Only two words could ever describe Loli Beats; loud and proud... well, there were others that other ponies used. Like crazy!
To Loli, the only opinion about her that mattered was her own. She didn't care that she had her headphones turned all the way, dancing through the streets of Canterlot without a care in the world, sometimes, even dragging some random pony into the flow! Some people loved that about her; others, not so much. But as always, she didn't care.
"Haters gonna hate," she always said! "But I only process good vibes!"
However, there was only one thing in the entire world that could cause this happy-go-lucky, bouncy, bubbly mare to freeze up. Only one force in the universe was strong enough to calm the force of nature that was Loli. What, you ask? Not a what, but a who.
Loli bounced through the streets of Canterlot as always. Music was banging in her ears and one of her wings was partially folded, holding a grocery list. She bobbed her head and stepped to the beat like it was contagious, narrowly avoiding hazards from wet cement to low-hanging pipes in construction areas.
Finally arriving at the farmer's market, Loli put the list in front of her and read off the items:
"Alrighty, let's see. Lettuce, cabbage, haystacks, tomatoes, golden wheat, daisies, poppies, jasmine, and strawberries... LOTS of strawberries!" With the items in mind, she made her way through the market, starting off with the cabbage and lettuce, then tomatoes, and then the flowers. She always liked to get the strawberries last as a snack on her way back home, but also knew she'd need help moving the hay.
"Where's Dawn's grapple when you need it?" she mumbled to herself.
In less than an hour, Loli had successfully acquired everything on the list. She now had four bags of fresh, juicy produce and a wing which occasionally tipped a couple of juicy, red strawberries into her mouth.
"Alright, last, but not least, the hay," she read out loud, looking at the paper. "Wow. How am I supposed to move this?" she wondered. She knew how heavy one stack could be, but she knew there was no way she could carry three by herself all the way back home; that was a thirty minute trot! Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed another pony come around the corner of one of the stands and the two collided. Loli hit the ground, but was fast to react, catching the items with her wings and tail and narrowly catching the strawberries on her head!
"Phew! That was a close one," she said. But she immediately set the items on the ground and ran over the pony she hit. "OmigoshOmigoshOmigoshOmigoshOmiGOSH! I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to- here, let me help you-" Loli reached down to help pull the mare to her feet, but she expressed their lack of interest by swiping Loli's hoof away.
"I can pick myself up," said the mare, picking herself up. "I'm not a glass figurine!"
Loli immediately backed away, but them moved closer again to see if she was hurt. "I'm really, really sorry! I didn't-" Loli froze as the mare brushed her mane off of her face. It was a lovely golden blonde with a purple streak running down the right side. Now Loli knew a lot about mane-tainance and knew this mare knew how to keep a mane. But it wasn't just the mane. Loli finally got a good look at the mare in front of her: she was an Earth pony, her royal purple coat was very well groomed, not a hair out of place; her violet eyes sparkled in the daylight, and her star-shaped amethyst earring was the only accessory she needed to complement her looks! Loli simply froze in awe.
"You look... amazing," she said.
"What was that?" the mare asked, adjusting her earring.
Then Loli realized what she said.
"Shoot! Did she hear me?" Loli turned as red as the strawberries she bought!
"Uh... you okay?" asked the mare. "I'm pretty sure I didn't hit you that hard."
Loli didn't know what to do. So she did the one thing that came to mind; she grabbed all the items in her hoofs, opened her wings, and shot up into the sky in a blaze of pink, black, and red.
The purple Earth pony stared up in the sky in confusion.
One of the ponies at the stalls called out, "HEY!!! YOU FORGOT YOUR HAY!!!"
"I don' know what happened! I mean, one minute, I was getting the stuff on the list with Countess Coluratura practically drowning out the world! But then I wasn't paying attention, and the next thing, BAM! I run into this other pony! And I got worried, so I went to help her, but I think she was mad at me because she hit me away, but she didn't sound mad, but then again, maybe it was my music cutting out most of her tone, I don't know. But then... I saw her..."
Loli's mind drifted back to the mare she saw; her gleaming coat, her curly mane, her-
"Equestria to Loli," a voice called, snapping her from her daydream. Loli returned from reality to see the bright blue eyes and messy amber mane of her roommate and childhood friend, Dawning Forge. The Kirin snapped his front claws once more for good measure.
"Stop it," Loli said, pushing his clawed hoof away. "This is serious!"
"Loli, relax, it's not like..." Then it clicked; her redness, her panic, her daydreaming. "Wait... are you crushing on her?"
"What? NO! Of course... I don't think so. I mean, we're both mares. Is that normal?"
"Well, it's not impossible. Remember Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon?"
Now Loli really began to panic.
"Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno!"
"Loli, calm down." Loli did not calm down. "Look, so you accidentally bumped into somepony and... developed a crush on them. Like this is the first time anypony has heard that story!"
"You don't understand! Even if I did like her, and I'm not admitting anything, what if I hurt her? What if she lost her beautiful earring when I bumped into her? What if- Mmmph!" Loli's rambling was stopped by Dawn's hoof holding her muzzle.
"Loli. It was an accident. It could happen to anypony. Now listen," he continued, removing his hoof, "Go get some rest; sleep if off. I'll make dinner while you cool down, alright? Your hot enough to boil the cabbage!"
A few days later, Loli was still a lot more jumpy than usual; and the jumping was because of the music. She constantly looked around for signs of the mare she had met the other day. But after a while, she thought, "Maybe Dawn was right. Maybe I shouldn't be so worried. I mean, what are the odds that I'm going to run into her again? She probably doesn't even live he-" Loli swallowed her words. Just outside Joe's Donut Shop stood a pony with a familiar purple coat and golden hair.
"Wow, Loli! Way to jinx this one!" However, Loli noticed her leave. But what was strange wasn't that she left a half-eaten chocolate glazed donut on her plate; it was that she looked around before bolting round the corner.
Loli's body began moving of it's own accord in the the same general direction as the mare. "Wait, am I about to follow this mare I don't even know? Isn't that creepy? I mean, I'd be weirded out if someone started following me at random. I really shouldn't-" Too late. The mare was already in her sight again. "Darnit! Why can't I finish reasonable thoughts before I finish stupid actions!"
Loli peeked around a dumpster and saw the mare hold up a card to the large stallion in front of a back entrance to... something. The stallion opened the door to let the mare in. Out of sheer reflex, Loli bolted for the door, squeezing through just before the door closed. She ran smack into another pony who turned to face her.
"Hey! Watch it!" Loli backed away from the intimidating stallion. Then she looked around and suddenly realized how out of place she was; everyone in that room looked like they were either in a gang, a mob, a crew, or just plain drunk! There was a bar with a betting stand in the corner where ponies were throwing bags of bits onto the counter!
"Loli? What the buck did you do?" she asked herself.
"Fillies and gentlecolts! Ponies of legal age!"
Loli looked to where the voice was coming from, but couldn't see over the crowd. Then she remembered, "Wait, I have wings!" She tapped her head before leaving the ground. In the middle of the room was a circle of chalk behind which all ponies but the announcer stood! His red coat and fiery ginger hair complimented his fierce voice.
"WELCOME TO THE CAULDRON!!!"
Cheers roared through the
"Tonight is a very special night! Tonight, we have a challenger, all the way from Baltimare! He's an Earth Pony coming in at five feet, eleven inches, weighing one thousand, eight hundred fifty-four pounds, stomp your hooves for MOOOOOONTANAAAAAA MUSTAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!"
The crowd went wild as a mountain of a stallion made his way through the crown and into the center of the room. He had a dark gray coat and messy black hair and his green eyes had a rather terrifying glow about it.
"Where is she?" Loli wondered. She was sure the mare had come in here, but there was no sign of her glorious mane in the crowd!
"And you all know the reigning champ, folks! She's currently on a nineteen winning streak!"
"Oh no..."
"She's got no time for nonsense!"
"Don't tell me!"
"CANNNNNDYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CRUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!"
"Wait! I don't even know her name! Maybe it's not her!" It was. Loli did not know any other pony with the same lush mane, gleaming coat, and bright eyes; it was her.
"What is she doing! That stallion's like twice her size!"
The two combatants met in the middle.
"Listen up," said the announcer, "forget about good, clean fights! This is a fight club! We're here to have fun, make money, and beat the ever-living sunlight out of each other... or watch you to do so anyway! Now the moment the coin drops, I want to see hoofs flying!" The announcer backed up and tossed a coin in the air. Loli held herself back from flying in and catching the coin. She souldn't bare to watch as the coin it the ground. She closed her eyes as she saw the two charge at each other. There was a THWACK, followed by a CRASH. The silence overtook the room before it erupted into an earth-shaking cheer. Once Loli peeled her hooves away from her eyes. her jaw dropped. The massive stallion lay on his belly, his muzzle buried in the ground, while the smaller, by comparison, mare raised her front hooves in triumph!
"FLAWLESS VICTORY, EVERYPNOE!!! BUT DID YOU EXPECT ANYTHING ELSE!!! NO CHALLENGER HAS EVER SURVIVED THE ASTRO BELT AXE KICK!!!"
Candywaved to her adoring fans and yelled, "WHOSE HOUSE IS THIS?!"
The crown yelled back, "THE HOUSE OF THE CANDY!!!"
Loli was amazed... and terrified. She did not feel like getting that kind of kick to the head, and knowing herself, she knew she'd invoke that wrath sooner or later! She noticed, however, two other ponies helping Montana out of the ground. But as they carried him away, two more came in with sledge hammers!
"Hey!" Loli shot towards the center of the room as the two stallions behind Candy raised their weapons. Candy only had time to look back before the two hammers began to come down. But she never felt it. She only felt a gust of wind and heard a loud crash that alerted her to open her eyes. She turned and saw three ponies tangled on the ground. It took a few seconds, but she finally recognized the gothic mane!
"You?" she asked, trotting over the the ponies and pulling Loli out of the mess. "What are you doing here?"
Loli began to panic again. "I can't tell her I was following her! That would be creepy! She'd probably call the cops!" But she was distracted from her panic when she heard the ponies behind her stir. She turned around and saw a couple of large bouncers drag them off as the struggled to reach their weapons. Loli looked back at Candy, whose face was still stern and waiting for an answer. "Oh boy."
"Well... one of the weirder stories I've heard," Candy said after Loli explained who she was and how she found her and followed her to the fight club. The two sat just outside the donut shop, which was now closed.
"Look, I know it's creepy. But I just couldn't-"
"Hey, relax! Loli, was it? If you hadn't followed me, I'd probably be in the hospital by now, or worse!"
Loli fidgeted with her hooves. "I just... couldn't stop thinking about you," she said.
"Look, you just bumped into me," Candy said. "And I'm pretty sure you now know it take more than that to hurt me. So stop wo-"
"That's not what I meant."
Candy looked confused until she noticed the insane blush on Loli's face. "Wait, are you-"
Loli whimpered. Tears began to fill her eyes.
"I'm sorry!" And then, the floodgates opened. "I know it's weird since I'm a mare and you're a mare and the whole following you thing makes it even weirder especially since I'm a Thestral but I just really can't make it stop!" Loli looked up and saw the confused look on the mare's face. She turned away in embarrassment and opened her wings to fly away, but something closed around them and made them fold back up. Loli opened her eyes and saw Candy's glimmering, amethyst eyes staring right back at her. Loli wasn't sure if she was meant to return the hug or wait to be broken in two. But suddenly, she felt a sudden jolt of pain in her head as Candy clocked her!
"OUCH!" Loli backed away, but tripped and landed on her flank.
"That was for being creepy," Candy said, as Loli rubbed her head. The latter tried to run away as Candy grabbed her wing and pulled her close. She braced herself for more pain, but instead felt a warmth on the muzzle. She relaxed, as her wings folded behind her. Candy pulled away from the kiss and smiled before wiping the tears off Loli's face. "And that," she said, "Was for being sweet."
"Candy, I...I..." Loli stammered. "I don't-"
"Don't say anything," said the Earth Pony. "And please, Candy Crush is just a ring name. My name is Roxanne Candy. But you, little bat," she continued, booping Loli, "May call me Roxy."
Loli blushed and smiled. She didn't want to ruin this golden moment. She didn't want to worry about what other ponies might say or what they'd think. She simple nuzzled her muzzle into the tuft on Roxy's chest and let the moonlight set the mood.
"I-"
"Sssshhhh," Roxy shushed her. "I know, and you know. Now, just enjoy the moment."
Loli nodded. "Okay."
Author's Note
That is all.
