A Get-Together

After several dozen hands of 5 card draw, a knocking was at the door.

"Coming!" Applejack shouted. She got up and started to the door when Spike spoke up.

"Hey, Applejack. Applebloom got a good idea earlier. Let's wear towels until they are undressed. It's kinda shocking to open a door and see someone nude," Spike suggested.

"If you think it helps." Applejack replied, walking back for her towel. When Spike and Applebloom were ready, she opened the door.

"Hey, everyone. Sorry, we're late. We may have realized we forgot our stuff when we got to the edge of the farm," Rainbow Dash said, folding her wings back.

"No worries. Come on in," Spike said, waving the two in.

"Hey, Applejack. Spike. Bloom," Scootaloo greeted nervously, eyeing her friends in their towels as she folded her wings back too.

"Well, squirt. You ready?" Rainbow Dash asked, scruffing Scootaloo's hair.

"Kinda," Scootaloo mumbled, one arm to her side and the other reaching across her body for comfort.

"Well, how about a quick cup of juice first, then?" Spike suggested after seeing Scootaloo was nervous.

"Sure..." said Scootaloo, stiffly power walking to Spike.

"So Scootaloo, how's the scooter training going? I saw you riding up and down Main street this morning," Spike asked while mouthing to Rainbow Dash to change as Scootaloo looked away.

"It's going good. I almost can do a 1080 spin on a flat road now," Scootaloo said, "Without wings, that is," she then quickly added.

"Nice work, Scoots!" Rainbow Dash said as she wrapped the towel around her now bare body.

"Thanks!" Scootaloo said as she turned to Rainbow Dash, walking over to her. A shocked expression shot over Scootaloo's face when she saw her idol in a towel.

"So, working on any other tricks then?" Spike asked.

"What? Oh yeah. I'm trying to work on a thing where I ride on just the front wheel and balance on the handlebars at the same time," Scootaloo said. She fidgeted with her hands for a second and asked, "Could you guys turn around for a second? I think I'm ready."

"Sure thing, sugar cube." Applejack said with the group turning around.

"I…mind, if I use the chair?" Scootaloo asked.

"Not at all," Applebloom said. "So what's that trick going to be called Scoots?" she then asked.

"It's called a manual," Scootaloo said, taking a towel out of her bag and wrapping around herself as she undressed.

"Scoots has a great sense of balance. She could be a top gymnast with a slight bit of practice, I bet," Rainbow Dash boasted.

"I don't like that style of workout, though. I like it in the streets where I can do and wear what I want. Besides, I'll probably use my scooter jumps and tricks more than I'll use a cartwheel," Scootaloo said.

"Now, Scoots, it's not just how practical the sport is. Sometimes it's just trying to push your limitations and see how good you really are. That's how I can tell how good I am," Rainbow Dash bragged, earning eye rolls from everyone but Scootaloo.

"I guess. I just have a towel on now. Are we taking them off?" Scootaloo nervously said.

"If you're ready. Toss the towel to us, and we'll drop all of ours off too." Applebloom said.

Soon a balled towel few overheads of the group. In turn, everyone dropped their towels and turned around to face Scootaloo with a cheer.

"Grats on facing your nerves, Squirt," Rainbow Dash said, walker over and scuffing Scootaloo's hair.

"Thanks," Scootaloo replied, her face blushing.

"We were in a game of 5 card draw if you two want dealing in?" Applejack offered, picking up Scootaloo's towel and tossing it to her.

"Sure. We betting?" Rainbow Dash joked.

"Yeah. It's strip poker," Spike quipped back.

"Just deal." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Oh, wait. The staredowns," Applebloom said.

"What?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's where we just stare at each other one on one, so we don't get worried about peeking," Applebloom explained.

"Do I have to do that now?" Scootaloo asked in a mild panic.

"Of course not. We can wait until you're comfortable. Let's just play some cards," Spike said.

"Oh, good. Thank you," Scootaloo said, sitting down at the card pile.

"Where are they?" Scootaloo asked, slightly worried.

"I'm guessin it's just past 4 o'clock. Maybe I should give a call." Applejack suggested.

"I think you should," Rainbow Dash said, taking a bite of an apple.

"I'll be back in a jiffy," Applejack said, quickly leaving.

"She left without a towel?" Scootaloo said, amazed.

"Yeah. It ain't nothing my family, and we haven't seen before with the skinny dipping and the close quarters living we do." Applebloom said, taking 3 cards out of her hand.

"Skinny dipping?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah. When it's all hot in the growing season, an we're doing chores in the orchard. We take a quick break and go for a dip in one of the ponds." Applebloom said, taking 3 cards from Spike.

"I didn't know you guys were that daring," Scootaloo said, almost jealous.

"You want to join us sometimes?" Applebloom offered. "Offer stands for you guys also," she then added.

"I don't know if I can do that," Scootaloo said bashfully.

"Well, how about we work up to it? Help you push yourself to your limit," Rainbow Dash suggested.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and said, "Okay. What do we do?"

Rainbow Dash stood up, scratched her head, and said, "How about, with the staredown. You can look at me first. And if your comfortable, you can stare at Applebloom and Spike."

Scootaloo took a deep breath and said, "Alright. Let's do it. Applebloom, Spike, would you mind turning away for a bit?"

"Sure thing Scoots," Applebloom said, turning Spike away.

Spike and Applebloom heard murmurs and grumbles for a bit until the two heard Rainbow Dash ask, "So, Scootaloo, you ready to look at someone else?"

"I don't know. I guess," Scootaloo said, staring at the ground.

"Need a break already?" Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? No. Applebloom, would you get over here already." Scootaloo quickly said impatiently.

"Well, hold your horses. I'm coming. Yeesh," Applebloom said as she got up. As she left, Rainbow Dash sat down in her place.

"How've things been?" Rainbow Dash asked as she sat.

"So far, so good. I wish we had more than cards," Spike said. "Wanna do a stare down too while we wait?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged and said, "Sure."

They both stood up and looked at each other.

"So... nervous about later?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Spike responded with, "Yeah, very. I'm still trying to collect my nerves," all the while never breaking his gaze on her breasts. "Not A cups but definitely not C cups. Her pecs don't really help," he then thought.

"Has Applejack filled you in with the lesson yet?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No. Not yet, anyway. You got an idea of what it is?" Spike asked back. "Abs and scars are still there, along with a small beauty mark. Which scars are those? The Changling invasions, a Daring Do adventure or a crash?" he then thought to himself after lowering his gaze.

"She and Rarity started on it, but I started to tune out," Rainbow Dash admitted.

Spike lowered his eyes more and saw a yellow and red lightning bolt was shaved on her mound. He looked a bit closer at it and noticed wings. "I didn't notice you shaved the Wonderbolts symbol down there," he then said.

"You better not be dissing it," Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm not. I think I'm done. Want me to turn around first?" Spike offered. He quickly turned around and hid his grin.

"So...We really haven't talked since that night," Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh yeah. I've been busy with the list that Twilight left, and you guys usually give me some privacy when she's out. Today is my first day to relax since she left... I don't harbor any bad feelings if that's what you're worried about," Spike said quietly.

"I was worried about. I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash said. "Also, I'm done looking at your butt."

Spike turned around and said, "Apology accepted." He held his tongue as he spotted her ponytail was held by a bright pink scrunchy. Spike lowered his gaze past her wings and saw the tight and toned butt of Rainbow Dash. "I wonder how many squats she does for such a nice ass," he thought to himself, following a moment of shock at himself. "Negative thoughts lead to negative actions. You know better. Calm down."

Spike looked away and said, "I'm done back here." I'm going to use it really quickly," quickly stepping outside, ignoring the door's screech, walking down the ramp, and out of sight. He sat under a tree for a minute, listened to cicadas' songs, felt the rough bark on his back, and how full his blatter was.

"Oh, crud, I do need to use it," Spike thought. He stood up and relieved himself. Spike realized how this was the first time he was naked outdoors and by himself.

"This doesn't feel wrong like I thought it would," he said to himself.

"You good?" Rainbow Dash asked as soon as Spike walked back in.

"Much better," Spike said, grabbing a wet nap.

"Just making sure. Scootaloo is ready to do the staredown with ya," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to Scootaloo, who was tapping her foot.

Spike nodded and said, "Ready, Scoots?"

Scootaloo broke from her conversation with Applebloom and said, "I've been waiting for you."

Spike walked closer while studying Scootaloo's body. Her body was petite, with barely an ounce of fat on her body. "I hope she isn't starving herself so she can fly. Her breasts look like she isn't haven't even hit puberty yet," Spike thought. He also noted all the bruises and scrapes but thought nothing of them.

"So, Spike, how did you get wrapped up in all this? And why are you doing this?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes locked on Spike's loin.

"Kind of a long story," Spike answered.

"Well, what's the short version?" Scootaloo asked, looking up.

Spike thought for a second and said, "My first spa trip went wrong. After I left the spa, the idea got floated of inviting the CMC too. I was asked about you 3 joining us today. I... didn't want you, girls, to be uncomfortable like I was. We came up with a plan, and here we are. The staredowns are cause I noticed I peeked at everyone at the spa. I figured if I did it, so would others. So I suggested this so we can get the awkward peeking out of the way and relax," Spike explained.

"But aren't you embarrassed? And I thought boys got hard when looking at a girl," Scootaloo asked.

Spike looked up and noticed how much Scootaloo was blushing. "A little embarrassed. Some boys can get hard. I used to, but I've been practicing being comfortably nude since the spa thing. If you're interested, I brought some of the books I've been reading."

Scootaloo laughed and said, "Unless it's a "Daring Do" or a "AA V.S. SP" adventure, you can keep it."

Spike rolled his eyes and looked at her hips. He saw she keep her pubes trimmed down past the bikini line but still had a natural look. "Well, if you like, there is a few here you can borrow. And we do carry "Alien Alicorn Versus Space Pirates" series in the new library," he then said, "I'm done looking at your front."

"I'm not done waiting to see it grow," Scootaloo said.

Spike rubbed his eyes and said, "I assure you won't see me get a boner until the sex-ed part," the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"He's right, Scoots. He's been with me all day and been polite the whole time." Applebloom chimed in.

Rainbow Dash sighed and said, "Scootaloo, don't be rude like that. You know Spike isn't like that."

Scootaloo sighed, "Sorry," turning around first.

Spike looked down at the back half of Scootaloo. Spike noted her butt was flat and had large bruises. Her legs looked to be the same. "I hope she doesn't keep pushing herself so hard," he thought.

"I'm done looking back here," Spike said, turning around for Scootaloo.

"Hey, Spike, I got a question," Scootaloo said.

"What is it?" Spike asked. He looked at the pictures on the wall of past failures, memories, and the cutie mark crusaders' successes.

"Can I touch it?" Scootaloo asked, somehow looking like a begging pet.

"Touch what?" Spike asked.

"No, Scoots! No touching. We're just getting used to each other's natural state," said Rainbow Dash.

"But I've never touched one before and only seen ones that big in pictures," Scootaloo admitted.

It finally dawned on Spike what she wanted to touch and chimed in, saying, "No, Scoots. Are you done looking?"

"I am," Scootaloo said dispiritedly.

"Now squirt, don't sound so down. You faced your nerves and got nude in front of your friends. How about you put your towel on and follow me?" Rainbow Dash said, grabbing her towel and walking outside. The door only screeched at a less than bursting eardrum level this time.

"I'll be there in a second," Scootaloo shouted, standing up. She wrapped her towel around her and followed Rainbow Dash out.

"Might as well see what they are going to do and cheer them," Spike said, shrugging and standing.

"Eyup," Applebloom answered back, walking to the front window with Spike.

The two inside watched the two outside walk to a tree. After a second, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo draped their towels over their shoulders and walked back to the front of the clubhouse.

"Think you're ready for that green apple tree over there?" Applebloom shouted.

"Piece of cake," Scootaloo shouted back with her newfound confidence. The two walked over to the green apple tree that Applebloom pointed back.

"Way to go! I have an idea. Come back here." Spike shouted.

"What's your idea?" Applebloom asked.

"Grab your towel, and I'll tell everyone," Spike said, walking back to his and passing Applebloom's towel to her.

Spike held the towel in his hand as he met with the other 3 at the ramp and suggested, "How about a couple little challenges to help Scoots push herself? No towel backups."

"Great idea, Spike. How about you guys touch the green apple tree again?" Rainbow Dash suggested. "I'll watch your towels here."

"Okay!" Scootaloo said, tossing her towel to Rainbow Dash and the others doing the same.

The 3 walked to the tree when Applebloom asked, "How about to that small pond now?"

"No problem," said Spike, already heading over.

When they got there, Scootaloo said, "Come on, guys. I'm looking for a challenge."

"Well, come up with the last one. One that will push yourself," Applebloom suggested.

Scootaloo thought for a couple of seconds. With a sudden pounding of her hand with her fist, she said, "I got it! We'll walk all the way to your house, Applebloom!"

"What?" Applebloom shouted.

"Don't tell me you're afraid?" Scootaloo chastised back.

"I'm not afraid. I bet you won't even make it halfway. You're on!" Applebloom retorted back.

"I'm willing to come with you, but I think we should stop off at the clubhouse first and tell Rainbow. I don't want her to think we ditched her or got hurt," Spike suggested. What he thought was, "I've made an enormous mistake."

Scootaloo crossed her arms and stared at the two before saying, "Fine. We'll tell Rainbow Dash not to wait up. Last one there is a rotten egg!" and ran off.

"Hey!" Applebloom shouted while she and Spike chased after her.

Scootaloo got to the clubhouse first with Applebloom a second behind and Spike far behind.

As Spike ran, he had to grab his member to keep from bouncing. "This is going to be a problem if I got to do this more," he thought.

"You should start running more," Scootaloo suggested.

"I'll…. Think… about it," Spike spoke in between his pants.

"Hey, Rainbow!" Scootaloo shouted.

After a second, Rainbow Dash popped out the screeching door and shouted back, "What up, guys?"

"For the final challenge, we're going to the Apple house," Scootaloo shouted, softer this time.

"Hold up," Rainbow Dash said, walking back inside. She came back out a second later with their towels and tossed them to the group. "Take the towels with you, just in case, and stay as a group."

"Okay!" Scootaloo shouted back, catching the towels. "Take my towel, will ya Spike?" she then asked.

"Mine too," Applebloom said, waving her hand to Scootaloo.

Spike took the towels and walked after them.

After a couple minutes of being out of sight of the clubhouse, the two girls became twitchy.

"Hey, Spike. Hand me my towel, would ya? I'm starting to sweat a bit," Scootaloo asked.

"Me too, please," Applebloom said.

"It is a hot day. If you're sure. I mean, if it's really for the sweat, that is." Spike said, smiling.

"Of course, it's for the sweat," Scootaloo said, wiping her brow to show how much sweat there was. The 3 stopped to see a hand that looked dry.

"There's no sweat on your hand at all," Applebloom said, now wiping her head to outdo Scootaloo, sticking her hand out to prove she was sweating.

"There's no sweat on you either," Scootaloo said.

"If both of you are saying you're not sweaty, then let's keep walking," Spike said, keeping the towels. "You two argue like your sisters."

"But… drat," Scootaloo and Applebloom said simultaneously. "And we do not!" simultaneously said again.

The 3 arrived at the house just as Applejack stepped out the door.

"What in tarnation are you 3 doing here? Where's Dash?" Applejack asked, surprised.

"Rainbow Dash is back at the clubhouse. I invited Scootaloo to dip with us if she felt like it. But, she was too embarrassed, so we are just helping her work up so she won't be so nervous," Applebloom explained. She started to cover herself but stopped.

"Well… I did say you could invite them, considering. Kinda surprised you did that since you don't allow us to even see you swimmin, Applebloom. Since it's on our farm and you brought towels, just in case. I reckon you didn't do anything wrong," Applejack said. "Sorry for the shock. I just didn't expect you guys to be more daring than Winoa begging for scraps from Granny at hearth's warming eve."

"Wait, was she not skinny dipping before?" Scootaloo asked, facing and pointing to Applebloom, who gave the face of "Please shut up."

"Well, I guess not in the true sense." Applejack said, scratching her head. "She kept her undies and shirt on and kinda kept on the side. Dryin' off, she kept behind us too. Well, let's head inside so you can thank the family as such."

"What?" The two girls said in unison, Spike swallowing hard.

"What? You'll see Big Mac and each other in the buff when we swim. You guys walked all the way over here in the buff! Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now? It's polite manners that you three should thank the family," Applejack said.

"No. I'm just..." Scootaloo paused to search for the words.

"We'll be with you, Scootaloo. Every step of the way. What do you want to do?" Spike said.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and said, "Spike, could you put my towel down next to that tree? I don't need a backup for meeting the Apples."

"Mine too," Applebloom said.

"All three towels it is," Spike said, mentally kicking himself as he put the towels down.

Applejack led the 3 into the house and into the living room. Granny Smith was knitting, and Big Mac held her yarn, listening to scratchy music playing on the record player.

"Hey, y'all. Real quick," Applejack said as walking back in. "Scootaloo and Spike accept our offer to come swimming with us, and they just wanted to say thanks for accepting them."

The three joined the rest of the Apple family in the living room. Scootaloo stiffly said, "Thank you for inviting us for everything," She grabbed her arm from behind her back to keep herself from covering.

"It's very kind of you all for allowing us to join you," Spike said more casually with his hands at his side.

"Well, you guys are honorary family, after all. I can tell y'all are nervous but don't be. It's not anything I haven't seen in my years anyway. And I'm sure Macintosh here has seen plenty of everything living a house filled with women," Granny Smith reassuringly said.

"Eyup," added Big Mac, blushing.

"Will you be shedding your clothes now, too, Applebloom?" Granny Smith asked.

"I will," Applebloom said.

"Well, we don't want to keep you guys from having fun. Have you showed them yet, Applejack?" Granny Smith then asked.

"Not yet. Going to show everyone when everyone got here, and Rarity and Sweetie just left. We should head back, now that you said it," Applejack said.

"Alright, then. Have fun." Granny Smith said, returning to her knitting.

The 4 left the house, and as soon a Scootaloo touched the dirt, she started jumping while shaking her fists in the air while emitting a high pitch "EEEEEE" sound.

"You did good, girls! And Spike," Applejack said, walking over to pick up the towels.

"Yeah!" Applebloom shouted while fist-pounding the air.

Spike just wiped his face of his non-existent sweat and breathed deep. "So what about Rarity and Sweetie? They coming still then?" he asked after a couple of breaths.

Applejack was picking up their towels and said, "They just left after I talked to them. We better get goin' if we're going to get to the clubhouse before them."

"Right!" Scootaloo said, dashing away already.

"We better get going just to keep up with Scoots," Applebloom said, taking off, Spike and Applejack following after.

As Spike ran, he had to hold himself again. Unfortunately for him, he had to run next to Applejack jog, who held her large breasts to her chest to keep them from bouncing. Spike thought about her letting go of them and watching them bounce before he slapped himself out of it in the literal sense.

"You alright there, Spike?" Applejack asked, hearing the slap.

"Never better!" Spike choked out, suddenly taking note of his now half-mast member. "Haven't streaked before, is all."

Applejack handed him his towel and said, "If you need to pump the breaks, don't be afraid to do so. We're asking a lot of you today, but you set your limits."

Spike wrapped the towel around his waist and said, "Thanks. I just don't want anyone to be ashamed like I was. I'm sure it will be up here from here."

"That's the spirit!" Applejack said. "I'm going to run ahead a bit."

Spike then watched Applejack's behind slowly speed ahead of him. Muscular while plump. As he watched, he noticed a slight bounce to her. She then leaned forward to run faster, and he saw her lower lips. Applejack didn't have a streamlined look like Rainbow Dash. The inner lips were visible like Pinkie Pie's but didn't hang out. He then noticed he was hitting his stomach with his lower erection and readjusted the towel. He was still peeking out over the towel but keeping him secure against him for the rest of the run.

Spike was the last to arrive. He spotted Rainbow Dash, leaning on the railing and drinking some juice, and adjusted his towel to cover himself.

"There you are, squirt. I was just about to go looking for you." Rainbow Dash said as she walked down the ramp to him.

"Yeah. Hey, mind if we talk out here for a bit? I…." Spike asked.

"What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked back.

"Many views and feelings came up on that run, and I need to cool down, so to speak," Spike admitted, pointing at his waist.

"Oh, sure. Uhh…. How's Twilight's trip going?" Rainbow Dash asked, understanding right away.

"I got a message after lunch. The visit is going good in Saddle Arabia. Twilight and Luna will submit a modified pact to include the Friendship Kingdoms. Hopefully, they will sign it," Spike said, taking a seat close to Rainbow Dash.

"Hopefully?" said Rainbow Dash, concerned and confused. "Why wouldn't they sign it?"

"Saddle Arabian empire, while a long-time ally to Equestria, Saddle Arabian empire is quite conservative when it comes to outside influences. Something like this… will take some time. I honestly doubt they will sign it. At least not this year and without months of debate," Spike explained.

"Something tells me you might know something you're not letting on." Rainbow Dash said.

"Well... when I was still a hatchling, one of my first memories involved the king and queen of Saddle Arabia. It was my feeding time. I was at the table as mom fed me gems and eggs while the king and queen were there. They seemed… horrified and afraid. They had their child with them too. We were playing before but weren't allowed to play together after that," Spike explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You said mom there." Rainbow Dash said, turning to Spike.

"In private, I call Princess Celestia, mom. In public, I'm supposed to call her Princess Celestia. Just royal politics stuff," Spike said, taking a peek at himself to see if he calmed down yet.

"I thought Twilight and her family raised you after she hatched you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Twi hatched me, but Princess Celestia raised me until I was about 6, I think. Twilight would have been 13. I grew up with Twilight as a big sister, basically. One day, I was given 3 days' notice that I would be living with the Sparkles and assisting Twilight with her studies. She, Princess Celestia, that is, tried to make the days special, but I wasn't the same after that. It was a hard move for me. For a while after, I stopped calling her mom. I never really got a reason why I had to move. I lived with the Sparkles until Twilight, and I moved out here. Sorry that got kinda depressing, didn't it," said Spike, kinda looking into the horizon at nothing in particular.

Rainbow Dash hugged Spike tightly and said, "I had no idea."

Spike fought tears, returning the hug, and said, "Thank you."

The two sat for a bit longer before Spike suggested they grab a treat.