Cabin Fervor

“Thanks again for doing this.” Twilight Sparkle took the last bag of groceries out of the trunk of Cadance's red convertible. She fumbled with the heavy paper bag for a few moments, until Cadance neatly reached over to take it out of Twilight's arms. “And thanks for that.” The purple-haired girl added on.

“No problem!” Cadance smiled, and reached up to slam the trunk lid shut. Gravel crunched beneath her boots as she walked up the path to the lakeside cabin she and Twilight had driven to. “I'm really looking forward to the chance to meet your new friends!”

“Yeah, but when you said you wanted to meet them, I thought you meant, like 'let's go have lunch somewhere,' not 'invite everyone out to your dad's lakeside cabin.' You don't think it's too much, do you?”

“It'll be fine!” Cadance said. “Somebody needs to come through every few months, just to keep the cobwebs off. And it's a lot more fun to spend that time with you and your friends, rather than by yourself.”

“You're right.” Twilight said, and followed Cadance inside. Given the building's size, the term 'lodge' might have been more appropriate. The walls were rough stone, while the floors were of dark, polished hardwood. The main central room had all the requisite trappings: plush (if dated) furniture, shelves full of dusty bottles and forgotten vacation paperbacks, and even the occasional fishing trophy. The cabin's biggest nod to modernity was the kitchen, with its shining chrome countertops and a refrigerator large enough to store a whole deer, if necessary.

A large stone fireplace dominated one wall, complete with a multi-pointed set of antlers mounted above the mantlepiece. Opposite the fireplace, sliding glass doors revealed the mirror-smooth gleam of the lake beyond, complete with a short pier stretching out from the rear deck. A spiral staircase in the corner led upwards to the lodge's second level, where the guest bedrooms were.

Luxurious as the cabin was, it was still uncomfortably warm from the day's blazing sun, and slightly stuffy from months of disuse. The whole place smelled rustic: of wood, of dust, and a hint of old leather.

“Hey Twilight?” Cadance said. “Could you start opening up the windows to get this place all aired out? I'm gonna go down the basement and check the fusebox. Might be nice to get the AC running before your friends get here.”

“Will do!” Twilight said. Her shoes padded softly against the hardwood floors as she made a circuit of the room, unlatching windows and propping them open. She slid the glass door to the deck out last, and sighed pleasantly as she was greeted with a fresh breeze off the lake. Cadance had shown Twilight pictures of her father's 'fishing cabin' before, but it was something else to see it in person. She walked outside and leaned on the deck's railing, looking out over the lake and the pristine forest beyond. The setting sun cast a lovely orange glow over the water, bathing Twilight in her namesake.

“Hey you.” Cadance put her hands against the rail next to Twilight, and smiled. “Pretty great, isn't it?”

“It is, yeah.”

“Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Technically, you already have.”

“Well, I was just wondering. Have you … met anyone recently?”

“Oh sure, I've met lots of people, why do you--” Twilight trailed off as she saw the suggestive lift of Cadance's eyebrow. “Oh.” Twilight found herself gritting her teeth in an effort to fight down the blush rising from her cheeks. “Like that.”

“Like that.”

“That's a little personal, don't you think?”

“We're practically family, aren't we?”

“Well, yes.” Twilight stared fixedly out at the opposite shore of the lake.

“So who's the lucky guy?” Cadance said.

“Uh. About that.”

“Oh?” Cadance tilted her head to the side. “Who's the lucky girl, then? I won't judge.”

“Well. Um. She's not … I mean, uh, I'm not. We're not. Uh. It's … complicated. Really, really complicated.”

“Complicated can be good sometimes.” Cadance flicked her hair back, and laughed playfully.

“Yeah. Uh. I'll keep that in mind.”

“It's one of your friends who's coming up this weekend, isn't it?”

“It's--”

“Hey! Anybody home?” Rainbow Dash's voice echoed through the lodge.

“--not important.” Twilight said. She headed back inside, where Rainbow Dash was already poking curiously at a trophy trout.

“Hey Twilight!” The blue complexioned girl perked up. “Good to see you! I was starting to worry we'd barged into the wrong house.”

“This is the only house for miles.” Twilight noted.

“So it would've been really embarassing if we'd barged into the wrong house.” Rainbow Dash grinned, and then turned to yell at the still open front door. “C'mon in guys! Twilight's here!”

“This ain't a cabin.” Applejack walked in, hauling a battered duffel bag on one shoulder. “It's a palace.”

“Mmmm. Yes. I suppose it'll do.” Rarity followed close on Applejack's booted heels, wheeling a suitcase behind her. “Even if it's a tad rustic … for my personal tastes.” Rarity pulled out her phone, and squinted at the screen. “Not to mention isolated. I haven't got the barest trace of a signal! Ah well. I suppose I can … rough it, so long as I'm in good company.”

“I swear, Rarity, anythin' short of a royal castle is roughin' it to you.”

“Untrue! I'm more than willing to stay at a five-star hotel. Perhaps even a four, in a pinch.”

“It's really nice to be out in nature like this.” Fluttershy entered after Rarity. Her dreamy, nature-induced smile faltered once she saw the rack of antlers hanging above the mantle. “Uh. They … collected those from when the deer naturally shed his antlers, right?” Her voice quavered a little.

“I'm sure they did.” Sunset gently nudged Fluttershy away from the mantlepiece.

“Oh. Whew.” The tension drained from Fluttershy's shoulders.

“This place is great!” Pinkie Pie bounced in, as exuberant as to be expected. “Thanks for inviting us, Twilight!”

“Don't thank me. Thank Cadance.” Twilight said. “Or, well, technically, I guess we should thank Cadance's parents for letting all of us all stay here for the weekend.”

“Hi everybody!” Cadance waved. “It's a pleasure to meet you guys. Mind introducing me, Twilight?”

“Oh! Right!” As Twilight rattled off names, Cadance walked the gauntlet of hugs and handshakes (more of the latter than the former). Cadance smiled and nodded through it all as she tried to keep track of the new names and faces.

“--and this is Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight finished. “And now that w'ev got that out of the way, everybody make yourselves at home. The bedrooms are upstairs-- they've all got bunk beds, so we'll need to pair off. Cadance and I stocked the fridge, so help yourselves to whatever you like. Oh! And I checked the weather report before I left. The water level's up, so it's deep enough to actually dive off the rear dock if you wanna.”

“Woo! Lake party!” Pinkie Pie declared. She dropped her suitcase to the ground, and bolted for the glass door leading to the back. Pinkie Pie left a trail of cast-off clothing (and variously gaping and blushing friends) behind her. Her bra wound up dangling from the antlers above the fireplace.

“Ahem.” Rarity, having the most poise of all her friends, spoke first. “Don't you think you're … forgetting something, Pinkie?”

“Huh?” Pinkie blinked her big blue eyes at Rarity, and then glanced down at herself. “Oh! Right! Thanks for reminding me!”

“You're welcome, dear. A sense of propriety is--”

“I forgot to grab my towel!” Pinkie Pie zipped back to her suitcase, yanked out a striped beach towel, and then bolted back for the door, still in nothing but her omnipresent smile.

“Uh. Sorry.” Twilight turned to Cadance, mortified. “I'd say Pinkie's not always like that, but--”

“CANNONBALL! WOOO!” The ensuing splash sent water spattering all over the deck.

“--she's kind of always like that.” Twilight said with a wince.

“It's fine. Really!” Cadance patted Twilight on the shoulder. “There's nobody but us for miles and miles, and it really is hot enough for it. Heck, I'd be lying if I told you I haven't done a little bit of skinny dipping out here myself.”

Twilight blinked, mortified. “Wha … really?”

“Sure! And if she's that crazy now, I wonder what she'll be like after she hits the liquor cabinet.”

“Liquor cabinet?” Twilight's face went pale. “We'd never do that! That'd be illegal! And rude! And … and … we'd be bad guests!”

“Pssh. You're a bunch of teenagers with very little supervision. I'd be worried if you guys didn't start making trouble. What's important is that you do your experimenting in a safe, controlled environment. So here's the deal.” Cadance scanned the faces of Twilight and company. “You guys can do whatever you want, so long as you clean it up. My dad never keeps any of the really good stuff out here, so anything in the liquor cabinet is fair game. But! By the time we leave, everything's got to be just how we left it. Got it?”

“Uh. Sure.” Twilight murmured. “I, uh … just thought we'd play board games or roast s'mores or something.”

“You can do that too. Just, y'know, with booze.” Cadance snapped her fingers. “Oh! One more condition, though. Keys. Not gonna have anyone drunk driving on my watch.”

“We all carpooled with Fluttershy.” Sunset noted.

“I. Um. Have a van.” Fluttershy murmured.

“Cool. Now keys. Gimmie.” Cadance held out her hand, expectantly.

“I … I wasn't planning on drinking.” Fluttershy shrank back a step, hiding behind Sunset.

“Were you planning on going anywhere?” Cadance asked.

“Well, no, but, if there's an emergency … “

“We'll deal with it then.” Cadance said. “Trust me. Nothing bad's going to happen. I just want to remove the temptation for you doing something stupid.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “If anyone's gonna do something stupid, it's gonna be me!”

Applejack elbowed Rainbow. “Not. Helpin'.”

“Okay, well. Um. If you insist.” Fluttershy pulled her keys, complete with its tiny teddy-bear keychain, and dropped it into Cadance's waiting palm.

“Alright!” Cadance said, and pocketed the keys. “Now, it's been a long drive, so I'm gonna go lay down for a bit. You guys have fun, and try not to burn the place down!”

“To be fair,” Sunset Shimmer noted, “that's kind of a valid concern with us sometimes.”

The sun set, and the moon rose, tinting lake and lodge with a pleasant silvery light. The summer heat still lingered, though with the evening breezes it had gone from oppressive to merely muggy.

“I'm just saying, Rarity, that if people didn't usually wear clothes, then whenever they did, it'd be like a super special occasion, and then you could make them fancier and charge more money!” After her dip in the lake, Pinkie Pie hadn't bothered with getting dressed again, though she was at least polite enough to bring her towel in to sit on.

“Actually,” Sunset Shimmer mused. “That's … kind of how things work back in my home dimension. Only, y'know, everyone's a pony.”

“Well.” Rarity huffed. “I'm sure your home dimension may be a lovely place, but I'm glad that's not how things work here.” She laid on one of the main room's couches, leafing through an aged fashion magazine she'd found in a random drawer. Even if the designs were terribly dated, the magazine at least served as a visual barrier between Rarity and impropriety.

“Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!” Pinkie Pie said.

“For the last time, Pinkie, we're not playing Strip Monopoly.” Rarity murmured.

“Aw, okay!” Pinkie Pie tapped at the side of her chin. “Monopoly takes forever to play anyway, and everyone argues about who gets to be the racecar.”

“Dibs on the racecar!” Rainbow Dash said from the kitchen.

“PLUS, if we were really gonna play Strip Monopoly, that means I'd have to get dressed again, and where's the fun in that?”

“You're not going to spend the whole weekend au naturale, are you?”

“I wasn't … until you gave me the idea! Thanks Rarity!” Pinkie Pie swept her friend up into a sudden, awkwardness-inducing hug. “Now I won't even have to do laundry when I get back!”

“Hey, could be worse.” Rainbow Dash returned to the main room, and dropped her load of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars onto the coffee table. “Remember that time Pinkie Pie wore that clown suit for a week?”

“It was funny!” Pinkie Pie said.

“It was scary.” Fluttershy followed on Rainbow Dash's heels, carrying several long, extendable marshmallow forks.

“How was I supposed to know you were a coulorophobe?” Pinkie Pie said, only to be met with blank stares from her friends. “What?” Pinkie said. “Coulrophobia. Fear of clowns. I read books sometimes!”

“So where's Applejack, anyway? These s'mores aren't gonna roast themselves.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Quit yer complainin'.” Applejack entered via the front door, carrying a cord of wood. She dumped the split logs into a large metal bucket with a clatter, and then dusted her hands off. Applejack wiped sweat and sawdust from her forehead, and then crouched in front of the fireplace to start arranging the wood asneeded. “I'd like to see you split wood with a dull axe. Gonna have to scrounge up a file tomorrow n' sharpen it.” Applejack snapped some twigs into the appropriate length, and then found some old newspaper and long matches next to the wood bucket. The dry wood started crackling away moments after Applejack lit it up. She prodded the blazing twigs beneath the stack of logs with a wrought iron poker, and nodded her approval of a job well done. Fire good.

“Hey guys! Everybody having fun?” Twilight said. The stack of dusty board games in her arms tottered precariously in one direction, and then the other, as Twilight struggled to keep them from toppling on the floor. “I hope everyone's having fun! Because I'd hate to think I invited my best friends out here to meet my oldest friend who is like a sister to me only to just sit around and be bored and awkward and then someone gets into the liquor cabinet because Cadance told us too and then we'll all die of alcohol poisoning and then we'll all go to jail for underage drinking and it'd be all my fault!” Twilight's voice pitched higher and higher with each word and terrible (if chronologically jumbled) scenario.

“It's fine. We're fine.” Sunset Shimmer stood, and gently took the stack of games out of Twilight's hands. “Honestly, Twilight, after all this time we've spent together, this is what you're worried about?”

“Seriously.” Rainbow Dash skewered a marshmellow on her fork. Then another. And another still. “We even went to your big nerd convention thing a couple weeks ago. Hanging out at your friend's swanky cabin? That's totally normal.”

“Pssh. Normal's boring!” Pinkie Pie said. Having found a roll of duct-tape from … somewhere, she set about binding several of the roasting-forks together into a multi-pronged monstrosity.

Twilight forced a wan smile. “I just … um. I guess I wasn't expecting Cadance to be so … “

“Cool?” Rainbow Dash thrust her sugar-laden fork into the fireplace. “Seriously, she's all like 'do whatever!' How rad is that?”

“Not. Helpin'.” Applejack grumbled.

“Don't be such a spoilsport!” Rainbow Dash glared at her cowgirl friend. “I bet if we're nice to Cadance, she'll totally call up some boys or something.”

Twilight went even paler. “Boys?”

“Really. Not. Helpin'.” Applejack muttered.

“Besides,” Sunset noted, “Cadance is dating Twilight's brother--”

“Is he hot?” Rainbow Dash said, right before Applejack could deliver a much-earned elbow to the ribs. “Ow! That's a totally valid question!”

“We're trying to make this less weird, Rainbow.” Sunset said.

“It's not your fault.” Twilight pulled in a deep breath. “It's not any of your fault. It's just … it almost seems like Cadance is a completely different person.”

“Perhaps.” Rarity peeked over the top of her magazine. “It's a matter of perspective? I mean, she's always been a figure of authority to you-- whether as a babysitter, or in her employment at Crystal Prep. Now that she's free from all those pesky responsibilities, it only makes sense that she … cut loose a little. I can imagine how that could be a bit shocking.”

“Heck.” Applejack jerked a thumb in the direction of the master bedroom. “Ain't like Cadance is much of a party animal anyway. Gal's still sleepin'.”

“Maybe she had a long day.” Fluttershy noted.

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash scratched at her head. “Maybe she's just older and boringer than I thought.”

“See, Twilight?” Sunset patted her friend on the arm. “You can relax. We're all responsible--” Sunset cut herself off as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash began to fence with their flaming marshmallow skewers. “Some of us are responsible. Usually. You don't have to worry about it. Just relax, okay? Please?”

“Okay. I'll relax.” Twilight put her hand over Sunset's. “Thanks for reeling me in like that. I'm really glad you came.” Twilight trailed off, and then, realizing she'd held eye contact with Sunset perhaps a moment too long, quickly amended her statement. “I'm glad all of you came! Together! Right! So … who wants to play Risk?”

“Strip Risk?” Pinkie Pie perked up.

“No.” Rarity said.

“Aw.”

Over the next few hours, Twilight's stress melted away like the molten chocolate of the entirely-too-many s'mores she ate. The liquor cabinet went thankfully untouched, and the dusty Risk set had been opened up. Great battles were waged for the fate of the world, ultimately leading to the eventual (and surprising) coronation of Empress Fluttershy.

“I just picked Australia because I like marsupials.” She murmured.

One by one, the girls trailed off to whatever bunk bed or otherwise comfortable stretch of horizontal territory they could find as the sugar wore off.

And through some accidental contrivance, Twilight and Sunset wound up sharing the same bedroom.

“So. Uh. Having fun?” Twilight kept her eyes resolutely on her travel bag as she pulled out her pajamas.

“That's like the fourteenth time you've asked me that.” Sunset unbuckled her boots and tossed them carelessly into a corner with a heavy thump.

“I. Uh. Just like to be thorough.”

“And for the fourteenth time, everything's fine.” Sunset laughed a bit, and then gently turned Twilight around. Suddenly, Twilight realized, the two were very, very close. “Look, I know things between us are … complicated. But that doesn't mean … “ Sunset looked down, and then, realizing where she was, took a step back. “Honestly, I don't know what it means. But we've got time to figure it out. I don't want you to be uncomfortable, okay?”

“I'm comfortable!” Twilight blurted. “I mean. Uh. This bed!” She sat herself down on the bottom bunk. “It's comfortable! Er. Wait. Not that I was propositioning you or anything!” Her cheeks flushed beet-red, nearly glowing even in the moonlit dark of the cabin bedroom. “I just meant, like. It's comfortable for one. It'd be a really tight fit with two people in the one bed. Which is why there's two of them! Beds. That is. Which one do you want to sleep in completely by yourself in a completely platonic way?”

“Uh. Top?” Sunset Shimmer looked up. “I'm … I'm just gonna go brush my teeth. Go ahead and get to sleep.”

And before either of them could embarrass themselves any further, Sunset Shimmer left the room.

Twilight sighed, looking at herself in the reflection of the bedroom window. “Smooth.”

She took off her glasses and put on her pajamas, and settled herself on the bottom bunk. She pulled the bedsheet up to her chin, and stared at the wooden frame of the bunk bed above her. Slowly but surely enough, the day's excitement caught up with Twilight, and sleep started to overtake her.

Something loud and metal clattered in the kitchen. Twilight was reaching for her glasses to go investigate before she pulled herself back. “Relax.” She told herself, and laid back down. “Pinkie Pie probably went looking for more chocolate or something.” And, as worrisome as that particular thought could have been, Twilight was tired enough to ignore it as she dozed off to sleep.

Until someone got into her bed.

“Wha?” Twilight sat up as she felt the mattress shift beneath her. Even as dark as it was, Twilight could still make out the relevant details: the proud mane of hair, red turned black in the moonlight. The entrancing green eyes, alight with mischief. The delicate curve of a shoulder, leading down into--

“Sunset?” Twilight whispered, somehow finding the words despite her suddenly dry mouth. “Are you--“

“Pinkie Pie had the right idea.” Sunset cooed. The bed creaked again as Sunset slipped in. Twilight's earlier appraisal had been correct; it was a tight fit for two people. Sunset didn't seem to mind.

“Are you sure?” Twilight's heart hammered in her chest.

“Positive.” Sunset said. She dipped her head down and kissed Twilight. An unbearable, delightful sense of warmth flooded Twilight's body. She shivered at the sensation, and parted her lips further.

So distracted, neither Sunset nor Twilight saw the shadowed figure in the doorway.

Or the kitchen knife in her hand.