Rearing Scootaloo

James had quite the fulfilling day. He had managed to clean and set up his house significantly more. He fucked his special somepony and then they did some more house work. He felt sorry for Sweetie, even the abominations up in Canterlot somehow managed to have friends. She was too good a pony to be so lonely.

He stood at the base of his open front door.

The night was crisp, perhaps a little too much, as it was kind of chilly for a summer night. The light from the lamp on his nightstand next to his couch lit outside his door, as his curtains were still closed. He could maybe see six feet before the darkness swallowed everything else outside, baring his own shadow. Looking up he saw no stars nor the pony moon. He concluded there had to be clouds covering the skies. He found that somewhat odd as he recalled no such clouds during the day. A need to keep better track of the weather schedule came to mind.

The fact it wasn’t a weather forecast/prediction still made him uneasy. They control the freaking weather.

He snapped out of it and looked back down. The sight of a slightly shivering orange pegasus filly with a rough lite purple mane and tail stood there looking back up in some odd way. He was more than a little self-conscience on how this could look to somepony who just found out he had been screwing a filly, relationship or not, he ignored those feelings and thoughts best he could. He had to help this filly, just certainly not in that way. He rubbed his head in frustration of the fact that he’s just going to need to get used to feeling like he’s actively being hunted down by authorities, because he probably is. They just needed a, “Are you okay?” Scootaloo asked cutting up his musings.

“Huh?” he asked rapidly blinking his eyes, “Yeah, I’m okay,” he answered putting himself back into the situation that’s for sure, and not a hypothetical that his paranoid mind is possible coming up with, “I was just thinking about somethings,” he explained, “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again Scootaloo. What brings you here? Good news I hope.”

Scootaloo frowned slightly but seemed determined about something, “There’s three things, no, umm, reasons,” she said, nodding to herself satisfied, “three reasons I came back.”

“And they would be?” To tell him that she made up with her parents. To tell him that she made up with her parents. To tell him that she made up with her parents. He hoped.

Scootaloo produced a bag of bits, “Here,” she said holding it out to him.

Perhaps her parents are making her give back the bits he gave her? He slowly got down and grabbed it, “what’s this for?” he asked.

Scootaloo backed away slowly and cringed, “I-I may have sold some of your stuff to get some bits so I could buy some food…” she continued backing away till only her head was in the light, “I think that’s how much they all sold for.”

Welp, that confirmed why he was missing some stuff, “I believe you know that was wrong?” He said standing up straight and crossing his arms, it felt weird with a bag of coins in hand. It wasn’t long before a faint smell can to him emanating from the bag.

“I’m sorry.”

He ignored the smell, but had a suspicion, “I forgive you, thank you for being upfront with me. You’re a good filly, here,” he said tossing the bag of bits back to her in the light. The bag was shaggy and tinted yellow in some places. She was giving him the one that she peed all over. He wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or be insulted, either way he was too groggy to care. “By the way, just a few of those items costed more than that bag of bits when I bought them.”

“T-they did?” she said weakly, she looked down at the bits then slowly walked to and then picked them up. Wings hanging down her sides, lower lip trembling.

“Don’t worry about it Scootaloo, I’m rich. Just try not to do it if you do not need to. So what were the two other reasons?”

She blinked her eyes a couple times and breathed in which turned into a heart melting yawn, it was late after all, “I wanted to thank you for giving me those bits an-and…” her head sunk in thought, before shooting up, “I just wanted to thank you, so thank you!”

“You’re welcome, and the last reason?” he asked. It had to be that she decided to stop running from her parents, even though it’s nighttime and that seemed very unlikely at this moment.

“Your note said I should seek out help from an adult I can trust, and the only one I think I can trust is you. I was hoping you’d let me live with you. I can help you with stuff, do chores and stuff, and and you won’t need to worry about-”

“Stop,” he interrupted. Dammit. He yawned and rubbed his forehead, “I’m too tired for this,” he lazily gestured her inside while also getting out of the way, “get inside, we’ll talk in the morning.” She walked in with a little bit of hesitation eyes trained on him. Once she was inside he closed and locked the door, “you can sleep on the couch, I’ll see you in the morning, please don’t run away,” he said heading to his room. She backed up out of his way as he walked past. He could’ve sworn he heard her quietly say thank you before he reached his room.

=============================================================================

James woke up the next morning feeling well rested. His mind immediately went to the wayward filly, and so did he actually go to said filly. The couch lamp was still on so he turned it off as the bleed off from the sun lit the room enough to see.

He couldn’t help but notice the filly sleeping sprawled out on the couch. One of her forehooves was resting at the end of the couch while the other hung loosely off the edge. Her wings lay splayed out lazily such that one was also hanging from the edge. Her hind legs and tail were much the same but he notedly and purposely avoided looking in that area. What little of it he saw was different, but he had a special somepony who without argument deserved better. He wasn’t going to do anything that could make that more true.

He went to his kitchen only to remember he had yet to go shopping for any ingredients to cook with. He quietly went to his room, got a paper and writing utensil and wrote a note for Scootaloo. He laid the note on top his clothes pile on the coffee table and left through the back.

The trip to a family restaurant was peaceful. He got pancakes, french toast, an omelette, toast, orange juice, and over easy eggs all to go. Carrying it all back wasn’t fun. Ponies needed more bags. He unlocked the door after freeing his hands and found Scootaloo in a more reserved and adorable sleeping position. He picked half the things up and brought them to the kitchen. He then went and picked up the other half, he somewhat slammed the door behind him, “Ahh!” Scootaloo screamed as she bolted into the air like a cat. Landing, she looked around eyes finally settling on him clearly annoyed.

He couldn't help but smile and slightly chuckle at the reaction, “are you awake now?”

“What the hay was that for!?” she yelled, her eyes zeroing in on the boxes he was carrying, “what’s that?” she demanded.

“It’s ten O'Clock. I think you’ve slept in enough Scootaloo, and this,” he said lifting up and down the boxes in a circular fashion, “is breakfast, come on follow me, lets eat,” he headed to the kitchen. He didn’t bother making sure she followed. He was just going to tell her the food is getting cold if she didn’t.

He sat down and unstacked the boxes, peeking inside so he knew what had what in them. His table was retangular and its surface was smooth. He sat in the middle, and it wasn’t much longer Scootaloo took a seat across from him, standing on her hind legs to reach the table. He noted this and decided he was gonna need some more specialized chairs especially considering his special somepony, “w-” she yawned bringing a hoof to her mouth, “what did you get?”

“Here take a look pick whichever one you want and I’ll eat whatever you don’t want.” He brought the boxes close her and she browsed through them. She eyed the drinks for a moment, “those are orange juice,” he provided before she could ask.

They ate mostly in silence. Scootaloo constantly looked up to him in some way that for some reason made him feel sad. She ravishly ate the omelette, half a pancake, half the french toast, half the toast slathered in butter and jelly(of course), and had the orange juice to drink. She groaned and sagged into her chair, leaving her half eaten pancake on its plate to die, “so~ fu~ll,” she complained rubbing her belly.

Her side of the table looked as if a squirrel decided to rummage through everything in a frenzy.

James had the other half of the french toast, the other two pancakes, the over easy eggs, half the toast dipped in the overeasy egg yolk(ofcourse), and his own orange juice. He was just finishing up the last few bites of his own pancakes, “Scootaloo,” he said, drawing her attention, “so last night you said you wanted to live with me?” He asked watching her reactions closely.

Scootaloo eyed him wearily from across the table, but nodded her head in the affirmative. She put out an angry frown.

“I think,” he paused, was he really about to do this? His mind went back to her condition when he first found her, that was unacceptable. He just needed more information before he made any decisions, “I think I’d be okay with that, if you tell me your story, the truth only please. I want to help you, but I need to know what I’m dealing with. So where are your parents?”

She answered.

“I’m sorry, could you say that again?”

“I said, I’m an orphan, and I ran away from the orphanage. Are you done?”

He frowned, “no, I’m not…” he said calmly. He was glad it wasn’t worse, but he was missing lots of information, “why’d you run away?”

“You said I don’t have to answer questions if I don’t want to so I’m not going to.” She exclaimed crossing her forelegs and looking away from him. It was cute.

This would be so much easier if she would just give him the details, but her turned face suggested she had no intention of doing so. He sighed, “Scootaloo, I’ll let you live with me,” her ears perked up and she looked back up to him confused, “you heard me correctly,” he said with a smile.

“Really?” He nodded maintaining his smile, “o-oh, cool,” she said looking down at her plate, before looking back up suspiciously, “is there anything you want me to do?”

He brought a hand to his chin and rubbed it as if in thought. He was curious, “what would you not do?”

“I don’t want to be an assassin ninja for you, even though what they do is awesome. Well, the sneaking around and fighting part, not the killing part,” she explained.

He blinked, “umm, okay. I have no plans to kill anypony ever, unless they do some truly horrifying things to innocent ponies. Nor do I possess the knowledge needed to train you to become a ninja-”

“Aww,” Scootaloo said sadly.

“-anyways,” he continued, “first off I do have a couple spare rooms and you could definitely make one yours-”

“My own room,” she whispered to herself in awe at the idea.

He continued, “You ofcourse would have chores, maybe help me unpack and place the last few things I gotta do, and I don’t know, once summer break is over you’ll be going to school,” she just stared off into space, her smile slowly going down, “and I’m sure there’s some other things that I can’t think of right now.”

“Fine!” she agreed begrudgingly frowning, “show me my room!” she demanded hopping off her chair and leaving the kitchen/dining room.

“Err, well there’s only two rooms for you to pick from, one second though,” he took a moment to clean up their breakfast as she watched agitated, “okay, follow me.”

“About time,” she said harshly.

“Well, it would’ve been sooner if someone didn’t eat like an animal.” He commented. She merely glared at him, “you said you’d do chores and stuff maybe I should’ve made you clean it yourself.” She looked very unamused, he sighed and they went.

=============================================================================

He showed her the two rooms. The first one was the one he initially found her in and the other one was next to it. Both the same size and make. She chose the one she was used to. It was farthest from his room of the two rooms, “I’m going to need to buy you a bed and stuff, so until then I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

“Ugh, lame. Fine,” she complained. She stood in the middle of her new room, while he was at the door.

A thought entered his head at that. How was he going to have private time with Sweetie? Sweetie certainly enjoys that time, perhaps a little too much. He would need to give Scootaloo something to do so they could spend that time. It wouldn’t be so bad if Sweetie had something besides books to distract her from her new found past time, not that he had any complaints. Just like that a brilliant idea came to him.

He hoped it worked, it might mean less sex with Sweetie, but it does solve an important issue, “hey Scootaloo there is actually one thing I want you to do.”

“What’s that?” she asked warily.

Now how should he go about this. He considered briefly, “well, you see I recently foalsat a filly named Sweetie Belle. She’s around your age and she’s a very good filly, but for some reason she has no friends her age so I want you to be her friend.”

“Psh, what if she just doesn’t like me are you going to kick me out?” She asked in an accusing voice.

“What? No. Even if she hates you I wouldn’t just kick you out,” he thought for a moment, “at least not before I contacted the authorities.”

“Don’t!” she yelled, “don’t tell anypony, I don’t want to go back to that place.”

“Did, did they abu-mistreat you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” he asked and she nodded, “okay good, so then why did you run away?”

“I’m not telling you,” she said and got a devious smile. She turned around craned her neck to look up at him while bringing a forehoof to her flank near where one of her cutie marks would be if she had them. She continued, “if you try to get me to go back to that place,” tears began falling down and she cried.

“Hey are yo-” he began.

“I’ll t-tell them you t-touched my butt.” She declared shaking her little rump as her tail hung lifeless and she messaged/displayed her cutie mark area.

James mind went blank for a moment. Did she just threaten him? Shouldn’t she be too young to know about that? “Wha-?”

She turned around and her tears stopped. She glared up at him, “if you try to get me back into an orphanage, I’ll give myself bruises and tell them you hit me and touched my butt.”

He blinked and thought for a moment. She stood rigid, wings out in a threatening manner, and continued glaring, “... umm, look,” he started, “I just want you to be safe and happy,” she gave no outward reaction to this, “so if you really hate the idea of going back to an orphanage so much that you’re willing to hurt yourself… then how about this. I promise that under no circumstances will I do anything to intentionally get you back into an orphanage. I also promise that I will do everything in my power to prevent you from going back into an orphanage. How does that sound?”

She relaxed a little bit, little wings going back to her sides, and frowned, “it’ll have to do, but if you break your promise I’ll make sure you regret it!”

“Right… Well you won’t have to worry about it.”

“We’ll see,” she said, frowning.

“Anyways,” he said rubbing the back of his head, turning he left the room, “come on let's unpack the living room. We should be able to get done before, oh shoot, I almost forgot. I have someplace to be at five, let's get started.”

=============================================================================

They spent the next couple hours or so setting up his house. They decided on a cover story, for why she was living with him. It wasn’t fun, despite his best efforts.

They sat on the couch having finished the last box of stuff, “thanks for helping me Scootaloo, I’m glad you’re here,” he said giving her shaggy mane a playful rub.

“Hey! quit it,” she complained, trying to escape his hand. She seemed significantly more irritable today than she had been just last night and the night before. Anytime he asked her to do something while they were setting up his house she would do it with dragging hooves.

“What? It’s not like I can make it any worse.” He jabbed

“That’s how I like it! Now, cut it out!” She demanded in her tomboyish voice, as she batted at his hand.

He removed his hand, “well, sorry princess.”

She looked away from him and growled, “whatever.” Her belly grumbled.

“So you’re getting hungry already?” she just crossed her front legs and frowned, “welp, I kind of am as well, though I’m having dinner with somepony in a couple hours and I don’t mind waiting till then.”

“That’s too long,” she commented.

“Alright, one second,” he went to his room and got some bits and came back, “here,” he said handing her the bits, she swiped them from his hand, “just don’t eat at that fast food restaurant, it’s not entirely healthy for you, you know.”

“Whatever,” she said, before she looked to him somewhat curiously. It was a nice break from her sudden case of resting bitch face that she somehow managed to pull off as a filly. “So, are you going on a date with somepony?” she asked neutrally.

“What? No, I’m not going on a date it’s just a-”

The front door suddenly slammed open, “JAMES!” Sweetie yelled from the open door. She spotted him on the couch and instantly headed towards him, “How come you didn’t tell me you where going on a date with my sister?” She yelled yet it wasn’t an angry yell. It was more of a demanding one. Then she noticed Scootaloo. She stared at her for a long moment in deep thought, “you’re Scootaloo right?”

Scootaloo snickered, “uh huh, I’m sure you’re not going on a date now,” she said gleefully addressing him. James would’ve been glad that Scootaloo’s attitude was now that of happy, if it wasn’t for the reason. Scootaloo jumped off the couch suddenly, “how’d you know my name and who are you?” she asked suspiciously and defensively forcibly pointing a hoof into Sweeties chest a couple times.

“I’m Sweetie Belle and James asked questions about you. What are you doing here?”

“That’s none of your business, and I’ll be staying here now.” Scootaloo stated.

“What does that mean?” Sweetie asked looking to James for answers.

James sighed, “it means she’ll be living here for the foreseeable future, also I’m not going on a date with Rarity. Why do you even think I am?”

Sweetie looked to Scootaloo nervously, “what?” Scootaloo asked. The silence continued.

James sighed, “I think Sweetie is uncomfortable talking about this subject with you here Scootaloo, do you think you could-”

“whatever, I’m going to go get lunch,” Scootaloo said before turning towards the open door and marching to it.

“No fast food, please!” he requested as she reached the door.

“Have fun on your date!” she yelled, slamming the front door on her way out.

“It’s not a-” he got out before the door shut, “one second Sweetie,” he got up and moved to a window. He watched as Scootaloo walked out of sight towards town. He silently went back to the couch and sat down. Sweetie jumped up looking at him perplexed still not angry.

He sighed, “I’m having dinner with Rarity, not a date. Why do you think it’s a date?” He wanted to hug her, to reassure her, but he wasn’t sure if she’d welcome it or not.

“Maybe because all day she’s been going through her clothes trying to find the best dress for her big date. How come you never told me you wanted a herd?”

His mind went blank for a second, that was a word he hasn’t heard in a while, and all that came to mind was old west stories/games, “like a herd of buffalo?” He asked trying to imagine Sweetie and Rarity barreling down an open plain. He wasn’t sure what that had to do with a date.

Sweetie looked at him blankly for a couple seconds before her face turned completely red, “ah ha, n-no I-I don’t think you’d want th-that kind of herd.”

“Sweetie, now I really don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s this have to do with Rarity?”

Sweetie breathed in some, “well a herd is like a family but they have sex so instead of dating one pony you’d be dating however many you want, and I thought that maybe if you were going out on a date with Rarity that you wanted us to be a herd. I would get to be lead mare,” she finished smuggly.

“Wait, wo wo wo, what? Does that mean you were okay with me going on a date with Rarity? Not that I was.”

Sweetie nodded, “I was just upset that you didn’t tell me you wanted a herd,” she finished.

“Umm, okay… but wait why wouldn’t I like the buffalo kind of herd?”

She blushed almost fully again, “th-they have more, well, a lot! more males in there herds, and I don’t think you’d want that.”

“Oh, well, if it is what I’m beginning to think it is then you’re right about that. So, let me get this straight, you were okay with the idea of me going on a date with Rarity?”

“Yep.”

“Why? She’s your sister don’t you find that weird or wrong?”

Sweetie blushed, “No. I want to watch you fuck her.”

“...Sweetie where and when did you learn that word?”

“Yesturday, when I was at the library, I was reading up on sex and dating. It’s where I learned about herds, I think I would’ve been furious if I hadn’t read about those.”

“Oh,” thank god for her habits, “well, try not to say that word around anypony, also if all you want to do is watch me have sex with your sister, then I won’t do it, I think your sister deserves more than that.”

“NO!” Sweetie yelled, “it is more than that, you make me feel like the luckiest filly in the world, and I love my sister. I want her to feel the same way. She’s always stressed out about something or the other, and I know you can make her happy. I want you to go on that date with her. I want her to feel the same way I do. I want you to try to make us a herd.”

“...Umm, wow Sweetie you really know your way into a man's heart. I just feel like I’d be cheating on you if I did it. I don’t want you feeling like- I don’t know that I’m cheating on you or something. It’s bad enough I’m feeling it right now just for even considering this herd thing, and I haven't even done anything yet, how do herds even work?”

Sweetie blinked, “A herd is a group of at least three ponies who agree to become an intimate close knit family. It consists of a head stallion and lead mare who agree on how to welcome new herd mates into the herd. I would be the lead mare and you of course would be the head stallion, umm man.”

He could tell she was basically remembering the exact definition from whatever book she read, “Wait, does that mean there’d be other males in our herd?”

“Only if we both agreed to have them.” She answered.

“Eeehhh, sorry Sweetie but that just doesn’t sound good to me. I’m sorry if I sound selfish but I don’t want other guys shagging my special somepony, or special someponies as the case would seem.”

“That’s okay,” she said with a little bit of resignment, “I knew it was a long shot, but I really do want you to make a herd if you want to, that is.”

“I can’t deny that it is every guys fantasy, okay, I’ll try it. So how exactly would you propose we bring other ponies into our herd, given the fact that we probably shouldn't be dating in the first place?”

“Well...” she blushed up at him and her tail twitched back and forth, “we both have sex with them, for anypony to join our herd. Like, my sister, if Rarity is okay with joining, we’d blindfold her and make her eat out my cunt, while you rut her soo silly she’ll want you to use her as a cock sock. I think th-”

“Seriously Sweetie, what book did you read to learn all of this stuff?” He had purposely been avoiding using terms and words like those so Sweetie wouldn’t accidently say them and then be questioned about where she learned them.

“Sexy Relationships Abridged Version by Glory Whole.”

“Really-hah,” he laughed, “Glory Hole?” She nodded. “Well, I can see your idea maybe working or more likely going incredible horribly.”

“It’ll work trust me,” she looked down sadly, “and not just because you have to.”

He sighed and pushed her chin upwards so she was looking at him again, “I do trust you,” she smiled, “and I’m sorry if I ever made it sound like I dont,” he said giving her ears a scratch. She leaned into it happily, “so, you don’t care if I have like twenty five mares all pining for my attention?” he asked with a gross exageration, “You can’t be there everytime they want to have sex.”

“Only the first time, after that you can rut them whenever,” she explained.

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Yep!” She beamed.

“Well Sweetie, although it feels really weird, I’ll give it a try… but I just don’t see any other mare wanting to join a herd. I mean, what if I started dating somepony you didn’t like but I liked?”

She thought for a moment, “...I’d want you to be rough with her,” she said with a sly smile.

“Jeez Sweetie,” he picked her up, and she squeaked, “fine, I'll try to try get your sister to join our herd.” he brought her close and kissed. He was tempted to lay Sweetie on the couch and fuck her brains out. He knows she’d gladly welcome it, but he had a date he apparently had to make work, and he suspected ponies had better smelling than he did, amongst many other reasons. Instead he let her back down on the couch, “So I finally got everything in place. What do you think?”

She just looked up at him confused.

“About the living room…”

“Oh!” she looked around, “it seems a little bare,” she commented.

“Yes, well some items apparently went missing during the move,” he said, leaving out the fact it was more so Scootaloo's doing, “I’m going to need to go shopping for some stuff.”

“Can we have sex?”

“Sweetie I apparently have a date with your sister in like one and a half hour, you should probably be telling me anything about her, I need to know, if you want this herd thing to work out. Also Scootaloo could come back at any moment and I’d rather not get caught with my pants down.”

“So, that’s a no?” He nodded, she whined, “fine, so what’s the deal with that filly anyway?” She asked.

He wrapped an arm around her, “Well, it could be that her parents move around a lot for work and don’t want her to do that, or it could be that she’s a space alien who’s trying to blend in with the local inhabitants so she could eventually take over the world, or it could be both.”

“Umm, so is she an alien?”

“No Sweetie. She is not an alien. That was just an exaggerated example. Heck, now that I think about it, again, if anything, I’m the alien, though more of an interdimensional alien and not a space alien... Anyways, like I said before, only she can tell you.

So tell me what Rarity likes…”

...

“You look great!” Sweetie praised as James did a twirl in one of his work suits, “oh shoot, I need to go before Rarity realizes I’m gone.”

“Did you not tell your sister where you’re going?”

“I did, she was just preoccupied, I could’ve asked her about anything and she would’ve given me the okay,” she explained, before heading towards the door, “don’t forget the flowers and a box of chocolates.” She said opening the door, “good luck. Don’t mess this up!” She said closing the door.

James sighed and walked to the window and watched Sweetie walk away. Down the street a little Scootaloo was walking back holding a what was clearly a bag of hay fries and a cup from the fast food place. They got close to each other and Sweetie greeted her offering her a hoof shake/bump. Scootaloo said something and kept walking, Sweetie smiled and waved goodbye. Scootaloo stopped and looked back confused before she kept walking.

James sat on the couch, as the door opened, “So I couldn’t help but notice you went to the fast food place,” James commented as she walked up to him, drinking the last of her drink in the loudest way possible.

“So what, it’s not like you’re gonna do anything,” Scootaloo said brazenly.

He looked at her for a moment trying to figure out what was going on. She seemed to be acting out, like the little foals at Canterlot who constantly expect him to do just about everything. He wondered what was going through her head.

She placed her cup on his letters which got them wet from the condensation, “Hey, watch where you put things.” He said quickly taking it off them. He had put his clothes away earlier and for some reason didn't bother with his letters, outside of stacking the important ones, and throwing away the rest.

“Don’t you have a date to go on?” She asked, taking the last hay fry and eating it. She then very deliberately crumbled the bag that held the fries and threw it behind herself, on the ground. As if she was challenging him.

That struck a nerve, “pick that up,” he demanded.

“No.”

“Pick it up and throw it in a trashcan.”

“What’re you gonna do? Send me off to an orphanage?” She said calmly, yet in a threatening manner.

He sighed as he didn’t have time for this, “No, I already promised you that I wouldn’t, and you’re right I do have to get going,” he said as he got up and headed out, “you better pick that up and put it where it belongs before I get back,” he said leaving, she merely stuck her tongue out at him, all it did was remind him he was dealing with a filly.

=============================================================================

He arrived at Rarity’s after finding/buying flowers and a box of chocolates, almost late. Rarity floated the flowers in a vase commenting how’d they’d be a delightful snack for tomorrow and blushed while thanking him for the chocolates.

She had makeup and red lipstick on. If he had to guess he would say it was the same cherry lipstick Sweetie had used, which got him to smile with the image. Either way Rarities application of make-up was that of a professional, her face looked very good.

She pulled him inside and made him change into something more comfortable.

Apparently, she had decided to make him a suit. He changed into it and had to admit it was one of the best suits he ever owned, as it wasn’t nearly as restrictive as every other suit he ever had. He was sure to let Rarity know this. It had its own flare to it. It still was a suit though.

Once he came out of the changing room he couldn’t help but notice Rarity had put on a beautiful long sleek red dress and ruby earrings. She looked all kinds of sexy.

He asked where Sweetie was, which was apparently the library.

They headed out. Rarity leading the way. Talking excitedly and walking with pep the whole time. He tried to pay attention but she bounced around from one subject to the next so fast, on top of that her plot was hard to ignore with its own form of bouncing. The dress did a really good job of enticing one's interest.

She ended up leading them directly to the same place he had his date with Sweetie, “See something you like?” Rarity asked looking back at him intently.

“Umm, wha-”

She laughed, “I’m sorry, I simply couldn’t resist darling,” she said, with a gesture to follow she walked to a table for two and took a seat.

Why of all the places did it have to be this place? “Oh, you know, I’ve eaten here once before,” he supplied as he took his seat across from her.

“You have? They just have the most wonderful salads. The atmosphere here is so romantic and intimate. They have the most dedicant deserts.” She said explained her voice full of desire near the end, while she blinked at him in a clearly sensual way. “Or at least so I’ve been told,” her voice back to its normal self, “this place has been out of my price range, and I wanted to give it a try for such a long time. I hope you don’t mind,” She finished with a sheepish smile.

“It’s-” He began.

“-Hey there stud, who may you be dating today?” came the sudden voice of Daisy right next to him making him jump slightly. She set down the menus and two glasses of water. He had no idea how she snuck up on him while carrying that stuff. She was freaking creepy.

“James do you know this pony?” Rarity asked.

This was it, he was screwed unless he could make his plan work. He’s glad he was paranoid about possibilities like these, “kind of, I ate here last week. This is Daisy?” he asked looking to the mare in question she smiled and nodded, “she was my waiter last time.”

“Yep, and he had quite an interesting date with him last time.” Daisy commented.

“Oh, did he now,” Rarity said looking to him perplexed.

“Could you give us a moment please,” James asked.

“But of course, call me when you’re ready to order.” Daisy said before taking her leave.

James mouth was dry once more. He took a drink of water, “So to what was she referring to some other date?”

“Re-remember when I said your sister needed friends?” She nodded, “well, funny thing about that is your sister made a bet with me. She wanted to go on a date if she beat me at a game of Go Fish, and yeah, she won it…” he finished with a shrug.

“Well, at least she has good taste, why would you even agree to that?”

“She wasn’t happy Rarity,” he stated, “she needed someone to take her seriously. I thought I was helping but when I told her it wasn’t a serious date, she didn’t take it well. I apologized and said I’d be her friend and she accepted that.” He finished getting another drink.

Rarity looked to be in thought, “How come you haven’t told me about this before?”

He sighed and sagged intentionally, hoping his acting was good, “how was I supposed to tell you about it? I’m Sweeties only friend, would you have let me stay her friend had you known she had and or has a crush on me and that we went on a mock date?”

“nn-yy-wh-” Rarity stuttered.

“Would you have forbid Sweetie from seeing her only friend?” he continued, “besides, I have a special somepony.”

“WHAT!?” Rarity shouted in shock jumping off her chair and standing, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY HAVE A- WHAT!?”

James held out his hands and waved them in a fashion asking her to calm down, “Rarity please, you’re making a scene.”

She looked around and blushed in a meek manner, “...right. Sorry to disturb you everypony,” she said sitting back down still blushing in embarrassment. She frowned in disdain at him, “Explain.”

“Well, do you know what a herd is?” He asked.

“You want me to join a herd? Your herd?” Her eyes let up in some kind of understanding slightly.

His eyes scrunched up in confusion, “Well I mean, yes?” he shook his head, “No it’s umm,” he sighed, “look my special somepony really wants you to join us, the herd? This is so confusing, anyways, th-this is only the first date and I want to get to know you more before I let you or anypony for that matter join our herd, I guess. I mean what even are your thoughts on herds?”

Rarity made a tsk sound, “I’ll admit, I haven't given much serious thought into joining a herd. I’ve always wanted a stallion to whisk me away in a romantic storm of passion and love,” she admitted passionately. She gave a sad sigh, “so who is this lucky mare who’s in the process of claiming and sharing your heart?”

“I’m afraid that’s a secret up until you join us, the herd, arg. You know what I mean.”

“Ohh, a mystery pony, I admit that sounds very enticing, is it Pinkie Pie? I haven't seen her since I got back. Have you been keeping her busy?” she said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

He feels like he’s heard that name before but couldn’t remember when, where, and why, “I’m not going to say, or give you any clues as to who it could be, outside of the fact she is a she... So it sounds like you’re not interested in joining any herds?”

“I said no such thing, darling. I just need sometime to think about it.” She said.

“Well, maybe I can win you over while you think about it? Because I’ll admit I rather think your personality matches your looks, which is to say both are exceptional.”

She lightly blushed, “Oh stop,” she said laughing.

“I don’t think I’ve done this yet, but your dress looks amazing. I’m sure you made it yourself?”

“Why yes, thank you for noticing and how are you liking your suit?” She asked.

“How could I not notice? That dress is putting lots of naughty thoughts in my head and we haven't even kissed yet,” she blushed and commented about something under her breath, “what I said before about the suit still stands.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, “well, I am getting quite famished,” she said her horn going aglow along with her menu, “perhaps you could tell me what my dear sister ordered?”

“Uh, that was,” he picked up is menu and looked it over, “the rose salad, she said it was good. I wouldn’t know though I can’t eat most flowers. I got the pecan salad, which was good. I think I’ll give their pasta a try this time around.”

“Hmm, I’ve made up my mind, did you?” he nodded, “waiter,” she said raising a forehoof.

…

The rest of the date lasted much longer than Sweeties did. Rarity had a lot to talk about. It was nice talking to someone on mostly even grounds. He could almost confuse her for what Canterlot considers a noble. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had something that the majority of Canterlot nobles were missing. She was genuine while they were fake.

They talked about his world. They briefly covered relationships, basically him saying majority involve only two people. Rarity was interested in what kind of fashion humans had, once he mentioned they just about always wear clothes. He did his best to describe various things, but fashion and clothes was not something he really kept track of.

He asked her about her parents and what their deal was. Apparently, they were very loving and supportive but often gone, whether it be for work or vacation. It was hard hearing it, if only because he knew how much that fact hurt Sweetie.

Daisy had acted fairly professional this time around. Considering how much time they’d spent there he left a good tip.

Rarity drank a decent amount of wine. He had water. By the time they were done it was almost dark out and Rarity was a little over tipsy, but not quite drunk. He had to steady her with his hand once in a while as they walked back to her Boutique. She thanked him for being a gentle stallion and escorting her home, “do you want to come in?” she asked bluntly holding the door open for him.

“Uhh, I think you may have had to much wine Rarity, besides I thought you wanted time to think about us,” he commented, not sure what else do.

She laughed at him, falling to the floor on her back. Her dress following her curves to a certain point. “oh my goodness James, darling, not for, not for that…” she said with a blush, turning over she stood back up with a little bit of wobble, “I finished the last of your clothes earlier today. I’ll go get them one second.” She finished walking inside towards a back room. He walked inside at the door and waited.

“Pst,” he heard to his right. Looking there he saw Sweetie up the stairs crouched down, “how’d it go?”

He looked back to Rarity only to see the door she walk out of sight through the other side of the door, “she said, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to join a herd, but otherwise I think it went well.”

“Did she-”

“James darling, here you go,” Rarity said loudly from the other side of the room, “oops,” she said bringing a hoof to her mouth, “I hope I didn’t wake Sweetie,” she said, before walking to him with clothes on her back.

At the mention he looked back only to find empty stairs, “I think you may want to check if she’s even here before you assume she is,” he said picking up his clothes.

“Oh my, you are quite right, I’ll be right back.” She said before hastily and clumsily getting up the stairs.

After a moment of waiting she came back, “She’s in her room sleeping,” she said quietly while slowly walking down them using the wall for support.

“That’s good,” he said in the same manner, “soo~ I guess I’ll see ya later then?”

She hummed in agreement, “I had a very nice time. I wish I could give you a more definitive answer, but I just need some time to think about it.”

“I understand. I’m still not so sure about it myself…” he stated, “but S- ahem, my special somepony really wants to make a herd and who am I to deny her something that she wants, especially if that thing is also something that just about every guy, including myself, wants when they’re growing up.”

“Ooh and what would that be?” Rarity asked curiously.

“Uhhh,” he said with a frown, “well it is rather childish, remember when I mentioned we usually only have couples. Well, most males of my species usually grow up with fantasies of having more than one female to have sex with at the same time.”

“Mmm, I suppose I can see where you’re coming from if that kind of thing isn’t common,” she said rather casually, she yawned.

“I’ll take that as my que to head home, have a goodnight Rarity.” He said stepping outside.

She walked to the door, “Goodnight James,” she said waving him goodbye before closing the door.

James walked home. He unlocked and walked in to find Scootaloo reading on the couch with a bunch of comic books on the couch or coffee table. The lamp lit the room. Various coupons and receipts were scattered on the floor. He found the hay fry bag exactly where she threw it on the floor. He was getting a migraine just looking at the mess.

He wasn’t going to be the one to clean it.

He thought she was reading but on closer inspection he quickly deduced she was actually asleep and drooling on her comic book, which was propped up by a pillow. He walked to her and gently lifted her head and removed the comic book, letting her head rest on the pillow. He then went and got a lite blanket and draped it over her. He turned off the lamp and headed to his room for sleep.