Hard Court Press

An Empty Chapter Gathers A Lot of Dust

Nothing can be said that a muse requires a little quiet, a little time and a clear mind, A lot can be said for a quiet
castle, a little breakfast, the mornings paper and a nicely brewed tea.

She scribbled along the papers margin skimming the articles sipping her brew without a care in the world, Her pampering started
early with a great massage, a scrumptious breakfast and her Spikey Wikey opening her boutique with Sweetie Belle and Night Frost.

She read how the Wonderbolts finished another grand season of aerial acrobatics without mishap, A sideline of how Prince Blue Blood
had single hoofedly brought dragons and Canterlot closer by running away back to Auntie Celestia and having Dragon Lord Ember
drag him out by the tail returning to the dragon lands for more of their special friendship lessons. Opposites do attract if you force them.

'My my how the mighty prince has fallen' She slyly smiled as the thought struck her that she could of been stuck with that prissy
wimp of a prince. Her sly smile faded to a pursed smirk 'I could of been stuck with him...' From the letters Spike shared it was
known that Ember had her first clutch of eggs and that prince was having cold hooves. 'Ember must see something good in him'
'I surely don't' She sipped a bit of tea 'And here I thought all this time Apple Jack was the silly one'.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight was out shopping early and making her rounds as the Princess of Friendship. The rubbing of royal fetlocks
was just as annoying as the title of Princess as tourists flocked around her, If only they could of seen her flagging a cab in Manehatten.
Captain BC escorted the Princess at the casual pace of a snail his ribs and knees still sore from that first date gone bail bondsman
to promotion. Who would of thought these two would could of given the dragon an edge on winning double or nothing on a pile of bits.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Spike was swinging wildly at the flames with a bolt of fabric as Sweetie Belle ran for the fire extinguisher the flames growing by the second

"Come on Frosty give me a hoof here" Spike looked over his shoulder, the bat pony stood still not moving a muscle or twitching a wing.

"No way dude, I burn real easy, You? Dude you're fire proof heck you even breath fire".

With that remark Spike got an idea, Not a big one like diving off a castle spire to get a crystal heart, No a very small idea, Breath fire.

Spike turned to the flames that now consumed the fabric, the counter top and glass of orange juice. He exhaled a bit to make
for room to draw in the flames and fumes. He steeled his nerves and breathed in deeply all he could.

'WOOOOOOOOOOOSH !' The fire extinguisher blasted the flames blasted the glass and completely blasted Spike.

Sweetie Belle covered everything, When the cloud of extinguishing agent cleared. Spike?

Spike was not standing.

Spike was not moving.

Spike was not smoking.

Spike was...

"I think you extinguished him" Frosty looked at Sweetie with a golden accusing eye. "You snuffed him out Sweetie".

Sweetie dropped the weapon of mass asphyxiation her mind raced out of control 'Rarity is so going to kill me'.

Sweetie grabbed the cold purple body as Frosty left the room. Her hooves wrapping around the little dragon and hoisting his body
to the sink where she stuffed his tail into the drain where the disposal waited. With the water running she flipped the switch and
saw the blur of a spinning purple mass twisting at lightning speed as the disposal did it's job, removing all evidence of the crime.
Almost , the disposal sputtered and gagged on the final remains his head still above water, His eyes bugging out from the pressure.
She stared at his face wondering if a quick hit of a wooden soup spoon could dislodge the dead dragon from the disposals drain.

"Thwack wack wack wack WACK Thwack wack wack whack wack"

Spikes head twisted around a dozen times as Sweetie continued with the spoon "Excuse me? Sweetie Belle can you stop that?"

A guffaw erupted in Sweeties ears as a white ghostly Spike looked up at her from the floor 'Dink dink dink dink dink' went the spoon.

Spike reached up to stop the assault of the spoon as a spray of powder launched from his mouth across the room hitting the laughing thestral guard, his black and royal blue colors going white along with everything else in the boutique.

They thought of the same horrible fate that waited for them all 'We wrecked the shop! Rarity's going to be peeved, We're like really dead!'

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raritys eyes grew wide as she looked at the advertisement section of the paper. Fifty percent off on fabric at Barnyard Bargains
all styles and patterns, Another ad on boots and winter garments slashing prices, Smashing the competition, Buy our stuff!
Anything that this mare enjoyed more besides fabulous fashions were fabulous discounts! She laid her renderings aside and started
a shopping list "sniffle" Spools of thread "sniff" Bolts of fabric "sniffle" needles "cough" ribbons of various colors.

Raritys ears tuned to the quite lamentations off in the distance echoing in the depths of the castle. She crossed off the items on her
list under 'sniffle, sniff, sniffle, cough' but kept the rest. She left the dinning area searching for the source of the sniffles.

The castle was a maze of hallways, doors and countless janitor closets. Why Twilight could catalog a whole library full of tens of
thousands of books but not put a single label on a few hundred doors was beyond anyones writing staff including her.

Raritys ears zoomed in on the voice "Stupid Sweetie Belle stupid Apple Boom" She continued moving she knew that voice.

"Stupid Crusaders they've got everything easy, jobs, colts, What I get? A stupid chicken who splits when things get too hot".

Rarity peeked around the library book shelf seeing a pile of job applications, waded papers and a stubby set of wings.

"Sniff" the young mare was filling out another form "Stupid Derpy even she's got a super job and she's seeing a doctor too".

Rarity sat next to the frustrated orange pegasus without a sound as Scoots filled in the spaces and dotted her T's and crossed her eyes.
Papers stacked haphazardly crumpled forms, a half dried inkwell and the remains of a sack lunch told the dragon lady this was no
ordinary cram session, No... Not for college or advanced schooling this was a continuing struggle of the everyday pony.
A pony who when Rarity thought back in time had never met her parents. Not once ever, Not when her and Sweetie started the
Cutie Mark Crusaders, Not when she got her cutie mark, Not when they competed in the talent contest, Not in Sweetie Belles play,
Not in the opening ceremony of the Equestria games...? Come to think of it after the derby crash and the multiple hospital visits in
getting their cutie marks no pony alive ever looked into Scootaloos welfare. Not once!

They both sat in silence as Scootaloo filled out her pile of future job interviews not breaking rhythm as she spoke

"I guess you overheard?"

"Humm".

"I'm not sorry at all".

"Humm"

"I hate them they've had it easy!"

"Humm".

"They've got it all!"

"zzzzzzzzZZZZZ".

"I have to fight for everything".

"ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZz".

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Only if you have something else to say other than sounding like a whining spoiled foal, You're a nearly a grown mare are you not?"

"But but".

"Are you?"

"Why should you care you've got everything!"

"And I could lose everything Scootaloo even those I hold very dear to my heart, Even you".

It got quiet once more but just for a minute.

"I almost lost Equestria for a silly rock and My dear Spikey I could of lost him several times over..."

"But dragons can like live for a thousand years".

"And even Celestia was almost struck down" Rarity looked at the forms and applications" We all have our bad mane days my dear".

"I'm just having more on my mind Sweetie has her singing and helping you part time and Apple Bloom has Sweet Apple Acres
and all I've got is my scooter and even Spike tried to take that away".

'Humm"

"What does Rumble see in AB anyway it's not like she's a pegasus and that creepy guy Sweetie's going with I don't even want to
know why he sleeps hanging from the ceiling ..."

"Dust. Frosty had a thing about dust affecting his sinuses and his ceiling hanging has the benefit of keeping Sweetie Belle chaste".

"Chaste?"

"Pure"

"What?"

"He hangs on the ceiling so Sweetie can't have her way with him".

"Apple Blooms got her beat".

"What?"

"Apple Bloom and Rumble caught Big Mack a few times".

"No!"

"Yes lots of times I think that's why Fluttershy's hanging with Discord" Scootaloo pondered "He keeps her from going insane".

"And here I thought it was Angel Bunny, Fluttershy never once mentioned anything about Big Mac or Discord during our spa sessions".

"Mac's a wild one. Cheerilee, Marble. Lotus, Lyra, Bonbon, Mayor Mare, Colgate, Daisy, Harshwhinny, Mable, Pinkie, Thistle Rumpcoat..."

"PINKIE? Our Pinkamana Dianne Pie?"

"Yeah before she fell for that bug guy Doomie".

"No!"

"Well yeah It's always the quiet ones, I think he calms Pinkie enough that she doesn't destroy everything on her many sugar rushes".

"Humm"

"What's it like?"

Rarity just cocked her head at the sudden question "What's it like, I'm not following you my dear what's what like?"

"Well we all thought with your career you'd wait on foals and everything" Scoots raised an eye from her work 'So what's it like?"

"A royal pain in the plot" Rarity continued "Everyday is a new demand, a new deadline, a new disaster, another dirty diaper, then the
terrible twos, then school, then whining customers, business affairs, taxes, bloating, cramps. morning sickness and Twilights never
ending experiments to the point of screaming hysterically...That's Twilight screaming hysterically my dear Scootaloo".

"If that's what it's like sorry I asked".

"Oh Scootaloo it's really not as discouraging as it sounds, Are these all your applications? come with me please".

Rarity gathered all the forms and papers ushering the pegasus to the dinning area of the castle.

Unique Sapphire was curled around her plushy hoof me downs, the last time Scoots saw the little one was from afar on her daily walks.

"This is what makes all the little pains go away, We didn't know it at first until the Dragon Lord lectured Twilight on the habits of
males of the dragon lands, It seems that the male will give gifts of rubies and gems to his respective mate and if the female returns
gifts in kind they bond for life, and here I've been giving him gems for years. Little did Spikey or anypony know at the time, but
his rampage through ponyville was more then silly greed instincts. At least Twilight thought so".

"Horse apples, We all knew how Spike was all mushy when he saw you when he first came to town" She pointed a stubby feather
at the fashion pony "You don't think Sweetie kept quiet about you and your boy dramas did you? We're glad you picked Spike, Not
because he's a nice guy and all but it got tiring hearing all the stupid whining from her about you".

"So you think I whine too much?"

"And eat cartons and cartons of Vanilla Oat Swirl Ice Cream between chocolates".

"A lady has her needs my dear".

"And I need to find a job, If you don't mind I got to get going if I'm going to find one".

Rarity held the batch of applications and eyed Scootaloo "How fast are you with your scooter?"

"What's that got to do with a job?"

"Everything, How fast are you?"

"Fast enough to make the Equestria games towing Sweeite Belle and Apple Blooms big fat..."

"That fast? From Ponyville to Canterlot?"

"I can beat the Train and ground carriages. Flying chariots not so much. Why?"

Rarity took the still sleeping Sapphire in her magic and deposited her on her back easily taking the dracony for a little trek

"Come along Miss Scootaloo we shall negotiate terms during brunch".

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bell over the boutiques threshold rang out as the three snowpony looking shop stewards froze in their tracks.
Sweetie Belle, Night Frost and Spike the Great and Honorable Brave and Glorious stood beside each other with brooms, dust pans
hoof brushes and other farming tools forgotten in history since Equestrias founding of Dodge Junction and the great dust bowl.
Speaking of Dodge the three white powder covered hooligans were wishing to hop the first train right out of Dodge.

"It was nice knowing you two" Spike whispered "We're really dead in a dragon sort of way...toasted".

"I'm sure going to miss you Sweetie I bet we'd of had some really cute foals..."

"Now you want to mess around! Where were you last night? Hanging around as usual! You're a no good tease that's what you are!"

"WHAT IN CELESTIAS GARDENS HAVE YOU THREE DONE!" Raritys right eye twitched as her petite claws pawed the floor
"Sweetie Belle, Spikey, Night Frost!" She moved through the snow white boutique showroom, garments of many sizes covered
with that single shade of white. "What have you wonderful geniuses done to my boutique?"

"Is she being sarcastic?" Sweetie Belle whispered to nopony in particular as Spikes jaw hit the floor in a small white dust cloud.

"What a magnificent plan, a white sale! Come Scootallo we have contracts to go over and Spikey dear please have the boutique
cleaned up before brunch, all the girls will be here in two hours. I have the utmost in confidence that my Spikey Boo will get things done ".

Spike blushed at the compliment as the two exited the shop floor "Come on you guys lets get started we have two hours".

Spike turned to see Frosty quietly sneaking out the front window.

"Get back here you leather winged coward!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she galloped after the fleeing bat pony.

Spike watched his so called help disappear his frown growing by the second "What else?"

An angry roar came out of the kitchen "SPIKE!"

Spikes frown was turned into absolute fear as the words of his dragon lady pierced his ear flukes.

"WHO IN TARTARUS DRANK ALL THE ORANGE JUICE AND LEFT THE EMPTY CARTON IN THE REFRIGERATOR !"

Spike could of easily placed the blame on Scootaloos parents but sadly nopony in all of Equestria knows who the hay they are.