Awareness came slowly to Spike as he stretched and twisted from his spot in the couch. He stretched his arm to the side and frowned when he encountered nothing. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and turned to find that Moonstone must have left before he woke but left a note in her seat.

Went down to the restaurant to meet with the girls while waiting for you to wake up. Figured you might need the extra sleep a bit more than I did. I’ll be sure to order something for when you make it down.
-Moonstone

Spike’s stomach growled at the prospect of food. Looks like she knows me pretty well, he thought as he chuckled. He made a quick change into some fresh clothes and made his way out.

Spike ignored some of the dirty looks and whispers that seemed to follow him from random ponies he passed on his way to the restaurant. He had long since gotten used to attracting negative attention from being a dragon, especially anytime he wondered around without any of the girls around. He always kept it from the others as he never wanted them to get into trouble on his account.

When he made it to the restaurant, the whispers dropped off for the most part aside from a few that he picked up from his draconic hearing.

“Hey, is that another dragon?”

“Geeze, we had enough trouble from their kind at that sun celebration. Why don’t they stick in the dragonlands where they belong?”

“Can’t begin to guess why those girls and two princesses would bring one of those animals, let alone two.”

Spike shrugged but showed no reaction beyond that. He’d learned a long time ago that letting others see you respond tended to encourage them. He chose to focus on the table ahead when he spotted the girls.

They sat around laughing and joking along with their boyfriends. All accept for Rarity and Pinkie who seemed to disregard what was going on about them in favor of leaning on the table with their heads in their hands. Thanks to his good vision, he could tell there were bags under their eyes and noticed their clothes seemed bedraggled. It especially surprised him to see Rarity in such a state as she never started her morning without looking her best. Then he noticed Moonstone.

Spike’s breath caught and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was dressed in a turquoise tube top and black slim-fit pants that hugged her body, showing off each and every curve. His eyes were drawn to her lithe tail swaying gently back and forth as she causally leaned on the table with one arm. Her laugh, Faust that laugh, echoed and seemed to fill the air with life.

“Hey, Casanova! How long you gonna stand there staring?”

Rainbow’s call snapped Spike out of his trance and got the group’s attention, minus Pinkie and Rarity who were still leaned over the table, to Spike. Moonstone gave a crooked smile and waved Spike over to the empty seat beside her. Eventually, he shrugged, “Hey!” he casually, at least he hoped he managed casual, greeted and made his way over to the seat beside her. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Rainbow scoffed with a wave of her hand. “We’re just revisiting the ‘new good old days’ of you two growing up in Ponyville. Gotta say,” Rainbow shook her head as she chuckled, “any aspiring trouble maker would have looked on her years with respect: the pranks, the epic disasters!”

“Rainbow, I could never take the credit,” Moonstone said with false modesty before a twisted grin came to her face, “I had an awesome teacher.”

“You know it!” Rainbow crowed as she and Moonstone bumped fists from across the table getting laughs and eyerolls from the rest of the group.

“Glad to see everypony’s…er-” he stumbled when Moonstone coughed pointedly reminding him that he wasn’t addressing just ponies for a change “eh…everybody is getting along. Although I notice Starlight and Sunburst aren’t here.”

“Meh,” Rainbow grunted. “They passed on lunch. I vaguely remember Starlight geeking out about something when she dragged Sunburst off.”

****
Knock knock knock

Doctor Strangelove blinked as the sound of knocking drew his attention away from his current project. He looked up from his current project, just a bit of tinkering with his prototype portable fusion reactor to pass the time, so he could glare toward the door. “Now who could zat be?” he groused.

At a second knocking, he considered calling igor to toss the nuisance down one of the stairs. He ultimately dismissed the idea as possibility of paperwork and yelling from Celestia wasn’t worth the minor pleasure he might have gotten. He sighed and wheeled his chair toward the door.

“YA!! I’m coming, I’m coming! Keep your shirt on!” Strangelove griped at a third knocking as he made to the door. On opening the door, his scowl changed to a genuine smile as he recognized the two faces. “Ah. Fraulein Starlight, Her Sunburst! It’s wonderful to meet you!” And he meant it, too. If he had to be interrupted, at least it was by intelligent minds. “What brings you here?”

“Please have sex with me!” shouted Starlight, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was still in the open or the flinch from her coltfriend.

Strangelove blinked. The manic look in the mare’s eyes actually left him somewhat unsettled. It proved a novel feeling, being one of the unsettled rather than the unsettler. Eventually, he cleared his throat. “Er, apologies, fraulein. I’m flattered und you are certainly comely but, strange as zis might sound, I truly have no interest in any form of sexual pleasure. Wiz eizer gender. Call me married to my vork, but-”

“Oh, no, no, no. It’s not like that, Doctor,” Starlight waved off. “I just want to have your baby.”

Again, Strangelove could only blink in response. Put off balance twice in one conversation? Definitely a record.

“It’s like this. One of the items on my bucket list is to have a genius foal. Not that I’d would love any foal I had less for not being genius,” She assured quickly. “It’s just kind of this dream of mine to raise a foal who’ll grow up to surpass me make a name changing the world.”

Starlight nodded to Sunburst, “I don’t doubt we could pull that off between the two of us. But how many times do you meet an academic genius that changed the scientific world?! Here!” she reached into a pack hanging at her side to pull out a folder and offer it to Strangelove. “I’ve even taken the liberty of putting together a genetics chart for myself for you to check.”

Gingerly, the Doctor accepted the folder with a raised the brow of his normal eye before he looked down at the folder. He had to admit he was impressed. Both by the data and Starlight’s work in putting it together (it had to be her as she didn’t have enough time to find somepony professional to set it up). He nodded slightly, “Vell, I can respect zat.” He turned to Sunburst, “Alzough I’m a bit surprised to find you so calm. You are not uncomfortable seeing your marefriend trying to have anozer stallion’s offspring?”

“Oh, believe me, sir, I am very uncomfortable,” Sunburst admitted morosely before shrugging. “However, if I’m being completely honest, I would probably do the same thing if I were in her shoes.”

“Hmmmm,” Strangelove stroked his chin thoughtfully as he considered the two in front of him. “You know, if you truly feel that way, I have an old project zat could help with zat.”

The couple’s reactions could not have been more contrasted. Starlight’s eyes widened as she clasped her hands together, gasping with joy. Sunburst blinked in confusion before his face paled, taking on a sickly pallor. “W-wait…What?!” he muttered worriedly.

****

“They’re probably doing math, or reading moldy history books, or whatever it is eggheads do to bring excitement to their boring day-to-day,” Rainbow said shrugging while pointedly ignoring the glare from Twilight.

“And, um, what’s with those two?” Spike uncertainly, motioning to Rarity and Pinkie who remained leaning over the table with their heads in their hands as they had their backs rubbed comfortingly by their coltfriends Pearl and Dizzy.

“We aren’t sure either,” Shining answered as he watched bemusedly from beside his wife. “All we know for sure is something must have happened after they stayed behind to speak with Princess Luna after the meeting last night.”

Further questions were stopped as the television over the bar signaled a news story.

We interrupt today’s programing for a news update on the series of arsons and vandalism that occurred last night on Board Walk Street. Between the gas station explosion, general fire damage, and destroyed designer merchandise, it is estimated that a minimum of one hundred twenty thousand bits worth of property damages has been inflicted. After interviewing several witnesses, authorities have learned this to be the work of two perpetrators. The following likenesses have been rendered by sketch artists based on witness statements describing a rogue zebra plains stalker:

The screen showed the drawn picture of a female zebra wearing a leopard skin bikini. She waved a spear over her head in both hands and a manikin head could be seen impaled on the spearhead. One of the most striking features was the ragged purple mohawk.

And a pink gorgon wielding pyromancy:

The picture changed to show a demonic pink figure with pink snakes for hair, scarlet eyes, and razor-sharp teeth. It was shown laughing maniacally while holding flames in one hand and an empty booze bottle in the other.

The Zebrican warrior clans and Tartarus Guard Authorities have declined to comment at this point and time. More on this story as reports are made available. We now return to your regularly scheduled programing.

The group stared intently at the TV where the report just finished, then turned to regard the two hunched over mares. Somehow, the two mares managed to sink in on themselves to look even more miserable than they did before.

“Gee, seems somepony went wild last night,” Rainbow said with a sly smile.

“No way I would know. Nope. Just spent a quiet night in my room,” Pinkie said quickly.

“Wha-huh?” Dizzy tiredly slurred in confusion. “I…I know I conked out during the meeting, but I don’t remember seeing you in our room when I woke u-OOF!” he grunted at sudden pain to his side caused by Pinkie’s elbow jab hidden by the table. “Oh. Right. Yeah. All night quiet. That was us,” Dizzy corrected himself with a pained smile.

“Well, whatever some folk say, I think this just gives me one more reason ta prefer tha country ta big city life.” Applejack aimed a pseudo innocent look at Rarity. “Ya still think city life an’ sophistication is better? What with all those,” a smarmy grin spread on the farm pony’s face, “dangerous, uncivilized types runnin’ around?”

For the first time, the normally eloquent fashionista chose to forgo pithy comebacks and settle for an irritated growl and bloodshot glare before going back leaning into her hands.

“Well, I would ask Spike what he thinks,” Moonstone said with a straight expression before a wicked grin crossed her face as she gave him a sideways glance, “but I think he’s been a bit too busy checking out my goods to keep up with the conversation.”

“W-what!?!” Spike squeaked. He flinched, hunching in on himself as he felt the weight of the stares from the rest of the table. “I-I would never. I mean, I might have…um…” His weak denials petered out completely by the time Moonstone interrupted.

“Spike, you were raised by and grew up around the Elements of Harmony, as I kind of did, so I expect an honest answer.” Moonstone leaned forward as she stared him down intently. “Were you or were you not staring at my chest while thinking dirty thoughts?”

After trying and failing to think of a way to get out of the trouble he was in, he sighed. “Alright. Yes, I…I was,” he admitted in a small voice. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for a slap or punch.

It didn’t come.

Instead, he was surprised by the feeling of a soft peck on his cheek. His eyes shot open in time to see Moonstone leaning back with a soft smile on her face. “Good,” she said warmly. “Otherwise, this little number I’m wearing wouldn’t be doing its job.”

Crack!

The rest of the table turned to Twilight who stared back blankly. “What?” she asked. They looked down and she followed their gazes only to frown in confusion. Her closed fist rested on the table, soaking wet and surrounded by bits of broken glass. She could even feel more pieces being ground to dust in her grip. It took her three seconds longer than she would have cared to admit to realize that she was staring at the remains of her drink.

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed as she started gathering the bits of broken glass into a napkin. “Wow. It’s, uh, been some time since I lost control of my earth pony strength like that. Crazy, huh?” the youngest alicorn laughed nervously under the weight of bemused, somewhat intense in the case of Cadence, stares she was receiving. “Oh, look at that! The food’s here!” she rattled quickly.

“Hey, everypony! Food’s ready!” a waitress called out cheerfully. She had a tray in each hand and practically danced around the table as she passed plates out. She never failed to give a quip or greeting to each pony to bring a smile.

Until the last two plates.

She turned to Moonstone and Spike, her expression soured, and she carelessly dropped the plates in front of them and slammed a large milkshake in front of Moonstone. “There’s your crap,” she snapped before turning and stomping off.

The waitress’s rudeness shocked the whole table. Before they could speak, however, their attention was drawn by a shaky voice. “Uh, Moonstone? I think there’s been a mistake in my order,” Spike said.

Everypony looked back to ask what he was talking about until they noticed the plate. The group, aside from Blueblood and the Crystal Empire couple, flinched. Each plate featured a bloody rare steak that looked as if the closest they came to being cooked was holding a match underneath.

“Hmmm.” Moonstone frowned, making a show of scrutinizing the plates before looking up with a cheerful smile. “Nope. Two rare filet mignons. Imported from the finest ranches in the griffon empire.”1

“Um, darling,” Rarity spoke delicately. “I’m afraid you don’t understand. Spikey doesn’t eat mea-”

“Yes, he does,” Moonstone cut in sharply.

“Moonstone, nopony’s judging you for eating meat,” Twilight said softly. She and the others had to hide a flinch as whispers from other tables reached them.

“Celestia, they really are eating meat.”

“Animals.”

“Why were those things allowed in here?”

“Well, nopony that matters,” Applejack corrected as she cast dark glares around.

“The point is,” Twilight continued determined to ignore the surroundings, “Spike doesn’t eat meat. He grew up eating gems and he has done just fine.”

“Oh?” Moonstone asked. She picked up the knife beside her plate. “Your claim sounds very certain. Maybe we should test it.” Without another word, she raised the knife and brought it down in one fluid motion. The others cried out, some moving to stop her, but couldn’t do anything to stop the knife finding its mark.

Ping!

The others stared in shock at Moonstone’s fist gripping the knife handle as it rested above her other hand on the table. They turned numbly a few inches to the left where the knife blade bounced to after it snapped like a twig.

“Without my abilities as an Aether dragon being actively used, I would be more vulnerable than other dragons as I’m not as physically sturdy.

“That said, I’m not made of porcelain. My scales are cut resistant, my bones can take high impacts, and my muscles are dense, compact layers. If a squad of guards fired crossbows at me, I could shrug them off the way you might shrug off paintballs. I could easily weather several monsters bashing on me until I could get away. All said, that’s a pretty average description for a healthy dragon.

“So, what happened to Spike when he has ‘done just fine?’” Moonstone asked acidly. “What made his scales grow soft enough for an untrained pony with a knife to hurt him? What left his muscles so weak and his bones so brittle that a few punks could beat him to near death in the brief time it took for help to arrive? What…malady could cause that?”

“Malnutrition.” The horrified whisper drew the table’s attention to Fluttershy. Her eyes were wide and watery. “I-Why didn’t I see it? I’ve seen the same thing happen to animals of every species. I…Oh, Celestia. I’m a terrible friend,” she sobbed into her hands as Big Mac put a comforting arm around her.

“You wouldn’t be the only one,” Rainbow threw in morosely. “I grew up with a predator species in flight camp and we’ve kept talking since we made up. I even remember some of the horror stories Gilda told me about griffons that starved! Damn it!” She punctuated the curse with a frustrated slam of her fist on the table as an equally miserable Applejack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Everypony looked down in shame as it hit home. Twilight, understandably, took it the worst as caring for Spike was at least partially her responsibility.

“You aren’t terrible friends. You were just too close to the problem and you couldn’t bring yourself to see something wrong with someone that grew up beside you.” The group looked up to see any annoyance on Moonstone’s face had been replaced with compassion. She took another knife and started cutting the steak in front of her. “The only one of you who could say they grew up living with intelligent beings eating meat is Rainbow and she was only exposed to that fact for a relatively brief time. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that dragons are nearly as tight fisted with info as they are with treasure.

“But mom said it best last night. Nothing has been solved by ignoring the issue. The best we can do is move forward and decide to do better. For the time being, that will mean exercise, study,” she pushed the plate in front of Spike, “and healthy diet. Healthy diet for a dragon.”
Spike stared down at the plate, studiously ignoring the pained glances from the others. He swallowed nervously as if he was being given his last meal.

“Listen to her, Spike,” everyone looked up at Twilight’s statement to see her regarding Spike with regret. “She clearly knows what she is talking about. It’s,” she bit her lip, “I think it’s long since time you stopped hurting yourself because of our mistakes or us being a little bit queasy.”

“How about this?” Spike looked back at Moonstone’s question to see her spear one of the meat chunks on a fork before holding it up. “I’ll feed you by hand.”

“What!?!” Spike yelped in a strangled voice.

“And on the off chance that being fed by a cute girl isn’t enough,” She raised an eye ridge as if daring him to say something stupid, “I will answer one question about dragons with every bite.” The offer caused some of the others, Twilight especially, to perk up.

After a moment’s hesitation, Spike nodded, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth. After feeling a warm piece, he quickly bit down and started chewing while waiting for nausea to set in. However, his eyes widened at the taste that exploded in his mouth. Juicy, tender, and possibly the most delicious thing he ever tasted outside of gems.

“Pretty good, eh?” Moonstone asked smugly before shrugging. “It shouldn’t be that surprising. Most creatures will always develop tastes that encourage them to pursue whatever fuels their bodies best. Now, how about that question?”

Spike swallowed his bite and blinked as what she said sunk in. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought. So many questions he grew up with were about to be answered. But which one should be first? What had that been about Aether dragon abilities earlier? How much of their tribe’s knowledge did she have? What were they like? What would it mean for the two of them when he eventually…mated?

I wonder why dragonesses even have boobs anyway? the question randomly popped into his head as he tried to sort his thoughts. A round of sniggering knocked drew him from his revere as he looked around in confusion at his friends struggling to hold in laughter. He turned to see Moonstone biting her lips as tears formed in her eyes.

“Well, I guess we know what’s on your mind,” Moonstone managed to choke out.
Spike started to ask what that meant, but he snapped his mouth shut and blushed as a realization hit. He must have said that last thought aloud. He groaned and facepalmed sending the others into laughter.

“That’s actually a good question.” All laughter stopped at the statement and drew their attention to Fluttershy of all ponies. “Well, think about it. Mammaries are mechanisms developed for feeding young by mammals who give birth to live young. So why would a race of reptiles that lay eggs have them?” she pointed out. That replaced the others’ laughter with thoughtful frowns.

“Well, in a way, they still serve the same purpose,” Moonstone shrugged. “You already know from Spike’s birth and mine that hatching eggs take a lot of energy. The same goes for forming them and providing their own food to provide for them until they hatch. A dragoness may spend days on end eating and not have enough proteins and magic to finish the process.”

“So, your, uh, breasts act as a secondary storage to supplement the gestation period?” Twilight asked.

“Exactly,” Moonstone confirmed, nodding. “The main portion is stored fat with proteins, but the eggs also need magic. That’s why part of our gem consumption goes to forming sort of a crystal mesh layer that forms between the scales and the fat storage. That layer stores magic as well as increase the efficiency in our ability to metabolize magic.”

The explanation got a lot of interested and enlightened looks from the ponies. “Also,” Moonstone continued, “that layer acts as a natural support that negates the need for bras and keeps their shape. Since the crystal never degrades, it also means I’ll always have firm and perfectly shaped breasts whether I’m eighteen or eighteen hundred.”

This little factoid caused the expressions of the other mares to go blank. The stallions studiously looked everywhere but at Moonstone. The mares’ dead gazes turned downward to Moonstone’s not inconsiderable bust. They slowly turned towards their own. They turned back to Moonstone. Unknown to them, every mare in the restaurant had heard this part of the conversation and copied their actions. They were also united by a single thought of pure rage as they stared at the dragoness: Bitch!

“So, hey! How about another bite and question? I’m sure Spike needs his sustenance and we’d like more questions, huh?” Twilight rattled nervously. Mostly, she wanted to change the subject before somepony remembered that alicorn physiology enjoyed similar perks.

“Right you are, Twi. Alright, tough guy. Next bite,” Moonstone gently proffered the next piece which was accepted with considerably less reluctance this round. Not to mention, he was able to enjoy Moonstone’s earlier offer of feeding him, though he wisely kept quiet on that. “So, who has dibs on the next question?”

“I’m game!” Rainbow called out. “Okay, who would be tougher in a fight, males or females?”

Moonstone’s cheerful smile slipped a bit at the question. The girls began to wonder what might be wrong before her smile returned. “Well, you aren’t likely to see a comparison between the two genders or much fighting from the females. However, that question could be answered either way depending on the variables. Buuuut I guess I’d say females in general.”

“How come?” the athlete asked, clearly unaware of Moonstone’s earlier discomfort at discussing females fighting.

“Well, first off, have any of you ever noticed any overweight, or at least noticeably overweight, dragons?” the dragoness barely waited for headshakes before continuing, “That’s because dragon bodies evolved without the emphasis on body fat. We don’t often need the extra energy in day to day lives, we rarely swim enough to warrant any sort of ballast, and we certainly don’t need insulation for warmth. We do have a little bit extra for emergencies and prolonged fights. It’s typically stored in the tail, hips, and slightly in the stomach. Females can actually fight for longer as they can also draw on what’s stored in their breasts. That’s actually quite a bit extra as it stores a good more than elsewhere on the body.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Rainbow interrupted with barely contained mirth. “You’re saying females would win because…battle boobs?”

“Basically,” Moonstone affirmed, setting off a series of guffaws and giggles.

“Hang on. Wouldn’t drawin’ on that kinda, uh,” Applejack hesitated as she tried find the right words. “Well, ya know?” She held her hands in front of her own chest and made a shrinking motion with her hands which sent Rainbow into another fit of laughter.

“Yeah. That can happen,” Moonstone concurred sparking more mirth.

“Well, it is nice to see that comes with a few drawbacks,” Rarity muttered.

“True, but it’s easy enough to recover,” the dragoness shrugged carelessly. “Because of our biology, any fat we gain goes straight to those storage areas and the excess gets burned up by our metabolism. That means all we have to do to recover what we lose is sit around and eat. We don’t even have to worry about eating too much. In fact,” she looked down at her chest with a gauging frown before nodding, “I probably have enough room to grow another size. All I have to do is spend the evening here drinking these massive milkshakes.” She punctuated her statement with a noisy draw from her shake.

BAM!

Nearly every patron in the restaurant jumped at the noise and turned to a corner of the room. An overturned bowl of unappetizing ‘super food’ goo lay on the floor. Looking back to the source revealed a thin, small-chested mare with her closed fist resting on a now cracked portion of the table. You could hear her teeth grinding throughout the entire restaurant. Her coltfriend fidgeted nervously as if torn between wanting to calm her down and staying still to avoid her rage.

“Um. Maybe we should change the subject?” Cadence finally spoke up nervously. She, her husband, and the others became more nervous as they finally noticed the growing aggression of the atmosphere. Not to mention she shared Twilight’s worry of this crowd focusing on alicorns because of their perks.

“You know? I just remembered something else,” Moonstone piped up. “Remember that crystal layer I told you about? That actually runs beneath the entirety of a dragon’s scales. It just happens to run thicker in an Aether Dragons for increased magical ability and thicker still in a female’s breast. But Aether Dragon or other, male or female, every kind of dragon gets the side benefit of that layer providing support to keep their skin tight. We never have to worry about wrinkly, sagging skin as long as we live.”

The sound of breaking glass sent a chill down the collective spines of the group aside from Moonstone. The others slowly turned to see a mare that had stood from her table and was holding a broken bottle as she stared pure hatred toward the group of friends. She wasn’t alone as every female in the restaurant, patrons and workers alike, stalked forward united in their rage. The friends felt positive that none of them would be getting out in one piece despite having two alicorns, a former guard captain, and a trained prince among them.

“It’s just a shame that might not make us special for much longer,” Moonstone sighed, seemingly oblivious to the imminent death coming for her. “After all, it’s only a matter of time before the public learns that my dad figured out a way to copy all of those effects through surgery.”

All was silence. The menacing atmosphere that threatened to choke the life out of all things evaporated leaving a near palpable feeling of anticipation.

“On the bright side, the old stallion never did like going in public or sharing his discoveries easily,” Moonstone’s tone seemed to become lighter at the thought. “Odds are, when he leaves this hotel at the end of the summer, he’ll probably go back into seclusion along with his techniques for the next fifty years. Heck, stubborn as he can be, he might even take the secret to his grave.”

To anyone in that room, it might have seemed that the universe stopped in place and held its breath to see what would happen next. The friends and family at the center watched the crowd for sudden movements. The frenzied females stood with their eyes staring sightlessly ahead as their minds desperately calculated ways to use this new information. The coltfriends were just hoping they wouldn’t have to visit their ladies in prison. The bartender, for the umpteenth time that week, was grumbling about how the pay wasn’t worth it. Every soul in that bar waited to see when the other shoe would drop.

“GAHHHH!! MY HEART!!!”

Thud!

The shriek had caused everypony in the room to jump and the thud parted the crowd as they glanced back to see a mare lying on the floor clutching her chest.

“Oh, Celestia, no! My friend!” another mare wailed as she ran to the fallen figure. “Somepony! My friend has pulmonary gastro…er…hemo…exlpo-aitus. Somepony call a doctor!”

The barkeep, clearly not buying it, raised an eyebrow. “If things are that bad we could always call for an ambule-”

“No! That would take too long. My friend needs help now!” the mare shouted. “We need a doctor who is nearby. In the hotel.” She left her sentence to hang there until she glanced sideways to the table at the center of the crowd. She growled through gritted teeth, “And is good at surgery.”

As one, the crowd of mares turned to the dragoness to hear her answer. Moonstone finished her milkshake with a satisfied sigh. When she opened her eyes, they widened in surprise as if finally noticing what was going on. “Hmmm? Oh, a doctor? My dad is one. Last I checked, he was keeping to himself in room 523.”

The room number had barely left Moonstone’s lips before thunder roared through the room as every mare, as well as the victim who seemed to miraculously recover, stampeded through the exit. The last footsteps quickly faded. The once bustling tourist location now held a silence one might expect in local dives. However, unlike the more somber males in those dives, the males that sat here instead of chasing after their marefriends were staring into space with blissful expressions.

“Oh, I hope that poor mare doesn’t hurt herself. I’m pretty sure running like that with pulmonary problems could be dangerous,” Moonstone fretted. She blinked as she noticed the others staring at her. “What?” she asked with a cute tilt of her head. Before anyone could comment she gasped. “Oh no! I hope none of those mares were just going for that cosmetic surgery I let slip. That would be bad!”

“…why?” Shining asked suspiciously.

“Because dad has this really bad habit,” Moonstone admitted. “If outsiders try to solicit him for favors without asking through someone like the Princesses, or Blueblood, or even me? He typically has them sign wavers with convoluted stipulations that make it legal for him to conduct invasive, experimental procedures on them.”

The blissful looks on the stallion patrons morphed to horror. They jumped from their chairs and headed for the direction of the mare mob.

The others at the table looked at her with wide eyes. “Y…you planned this?” Rainbow asked, her voice a mix of fear and awe.

“Now why would I do something like that on purpose? I suppose it could teach them something about placing too much value on looks,” Moonstone’s eyes narrowed, and she dropped all pretense of innocence. Despite showing little emotion in her expression, the cold fury in her eyes easily shadowed anything that mare mob expressed and sent violent shivers down the backs of those around her. “If nothing else, they may learn not to be so quick to look down on others for being a different species with different needs. Especially looking down on my loved ones.”

A moment of silence took the table until a slow clapping broke it. “Bravo, Miss Moonstone,” Blueblood complimented with a sardonic smile. “One of these days, I should show you around Canterlot. Perhaps we could let your try your hand at politics for a few days?”

“How about no,” Shining said flatly. “I lose enough sleep with one unstable political mastermind lairing in Canterlot.”

“Now that was a bit uncalled for,” he said with a hint of hurt in his cultured voice. “And besides, you live in the Crystal Empire. What does it matter to you what happens in Canterlot?”

“Now, don’t be like that, Bluey. You know your family loves you and everyone here is proud of how you’ve grown as a stallion in the last few years,” Cadence chided gently. “That said, even you have to admit things get scary as Tartarus when you get in one of your moods. In those times, even being in the Crystal Empire isn’t enough to feel safe. And that was before we learned about your mad scientist friend in the basement.”

“Hmmm. Fair enough I suppose,” Blueblood conceded with a casual shrug.

“Probably more than fair,” Rarity muttered. She coughed delicately and turned to Moonstone, “Now, I don’t wish to sound anything like those shallow creatures but…Is it possible that? Ummm-”

“Already talked with dad,” Moonstone interrupted, her smile slightly smug. “He has all of you girls penciled in for slots next week. Minus the experiments.”

The mares, aside from Twilight and Cadence, sighed contently even as they each sported small blushes of embarrassment. Their coltfriends were wise enough to remain stoic but were mentally fist pumping.

“Well, this has been fun,” Moonstone said, drawing everypony’s attention as she stood from her chair, “but I have a few errands to run. And before you ask,” she interrupted with a raised hand as a few opened their mouths, “I want to keep it a surprise for now. I’ll just say that most of it has to do with a few ideas for training.” She said the last with a smirk before strolling off.

The table sat in an awkward silence before Applejack gave a cough. “Well, that aside,” she turned to rest of the table, “Ah know the rest of us had some plans. There was the girls day out…?” She trailed off questioningly in light of recent events.

“Sorry, Darling, but I’m going to have pass for today,” Rarity said tiredly before groaning contently as her coltfriend rubbed her back again.

“Yeah. I think me and Rares are both going to be staying in with our coltfriends today,” Pinkie said in an uncharacteristically flat voice. She turned at movement in her peripherals. “No, Dizzy. I don’t plan on forcing you into sexy times. Just a nap.”

The weary Dizzy exhaled, not bothering to hide his relief.

“Well, you still have me and Rainbow,” Fluttershy added softly. “And I’m sure Twilight-”

“Actually, Twilight has something else,” Cadence broke in quickly drawing surprised looks, not least of which from Twilight. The look increased as Cadence grabbed her arm. “There are a few things we need to talk about.”

“Is something wrong?” Spike asked worriedly. “I can stay too if-”

“NO!” Cadence barked, causing the group to jump. She cleared her throat and continued with a comforting smile, “I mean, that’s not necessary. You just go with the boys and enjoy your night out.”

“Uh, okay?” Spike answered unsurely, before being drug away by Shining, Blueblood, and Big Mac, the first of whom quickly gathered his wife’s mood and the second merely raising an eyebrow before leaving.

As soon as the last one of them left, Cadence turned to Twilight with a stern expression. “Twily, we need to talk.”

“O-oh?” Twilight answered as she blinked uncertainly. “What abou-?”

“Your feelings for Spike,” Cadence cut in flatly.

Author's Note

Yeah, took way longer than planned. Will explain in a coming blog if anyone is interested.

1. For simplicity's sake, cows, sheep, and basic livestock (at least outside of Equestria) are non-sentient. No speaking or anthropomorphic.