It had been almost a week since Nightmare Night.

After a thorough cleaning of his apartment’s living room and bathroom, Chrome Shield had gotten back into his routine of attending classes, and handling his weekly duties with the Royal Cadets.

Now that the weekend was upon him, the open window ruffled some of the papers on his desk and a cup of coffee sat nearby. Reading through one of his textbooks, he was just scribbling down some additional notes on Equestrian history, when there was a knock on the front door.

Opening it up, he found his eyes darting down to the sweater-encased bosom before him, before quickly re-routing his gaze up to a familiar pair of green eyes.

“Hi,” smiled Sweetie Belle. “I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

“Oh no,” replied Chrome. “Was just doing some studying. You know how it is.”

“Tell me about it. Me and my friends are plotting out our midterm strategies. Anyways, I came to return these to you.”

It was then that Sweetie backed up a ways, allowing a little room for her right arm to pass through the doorway, and hand Chrome a paper bag.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Your clothes, remember? You loaned them to me the day after Nightmare Night.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, looking into the bag and pulling out his shirt, which had been nicely cleaned and folded. “You know, I’d almost forgotten I had loaned them to you. Sure you don’t want them back?”

“No thanks, the top was too small for me anyways, remember?”

Chrome merely nodded, trying not to think too hard about the door-filling dirigibles before him, straining to be contained in one of his shirts.

“I also wanted to see if you were free for some lunch,” she blushed. “Given how I kinda…made a mess last time? I figured I’d treat you out as a way of saying sorry…um…everything cleaned up okay, right?”

“Yeah, nothing too serious,” said Chrome. “I’ve handled worse on clean-up duty with the Cadets. Now that you mention it, I could probably do with something to eat. Let me just take care of a few things first, and I’ll be right out.”

It wasn’t long before the two had left the grounds of the campus, and set hoof onto the familiar, high-classed streets of Canterlot. The early autumn chill already had a number of ponies wearing warmer clothing, albeit quite suitable for most with a high-society look to them. One thing that hadn’t changed, were the glances Sweetie Belle endured due to her enlarged assets. Chrome saw a few older ponies give her chest a half-lidded scoff, and tried to start up a conversation with Sweetie Belle.

“I didn’t get in trouble with your roommates, did I?” he asked, a thought that had passed through his mind a few times that week.

“You mean Applebloom and Scootaloo?” asked Sweetie.

“Yeah. You three seemed to be really serious about that pinkie-promise thing and...I didn’t really end up getting you back to where you lived before the night was over.”

“Oh, I got an earful from them about that,” sighed Sweetie. “Let’s just say they were very concerned when I came back wearing somepony else’s clothing.”

“And, what did you tell them about…what happened?”

“Not much. Just that I woke up hung over on your couch. You let me clean myself up, gave me some clothes, and I headed back.”

“…really?” asked Chrome. “No mention about how big you got, or how I ended up having to milk you or-“

As he said this aloud, he saw a well-to-do couple glance at the two of them, and quickly quieted down.

“Look, I’m…still trying to process what happened, okay?” replied Sweetie. “I don’t know how or why I grew, but I’ll tell my friends when I’m good and ready.”

“Alright,” said Chrome, “but you have to admit it isn’t a common thing to have happe-“

“Can we just drop it?” asked Sweetie, as her eyes caught sight of a small cafe. “Oh, I’ve heard good things about this place. What do you say we give it a try?”

“Whatever you wish, madame,” said Chrome, making a grand gesture towards the entrance.

“Your acting skills need work,” she replied, rolling her eyes as she walked past him and bounced over to the cafe’s host.

After a short wait, the two were ushered inside, and up to the second floor of the busy cafe. The aisles were much more narrow than Sweetie Belle had expected, and the poor pony found herself embarrassingly squeezing in her bosom with her arms. This kept her from knocking things off of tables or bumping into the arms of a number of ponies, but she still garnered plenty of wide-eyed stares.

Once the two were seated, the small table they were at proved to be another problem, as her bosom took up a good three-quarters of table space. Chrome tried to ignore the alluring spread of tit-flesh and straining sweater buttons, by drinking almost two full glasses of water.

“Maybe, we should go somewhere else,” she said, as a server came by, and handed them some menus.

“Why?” asked Chrome, trying to act casual. “A little warm in here? Maybe I should ask them to open a window.”

“Feels a little…tight,” she said, hiding her head behind her menu. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to...enjoy a meal here.”

Chrome easily got the point, given there was no place a server could set down a plate in front of her. As his eyes glanced around, he saw a few ponies enjoying a small pizza placed on an elevated rack, which gave him an idea.

The next time a server came by, he whispered something to her. A few moments later, the server returned with one of the elevated racks. As Sweetie watched, Chrome began to wedge the underside of the holder under her chest!

“What are you doing?” she whispered, trying not to cause an even bigger scene.

“Trust me on this one,” he replied.

Sweetie looked confused, as she felt the metal struts of the holder slide under her bosom, and saw the metal rack’s top seem to hover over it.

When the server came back, Chrome and Sweetie Belle ordered their food, though the server cast a strange look at the holder before walking away.

When the server returned with their food, Chrome pointed to the pizza rack, and Sweetie watched as her meal was placed on top…allowing her easy access to the salad she had ordered!

“So that was your plan,” she said, as she gingerly picked up a fork, and began to eat. “You know, you could have clued me in.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t think of it already,” said Chrome.

“Must have slipped my mind.”

“But returning my clothes didn’t. I still say you could have just given them back. Doing laundry isn’t a problem for me.”

“I could have,” said Sweetie, “but my older sister Rarity would never let me live down not repaying what you did for me.”

“Really? And what does your sister do for a living?”

“She’s a fashion designer. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years from her, it’s generosity.”

“Sounds like a good trait to have.”

“Well to tell the truth, she can’t escape it,” chuckled Sweetie. “It’s her Element.”

“How do you mean?”

“Oh, she’s the Element of Generosity.”

Chrome almost choked on his sandwich, trying to stifle a laugh.

“I guess that’s one way to put it,” he said. “Must be nice to have a sister who sets such a good example.”

“I’m being serious,” said Sweetie Belle. “You know, I thought you were open-minded.”

“I am, but the Elements are serious stuff that’s part of history. You also have to admit, something like that in the hands of a fashion designer sounds like quite a far-fetched story.”

Sweetie Belle just sat there for a few moments, staring at Chrome as she chewed on the forkful of salad. As she swallowed, her eyes widened slightly.

“What?” asked Chrome. “You look like you’re thinking of something.”

“You know what?” she asked. “Why don’t we visit Canterlot Castle? I haven’t been back there since…well, you’ll see.”

“What are you up to?” asked Chrome, as they made their way through the entrance-way of the castle.

“Up to?” asked Sweetie Belle, following some tourists through the main courtyard. “I was just thinking of a few things I hadn’t seen since I was a filly. Wanna walk down memory lane with me, Mr Royal-Cadet-in-Training?”

Chrome could sense a playful tone in her voice, and after a few moments, followed her into a room with a sign labeled, “Royal History.”

Under a number of glass cases, were artifacts from ponies and stallions who had been in the castle throughout the years. Sweetie glanced around, ignoring such prominent items as a sinister-looking helmet and a weathered candlestick holder. Then she saw what she was looking for, and motioned for Chrome to come over.

Chrome soon found himself staring at the headdress worn by Princess Cadence on her wedding day, along with a royal crest her husband Shining Armor had worn.

“So, what exactly am I looking at?” chuckled Chrome. “Are you one of those ponies that wants to get married in the castle one day?”

“No,” smirked Sweetie. “Look at the picture.”

Between the items was a royal wedding photo, showing those who has been part of the ceremony. As Chrome’s eyes moved over their faces, he found them stopping on the flower fillies…and one who had white skin, with pink-and-purple curls cascading down to her shoulders.

“Is that…you?” he asked.

“Uh-duhh,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Oh, read the description card too.”

Chrome tore his eyes away to read the paragraph about the items worn by the rulers of the Crystal Empire. At the bottom, was a small line that read: “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's wedding headdress furnished by Rarity (The Element of Generosity).”

As he turned back to look at Sweetie Belle, a mischievous grin was spreading across her face, as she could see the lights inside the blue stallion’s head were coming on.

“She designed all of the clothing for the wedding,” beamed Sweetie Belle. “She was one of the bridesmaids too. You can see her there on the far-left in the picture.”

“Who can you see?” asked an olden grey mare behind Sweetie Belle.

“My sister Rarity,” replied Sweetie, gesturing to the picture. “She’s right there, see? And that’s me and my friends as flower fillies.”

“You don’t say, dear,” said the mare, who then began to ask Sweetie all manner of questions about being in the wedding party. Soon, a number other ponies had joined in, crowding around the full filly, wanting to hear more.

Chrome could see Sweetie was getting into the conversation, and decided to give her a little privacy. Walking through a nearby archway, he found himself in a long corridor, leading to the huge wooden doors of the throne room. While the doors were barred by two royal guards, a number of tourists were snapping pictures of the huge stained glass windows lining the corridor.

As he followed along, the image he had seen of Rarity with her curly shock of purple hair, popped out at him in one window…then another, and then another. Soon, Chrome found himself staring at one iteration of Rarity, her rather voluptuous figure encased in a flowing white gown made up of multiple glass pieces. She was one of several multi-colored ponies, casting their gaze on a group of multi-colored gems.

“Those are some ponies, aren’t they?” came an old voice from behind Chrome.

“Must be,” said Chrome. “They’re on a few windows in here.”

“I hear they all resided in Ponyville, and learned the magic of friendship from Princess Celestia herself.”

“Yeah, they told us about that in school, but I didn’t really know their names except for Princess Twilight Sparkle. I actually met the sister of one of them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the white pony there has a younger sister named Sweetie Belle,” said Chrome, turning around. “She’s right out-“

Half-way through his turn, Chrome found himself smooshing against something soft…and found Sweetie Belle right behind him, smiling mischievously.

“Oh I met her a looong time ago,” said Sweetie, still using the ‘old mare’ voice. “I hear her sister is quite pretty, but there’s something about that little filly that really stands out.”

As they headed back to the university, Sweetie led Chrome on one more little sightseeing tour.

Several blocks away, they came across the storefront for Rarity’s shop, Canterlot Carousel. The shop was closed for the day, but the two peered in through the windows, as Sweetie Belle made a few remarks about the place and some of the clothing they could see. She noted that Rarity made it a point to visit all of her boutique locations, and would probably be stopping by this one sometime after Hearts and Hooves Day.

Next, Chrome was led past a fancy recording studio, where he was regaled with a story about how Sweetie saved her sister’s career with Sapphire Shores…thanks to some help from Princess Luna.

“Wow, didn’t expect you to be much of a braggart,” chuckled Chrome, getting a hip-check (with a bit of side-boob) for his remark. “Hey, what’d I say?”

“You know what you said,” she replied, wagging a finger at him.

Making their way back to campus, the sun was beginning to cast long shadows, as the two found themselves outside of Chrome’s apartment building once again.

“Are you sure I can’t walk you home this time?” he asked. “I’d sure like to prove to your friends I’m a dependable cadet-in-training. Plus, maybe they can confirm if that story about Sapphire and Luna is really true.”

“So…you still don’t trust me?” Said Sweetie, puffing out her lips in annoyance, and crossing her arms over her chest.

“No-no-no, I do,” he said quickly, causing her to relax. “I have to admit, this was…quite a little history lesson you gave me today. Thanks for lunch too.”

“Not very often you get lunch AND learn a few new things, is it?” she said. “Maybe when Rarity comes to visit, I’ll take you back to the boutique to meet her. I have to warn you though, she has a thing for stallions in uniform.”

“Very funny,” chuckled Chrome.

“That wasn’t a joke,” smiled Sweetie Belle. “Anyways, I better get back to studying for mid-terms. See you later!”

And with that, Sweetie turned around, and trotted off down the path. Chrome stood there watching her recede into the distance, before she disappeared behind some tall oak trees, and was soon gone from sight.

Suddenly, a look of unease started to cross the blue stallion’s face, and he stumbled into the building.

Author's Note

After Chapter 3 flowed so well, I was originally wondering how long it would take me to get through a first draft of this chapter. Imagine my surprise when one evening while listening to a piano track from the “It” soundtrack, an idea caught fire, and over a thousand words just poured forth!

I had considered maybe having Chrome reveal more about himself, but figure that could probably be used in an upcoming chapter. This one was just fun revisiting the past, and showing how Sweetie Belle and her friends have a small place in their world’s history.

Btw, I know pizza racks at some restaurants don’t have a flat surface on top, but I figured the reader could use their imagination, and think of it being different enough for the situation. I did question how many girls would allow a guy to show some piece of metal under their bosom, but felt maybe Sweetie was semi-curious to see what he had in mind.