. Blueblood struck from the right; his ears twitched from the fleshy smacking sound of his palm meeting her cheek, and this time, he managed to make her budge.

Lightning Dust’s body shuddered when he’d slapped her. She breathed out sharply. He could see from her tight face she was holding back from words, or a groan, or maybe something else. Her head was turned away from him, in the direction of his strike, with one of her hooves tangled up in the robe on the ground. She shook it free, turning the rest of her towards the wall as she did. Blueblood saw she still had her hands clasped tightly behind her back, refusing to let go. Her profile, taken in from the side, was as flawless as he’d imagined.

He moved before he had any idea what he was about to do.

Lightning Dust went stiff as a board, ramrod-straight, on the tip of her hooves. She seemed to be bobbing on them, in fact.

Blueblood slowly blinked at the mare. His gaze lowered down to her backside—it was nicely shaped. It was also adorned with an angry crimson handprint. Judging from the pain pulsing through his palm, his handprint. The sight was obscured when a two-toned blond tail lashed around the area, as if to hide the now-marked mare-part.

He immediately looked up when he heard Lightning Dust clear her throat.

“Well, okay. Got to hand it to you, chief, you managed to surprise me there.” She turned to face him again with slow, deliberate, graceful steps. And… he could’ve sworn he saw her wince once. She smiled wryly. “You got into the swing of it, that’s for sure!”

“I… smacked your bottom.” Blueblood’s head felt light, and his throat tight.

“Yeah. Guess you did.” She shrugged, hands still out of sight in the small of her back. “We can put that down to testing out traditional Pegasopolian disciplinary measures, if that makes you feel better. I think I read something about that once.”

Blueblood furrowed his brow at her.

“Hey now, don’t give me that look! I’m pretty sure there was something about birch rods and—”

He interrupted what he was fairly sure he could not currently deal with with a short cry. “Please! Please do not make this any more awkward than it already is! I don’t know what kind of devilry drove me to do this, but it is not an experience I wish to repeat, physically or in memory! Please let it rest!”

“Right. Okay, I’ll drop it,” Lightning Dust said with some obvious hesitation. Then her grin widened and became closer to what she wore before they started their… exercise. “But not you giving me a job! As soon as we can get the paperwork in order, you’re going to send a nice letter to the palace. I can’t wait to wear an official uniform again!”

“They will need your measurements for the armor.”

“Course they will! That tap on my butt wasn’t nearly enough time to get my size down, am I right, chief?” Lightning Dust rubbed the mark on her behind as she spoke, and winked. He just put his face in his hands and pleaded to his aunt for strength.

It was a trip Scootaloo had made hundreds of times over the years. By hoof, by scooter, and by wings. Much later in life than she’d wanted, that last one, but hey. When she touched down close to the Apples’ barn, it still felt familiar. It was reassuring.

And her mood lifted as soon as she saw one of her oldest and best friends, the one she'd been looking for. She could use the company after sneaking around for Diamond Tiara’s dumb schemes, plus the rough talk at the end had been unexpectedly draining. Apple Bloom looked up from the piece of wood she was working on, smiled brightly and waved, both things Scootaloo eagerly returned.

“Hey, Bloom! Good thing I caught you right here. What’cha working on?” A few flappy hops brought Scootaloo close enough to inspect the thing in detail. Apple Bloom, following her curious look, held it up so she could see it better. It was wood, alright, a thick board with two small and one bigger half circles cut out at one of the longer sides, as well as a metal hinge and buckle opposite each other on the shorter sides; the Earth Pony held the entire thing easy in one hand while the other twirled the plane she’d been using before Schootaloo arrived. Apple Bloom was a strong girl.

“Just smoothin’ out this part here,” she noted, and winked. “Goin’ to be a surprise for the beau! He’ll love it!”

“Snips?” Scootaloo asked. When Apple Bloom nodded, she raised a questioning brow. “I didn’t know he was into woodworking.”

Apple Bloom shrugged, put the board and plane down, and patted it. “Yeah, well, he’s into me, and Ah’m into carpentry. And this is somethin’ special, so trust me, he’s gonna love it to bits!”

“If you say so.”

“Ah do! Don’t mind taking a break, though. Just give me a moment...” Scootaloo watched the other filly as she straightened out her back, one hand behind her head and the other stretched to the sky, accompanied by a muted popping sound and a groan of relief. All of it dangerously strained the flannel shirt Apple Bloom wore tied together above her midriff. Scootaloo half expected one of the buttons to pop next and briefly wondered when the other filly had filled out so much. “Ahh, that’s much better! So, got anythin’ you wanted to talk about, Scoots?”

Scootaloo scratched the back of her neck. “Kinda, yeah. You brought it up right now, actually. Or him, rather.”

Now it was Apple Bloom’s turn to look at her with obvious curiosity. “What? You mean Snips? What about 'em?”

“Well...” Scootaloo sighed. She sat down on the ground next to the Earth Pony, who followed suit, crossing her legs. The Pegasus crossed her arms in turn, leaning against her wings to steady herself. “Thing is, I know the two of you… happened. But I haven’t heard how it happened.”

“And now you wanna know, right? Any particular reason you got?” The amused glimmer in Apple Bloom’s eyes betrayed something Scootaloo couldn't place, almost as much as the barely hidden smirk.

“Nah, just curious.” Scootaloo shrugged. She sighed, looking out at the endless green of Sweet Apple Acres. “I’m gone for a few weeks and everypony’s suddenly hooking up, Apple Bloom. Seems like I missed a lot of crushes going around. I mean, I had no idea there was anything between Silver Spoon and Snails, of all ponies. I can’t really relate to any of it, you know? I never had a crush, or had anypony crushing on me… why are you laughing?”

Apple Bloom waved her off. “N-no reason! Go on, please!”

Scootaloo kept her suspicious glare going for a few seconds longer, but ultimately relented with a giggle of her own. “I guess I deserve that. I’ve been told lately I have the romantic sense of a cucumber.” That got even more of a laugh out of the other filly. Scootaloo joined in. “No, really, if anything, I would’ve totally expected for Snips to end up with your cousin, Babs.”

Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. ”Babs? Why?”

“You know.” Scootaloo shrugged again. “Both got scissor Cutie Marks. She likes hairstyling, his dad’s a barber. They both got some ‘pone on their bones’, as Sapphire Shores would say.” She made air quotes with that last one. Apple Bloom snorted another giggle, asking in a mock-reproachful manner:

“Scootaloo, you’re not shippin’ my coltfriend and my cousin who never actually met for superficial reasons, are ya?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Scootaloo grinned.

“If ya say so, Princess Cadance.”

Scootaloo playfully swatted at her friend’s shoulder, getting blocked easily by the farmpony. “For real, though, I wanna know. You, and Snips. How?”

Apple Bloom took a moment, plucking a blade of grass from the ground to nibble on it. When she did finally speak, she was looking off in the distance, like Scootaloo had done a little before. “Right, so. This is what happened…”

Author's Note

Whew! Finally, this chapter is out now, released into the world!

Special thanks to Pone Peddler 9 and Brony-wan-kenobi. You guys are awesome!

Good Vibes

When Spike closed the bathroom mirror, he had an opportunity to get a good look at himself. Well, better than usual. A castle made from smooth crystal offered a perhaps not-exactly surprising amount of reflective surfaces.

The drake turned his head this way and that. No blemishes? Good! Scales all shiny? Splendid! His spines were straight, he had no bags under his eyes courtesy of a good night’s sleep, and his teeth were sparkly clean. The Spike in the mirror made finger-guns and flashed a bright grin.

“Looking good, Spike! Looking real good!”

He held the pose until the loooong sigh welling up in his throat just couldn’t be held back anymore. Spike slumped. His own face stared back at him. The grin had grown more wry than anything.

“Okay. Got that out of your system, beanstalk? Right? Right.” He nodded. So did Other Spike.

Spike turned away from the mirror and made his way down to the main library. Maybe Twilight needed some help to set things up for the… lecture. As he descended the stairs, he thought about what a strange situation this was. He’d never imagined getting advice about relationships from Twilight Sparkle. But then, who else could he have asked? Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash? Rarity? Spike rolled his eyes at himself. Now that was a recipe for disaster.

He’d reached the door to the library when he heard two voices speak. Somewhat surprised, he stopped just short of gripping the handle. He hadn’t heard anypony come in before. Was it Sweetie Belle? Was she already here? He leaned towards the door. The sound was muffled, but he could still hear well enough.

“... even said I could stay overnight if I want to, and you allow it, but I don't want to impose on you...”

“Oh no, that’s alright, Sweetie Belle! We have more than enough bedrooms if you change your mind!”

Spike took a calming breath. He wasn’t normally this nervous around her. So why was this different? Oh right. The lecture.Rolling his eyes at himself, he swung the door open. It revealed Sweetie Belle sitting on a couch, perhaps even one her sister had left with them if Spike remembered correctly. She wasn't a kitten this time; this was a more casual outfit, fitting a schoolfilly from a relatively well-to-do family.Twilight Sparkle stood before her; she’d done her mane up in a bun and wore a pair of low-sitting glasses. Blue blouse and dark purple skirt, she was affecting the librarian look more than ever for the occasion.

The Alicorn didn’t even notice him at first. She was happily chatting away with Sweetie Belle, all bright smiles and nods, but the filly, she noticed him. Right away she noticed him, as if she’d been waiting for him. Her head turned to look at him. Emerald eyes shone up at the sight of him. “Hello, Spike!”

He smiled back. “Hey, Sweetie Belle. Didn’t know you’d arrived a little early. How come nopony told me, huh? What the hay?” he asked in faux outrage. Sweetie tittered and swung her legs, while Twilight seemed to realise his presence just then. And even if he was joking—mostly—she had the decency to look a little abashed.

“Oh, sorry, Spike. You were still busy up there. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“I’ve not been here long,” Sweetie Belle helpfully added. “Were you showering?”

“Um. Yeah?”

She looked pleased with his answer. She was smirking and looking at him with sparkles in her eyes, like he just made her day. Okay, then. He shook off the weird feeling he had best as he could and glanced over to their local princess. “So. How are we going to do this, Twilight? Are we going to eat first, then do… the thing?”

Twilight raised a finger. He could see she was already sliding into lecturing mode. “Don’t be foolish! We didn’t prepare anything yet. To eat, that is. So I think I will do my presentation first, and after that, we’ll decide what to eat if we're still hungry!”

Spike raised a brow. “And what if we lose our appetites first?”

That got him an annoyed look. “My presentations aren’t that boring!” With her hoof tapping the ground and her fists on her hips, she looked like a mare half her age. Spike had to remind himself that, for all her genius, being a hero, a princess, and having looked after him literally since birth… she wasn’t that much older than he was. He held up his palms to defuse her anger, giving her an easy smile.

“Not what I meant, Twilight. It’s more, the, uh, subject matter.” Spike rotated his hand vaguely in her direction. “Going into detail. With the specifics. You know?” He fervently hoped she would understand. In any case, his helpless look must’ve shown on his face since Twilight took a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

“I’m sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean to snap. Please be assured I did my best to make everything not… icky. Now then. Would you take a seat? Next to Sweetie Belle.”

Twilight pointed at the empty space next to the Unicorn filly, who’d helpfully scooted over to one corner and was patting the couch. Spike, equal parts dreading what was to come and wanting it to be over quickly, sighed, walked over to his designed seat, and plopped down. The sudden weight let Sweetie Belle bounce and left her leaned against him, but after her initial surprise, she didn’t seem to mind anymore. She seemed quite comfortable cuddling into his shoulder. Spike himself had the faintest blush and gently rubbed her arm.

Their mutual teacher probably hadn’t seen that, since she had her eyes closed. Twilight breathed deeply in, and out, physically pushing her anxiety away just as Cadance had taught her. Spike saw her wings open just a little, flapping awkwardly before going back to rest against her back. It was, frankly, adorable, not that he would ever openly tell her that. Apparently ready now, the Alicorn opened her eyes again, tugged on her glasses, locked them both with her gaze, and cleared her throat. A thick stack of flashcards took flight next to her head. Oh boy.

“Ahem! Welcome, students, to my first lecture on the many iterations of physical expression of romantic attraction in young adults, Or MIPERAY.” She paused, coughed into her fist. “It’s a working title. Moving on. My hope is, after we are done, everypony will walk away having learned something; a little wiser, a little more knowledgeable, and a little more prepared for the challenges ahead in this exciting new chapter in life.”

Twilight’s horn flashed purple with her magic. Behind her, a bright screen of magic unfolded in the air, free-floating, images formed from her power, easily the length of the entire library wall. Spike’s lips tugged with a proud smile. Number seventy-two, huh, Twilight?

The images soon began to flicker and then move. First morphing into a heart that soon split into two hearts, each of which was throbbing like it was alive and beating.

“When two ponies—or other creatures—experience a romantic attraction towards one another, they might then engage in actions meant to show said attraction. This can be gestures from one party, like flowers, cookies, or little gifts.”

As Twilight droned on, the images again changed to match her words: two hearts became two pony heads. Their eyes met, and smiles grew on their stylised faces. One presented a wrapped package, the other took it while the first looked away shyly.

“It can also take another form: in expressions of physical affection. Anypony who ever had a pet will know how enjoyable it is to hug and pet them. Something similar could happen with a romantic partner, but with additional options. Such as… kissing.”

The two pony heads, now longingly gazing at each other, suddenly closed their eyes, puckered their lips and moved towards one another. The mistress of the illusion, for her part, had grown red under her purple coat. Her face was flushed around her nose and cheeks. She was also squinting hard at the next card in her list. Then flipped to the back to squint at the next. And then one after that. Her blush only got worse with each moment.

Spike felt a poking sensation in his shoulder, pulling his attention away from the spectacle of the increasingly flustered Alicorn. When he looked to the side, Sweetie Belle was facing him. Her finger still pushed against his scales, but she turned her hand around to point at Twilight next. Sweetie Belle’s lips barely moved as she whispered to him.

“Do you think she got stuck on something?”

Spike shrugged. They both looked back to the princess when she audibly cleared her throat. Still red in the face, Twilight inhaled and exhaled. “I’m sorry about the delay there. I… I think I forgot where I was for a moment there. Or maybe the cards aren’t in the right order. Either way, we should continue. Where was I again?” She snapped her fingers. “Right! Kissing! Now, when it comes to kissing—”

“Have you ever kissed somepony?”

Twilight froze like a rabbit stared down by a snake. Her entire form turned rigid, as if struck by shock. Her illusion winked out at the same time, taking the two glowing pony heads with it. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t expected the question; Spike was surprised as well. His head whipped about to look at the filly next to him, but she just sat there, peering ahead eagerly and curious. When she noticed his staring, she shrugged her shoulders. “What? It’s a legit question. Twilight is older than us. And she lived in Canterlot.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Spike asked. Sweetie Belle shrugged again, though she avoided his eyes when she next answered. The filly fiddled with her fingers, shyly looking about the room. Perhaps she’d noticed the growing red on Twilight Sparkle’s features.

“Um. Well, you see, I found some books in Rarity’s house. Picture books. A bit like comics, but not quite. You read them from right to left. Rarity said they belonged to Fluttershy.” Sweetie Belle turned a little quieter. “They take place in Celestia’s magic school. There’s two students, who start out as rivals, really wanting to impress Celestia, but then they find out they actually like each other a little, and they start helping each other. And one evening, they both have dates, so they start practicing kissing. With each other.”

Sweetie Belle gave him a sidelong glance. Spike blinked as he tried to process what he’d just heard. Out of the corner of his own eyes, he could make out Twilight opening and closing her mouth, with no word coming out. She seemed to have trouble making sense of things herself.

“I… don’t remember anypony practicing kissing when Twilight and me stayed at Celestia’s school,” he said slowly. “I really doubt Twilight saw anypony do that either. I think she would’ve told me. At least later. So, in this comic, did he make the first move, or did she?”

“They were both colts.”

Spike blinked again. “Oh. Well, then. You found them at Rarity’s house?”

“She did say they were Fluttershy’s.”

Spike couldn’t help the awkward chuckle coming from him. He scratched at the back of his neck and shrugged. “Well… I’m not judging. You said Rarity said they were Fluttershy’s?” When the filly nodded, Spike ventured into even more unsure waters. “So, did you… like them?”

For a moment, Sweetie seemed to think. She rolled her eyes up and furrowed her brow, but even that, Spike noticed, made her look kind of cute. He also noticed Twilight had stopped zoning out and seemed to be waiting for the answer just as he was. Sweetie Belle, for her part, just sat there, kicked her leg, and thought intently. And then, she shook her head.

“No. Or… yes. Not quite. It’s complicated?” She turned back to Spike. “I liked them for the art. They were well-drawn, very smooth, not like in your comics. I liked the characters too. It was fun. But I think, colts kissing colts, that just doesn’t work for me. Whenever I read those parts, I kept forgetting they’re both supposed to be colts. I just kinda imagined one of them as a filly.”

Spike felt a soft, white-furred hand lay down on top of his. It was warm.

“You don’t think this makes me a bad pony… do you?” Spike looked up into two worried green eyes. Sweetie Belle held his gaze for a moment, before they closed and she sighed from deep within her chest. “It makes me sound like a bigot. But I don’t have anything against it. It’s—it’s just, whenever I think of ponies kissing, it’s a colt and filly.”

Spike pulled his hand from down underneath Sweetie Belle’s. He interlocked his fingers with hers, holding them together. She dared look at him again, now that he hadn’t rejected her, he figured. And her small smile made his heart beat loudly.

“What about, a dragon and a filly?” he asked her. She giggled, reached out with her free hand to touch his cheek. Spike grasped it as he cuddled his cheek into her palm.

“I might have thought of that too, yeah.”

Spike’s mouth split into a grin. “What about… two fillies?”

Sweetie Belle giggled again, ending in a cute little snort this time and there was a bit of a blush showing through her fur. “Before I say anything about that one, I think it’s my turn to ask a question again! So right back at you: have you ever thought of two fillies kissing? Or two mares?”

“Well…” Spike licked his lips. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer that one, but when Sweetie gently stroked his cheek, he calmed back down. There was something so soothing in her touch, and the way she looked into his eyes. Open, curious, accepting, a little bit eager maybe. At that moment, Spike almost felt like it didn’t actually matter what he said—as long as he was the one saying it. The grin on his face went wider as he chose his reply.

“I’ve thought about that, yeah. Most guys do, I don’t know any who haven’t. Who wouldn’t enjoy the sight of two girls kissing?” He nodded as he thought, nodded right into her palm. Sweetie Belle kept hanging onto his every word. “But I think it’s also because they like to imagine themselves somewhere into the picture. Like, ‘two girls are kissing right in front of me, maybe they’re kissing because I like to see them do it. Maybe they’re putting on a show just for me.’ You know, that kind of thing. I don’t know if other guys do it consciously or if it just happens. Probably depends on the guy in question. I bet you get a different answer from Big MacIntosh than from Pipsqueak, for example.”

“But you think they all thought about it at one point or another?” Sweetie Belle pressed. Spike nodded again.

“I’m fairly sure. And there’s more of you than us, so…”

“I’m fairly sure,” Twilight suddenly cut in, “my brother never thought about two mares kissing, or any mare but Cadance for that matter! In fact, I would bet on it!” The Alicorn had crossed her arms in a pout. While she’d found her voice again, she was still blushing brightly, for all that she was obviously trying to project certainty.

Spike immediately remembered several adventures Shining Armor had personally written for his Ogres&Oubliettes games featuring twin princesses from a mystical deer kingdom, who, upon being reunited, greeted each other with a rather lengthy kiss on the mouth. In front of the heroes. He’d stashed them away in the ‘too mature for Spike’ pile. Which, naturally, hadn’t stopped Spike from taking a peek as soon as he had a chance when Shining Armor was gone for guard recruit training. “Not sure you would win that bet, Twilight.”

Twilight glowered at him, opened her mouth for what was sure to be an angry retort. She stopped herself, however. Her annoyance gave way to something much less sure. The Alicorn put a hand to her chin and frowned, looking thoughtful. “You’re sure about that, Spike?”

“I’m sure about it.”

She looked down. Then up again. “Most guys..?”

“Positive.”

She looked down again.

Twilight was still silently contemplating his answer when Sweetie Belle suddenly pushed herself off of the couch and away from Spike. To his surprise. He found he missed her soft touch almost instantly. “Sweetie Belle..?” he asked.

She simply smiled brightly at him. Then she pivoted on her hooves, facing the Alicorn, with her smile now gone sassy and her hands clasped behind her back.

“I think we should try it, Twilight!”

The princess took a half-step back and one of her ears started twitching uncontrollably. “Wait, what?! How is it suddenly about you and me?”

“We’re the only two girls here.” Sweetie Belle shrugged, following the mare with a half-step of her own. “And you don’t have to think about it in terms of us-us if it makes it easier. This is to prove if Spike enjoys seeing two girls kiss where he can see it. That’s all.”

Spike bit his lip. He wasn’t at all sure that one of the two girls in question being the closest he had to either a mother figure or a big sister wouldn’t make it super-weird. He was still awfully curious, though. His gaze flickered between the two, the optimistic filly and the cautious Alicorn. Until the latter relented.

“Okay. Okay. Makes sense. Just for… data. That’s all.” Twilight was mumbling her words now. She met Sweetie Belle’s eager expression with one a little more hesitant. “So, am I supposed to begin the process, or..?”

Sweetie Belle turned out to be the one to start. And start she did. The filly took hold of the older mare’s head and head and brought herself in for the kiss; head tilted to the side, eyes just a little closed, lips opening shortly before contact. Twilight’s breath hitched, she seemed frozen again. There was no resistance to the lips coming together. Two Spike’s ears, that first kiss sounded… a little wet, a little smacking, more messy than he would’ve thought it would—and very, very hot, too. Sweetie Belle had to stand on tip-hooves to even reach the slightly taller than average Twilight’s face, but she made her very best effort. Spike saw two sets of red lips move against one another while their respective owners breathed through their noses, and after a long time that was probably not all that long, they parted again. Both of them had a glisten of wetness left on their lips.

Twilight stared at the forward filly. Wide-eyed, not quite wide-mouthed. Whatever blush she’d had on her before exploded into a crimson red to the point that the Alicorn looked drunk.Her arms hung limp at her sides. “Wha…” she finally got out.

“Hm.” Sweetie Belle pondered for a moment. “That was fun!” With a bell-like giggle, she glanced over her shoulder. “Was it fun for you too, Spike?

“Yeah. That was fun.” Spike’s mouth was a little dry. And his pants were a little tight. “Are you sure this is the first time you kissed another girl?”

Sweetie Belle winked and hummed. “First time I kissed a princess, that’s for sure! Want us to kiss again? Or do something else?”

Spike’s hand snaked down in between his legs. He just needed to... rearrange things. He nodded, slowly. “Yeah. That would be nice.”

“Wait—Sweetie Belle, wait,” Twilight interjected. She gently pushed the smaller mare away, who reacted with a disappointed look on her face. “Wait. Let’s slow down for a moment. A big part of relationships is not rushing things. And what did you mean with ‘something else’ anyway?”

“Well.” Sweetie Belle’s arms raised up to grasp the Alicorn once more, who pushed them away with a soft application of magic. The filly pouted for a moment, but quickly caught herself and brightened up again. “Well, I figured you had more things prepared to show us. That was always the plan, wasn’t it? Showing us kissing, among other things? You showed us kissing just now, and worked out. You’re a good teacher.”

Twilight did allow herself a pleased smile at the open praise. “Thank you, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie nodded. “So now, we’re ready for the other stuff. And we’re not rushing into anything either.” She pointed at Spike, who had himself almost forgotten he was even in the room by now. “Spike said he wants us to do more. So it’s okay. You probably had more material prepared than just about kissing, am I right?”

Twilight Sparkle stood there. The muscles in her face moved, but she wasn’t putting on any definite expression or saying anything. To Spike, it seemed like one of those moments where Twilight had an internal debate with herself. And since she was an excellent debater, it was a tough struggle. “I… I did have some other material prepared, just on the off-chance. I wasn’t actually planning on going this far today with the both of you.”

“It’s not that far.” Sweetie Belle shook her head, smiling her spotless whites. “It’s not far at all. Spike said it’s okay. He wants us to do more. For you to show us more. You can show us, with me, for him, because Spike said he would like to see.”

Twilight exhaled through her nose, but then gave a wry smile. “I guess you’re right. If Spike said he wants us to do more, it’s okay. And it’s not all that more out there anyway. We’ve already kissed, the rest is almost natural.” Her smile grew, and she patted the younger mare on her shoulder. “Good talk, Sweetie Bell!”

“I learned from the best,” Sweetie answered with a quick laugh. Twilight laughed too, and Spike couldn’t help but chuckle himself.

“Now, where had I been before our… kissing session?” Twilight crossed her arms and tapped her fingers in a quick rhythm while she thought. It didn’t take long before a metaphorical lightbulb lit up above her head and she brightened. “Right! I’d just been talking about physical gestures of affection in general!”

“Seems as good as any spot to start from again now,” Spike agreed, nodding to the princess. “So, what else is there?”

Twilight cleared her throat, stood up straight. She was falling back into lecture mode. Good, that means she’s feeling less awkward, Spike thought. He leaned forward in his seat, Sweetie Belle joining him on the couch again. She wrapped her fingers around his hand, and he gave her a smile in turn,

“There are other forms of physical affection creatures use to express attraction towards one another. Hand-holding would be one, for example.”

Sweetie Belle and Spike shared a giggle. “I think we have that covered,” she said, while raising their clasped hands in the air.

“Looks like you do!” Twilight flashed them a grin. She lashed her tail and went on. “That usually comes before the kissing, I should say. Holding hands in public is often seen as an especially romantic expression of affection. Aside from those, there are hugs, cuddles, nuzzles, going arm in arm…” She was counting things on her fingers now. Spike did not doubt for a second she’d noted ‘count on fingers’ on one of her flashcards. “And, of course, feeling each other up, posing for your partner, sexual stimulation, and actual intercourse.”

As Spike listened on, he imagined himself engaging in some of these things with somepony. Naturally, Sweetie Belle popped up as the default partner, all creamy white fur and bright smile and emerald eyes and eagerly leaning into every of his touches. Whether it was her shoulder, or her hand, or her arm, or her ass. He’d already touched all of those, hadn’t he? They’d already done that. He stared at their mutual teacher, slowly asking: “What about… giving her a spanking?”

Beside him, Sweetie Belle giggled and slapped his shoulder. “You didn’t do that, silly! That was only a few slaps on my butt at most. It didn’t even hurt all that much!”

“You, er, slapped Sweetie Belle’s butt?” Twilight looked between them. When the both of them nodded, she paused, and then cocked her head slightly. “I… guess that falls under sexual stimulation.”

Sweetie Belle nodded even more enthusiastically. “Oh yes! It was very stimulating! It made me feel all warm inside. And on my butt, too. On the spot he slapped me.”

“That is to be expected,” Twilight answered, with a hint of sarcasm creeping into her tone.

“So did that ever happen to you, Twilight?”

“No. I was a model student and exceptionally well-behaved as a child. There simply never was a need to use it as a form of punishment. As for pure physical stimulation, as of yet, I have not yet found the right pony to exchange such showings of affection.” Twilight sniffed once and went on. Because Spike was paying close attention, he managed to see her right hoof draw tiny slow circles along the ground.

Sweetie made a ‘hmm’ sound, “But, you would like to find one, yes?” she pressed. It made Twilight slap a hand over her eyes with a pained sigh.

“I get enough of those talks from mom. Or Cadance. Can we please focus on the actual topic again?”

“Sorry.” Sweetie lowered her head as she was chastened. There still was a tiny wag of her tail Spike could see. “I should've asked if you wanted somepony to slap your butt.”

“Yes, you should have.” Twilight raised a finger again for another mini-lecture. “There is an important distinction to be made between it happening because you did something bad, because you want somepony to provide you with pleasurable physical stimulation, and you want somepony to do it to you because you’ve been bad and it feels good.”

Sweetie and Spike both blinked. “So,” the former began, “does that mean you want somepony to slap your b—”

“There are different ways to physically stimulate a partner,” Twilight interrupted, “aside from touches, implements can also be used. Up to and including ones you would normally only use on yourself, shared use can create a valuable bonding experience.”

“For example?” Spike asked. He was growing curious where this was going. For all of Twilight’s neurotic tendencies, she wasn’t actually a bad teacher, he thought.

“Well, There are… hm.” Twilight glanced at a cardboard box Spike hadn’t really noticed himself. He didn’t remember how it got there; Twilight probably put it there while he’d been busy getting ready upstairs. The library was more her domain anyway.

Well, the entire Ponyville Castle was, legally, her domain, but they had a certain understanding. Some parts of it, he was more likely to be working and vice-versa. Like the kitchen—Twilight’s cooking wasn’t bad, definitely not anymore, but there was still a long way to go before it was anywhere the quality of his own. And the library was basically her second bedroom.

Now this new, unknown box floated towards the Alicorn, who pushed the lid open and took out the first new study object. Or rather, objects. Two eggs… no, wait. Eggs didn’t come in pink, or had cords attached. Plastic shaped like eggs. Twilight let one dangle in her magic on each of her sides and gestured to them as she explained.

“These are vibrators—specifically, bullet vibrators. According to Globetrotter, named so after the sling bullet used in ancient pony history, from before the Tribal Unification. Globetrotter believes there is a more direct connection as well; she argues the smooth, oval shape might have made for a tempting personal massage tool for lonely soldier mares on extended tours of duty, when nothing else was avai—”

“Oooh!”

Sweetie Belle’s wide-eyed interruption came exactly at the right moment for Spike, who’d feared a rather lengthy digression was to follow that initial mention of Globetrotter. Spike blinked to himself and wondered who this Globetrotter even was. His attention was soon drawn back to the two ponies with him, however.

The filly brushed her fingertips over one of the levitated toys. “How do they work? Do you put them in? Then what happens? Are they magic?”

Twilight smiled, pushed her glasses back into position—for dramatic effect, Spike decided, they hadn’t moved one bit even when she and Sweetie Belle had been smooshing faces together. “They vibrate! Thus providing the user with bodily stimulation that, I have read, is quite enjoyable. As to your other questions, yes, you put them in, yes, they are powered by magic—my own, in fact, that should keep them fully charged for several months at a time—and they are activated via remote.”

With a quick flourish, Twilight levitated a small pink plastic device from her Box of Mysteries. It was sized in a way that would likely sit in an adult hand quite comfortably, with two sliders and two buttons.

“This is the remote,” Twilight explained the obvious. The little item bobbed and rotated in her magic field, though it wasn’t all that interesting in and of itself. “The button switches it on and off, the slider controls the intensity. See the markers? That goes gentle to hard. One button and one slider for each vibrator. The little numbers on each side tell you which is for which.”

Twilight’s magic sent them both floating towards Sweetie Belle, who plucked them from the air with all the energy of an eager foal. After a short time inspecting both, she handed one back to Twilight, who seemed a little confused at the action at first.

“Here,” Sweetie Belle said. “Good thing you’d picked up two of them, that’s one for each of us. Now we can show them off for Spike! He’s the only guy in the room, after all.”

Twilight nodded, first haltingly. “R-right.” Then she nodded again, her confidence coming back in full. “Right! I need to show you how to put it in anyway, Sweetie Belle! Give me a moment. I need to get changed for this…”

Twilight was already halfway turned around on her hooves when she suddenly stopped. She cocked her head, one ear moving this way and that. And she shook her head, sought out Sweetie Belle’s gaze, put a hand on her hips. Twilight’s wings made a quick little flutter-flap and then rested on her back again. “Right. What was I thinking? I can’t very well show you how to operate them properly when I’ve left the room, now can I? Well, I guess I could, but it wouldn’t be quite as educational.”

“Educational is good,” Sweetie Belle sagely agreed. Her nods sent her curls bobbing wildly. “That’s what Miss Cheerilee says too! A good educational foundation is key to prepare us for our personal future prospects!”

Spike imagined the still fairly young herself, proverbially cheerful Cheerilee giving her classroom a lecture on the field. And he wondered. “Was ‘vibrators 101’ part of that lesson plan?”

Sweetie Belle seemed to think on that. She had a finger pressed on her cheek while Spike and Twilight both waited. “Hmm. I can’t remember it ever was. Perhaps it should’ve been, though?”

“I can talk to Cheerilee about it. Let’s first make do with everything we have here, alright?” Twilight put a hand on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder with a smile the filly reciprocated just as much. They nodded to one another in obvious, unspoken agreement, and then began stripping off their clothes.

Sweetie tittered as she pulled on her shirt, trying to get it over her head, getting stuck on her horn, pulling more and bending at the hip and in the process giving Spike a neat little show. After finally getting free of her shirt, she fumbled with her skirt next, still laughing quietly and having the time of her life, from the looks of it. She was down to her panties soon after, some outrageously red number Spike hadn’t seen before on her or anypony else that sharply stood out against her coat. She hadn’t worn any top with it. Sweetie Belle’s nipples were stiff at attention.

Twilight had tried peeling off her student uniform unsuccessfully so far. She’d managed to squeeze herself inside, but getting out again was even more difficult and not helped by both the Alicorn’s sometimes lack of coordination and her probable unwillingness to damage her old stuff from Celestia’s school. After a few attempts, and a quick look to the side to see Sweetie Belle already mostly nude, Twilight grunted and fired up her horn; the result being most of her clothes disappearing in a flash of magic. She was left in her underwear, a slightly darker shade of purple—from a ways away, she probably looked like she was wearing nothing.

Spike was breathing more deeply than before.

“Should we get these off too?” Sweetie Belle asked, tugging at her panties. Her shiny, crimson panties. Twilight shook her head to this and pointed down at her own crotch.

“No, let’s leave them on. It’ll help keep the bullet vibes in. I don’t want them to fall out and we step on them or something.” She held the little toy close to her eye, peered at it with her brow furrowed. “I wonder what way would work to keep it in place. Maybe some strap to tie it to the leg..?”

Sweetie nodded along thoughtfully, running her fingers over the smooth surface of her vibrator. “You’re right! Let’s stick them in, see how they feel!”

“Okay.”

Both mare and filly, without a further word, tugged on their panties to push the bullet vibes in. Spike had a pretty good glimpse of both of their pussies. His first at all, he realised. He saw they were both weirdly smooth and very inviting, and glistening just a bit in eager anticipation. Thin twin sets of fingers worked the oval shapes in between those pussy lips; Twilight had her tongue in between her teeth in pure concentration while Sweetie moaned quietly as she pushed the toy in. And when they were both done, they pulled their panties back up, tight and snug and showing just the outline of the cord through the fabric.

Just as they were sharing toys, they shared a look, and a giggle. And a blush, of course. Both of them were flushed in the cheeks. “Well, that doesn’t feel so bad,” Twilight said. “Not too full. Fairly comfortable. Not the most practical solution with the cord, but we could work on that.”

Sweetie Belle drew a finger along the cord’s outline, barely visible as a thin bulge. “Yeah. It feels nice. Now we give the remote to Spike?”

“Right! Here you go, Spike!”

Spike, who’d himself half forgotten he was even in the room, jolted awake from his stupor. Little Spike sat up straight as well. He was straining against his pants with quite some force, uncomfortably so, in fact. When the little plastic box plopped down into the palm of his hand, he could only stare at it dumbly.

Twilight nodded to him. “Go on. You’re the guy. Test it.”

Spike looked at the remote some more. Then he looked at the two ponies. The two pretty ponies, smiling their encouragement, but also looking a little flustered already. Waiting for him to play with the toys they’d just shoved up themselves. Play with them.

Like a switch had been flipped inside him too, he was overcome with the desire to do just that. To have a little fun with them. Why not, if they were asking? He pushed the button.

bzzzzzzzz~

The effect was immediate.

Twilight Sparkle stiffened, letting out a tiny “meep” sound. Sweetie Belle’s head moved back, exposing more of her neck, and she sighed from the pleasure. “Oooh, this… this is… nice…” she murmured.

Both were flushing even harder. Their breathing grew heavy. Spike couldn’t see the vibrators work, but he could see the effects they were having. Feeling mischievous, he turned the dial up on them; he was rewarded with increased fidgeting, even squirming, Twilight balling her fists and twisting her face into a grimace while Sweetie began moving her hip from side to side, swaying like a cat and her tail wagging slowly.

Spike gave them a harder push.

bzzzzzzzz~

“Oh Celestia!” The girls jumped, obviously surprised by the sudden intensity! Twilight bent forward, panting; Sweetie Belle pushed a hand to her mouth, even biting down on it to curb the short cry threatening to tear itself free. Spike saw the Alicorn reach low with trembling hands…

“Stop!” he ordered. Twilight’s head jerked up to look at him with even more surprise, and Sweetie too locked eyes with him. “Don’t touch those! Hands behind your backs!”

Both of them jumped to his command. Sweetie Belle had clasped her hands behind her back before he was even through ordering them, Twilight grabbed her elbows and hooked her wings over them next, most likely to help keep them in place. “S-Spike…” she said. He couldn’t place her tone. But he liked it. He wanted to reward it.

He turned the dial up, all the way. Full power.

BZZZZZZZZ~

Sweetie Belle moaned, quite loudly, her head lolling back with her mouth open and her eyes closed. She spread her legs, shaking legs, hips bucking now instead of the gentle sway from before, humping the air. “Stars, Spike! Spike! You, ah! Ah! Yes, please, oh yes~!”

Twilight fell to her knees. She smooshed her cheeks and her breasts against the floor, ass raised, tail stiffly flagged straight up. She seemed beyond words, overcome with pure physical sensation. Her whole body was trembling, at the mercy of the invisible vibe in her pussy.

The buzzing was so loud in Spike’s ears, he was sure there was no way the rest of Ponyville couldn’t hear it. It barely droned out the rush of his blood pumping. He held the remote like a magic wand, pointed at the girls, dialled to the hilt. He watched as he let them have it. His vision grew greyish; he’d begun to snort out a bit of smoke without realising. He got up from the couch when the pressure in his pants became too much. Not that it helped. And still he left the vibrators going full power.

With a groan and a strangled cry, respectively, Twilight and Sweetie Belle came. Their climax came fast, Spike switched the vibrators off right there as soon as he noticed. He was panting as well. The stiffness down there was nearly painful.

The three of them had to catch their breath after the experience.

“Well…” Twilight began. It was muffled. Her face was still pressing against the floor. “Well… well. That was…”

“Y-yeah…” Sweetie Belle agreed. She grinned, took a wavering step forward, then another one, and then fell forward like a sack of potatoes. Spike caught her just in time, and she smirked up at his face. She still had her hands behind her back. “It was… it was something. Something… fun.”

Spike didn’t know what to make of this. He stared into the pools of emerald peering back at him with a sense of affection he’d never seen anywhere else. Not directed at him, that is. Never at him. “Sweetie Belle…” he muttered.

He didn’t get any further. A pair of velvety-soft lips crashed into his, bringing with it warmth and a taste of strawberries. Sweetie Belle… was kissing him.

From the floor came a shaky laugh. “Looks like we can cross ‘kissing’ off the list of things to teach you.”

Spike felt it was only proper to accompany Sweetie Belle to the door after their lecture was officially over They'd settled for some daisy sandwiches, not much work for anypony involved and quickly devoured. There hadn’t been much else this evening; apparently, the vibrator practice had taken a lot out of the Alicorn, and she had declared a desire to go to bed early. They’d watched her stumble up the stairs like a drunk instead of teleporting, which gave the two of them another nice show of Ponyville’s local princess’s sparkly butt.

Now that Sweetie and he were at the castle entrance, Spike had a feeling of uncertainty. He didn't know if they were moving a little fast, or if put too much pressure on her. Thoughts like that weighed him down, and they flared up when Sweetie hugged him and he hugged her back, patting her bare shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle.”

“For what?” She drew back, still holding his hands. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Everything was fine. Better than fine!”

He bit his lip. Before he could answer, she touched his cheek. Soothing him.

“Spike,” she said, gently, “don’t think anything that happened today was bad. Especially not the lesson. Trust the lesson, isn’t that what you always say?”

He chuckled despite himself. “Yeah, I do.” She fell in with a giggle of her own.

“See? We wouldn’t have done this if we didn’t want to. All of us. That’s why you still have the remote.”

Spike felt for the little box in his pocket. She was right, he still had the remote. He hadn’t seen her take out the vibe yet. “You know, Sweetie Belle…”

“Yes, Spike?”

“We haven’t yet tested the range on these things. You think they could work from here to, let’s say, Carrousel Boutique?”

The filly’s eyes lit up. She booped his snout with an index finger. “Guess we’ll have to find out, hm? I can tell you tomorrow, if you like. A full report.”

“I’d like that,” Spike told her. And as they looked each other in the eye, he moved his face closer to hers. Closer… until their mouths were touching. It was an awkward kiss, lips on lips, no technique, no flourish, no tongue. It was the best thing he’d ever felt.

As he waved Sweetie Belle off—still only in her panties, she’d forgotten the rest of it in the castle, it seemed—Spike was overcome with another bout of curiosity. He pulled out the remote, and wondered. His finger hovered over one of the buttons. Spike decided to test it. There was a muffled yelp from upstairs.

“Guess Twilight didn’t take hers out yet either,” he mused to himself.

When Sweetie Belle arrived at her sister’s place, she made sure to enter quietly. She didn't want to disturb her if she happened to be 'in the zone'. She peeked into the living room, finding Rarity poring over a piece of paper with a quill levitating right beside her head. The mare looked up and brightened from the rather gloomy face she’d been pulling just before.

“Sweetie Belle! You’re back! How was it?” She looked her up and down, and the smile turned slightly saucy. “From the looks of things, I would say it went rather well?”

Sweetie Belle all but hopped in through the door. “It was sooo good” she gushed. “We had so much fun! And Spike KISSED me!”

Rarity’s mouth fell open in shock. Then her expression melted into pure joy. She rushed up to the filly to embrace her. “Oh, Sweetie Belle! That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you! That’s everything you wanted and more!”

“It is.” Sweetie Belle nuzzled into her sister’s neck. “It really, really is. But… Rarity? I need your help now.”

“Of course! Whatever you need!”

Shortly afterwards, Sweetie Belle was lying on her bed. On her stomach, to be precise; her arms were tied behind her, with a rope going to her ankles which were pulled up in turn. She couldn’t move much like this. She certainly couldn’t touch herself down there.

Spike had told them not to touch the vibrators. He'd never rescinded that order. Now she couldn’t. Sweetie Belle smiled, pleased with herself. Would Spike actually test the remote now? Would it work out here? Would he switch it off again if it did? Would she have to spend the rest of the night squirming like a worm if he didn't, helpless to the pleasure, until Rarity came to release her in the morning?

Lying on her bed, surrounded by her favourite lewd books, Sweetie Belle could hardly wait to find out.

Author's Note

So. Made it before year's end.

I hope this won't disappoint too much. I had some struggles with this chapter, which probably shows. Great thanks to Pone Peddler 9 for helping me get out of the slump!

Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you had a wonderful fest!

Homecoming

“Next stop: Ponyville station.“

“Finally!“ Scootaloo stretched her nearly numb limbs with a satisfying pop. She looked her own reflection over one more time in one of the train's windows and grinned wide. Trusty black top, khaki shorts, messy purple mane. Oh yeah, she was back!

She hopped out of the car, only barely resisting the urge to strike a pose. There weren't that many ponies traveling from Hoofington to Ponyville via train. She had so much space to herself, she felt like a celebrity. She just needed some screaming fans to make the picture complete.

None of the ponies around her looked like 'rabid fan' material. Except for a teal filly sharing Scootaloo's classes, Toot something-or-other, currently walking along the street with one arm awkwardly rubbing the other. She was dressed very airy, even considering the pleasant summer warmth. Red hot pants and vest, no wonder she kept hugging herself; she was probably cold. Or embarrassed. Or both.

“Scoots! Over here!”

Two sets of running hooves announced Apple Boom and Sweetie Belle running up to greet her in person. Awesome, she thought, I can't wait to tell them about our training! She whirled about to return their greetings but had to pause at the sight before her.
Like, woah!

Both of her friends had chosen to wear something slightly more... daring, than usual.
Apple Bloom had switched out her usual jeans overall for a pair of tightly-hugging daisy dukes. The white shirt she wore barely kept her bouncy Apple Family bust in check. Next to her, Sweetie Belle wore a miniskirt that ended well above her knees, and running as she was now and then revealed the very edge of some very frilly pink panties. However, Scootaloo soon found herself distracted from them by a two-pronged tackle-hug assault.

"Ha ha ha, mercy! I give!"

It took the laughing pile of young mares a little to get all the hugging and greeting out of their system. When they finally had, Apple Bloom suggested they talk over ice cream and cold drinks at Sugarcube Corner.

“Alright! I haven't had a good ice cream in weeks!” Scootaloo whooped. “Lead the way”

The ice cream was, unsurprisingly, very delicious. The Pegasus moaned in obvious bliss and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, while her companions watched with barely hidden amusement. She really couldn't help herself, it was just so good!

But even that and their idle chit-chat couldn't keep her attention away from noticing a few interesting developments. She hadn't seen hair nor tail of Pinkie Pie, and the other girls told her she was busy with 'preparations', whatever that meant.

Silver Spoon walked by at some point, all by herself. She'd gone from her normally modest pink skirt to some yoga pants. Very, very tight yoga pants. She drew more than a few eyes like this, but she was obviously used to the attention. That, or her glasses were defective.

Somewhere in the background, Dinky chatted up an older Pegasus stallion, probably an uncle of hers. They shared many laughs and more than once, Scootaloo thought she'd seen the Unicorn blush from something that was said. With her pretty white dress leaving her shoulders exposed and her plunging neckline, she looked like she could've been printed right on the cover of one of those racy books her aunt seemed to hoard.

“Scootaloo? Yo, Equestria to Scoots?”

Apple Bloom's concerned voice tore her back to her own conversation. Unfortunately, she'd missed the last few sentences.

“Eheheh, sorry girls, just a little distracted by something. What did you wanna know again?”

Apple Bloom pushed her own, now empty plate away and leaned a little closer. Sweetie Belle still nursed her own iced chocolate.
Actually, she nursed the straw more than she chocolate itself. She'd asked for—and gotten—a thick purple straw. She kept wrapping just the tip of her lips around it, or tracing it with her tongue.
Awkward.

“Ah said, what were ya doin' over with your aunt? You wrote somethin' about dancin', but that was like weeks ago. Probably didn't spend all the time jus' dancin', right?” She broke into a smirk at the idea. “Ah can hardly believe you're one for dancin' anyway. Just a year ago Ah would've bet good bits you'd sooner join a book club than do that. Well, at least a Darin' Do book club.”

“Now now, play nice,” scolded Sweetie Belle with a mock scowl, “we all have things we do now that we didn't think we'd be doing then.” The Unicorn turned her attention towards Scootaloo. She smiled brightly, twinkling her eyes and motioning for Scootaloo to answer.

“Yeah.” Scootaloo scratched the back of her head. “We, uh, we did some other stuff too. She used to be a guard in Cloudsdale, so showed me some other neat stuff. Like how to make your hoofsteps really really quiet!” She leaned back, pointing a thumb at herself and grinning.
“I'm some kinda superspy ninja-pony now. Way cool, huh?”

Her Earth Pony friend snorted a poorly suppressed giggle. When she felt purple eyes glare at her angrily her ears splayed back.
“Sorry, sorry. It's jus', your coat. Orange ain't the first thing Ah think of when Ah hear 'ninja-pony'. But hey, Ah didn't mean to insult you or anyth—“

Unfortunately, as Apple Bloom tried to reach for her friend, she accidentally pushed over her drink. The glass tipped over and spilled its entire chilly content all over the Earth Pony's front; she yelled from the sudden cold.
“Aw, jeez! Cold, cold, gimme a napkin Sweetie Belle, quick!”

Scootaloo didn't notice Apple Bloom's shivering and trying to wipe off her shirt. She didn't notice Sweetie Belle's scrambling for a napkin, either. Her attention was fully occupied by what the unexpected splash of water had revealed. She tried to blink the sight away, failed, and tried again. When it was clear the image wouldn't go, she half-yelled in shock:
“You got your nipples pierced?!”

The other crusaders stopped.
Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo, then Sweetie Belle. She did the same. They had some sort of silent communication, after which Apple Bloom turned back to Scootaloo. She shrugged, completely nonchalant.

“Yup.” She flicked one of the golden rings adorning her nipples. They looked kind of heavy; Scootaloo imagined they probably tugged on Apple Bloom's chest whenever she wore a tighter top. If nothing else, they made them stand out like stiff rocks on top of two hills of bouncy mareflesh.

“My coltfriend asked me to get 'em. 'If you like it, you should put a ring on it' 's what he said. Ah kinda agree, they look and feel really nice.”

'And you went along with that?!' is what Scootaloo first wanted to shout, until her brain registered the other horseshoe dropped on her head without warning.
“You got a coltfriend?! How—I mean, who? When?” She helplessly sought Sweetie Belle's gaze, who only shrugged as well. “Why didn't you tell me? When did that happen?”

“About two weeks ago.”

“Two weeks?!” Scootaloo couldn't believe what she heard. Two weeks, and Apple Bloom agreed to have several holes punched in her body where there weren't normally supposed to be any, all for the sake of this 'coltfriend' of her?
“Who is it? Anypony I know?”

Apple Bloom raised a brow.
“It's Snips. The colt with the scissors cutie mark.”

If Scootaloo thought the first revelation was weird enough, the second turned out to be even weirder. Snips? The colt with the buck teeth? Number One of their class' loser squad?
“You're dating Snips of all ponies?”

As soon as the words left her muzzle, she knew she'd made a mistake. Her friend scowled hard enough to curdle milk and make baby ponies cry. Scootaloo couldn't help but flinch.

“Ah'll have you know who Ah like is nonna ya business,” Apple Bloom coldly informed her, “if'n you gonna be like this, Ah have nothin' more to say to you.”
She turned to leave. Before she could rise, though, Scootaloo held her back by her sleeve.

“Woah, sorry, AB. Sorry, I should've been more open. It's just, all a bit much at the same time. You never mentioned any of this in the letters, and I overreacted.” She let go of the other filly's sleeve and lowered her head in contrition. She really did feel bad about making Apple Bloom mad at her.

Apple Bloom studied her for a few seconds—though it seemed much longer to the Pegasus—and gave her another smile.
“Apology accepted.”

Scootaloo let a breath go she didn't know she'd held back. That soon turned into a chuckle, with the other two quickly joining in. The tension was mostly gone now, so Scootaloo felt a little more confident to ask for more about what had happened while she was gone.

“Okay, so you got a coltfriend.” She shook her head. “Still can hardly believe it. Next you're going to tell me Sweetie Belle also found a coltfriend.”

Sweetie Belle noticeably avoided eye contact with her.

“Oh come on! Seriously? When were you going to tell me any of this?”

The Unicorn filly bit her lip, before sighing and looking back to her. Scootaloo thought she could see just how much this topic troubled her friend. Maybe it had been a mistake to pry even more, but what was done was done now. No sense in looking backwards.

“It's not like that, Scootaloo. I... I have someone I really, really like, but... Well, I haven't told him that yet.” Her eyes dropped low and her ears drooped, while her voice became a mumble.
“I just haven't found the right time yet. But I'm going to do it soon, you'll see.”

Apple Bloom, for her part, had crossed her arms over her impressive bust and regarded Sweetie Belle with a look between amusement and exasperation. Scootaloo remembered the look from back whenever the Unicorn tried sewing and ended up creating an abomination of cloth and thread.

“If you wanna know who she's got her sight on,” she started, pointedly ignoring Sweetie's fiery blush and silent begging to shut up, “here's a hint: He's green 'n purple and works at the castle. Also, he's a dragon.”

Scootaloo blinked.
There was only one dragon in all of Ponyville.
“Spike?” she asked. Judging from Sweetie Belle's frustrated groan and how she'd put her face in her hands, she was correct.

“Wow. Okay, did not see that coming.” She pursed her lips when the memory of a few photos made at the wedding of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor popped up—a memory of a particular Unicorn and drake dancing together. Dancing together, in her now trained and well-funded opinion, like total geeks.
“Though perhaps I should have.”

“Look, girls,” Apple Bloom interrupted her thoughts, “it's getting' late. Ah had fun 'n all, but Ah need to git back home for some chores.”

She got up, fumbling in her pockets. Sweetie Belle also rose and put enough cash on the table to cover them all. That prompted Apple Bloom into giving her a dirty look, even as she took the offered hospitality.
“Thanks. Anyway, Ah'll see you two tomorrow in school.”

With that, Apple Bloom left. Scootaloo felt her gaze drawn right at her subtly shifting, muscular backside. With the way her daisy dukes were riding up, she could see every little movement. She had to tear herself away from it when Sweetie addressed her with a clearing of her throat.

“I'll be off as well. Bye, Scootaloo. “ A shy smile bloomed on her muzzle. “Maybe I'm going to ask Spike out for tomorrow on my way. Wish me luck!”

“Bye Sweetie.” Scootaloo awkwardky waved at Sweetie Belle's already retreating form. Now that she was alone, she turned towards her own home, absently flapping her wings while she digested everything.
Apple Bloom has a coltfriend. Sweetie Belle has a crush on Spike. And they all started wearing clothes that belong in some stallions' magazine.
She sighed.
I think I'm getting a headache from thinking about this too much.

She took a look around to get her mind off of things, but nothing she saw was overly interesting. The most notable thing was a big poster in Ponyville Pet Shop's main window. Apparently leashes were fifty percent off, in preparation of something or other called Leash Day.

“Leash Day, hm? I wonder what that is.”

Author's Note

So, there you have it. First chapter of the first story.

There's lots of room for improvement; I feel that the chapter's pacing isn't as good as it could be, and it lacks a lot of descriptive elements. Definitely something I need to work on.

I'm grateful for any constructive criticism!