Summer gently knocked on the door with a clop clop. "Maple?" There was no reply. With a soft frown, she reached for the door handle and pulled with her hoof coiled around the large handle. The door was not locked and swung out, revealing darkness inside. "Maple, it's me..."

Still no response. Summer entered at a slow pace. Had she caught Maple out and about, perhaps? That wouldn't be the worst possible scenario. Nudging the door shut behind her, she was suddenly in darkness that seemed far too complete for the early morning. "Ya have good drapes," she complimented nothing, unsure if Maple was anywhere nearby to hear it. "Maple?"

Summer advanced slowly, using her hooves to feel for obstacles as she went one step at a time. "It's Summer. Are ya here? Let's talk... please?" But there still was no response coming. She had found a hallway and made her way down it, barely avoiding crashing into a small table there in the hallway. She took a moment making sure it stopped jiggling.

"I keep meaning to move that," came a sudden soft voice.

Summer yelped in fright, jumping in place and turning to see what said that, but it was still dark.

"Ah didn't mean to scare ya none." Summer could feel the other pony brushing against her, then a loud click. Light flooded the area, dispelling the gloom. There was Maple, her eyes tired, fur stained with tears. "Ah'm pretty good at doin' thin's without tryin' though."

"Maple..."

"Don't say it... Ah did it." Maple let out a soft sigh. "Ah knew... inside. Ya two were a thing, and I just shoved myself right in there... That weren't what real friends do." She set a hoof on Summer's shoulder. "Ah've been bad, real bad. Ah de--"

"--Stop that!" Summer swatted the hoof away just to grab Maple by both shoulders. "Everypony involved was a bit dumb, alright? Ah didn't know mahself, ya knew exactly what ya wanted even if maybe ya shouldn't been reachin' fer it. We got caught up in the moment and... alright. We're friends, ain't we?"

Maple looked down and away, her ears pinned on her head. "Seen friends break up fer less than this..."

Summer stood up properly and started for the living room, getting the light switch on the way. "Look, first, stop hidin' in the dark. Second, ah didn't come here to tell you to go away and don't come back."

"Ya did the first part." Maple trailed after Summer, a gulf between them that she made no effort to close. "And ah reckon that's what ah get."

Summer turned back to her friend, sitting in the larger living area. "So, ya done with the 'power of the kirin' thin'?"

Maple's cheeks began to darken. "When he looks at ya... Ya really can just fall in. But... Ah guess so... Ah did come there to save ya, jus' so we're clear. I thought I was bein' a hero."

"You are a hero." Summer gently touched her nose to Maple's warm cheek. "And my friend."

Maple's breath caught at that, going still.

"And I didn't come here to tell ya to stay away. n'fact, we talked about it."

"Yer... special." Maple let out a held breath in a gust. "How do you talk to him like that? It's like you can hear words, and all I see is a special, silent, creature."

"We have a bond, and... part of it is gettin' used to it." Summer's lips pulled upwards into a little smile. "He gives hints, ya learn to read 'em. And you'll get a chance."

The noise that Maple made was not quite an mmm, just confused, her head inclined.

"Yer welcome back, Maple... Ah needed a moment, but ah ain't... callin' quits. Just, nothin' past a hug when ah ain't there!" She thrust a hoof at her friend. "Also take a bath. Yer a mess."

Maple ran a fetlock over her face. "Ah ain't!"

"Ya are." She gently thumped her side against Maple as she walked past. "And ah'm late fer work, so ah should get goin'. If ya want to go say hello to Winter, go ahead, just... no funny business."

Maple watched the direction that Summer had fled in before slowly starting to move herself. "Bath first..."

"She's fine." Maple was standing on the side of the road, chatting with a few of her friends. "I was worked up 'bout nothin'."

"That's Maple," laughed one of the other mares. "So everythin's alright?"

"Right as rain," Maple assured with a raised hoof. "Sorry fer fussin'. Ah was jus' worried fer a friend."

"Maple, worried?" One of the other mares leaned in. "Maple, that's your default."

The first nodded softly. "But we appreciate it. Ya always worryin' for other ponies. It's never selfish. Yer like the worried mom of the town."

The second joined in the nodding more energetically. "Momma Maple," she laughed out. "I love it. That fits things pretty well. When you worry, we check thin's out. Sometimes yer right, sometimes not. But it keeps us close."

"Like one big family." The first mare threw her forehooves wide. "Ya don't go changin' on us, Maple. So what was that all about? Ya weren't the only one to see that dragon pony thing."

Maple waved it away. "Jus' a creature, not a monster."

Both mares blinked at her.

"A creature?" Maple rolled a single hoof in the air. "Like a griffon or a dragon. Jus' like you or me."

One mare leaned forward, the first of them. "Ah got that, but what kinda creature? Ah heard they were creepin' in bushes."

The second raised a brow. "Yeah, what kinda creature? Ya met them? Spill it!" She prodded Maple and the first joined, the two poking at her repeatedly.

"Hey!" She danced back, but her friends kept right with her, not relenting. "C'mon!" But wherever she went, her friends were right there, demanding to know. "I shouldn't..."

"Why not?" A new voice demanded. There was Cherry Jubilee, walking down the road at a relaxed pace. "Afternoon, ladies. Ah heard somethin' 'bout one of my dear mares and ah couldn't just ignore it."

Under Cherry's gaze, Maple began to fall apart. One of the richest ponies around, practically the sun around which the rest of the town orbited, how could she deny Miss Jubilee anything?! "Well... you see...."

The other two mares shied away, cowed by Jubilee's presence, but Cherry wasn't even paying them any mind. She strolled right up to Maple and sat beside her. "Summer came in today looking out of sorts, and it ain't the first day she wasn't quite right. Now, ah care 'bout my workers. They're part of mah family, y'all know that. So if you know anythin', any little thing at all..."

"Well, you see..."

Cherry smiled at Maple with easy confidence. "Did she find a stallion?"

Maple's cheeks lit up bright. "You already know?!"

"No, but ah had a guess, that you just done confirmed fer me." She stood up, turning to face Maple directly. "Now is this a good fella or not? Be honest."

"He's..." The other two mares were leaning in, eyes shining with curiosity. "Stoic." Stoic felt like a safe word to apply. "Good cooker. Real... He cares 'bout her." Maple began to tap her hooves together, fidgeting them as she tried to sit still.

"Yer hidin' the good parts, and ya aren't very good at it." Cherry raised a hoof and gently tapped Maple on the head. "Just tell me he isn't trouble."

"No! I mean yes! I mean he isn't trouble." Maple sprang to her hooves. "He didn't mean to scare nopony!"

The first female smirked at that. "Then why was he hiding in the bushes and skulkin' around?"

Cherry nodded softly. "She raises a good question. Ya up fer enlightenin' us?"

Maple fussed with her hat as if it weren't quite seated right, which it wasn't with Cherry's patting of it. "He ain't a pony." The second mare gasped dramatically. "It ain't against no crime!" Maple defended hotly.

Cherry raised a hoof. "No one said it was. Are they a dragon? I heard there was a dragon involved."

Maple's cheeks darkened further, wishing for the ground to swallow her up and save her from the conversation. "Not a dragon. He's a--"

"Wait," cut in the first female. "Didn't people say it was a girl whatever it was?"

The second nodded rapidly. "Oh yeah, I remember that. All slender and, you know." She made a shape with her forehooves of the general mare outline, getting a nod back from the first.

"He is a bit... feminine in shape, but he's a he, for sure." Her blush became worse, thinking about what made him a proper stallion. "He's a bit shy, and don't talk none... And he ain't a pony, so he was tryin'--"

Cherry turned towards her factory. "Ah'm gettin' the idea. She went and got herself an exotic stallion and he's not so good with pony folk." She looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "Not all pony folk. Reckon he's gettin' along with Summer just fine." She twirled back on Maple, dust kicked up in the motion. "Ain't he?"

"Yes!" Maple squeaked, retreating several steps. "She... understands him. He likes her plenty."

Cherry gave a single wave. "Then there ain't nothin' to be worried fer. Thank you, Maple. Ya put my heart at ease. Now, if he ever does go hurtin' her, I expect you to come galloping over to me. Ya hear? Summer's a right proud mare. She won't tell me, so that's yer job." She thrust a hoof at Maple directly. "Tell me you'll do that."

The other two mares shared a look but dared not speak while Cherry expected an answer from Maple. Maple cleared her throat softly, taking a step forward towards Cherry. "I'll do my best, um, ma'am..."

Cherry Jubilee softly pat one of Maple's cheeks. "You're a darling. How are the trees doin'?"

"Oh, uh, just fine." Maple looked dizzy from the whiplash in topics. "Not time yet for them, but they're growin' just fine."

"With you tendin' 'em, ah reckon they'll be just fine." She turned to the other two mares, still standing there. "You two have nothing better to do than to gape at ponies handling business?"

"No, ma'am!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Their simultaneous squeaks marked their abrupt fleeing from the area. Cherry turned her head back to Maple. "Ah'm right glad we had this little chat. Stubborn little Summer worries her momma Jubilee somethin' fierce sometimes. Ah had feared so many worse things than... this." She leaned in towards Maple. "Tell her she should bring him by sometime. Ain't right ah ain't met him yet."

"Y-yes. Ah mean, sure!" Mental images of the three of them in their strange relationship danced in her head. Still, others had done it recently. Royalty had done it. Sure, she wasn't royalty, but... "Miss Jubilee?"

"Hmm? What's on your mind?"

"Ya hear about the, uh, princesses?"

Cherry cocked a brow at that. "Who hasn't, hon? Be a spot more specific."

"How they had a herd going; what do you think of that?" Not that she was at all invested. No way...

"Scandalous, but what they do is their business." She leaned in, nose twitching softly. "Don't affect how they run the country none. What a pony does behind closed doors ain't none of my business." She glanced away and back at Maple. "Ah hear they don't do nothing nohow. Must be one of them 'political marriages', like the ole books. Ya ever read those?"

"Like the old books," Maple laughed out nervously. "Yeah, I heard of those... What if a pony that weren't a princess did that?"

"I'd call 'em crazy." Jubilee rolled her eyes. "Look, darling, little filly. I've been around the block, been with a few stallions, a few mares... Don't look like that." She booped Maple right on the snoot. "The more ponies you get involved, the more complicated it gets fast. Ponies get hurt."

"Yeah..."

"You be a good mare now." Cherry Jubilee strode away, heading towards her cherry factory.

Author's Note

You'll shoot your eye out.

Written early for patreons who got this ahead of everyone else. Want to get early chapters, or even your own story written? atreon!

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