The Game of Estrus

As it turned out, Ditzy lived not far from Fluttershy, in a cottage on the outskirts of town. There was a large deciduous tree growing right alongside to it, so close to the house that Twilight wondered if it wasn't being used as one of the walls.

She knocked on the front door, and it was opened by a pale olive mare with a vivid orange mane. Twilight recognised her as also having been at the contest yesterday.

"Good afternoon. I was wondering if Ditzy Doo was home?"

The mare looked the pair of them up and down. "You aren't more reporters, are you?"

Rainbow looked incredulous. "Do we look like reporters?"

The mare shrugged. "There was this journalist snooping around earlier, I thought she might've roped you into helping her after I sent her away."

"What did she want?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it was that one from the competition yesterday, you see. So when she saw that Ditzy had left this horrendous game, she just waltzed right over and started trying to interrogate her about it. I swear, of all the nerve! What somepony does behind closed doors is their own business, after all!" She shook her head. "Poor Ditzy though, she's too naive. If I hadn't been there, she'd probably have happily told that reporter everything."

"But surely, Miss..." Twilight glanced at her scroll, "Golden Harvest?"

"Oh, please, call me Carrot Top. Golden is such a formal name."

"Miss Carrot Top then. Surely it would be better for everyone in the game to work together and share information, so we can work on turning the tables on Discord as fast as possible. Don't you think?"

Carrot snorted. "Hmph. I most certainly do think, I think that's an awful idea. If we just started revealing our sex lives to every Tom, Dick and Harry that asked, society would quickly crumble into chaos! Which, if I'm not mistaken, is exactly what the instigator of this perverse game wants. Now, if you've no other business here than satisfying your own curiosity, then I bid you good day!" she said, before slamming the door in their faces.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow yelled. "Well, when we find the way out of this mess, we'll be sure not to let you know!"

"Calm down Rainbow." Twilight sighed. "Though she was kinda rude about it, she does have a point..."

"Don't hold it against her. There's a degree of animosity between her and the reporter that she was talking about, so their meeting earlier probably shortened her temper quite a bit."

They looked round, and saw a familiar pink unicorn walking up the path toward the cottage.

"Oh, hey! You're that pony that stuck up for us yesterday!" Rainbow realised. "Thanks for that."

"And you're the pony that opened the peanut butter for me that one time, so I guess we're even now," the unicorn said with a chuckle. "My name's Amethyst Star, in case you'd forgotten. We have worked together as Winter Wrap Up leaders for two years running now, after all, Rainbow. Nice to see you again, Twilight."

"Nice to see you too, Amethyst. So, do you know Carrot Top then? If so, do you think you could convince her to let us speak to Ditzy?" Twilight asked. "Please. If I can't study her, I'll have to wait until somepony else falls victim to this game, which doesn't even bear thinking about..."

Amethyst walked over to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry. She'll come around. She's just used to looking out for mum. Back when they were at school, Carrot was pretty much her only friend. And also..." She smiled. "While I can't tell you any of the details, I wouldn't exactly say mum was a 'victim' right now."

She then stepped up onto the porch and knocked on the door. "Hey, Carrot, it's me!" After a few moments, the door swung open.

"You're back a little early, aren't you?" Carrot asked.

"I have no afternoon lessons on a Monday, remember? Besides, it's lucky I came back when I did, or else I'd have missed the commotion."

Carrot looked confused, until she noticed Twilight and Rainbow stood to one side of the front garden. "Ahh! You two haven't left yet?! Honestly, would you believe the cheek? These two came strutting over here, and-"

"I know why they're here. Carrot, I can understand why you refused to let Film Reel see mum, after the history you two have, but I don't think you're really being fair on Twilight and her friend."

Carrot looked taken aback, clearly not expecting to have Amethyst side against her. "B-but, it's Ditzy's personal life, they shouldn't just-"

"Carrot, if Twilight can study mum, then it could mean saving a lot of ponies from an awful fate. How do you think mum would react if she found out that by not telling Twilight what she could have, she ended up extending the length of this game, and that in that extra time, somepony had their entire life taken away from them?!" She briefly paused to take a deep breath. "Do you think she could forgive herself for that?!"

Her words hit Carrot like a slap in the face. "I... I didn't... I thought..." she stuttered, before hanging her head in shame. "...I'm sorry. I... please, come in. Ditzy will be back shortly."

Amethyst gave her a reassuring pat. "Sorry I had to be so harsh. I know your heart was in the right place." She then turned to smile at Twilight. "Well, you guys heard her, make yourselves at home."

Twilight returned the smile and stepped up onto the porch. "Thank you, Amethyst. I owe you one."

"I think I'll take you up on that," Amethyst said, her face adopting a more serious tone. "Please, do me a favour: Solve this thing before summer. Thankfully I got my application to the University of Canterlot in early, but if I'm not out of the game before term ends, I'll have no choice but to drop out before I've even started."

Twilight understood her concerns. Canterlot was the most prestigious university in all of Equestria, and if she hadn't been chosen to be Princess Celestia's personal student, Twilight would probably have gone there herself after having graduated from the School for Gifted Unicorns. To have the potential to be accepted there, only to be forced away by unfortunate circumstances... it was too cruel to imagine.

She nodded. "I promise. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that nothing stands in the way of your dream."

There was a yawn behind Twilight. Amethyst leaned over to glance past her.

"I'm sorry, is the future of my education boring you?"

Rainbow shook her head, raising her hoof apologetically. "Ah, sorry, no... well, kinda, but..." she yawned again. "Ouaaah... I didn't get any sleep last night... Twilight, how do you manage it?"

"Oh my, so even the fearless defender of grass is still just a pony after all," Amethyst said with a chuckle.

Rainbow glared at her, but since she was already fighting to keep her eyes open as it was, this didn't create much visible difference. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Heh, nope." She stepped to one side, indicating the entryway behind her. "But I'm not heartless. Feel free to take a nap on the sofa if you want. We want you at your best in case the weeds launch a surprise attack, after all."

Rainbow dithered for a moment as she tried to decide whether to think of a comeback, or just accept the offer. In the end her lethargy won her over, and she settled for simply stepping though the doorway. Pausing once inside, she turned around and gave Amethyst a nod. "Uh, thanks... y'know, you've got a pretty big mouth for an egghead, but you're okay." She then walked over to the couch and lay down on it, falling into a deep slumber almost immediately.

Amethyst shook her head, sighing. "That girl... I can't tell if she was trying to compliment or insult me."

Twilight gave her an awkward smile. "I wouldn't bother thinking too hard about it. Rainbow's not really mean spirited, but she does have a tendency to speak her mind sometimes."

"U-um... would you like anything to eat or drink?" Carrot asked nervously, clearly still shaken.

Twilight gave her the friendliest smile she could muster, in an attempt to put her at ease. "Anything you have would be wonderful, thank you."

Amethyst just stared at Carrot. "Should you really be offering away other ponies' food?"

Carrot gave a little snort of indignation. "Hah. Ditzy treats my refrigerator like an all-you-can-eat buffet whenever she feels like, as you well know. I think I'm entitled to help myself to your kitchen in return, don't you?"

Twilight was confused. "So, wait, does Carrot Top not live here?"

They both gave her a bemused look, until an understanding clicked in Amethyst's mind. "Ah, no no, I can see how you'd think that. No, she lives in town with her husband. She just comes over here quite a lot, because we have a huge garden that none of us have time to tend to, and Carrot loves gardening." She then turned back to the olive mare. "Well, if you insist on using our supplies, then I insist that you make some of your legendary carrot sandwiches, okay?"

"My pleasure," Carrot said, then wandered away toward the back of the cottage.

Twilight lowered her eyebrow. "What could be so legendary about a simple carrot sandwich?"

Amethyst simple giggled. "You'll see," she said cryptically, then beckoned her inside.

As Twilight followed her inside, she noticed that her theory about the tree she'd seen outside had been closer than she'd expected. To one side of the house, the wall was strangely contorted, as if it had been moulded around the tree as it was built. She even spotted a part where there was no wall at all, around a medium-sized hollow in the trunk.

Mounted on the wall next to this hole was a brown box, with a small round opening on the side. As she looked, a light grey squirrel suddenly appeared from the hollow, poked its head into the box, then disappeared away again.

Amethyst walked over to the tree and plucked the squirrel out, resting it on her back as it sat contentedly, munching on a nut. "This is Hopper. Since this house was accidentally built too close to his home, we've sort of adopted him as the family pet."

"Oh wow, he's adorable!"

"Isn't he just?" Amethyst scrunched up her face and rubbed her muzzle against his nose playfully. Hopper seemed happy for the attention momentarily, before losing interest and returning to his nut.

Twilight smiled. Watching Amethyst around animals, she always reminded her of Fluttershy. "You really get on well with animals, don't you?"

Amethyst nodded. "I like looking after things, it makes me feel needed. As well as volunteering to be the Animal team leader, like you know, I'm also a part-time foal-sitter. That's actually how I first met this family, too."

Twilight didn't say anything. She had guessed, from the comparative ages of Ditzy and Amethyst, that Amethyst probably wasn't Ditzy's daughter by blood.

"Oh, and I'm going to study medicine at University, too," Amethyst continued. "Then I can look after loads of people!"

"Well, as I said, I'll be sure to do my best to ensure you get that chance," Twilight reassured.

"Thanks- ah, hey! Hopper!" Amethyst yelled, chasing after the squirrel that had just dashed from her back and ran into one of the adjoining rooms. "Come on, you know you're not allowed through there!"

Twilight giggled. She trotted over to the couch opposite from where Rainbow was napping, and took a seat. Sighing, she stretched out, and tried to take this opportunity to relax. It felt like a whole new responsibility had been placed squarely on her. Apart from a brief respite the night before, she hadn't been able to stop working for over a week now. She was beginning to worry about the possible long-term effects that could come from being in such a stressed-out state for so long.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the scent of food until it was literally wafted in front of her face. She opened her eyes to see that Carrot had returned, and was setting a plate down on the table in front of her.

Upon the plate lay the most decorated sandwich she'd ever seen. There was a base of leafy salad, upon which lay two slices of fried bread, cut neatly and with a slight orange tinge to them. Nestled between them, she could see a thickly spread carrot paste, which glistened enticingly. Dotted around the sandwich lay large carrot chunks, coated with a shiny, moist glaze.

"Wow..." was all Twilight could think to say. She hadn't expected the sandwich to live up to being called "legendary" as Amethyst had claimed, but she was starting to reconsider after seeing it for herself.

Carrot chuckled. "You're not the first to have the reaction. Now, dig in dear, you look like you could use the energy."

Twilight gave her a weary smile. Apparently her fatigue was showing more than she'd hoped. "Thank you... I've been so busy lately..." She absent-mindedly levitated the sandwich up to her mouth, and took a small bite.

About a minute later, she realised the nagging feeling in her chest was her lungs, reminding her to breath.

What was this?! Twilight had never tasted anything like it! She was sure she had just been thinking about things, important things, but right now every neurone in her brain was so devoted to analysing the sensations coming from her mouth that she couldn't remember any of them.

Twilight chewed more rigorously, intent on finding this legend's secret. It couldn't just be carrots, there had to be spices involved somewhere, exotic ones at that. But what were they?

"Ahhh!" she thought. "I could work this out if my vision would just stop flickering like that!"

She paused, and the rest of the world slowly slid back into her perception. Carrot was waving her hoof in front of Twilight's eyes. She slowly turned her head to look up at her.

"You can swallow that piece you know. There's plenty more where that came from," Carrot said, gesturing to the remainder of the sandwich that was still hovering in the air in front of Twilight.

Twilight blushed and swallowed, returning the sandwich delicately to the plate. "Heh, sorry. I just... what is in this? It's the most amazing thing I've ever tasted!"

Carrot gave her a sly wink. "It's a secret."

"Awww, Carry! You started eating without me!"

Twilight looked up, and saw a familiar grey head poking around the edge of the front door.

"Don't worry Ditzy, I made enough for everyone." Carrot said, patting the pegasus's head as she trotted past her, on her way back into the kitchen. She came out a moment later, balancing two more plates of sandwiches, one in her mouth and one on her head. Twilight quickly levitated them from her and set them gently on the table.

"One of those is for your sleepy friend. I figured it would be a shame for her to miss out." Carrot explained with a smile, before looking a little sheepish, and turning to Ditzy. "Ditzy, would you be alright if I let you talk to Twilight by yourself? I caused some trouble for her earlier, and I don't want to risk repeating it..."

Ditzy beamed back at her friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure Twilight forgives you. She's a good pony, so I'm sure she does," she said enthusiastically, before turning to Twilight expectantly.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course!" Twilight nodded quickly. "It was all just a big misunderstanding, after all."

"Besides, I'm not a filly anymore. You don't have to hold my hoof all the time now. Although, you can still hold it whenever you want, of course."

"Oh, right, of course. Well, I'll just be through here if you need me, okay?" Carrot offered, before hesitantly walking away into one of the side-rooms.

"Sure thing, Carry!" Ditzy replied cheerfully.

Twilight could tell from this short exchange that Carrot did truly care a lot for Ditzy. She felt a little guilty for the treatment Amethyst had given her now.

"Tooooo-waiiii-laiiii-tyyyyy!" Ditzy yelled, as she tackled Twilight from the sofa in a hug that would have impressed Pinkie Pie. "You really came!"

Twilight took a moment to catch her breath before replying. "Of course I did, Ditzy. I said I would, didn't I?"

"I know, but you could have just been saying that so you could laugh at me later for getting my hopes up. But I knew you wouldn't do that, because I could tell you were a good pony!" Ditzy spoke so quickly that Twilight almost missed the first sentence, and before she could think of a response Ditzy had already changed topic. "So, did you try this sandwich yet? It's amazing, isn't it?" She released Twilight, and picked up her own sandwich to take a bite out of it. "So, what'd you want to talk to me about?"

There was a short pause before Twilight realised it was her turn to speak. "Oh, uh, well... you see..." She trailed off, staring at her hooves. She was actually blushing over this! She'd handled everything so scientifically up until now, but Ditzy just seemed so innocently childlike that she couldn't bring herself to say anything to do with-

"Is it about sex?"

Twilight looked up, slowly. "...pardon?"

"Is it about sex?" Ditzy repeated. "You started blushing and couldn't finish your sentences, which is what most ponies do when they're thinking about sex, right? Carrot is the same."

Twilight gave herself a mental shake. This wasn't a child she was dealing with. The chart had said Ditzy had lost her virginity before the game had even begun, after all. "As it happens, yes. What I wanted to discuss does have to do with sex."

Ditzy tilted her head a little. "Well, you've probably come to the right mare, but I don't know how much I can tell you. My husband remembers things better than I do, so I'm not sure I could give enough detail about things like first-time sex or first-time making a foal..."

Twilight could see she was on the verge of veering off onto another tangent, so she attempted to guide her back in line. "Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you about something quite recent-"

"Oh!" Ditzy sat bolt upright. "Well if you want recent, I can tell you all about recent!"

You see, it was my day off yesterday, so my we all went along to this competition that was being held on the other side of town. Timey and Dinky didn't come though, because Dinky wasn't old enough to enter.

It was lucky they didn't come, because the competition was secretly... evil!

The rules were-

"Ditzy."

"Huh?" Ditzy looked to Twilight, puzzled at the interruption.

"I already know this part, Ditzy." Twilight pointed out. "I was there."

"Oh, of course you were!" Ditzy smacked her forehead. "If you weren't, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you about this. So anyway..."

Since the bad guy was making bad ponies, we all got away as fast as possible. Once we were far away, we tried to decide what we should all do about the competition.

"Carry," Sparkly said. "You're husband's out of town at the moment, isn't he? You should come stay with us for the time being, so we can all be safe."

Carry agreed to this, and we all started walking back here.

"What should we do about this competition though?" Carry asked.

"Well, I know what me and you should do, because we both have husbands," I said. "But Sparkly's still too young for a husband or a baby."

"I'll be fine," Sparkly replied. "I'm not foolish enough to lose to temptations and mate with somepony under these conditions. So long as I watch out for rapists, I can last until Twilighty fixes this."

"You say you have a plan for us two?" Carry asked.

"Sure," I said. "If we lose, we love the guy forever, right? Well, we should just lose to our husbands! I have no problem loving Timey-Wimey forever!"

Carry seemed unsure, but she said she'd think about it.

Anyway, then we did some more walking, then when we got home we all played together until bedtime. After I tucked Dinky in and kissed her goodnight, I went into my bedroom and pounced on Timey.

"Unf," said Timey. "Someone's sure excited tonight. Did something good happen?"

I winked and said I wasn't telling. He reached over to the drawer with the condoms in, but I put my hoof on his and shook my head. He seemed surprised.

"I've been thinking," I told him. "Dinky went from being an only child to having an older sister. That's not how it should work. And Sparkly is part of our family now, but I'm sure it would help her connect with us if she got to experience having a newborn baby brother or sister."

Timey smiled. "So, what you're saying is, this evening just got reserved as one of my best nights ever. Well, I'd have liked to have scheduled it a little ahead of time, but it doesn't clash with anything, so it's fine."

I slipped under the bed covers with him, and hugged him tightly. I could tell he really liked my idea too, because his baloney pony had gotten really big. I call him Mr Happy, by the way.

Now, normally we'd start off with me taking his Mr Happy in my mouth to make him super-happy, while Timey-Wimey would kiss my Mrs Smiley to give her the biggest smile he could. But this time, we could both tell that they were as happy as possible already.

So, I raised myself up a little on my back legs, and let Mr Happy give Mrs Smiley a kiss. It started off as a gentle kiss on the lips, but then he slowly took her into a deeper, more passionate kiss.

"Now, I should warn you that the rest of this story contains bad language," Ditzy paused to say. "I'm ashamed at myself for doing it, but I just couldn't help myself, I was too aroused. Are you okay with hearing this?"

Twilight, her mouth hanging open slightly, just nodded.

"Good! Then I'll continue..."

It had been a long time since me and Timey-Wimey had had sex without a protective cover on his Mr Happy. By the time he'd only entered halfway, we were already feeling the difference.

"Oh, Timey-Wimey! This feels so good... I can feel your heartbeat throbbing inside me."

Timey's face was scrunched up, as he tried not to lose control of his Mr Happy too early. "Ahh, your pussy is so warm... and you know how much I love this position. If we keep going like this, I estimate it will only last about another four minutes and thirty-two seconds. I should get on top, then we can increase the duration to a potential maximum of seventeen minutes and fifty seconds."

I couldn't help myself at that point, I love it when he talks time to me. I thrust him deeper inside me, and nearly came right then and there. I squeezed him so tight, but I did manage to let go and roll us both over before it was too late.

We stayed still for a while so Timey could recover, then he started slowly thrusting inside me again.

"Talk time to me some more, Timey-Wimey," I said to him. "Tell me how much longer it'll be before your cock explodes inside me, filling me with millions of your babies all racing for the prize. Tell me how long it'll be until one of them wins the race, and I have a brand new baby growing inside me. Tell me how long it'll grow for, how long I'll be able to give my baby a huge hug on the inside for."

And he told me. I don't remember the exact numbers, but when he told me, it made me so turned on.

We kept going for a while, in a few different positions, until Timey said there was about a minute left until he came. So we went back to me lying on my back with him on top, and he did a countdown. Sixty thrusts in sixty seconds, and I almost came on each one. But I held back, so we could do it together.

At ten seconds to go, his thrusts got harder and harder. By the time he reached five, he was going at max power.

"Five!" He shouted, thrusting his entire length inside me. He pulled out a bit, before thrusting in again.

"Four!" His cock had started growing as he was getting ready to cum, so this thrust smacked against my womb.

"Three!" He'd pulled back again, and with this thrust his tip slipped into my womb. It hurt, but it reminded me of how good it felt the first time we'd done it like this. The time Dinky had come into the world.

"Two!" I was barely hanging on, I had my hoof in my mouth and was biting down hard to stop myself cumming too early.

"One!"

"Do it, do it!" I moaned. "Fill my belly full of your baby!"

"Zero!"

At this, I came, hard. I locked my legs around him and pulled him in all the way, with my pussy pulsing around him, trying to milk his babies from him. This made him cum himself, and he shot all of his seed straight up into my baby-room. My pussy kept milking him until there wasn't a drop left.

"Once he had finished letting out his Happy Juice, I felt a bit strange..."

Twilight, who was still wearing the same slack-jawed expression as she had been when Ditzy had started, suddenly pricked up at this. "Strange? How do you mean?"

Ditzy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I had always loved Timey-Wimey, but after that, I felt like he was even more important to me than my children, who are so precious to me."

Twilight grinned. She finally had a lead on Discord's hypnotism. She was about to press Ditzy further, when there came a shuffling sound from the other sofa.

Twilight looked over, and saw Rainbow stirring awake. She noticed her wings were standing straight up, which seemed rather awkward for sleeping.

"Wow..." Rainbow mumbled. "I had the weirdest dream..." She looked up sleepily, but bolted upright when she noticed Ditzy. Twilight thought she spotted a faint blush on her cheeks.

"O-oh! Hey Der- Ditzy! How's it going?"

"Good morning, Rainby." Ditzy said with a smile. "I was just telling Twilight about the sex I had last night. Did you want to hear about it too?"

Rainbow was understandably taken aback by this, and her face flushed completely red. "You were... telling Twilight about it here? Right now? Right next to me sleeping?"

Ditzy nodded. "Thaaat's right!"

"I think I got the gist, then..." Rainbow mumbled under her breath.

"Pardon?" Ditzy cocked her ear towards Rainbow.

"I- I said you don't need to repeat it! Twilight's the one who cares about that stuff anyway. I uh... can I use your bathroom?"

Ditzy nodded, and pointed towards a corridor leading off from the room. Rainbow thanked her, and walked away. Twilight couldn't quite place it, but he thought there was something slightly odd about her gait.

"Oh! I just remembered one more odd thing about last night!", Ditzy suddenly announced.

"Oh, well, please, go into as much detail as you can," Twilight encouraged her. "Although you certainly didn't hold back in that respect so far," she thought to herself.

"Well..." Ditzy paused. "I'm not certain, since I can't remember the times that Timey said back then, but I think I remember the time between him letting out his happy juice and me feeling strange was a lot shorter than the time he said it'd take for one of his swimmers to win the race."

This was interesting news. Twilight knew that Time Turner, Ponyville's resident time-management pony, was an expert on time. She had gone to him many a time herself, when she was having trouble scheduling in scheduling her schedule. For him to be wrong by a significant margin was unheard of.

"Thank you, Ditzy. I'm sure this information will be very valuable."

There was a yawn from the corner, as Rainbow trotted back into the room. Twilight noticed that her wings were now folded down by her side as usual.

"We about done here, then?" She asked.

"Almost. There's just one last thing I need to clarify." Twilight turned to Ditzy. "Ditzy, would you mind if I ran a quick scan of your brain? You won't need to do anything, it'll just be a quick spell."

Ditzy smiled and nodded. "Sur-"

"Wait a minute!"

Everyone looked over at where the shout had come from, and saw Carrot peering in at them from another room.

"Oh man, are you going to try and interfere again!?" Rainbow yelled in exasperation.

"Not necessarily," Carrot said, stepping into the room. "I just want you to answer me on question, Twilight Sparkle. You want to cast a spell on my friend Ditzy. I ask you... is it safe?"

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. "It... should be, it's just a simple spell for medical scans, it isn't even that advanced. I have a machine at home which could get me better readings, but I already tried it on myself and the readings made no sense, so I figured at first I'd test-"

"I don't mean the spell in itself," Carrot interrupted. "And I know you are a competent magician, so I don't doubt you can get the spell right under normal circumstances. But these aren't normal circumstances. That villain Discord has done things to our brain! He put us under a spell that grants eternal enslavement, and he loves playing with ponies' emotions. Who's to say he hasn't put another spell in there that'll destroy our brains if anyone tries to scan them?!"

"Oh, c'mon!" Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. "That's completely ridiculous!"

"...no, Rainbow. She has a point."

"Huh?" Rainbow looked back at Twilight in confusion.

"This is Discord we're dealing with," Twilight reminded her. "I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him doing something exactly like that." She lowered her head towards Carrot. "Forgive me, I was thoughtless."

Carrot's expression softened. "Well, I suppose that makes both of us now."

Twilight returned her smile, and turned to give Ditzy a smile too. "Thank you for your time."

"Aww, you're going so soon?" Ditzy looked downcast. "Well, at least take your sandwiches with you."

Twilight lifted some napkins from her satchel bag and wrapped them around the sandwiches, before placing them delicately into her bag. "Thank you again, both of you. And please thank Amethyst for me too."

As she and Rainbow headed out the front door, Ditzy called after them. "Feel free to come back any time!"

Twilight gave Ditzy a big smile, and waved back to her. "I will do! You can come hang out at the library whenever you want to as well!"

"Yay!" Ditzy jumped for joy. She stood in the doorway and waved to the pair of them until they were out of sight.

"So, uh..." Rainbow began hesitantly. "Can I come hang out at the library whenever I want, too?"

Twilight gave her a quizzical look. "Rainbow, you already do that."

"No, I mean..." Rainbow seemed to be having difficulty getting Twilight to understand. "I mean, not just during the day. While this thing's going on, I get... worried... about you an Spike! Yeah! You eggheads are so defenceless and all, so I was thinking-"

"Psst!"

The two of them paused, and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Psst!"

Eventually they noticed a certain bush that was, oddly, wearing a fedora.

Twilight sighed "Oh, hey Pinkie Pie-"

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash eyed the bush suspiciously. "Pinkie Pie would be wearing joke glasses too. Who's there?!"

A light-yellow pony stepped out from the bush, taking the fedora with her. She had an orange mane that was separated into bunches, and she wore a camera around her neck.

"Hey there," the pony said. "My name's Film Reel. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions..."