Hoop was here. It was fine.
Doodle Bug stood from the ground. Where was she? It clicked in an instant, that was a silly question because she was where she was always supposed to be. Ponyville, of course. Doodle Bug never left Ponyville, not since she had that no-fly ban in Canterlot.
“What were you doing on the ground, goof?” Hoop said, bumping his shoulder into hers as he fell in next to her, a grin on his face, “You’re gonna get grass stains again, you know how Twi feels about that.”
“Twi.” Doodle Bug repeated. Right, Twilight, Princess Twilight, Doodle Bug helped manage her library. She must still be in a post-nap fog. She was napping, right? Of course, she was. Why else would she be on the ground?
“What time is it?” Doodle Bug asked, suppressing a yawn and glancing at the sky. It was… a nice day. Wasn’t it dark outside? No, that wasn’t right. It was day time. It had always been day time. Canterlot was fine. Why did she think that?
“I dunno, noon or something? What does it matter to you, Bugsie?” Hoop asked with a curious tilt of his head, “You don’t work today, right?”
No, she didn’t. Twilight was out of town. That wasn’t right, why wasn’t that right? Twilight was out of town and she didn’t have to work. “Twilight’s out of town, a business trip I think, she told me to go ahead and take the week off.” Doodle Bug explained, still blinking sleep out of her eyes before she smiled at Hoop.
“Hey, freebie week!” He said with a laugh. Doodle Bug stared. When he opened his eyes, they weren’t orange, one colored red and the other blue, wide, mane a mess, face blank, Doodle Bug bit back a shout of surprise and flinched, and when she opened her eyes-- He was fine. “You okay?” Hoop asked, starting to walk, “You look a little out of it.”
She did? She had no clue why. Probably her nap.
“Sleepy.” She commented, walking forward with a small yawn. She followed after him, catching up quickly and giving her wings a stretch. “Wish I could fly.” She murmured.
“You can, didn’t you hear? No more ban for you!” Hoop replied with a laugh, “You forget a lot of stuff,” He bumped into her again, playfully, “That’s why you have me, I’m like an orange memo calendar with legs.”
“Right.” Doodle Bug responded. Of course her ban was lifted, it was only for three months, and that time had passed. The windows had been fixed. The mayor was not mad.
They were in a cafe now, the walk wasn’t far, and Doodle Bug liked this cafe, they had good sandwiches and better apple pie. She grinned, just about to eat her abundance of sweets, and she noticed a flash of yellow and looked up. Comet?
“Comet!” Doodle Bug called, waving and drawing the attention of the unicorn. Comet Flash blinked a few times, looking away from the menu with surprise before a kind smile made its way onto his face. He ordered quickly, speaking to the green and white pony behind the counter before he quickly made his way over to the table Hoop and Doodle Bug sat at.
“Miss Doodle Bug!” He greet with a grin matching hers, “I’m happy to see you, you too Hoop!” He looked between the two pegasi, long tail flicking behind him.
“What are you doing in town?” Doodle Bug asked curiously, tilting her head, “Aren’t you a royal guard?”
“Why, yes I am!” He laughed, “The Princesses are in town, haven’t you heard?”
Of course! She saw Queen Celestia yesterday, her and Queen Chrysalis were tending to their foal, Bumble. She hoped they had more kids one day, they were in the hundreds with all the changelings about but there was always room for more! She laughed at her own joke.
“Right, right, I swear I’m like a goldfish!” She laughed, “Well, I guess it’s break time for you then?”
“Sort of.” Comet Flash explained, “We switch out guards since we have so many, to make sure no one’s overworked.” He explained, “I just did a few days on day-guard, so I have a few days off. Good timing too!”
“That’s cool!” Doodle Bug replied, “So what are you doing with your free days? Wanna hang with the cool kids?” She motioned between her and Hoop.
“Aw, probably at some point, but I’ve got something really special planned!” He touched the saddle bags he had on with a soft smile, his eyes soft for a moment before he perked up again, “I don’t want to say too much, but Copper’s visiting soon! Oh, um, my boyfriend! Tomorrow!”
“That’s so sweet!” Doodle Bug gasped, tapping her hooves together as she bounced in place like a filly, “Wow, I hope you guys have a great time!”
Hoop’s face dropped. He saw Comet was standing over him with a sword. Why were his eyes like that? What was creeping up his leg? It’s fine.
He smiled again. “What’s up with people getting dates before I do?” He joked, rolling his eyes playfully, “Even DB has a date!”
She did? She did. She had a date tonight! How could she forget?
“Oh, I forgot!” Doodle Bug gasped, eyes filled with worry, “Me and Smoky! Oh gosh, I need to get home, I finally get that mare to agree to date me and I forget!”
Smoky’s name coming out of her mouth made her stomach turn. It’s fine. She’d wanted to date Smoky for months, but she only just now had the guts to ask her out. And she said yes, can you believe it?
She wanted to hurl. It’s fine.
Doodle Bug seemed frantic until Hoop spoke up, “You can’t date on an empty stomach, Bugsie, sit down and eat first, then we can go get you looking your cutest.” He teased. Doodle Bug sat down with a sigh, though she was grateful to be grounded by her friend.
She saw Hoop on the ground. Cipher was staring on with red and blue eyes. Comet was standing over Hoop, sword to his neck, red magic creeping up his body as he lay tense and terrified. Doodle Bug flew. She knew she couldn’t help, how can you fight magic as a pegasus? She was flying-- No.
She was in the cafe. She smiled. She ate her food. She had a date with Plumparcel tonight, she couldn’t mess it up, she’d wanted to ask them out for months now.
