Bleached Blondes Beach Bond

Chapters

Seafoam Beach
Evening Run
Mainstreet Squares
Buying Dresses
Sky Room Dinner
Dance the Night Away

Seafoam Beach

Intense was the only way to describe it.

Back home in Ponyville, lakes quietly and humbly lay still, adding some pretty blue to the scene or offering a cooling dip if you were so inclined. Things only got loud around lakes because of ponies come to play and splash.

The ocean was not so patient. It splashed constantly. The roar of the surf rose and fell but never stopped.

It was big too. It didn’t just add a little blue if you looked at the right spot. It was everywhere. It went as far as she could see to the East and the West, and all the way South into forever.

There were ponies everywhere on Seafoam Beach: far away to the West where they looked like tiny ants, close up and kicking up sand as they ran by, frolicked among the waves, or chattered away in conversation on beach towels. Yet for all the pony noise, the ocean still dominated the soundscape around Apple Bloom.

“So what do you think?”

Apple Bloom flicked an ear towards her girlfriend beside her. “It’s more than I expected. How do ponies get used to being around this all the time?” All the blue of the ocean and the sky above it kept her gaze transfixed, like a song had been stuck in the back of her head that she couldn’t quite remember but now was finally getting to listen to it. She imagined it would be something Sweetie Belle would sing about.

At the edge of her vision, Diamond Tiara just shook her head and mane. “I dunno. I guess you just do after a while? Hey, c’mere.”

She finally tore her gaze away from the expanse of blue and waves to see what Diamond Tiara wanted. Her girlfriend was seated on their beach blanket, rummaging through her saddlebag. “What’s up?”

“Let's put some sunblock on before we go play. It’s really bright out here.” Diamond Tiara lifted a small white bottle out, the label displaying a rather pink-looking Princess Celestia with a cheery sun behind her.

“Nah, I’m good. Unlike you, I ain't bothered by a little sun.” She grinned as Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes at her. “I’ll help you out though. I wanna get out there and play.”

Diamond Tiara tossed the bottle to Apple Bloom and she caught it easily in her mouth. As her girlfriend settled comfortably onto the blanket, she bit down and squirted some onto her front hooves, then dropped the bottle to the blanket. She stared at the thin, nearly clear liquid on her hooves and raised an eyebrow. “How’s this stuff supposed to keep the sun off of you when it’s so clear? It’s all runny, too.”

“I think it soaks into your skin. Maybe it’s sort of like a potion?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Apple Bloom quickly set to the admittedly pleasant task of getting her hooves on Diamond Tiara’s back and shoulders. The sunblock reminded her of massage oil they sometimes used, letting her hooves glide more easily and without tugging at her coat.

Before long, she had Diamond Tiara making appreciative noises with each breath, and it was tempting to linger on some of her favorite spots. Having her beautiful girlfriend on her back with her belly exposed was one of the few sights on the beach that could drown out the mighty ocean nearby.

This wasn’t supposed to be a massage, and turning it into one would keep them away from the surf for too long. Still, she had a lot of fun caressing Diamond Tiara’s face, cheeks, and behind her ears, leaving a subtle glistening look in the bright sun.

When Apple Bloom’s hooves failed to produce more caresses, Diamond Tiara opened her eyes, then gracefully rolled upright, stretched out her neck, and pecked Apple Bloom on the lips. “I don’t want you to get sunburned. Let me do you now.”

Apple Bloom fidgeted in place a bit, pouting. “I said I’ll be fine. C’mon, let's go play.”

Diamond Tiara’s sleek and slightly slick forelegs wrapped around her, trapping her in place. “There aren’t any trees to get shade under. Let’s get you comfy.”

“My suit’ll get in the way.” She squirmed a little within Diamond Tiara’s slippery embrace, her skin tingling a bit with the contact.

“Your little bikini isn’t getting in the way of anything. I don’t even know why you insisted on wearing it.”

“Where else am I going to wear it?” Apple Bloom put her hooves on her hips and thrust out her chest some, drawing attention to the tiny bit of polka-dotted cloth across it and disappearing under her arms to tie in the middle of her back.

“Fine, fine. I concede. You look adorable. Now please get your adorable butt to the middle of the blanket so I can do this?”

“Alright, you win. But I ain’t undressing in front of everypony.” She slid out of Diamond Tiara’s embrace and stretched out on her belly, looking over her shoulder back at her girlfriend. She smirked a bit as Diamond stared, unmoving for several seconds. She flicked her tail to the side, offering a better view of polka-dotted rump.

Once she became animate again, Diamond Tiara started at her back hooves nearest her, and Apple Bloom turned her attention back to the expanse of blue, just waiting to welcome her. Diamond Tiara’s hooves worked up and down almost in time with the waves, steadily rising higher along her legs like an incoming tide of caresses.

A slight tug at her bikini bottom caused her to snap her attention back at Diamond Tiara. “Hey, no taking the suit off.”

“I’m not taking it off, just moving it out of the way for a little bit. Relax, Apple Bloom.”

“You’re tryin’ to be indecent.”

“I’m trying to get this on you so we can go play. Can you please just relax? Nopony is going to think we’re indecent for putting sunblock on at the beach.”

“Fine.” Apple Bloom closed her eyes. She was sure ponies were staring at their behavior, but if she didn’t see them staring it wouldn’t be so bad, maybe.

When she felt Diamond Tiara tug her bikini top down to hang loose around her barrel, she bit back a complaint and only grunted. Diamond Tiara’s hooves worked briskly, then pulled her suit back in place. A nudge prompted her to roll over, and once again she found herself enduring the process with tightly closed eyes, while imagining ponies whispering to each other and pointing at her, masked by the roar of the ocean and her self-imposed blindness.

She opened her eyes at the feel of Diamond Tiara’s hooves on her face. Their lips met in a chaste kiss once she finished. “Now was that so bad?”

“I guess not.” Apple Bloom wiggled around a little, adjusted her bikini back into exactly the right spot, then got to her feet. “I still feel kinda oily. I thought you said this was supposed to soak in or somethin’?”

Diamond Tiara picked the bottle up in one hoof, looked it over, then tapped an icon down near the bottom of the backside label. It was a stylized water droplet circled and crossed out in red. “It’s waterproof. Oil and water don’t mix, so maybe that’s why. Whatever. I know you’re eager to get into those waves, let's go.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Apple Bloom scrambled after Diamond Tiara. Running in the deep, soft sand proved harder than it looked, but the pair’s enthusiasm was like that of young fillies half their age, and they were soon to their goal.

The wet sand was more compact and easier to run on. Instead of kicking up sand, they sent seafoam, the namesake of the beach, flying instead. They chased after the receding water, only for it to turn back upon them with a curled breaker at shoulder level. They shrieked at the sudden dousing of salty water, giggled, and splashed each other like foals again, all thoughts of dignity and propriety washed away.

They waded out to deeper water, leaving solid ground behind to swim. The clear-as-glass water and bright sun let them see to the bottom, and all the neat seaweed, rocks, and tiny bright-colored fish that darted away at their approach. Overhead, pegasi wearing striking red and white vests lazily glided around in circles, keeping an eye out for anyone in trouble, which served to embolden not only Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, but scores of other ponies enjoying the freedom of the deep water.

On a playful whim, Apple Bloom swam close to Diamond Tiara, grabbed her shoulders and dunked her under the surface. Almost as if she expected such treachery, Diamond Tiara was quick to grab hold of Apple Bloom and pull her under with her. Their lips met in an unplanned kiss. As their tongues twined, Apple Bloom briefly thought of stories of how sirens would drag sailors beneath the waves and kiss them like this until they drowned. Suddenly those stories made a lot more sense, as this was surprisingly pleasant. Though the saltwater overpowered the more familiar taste of Diamond Tiara, she found it easy to ignore the urge to draw breath.

Of course, neither of them were a siren. They surfaced long before any danger of drowning crept upon them and gasped for breath. Apple Bloom giggled and splashed at Diamond Tiara some more.

They drifted through the water, playing the game with no rules that all children discover when in water. Chase, splash, dunk, and chase some more. Their antics brought them near other swimmers, who joined in their fun. A few pegasi added a new part to the game: grab somepony, pull them into the sky, then drop them shrieking to splash everypony nearby.

Some of their impromptu playmates would tire out and head back to shore, only to be replaced by others soon enough. A unicorn knew a water-walking spell, and the three of them skated on the surface, tripped over waves, and continued to chase, splash, and dunk each other.

Fatigue crept upon them slowly, and their swimming and splashing suffered for it. It was time for them to take their turn swimming back to shore before they tired out too much to make the trip back. They waved goodbye to the pair of ponies that formed their current playgroup and lazily paddled back to land.

They flopped side by side onto the blanket, having tapped into the last bit of their stamina reserves searching for their spot in the largely crowded expanse of sand and ponies. They turned to regard each other with content smiles, shared another kiss, then closed their eyes, letting the sun dry them as they rested.

Hunger roused Apple Bloom from sleep. She looked around her, wiping crusted salt from her eye as she tried to get her bearings. The roar of the ocean and the sound of ponies around them clued her in, but the dark of evening made the surrounding view alien.

The darkness was broken up by bits of light from unicorns with lit horns and ponies wearing enchanted glowgems to light their way. The colored lights danced like will-o’-the-wisps all over the beach and served to create dancing shadows and silhouettes of ponies all around. Off to the north, the ambient glow of the city up on top of the cliff kept a general state of twilight to the beach.

She felt more than heard another rumbling in her stomach. She turned to find Diamond Tiara still asleep beside her, so she nudged her cheek with her muzzle. Failing to rouse her with that, she went for her ear to nibble until she stirred.

Much more accustomed to waking up in strange places, Diamond Tiara yawned, then fumbled for her saddle bag without hesitation. “Seems we overslept. I think I packed a glowgem—yeah, here we go.” She tapped the crystal with her hooves until it came to life, bathing them in its soft green light.

“I’m starved. How ‘bout you?”

“Yeah, let's go find dinner.” Diamond Tiara slung her glowgem’s cord over her neck to dangle it against her chest.

As the two got to their feet, Apple Bloom fidgeted with her bikini, trying to brush the salt and dried-on sand away with little success. “Lets hit up our room first. We can take our blanket and stuff back too. I need to get out of this suit.”

“You were pretty adamant about leaving it on earlier.”

“Yeah, well, it’s fine for the beach and swimming, but not something you wear in town.” She nosed Diamond Tiara’s saddlebags closed, then helped settle them in place on her rump. “Besides, we’re both all salty and sandy.”

“I don’t think anypony would care if we look like we spent the day in the ocean, but I’d rather get cleaned up too.”

They rolled up the somewhat stiff blanket together and draped it over Apple Bloom’s back. Together they trotted to the wide ramp cut into the cliff that turned into the street leading to their hotel.

Hotel Shining lived up to its name at night. The designers had tried to recreate the aesthetic of the Crystal Empire, complete with large, “Crystal Heart” glowgems suspended in the corners near the ceiling. Polished bronze armored statues along the faceted walls of the lobby gave a sense of approaching the Crystal Court, leading to a reception desk instead of a throne. The carpeting and tapestries done in midnight blue with white trim completed the look. What the lobby lacked in size it made up for in ambition.

In the brighter, clear white light of the lobby, Apple Bloom noticed something a bit off about her girlfriend. As she set hoof on the first stair leading to their room, looking up at Diamond Tiara ahead of her, she figured it out. “You’re darker. You kinda look like Twilight.”

Diamond Tiara paused, looked down at her raised hoof, and nodded. “You’re right.” She glanced back at Apple Bloom and smiled. “And you look a bit like your big sister.”

Apple Bloom frowned a bit as she resumed climbing the staircase, encouraging Diamond to do so as well. “Yeah, well I plan to get cleaned up once we get in the room. AJ would probably be stuffing her face already.”

—

Inside their room continued the motif of the Crystal Palace, looking like a fair approximation of one of their guest suites. The blue and white theme continued, though the “faceting” of the walls was limited to the corners of the room, probably to save space.

“So, uh, what do we do with the blanket? It don’t seem right to just drop it on the floor.” Apple Bloom’s interest in the decor of the room was more practical than appraising.

“There’s a laundry chute over there. I’m sure they deal with beach blankets all the time.” Diamond Tiara walked over to it, pulled it open from the wall and peered inside. “Seems big enough.”

“That is mighty convenient. Would be a shame to spend all our vacation time cleaning up sand every time we enjoyed the beach.” After dropping the blanket in, she tugged a bit at her bikini top, raising a brow upon discovering it somewhat welded to her coat with sea salt. “Probably should drop this in too, if I can get it off of me.”

“Try getting in the shower with it on. Should come off easier wet.”

“Good idea. I’ll try to hurry.” Apple Bloom entered the small bathroom, got in the shower stall, and experimented with the knobs until the water was to her liking.

Diamond Tiara stepped into the bathroom after her and nudged at her hip with her muzzle. “Doesn’t look like enough room in there for the both of us. Guess I’ll just sit and watch until my turn. Unless you think that would be indecent.”

“Nah, it’s fine when it’s just the two of us. I know you’re rarin’ to get me undressed as usual. I’d let you help if there was room.” After rinsing her mane until it hung down her neck, Apple Bloom leaned her shoulder against the wall of the shower, then slid her bikini bottoms down, while looking back at Diamond Tiara’s face.

Instead of the expected look of heated interest, Diamond Tiara raised a hoof to her muzzle and stifled a giggle.

“Huh? What’s so funny?” She glanced back at herself to find a bright yellow section, standing out against the darker orange fur surrounding it. It matched perfectly the shape of her recently removed bikini. Startled, Apple Bloom put her flank under the spray, quickly pulled her top over her head, then looked down at her chest. Another section of yellow, her original color, forming a bright band across her oddly orange chest.

Some frantic scrubbing, sudsing, and more scrubbing later, and her clean, sand and salt-free coat remained orange. She made a low-pitched whine in the back of her throat and dashed out of the shower stall, dripping water in her wake as she reared up onto the counter to look at herself more closely in the mirror. “I look ridiculous!”

Diamond Tiara’s reflection looked on with concern, but left her view as she slipped into the shower stall to rinse herself from the sand and salt. “It’s not so bad. I’m sure it will fade over time anyway. Hmmm. Seems my underside is still pink. I think I like the two-tone effect.”

“Of course you’re fine with it. You don’t have these ridiculous patches in your coat.” Apple Bloom dashed out of the bathroom and raided her luggage. She tossed clothing item after item behind her, briefly considering several tops, skirts, and sundresses. “I thought your sunblock was supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?”

“Well, we’re not sunburned. I don’t hurt anywhere, you?” Diamond Tiara turned off the water but remained in the bathroom out of view.

“I feel fine, I just don’t look fine.”

Diamond Tiara entered the room with a towel wrapped around her head, holding a familiar white bottle, peering at it with a scowl. “Well, that explains it. This is suntan oil, not sunblock.”

“What? You had us wearing suntan oil the whole time? No wonder we got so dark!”

“Hey now, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Diamond Tiara ducked to avoid a skirt flying through the air in her general direction.

“This ‘accident’ sure worked out well for you, you look gorgeous as usual.” Apple Bloom held up a gauzy blouse to her chest and saw the contrasting band across her chest even through both layers of the fabric. “How could you mix them up? I thought it felt oily when I was putting it on you.” The yellow stripe became even more visible as the thin cloth absorbed water from her damp coat and turned transparent. She flung it away from her, though it just fluttered in the air and landed near the bed.

“First of all, thank you. Second of all, I never put this stuff on myself or anypony else before. When Silver Spoon and I would go on a cruise or something, Randolph would always take care of things like this. And for the record, I still think you’re beautiful. C’mere.” Diamond Tiara approached Apple Bloom from behind and dropped a fluffy white towel onto her. “You’re getting those wet. Let’s get you dry first.”

Apple Bloom ceased flailing and accepted the toweling. “I look terrible. I need to fix this somehow.”

After being dried off, she darted out of the towel and snatched up a floral-patterned sundress, held it to her chest a moment and glanced back to Diamond Tiara who gave her an approving nod. She then pulled it on over her head and wriggled until it was situated on her body. “How about this? Does it cover my flanks enough?” She turned in place to give Diamond Tiara every angle.

Diamond smiled and shook her head. “Actually it kind of draws even more attention to your yellow and orange backside, right to your—”

“Aaargh! I can’t have that! They’ll think I’m some kind of hussy or something!” She struggled to get the dress off as if it was burning her.

“Well, did you bring any panties to maybe cover up?”

Apple Bloom blushed and tossed her dress behind her over her shoulder. “J-just the cloudsilk ones you like. I’m not wearing those outside period.”

“I think those would draw even more attention. Pants maybe?”

“Way too hot out. I’d end up a soggy, sweaty mess in seconds. Ugh. Most of my clothes look weird against this orange. What about this? It’s long enough, right?” Apple Bloom modeled another, longer dress.

“The back is low. Maybe if we keep your mane over it, that will cover the—”

“I am not going to risk my mane staying in place to cover my back. One little breeze and I’ll die of embarrassment!” Apple Bloom’s stomach rumbled, and she looked guiltily towards Diamond Tiara.

“Hey, we could stay in. I could order room service.”

“What about tomorrow? We can’t see much of the city from inside our hotel room all day. I don’t want to ruin our vacation like that. If we stay in, we might as well go home and stay in, y’know?”

Diamond Tiara folded one hoof under her chin. “Die of embarrassment—hey, that’s it!”

“Whatever you’re thinking right now, I don’t like it.”

“You haven’t even heard it yet. We could dye your coat back to yellow.”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to object, but held her tongue. She thought about it. Then nodded. “OK. We can do that tonight, right?”

“Yeah. Stay here, I’ll go shopping. It’ll all be alright soon.” She leaned in to kiss her girlfriend, then left Apple Bloom alone in a room that looked like a tornado had spent the day playing inside.

“I noticed you cleaned up the mess.”

“Yeah, we should probably tip the laundry staff well. I dumped all the clothes I got wet down the chute.”

Diamond Tiara worked her plastic-gloved hooves through Apple Bloom’s wet fur, sitting just outside the shower stall while Apple Bloom sat inside. “Hold still.”

Apple Bloom munched on a carrot stick, dripping dark brown peanut sauce back into the container near the shower drain. “Can’t help it. There isn’t much room in here, and I’m starving. Thanks for getting us dinner while you were out, by the way.”

“Save some for me. I’m still hungry too.”

“You didn’t eat any on the way back?”

“No, I wanted to enjoy it with you.”

“Oh. Well, here. Have some, I’ll feed you since your hooves are full.” Apple Bloom shoved the container out of her way, then rolled onto her back to better face Diamond Tiara and reached up awkwardly to offer her a large piece of bell pepper.

Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened and she reached out futilely with one hoof. “Hey, watch out you’re going to—”

They both stared for a moment at the overturned bottle, as the contents dumped out and ran across Apple Bloom’s red tail. Diamond Tiara reacted first, reaching over Apple Bloom towards the shower controls only for Apple Bloom to block her with her own outstretched hoof. “You’ll get the food wet! Just—just don’t worry about it.”

“Maybe we can rinse it off fast enough—”

“It’s already done. Lets just enjoy dinner.” Apple Bloom reached for one of the larger paper containers, balanced it on her chest, and looked up into Diamond Tiara’s eyes. “Noodles?”

Diamond Tiara nodded, and gingerly slipped the gloves off her hooves, setting them into the sink behind her. Her gaze traveled up and down Apple Bloom’s body, then licked her lips. “Looks delicious. Are we going to eat here in the shower?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty comfy, I guess, and I’d have to rinse this stuff off if I wanted to get out.”

The two fell silent while Diamond Tiara took on the task of feeding both of them; Apple Bloom held the containers and served as their table.

“So what are these sticks for?” Apple Bloom held one straight, smooth, and slightly tapered piece of wood up to show Diamond Tiara. “Way too big to be toothpicks.”

“They’re called ‘chopsticks.’ They’re utensils. A lot of unicorns and griffons around here like to eat with them.”

“That’s weird.” Apple Bloom turned the chopstick around in her hoof and examined it more closely. “They’re less fancy than forks and spoons. Guess they’re pretty cheap. Don’t they have a whole lotta silver around here to make silverware with though?”

“I think it’s some kind of tradition.” Diamond Tiara impaled a piece of squash on the end of her fork, then fed it to Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom tried to wind a noodle around the chopstick, but it kept slipping off the end. “Oh. how do you use them? Would be easier to stab things with them if they were sharp, but I don’t see how they work for little stuff like rice and noodles.”

“You use two of them at once, and kind of pinch stuff with them.” Diamond Tiara smiled while watching her play with their food, getting a piece of noodle wound up on her fork easily before popping it into her mouth.

She tried holding one in each hoof, but gave up after dropping a piece of broccoli several times. “I guess that’s why griffons and unicorns like’m.”

“Yeah.”

—

Apple Bloom sat still in the empty shower stall. All evidence of their dinner cleared away and disposed of. “You may as well do my mane too, so it matches my tail.”

“Alright.”

Diamond Tiara worked her hooves into Apple Bloom’s scalp, then drew them along lock after lock of hair, from root to tip. “Almost done. Bottle says to let it set for a maximum of fifteen minutes. Any longer won’t have any more effect. So everything will match if we just do that.”

Apple Bloom flipped a page in her magazine, Trendz, and nodded. “I can’t wait to get out of this shower stall.”

—

“Wow. You look like a different pony.”

Apple Bloom stared at the mirror. She didn’t recognize the mare standing beside Diamond Tiara. Her coat was no longer orange, but it wasn’t her usual yellow either. It was paler, more whitish. Like really dry straw. Her mane and tail, wet and hanging limp from their recent rinse, were only a few shades darker. Only her golden orange eyes seemed to have much color at all, and they stood out shockingly against her otherwise pale countenance. She frowned as she took in the strange view.

Diamond Tiara bit her lip and reached out to hold a few strands of Apple Bloom’s mane in her hoof. “I think this is pretty close to your sister’s color. Maybe we could darken your coat ba—”

Apple Bloom felt her eyes begin to burn. She ground her teeth. One single word echoed in her head like the crashing waves outside. No. “I can’t do this.”

“We can fix—”

She stomped one hoof on the counter beside the sink. “No more! Just—Aaaah!”

Apple Bloom ran to the door of their hotel room and flung it open.

“I’m not my sister!”

The pounding of her hooves against the floor matched the pounding in her chest and drowned out Diamond Tiara’s voice until it grew too distant to be heard at all.

Evening Run

While the moon looked lonely in a starless night sky, underneath it the brightly-lit street of Silver Cove was filled with motion and activity. Ponies meandered in small groups or alone, carried on conversations heedless of the quiet night around them, and overall seemed oblivious to the fact that it was no longer broad daylight. They formed their own constantly shifting constellations of light as everypony wore glowgems around their neck to bring light along when they ventured past the large pools shed by streetlamps.

A small impromptu band of musicians played off to one side, in front of one such streetlamp. Golden glints of bits peeked out from an upturned hat in front of them. Bystanders called out requests and some danced. Spinning and whirling points of light made for an exciting element to their motions.

A few cafes nearby shed inviting glows from their windows, and decorated their outdoor seating with tiny glowgems in festive colors.

Most noteworthy of all, nopony paid Apple Bloom any heed. Her fears of drawing a crowd of spectators to jeer and gawk at her proved unfounded.

A portly stallion bumped into her. “What’s this? Didn’t see you there, yeah?” The red glowgem hanging from around his neck underlit his face in a sinister manner, like something Rainbow Dash would often do at the campfire.

Apple Bloom backpedaled away, wide-eyed. “Uh, sorry. I guess you didn’t?”

“I know if I did or not, and I’m saying I didn’t?”

As Apple Bloom tried to figured out what the stallion was asking her, she backed away to get out of his way. “Uh, my fault. Sorry.”

“Yeah, what—ever.” He passed by her and wandered off.

Apple Bloom approached the musicians, finding a open spot near the edge of the circle of light and small audience, out of the way of the foot traffic. Soon after claiming her seat, she was joined by a hard-breathing pegasus, decked out in a rainbow of glowgems. She watched the mare catch her breath, the lights bouncing on her heaving chest producing an interesting visual accompaniment to the song.

“What are you staring at? And why are you sitting there, like, all darked out?” The pegasus caught Apple Bloom’s gaze and stared back with one eyebrow rose. “Oh my gosh, are you a thief?”

“N-no! I just forgot my glowgem back in my room. I kinda left in a hurry and forgot it.”

“Uh huh. I’m sure. Well, here.” She flicked her wing and a pale blue arc of light streaked towards her, a glowgem on a simple string loop rolling at her feet.

After a moment of hesitation, Apple Bloom picked it up and slipped it over her head. As the stone illuminated her features, she looked back up at the pegasus beside her with apprehension.

Once again, no look of horror, no burst of laughter, nothing.

“Hey, you’re kinda cute. Wanna dance? I think I’ve caught my breath.”

“Oh, uh. No thank you. I’m spoken for.”

“Wow. She gets a stone and won’t even dance for it. Are you for real?”

“I uh, yes? I’m real. Um, you want this back?”

“Yeah, no.” She hopped back to her feet and gave Apple Bloom a withering glare. “Gifts in Silver Cove are permanent. Like, no matter how much you regret giving them.” She turned away. She stomped back into the designated dance spot, and seamlessly went from walk to dance. Before long, a stallion moved near her and offered her an orange glowgem. She extended one hind leg, he fastened it to her, and the two danced together.

I seem to be annoying a lot of ponies tonight. Probably Diamond Tiara too.

She stared down at her hooves. They looked pale green in the blue light dangling from her neck. She looked back at the prancing pegasus now hovering above her unicorn dance partner. Apple Bloom honestly couldn’t tell what color the mare was or the stallion beneath her. Both were a lot of colors right now.

“I think I’ve been actin’ silly,” she said to nopony in particular.

She got to her hooves, thinking it a good idea to be gone before the song ended, in case that pegasus wanted another rest break. At least she could make herself scarce and easily avoid annoying her again.

Further down the road, Apple Bloom stepped into another well-lit space. An empty cafe with an open sign currently lay before her. She reached back to fetch her bitpurse from her saddlebag, but met nothing but bare fur. Her shoulders slumped as she realized she’d left that back in the room with her hasty exit. She turned away to continue wandering, but before she could take more than three steps, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

A unicorn with her horn lit approached her with a wide smile. “Hey, you look thirsty. Traveling light, eh?”

“Sorry, I’m ta—” Apple Bloom paused, glanced at the enticing menu visible on an interior wall through a wide window. “—errd. Tired. Actually, sure.”

The mare’s eyes seemed to light up a little beneath the glow of her horn, and she walked up beside Apple Bloom as they headed inside. In no time at all, they were seated facing each other at a tiny table, with a bubbling cola in front of each.

“Thanks.” It felt like more needed to be said, but Apple Bloom found herself preoccupied with her straw, pulling on the chilled drink. She could almost feel the caffeine and carbonation tickle her brain and chase away the fatigue of the day.

“No problem. Wow, you look like you really needed a pick me up.”

Apple Bloom regarded the mare. In the clean white light inside the cafe, she could more clearly make out her companion. A chocolate brown unicorn with tan mane and some kind of candy cutie mark. “You sound like you ain’t from around here neither. Vanhoover?”

Of course, she was being checked out in return. “Got it in one! Man, it’s really scorching down here!”

Apple Bloom giggled a little, already feeling much more perked up. “I think I baked myself today, but it was so fun playin’ in the ocean.”

“Oh yeah. The water is so warm here.” The brown mare sipped her own bubbly brown beverage. “I don’t think I’ve ever spent so long swimming before.”

A loud slurp drew Apple Bloom’s attention to her surprisingly empty glass.

“Ready for another one there, eh?”

“No thanks. I want to get to some shuteye sometime tonight. Speakin’ of, I should really head back. I can hear my bed callin’ me.”

“Hmm. Think I can hear it too. Where are you staying?” She lifted an ice cube out of her glass with her magic, popped it into her mouth, and crunched away at it.

“Hotel Shining. But, uh, I’m actually kind of lost.”

“Oh, I know where that is. It’s not far at all. I’ll walk you home, no problem at all.” She beamed a smile at Apple Bloom.

“Thanks again. You’re really nice, uh—”

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Coffee Biscrisp.” She extended her hoof across the table.

Apple Bloom shook the offered hoof, and smiled back. “I’m Apple Bloom. Nice to meet you.”

—

The pair stood in front of the crystal-themed building. “That wasn’t far at all. Huh. It seemed longer when I was runnin’ from it.”

“Mainstreet runs East-West and sort of connects to everything in Silver Cove. It has these six squares for the North-South streets. We turned at Cadance Square, and this here is Cadance Street. Pretty straight traveling. The side roads can twist and turn a lot though.” She pointed with her hoof to one and summoned a bobbing glimmer of light a little ways down the side street. With a wave of her hoof, it floated away, then went around a bend out of sight.

“If you ever get turned around again, just remember the borders. If you go South far enough from practically anywhere you’ll hit the beach. The train tracks and mountains are to the North. Go too far West and you’ll get funneled into The Bend and end up heading to the piers. East leads into all the government buildings and schools, then more mountains.

“Easiest just to get back to Mainstreet by figuring out if you are North or South of it. Then just figure out which statue you’re nearest to and remember what order they’re in, and you can get where you need to go.”

“Wow, that’s really helpful.” Apple Bloom glanced at the hotel she and Diamond Tiara were staying in. “And if you learn how they decorate you can figure out the statues too?”

Coffee Biscrisp looked back at Apple Bloom’s hotel, and smiled. “Seems pretty loud.”

“If you think so, you should see the real place it’s designed after. Crystals everywhere.”

“Oh, ha ha! No, I meant your bed. I can hear it calling loud and clear now.”

“Oh. Oh! I uh, my girlfriend is waiting for me inside. I didn’t mean to lead you on.”

“Oh.” Coffee Biscrisp frowned for a moment, then returned to smiling. “I guess that’s why it was loud enough even for me to hear. You have fun tonight, eh?”

Tap tap tap.

The door before Apple Bloom opened and she was greeted by a mare with dark pink coat and a yellow and white mane.

Wrong room? No, wait. “Diamond Tiara?”

She gave Apple Bloom a warm smile and beckoned her into the room. “Welcome back. You look better. Clear your head with some night air?”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom followed Diamond Tiara in, then made a beeline for the bed. “Ran from the timber wolves and had some time to think without them howlin’ in my ear.” She stopped in front of the bedside nightstand, then flipped the glowgem from around her neck onto it. She tapped it a few times with her hoof. When it wouldn’t go out, she opened a drawer in the nightstand and scraped it in, shutting it away from sight. “I see what you were up to while I was away. How did you do such a nice job all on your own when I was your first customer earlier tonight?”

“Do you like it? I hired one of the hotel staff to do it for me. I could get used to living in a place with so many unicorns around. So very convenient.”

“It’s different. I guess we both look different.” Apple Bloom looked around the room. No clothing to put away. All evidence of dinner and their dye jobs was nowhere to be seen. Her run had not pushed back responsibilities. No chores needing tending to.

With no work to occupy her hooves and serve as a convenient excuse to delay talking, she turned back to Diamond Tiara and looked again at her yellow and white mane. “You didn’t have to, y’know?”

“You figured out that it’s not so bad on your own?” Diamond Tiara toyed with a lock of her own mane. Her warm smile held no trace of irritation no matter how hard Apple Bloom searched for it.

“Yeah. Well, I had a little help.”

“You’re right then, I didn’t have to. Maybe instead of thinking it isn’t so bad, we can just try it out and see if it ends up being kinda good. Might even grow to enjoy it. If we don’t like it, we just grow it out and our original colors will be back in a few months.” Diamond Tiara pulled the bedding back for them, then slid into place. Once comfy she looked over at Apple Bloom expectantly. “You had help? Tell me about your run.”

Apple Bloom took her place beside her girlfriend, her gaze still being drawn to the unfamiliar mane coloring. “Dunno about enjoyin’ it. Think it’ll grow out long before it grows on me.” She pulled the covers up into place and got comfy, but fidgeted with the edge of the thin sheet over them. “Ran into a few ponies while out and about. One literally. Even with all the lights on everywhere, it’s still dark and hard to see.

“What I did see was ponies not carin’ a lick for colors. What with all these glowgems around, nopony was their right color and not one hoot to be found anywhere about it besides me being silly. Instead I had ponies askin’ me to dance and one even followed me home hopin’ to get in this here bed with me. Told’r it was already bein’ warmed up for me and she skedaddled.

“I think I spent most of my time annoyin’ those around me. ‘Specially to you, and I’m sorry for that.”

Diamond Tiara lay silent beside her for a moment. An outside observer might mistake her expression for a displeased scowl, but Apple Bloom had come to recognize it as Diamond Tiara’s “deep in thought” look, so she waited quietly. “Every day is an adventure with you, Apple Bloom. Some days even more than others, and sometimes that means being chased by ‘timber wolves.’ Might be a little annoying at times, but we both figured out years ago that we go through this adventure better together.

“I used to get frustrated watching you and your friends, when we were still fillies. Running around, being as much hazards to yourselves as to the rest of Ponyville. I could tell where you needed to go, and you never listened. Of course, we both know I wasn’t really all that fit to be in charge back then.

“I finally learned how to listen. You might need to run on your own now and then, but I know you’ll come back after. You started listening too.”

Apple Bloom scooted a bit closer to Diamond Tiara, letting the world just be the two of them and the soft pale yellow light of the two large glowgems on either side of the bed’s headboard. “I know you’ll be there herding me away from cliffs and brambles when I’m stampeding.”

“I guess so? I’m getting lost in your metaphors.”

“Lets just say I love you.”

“Now you’re making sense. I love you too.” She pressed her lips to Apple Bloom’s for a tender kiss, though the stifling heat made it difficult to enjoy it for long.

“I spent a lot of time today thinkin’ you were teasin’ me when you weren’t. You haven’t in a long time now, right?” Apple Bloom squirmed away from Diamond Tiara, seeking a bit of reprieve from the shared body heat.

Diamond Tiara squirmed around as well. “I’ve been careful to keep from going back to how I used to be.”

“Somethin’ ain't right about that. I’ve seen ponies tease the ones they love. Sugar Belle teases Big Mac all the time. Sometimes she sounds downright ornery, other times pretty damn lewd with her baking innuendos. What with my nephew and nieces having been born, it sure ain’t just mere suggestion she’s makin’ neither.

“I know it’s hard to tell when Mac’s blushin’ but I’ve known him all my life. But he don’t get sore about it. Instead he gets this goofy grin when she does it, and it just kinda makes my heart feel light seein’ them both happy and playful.”

“Sounds like it works for them. Doesn’t work for everypony though. I don’t think Sugar Belle was ever malicious with it like I was.”

“Scootaloo and Silver Spoon seem to manage it fine too. Silver Spoon ain’t as ruthless as Sugar Belle or Scootaloo, but she gets right in there.”

Diamond Tiara kicked the sheets off of them. “I know you’re a tough farm pony, but Silver Spoon grew up in the snake den. We both know Scootaloo is tough as nails.

“Your brother is more like a big tree than a pony. I think you inherited his share of the family’s worry genes. I can barely keep from upsetting you as it is; I don’t think it would be a good idea to go back to teasing you.”

“I remember it feelin’ pretty bad when you’d get in my head when we were fillies. I’d be worried about nothin’, and you’d get right at all my buttons.” Apple Bloom turned to her side, facing away from Diamond Tiara. “I’d worry myself over nothin’ with neither hide nor hare of you around though. Luna knows I’d get worked up even all by my lonesome. No, really, she does. Ask her sometime.” Apple Bloom pondered how long it had been since she last had a visit from the Princess of Dreams. “You ain't gonna make me worry more than I already am, nor any less. I’m pretty sure by now you ain't gonna make me feel worse about it on purpose. You’re already real keen on apologizin’ at the drop of a hat if you do and remindin’ me how your heart’s in the right place.

“As much as your talent is for getting ponies to do stuff, mine is for figuring out what they ought to do. Right now I’m worried about you not teasin’ about as much as we’re worried it’ll hurt if you do. I don’t know for sure if we oughta leave it be or stir up a bee’s nest, but it has been feelin’ a lot less like an adventure these days.”

“I know not to fight your hunches. I also know that what you’re asking me to do isn’t something you’ve tried out yourself yet.” Diamond Tiara paused for several breaths. “Maybe things have gotten more routine between us. We’ve figured each other out pretty well over the years. I have an idea for tomorrow. We can fit it into our plans and make the best of our opportunity.”

“Our opportunity?”

“Lemme sleep on it, and I’ll explain the details in the morning. If I’m right, we can have some fun with this.”

“I’m not really sleepy. What with our nap this afternoon, and a soda while I was out, I’m still pretty alert.”

“This warm, soft bed isn’t making you sleepy?” Diamond Tiara scooted closer, pressing up to Apple Bloom’s back, spooning with her.

“It’s mighty comfy and gettin’ warmer by the minute. But nope, ain't sleepy at all.”

“Maybe if we make it hotter.” Apple Bloom felt Diamond Tiara’s teeth gently bite into her ear and tug a little, drawing a gasp from her.

“Seemed to work at the beach. Real hot. Real wet. Got ourselves worn out and we were out like lights.”

Diamond Tiara’s forelegs were wrapped around her barrel, one hoof drawing lazy circles in her chest fur. It trailed downwards towards her belly, then further. “I think I know how to get all of that. Hush now, quiet now, and let me take care of my pretty Little Flower.”

Apple Bloom closed her eyes, not fighting the growing heat one bit. As the last bits of tension of the day flowed out of her, she felt herself melt into a puddle and smile.

Mainstreet Squares

Apple Bloom pointed a hoof towards the Eastern archway, indicating the, now closed, cafe she and Coffee Biscrisp had colas at. “… and a little past that was where the musicians were playing and ponies were dancing, decked out in glowgems.”

Diamond Tiara stood beside her and watched with open interest as Apple Bloom pointed out what she had seen the night before. “So this is Cadance Square. If we go that way we’ll get to see the statue for Celestia?” She took several steps in that direction, scanning side to side to take in the rows of storefronts, cafes, benches, and heavy traffic of ponies meandering around them. “We could loop back around and continue West to see the rest after, right?”

As she looked around, Apple Bloom kept finding her gaze drawn to Diamond Tiara’s yellow and white striped mane and tail. “Looks so different now.”

“It was dark when you saw it last night.” Diamond Tiara looked back towards her and smiled, her gaze obviously wandering over Apple Bloom’s similarly unfamiliar countenance. “When we passed through this square in our taxi yesterday morning, we were too excited to see the ocean to pay heed to it.”

“Yeah, was more of a wide spot in the road than something to look at. Speaking of princess statues, Cadance should be around here somewhere. Let's go find her.”

At night or now in the daylight, the most attention-grabbing feature of the square was the mirror-polished silver statue of Princess Cadance. At night she reflected the colors of lights around her, but now she mostly seemed bright pink. Some kind of enchantment kept her from being a vision hazard in the bright sunlight. She stood, life-sized, at ground level, and was sculpted to seem to be peering ahead while walking, as if she too were part of the bustle of the busy market, the princess who walks among her people every day. Only a small garden littered with pink, yellow, and purple flowers, with a knee-high decorative fence around her hooves and trailing behind her broke that illusion.

“We could go see Celestia next, but that way is mostly schools and government buildings. City Hall and the courthouse are that way.” Apple Bloom gazed around to take in more details of the square while weighing options for their route.

Bordering the square was a faceted crystal wall that reached chest-height. They formed into four arches: the exits at each side of the square. Underhoof, the ground was paved with diamond-patterned brickwork, done in pink bricks trimmed with gold paint. Beyond the low wall, more garden and trees gave off an impression of being in a clearing in the woods. Not quite like being isolated from the endless frozen wastelands in a crystal pocket paradise, but it felt like a good effort in this hot environment. Apple Bloom found herself nodding her approval of the square’s style.

“Not much shopping that way though.” She drew Diamond Tiara’s attention away from the statue. “I think we can save Celestia for last, maybe see her tomorrow before we head home?”

“That sounds like a good idea. So we go West then?” She turned fully towards Apple Bloom, facing the opposite direction as Cadance. “We have four statues this way, and lots of shopping to try out.”

As they started a slow circuit of the square, browsing temporary stands and stalls tucked against the bordering wall, Diamond Tiara continued. “I saw some kind of market on the boardwalk we crossed getting to the beach. At the base of the cliffs. We could work our way back East along it and wind up near our hotel by the end of the day that way.”

“I’m a little soured on the beach still, but I suppose I could tolerate it later today.” Apple Bloom looked closely over rows and rows of little bottles, each promising things like beauty, love, bedroom potency, and other fantastic things. Impossible to achieve with potions in most cases as she well knew, and dangerous in some cases if they were real.

She snorted in derision at the display and turned her attention back to Diamond Tiara. “More of a breeze today and it seems cloudier. There weren’t a single speck of white in the whole sky yesterday.”

“Not to mention lots of shady places to cool off under here on Mainstreet.” Diamond Tiara nodded towards a bench where an elderly couple watched after their pre-teen grandfoals gawking at Cadance. “Lots of convenient seating all around too. No hurry in this city, unlike Manehattan or Canterlot.”

They walked through the West arch, and took in the sight of Mainstreet. A row of carefully landscaped trees broke the center of the pedestrian boulevard. Permanent shopfronts lined both sides as far as the eye could see. Poniquins wearing white wedding dresses, sharp-looking tuxedos, and other formalwear gazed back at them from many a shop window. Almost as common were cakes decorated in whites, pinks, and lavenders. Interspersed among them were the occasional shop dedicated to toys for foals.

Very little on display was of interest to the pair, leaving them both awkwardly quiet as they walked past storefront after storefront. Diamond Tiara broke the silence first. “I have a pretty good idea of what to look for that Silver Spoon would like. We both know how easy Sweetie Belle is to shop for. Have any ideas for Scootaloo?”

Apple Bloom sighed in relief internally that their conversation didn’t find influence from their surroundings. “I think we should get everypony some glowgems. Scootaloo would love a bunch of them in different colors. I think Granny, AJ, and Mac would probably like some too. They can be mighty useful at night.”

As they passed a toy store, she did briefly consider something for her nieces and nephew. Nothing visible from the window stood out to her though. “Other than that, I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Glowgems do seem like a pretty safe, general-purpose gift.” Diamond Tiara’s expression of disinterest at the offerings of the toy store seemed to mirror her own. “Though I was thinking of something a little extra special for Silver Spoon. Some of her distant relatives live around here. Getting something made by them would be nice. Gifts that say, “Silver Cove” feel more appropriate than this generic stuff here.”

“You’re right about that.” They continued on, ignoring several more shops. “Oh, and Mac’s friend Feather Bangs was from around here too. We should get something for him also.”

A store claiming to have wedding cakes baked by Princess Cadance herself caught their eye. They stared at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Diamond Tiara wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head at the audacious cakery. “You know there are going to be a lot of tourist traps here. We need to keep an eye out for fakes and cheap knockoffs.”

“You’re right. Kinda hard to spot them when we don’t know the real things though.” Apple Bloom looked again at the cakery, snickering. “Well, some of them anyway.”

As they walked, Apple Bloom noticed the brickwork underhoof was more of a checkerboard pattern, with pink bricks alternating with blue bricks. Gone was the gold-painted trim on each brick too.

“I know a way we can do a little recon. Get some advice from the locals on how to avoid fakes, and anything else useful to find out.” Diamond Tiara drew her attention, breaking another period of silence. “I thought more on that idea I mentioned last night.”

“Oh yeah?”

“You got some helpful tips from Coffee Biscrisp last night. You were having fun right up until the end, right? So how about we do that. We split up, meet ponies, see what we can learn, and try to drum up some fun.”

Apple Bloom stopped, and tilted her head. “That kinda defeats the main purpose of us enjoying this vacation together.”

Diamond Tiara stopped with her. “We’ll still be together. We’ll keep in eyesight of each other and keep an eye out on each other. When one of us is talking to somepony, the other keeps an eye out for her. If things look like they might be going bad, we can step in to the rescue.”

She raised a hoof and indicated the area around them. “You notice how nopony is showing any interest in us right now? ‘Cause we’re clearly together. That tells them we’re not available. So let's make it look like we’re available, and ponies will flock to us like they did last night to you.”

“I dunno.” Apple Bloom frowned and chewed over Diamond Tiara’s suggestion in her head a few times. “I’m thinkin’ of how that could go wrong. Get a bunch of ponies upset that they’re bein’ lied to.”

“It’s not lying. It’s being more sociable and approachable.” She drew close to Apple Bloom and bumped shoulders with her. “Think of it more like we’re playing pretend. I think you’ll find a lot of ponies around us are doing the same.”

She pulled away and resumed walking, and Apple Bloom matched her pace.

“If they get the wrong ideas about us, we’re going to be gone in a few days, and they’ll forget all about us.” Diamond Tiara glanced sidelong at Apple Bloom, her point of focus flicking upward briefly before turning to face forward again. “We don’t even look like us, and the ponies they think they met will literally disappear before you know it.”

“Maybe I’m still dwellin’ on the downsides. It’ll sorta be like playin’ at spies? I guess that worked out alright in the end for my brother and sister-in-law.” Apple Bloom smiled a bit as she remembered that day. “We should come up with fake names too.”

“I guess so?”

Apple Bloom grinned as she warmed to the idea more. “I’ll be Shimmering Spectacles, a librarian with a myst—wait, we already used that one and I don’t have the glasses with me. Uh—”

“Maybe you should keep it simple. Easier to remember that way.” After a few further steps without response, Diamond Tiara offered her own suggestion. “How about Pear Blossom?”

“But I have an apple cutie mark. Ain't got nothin’ to do with pears.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with blooms either.”

“True. I guess that’s why ponies often change their names when they get their marks, like you and Mrs. Cake.”

“And many don’t” Diamond Tiara peered into the window of a storefront offering balloons, paints, cards, glittery shiny things, and colorful odds and ends. “I think we can name a lot more examples like that.”

They continued past that shop without giving it a second look. “Alright, Pear Blossom it is. I’ll be a wanderi—”

“I think just stick to the name for now,” Diamond Tiara interrupted her. “I don’t think we’ll be spending a lot of time relating our intricate backstories to ponies we meet. Just avoid stuff too specific, like naming Sweet Apple Acres or the Apple name, and it should be fine.”

“So, what about you? The Rich family is pretty well known too.”

“Hmmm. I’ll think of something.”

“Alright, Apple Bloom—”

“Pear Blossom.”

Diamond Tiara stared at Apple Bloom for a moment. “Whatever. Pear Blossom. Hang out here and enjoy the show. I’m going to get closer and see if I can get any leads. If you see me talking to anypony, try to watch and listen without being too obvious. I’ll return here after.”

“I’ll try, but it’s pretty hard to even pretend to find a mime interestin’. Not too sure how much you can get out of’m neither.” Apple Bloom sat on a bench and followed Diamond Tiara with her gaze.

A mime was “performing” between two trees, while ponies mostly walked around and ignored him. He was so short Apple Bloom at first mistook him for a colt. His face was painted up in white, with black triangles above and below his weary eyes. He had on a tight-fitting, long-sleeved, black shirt with a single rose pinned to his chest.

Diamond Tiara went to one of the two trees and sat down, wearing a broad grin and looking enthused. When the mime noticed her, he seemed encouraged and visibly put more effort into his act. If he suspected that his audience was putting on a better show than his, he didn't seem to let it affect his performance.

Just as Apple Bloom was about to slide off the bench and tell her girlfriend this was a boring waste of time, a pegasus stallion landed and sat next to Diamond Tiara, seeming to watch the mime’s show. While she couldn’t hear them, she could see their mouths moving, and Diamond Tiara leaning in close to hear him over the bustle of the city around them.

She nodded at him several times, appeared to giggle, and overall looked to be having a great conversation. The pegasus seemed to move his hooves around as he talked, spread his wings, then trailed his primaries over Diamond Tiara’s back as he closed them. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at that, but Diamond Tiara just seemed to playfully punch his shoulder and giggle some more.

Almost as suddenly as he appeared, he took off back into the sky, and was soon out of sight over the rooftops.

Diamond Tiara abandoned the mime’s performance—who put on an overly dramatic show of despair that bordered on mildly entertaining to watch—and returned to Apple Bloom’s observation bench.

“OK, what was that all about?”

“A demonstration. Now you see how it is done.” She sat next to Apple Bloom, beaming her a confident grin.

“I could see alright, but I didn’t hear a word from either of you. Too far away and too much noise. So what did you learn from him?”

Diamond Tiara’s grin faded. “Well, he’s a firefighter.” She tilted her head to the side and tapped her chin. “He helps put out forest fires and stuff in a pretty big area around here. He used to be from Fillydelphia but moved here permanently after coming to help the local team fight a big fire a few years ago.”

“Uh, that sounds nice and all. I’m glad you made yourself a friend, but what does that have to do with what we’re trying to do?” In the corner of her vision, Apple Bloom noticed the black and white shape of the mime doing his best to draw attention to himself. She ignored him rightly.

Diamond Tiara was much easier and more enjoyable to pay attention to. “Like I said, it was a demonstration. Keep an eye out for opportunities to look available for ponies who seem interested in you. Be interested back when they approach. Don’t try to shut down the conversation right away, and don’t say no.”

“If I hadn’t said no last night, I woulda had to introduce you to Coffee Biscrisp personally, and sorted out one awkward mess.” She leaned in close to Diamond Tiara and lowered her voice to a fierce whisper. “I ain’t too keen on lifting my tail for anypony and everypony who so much as glances at my flank. If that’s your plan I think I am gonna shut it down right now.”

Diamond Tiara playfully ran her hoof through Apple Bloom’s mane. “That’s not what I mean at all. Look, you don’t have to say yes. Just don’t say no. Delay things.” She turned her gaze upwards and scanned the sky for a moment, then continued in a whisper as well. “That guy wanted to take me to some private spot on the beach and get under my tail. Instead of getting offended or saying no, I delayed it. I told him it was too hot and too early in the day, but maybe he could show me around town until it got cooler. Maybe find some place with dancing.”

“So, you led him on? He sure didn’t seem too keen to stick around.”

“That part was a little odd.” She adopted her familiar thoughtful scowl. “He seemed to lose interest when I mentioned dancing. Whatever.

“It’s not the same as leading them on. Most of them aren’t going to be around any longer than we are, and nopony is looking for a serious, long-term relationship. Just because they’re looking for some quick fun doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to have the kind of fun we want to have. If they really don’t want our sort of fun, they can say no like he did. If they do want to have fun, we can still say no to the sex afterwards. You don’t suddenly owe someone your bits just because they had a few dances with you or something.”

Apple Bloom chewed the thought over like a piece of straw, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right about that. I dunno. It just seems more honest though to be up front that tail ain’t on the menu.”

“If you keep them interested and talking longer, you can find more stuff out, and they might wind up having more fun with us than they would if they had their way.” Diamond Tiara leaned in to kiss Apple Bloom softly. “Besides, it’s harmless teasing. It’s fun to play in the chase.” She slid off the bench, then looked back towards Apple Bloom while flicking her yellow and white tail suggestively. “Even if we know they can’t catch us, it’ll be fun for them to try.”

“I dunno how well I’ll do, but I’ll give it a try I guess.” Apple Bloom slid off the bench and sidled up beside Diamond Tiara, then the two continued on Westward, tails intertwined.

Luna Square was just as big as Cadance Square had been, but the arches leading into it were wrought iron and spade-tipped like something out of a stereotypical horror story. Missing was the decrepit mansion or stormy weather. The bright, sunny morning dispelled all but the barest of hints of spooky.

Diamond Tiara walked through first, with Apple Bloom trailing a few ponies behind her, keeping her pink and yellow form generally in view.

Like most of the ponies ahead of her and to her sides, when Apple Bloom entered the square, she looked for the statue of Luna. Standing shoulders over head taller than most ponies in the square, she wasn’t difficult to find. Like Cadance’s before, Luna’s statue was made of tightly-fitted silver plates, this time with a magical blue sheen to cut down on the glare. This precaution was less important in Luna’s case, however, as she was standing in the permanent shade of a huge oak tree.

To her side, Apple Bloom could hear Diamond Tiara’s voice. She turned to see yet another pegasus stallion had approached her. She walked past the pair towards a trinket stand she noticed on the other side, that would let her remain in earshot, and give her a chance to get a good look in passing.

This stallion was wearing an outlandish getup of glittering pink clothes with some kind of exotic feline print in black, which stood out in stark contrast to his dark blue-gray coat. Tight fitting to his body, he was clearly showing off his muscle tone. To finish his look, he had a short bowl cut with a silly topknot peeking over the back of his scalp. His tail was done in a matching, though larger style to match the topknot. “Hey there, cutie, what’s your name?”

Apple Bloom bit her lips to keep back a response of her own, leaving it to Diamond Tiara to handle him.

Her response was to giggle like a school filly. “Dia—dem. Silver Diadem.”

“Oh, a Silver? Forgive my behavior, m’lady.” He made a short bow, then looked up at Diamond Tiara. “Allow me to purchase you a cold beverage in apology for my forwardness?”

“No need to be formal, good sir.” Diamond Tiara giggled some more, then made a playful “rise” gesture with one hoof. “I am pretty thirsty. How about a strawberry soda, …?”

“Oh, call me Night Rocker. And sure thing!” He extended one wing to point off to the side. “This place over here is pretty good. Good quality syrups from …” He and Diamond Tiara faded out of earshot as they walked away.

Apple Bloom lost track of their conversation, but watched them approach a small shop. She found herself a bench in view of the entrance and sat to wait.

Before long, the pair re-emerged. Diamond spotted her and subtly guided their progress to a bench next to Apple Bloom’s.

“… but they keep saying I’m not on the list.” Night Rocker made an irritated gesture with his wings as they walked, though he seemed mindful of his surroundings and avoided being a hazard to nearby ponies. “I think they’re afraid if there’s too many stallions inside, it’ll lead to fights and rowdiness or something. Gotta keep that bro to ho ratio, y’know?”

“Oooh. That does sound logical.” Diamond Tiara stopped short of their apparent destination, risked a glance towards Apple Bloom, and rolled her eyes while out of his view for the moment it took him to notice she’d stopped. She then turned back to him, smile back in place as he turned to find her. “I’d like to see the place too.”

“So yeah, be back here at ten?” He pointed a hoof towards Luna’s statue. “I’m gonna go find my bros and see if they’ve had much luck. Oh, and if you wanna bring any friends, that’d be totally cool.”

Apple Bloom widened her eyes a bit at that last comment. Maybe I wasn’t inconspicuous enough? He didn’t seem to pay her any attention though, and took off into the sky.

Diamond Tiara watched him disappear from view over the surrounding rooftops, then climbed onto the bench beside Apple Bloom. “So do you think you’re ready to give it a try?”

“Not really, but I gotta start somehow, right?”

“That’s the spirit.” Diamond Tiara drank from the cup she held in both forehooves.

“That looks pretty good.” Apple Bloom got to her hooves. “I think I’m gonna get a drink of my own before I, uh, go huntin’.”

“Fine. I’ll wait here for you, then we’ll look around for potential targets.”

Apple Bloom wandered over to an outdoors juice stand with an eye-catching dark blue sign. Comets spelled out, “Lime Light’s” with their tails beneath a tall glass of green juice. The stand looked pretty popular, if the line was anything to judge by. She took her place at the back of the queue and tried to wrap her head around what she and Diamond Tiara were trying to accomplish here.

“Whoah, hey there, little lady.”

Apple Bloom startled at the loud, deep exclamation near her, and looked up at the hulking stallion in front of her. He reminded her a lot of Bulk Biceps, but dark gray instead of white. And a unicorn. “You wanna cutsies?”

“Pardon?”

“You can, like, go in front of me, dude.”

Her first reaction was to decline as she was in no hurry. Then she realized, this was happening right now. Diamond Tiara had suggested she not say no to anything. This seemed harmless, as long as she tried not to fret about where it might lead. Just go with it. “Thank you, sir. Much obliged.”

“Oh sweet. You sound just like one of those southern bells. From, like, Ahploozan or something.”

“It’s Appleoosa, actually.” and stop. No need to explain further. Let him do as much of the talking as possible. She put on a smile, without needing to force it. Actually, this is kind of fun.

“I heard about that place. Sounds totally gnarly. Maybe too dry though. I don’t think I could catch a wave there.”

“Well, they do have plenty of sand though.” OK, maybe fun was a bit premature.

He chattered on as the line in front of them dwindled. Apple Bloom tried her best to pay attention, but he seemed pretty content to go on and on in exhaustive detail about different kinds of waves and how to surf on them, territory disputes with the griffons for “primo” surf spots, and trying to keep all the tourists from taking the best spots too.

When she got to the front of the line, she skimmed over the menu and ordered the first thing that caught her eye. “One medium pear juice, please.”

“Make mine a plum smoothie. Large.” He floated enough bits with his magic for both their drinks to the merchant before Apple Bloom could retrieve her bit purse.

“Thanks again.” Apple Bloom beamed a smile at him, then accepted her drink moments later from the salespony. She slurped at her straw as they waited for his drink to be served.

“No problemo, little lady. Here, let me get that for you.” His magical aura surrounded her cup, and she let go. Once his order was served, he held his own drink the same way, keeping both cups in front of them in comfortable drinking range.

As they walked, she could sip her drink without having to adopt a three-legged gait. Diamond Tiara is right, it is real convenient to have so many unicorns around. Having a drink to occupy her mouth let her listen to him rattle on without having to offer much in the way of replies. As they approached an arch to leave Luna Square, she looked around and noticed this one followed a taxi-road, meaning it was a North or South exit, instead of her preferred West. “Hey, uh, where are we, err, you headed?”

“Huh? I’m headed back to the beach. Gotta volleyball game lined up with these dudes from Feather-side. You should come watch. It’s gonna be killer when we stomp them into the sand and get to borrow some of their turf for the day.” He ground his forehooves together and chuckled in obvious glee at the prospect.

“Oh. Well, I was hoping to buy some gifts for my friends and family back home.” Don’t say no. And, that is the truth.

“Oh, bummer. Game starts soon, but you wanna hit those shops in the morning or else they’ll be picked clean.” He looked down at his hooves, then adopted what she started to label his “thinking” expression. She could almost imagine steam rising from his head from the effort. “Hey, you might get lucky and find what you want quick this time of day, right? So come find me on the beach if you get done soon, and you might catch the end of the game. I’ll show you how to handle those waves afterwards if you can make it.” He offered a wide grin with his big, perfect teeth.

Uhh, don’t try to shut things down or escape. Delay and keep the conversation going. “Maybe you could come with me and help me find the good stuff? I don’t want to end up gettin’ some glittered up piece of trash. My sister would give me no end of it.”

“Awww man, yeah that would be a major drag. But I gotta be with my buds and defend our turf though. Hmmm.” Steam. She was almost sure she could see steam. “Oh, I know. You were looking for some jewelry, right? Make sure you get some from the Silver family. They’re like, super proud of their quality and stuff. No way they’d sell you some junk. They have this mark they use that looks like this.” He lit up his horn and formed a glowing pair of letters in the air, “SV.”

“That is really helpful. I’ll be sure to look for that. I guess this is goodbye then?”

“Yeah, looks that way. See you around though.”

Apple Bloom watched him walk away for a moment, then called out, “Good luck and stomp those guys good and hard!”

He waved with one hoof without looking back. “You’ll hear it from across town when we do!”

Apple Bloom continued to watch until his hulking form disappeared into the flow of ponies heading South for their own versions of fun in the sand and sun. She slurped down the last of her juice, then found a nearby litter bin, and tossed her cup in.

A voice in her ear startled her. “That seemed to go really well.”

Apple Bloom whipped her head to face Diamond Tiara, then exhaled slowly. “Yeah, and you’re right. That is pretty fun, and he seemed to enjoy himself too. If I was on speakin’ terms with the beach right now, I might even find myself learnin’ how to surf.”

“That could make for a fun day.” Diamond Tiara giggled a little and bumped rumps with her. “Let's go shopping.”

They made it to Twilight Square, found her statue—the smallest of the three at just regular pony-size—and gawked at the confusing decor. Where the previous two squares had held a strong central theme, this one reminded Apple Bloom of the story her sister had told her about how she and her friends had tried to make Twilight’s new castle feel more like home.

Everywhere she looked was a different color. Balloons and butterflies, diamonds holding up rainbow streamers, and uncomfortably familiar apples tipping fence posts. She felt bad for her friend, Twilight, but it was honestly a bit uncomfortable to linger. Her sister’s story suddenly made a whole lot more sense. They continued their search for gifts.

They’d found a small jewelry shop as they exited the West gates and continued on down Mainstreet. It bore a sign indicating that they sold Silver Family wares.

“We ain’t in Silver Square yet. What do you think?” Apple Bloom nodded to the sign in the window.

“Wouldn’t hurt to look.” Diamond Tiara strode into the shop and disappeared inside.

Apple Bloom hesitated for several moments, shrugged, then entered too.

Inside, wood and glass cases covered nearly every square hoof of visible space from ceiling to floor, with black velvet lining to let the intricate pieces of worked silver show off at their best. In addition to the black and silver to be seen in every direction, the color of pretty gems cut and set into the silver made for a beautiful view. Where the walls of the shop were visible and not covered with some kind of shelving or vertical display case, purple peeked through.

Apple Bloom was looking intently at a necklace. It featured a thin chain and a heavy-looking pendant featuring six long, narrow teardrop-shaped amethysts arranged in a star. On either side of the pendant there were three silver stars dangling from the chain. The maker was obviously inspired by Princess Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark, but the extra star bugged her.

“I think that would look great on you.”

Apple Bloom didn’t immediately look at the source of the male voice beside her, and instead glanced through the glass display in front of her to see the back of Diamond Tiara’s head. A flick of her pink ear let Apple Bloom know that she could hear the exchange. “Maybe, but I don’t think it fits my budget.” I don’t really want this, but I’m not supposed to say no. Don’t dwell on consequences, even if this is a more expensive gift than a cup of juice.

“I think it would fit in mine. Want me to get the attendant to let you try it on?”

She glanced towards him. A pegasus stallion. He looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen him. He was a dark, coal-gray, and in the low light of the shop he looked a little sinister. “I dunno where I’d wear the thing. It would be a shame for you to buy me something that’d end up inside a jewelry box forever.”

“You could wear it at my place. Would be well worth the bits in my opinion.” He smile was more of a leer.

Wow. OK, so that really is what he’s after. “I—uh—Dancing.”

“Dancing?” He tilted his head slightly.

“Yeah. Dancing gets me in the mood. Gotta dance first.” Real smooth. Ugh.

“I’m, like, not very good at dancing. Besides, I think the pendant might break that thin chain if you were to bounce it around much anyway.” He glanced around, fluffed his wings repeatedly, and shifted his weight from hoof to hoof. His gaze kept going up to the ceiling and lingering, before darting back to her. All of a sudden he looked a lot less sinister and more like a colt that was caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.

“Something made by the Silvers would break from just a little bit of dancing?” Apple Bloom turned to fully face the stallion.

“That thing is just a cheap knockoff. If you’re looking for a real Silver piece, it would be three times as much, and enchanted in some way.” He glanced towards the shopkeeper, who seemed to be frowning and narrowing his eyes. “Listen, we should get out of here. We could go to my place. Or, uh, Silver Square.”

The shopkeeper, an elderly unicorn, offered his own suggestion. “I think you should get out of here, Smoke Trail. Calling my wares knockoffs?!”

As the stallion, Smoke Trail apparently, fled the shop, Apple Bloom smirked and trotted along in his wake, then caught up to him outside. Behind her she noticed a bit of pink and yellow in the corner of her eye as Diamond Tiara exited a few seconds after her. “What’s the matter? Is he going to call the guards or something?”

“Oh, no. No. He couldn’t afford to bring the attention of the guards to his shop. We’re safe. I’m just, like, hungry. Yeah. I skipped breakfast. Hey, maybe we could grab a bite to eat then head back to my place? I know this spot down on the West end of the Boardwalk that nobody really knows about.” His gaze continued to dart around, and linger skyward as if searching the few clouds above for something.

“Lunch sounds good. Tell me more about the place.” Apple Bloom risked a quick glance at DT while Smoke Trail was again looking upwards. DT was listening in closely, though not making much effort to conceal her eavesdropping.

“Yeah, buddy of mine named Girard owns the place. Not too many customers get that far down the Boardwalk though, so most miss out on how good a cook he is.” He stretched one wing out as if to try to feel Apple Bloom’s back, but with her directly in front of him, it was impossible for the gesture to look accidental. He looked at his wing, then at Apple Bloom, and gave a weak little chuckle and folded it back to his side. He mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, and scanned the heavens.

Another furtive glance to DT, confirmed she had heard. She made a “go on” gesture with her hooves, while grinning with mirth at the pegasus’ antics. “Lunch does sound pretty good. Maybe afterwards you’ll feel more steady, and I can teach you how to dance? I’m a pretty good tutor and even helped this one colt earn his cutie mark in dancin’. I’m sure you just need some encouragement.”

“What? I already have my cutie mark, see?” He turned in place to show off his flank, and displayed a blue waterdrop nestled against a drop-shaped lick of flame, the pair creating a trail of smoke disappearing near his tail.

“Well, pegasi are natural dancers. I have a friend back home who is so much fun to dance with, ‘cause she has all that balance and can do cool moves with her wings.”

“Forgive me, but I’m a little claustrophobic, and thinking of a packed-in dance floor has me feeling kind of closed in. I need to get up in the air. Maybe see you around?” He didn’t wait for a reply, and on his way up he briefly met Diamond Tiara’s gaze, who smiled and waved up at him.

Once again, Apple Bloom found herself surrounded by black and silver, accented with colored gems all around. Instead of wood and glass cases filling up every available space and leaving little room to walk around in, this building felt more open. The walls were done in clean, crisp white with glossy black trim. The jewelry was mounted to the wall in thick, black frames like they were paintings, while the middle of the room was empty. Plush padded chairs and couches ringed the empty space in the middle, giving a feel of a lounge rather than a store.

This store advertised itself as run by the Silver family, not just carrying their products. When a unicorn stallion stepped out from behind a curtained off section to the side to greet them, Apple Bloom had no doubt he was authentic. From his slicked-back purple mane, pale gray coat, sharply tailored purple suit-jacket and black tie, and his bored but polite expression all assured her this was the real deal.

Diamond Tiara stepped forward to greet him. Apple Bloom contented herself to watch. “Hello, good sir. I’m looking to purchase a gift for my friend, Silver Spoon. Something of a distant cousin of yours, I think.”

“Silver Spoon was it? Hmmm. One moment.” He lit his horn, and with a flash and a soft popping sound, a large, clear gem appeared next to him, held in his magic. Glowing green letters appeared in the air above the gem, flickering by at an unreadable pace. His eyes darted side to side, reflecting the blur of words. After a few moments, the words froze in place for a few seconds, then disappeared. “Ah. Branch family founded by Coal Brazier and Silver Trim. Currently resident in Ponyville. Not bonded.”

He continued gazing into his crystal while speaking, and after a few more green words flashed in and out of view, he continued. “You would be Diamond Tiara, of the Rich family. Customers in good standing for three generations, starting with Plain Rich, and continuing with Stinkin’ Rich, and current active account with Filthy Rich.”

He looked up from his gem at Diamond Tiara directly. “We don’t have an account set up with you yet, Miss Tiara, but I could set up an appointment to do so.”

Diamond Tiara widened her eyes for a moment at being recognized, but recovered before giving any further indication. “I’m just here to make a purchase. I hadn’t planned on spending all day with accounts and the like. I’m here on vacation.”

The stallion frowned, and Apple Bloom could almost feel the ice in his words. “The Silver Family does not operate like some bulk-sale retail store. If you cannot be bothered to come to us with a serious business commission, then you’d be better off browsing through the commoners’ shops elsewhere.”

Diamond Tiara matched the stallion’s ice with fire in her tone. She took a few steps towards him, her eyes narrowing. “Did you just belittle my father’s business empire? I’ll have you know he brings in more bits in a year than your entire family has ever had!”

“I have no doubts about the material wealth of the Rich family, Miss Tiara, but a mere commoner wouldn’t understand the true wealth of reputation and honor involved.”

Apple Bloom glanced between the two ponies, then rushed to get between them before it came to blows. “Hey now, Mr. Silver whatever your name is, we’re tryin’ to get a gift for someone in your family. Doesn’t that mean somethin’ to you?”

Diamond Tiara stepped back and didn’t try to get past her girlfriend. She looked about to speak, but was cut off by the stallion.

“I would hardly call an unbonded member of a branch family with no standing or status as someone of worth. Once again, something a commoner like you would never understand, miss—” He raised his gem, glanced at Apple Bloom’s cutie mark, then flicked through another stream of glowing green words and symbols. His eyes widened as the magic display stilled, and he turned his attention fully to Apple Bloom. He stood stiff and transformed before their eyes into the very model of professionalism, all evidence of his ire vanished. “Lady Apple Bloom. Founder of the CMC Organization for the Guidance and Counseling of Cutie Mark Matters, personal friend to Princess Twilight Sparkle, personal friend to Princess Luna, youngest current member of House Apple of Ponyville, 4th descendant of Count Apple Seed of the Everfree County.

“Welcome to Silver Cove, Lady Apple Bloom. On behalf of House Silver and Baron Silver Ingot, I am Silver Platter. My apologies at the circumstances of this welcome, but your visit was not announced.”

Apple Bloom sighed and her gaze fell to her hooves. She muttered under her breath, “Horseapples. Busted.” She took a deep breath and raised her gaze level to his and nodded. “We’re on vacation, not on official business. I’d appreciate if you didn’t make a big fuss ‘bout this.”

“Understood, My Lady. Please allow our House to offer hospitality? We will attempt to make it discreet as you wish.”

Diamond Tiara took her place at Apple Bloom’s side, still scowling at the unicorn. Apple Bloom gave her a quick nuzzle behind the ear, and she pressed close to Apple Bloom’s side. “If it’ll keep you from organizin’ some sort of parade or somethin’, fine. House Apple accepts the hospitality of House Silver. I mean it, no fuss, you hear?”

“Of course, My Lady. Would dinner be lacking enough in “fuss” to be to your liking? The Sky Room has been the pride of both the Silver and Feather Houses for generations.”

“They’d get pushy soon enough too, wouldn’t they? Yeah, that’ll work. Make sure you let the Feathers know to make no fuss neither. We’ll accept your dinner invite, and call hospitality satisfied for the both of you, alright?”

“As you wish, My Lady. I would like to offer a gift from my own personal collection, as an apology for the offense I inflicted upon your consort.” His horn lit up, and another flash and pop of a summon revealed a beautiful silver tea set floating in the air between them.

“She’s my girlfriend, not a consort.” She turned to Diamond Tiara who warily stepped forward to inspect the set.

Appraising the floating set of silver dishes visibly brightened Diamond Tiara’s mood and she nodded. “Silver Spoon would just love this.”

“Alright, we’ll take it. How much, Mister Platter?”

Silver Platter flinched, then coughed into his hoof.

“Apple Bloom! He said it was a gift.” Diamond Tiara scolded her, but Apple Bloom recognized the playful twinkle in her eye and tone in her voice.

“Aw horseapples. I’ll get the hang of this social etiquette stuff one of these days.” Apple Bloom turned her gaze from Diamond Tiara back to Silver Platter. “I guess I insulted you right back. Beg your pardon for that. Now it feels a bit lopsided to accept your apology gift. You want it back?”

“I would never accept such a thing. A gift is a gift, and it would dishonor me to have it remain in my collection.”

“Figures. Make you a deal then. I know you’re keen on braggin’ to your buddies up in Los Pegasus about how you got to play host to the Apple Family, and you ain't gonna get to rub it into their snoots if we keep this visit a secret. I’ll get with Granny Smith and my brother and sister when I get back home and see if we can plan some sorta official visit. They ain’t too keen on all this political stuff, but we can maybe work out some proper reason for me to come here on business. How soon and how nice of business that turns out to be we’ll see.

“I plan to relax and enjoy the rest of my vacation, and if I end up irate before we leave, you won’t find me too pleasant when I return.”

“Very good, Lady Apple Bloom. Very good. You have my personal word your vacation will lack irritants from House Silver. I will negotiate on your behalf with House Feather. As for the tea set, I will have it delivered to the Rich estate, care of Filthy Rich. Would that be agreeable?”

Diamond Tiara simply nodded.

Apple Bloom spat in her hoof then extended it to Silver Platter. “Sounds like we have ourself an understanding then.”

As usual when dealing with his type, his expression turned squeamish, but he recognized the ancient custom and followed suit. They shook on it.

“Girard’s Open Book” sat on the Western end of the Boardwalk, tucked between the shops to either side of it like a lonely tome on a curio shelf. The entire store face was made to look like the cover of a book, with the title serving as the store’s sign. The entrance was on the side of the small building, giving the impression of going past the cover to walk into where pages ought to be.

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara entered the dimly-lit, smoky restaurant that seemed crowded with four tiny tables inside. Only one was occupied, and the griffon seated at it was tall and gangly, seeming to be all limbs and hardly any torso. He called out when the pair entered. “Girard! Two seaweed salads.”

A voice replied from somewhere further inside past a door emitting billowing clouds of steam. “What? We got customers out there or are you just getting my hopes up again?”

“For real, dude!” The griffon turned to them and smiled. “Take your pick of seats. Like, literally anywhere.”

Apple Bloom scanned the corners and shrugged. The interior of the place was decorated with a jumbled mess of fishing nets, a surfboard with what appeared to be a large bite taken out of it, numerous seashells, bits of oddly shaped driftwood, a large ship’s anchor, and old photographs tucked into cracks and crevices. She glanced at Diamond Tiara.

Diamond Tiara just shrugged back, then wandered towards one seemingly at random. “We’d actually like to see the menu. I wasn’t really in the mood for salad.”

Apple Bloom followed and sat with her, then looked more closely at the photographs peeking out from the walls nearby. All featured a griffon she guessed to be Girard, sometimes alone, sometimes with other griffons or ponies.

“Suit yourself, dudes. Ponies only order the salad here though.” He searched around, peeking in the doorway eventually. “Girard! Where you keep the menus at? Wait, I see’m.” He returned and half-heartedly dropped two menus on the table. With notably more care, he set a glass of water in front of each of them, then wandered back over to his seat, picked up a newspaper and became engrossed.

They shared a look. Apple Bloom picked up her menu first, followed by Diamond Tiara, both silently indicating to each other their resolve to continue. The menu was a single sheet of stiffened and wax-covered paper. Most of the items on it she recognized as various kinds of fish and other sea creatures. At the top of the page, the special was described as, “the freshest crab legs in Silver Cove.” At the bottom of the page, a lone item, “seaweed salad” fell under the heading of “pony friendly.”

Motion drew their attention to the steaming doorway, and another griffon emerged from within and approached their table. Like any good cook should be, he was rather round. Long term constant exposure to steam and cooking grease left his coat and feathers dull looking. His beak was parted in a smile, and his eyes were lively. Apple Bloom recognized him as the griffon from the photographs, though several years older in person.

He placed a bowl piled with something shiny, leafy, and dark green in front of each of them, then reached for their menus. “Welcome to Girard’s Open Book, I’m Girard. Thanks for not judging a book by its cover. I’ll get these out of your way.”

Apple Bloom handed hers to him with a giggle. Again Diamond Tiara met her eyes, and she nodded to her again.

Diamond Tiara held onto her menu briefly, drawing Girard’s attention out of his apparent routine. “We’d like one special each.”

He blinked. “You sure? Well, salad’s on the house I guess. Be a few minutes if you’re sure.”

Apple Bloom looked up at him. “We’re sure.”

Girard lingered a moment longer, as if expecting them to change their mind, shrugged, and left their table. He dropped their menus on one of the empty tables, then left the room by the front door instead of back into the kitchen like they expected.

Seeing their confused reactions, the gangly griffon still present chuckled. “As advertised, freshest crab in Silver Cove. So fresh he’s still gotta go catch it.”

“Wow. That’s. I don’t know what that is.” Diamond Tiara blinked, and Apple Bloom could just see her trying to figure out how the business model worked.

Apple Bloom poked at her salad, then popped one of the limp leaves into her mouth and thoughtfully chewed. Finding it to her liking she swallowed. “Somethin’s been bugging me, and I think I figured out what it is.”

Diamond Tiara looked up from her salad and raised an eyebrow, still chewing. “Hmm?”

“We’ve been invited to at least five parties between us, several dates, dinners, and even a night cruise on a ship. I think we can figure out how to go together to some of those, but we sure can’t go to all of’m. What are we gonna do ‘bout all this?

She daintily finished her bite, then sipped her water before responding. “Well, I think we both know what we’re doing for dinner. Kinda obligated.”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom sighed and fiddled with her glass, watching the ice cubes inside float.

“As much fun as a night cruise out on the ocean sounds, dinner would conflict with that. Besides, I think we both know what that “captain” intended, and it would be hard to say no and escape any angry reactions when stuck on the ocean.”

“That’s true. Not sayin’ it’s a good idea to go, but he’ll be disappointed when you don’t show up. So will a lot of other ponies. Unless we got our hooves on some of that time travel magic or somethin’. I can’t help but think we’re gonna be the cause of a lot of mischief tonight, and we’ve been stirrin’ it and brewin’ it up all mornin’.”

“Too bad Twilight isn’t here. The way she twitches whenever somepony brings up time magic to fix something never stops being funny.” Diamond Tiara giggled into her hoof.

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom had her own giggle at her distant friend’s expense, then frowned. “Don’t change the subject though. I’m serious. How are we gonna fix this mess?”

“We don’t.”

“Pardon?”

Diamond Tiara gazed at her over the top of her water glass. “Look. We met a lot of ponies today. You’re focused on the few that might be a little disappointed tonight because of us. How many ponies had fun because of us? How many did we part ways with leaving them with smiles?”

Apple Bloom poked and prodded at her salad, then relented. “I guess a lot, but—”

“—but that makes the mischief worthwhile. We made more ponies day better than we interfered with.

“Of the ones you fear will be disappointed, how many do you think are probably grinning right now as we speak? Remember that pegasus that suggested this place to us? He might be disappointed neither of us will be warming his bed, but he tried us both separate times. Pretty sure we weren’t the only ones he had his “heart” set on. If he’s disappointed tonight, it’s not our fault or concern.” Diamond Tiara lifted a forkful of seaweed and pointed it at Apple Bloom. “I think you’re putting too much stock into the disappointment side of it.” She turned her fork back to herself and ate the green morsel.

“You’re right on that one.” Apple Bloom readied her own bite of salad. The lemony dressing really brought out an interesting flavor in the simple leaves. “Speaking of him, I have actually been in the mood to dance.”

“Yeah, me too. That one other pegasus, Night Rocker, seemed pretty safe. Nice public place, dancing, and he didn’t seem to expect anything more.”

Apple Bloom swallowed her bite. “That sounds like our choice for the night, even if it means blowing off the others. I guess that part can’t be helped. I just wish there was some wa—”

“Guenther! I got a feisty one, help me soften her up a bit!” Girard’s voice called suddenly from outside. “I don’t wanna risk harming our delicate customers with it thrashin’ and snappin’ about inside.”

“Aw yeah, this’ll be totally thrashin’!” Their mostly quiet fellow occupant leapt from his perch with wings spread excitedly, and dashed outside, leaving his newspaper to flutter to rest on the floor in his wake.

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara stared at each other. Outside they heard a few squawks from both griffons. A loud bang against the front of the shack rattled the walls and knocked dust from above and a few photographs from the wall. Neither spoke a word.

It grew quiet outside, then Girard, looking drenched, came in. He was followed soon after by Guenther who seemed to be walking with a slight limp. Between them they carried a huge crab nearly half as big as either of them. They both held it firmly in a talon, right behind a claw each, leaving it to wriggle the rest of its spindly legs around wildly in the air in impotent fury. “I’ll stew up the main body and treat you to gumbo to make up for it, how’s that sound?”

“That’d be hella sweet, dude.” The two of them disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the two ponies stunned and wordless.

—

Apple Bloom stared down at her plate. In front of her were half a dozen long, spindly, pink-orange objects with obvious segmented sections. One of them, thicker than the others, ended in an intimidating claw that she had seen snapping at the air not long ago. While the steam rising from the dish smelled of butter and a delicious mix of herbs, underneath it all was a pungent ocean stench that she was having trouble telling herself was the smell of something that she ought to put in her mouth.

She poked it with a hoof. She knew it wouldn’t snap at her, but it seemed like the right kind of precaution to take. She looked over at Diamond Tiara, who seemed just as unsure about her own portion. “So, uh, do we just pick it up and bite into it? Like corn on the cob maybe? It’s hard and kinda spiney.”

Guenther approached the their tableside and grinned. “Nah, dudes, you gotta crack it open to get to the sweet meat inside. Think of it like walnuts.”

Walnuts, huh? Maybe chestnuts would be closer, but that does make this feel alright. She picked up one and held it between her hooves and squeezed, not accomplishing much. Diamond Tiara watched her, frowning at her lack of success.

“Nah nah. Wait, lemme get you somethin’.” He left their side, then returned and placed a flat stone near each of them. They were mostly smooth, except for a notch carved in the center. “Made these myself, but I never thought they’d be used by ponies. Put it there, then hit it. Like I said, treat it like a walnut. Gotta crack it, dude.”

She glanced over at Diamond Tiara again, who motioned for her to try it out first. She set one leg on the notch as instructed, raised her other hoof high, then brought it down hard. She grimaced and shut her eyes as it made a resounding cracking sound and rattling table. Tentatively she opened her eyes to assess the damage and found a distinct lack of splattered mess. Instead the leg seemed mostly unharmed, except for a bit of deformation where she’d hit it, with some visible cracks formed in one segment.

Guenther made an up and down motion with a balled-up talon. “Right on! Now you can just pry it open and scoop the meat right out. Easy, yeah?”

“Yeah, that ain’t so hard after all.” She picked up a little fork next to her plate and started poking around, holding the leg in the notch still with her left hoof. Before long she’d managed to get a stringy clump of white on the end of her fork. A sharp crack from the other side of the table let her know Diamond Tiara was trying it out, so she took the opportunity to delay just a little longer.

When Diamond Tiara had a morsel on the end of her fork, they shared another look. “Here we go.”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom brought the fork to her mouth and popped it in. She chewed it slowly and let the taste flood her mouth. Butter, herbs, salt, and a sweet/oily solidness. She didn’t know what she had expected, but delicious wouldn’t have been her first guess by a long shot. She looked wide-eyed over at Diamond Tiara.

She was also thoughtfully chewing, with her own surprised and pleased expression. After finishing her bite and swallowing, she finally commented. “Maybe we can find a way to have this delivered back home to have now and then.”

Apple Bloom giggled, then smashed her hoof down on another segment. “I bet we could talk to Fluttershy about it.”

Buying Dresses

Feather Cove’s Square was impressive in an entirely unique way.

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara entered the square from the South, having skipped this sight in favor of getting to lunch.

The squares for Cadance, Luna, and even Twilight had been designed and decorated in homage to a princess, and what she stood for. Silver Vein’s square had been elegant and understated with its blacks and whites.

This square looked like a shipwreck. Several shipwrecks, actually. Broken carcasses of giant ocean vessels formed the borders to the square. The mast of one ship speared into the ground from the North, and the glittering silver statue of Feather Cove perched on a crossbeam overhead, wings spread as if about to launch into flight.

Another difference from the other four squares they’d visited was a distinct lack of crowd here. They were alone with Feather Cove and his dry land ship graveyard.

For all the spectacle of the square, the scent and sound of decaying wood creaking in the breeze made it difficult to avoid the worry that something was about to break and come crashing down on their heads. Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara silently agreed to leave the square quickly, heading East.

—

“I know we’re lookin’ for some nice dresses, but we done found several already. Why do you keep turning them down? That purple one looked real nice on you and I could have filled a closet with the ones I found for me. Yet here we are, still empty-hooved. You holdin’ out for somethin’ extra special? Since when did you get so picky?” Apple Bloom stopped, lowered her ears to the side of her head, and looked at Diamond Tiara. Ponyfeathers, who am I to call anypony picky after how I was acting last night?

Diamond Tiara returned her gaze. Apple Bloom waited for the obvious barb, but it never came. After an awkward moment, her response was rather cryptic. “Patience, Pear Blossom, you’ll see when I find it.”

While not as cluttered as Girard’s or Feather Square, the shop they stood in looked like it belonged below decks of a ship. The windows were round portholes, the walls solid, unfinished wood. Apple Bloom returned her attention back to Diamond Tiara, watching her poke at bits of colored cloth on hangers. “Shopping is fun and all, but I kinda want to get back to our game. I know we already picked out our plans for the evening, but we ain’t been playin’ as single since lunch.”

“I’m not just shopping for a dress, I’m also shopping for just the right salespony. We’re still playing, but I’m looking for something in particular. We’ll go into the next shop separately though, if you want.”

—

With now-practiced ease, Apple Bloom stepped into the shop. She scanned the interior briefly, spotting Diamond Tiara chatting with the shopkeeper in the back of the store. Rather than pause and stare at them, she kept her gaze moving, taking in all the clothing on display, before spotting a placard displaying a silhouette of a unicorn’s horn.

After three previous ship-themed shops, Apple Bloom was getting used to the splintery smell of wood, and the slightly swaying “racks” of clothes suspended from the ceiling on thick hempen netting. They limited visibility, as they prevented her from peeking furtively over them, but they concealed her better as well. She put her hooves on the colorful clothing before her and browsed through them. It wasn’t difficult to hear Diamond Tiara and the griffon within the small shop, and a few furtive peeks between dresses revealed that he was so engrossed in her that she could probably walk up and tap his beak with her hoof and not get his attention.

“Aww, this one has holes in it too,” Diamond Tiara whined.

“Like I said, the section for earth ponies and unicorns is over there. All of these are made to accommodate wings,” a male voice replied.

Apple Bloom watched openly as Diamond Tiara gripped the burgundy and cream yellow dress a hoof-width from the skirt hem, and held it to her flank, drawing the griffon’s gaze to the curve of her rump. “I think this would suit me so well though. Maybe the holes won’t matter so much?”

“I think you’ll end up disappointed. Maybe we can find something in the same color—”

“I could try it on at least, right? Where is your changing room?”

“We, uh, don’t have one.”

Diamond Tiara pouted at him. “You’re not suggesting I get dressed here in the open? I might need some help putting this on, and if somepony were to walk in and see that, they might get the wrong impression. I don’t know if I could bear being watched like that.”

Apple Bloom barely stifled a cough. I wonder if I sounded like that yesterday.

“You could, uh, use the stock room I guess? It’s this way and has a door for some privacy.”

As the two walked towards the employee-only part of the shop, Diamond Tiara risked a glance back towards Apple Bloom, then nodded twice in quick succession towards their destination. “I would appreciate some help, Mr. Gregory, it can be such a chore getting into a dress with these hooves, you know?”

“O-OK. I can do that for you, Miss Diadem.”

As the door closed behind them, Apple Bloom crept up to it and placed her ear against it. Diamond Tiara seemed to be speaking clearly for her benefit, though it was difficult to make out Gregory’s part of the conversation at times.

“It’s a tight fit in here, you can come a little closer. You’re going to have to touch me if you want to be helpful. Just as I thought, your talons are ever so nimble.”

In Apple Bloom’s imagination, she tried to picture the process of slipping into a dress, but having a griffon’s talons assist in the process. I guess that seems helpful and all.

“So how does it look?”

“…”

“And from behind? Oh my, it seems you do like what you see. Are you into ponies, Mr. Gregory?

“…”

“You don’t have to cover it up, I’m flattered really.”

Apple Bloom widened her eyes, trying to imagine just what was going on to fit that turn of conversation. She had a hard time picturing anything innocent, and frowned a little.

“Go ahead and take a long look. Do you think these two back holes need to be filled?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened and she reached for the door handle.

“I think you should undress me now. Such a strong touch you have. Such soft wings too. That gives me an idea. Maybe cover the holes with some wings?”

“…”

“The dress, silly. Like, some patches maybe?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and put her hoof back down. Diamond Tiara was laying it on thick, but it didn’t sound like anything indecent was going on, so maybe her earlier misgivings were misplaced somehow?

“Alright, you can look a little longer. So how much?”

“…”

“For the dress.”

“…”

“Oh, I don’t think I can afford that. Maybe you could buy it for me, Mr. Gregory?”

“…”

“Oh, well if you can pay that much I think I can afford the rest. Let me write down my room number for you.”

“…”

“At the register? Alright, let's go there then. You might want to cover that up now though, in case customers are out there.”

Apple Bloom took that as her cue to get clear, so she tippy-hooved away, quietly but quickly and put some of the hanging displays between her and the door before it creaked open.

From her hiding spot, she saw Diamond Tiara exit and head to the register, spotting her with a sly grin. It was several minutes before Gregory emerged and joined her. He retrieved a pen and paper for her. She wrote something down, then leaned close and brushed her hip against his side. “Thanks for your help, Mr. Gregory. I think it will be perfect for a fun night tonight.” As she left his side and headed towards the exit, she trailed her tail along his body.

Apple Bloom watched him for a few minutes, fascinated. He gripped the counter and seemed to be trying to catch his breath. When she made her own exit, he didn’t even look up or indicate in any way that he’d noticed her.

“Even though you seem to have found what you were lookin’ for, I can’t help but notice we’re still empty hooved.” Apple Bloom stood beside Diamond Tiara, while the shopkeeper ignored them in favor of flipping pages of her magazine in the back corner. They kept their voices low and stayed behind a netting-rack to avoid drawing her attention, and she seemed content to pretend they weren’t there.

“He’ll make the alterations while he finishes his shift. You saw how little customer traffic that place was getting. Any of these places, really.” Diamond Tiara whispered back. “He’ll fly it to our hotel and drop it off at the lobby. He gets off at 5pm, so that if we go back after then, we can pick it up for later tonight.”

Apple Bloom nodded, and fidgeted with a random dress hanging in front of her.

“You seem bothered.” Diamond Tiara nudged her shoulder with her nose.

“I ain’t the one who is bothered.” She shrugged away from Diamond’s touch.

“You seem a bit jealous, I mean.”

She sighed, took a deep breath, then turned to face Diamond Tiara and looked her in the eye. “I know we’re just playin’ our game, and I know that scene when you left the shop—I know you find guys hot and all, but I still can’t figure out why. They’re so—”

“Hard?”

“Pigsty in Winter! He probably was with how thick you were layin’ it on.”

“He wasn’t all that thick.” Diamond Tiara grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

Apple Bloom made a gagging sound. “Look, I know you were trying to get that dress for free, but it wasn’t exactly expensive. Surely not for your budget no matter what you told’m. So why go through all that effort?”

“You know I prefer my soft Little Flower.” Diamond Tiara pressed close to her, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. She whispered low and huskily, “And yes, I had him thinking with his lower brain. He was so apologetic that he really couldn’t just give me the dress for free. Even now, I bet he’s adorably holding that dress with my scent faintly on it, getting it ready for me to wear tonight.”

“I guess I don’t feel so much jealous as I do confused.” She nuzzled against Diamond Tiara’s neck, reassuring herself in the scent of her girlfriend’s oddly colored mane. “I still don’t get why you went through all that effort to save a few bits.”

“The money isn’t the issue, as you pointed out.” Diamond Tiara held still for her, even pressing into her touches a little. “It was for the challenge. I didn’t just get a discount, I got to tease and fluster him. It was fun.”

“That seems extra mean. Maybe even cruel. You left him all bothered and he probably thinks he’s going to get lucky tonight. He’s going to be real disappointed. This seems a lot worse than the disappointment we were spreadin’ around this morning.”

“Perhaps the downsides are worse. Like with those other ponies, there will be some disappointment for him. It will be stronger for him than for them when I’m not waiting for him at the hotel, there to invite him upstairs. There are always some negatives, but if I could create a perfect, blissful experience, I’d be doing that for you.”

Apple Bloom felt her cheeks warm at that. “So what positives am I supposed to be focused on this time?”

“Well, for one thing I doubt he will be bothered all that bad. I’m sure he took care of things as soon as we left.” Diamond Tiara giggled a little.

“Hopefully he doesn’t dye your dress a lighter color.”

“Ha!” She widened her eyes and giggled again, even more loudly. “We’ll have to make sure of that tonight before I put it on. Still, this was probably the most exciting day he’s had in some time. I’m sure he’ll be bragging about it to all his friends soon enough. He’ll leave out the disappointing end of course. Probably embellish it and say he went all the way with one of the Silvers.”

“So you’re saying he likely would've had a boring, disappointin’ day without your help? Probably like that mare over there who ain’t offered us a lick of help? I don’t think we ought to buy anything from here with how helpful she’s bein’.”

“Agreed. We shouldn’t reward poor service. Let her cling to her boring day.”

“Still, you seemed pretty into it from your scent. He was pretty close to going all the way, wasn’t he? I know you stopped on account of me, and I love you for that. Would you have let him though if things were different?”

“You mean if I really was single and here to party and have a good time on my own? Yeah, I probably would. Part of making this game fun even if you plan to stop is to toy with that moment before you do. You have to let them get to you at least a little bit if you want to really get to them. Enjoy the fantasy the way you’re getting them to enjoy it. Even if it ends before going too far, it is fun in the moment.

“He was cute, rather sweet. The way he grabbed my tail surprised me and got me good.” She swished her tail and grinned at Apple Bloom. “I’ve never been with a griffon before. It probably would have been fun.”

Apple Bloom snorted in derision. “You mean awkward. He could barely work the drawer with those ‘nimble’ talons they’re always so proud of. He nearly dropped the pen trying to give it to you.”

“We were pretty awkward when we started out, you and I. I think we’ve managed to figure out what works for each other. Was still fun in the beginning despite the awkwardness.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” She felt her cheeks warm a little as she thought back to their early days and nights. “I’m not sure if I could ‘go with the fantasy’ though. I would be worried about you the whole time.”

Diamond Tiara leaned close and whispered especially quietly. “Remember when we first started out and sometimes Silver Spoon would watch us?”

Apple Bloom felt her cheeks and ears go from warm to burning. “Y-yeah. After she caught us, it didn’t seem so important to sneak around and hide from her.”

“I never asked at the time, ‘cause we weren’t solid yet, but I thought about suggesting she take a turn on you after me so I could watch.” Apple Bloom could feel Diamond Tiara’s words tickling her ear. “What would your answer have been back then?”

“I—” Apple Bloom swallowed hard and thought it over. “I probably would have said yes. We got really intense back then. It was all an exciting adventure and everything you suggested turned out great.”

“Well, let's play a little more. Let's find you a playmate this time. Remember that feeling back then, and see if you can make some cute girl’s day especially exciting. I’ll watch and keep you safe.”

“Hey.” Diamond Tiara quietly got her attention.

Apple Bloom discreetly oriented herself to put her into her field of vision. She gave a flick of her ear, then wandered away, making space for Apple Bloom to have an encounter. She disappeared from view by entering another aisle, leaving Apple Bloom alone.

Unsure of who Diamond Tiara spotted, Apple Bloom returned to browsing the dresses in front of her. Darting her eyes a bit, she spotted a bit of dark pink that might look nice, and pulled it from the rack. Finding it to her liking, she let herself act a little more excited than she really felt, working in a few extra tail swishes into her display to entice whoever might be looking.

“Excuse me, but do you, like, need any assistance or anything?” A young pegasus mare wearing this store’s simple vest uniform drew her attention. A small nametag on her chest read, “Hello, my name is Cloud Weaver.”

Apple Bloom smiled and nodded to her. She let her eye take in the sight of the cheerful mare before her. Following Diamond Tiara’s advice, she coached herself to look at her not just as an unfamiliar pony, but someone she might potentially get frisky with. Cloud Weaver seemed to appreciate Apple Bloom’s lingering gaze, and she adjusted her pose and fluffed her wings some to put on her best view. She had bright, purple eyes that traveled over Apple Bloom’s body as her own traveled too. Her mane was yellow with interesting red pinstripes through it. As her gaze went lower, the vest drew her attention to Cloud Weaver’s throat and chest, and thoughts of kissing or nuzzling there seemed pretty pleasing to imagine. She looked past the vest to see an unsurprising cloud and thread spool cutie mark, on a slender flank. Like her mane, Cloud Weaver’s tail was short and likely did little to hide anything. If only she had a good angle to look.

Okay, letting her thoughts go this route was pretty exciting she had to admit, and the fact that she was probably thinking of Apple Bloom the same way made it all the more exciting. “Yeah, somethin’ caught my eye.”

“Like, oh em gosh. Your accent is so cute. That dress would look way cute on you too. You should totally buy it.”

Apple Bloom gave a little pout. Maybe she and Diamond Tiara had misread Cloud Weaver. She seemed to be focused more on making a sale than playing their game. Maybe a little more direct approach was needed. It had worked for Diamond Tiara. “Thanks, but I should probably try it on first. Think you could help me with that?”

“I would love to. Customer satisfaction is totally my number one priority.” Cloud Weaver’s smile showed off her even teeth. Apple Bloom still had some trouble with the quick pace of the local dialect, but she thought there might have been an encouraging bit of emphasis on satisfaction. “Like it says on my nametag, I’m Cloud Weaver. If you’ll come this way, the changing rooms are right over here.”

“I’m Pear Blossom, nice to meet you Cloud Weaver. Lead the way.” Apple Bloom gave her own smile, and congratulated herself on remembering her stage name for the game. As she followed Cloud Weaver she confirmed an earlier suspicion. Her tail hid very little. Fighting the ingrained politeness that urged her to look away, she found herself watching the way Cloud Weaver walked.

They arrived at a small set of flimsy wooden walls attached to the corner of the store. Cloud Weaver glanced back and caught Apple Bloom looking, and offered no complaint. She opened the door to one of the cubicles and invited her in with a smile.

Inside, Apple Bloom was greeted by her unfamiliar reflection. She had somewhat forgotten her new appearance during the day. Cloud Weaver came in behind her and shut the door, and Apple Bloom briefly pondered what she saw in this pale yellow pony. As the door shut, she realized she was out of view of Diamond Tiara, and felt more on her own in this.

“If you put your front hooves, like, on that bench thing there, that makes it easier.” Fortunately, Cloud Weaver seemed pretty comfortable in this situation, and her directions helped Apple Bloom relax. She followed the instructions, and soon found herself being touched, asked to lift this leg or that, and a general closeness of the pretty mare. Still, there was a distinctly professional tone to it all.

“You seem pretty good at this. Nice sure touch with your hooves. Think I could get used to it.” Cloud Weaver was pulling a stretchy, clingy band of cloth within the skirts of the dress up past her hips while she was standing nearly upright against the wall. She swished her tail some more, brushing against Cloud Weaver’s wing, while looking down and back towards her with half-lidded eyes.

For her part, Cloud Weaver just giggled some, then darted her gaze towards the door of the cubicle. She rose up closer to Apple Bloom’s ear and whispered, “Not often I get to have my hooves on such a cute rump. Your legs are gorgeous too.”

Apple Bloom cheered internally. She was interested! “Take your time and admire them all you like.” She shifted her stance to be a little wider, and flexed the muscles in her back legs, eliciting a delighted expression from Cloud Weaver. Most of the dress lay draped over her shoulder, and she used one wing to keep the skirts lifted out of her way. Her hooves caressed and explored Apple Bloom’s legs from hip to hoof and back again.

She felt a low heat below her belly. Cloud Weaver was certainly getting to her, and there was no way she’d miss the fact with how close she was. Of course, that was part of the game, right? To let her and not hide that she was succeeding. Even if she wasn’t sure how to turn this to any particular direction, it was exciting just being in the moment.

Cloud Weaver pressed up behind her, drawing a gasp from Apple Bloom. She felt hooves running up her sides, and some tugging, then Cloud Weaver’s wing guided her left foreleg into a part of the dress held in a hoof. She lingered on the process, feeling and exploring this limb as intently as she had the back two.

“Your feathers are so soft.”

“Glad you like them. I can do some pretty cool things with them you can’t do with hooves.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“Just imagine where you might like a delicate, precise touch, and I’m sure you’ll get the idea.”

Apple Bloom felt her heartbeat in her chest. She certainly could imagine a few places. She barely registered the fact that she was fully dressed now as she contemplated Cloud Weaver’s wings in an entirely new light.

“So, what do you think? I totally called it. You look way cute in that.”

Apple Bloom shook her head then got back down on all fours and looked at herself in the mirror. She was right, it suited her just fine. She turned around a few times, then playfully struck a provocative pose or two, drawing appreciative nods from Cloud Weaver. “Yeah, I think I’ll take it.” She reared back up against the wall, then looked back towards her helper. “Mind getting me undressed?”

Without a word, they were pressed together again. Cloud Weaver’s chest to her back, hooves and wings on her body. Peeling the cloth away, and lingering on taut muscles beneath. She closed her eyes and reveled in the contact. Diamond Tiara was right. This tension was exciting, even if nothing would come of it. Though she might need Diamond Tiara to take care of her again tonight.

She felt a tug at her tail, and she looked down behind her to watch Cloud Weaver pull her free from the dress. She lifted her tail high once it was clear, putting herself fully on display. Cloud Weaver paused and stared, much to Apple Bloom’s amusement. Their gazes met, and the moment stretched on.

“Maybe I could have a turn and take that little vest off of you.” She got down on all fours and faced Cloud Weaver, then reached for her vest collar.

“You are such a tease. If I wasn’t at work, I would totally be on you right now.” She trailed a wingtip up and down Apple Bloom’s cheek, then ducked her head, pulled a marker from her vest pocket, then hastily wrote on an inside surface of the dress puddled on the floor. She put her marker away, then eagerly pushed her muzzle to Apple Bloom’s.

The initial shock of the sudden kiss was mild, and Apple Bloom found herself welcoming this mare’s tongue into her mouth with so little hesitation that she was more surprised at herself.

Cloud Weaver broke the kiss, then leaned closer to nip at her ear. She whispered, “I’m off at five. Be at my place around then.”

Wide-eyed and breathing hard, Apple Bloom just nodded. She felt hot. Somewhere among the thoughts of Cloud Weaver’s soft wings, the advice not to say no, and the idea of Diamond Tiara watching over her, she vaguely felt like something might be missing, but she was having trouble placing it right now when Cloud Weaver’s chest was rubbing against hers, and her breath was on her neck.

“Wear the dress. I wanna take it off of you again.”

Apple Bloom caught another view of Cloud Weaver’s short tail and the view it failed to hide as she left the changing cubicle and left her to gather her wits and the dress.

Sky Room Dinner

“Wow, you still look really flushed. Want me to order another milkshake?” Diamond Tiara sat across from Apple Bloom in a booth meant for four, in one of the many cafes lining Mainstreet. An awning protected them from the afternoon sun shining through the wide street-facing window, and they watched ponies milling about past them, each lost in his or her own little world on the other side of a thin pane of glass.

Apple Bloom looked into her half-empty glass and shook her head. “Don’t wanna spoil dinner. I think I’m calmin’ down anyway.”

‘Ready to talk about what happened? You two were quiet in there so I didn’t really hear anything. I figured you knew other ponies were coming in and out of the nearby changing stalls and didn’t want to draw attention.”

She tried to look at Diamond Tiara, and found it hard to meet her eyes. “I think she was more aware of where we were than I was.”

Diamond Tiara raised one eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, at first I thought I was just lettin’ her get to me a little like you suggested. She got to me a whole lot as you can tell. I think if she had wanted to have her way with me, I would have let her.” She took another long pull of her milkshake, then shuddered a little. “I was eggin’ her on by the end before she called it off.”

“Oh, wow. So, did anything happen?” Diamond Tiara leaned over the table, her chest threatening to tip her milkshake over.

“No. I mean, she was touching me, but not like that. Not yet anyway.”

“Well, some touching was to be expected. We both decided that was OK before we started this, right?”

“We did agree, yeah.” She took another long drink at her milkshake, then stared into the table. “But she did kiss me.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? Just ‘Oh?’ She kissed me.” Apple Bloom looked up finally into Diamond Tiara’s eyes, finding her gaze intent. “We kissed. And I didn’t fight it or nothin’. I was in such a mood that I was enjoyin’ it like I was kissin’ you.”

“Hey. It’s alright.” Diamond Tiara reached across the table to touch her shoulder.

“It ain’t alright. I cheated on you, and I’m a horrible girlfriend now.” Apple Bloom flinched at her girlfriend’s touch, but didn’t pull away.

“Hey, c’mere.” Diamond Tiara patted the space next to her on the bench seat, then extended her hooves to invite Apple Bloom into a hug. “You’re not horrible, and you didn’t cheat. We were kinda playing with fire, and I’m not mad things got hotter than we expected, alright?”

Apple Bloom shied away from Diamond Tiara’s offered embrace and remained on her own side of the table. “You ain’t jealous and thinkin’ of leaving me behind in this place to wallow around in my uncontrollable lust?”

Diamond Tiara got out of her seat and slid in next to her. “Apple Bloom—”

“Pear Blossom. I ain’t fit to even have my own name right now.”

“Apple Bloom, you’re not making sense. Even if I were mad and stormed off back home, you know full well you could make it back on your own just fine.” She wrapped her forelegs around Apple Bloom and squeezed her close to her chest, ignoring her protests. The two silently sat for awhile before Apple Bloom gently pulled away and wiped her cheek dry. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to help keep you safe, but you are overreacting a bit to this.”

“Thanks, Dee. I guess I am still kinda worked up. Even if you don’t think I’m a cheat, I am a thief now.” She tapped the magenta dress, neatly folded up on the table beside them.

“She wrote on it, then gave it to you. As far as I can tell, she bought it. It’s on her to square it away with her workplace. You’re not a thief either.”

“I’m trying to have some self-loathin’ here. You’re making it right hard, you know that?”

“Harder than Gregory?”

Apple Bloom stared at Diamond Tiara then burst out laughing. The other patrons of the small cafe turned to glare at them, but she paid them no heed and laughed until she was out of breath. “We really have been playin’ with fire this whole trip, ain’t we? First we get cooked by the sun, then we jump into the local noble houses frying pan, and now even some retail workers are brandin’ our flanks.”

“They want to do something to our flanks alright. At least you landed a cutie. Wish I could have watched her get you worked up. I bet you two looked hot kissing.”

“I wouldn’t know, I didn’t have that good of a view. I spent a good bit of the time with my eyes closed even.” Apple Bloom slurped at her straw, then savored the creamy flavor.

“You didn’t get a good look at her? Neither her vest nor that tail left much to the imagination.”

“I got a few eyefulls, for sure.” Apple Bloom relaxed into the back-padding of the booth and stared up towards the ceiling. “She ain’t har—difficult to look at. But it weren’t her looks that got me going so hot.”

Diamond Tiara leaned on her shoulder, idly running a hoof through her mane at shoulder level. “What was it then?”

“When I went into that changing room, I really didn’t know what I was doin’. Never did figure it out to be honest. I was trying to tease her, but she knew what she was doin’. At first just gettin’ me dressed, and bein’ professional about it. When she finally let slip that she was hot too, she uh.” Apple Bloom lowered her voice and leaned close, realizing they might be overheard talking about delicate matters. “She took charge. It reminded me of how you were with me at the start. Like you asked about before, you could have made me do all sorts of things and I woulda gone along with it. Felt like that.”

Diamond Tiara frowned. “That could lead to some bad situations if we’re not careful.”

“Yeah. It’s kinda scary to think about. You said there were ponies in earshot. She kept whisperin’ anything unprofessional she had to say to me. If she’d been keen to just go at it with me, I’m sure we’d have been found out. More than just embarrassin’, prolly have the guards deal with us for public indecency. She’d lose her job probably, and all sorts of trouble. There I was tryin’ to tempt her into it.”

“Yeah, we may be away from home, but there are some consequences that would follow us back. We already saw how well our disguises stood up to ponies with the means and interest in who we really are to look through them. I think we should stop playing our game.”

“Agreed. It sure was fun though, and we did make a lot of memories we never woulda made otherwise. Even if we’re done playing the game though, we still have a problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I know we ain’t obligated to give tail to anyone we met today, but it don’t seem right to just ignore Cloud Weaver completely. At least Gregory has a story to brag about to his friends like you said. Cloud Weaver can’t do that or she might lose her job. She seemed pretty keen on me showin’ up to her place in a few hours too. I didn’t quite have the sense to leave it vague. I feel I owe her a proper no at least.”

“Seems simple enough. We can just show up at the right time, and explain it to her.”

“I get the feelin’ that showing up to her doorstep with my girlfriend and saying, “sorry, we can’t bang, I forgot about my girlfriend here,” is just asking for a row. At least if we run away from the problem she’ll just be disappointed, not mad as a hornet.”

Diamond Tiara rested her chin on one hoof. “You probably don’t want to go alone.”

“You’re right about that. I dunno if I trust myself alone to say no. And it sure ain’t safe to say yes to someone I hardly know.”

“Running away seems like a bad end and confronting her alone is too risky. I think we need to confront her together.” She tapped her chin a few times. “You said she had a reasonably cool head and was mindful of possible damage to her reputation. If we get her away from her home and have the confrontation somewhere public, that should keep her from exploding. Lets invite her to dinner with us and deal with it head on.”

“Still seems like we’ve signed ourselves up for some bad times. You’re right that we should take responsibility for this and that does seem like the best way to do it.”

“Hey, we could turn this into a good time.” Diamond Tiara’s eyes lit up and she placed her hooves flat on the table. “We spent most of today doing things you thought would be a bad idea, and most of them turned out pretty good anyway, right?”

Apple Bloom finished off the last of her milkshake and mulled over Diamond Tiara’s words. There had been a few uncomfortable moments, but thinking on their hooves had led them to some pretty enjoyable outcomes overall. Maybe she was being a pessimist again. “Alright. Lets try to make this right, not just goin’ for the road with the fewest bumps and holes.”

“Let’s go to her place before she gets off work and leave her a note.” Diamond Tiara glanced over at the dress, though the address written in marker wasn’t visible. “No reason not to do that right now in fact. My dress won’t be delivered before five. Cloud Weaver won’t get her invitation before five. Dinner's at seven. So we have several hours to kill after we deliver the invitation.”

“So we just write her a note, slip it under her door, and everything is fine until dinner? Then we just talk it over like adults and apologize? This seems underwhelmingly simple. I expected this to involve a lot more fretting and worrying, some kind of complicated scheme, a spooky witch or two, and somehow it would all work out in the end.”

“Yup.” Diamond Tiara giggled playfully. “It’s that simple. We should probably be back at the hotel around six if we want time to get ready. So what do you want to do until then?”

“Huh. Well, anypony we still need to get gifts for?” Apple Bloom found herself catching Diamond Tiara’s infectious good mood and smiling.

“We got a lot of those crab stones from Girard, and Guenther said he’d make four extra nice ones for you to give to Feather Bangs and his girlfriends.”

“I think he’ll like’m. Some of the stuff on the walls of the Open Book was Guenther’s work, I think he’s got some real talent. That surfboard looked really convincing.”

“That one was real. While you were chatting with Girard, Guenther told me the story to that board. Girard got attacked by a shark as a fledgling, and that’s why he doesn’t surf. Instead he takes his revenge by cooking whatever he can catch from the sea.”

“Oh. Well, we got Silver Spoon that tea set. Didn’t cost us a single bit, but I can’t really say we got it for free.” She grimaced and poked at her empty glass. “Kinda surprised they still ain’t tried to involve us in some kinda publicity stunt and claim it was an accident or somethin’.”

“I think we’ve been managing to nearly avoid making our own accidental publicity incident.”

“Yeah, but our way was fun.” Apple Bloom’s grin returned.

“Speaking of a fun incident waiting to happen, we have enough glowgems ordered to fill your barn, while we were in Twilight Sparkle Square.” Diamond Tiara bumped shoulders with her.

“That is gonna be fun when those arrive. I hope it arrives at night. I’m both looking forward to and horrified trying to imagine what Pinkie Pie will do when we give her half of them. Maybe we’ll finally surprise her for a change though.”

“Be prepared to party all night. We should have coffee available.”

“Good idea. We can figure out what to do with the rest then. They seem like such a great gift for so many ponies, especially if Pinkie Pie does something crazy with hers. Everyone will be interested in them, it almost feels dishonest.”

“Nothing dishonest about it, we’re just playing the gift market. Drive up interest and demand, then supply that demand. Everypony gets what they want and goes home happy.” Diamond Tiara pushed her unfinished milkshake in front of Apple Bloom.

“Guess you’re right.” She smiled at Diamond Tiara, then went to work finishing off her chocolate shake. “If we end up with too many spares, I’m sure Spike will eat’m.”

“Sounds settled then. Other than the fact that it leaves us with nothing to do until six.”

Apple Bloom finished once again with an extended slurp. “We could go see Celestia’s statue and look at the buildings in that area. We’re all shopped out and done with our game. Just the two of us sight-seein’ together sounds nice.”

“That does sound nice.” Diamond Tiara rummaged through her saddlebags for something appropriate to write on. “Alright, what should we say in the invitation?”

“So, like, I am still trying to figure out if this is some kinda prank or something.” Cloud Weaver approached their table, led by their waiter. She was wearing a tiny black dress that managed to cover just enough to bring attention to what wasn’t covered. “Who’s this?”

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara stood to greet her. “Cloud Weaver, this is my girlfriend, Silver Diadem. This ain’t no prank, we’d like you to have dinner with us.”

“Pleased to meet you, Cloud Weaver. Do join us?”

Cloud Weaver sat with their waiter’s assistance, then eyed Diamond Tiara warily. “I worked for Silver Diadem for, like, two months. Total nag by the way.” She made a pronounced gagging sound. “You look nothing like her.” She looked around, wide-eyed as she took in the setting. “Wow. This place is way cooler on the inside than I imagined it would be.”

Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom exchanged worried looks at part of their cover being blown right from the beginning. Cloud Weaver’s not dwelling on it or challenging further was encouraging though.

“Hope you brought your appetite. We’ve been lookin’ forward to this all day.” Apple Bloom picked up her menu and cracked it open with cheerful enthusiasm.

“I’ve never been here because this is way more than I could ever afford.” Cloud Weaver browsed her own menu with a frown of concentration, then dropped it to the table and looked up at them with wide eyes. “12 bits for a salad!?”

Diamond Tiara smiled smugly over her menu at Cloud Weaver. “Order anything you like. Our treat.”

Apple Bloom excitedly pointed to an item and showed it to Diamond Tiara. “They have crystal corn on the cob! You can’t get that from the empire until Autumn! And crystal berry mash too! We ain’t been by there in years. I’m getting this here crystal corn panzanella.”

“Very good, madam.”

“Anything, huh?” She flipped through several pages, her eyes darting to and fro. “They have chili relleno? I’ve had that on the Boardwalk for a fraction of this.”

“I can assure you, Miss Weaver, our chili relleno will exceed your expectations. Our cheeses have been aged under optimal conditions to perfection, and our chef’s family mole recipe has been honed over a dozen generations. We apologize ahead of time for ruining any future meals on the Boardwalk after you’ve had ours.”

Cloud Weaver stared at the menu for a moment longer. “Alright, I’ll try it.”

“I’ll start with the baby beet salad and creamy onion soup.” Diamond Tiara set her menu down in front of her. “Then finish with the truffle and parmesan ravioli.”

“An excellent choice, Miss Rich.”

“Oh, right. Soup and salad.” Apple Bloom flipped through her menu again. “Corn and ginger and seasonal garden for me.”

“Those will pair nicely with the panzanella, madam. Good eye.” He turned his attention back to Cloud Weaver. “Would you permit me to make a suggestion for your antipasto, Miss Weaver?”

She looked up at him over her menu. “Sure.”

“Posole would pair well with your dish for the regional spice, while the heirloom caprese would add to the variety of cheese in your meal and round out the colors with the tomatoes.”

“I dunno what that means, but I’ll go with it anyway.”

“You won’t be disappointed, miss.” He turned to Apple Bloom. “Have you selected a beverage to go with your dinner, madam? I can offer my recommendation if you like.”

Diamond Tiara pulled out the beverage insert, then looked it over. “They have a crystal wine that would pair well with your dish, App—Pear Blossom. ‘-03? I still can’t get over how old their wines are.” She passed the list over to Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom scrutinized the list intently. “You know they use the sealing date for that, but it ain’t that old the way it counts ‘cause they skipped a whole lotta years. Lets them ask a higher price for bein’ rare, but it’s only really aged ten years or so. More of a collector’s item than a beverage. Too few of them around to really get a feel of how they age either. Manehattan puts out a cabernet sauvignon that ages real good, and that ‘877 was a good, wet year. The local wines might be young, but they have a reputation for a fruity, spunky sort of taste that would work well for tonight.”

“Hmmm. Good point. What do you think, Cloud Weaver?”

“I understood maybe half of that. It sounds like you know what you’re talking about, so I’ll just go with what you pick.” She folded her menu closed and handed it to the waiter. “I’m not even going to look at that part of the menu, because if I see how much that costs, I am totally not going to be able to taste my food. You win, ‘Silver Diadem,’ I’m impressed.”

“You already know that isn’t my real name. You may as well call me Diamond Tiara.” She handed her menu to the waiter. “We’ve made our selection. The Manehattan ‘887 will do nicely. Feeling like a more relaxing tone with dinner.”

“I’ve had the privilege of sampling some of that year, and it would have been my recommendation. I will place your orders with the kitchen, and return with your bottle and salads. Soups will be served after, then your main course.” He paused a moment. “If there is nothing else you wish, madam?”

“Nah, we’re good.”

“I will inquire about dessert after you have finished your meal.” He departed with a bow.

“So, what is this all about if it isn’t, like, some kind of prank?” Cloud Weaver eyed Diamond Tiara cautiously. “Also, I have no idea why it is so popular with you tourists to assume fake names when you come to Silver Cove.”

Apple Bloom grimaced, so Diamond Tiara took the opportunity to answer. “She might have given you the impression there would be a certain kind of fun to be had tonight, but had second thoughts.”

Cloud Weaver leveled her gaze on Apple Bloom, appraising her silently for a few moments. “You seemed real eager back at my work. Dude, if we had been caught I woulda been canned in a heartbeat for sure.”

Apple Bloom looked to Diamond Tiara for support. A nod towards Cloud Weaver was her only guidance. “We realized that when we talked it over after. When I was thinkin’ with a cooler head.” She shifted her gaze from Diamond Tiara to Cloud Weaver. “Again, I’m sorry for putting you in that position.”

“No worries.” Cloud Weaver grinned and rested her cheek on one hoof, elbow on the table in front of her. “You did have me wanting to pin you to my bed, but if everypony turned me down with a fancy dinner like this, I think I might risk my job more often.”

“You don’t seem especially put out by all this. I was worried you might be pretty miserable.”

“So, like, we get a lot of tourists every summer. You guys show up, looking pretty, looking for fast fun, then leave never to be seen again. When you grow up in Silver Cove, you learn to move in hard and fast if you want to have some of that fun, and let go just as fast.”

Their waiter returned and unobtrusively placed each mare’s salad before her, then distributed wine glasses to each mare. He held the bottle aloft for Apple Bloom to inspect, then uncorked it at her nod and poured for each of them, then left it behind in a bucket of ice beside their table.

“Here we thought we were being clever. That describes us all day today pretty accurately.” Diamond Tiara poked into her salad, paying it little heed as she nibbled at it while directing most of her attention on Cloud Weaver.

Apple Bloom dug into her salad, crunching away merrily. “That is kinda uncanny. Back home everypony knows everypony for generations. My family and Diamond Tiara’s go back as long as our town has been around. We grew up goin’ to the same school as fillies.”

“Huh. For something with a fancy name, this is pretty simple.” She bit into a stack of tomato, mozzarella, and basil, shrugged, then washed it down with a sip of wine. “I love that side of history. Like, that sense of personal story and permanence. Even here in Silver Cove we have that kinda story too. Every foal growing up here learns about Feather Cove and Silver Vein, and how the Duke of Los Pegasus granted them this land. On account of them finding silver mines and stuff. Hearing about how they used to live back then fascinates me.

“The ones alive today in those families, like Silver Diadem, act like they personally broke the land we walk on. Of course, if you remind them they didn’t, they’ll make your life miserable for real. I had a real hard time getting back to work after she let me go. Spiteful nag.”

“You make the fast and loose style of Silver Cove sound like a necessity, and that you long for something more stable.”

“It can be hard to climb up around here if you’re not in one of the families. I’m saving my bits to attend university in Manehattan. I love to weave fabrics, and think I can get in with one of the big design firms. I just need to make my resume more impressive, and a degree would help me stand out from the others.” Cloud Weaver managed to work bites of her salad in between her words, and quickly approached an empty plate. “ Mmm. This stuff is good, even if it is simple. Whatever. My real dream is to work with somepony like Lily Lace. Have you heard of her? She’s pretty big in Los Pegasus.”

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara shared a smile. ‘We’ve heard of her.” As Apple Bloom cleaned off her plate, their waiter appeared as if by magic and placed a steaming bowl before each of them.

Diamond Tiara turned and gave Cloud Weaver a sly grin while handing her plate to the waiter, who disappeared wordlessly. “Even met her in person.”

Cloud Weaver spread her wings excitedly and put her front hooves on the table, rattling their soup bowls slightly. “Oh my gosh! Really? I am so jelly you guys know Lily lace.” Noticing she was drawing attention from other tables, she blushed and settled back into her seat. Once conversations resumed around them and they returned to being ignored, she leaned forward and whispered, “Y’know, I feel like we know each other a lot better now too. Maybe well enough to get that dress onto my bedroom floor like we planned, Pear Blossom?”

Apple Bloom sputtered on a mouthful of soup, then coughed out, “Uh, dancing!”

Diamond Tiara swooped in to her rescue. “What she means is that we plan to go dancing after dinner. I must admit, pretty bold of you to make a move on my girlfriend right in front of me.”

“You already know what we did and were gonna do and you’re not threatening me off, so I figure you’re probably okay with it.” Cloud Weaver slurped some murky red broth from her spoon, then whistled. “Ooh, that’s got a nice bit of heat to it.” She took several more quick bites, then paused to fan her mouth with a wing. “I’ve been with a few mares that were spoken for. You get used to being the other mare, after a while. Part of letting go fast. This is my first time meeting the main mare though.”

Apple Bloom pointed with her spoon at Cloud Weaver. “I do like you so far, but you’re still moving pretty fast for somepony so responsible and lookin’ out for her future. I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into, ‘cause if it gets that far, it ain’t gonna be over quick.”

“You are pretty cool now that we know you better, but you still gotta earn it if you want it.” Diamond Tiara stirred her soup slowly, then raised her spoon to her lips. “Come dancing with us, and maybe you can win her tail from me somehow.” She daintily sipped the broth without making a sound.

Apple Bloom squeaked in response. The waiter came to her rescue, bringing their food at that moment. After setting each plate in place and refilling their wine glasses for them, he made to depart, but Apple Bloom called to him. “Hey, what’s this?”

“Your crystalled corn panzanella, milady. Is it not to your liking?”

“Wait, ‘crystalled?’” Apple bloom poked at a translucent-yellow rock in her bowl, nestled in a bed of bread cubes and onion strings. “So this ain’t crystal corn from the Crystal Empire?”

“I apologize, Lady Bloom. Our dish is inspired by the Empire’s produce, but we can only make use of ingredients imported from the Empire when they’re available. In the off-season, we’ve developed this dish to offer instead. If you wish to order something else, I will personally assure its swift preperation and bring it to you post haste.”

“So, is this salt on the corn then? How’d you do that?”

“Our chef developed a spell to not only form the crystals in this way, but to keep the flavor in balance. I can assure you it is quite tasty. It is one of my personal favorites.”

“I’ll keep it. It does look pretty good.”

Diamond Tiara leaned towards her and looked her plate over more closely. “Sounds to me like you might want to spend more time getting to know what you’re ordering before it arrives on your plate.”

“Please let me know if it isn’t to your liking, madam.” He made himself scarce at that point, and everyone poked into their meals.

“So, Lady Bloom? I figured Pear Blossom wasn’t, like, your real name.” She glanced in the direction their waiter had been disappearing in. “At first I thought he was just being polite like a waiter is supposed to in these fancy places. But he keeps being extra polite to you. What gives?”

“Horseapples. Busted again.” Apple Bloom took a large swallow from her wine and grimaced at the bite in her throat. “My real name is Apple Bloom.”

Cloud Weaver sawed at the large pepper on her plate with fork and knife. “That makes more sense. Fits that cutie mark on your flank better. I had been wondering about tha—” She paused and froze up. She looked up into Apple Bloom’s eyes and blinked once. “Cutie marks. Apple.”

Apple Bloom forced a smile, but braced herself against the table reflexively.

“You’re Apple Bloom. As in the Apple Bloom in the newspaper for starting up that cutie mark organization across Equestria two years ago? As in hangs out with Princess Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville? Member of the Apple Family, one of the biggest noble houses in Equestria with members in practically every city and town everywhere? Like, the main House at Sweet Apple Acres described in The Friendship Journal, not just some branch family? That Apple Bloom?”

“Eyup. Howdy.” Apple Bloom adopted a resigned look.

“This wasn’t a prank, you brought me here to gloat over ending me, didn’t you? My life is over. Oh my gosh why does this always happen to me?” Cloud Weaver sunk low into her chair, and looked like she was about to try to hide under the table.

“Now where’d you get a silly idea like that in your head? We ain’t here to end nopony. We felt we wronged you, and we wanted to make amends. That’s the honest truth.”

“But I had my hooves all over you, and I was bossing you around like I was better than you. If it's one thing I know about nobles, it’s they like being on top and never let you forget that for one moment.”

“Well you need to learn yourself two things about nobles it sounds like. We Apples ain’t like that. We don’t hold no airs over nopony. I grew up washing pigs and gathering apples in the orchard from the moment I could walk. Yeah, Celestia gave my great grandpa Apple Seed some land and we done turned it into Sweet Apple Acres, but it was offa the sweat of our brows and the strength of our hooves. We do more work before breakfast than most ponies do all week.”

“You’re starting to brag, Apple Bloom.” Diamond Tiara sipped her wine, then resumed working on her food with dainty motions of her knife and fork.

“You’re really nothing like I expected.” Cloud Weaver lifted her fork, eyeing the stretchy, gooey mess of cheese, then rotated her fork around to gather it up. “I remember reading that article and thinking it was another publicity stunt by some lesser-known noble to get her name out there. Do something charitable, get the recognition, then forget about it and find something else to get praise for.” She popped the hunk of pepper and cheese into her mouth after getting it into a manageable bite size on her fork. “Oh my gosh that is so creamy.”

“Reporters only come for opening day when there’s a story to sell. They don’t stick around to see the day to day hard work and sweat.” Apple Bloom crunched on some bits of corn, sampling the easily crumbled, rocky texture.

“And all those other nobles playing the image game don’t like it very much when you aren’t playing along. One of the reasons we’re here is to get away from all that for a little while and just be a couple of mares again.” Diamond Tiara sipped her wine before tackling another overstuffed pocket of pasta, mushroom and veggie filling, and pesto.

Cloud Weaver chewed on several bites in a row, lost in thought. Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were content to enjoy their own meals and let her process things. After several minutes she broke their companionable silence. “This isn’t salsa. Like, I’ve had green salsa before, even some pretty runny ones. It’s spicy, but each time I try a bite and think I’ve figured out what I’m tasting, I notice some other flavor.” She mopped up the last bit of green from her plate with a piece of tortilla, then closed her eyes and savored it. “He was right. I don’t think I can look at the Boardwalk rellenos the same way again.”

“I am pleased to hear that you enjoyed your meal, Miss Weaver.” Their waiter appeared out of thin air once again. “I hope you will accept the apologies I offered in the beginning, and allow me only the satisfaction of accomplishment for now.”

“Tonight seems to be about forgiveness. No worries, dude.”

“I hope you saved room for dessert, ladies. We have several tempting treats to offer.” He dealt cards to each of them, then stood attentive.

“I’ll take the house treat. One Sky Room Sundae for me.” Apple Bloom handed her card back to the waiter.

“This almond joie sounds so good. I’ll have that.” Cloud Weaver pulled her card closer to herself to the table’s edge. “Can I hold onto this card? These all look so pretty.”

Their waiter raised one eyebrow but nodded. “As you wish.”

Diamond Tiara snickered a bit, then handed her card in. “Tiramisu for me.”

“I will have them out right away.” Good on his word, he was hardly gone before he was back and placing delectable-looking treats in front of each of them. “Take as much time as you like, and if you need anything further, don’t hesitate to call for me. On Behalf of the Sky Room, I thank you for your patronage, and we hope your fond memories of your time here will bring you back soon and often. Good night and good health Miss Weaver, Miss Tiara, and Lady Bloom.”

As they dug into their sweets, many appreciative sounds mingled across the table.

After draining her glass, Cloud Weaver pushed her empty plate and glass away. “I couldn’t help but notice we all had chocolate for dessert. Around here, chocolate and wine is, like, a cliche shortcut for hopping straight into bed.”

Dance the Night Away

Luna Square at night was every bit as impressive as they imagined it would be when they saw it in the morning. Luna’s statue had been lurking in the shade of a huge old oak tree during the day, as if hiding from the sun. At night, the tree was one dark shape in the city’s skyline among many. Blue, purple, and red glowgems in the ground at her feet made Luna a spectacular, attention-grabbing figure. The reflective silver and magical blue filter gave her a ghostlike appearance.

Little bits of light in the apparent color theme of the square peeked out of the the ground, walls, benches, and other features of the square. It was like stepping into some mythical faerie night court. Where the wrought-iron arches and fencing had seemed like the view of a haunted mansion, tamed by the morning sunlight, those same fixtures took on the appearance of something out of storybook depictions of Tartarus when underlit in red.

In contrast to the sinister and otherworldly visual elements, the square was filled with hushed conversation, laughing, music, and the hoof-falls of many ponies walking on hard stone.

Diamond Tiara led the way, and as she, Apple Bloom, and Cloud Weaver approached Luna’s statue, a voice called out to them.

“Hey, you made it. You brought friends too. Awesome!” Night Rocker’s flashy outfit took on a somewhat neon look in the glowgems of the square and managed to look much less out of place. With him were three other ponies gathered. “Lemme introduce you dudes. This here is Golden Topaz, Lights Out, and Stone Throw. I met Silver Diadem this morning, who’d you bring?”

Diamond Tiara smiled at the others and the conversation hit an awkward silence. Cloud Weaver subtly poked her flank with a wing. “Oh, this is Pear Blossom and Cloud Weaver. We, like, had some wine with dinner.”

Stone throw, an earth pony stallion, stepped forward and gave them all a blatant once over. “Dude, nice score. Got three ladies and they’ve already started the party.”

The other stallion in the group, Lights Out, raised his hoof, and Night Rocker met it with his. Night Rocker tried to get the same reaction from Golden Topaz, the lone mare of the group before their arrival, with no success. She rolled her eyes at him, and he recovered by running his hoof back over his topknot. “We’re waiting on my bro, Horizon Duster. He went to pick some chick up he met to fly her here. We got some time to kill until he gets back.”

Cloud Weaver folded her wing back to her side, then stepped forward. “I heard this place was, like, impossible to get into. You have some kind of plan?”

“Okay, so check it out, they want to make for a great party place every night, right? And they can put the best tunes, lights, and all that jazz like every other place. But none of that matters if you get a bad crowd. They can’t, like, interview ponies on the way in or something like that, and they can’t just make it invite-only. I think I figured out their strategy though.” He paused for dramatic effect, then motioned for them all to lean in so he could whisper. “You gotta keep the bro to ho ratio even. We come just us dudes, we get turned away. Group of all chicks, same deal. They’d have to keep track of how many dudes and chicks they let in with, like, a scoreboard or something. But if we come as a mixed group, close to even spread, that don’t tilt the ratio. So they’ll probably let us in!”

“That actually doesn’t sound crazy.” Apple Bloom glanced around at their group. “We also have a pretty good spread of tribes too. You said your “bro” was flyin’ somepony in? So we have three pegasi, three earth ponies, and two unicorns. If he’s bringing a unicorn it will be a perfect set. If she’s an earth pony, well I guess there aren’t as many of us in Silver Cove, so it should still be fine if there is a lot.

“Yo, guys!” A voice from overhead drew their attention to a pegasus stallion carrying an earth pony mare in his hooves. He deposited her gently to her own hooves, then landed beside her. “This is Honeysuckle. Let's get this party started!”

Once inside the door, Lights Out and Stone Throw darted off ahead of the group, dodging between other ponies. “We gotta catch up to the ladies, see ya at the bar!”

Apple Bloom tried to wave at them, but lowered her hoof when it seemed they had no intention of looking back. She looked back and noticed two more of their group, Honeysuckle and Horizon Duster where nowhere to be seen.

As they arrive to a small lobby, Golden Topaz strode purposefully to the stairs leading to the upper floor. She paused at their base and looked back. “Have fun with your mare’s mares, Night Rocker.” She snickered then trotted up and out of view.

With their group down to just four ponies, Night Rocker turned to Diamond Tiara and raised an eyebrow. “So, you dudes wanna dance or you have something else in mind?”

Cloud Weaver chimed in before she could respond. “I need to hit up the little filly’s room and get rid of this wine.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Oh, that is a good idea. I oughta do the same.”

Diamond Tiara gave him a smile and shrugged.

Night Rocker brushed his hoof through his topknot, then nodded. “Well, thanks for helping us all get in, dudes. See you ‘round then. I’ll be on the on the dance floor. It has been calling me for weeks!”

—

The bathroom was otherwise empty, and all three ladies were gathered at the row of sinks. Diamond Tiara was making a few adjustments to her hair in the mirror.

“I feel kind of bad for leaving Night Rocker all by himself.” Apple Bloom, at the sink adjacent to Diamond Tiara’s, was washing her hooves at the sink. “So now that we’re here, what are we gonna do? I still wanna dance, but it don’t seem right to go straight to it after ditchin’ him.”

Cloud Weaver playfully reared up behind her to wash her own in the same sink. “I know something I wanna do.”

“Hey, what are you doin’? There’s an empty sink right over there.”

“Seeing you up on your back legs made me wanna get close again. We could have our own little dance right here and now.”

Apple Bloom froze up a little, her hooves unmoving under the warm water, while Cloud Weaver’s hooves moved about in the stream below hers. “Somepony might come in any minute and catch us. I ain’t keen on bein’ caught like this in a bathroom.” She glanced over at Diamond Tiara who was watching them intently with a grin.

“So I shouldn’t take my dress back yet?”

“Your dress? I thought you gave it to me.” Apple Bloom raised one eyebrow and stared at Cloud Weaver in the mirror before them. She couldn’t help but remember earlier today being pressed up together just like this and seeing herself in the mirror underneath the pegasus.

“I never said anything of the sort. I told you I wanted to take it off of you again.”

Between the heat of Cloud Weaver’s body against her back, and the heat growing in Apple Bloom’s belly, she whimpered a little. “In your bedroom, not in a bathroom in some night club.”

“So you’re planning on coming back to my place later tonight?”

Diamond Tiara turned the water at her sink off, then began drying her hooves with a paper towel. “We have our own hotel room we can go back to. You’re going to have to convince Apple Bloom that she’ll have more fun at your place than ours.”

Cloud Weaver stuck her tongue out at Diamond Tiara. “And if I do convince her, you’re going to insist on coming along?”

Apple Bloom made a token effort to wriggle free, pressing back against Cloud Weaver’s chest. “She don’t have to insist, ‘cause I do. If you want any chance of me comin’ with you, you’re gonna have to invite her too.” Apple Bloom shifted her tail to brush it against Cloud Weaver’s belly, smirking at her reflection in the mirror when she felt her breath catch.

“I’ll have to think about it. Still new to doing this in front of the main mare.” Cloud Weaver pressed her chest into Apple Bloom’s back until the counter pressed below her ribs. “Something for you to think about in the meantime.” She held Apple Bloom’s chin in one hoof and pressed their muzzles together.

Apple Bloom accepted the intrusion of her tongue without hesitation. Knowing she was under Diamond Tiara’s watchful gaze kept the worrying part of her quiet. For a moment, everything was warmth and the sound of their hearts racing in their chests. When Cloud Weaver pulled away, Apple Bloom chased her muzzle, catching her bottom lip for a brief nibble.

Cloud Weaver dismounted from Apple Bloom’s back, leaving her to catch her breath. She smirked at Diamond Tiara, then exited the bathroom.

Diamond Tiara reached over and turned the faucet off at Apple Bloom’s sink. “That was hot. Was she like that in the changing room?”

“Yeah, but I think she turned up the heat a bit more just now to show off in front of you. I think I need a moment to calm myself down.”

Diamond Tiara pressed close to her side and whispered in her ear. “Oh no, you naughty little filly. There will be no calming down tonight.” She softly bit her ear, tugged a little, then released her and turned towards the exit. “Come along now.”

The upstairs showroom was spacious and dimly lit. Up on stage were a pair of unicorns engaged in some kind of balancing act, with one holding up the other while going through different poses and positions.

There were few ponies in the audience. Several rows of plush pillows anchored to the floor served as comfortable seating and most remained empty. Near the entrance a small blackboard listed the show schedule. The big-ticket attraction had been earlier today before dinner, and the evening-night slots seemed filled with amateurs and unheard-of hopefuls.

Apple Bloom noticed many available seats in the front row, and recognized Golden Topaz off to one side. She took a few steps in that direction. Diamond Tiara halted her with a tug on her tail, then nodded towards a back corner away from the entrance. She whispered her objection, “But we’ll have a better view up front.”

“And everypony behind us would have a better view of us. Little more private back here.”

“Dee, I dunno what you have in mind, but we ain’t gettin’ too frisky. If you wanted privacy, we shoulda went back to the room.” She sat with walls behind her and to her right, several empty rows and the stage to her front, and Diamond Tiara to her left.

“I like where your mind is at. Still thinking about that kind of fun?”

“Kind hard not to right now.” Apple Bloom stared forward. Up on stage, one of the ponies was balancing high up on a freestanding ladder, while the other juggled batons and occasionally tossed them to his partner above him.

“Still thinking about her?” Diamond Tiara didn’t even pay token attention to the stage, instead she put one hoof on Apple Bloom’s flank and caressed her cutie mark.

“Yeah.”

“She is a cutie. I really like her mane.”

“I, uh, like her tail.” The pair on stage took a bow, then exited from view. The lights brightened, and some of the few ponies in the audience got to their hooves and walked out. Without the distraction of a show going on, Apple Bloom lowered her voice even further. “It’s like wearin’ panties out in public. They cover things up, but draw attention because you’re tryin’ extra to cover up. Long tail don’t cover you up perfectly, but everypony knows it ain’t polite to peek and it covers up enough. Short tail don’t cover her up none, and it draws attention ‘cause it’s short on purpose.”

“Is that why you wore that bikini yesterday? To draw attention to your rump?”

“A little bit, I guess. I mostly wanted to look cute for you.”

The lights dimmed, and a familiar pony in black and white horizontal striped shirt, hat, and strikingly painted face stepped onto the stage. Diamond Tiara took that moment to pull on Apple Bloom’s tail. Her groan was drowned out by the groans throughout the sparse audience. “D-Dancing.”

Diamond Tiara tilted her head and raised one eyebrow. “What was that, Little Flower?”

Apple Bloom smirked and kissed Diamond Tiara softly, then whispered. “Need to take me dancing before you get my tail.”

Apple Bloom was starting to regret her decision.

She was surrounded on all sides by gyrated ponies. She was on her hind legs, flailing her forelegs around like everypony else. The steady bass throbbed in her ribcage, while catchy high notes trilled in complicated patterns. Properly dancing to music like this was something Apple Bloom had long ago learned wasn’t important as long as she put on a show of effort. Not that she could concentrate much on keeping with the beat.

Diamond Tiara was behind her. Close behind her. Her hooves rested on her hips like all the ponies around them, and occasionally drifted down to caress her cutie marks. Her chest was pressed to Apple Bloom’s back, and she could feel her breath at her ear between nips.

Each time Diamond Tiara got more affectionate with her, she whimpered and scanned the ponies around them, searching for stares and aghast expressions. She found none.

Instead, she caught glimpses of other ponies behaving similarly. Some gave her annoyed looks for staring at them. She quickly turned away when caught.

She caught sight of Night Rocker. He was dancing behind some willowy thin pegasus mare he must have met here inside. On another scan through the crowd, she spotted Lights Out making rather indecent-looking motions with his rump against Stone Throw’s belly. She even saw Golden Topaz towering over the mime. That last pairing drew a giggle from her.

By the time the song ended, and she could go back to all four hooves and rest, she wasn’t sure if she was disappointed it was over or if she should complain. “You’re bein’ too naughty, Dee.”

Diamond Tiara smirked and led her to the sidelines to find a table to rest at. After half a dozen songs, her mane was limp with sweat. “You know I’m just teasing.”

Apple Bloom stopped and stared at her midway through the action of sitting down. “Y’know, you’re right. I do know you’re just teasin’.” She smiled and leaned over the table to claim a quick kiss. “It ain’t so bad, neither.”

They found an empty table, and sat down to catch their breath. An attentive unicorn waitress and a teleport spell later had them enjoying a pair of frosty mugs of apple cider—locally pressed—and taking in the spectacle of ponies swaying and gyrating to the music.

“Did you see those two, Dee?”

“The two who ran off to the bar right as we got inside? Yeah, wonder if they’re sti—oh, hey look. Security is escorting them out right over there.” Diamond Tiara pointed off to one side. Lights Out and Stone Throw were walking with heads low between two burly-looking unicorns wearing intimidating-looking, dark uniforms.

“Coulda been us hauled off with the way you were grabbin’ at me.” Apple Bloom closed her eyes and took a long swallow of her cider.

“Oh, please. I was much more restrained and discreet than they were. We were in no danger.”

“Maybe you were, but I was gettin’ kinda itchy and might have tried to scratch it.”

“Why do you think I lead us here for a break?” Diamond Tiara scanned through the ponies, seeming to search for something. Her gaze stopped and she seemed to focus off to one side of the room.

“For a rest? Y’know, I ain’t even really tired.” Apple Bloom looked in that direction. She noticed the DJ’s booth, and recognized Cloud Weaver beside it, chatting with the pegasus inside the booth. “Guess you are keepin’ a tight grip on the reins, ain’t’cha? Wonder what she’s doin’ over there.”

As if to answer her question, the music shifted tone jarringly when the next song started. Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide as she recognized the opening chords to something she grew up listening to, one of the more popular songs by Wailing Lemmons, “I’ve Always Been Crazy.”

Diamond Tiara smirked at Apple Bloom then lifted her still nearly-full cider mug. “I think someone is calling you to the dance floor. Have fun.”

Apple Bloom nearly dropped her mug to the table and dashed off into the dance floor, dodging and weaving between confused-looking ponies until she found Cloud Weaver near the center, waiting for her. She had one hoof out, and Apple Bloom recognized her invitation, and formed herself into a close dance frame with her. She stared into Cloud Weaver’s eyes, following her lead as they two-stepped in place.

“You got my attention, and it looks like you know what you’re doin’. What’cha got?”

“I’ve got you, so let's show these ponies a thing or two.” Cloud Weaver’s lead was strong, and Apple Bloom felt herself following her steps easily and twirling with just a slight signal from her shoulder.

Ponies around them moved back to give them space, commenting amongst themselves as an impromptu circle opened up around them. With more room, they grew bolder. Apple Bloom was grinning and found Cloud Weaver’s was just as wide. They shook their hips and stamped to the beat, drawing a few cheers.

All too soon, the song dwindled to a close, replaced by an applause. Cloud Weaver didn’t release her from their close position and linked hooves. They caught their breath for a moment, then the next song started. Another shift in tone, though Apple Bloom did not recognize this one immediately.

“Little bit of your world, little bit of mine.” Cloud Weaver spoke over the opening guitar chords, then nodded sharply.

Apple Bloom furrowed her brow, listened and stamped her hooves to the beat. She tried to absorb the lyrics of the thickly-accented female singer, but following Cloud Weaver’s lead took most of her attention. She caught the more distinct chorus of, “whenever, wherever” several times during the song.

Around them, ponies made an effort to mimic them, though Cloud’s flamboyant use of her wings kept their dance space wide and mostly clear. Apple Bloom found herself ducking under those wings, turning to face Cloud Weaver, linking back hoof to shoulder, sometimes hip to hip, and even rearing up on her hind legs, almost chest to chest with her.

The song came to a close, ending on some kind of wind instrument, leaving Apple Bloom and Cloud Weaver again catching their breath pressed close together. A few ponies around them applauded, but most had lost interest and were engrossed in their own dance efforts. The next song was a return to the more familiar peppy and artificial-sounding material that had dominated the playlist of the night.

“Aw shucks. Already over? I was really enjoyin’ that last song too.”

“I could only get, like, two songs out of the DJ. That was Gazelle, from South of Equestria’s border.”

“I guess we’ll have to make do with what’s playin’ then.” Apple Bloom gazed at Cloud Weaver with partially lidded eyes and a lazy smile. “Even if this swaying and flailing about ain’t half as fun as a proper dance.”

“Think I better turn down this dance. Need to conserve my stamina for tonight, after all.” Instead of “dancing” to the next song, Cloud Weaver led Apple Bloom to the edge of the dancefloor.

“You sound pretty confident that you’ll need it. I admit I am impressed with your dancin’ and I did like your choice of songs.”

“Confident, and looking forward to impressing you some more tonight. I’ll leave a light on for you and your girlfriend. You know where the place is.” Cloud Weaver pressed her muzzle to Apple Bloom’s, and the two enjoyed an unhurried kiss.

Apple Bloom savoring the lingering warmth after the kiss for several moments, then opened her eyes and caught sight of Cloud Weaver just as she was disappearing into the mill of ponies on her way to the exit. Apple Bloom remained in place a moment, shivered, then found her way back to Diamond Tiara’s table.

“Welcome back. You two looked great out there. I should have thought to make a request of the DJ for our own set.” Diamond Tiara offered Apple Bloom a fresh mug of cider. “You look flushed. She seemed well-behaved up on the floor, did she get to you after or something?”

Apple Bloom gratefully accepted the mug and took a long pull at the icy juice. “Just a kiss. She’s on her way home already.”

“Just a kiss, huh? First time she kissed you she had you in a panic. Now you’re pretty casual about it.”

“Guess you’re right. It don’t feel wrong anymore.” She sipped at her cider thoughtfully, while gazing over her mug into Diamond Tiara’s watchful gaze. “Guess I feel more safe n’ secure that you approve of it and like it. She invited us to her place before she left. You sure you wanna see her have her way with me? I think I’m okay with tryin’ it out.”

Diamond Tiara got to her hooves and even pranced in place a little bit. “I’m not just sure, I’m excited. Lets ditch this place.”

“I wanna know somethin’ before we go.” Apple Bloom set her mug down. “Are we gonna forget all this happened when we get home? Put it behind us when we go back to our regular lives?”

“Not a chance. Not after we’ve figured out what works for us on teasing. We’ve also got a new item to add to our meal rotation.”

“Callin’ her a piece of food now, huh?” She got out of her seat and stood beside Diamond Tiara.

“I meant crab. I wouldn’t mind inviting Cloud Weaver to come visit us some time back in Ponyville, though. Show her around, introduce her to everypony.” She grinned and playfully swatted Apple Bloom with her tail. “Putting her up on the dinner table wouldn’t be a bad idea now that you mention it.”

They made their way through the crowd to the exit. “You think the rest of the night is going to go that well, huh? She’ll warm up to you too?”

“I’m pretty motivated. What can I say, she’s nice to look at.” They stepped out into the night air together, and Diamond Tiara stole a quick kiss before they started the short trek. “In fact, I was thinking we could even get your mane and tail cut short like hers.”

“I’ll have to think about that.”

Author's Note

Written for Princess Amore Dudette's DiamondBloom Shipping Contest, 30 Sep 2017. Won Second place.

Happy Birthday

Editors:
Jondor
Formerly Committed

Cover Art:
Shimazun

Brainstorming and Concept Feedback:
Jondor
Peroth E.

Moral Support:
Bookish Delight
Carapace
Timaeus

Songs parodied:
"I've Always Been Crazy" by Waylon Jennings
“Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira