The candy shop was filled with sweet smells. The air practically oozed sweetness. The jars on their shelves were full of brightly colored and delicious treats. Some were just as sour as the others were sweet, but all were tasty treats for the pony who reached for them. The purveyor of those delicacies stood behind her counter, watching Moondancer. "Alright. We're not standing in public anymore. What did you want to ask?" Bon Bon rest a hoof on her counter.

Lyra was busy looking over the candy, leaving Moon to handle the task she gave herself.

"Have you seen your lover acting strangely?" Moondancer held up her notebook as the primary point to her question, though it was currently blank.

Bon Bon glanced at Lyra, even if she quickly wrenched her eyes away from there. "That's a specific question, more specific than I had been expecting. Lyra's a big goofball. She does strange things once in a while, for sure. Why?"

Moon leaned in. "There is a time for goofiness, and a time for seriousness. I am wondering about any time she seemed serious about something that seemed like it should not be, or the reverse."

"Oh!" Bon Bon leaned in over the counter. "We've both been guilty of that at different times. I think that's just a part of being a living pony. If you made a mistake, just apologize, and mean it. Why, do you have a special somepony?"

"Pfft!" Lyra moved a candy from one jar to the other. "You know she does."

"Trying to be polite, Lyra." Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "But do go on."

Moon put up a dismissive hoof to Bon Bon. "I do not wish to speak about my love life in such a public place."

Bon Bon glanced at the empty store around them. She then pointedly gestured at Lyra. "Are you afraid of her hearing? She already knows, as she just admitted."

Lyra chuckled, but went back to moving candies around.

Moondancer considered that a moment. "You have a point. Twilight is my first and only special somepony. It is only fair that we exchange questions. The outright barter of favors is the first step of friendship."

Bon Bon recoiled a little at that. "I never heard it put that way before. What's the step after that?"

Moon glanced at Lyra, whose ears were perked in Moondancer's direction. "The next step is to exchange information. I told you about mine, so now you must tell me of yours. The difference from the first part is that one starts to do it without expectation or demand of returned favors. A pony simply wants to know more, and tell more, to a pony they are growing closer to." She made a new note on her paper. "That is how it has worked to my analysis so far."

Bon Bon chuckled awkwardly. "I don't think it works that way. That sounds more like an interrogation than a friendship."

Lyra came back over with a small bag of candy she had picked out from her browsing. "I don't know. Remember when we first met? You had some questions for me, and no wasn't an option. But then I had some for you, and eventually we started talking because we wanted to, and now here we are, special someponies."

Bon Bon blushed lightly and ducked her head. "Alright, fine. I can see where she's coming from. But what's with the interrogation, Moon?" She looked at the page of Moon's notes. The notes seemed to be mostly about the interactions of a pony with their 'romantic target'. "Is that about me?!"

"Yes." Moon inclined her head faintly. "Thank you for being a valuable source of information. How long did it take you at the first stage of spesh—" Her words stopped, her snout suddenly full of mildly sour sweetness. She had to pull her head back as she swallowed the candy she'd been given.

Lyra slid around Bon Bon and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Let's not answer that one."

Bon Bon winked at Lyra with a little chuckle. "We're not that high level of a friend to answer that one." She held up a hoof. "Try again later."

"Oh." Moon made a new note and looked as if that made complete sense to her. "Sorry for asking a question out of order. You can go next, as my way of apologizing."

Bon Bon leaned in and gave Moon a light peck on the cheek. "I know what you were aiming for. Thank you. Now, why are you so interested in this subject?"

Moon smiled at the peck, even if it made her blush and look a little uncomfortable with the gesture. "Twilight is the first experience I've had with the subject. I am worried I will commit some error that would be obvious to other ponies. She will be so offended that she will cease our relationship, perhaps even our friendship. I wish to avoid that."

Bon Bon nodded. "I understand your point. But have a little faith in your partner. You're friends before you are lovers, and it sounds like you have a pretty good friend. If you do something weird, you two can talk through it." She gently pat Lyra on her back. "We've had our fights."

"But we always got past them." It was then that Moon got to see the two share a little nuzzle with one another.

Moondancer smiled at that. "That was adorable." She looked back at her notes. "Can you give me advice?"

Bon Bon shrugged. "I'm not exactly an expert. My best advice would be to not overthink things. Your special somepony should already understand what kind of pony you are, and if they don't, it's time to clue them in." She made a back and forth motion with her hooves. "Do some of that information sharing you were talking about before."

Moon nodded slowly. "I feel better now, knowing that Twilight likes me for who I am. It would be a waste of my time if she was looking for somepony else."

Lyra bounced. "Please, Twilight would not have agreed to be your special somepony if she didn't know what kind of pony you were under the surface. Also, no offense, but you have a thick shell. She already wriggled past it, or she wouldn't be there."

Moondancer chuckled at that. "That is an interesting metaphor."

Bon Bon shrugged. "Sounds about right." She looked down at her counter. "But I should probably get back to work. Thank you for organizing the candies, Lyra."

"Any time." She snapped a proper salute. "Moon, any questions before we both get out of her mane?"

"Yes." Moondancer pointed at Bon Bon. "How long has Lyra been acting strange?"

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and smirked at Lyra. "Haven't seen any out of the ordinary behavior, sorry to say."

Moon looked confused a moment.

Lyra pushed Moon towards the exit. "She's joking."

"Oh!" Like that, it made sense. "Of course."

***

Diamond Tiara looked at Spike quite critically. "Mmm. Not bad. Not bad at all." She advanced to pull and adjust at the tuxedo he had on. "How do you feel in it?"

Spike looked down at himself, gave his tail a flick. "I feel pretty good. What is this for again?"

Diamond grinned. "Ohhh, just something special I thought up for you and me." She circled around him, batting his tail on the way. "I got the ear of this pony that likes taking pictures, the kind that matter. So I'm arranging for some pictures of you and me, together. We're going to be the most special couple in Ponyville."

Spike blushed faintly, the scales on his cheeks turning darker. "Oh, um, you know what? That sounds great, and a little scary. Will this pony want us to do something specific?"

"Just follow her lead." Diamond moved in, side by side with Spike. "She has 'ze magics', and we just do what she tells us to do. Afterwards, she has a bunch of photos and she gets them to where they matter. After that we end up in a magazine or two." She bumped sideways into him. "And Equestria gets to see us looking our best!"

Spike gave her a grin that was mostly nervous. "I hope I don't screw anything up for you."

Diamond leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll do fine."

"You sure about that?" He scratched at an arm with the other hand. "Sounds really important."

"I'll be there too, the whole time." She touched either cheek to Spike's as she reared up in front of him. "We'll face it together. She'll be blown away by how amazing we look together." She let go and sat down. "Now, I just need to get ready for tomorrow."

Spike nodded. "Tomorrow?"

"Well, yeah. It was short notice." Diamond gave a wry chuckle and shrugged. "She's a busy mare. Frankly, I thought she'd just shoot me down, but she has to be in town tomorrow for something else. She'll stop by, snap the shots, and rush off. Another reason we have to be ready for her. If we keep her waiting, she may just trot on past."

Spike took a breath, let it out with a nod. "I'll be ready for it, then." He gave a little smile. "I'm looking forward to it, actually. It sounds fun, if it works out."

"Exactly!" Diamond dug through her dresser of options. "I just have to pick out what I'll be wearing. This isn't a 'just the tiara' kind of situation. Something snappy, but fits with yours. Mmm." She glanced over at him. "You know me. Anything you want?"

Spike went red in the face. "Uh, what? Um, I don't, uh, well, I think you should wear, uh, something you like."

She rolled her eyes. "I appreciate the nice sentiment, but that isn't helpful." She stuffed her head in a dresser, digging about until she came out with a blue number. "How about this?"

"Looks pretty." Spike wasn't quite meeting her eye as he said that.

Diamond nodded at it, but looked to him more intently. "What's up? You seem distracted." She gave him a sly little smile. "Getting distracted imagining me in these?" She dug out another one, a yellow one piece.

"N-no! I mean, maybe?" Spike laughed awkwardly, dancing in place. "Look, um, you look amazing no matter what you're wearing. You could wear a box and probably make it look good."

She dropped the yellow one and trotted over to Spike. "That was very unhelpful." She leaned in, nose to nose. "But very sweet."

Spike flushed darker before taking a step back from Diamond's face. "I can't be both?"

Diamond shook her head, even if she did smile at that. "Let's get this all packed away so you can head back home."

Spike hadn't made a mess of Diamond's stuff, but he didn't complain as he joined her in the effort of getting it re-folded and tucked away where it belonged.

Once done, Diamond turned to Spike. "You ready for this, my sweet? We'll be in magazines soon!"

"Yeah." Spike gave a firm nod of his head. "It sounds like a challenge, but I know you're looking forward to it." That was when it hit him. "Oh, what magazine or zines, is this anyway? I don't read those that often."

Diamond nodded. "Fashion Forward is the name of it. There's others we can try, if this doesn't go well. This is just going to be my first try." She got up close and personal with Spike. "Our first try."

Spike nervously laughed, but didn't try to move away from her. "First, yeah. I hope we get it on the first go. Fashion forward, huh?" He glanced down at his new tux. "That explains why you put me in this." He assumed a 'chill' pose. "You want me looking my best for fashionable ponies."

"Exactly! You look great." Diamond flipped her mane back and moved to pose beside Spike, leaning her head close to him, tail lifted in a certain way. "And?"

Spike leaned back against her in line. "And! We look even better together."

"Exactly." She met his offered hand with a hoof and they winked at an imagined camera together. Both broke into laughter, the tension evaporating from the air. "We got this. And if we don't, we try again. It won't be your fault, Spike, if they turn us down. Some ponies just don't appreciate the good stuff when it's rubbed in their faces."

Spike laughed softly, but he did nod with her. "If you say so. I do know you're going to look amazing for the photos."

Diamond Tiara giggled as well, leaning in a bit closer. "Let's amaze her tomorrow." She stood up properly. "Go on home, and come back bright and early tomorrow!"

Author's Note

Sweets all over this chapter, I say.

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