Purrs, Paws and Collars

Above a public library lived three people, the librarian, her little brother and their pet.

The latter of whom had awoken like clockwork.

She brushed her multicoloured hair out of her eyes, then stretched her arms and legs before realising it was the first of two big days where she and the rest of her friends would be hanging out for the majority of the day having fun and relaxing.

Scrambling out of bed to put her pyjamas on, she opened the door to her bedroom and tiptoed onto the landing. At the other end was two doors' side by side. It was the closest one she had her eyes on.

Getting on her hands and knees and padding across the soft carpet, she pawed at the door. After ten seconds of no reply, she used both her hands and added in some whining and just as she had expected, she heard a mumbled invite.

The door clicked open, and she entered the bedroom, the walls lined with books of varying genres and violet wallpaper.

She saw some messy purple hair and, with a foot, pushed the door closed.

Moving up to the bed and opposite the other girl's head, she sat on her knees and began softly panting.

At first, she wasn't sure the other girl could hear her, which was until she noticed the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

The panting girl took this as a challenge and leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. When there was still no movement, she licked the tip of the 'sleeping' girl's nose and was awarded a little giggle that ended in a snort and then rolled over so that she was lying on her back.

The now smirking intruder raised an eyebrow and clambered on top of the more giant bed, completely disregarding any stealth and noticed her target was trying very hard to keep a straight face but failing horribly.

She stalked up to her sleeping form and noticed her resolve was starting to finally break and leaned her face down while panting more profoundly.

She laid a single gentle kiss on to the purple-haired girl's lips, and this was reciprocated in kind. They remained kissing for roughly a minute before breaking apart.

The girl beneath the covers opened her eyes and noticed the girl above her in the blue PJ's and smiled softly before lifting her arm, allowing the girl to get under the covers and snuggled up next to her.

The new bed occupant was panting much softer as fingers scratched and massaged her scalp.

"Good morning, Rainbow."

The girl in question murmured something intelligible and cuddled in closer, laying her head on the girl's shoulder, breathing gently.
Twilight whispered in response to her pet's mumble.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow, I didn't quite get that?."

Rainbow lifted her head ever so slightly, eyes half-lidded and gave a small smile, after which she placed a tender kiss on Twilights neck and collar bone.

"Good morning Twi, did you have a nice sleep?."

Twilight moved her hand down to Rainbow's ear and began a mixture of scratching and massaging that Rainbow responded to more positively.

"Yes, I did...how about you, did you sleep well, Dashie."

Rainbow didn't give a verbal reply but nodded her head in acknowledgement.

They lay there enjoying one another's warmth. The snuggling lasted for half an hour or so. Neither of them wanted the other to move. Twilight enjoyed it when Rainbow let down her defences.

Twilight always knew that Rainbow's tough exterior and bravado was just an act even when they were younger, having built up an image of herself that she felt she needed to maintain even around her friends.

Twilight was one of two friends with who she would become less guarded.

This mock-up suit of armour that she wore on a near-daily basis had crumbled and disappeared altogether when Twilight and Rainbow started dating, even allowing her other friends to see herself in such a vulnerable state more often. Rainbow was nervous that if she acted the same way around Twilight, but around her other friends, she would get teased until the new dawn.

After much charging from her girlfriend of two years, Rainbow was happy to see that she had gained nothing short of respect and support, which gave her the courage to be her true self every day, even around strangers.

One aspect of Rainbow's true personality that shone through significantly was her timid nature.

Rainbow acted brave and stubborn when her oldest friend was being bullied, but she never wanted to act like that, but it carried on for a few years, and it wasn't until; she met Twilight that she could be herself again.

"Hey Rainbow, why don't you go and wake up Spike."

She looked up with puppy dog eyes and shook her head, moving one socked foot so that it was resting against Twilight's feet. Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile.

"If you go and get Spike up, I'll make you the 'Twilight Special' for breakfast."

Rainbow's eyes shot open, and the heavy breathing came back full force.

She immediately assaulted Twilight's face with a smattering of light kisses. Twilight burst out laughing and gently smacked Rainbow on the head in a mock attempt at self-defence. After the kiss attack, Rainbow got off the bed and left Twilight so she could get dressed. Rainbow sat outside the door that said ‘NO GIRLS ALLOWED’ (Unless your Twilight or Rainbow) and began scratching at the door.

“Spike...spike...spike...spike...spike...spike...spike...spike...spike...spike.”

A tired reply came from inside.

"Oh god, Rain, stop. It's seven in the morning."

Rainbow opened the door and crawled into the semi-messy room, and saw the spiky green hair. She noticed one of Spike's hand's draped down the side of the bed and began to lick each finger. The hand twitched, and then she began to nudge his hand with her nose.

Spike yawned, then wiped at his eyes with one hand and stroked Rainbow's head with the other.

"Okay, Rain, I'm up, I'm up...good girl."

"Come on, Spike, your sisters doing the 'Twilight Special."

Spike shot up out of bed, and both he and Rainbow ran downstairs at a blistering pace.

They both seated themselves at the table, eagerly awaiting their promised food. They did not have to wait long for Twilight, now fully dressed, to turn the corner balancing three plates of pancakes topped with cream and a mixture of fruit sandwiched in-between each one.

Spike and Rainbow looked on in awe, both of them dribbling with their mouths hanging open. Twilight set each plate down on the table.

"Thanks, Twi, you're the best."

"Yeah, cheers, Sis, you do the best breakfast."

Twilight grabbed a green, blue and purple collar and a hairband and walked behind Rainbow, distracted with eating.

Twighlight gathered up her pet's hair and, using the band, gave Rainbow a ponytail, then secured the collar to her neck and adjusted its size, so it wasn't too tight.

The metal nameplate dangled down with an engraving of a lightning bolt on one side, and on the other, a telephone number to call in case Rainbow went missing...again.

After everyone had finished their pancakes, a sudden barrage of knocking coming from the door to their above library apartment and had alerted Rainbow.

"Twilight, who do you think that is?."

Twilight crossed her arms and looked at Rainbow with a knowing smile.

"Honestly, Rainbow, who else other than you, Spike and I have keys to this apartment."

Rainbow scrunched her eyes in thought, and then the light bulb in her head shone to life, and she gasped.

"SCOOTALOO!"

She shouted, running to the door, fiddling with all the locks, and when she was able to open the door finally, she was suddenly glomped to the floor with a sneak attack hug from the younger girl dressed in an orange hoodie and shorts. Rainbow ruffled her dark pink hair.

"You okay squirt, how's mum and dad."

Scootaloo helped Rainbow up off the floor.

"They're doing great, but look at this."

Rainbow looked where Scoots was pointing and noticed the orange and pink checkerboard pattern collar around the younger girl's neck.

"You got one too, Scoots, that's awesome."

Rainbow pointed to Scoot's collar and then pointed to Twilight.

Scootaloo understanding the mime, jogged over to Twilight, high-fiving Spike as she passed him at the table.

Scootaloo gave another but this time gentler hug to Twilight and showed her the collar.

"It suits you. Scooty did Windy and Bo give you that."

"Yeah, it's so cool..."

Scootaloo started to fidget, remembering the reason for this visit in the first place.

"Is something wrong, Scooty?."

Twilight asked in a curious tone.

"Well...Bloom and Sweetie got their collars already cuz there a couple of months older than me, and well, I was just wondering...if I could join you and the others on your biweekly outings."

Twilight put a finger to her chin and thought with a hum.

"Only if Windy and Bo are okay with it."

She started jumping up down in feverish joy.

"They already said yes. I asked before I left."

The jumping soon stopped, and Scootaloo looked like she had another question to ask.

"Hey uh, Twilight, I was just wondering if you...well um...that is... to say."

"You don't need to be embarrassed, Scooty. Just ask away."

Scootaloo took a few deep breaths and asked the question that had been weighing on her mind since yesterday.

"Windy and Bo already gave me their blessing, but I need to ask you too, I know there's a spare bed in Rainbow's room, and I didn't want to force myself into your lives but...would you be willing to take me in as a new pet...please?".

Having heard the question wordlessly, Twilight reached a jar, removed one sweet, held it aloft, and Scootaloo instinctively adopted a begging stance.

"Speak."

She did as Twilight said and gave her best dog impression.

"Arf."

A grinning Twilight twirled the treat-filled hand, and the other ran in a small circle. In a sharp motion, she then lifted her hand higher into the air, and Scootaloo jumped as high as she could, then Twilight presented her with an upturned palm.

"Paw."

Scootaloo quickly plopped her hand on top of Twi's and, as a reward, was given the sweet.

"I think I can look after one more...what do you think, Spike?."

The other half of Rainbow's 'owners' gave a thumbs up.

"Rain is always well behaved, and I know how much you like to take after her, so yeah, I have no problem with it. The more, the merrier, as they say."

Scootaloo ran to Rainbow, who was still in the living room performing her after breakfast stretches, and told her the news; the sound of cheering emanated from the living room.

Scootaloo left to go home and tell her adoptive parents that she would be able to stay at Twilights and, by extension, attend the pet playdate with her friends and 'big sister'.

Twilight ushered everyone upstairs to shower and get dressed.

Spike called up after Rainbow, who had gotten a sneaky headstart.

"Rain, you better not use all the hot water like you did last night! I swear we need to get a new boiler."