In order to keep his identity a secret, Ray agreed to stay with Scootaloo under the cover of being her pen pal boyfriend. Something the other CMC members wasted no time in spreading the news to anypony who questioned why a seemingly random stallion would go into her house.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Scootaloo wasted no time in showing him around and making a note that she was technically a grown mare.

Ray smiled and rolled his eyes at it and as they were about to get to the bedrooms, he quickly changed the subject. "I noticed you haven't been flying. I don't mean to be rude. But is there a reason for that?"

Scootaloo stopped and looked at her wings and sighed. "I… can't fly."

"Oh… do you want to talk about it?"

Scootaloo led him into her room as she sighed. "I haven't been able to sense what I can remember." She explained as she hopped onto the bed.

Ray sat next to her and looked at her wings. "No pony taught you about that stuff?" He asked. As she shook her head, Ray pulled her close and used a hoof to spread her wings. "Luckily for you. I have a history with wings. And not just because I'm a pegasus."

Scootaloo blinked in shock and blushed at the attention. "Really?" She asked, trying to hide her face.

"I do. And one thing that will help is proper wing care." He replied before pulling out a loose feather. "And the first step is pruning. It'll help keep your wings healthy." He explained as he pulled some more feathers.

Scootaloo bit her lip as she felt him working on her wings. The longer he worked, the harder it was for her to sit still. More importantly, it became harder for her to not jump him and ride him like a mare in heat. Which she hoped she wasn't… yet.

As Ray moved to the other wing, he couldn't help but to notice how it was affecting her that he was the one pruning her. Pulling away he looked over her wing. "You want to try the other?"

"You can keep going."

"You sure? You look uncomfortable having a stallion do it." He countered.

"It's not that…" Scootaloo sighed. "I kinda… really like you doing it."

"Oh?"

"And… I kinda want you to do more than that." Scootaloo added sheepishly.

Ray sighed and moved so he could work on her other wing. "Let's take care of your other wing first. Then we can consider that other stuff."

"Ok… I'll try to stay still." Scootaloo replied as a moan escaped at the feel of him pruning her wing.

StarBell and Spike sat in the square as they handed the last of the flyers to the passing ponies. "That's the last one." StarBell announced as she relaxed on the bench. "What do you say we find a place to unwind."

"Sounds like a great idea." Spike replied. "Too bad Ray is laying low. Or I'd pay him a visit."

StarBell giggled before looking around. "I noticed a spa around here… somewhere. Maybe we can get a steam or something."

Spike smiled and nodded. "I know where it is. And a steam bath would be great."

Smiling, StarBell followed him as she considered what exactly Twilight had planned with that invite to the princess as a guest judge.

It surprisingly didn't take them long to get to the spa. And it was even faster for them to get a private room. Once inside, Spike found it hard to ignore the sight of her body as she laid on the bench quickly becoming covered in sweat.

Noticing his attention, she smiled softly and repositioned herself to give him a better view. "You going to just look? Or are you going to show me what those claws of yours can do?"

Spike gulped and started giving her a massage as he tried to keep his thoughts off his growing excitement. He bit his lip for a moment as his claws moved over her flank. Sniffing the air, his mind swam with other ideas. Getting a knowing smile, he lowered himself to tend to her in another way.

As the train pulled into the station, Rainbow stayed close to the masked stallion. As soon as she stepped off the train, she saw Tank waiting for her with a note in his mouth. After reading it over quickly she gave him a loving nuzzle and led the masked stallion to Twilight's castle. It was a long trip, and having a chance to sleep in a bed with him was at the top of her list of things to do. Even if sleeping wasn't what they were really going to do.

Author's Note

It's almost time for the contest. And everyone is almost ready for the show to begin.