Dreamwalker's Tale: First (and Last?) Adventure

Another shift was done and my body started to stir. A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered Luna’s feathery farewell. It did not last long, however. I cracked my eye open and despite the early daylight charging in through a gap in the curtains, it was not the light that gave me a slight discomfort. It was the heat.

My gaze fell upon my companion sharing my bed. Twilight still remained fast asleep, caught in a web of pleasant dreams. Lu and I had made sure of that just before parting for the morning. I had to stifle a giggle as I saw Twilight’s lips, slightly parted, a faint snoring could be heard, and there was a thin strand of saliva connecting her tongue to the pillow under her head. I contemplated waking her up, just to tease her about it. She always denied that she sometimes drooled onto the pillow. And while I never quite understood why — what’s so embarrassing about that after all? —, she always got so flustered and blushed so hard and it was always such a beautiful sight to behold.

But as tempting as the idea was, I refrained from following up on it. Today, anyway.

I would have loved to just stay comparatively still and bask in her beauty. To close my eyes again and doze a little. To cuddle up to her and enjoy her companionship. But the fact of the matter was, much to my dismay, that Twilight was a notable part of my current problem. She radiated quite a good deal of heat. Not nearly as much as Celestia did, obviously. But with the wheel of seasons slowly turning towards summer, and me constantly dealing badly with heat, this was getting uncomfortable. It was, luckily, a transitional period of sorts. In a couple of weeks at most, I would have adapted to this and snuggling would be somewhat fine again. But there was a reason I preferred late autumn, early spring, and especially winter. Basically, the entire colder half of the year.

I carefully scooched closer. Just enough that I could crane my neck and place the softest touch of a kiss on her muzzle. Faint. Barely a brush. But she noticed anyway. I had managed to not wake her up and instead she murmured something and closed her lips to form a smile. It stopped the drooling. If she would continue to sleep for another hour or two, maybe the small, damp patch would have dried. Maybe she would not even notice. It was the best I could do for her right now.

I carefully extracted myself from the sheet that currently served as a blanket. Despite my annoyance at the temperatures, I could never truly come to rest without any cover whatsoever. It only added to the nastiness of the situation.

I was honestly quite proud of myself. I escaped the confines of my bed without disturbing Twilight’s sleep. I managed to make it across the room and to the door without stepping on anything, tripping, or placing a hoof on a creaky floorboard. In a castle made of crystal. But then again, I’ve heard and seen weirder things happen. I even successfully opened the door without any noise whatsoever and closed it just as silently.

It was a good morning, all in all.

I made my way to the bathroom, did my morning routine at a leisurely pace — that is to say, I dawdled a lot more than usual — and found my way to the kitchen, where I still followed simple routines and prepared a bowl of cornflakes with some added gemstone dust for Spike and another bowl without for myself. I was pretty sure he would be up and about soon enough.

A quick glance out of the kitchen window made me mentally correct that assumption. It was not quite as early anymore and he tended to be an early riser. So either he had already passed by the kitchen, or he dilly-dallied himself. I looked around, searching for the usual signs. Spike was a creature of habit, like so many beings. He rarely missed out on breakfast, as Twilight was quite thorough with her teachings that breakfast, for whatever reason, was the most important meal of the day. Something she always cited with such conviction that I highly suspected that it was something Celestia had told her once.

And while he gladly washed the dishes he used, he did not like drying them and putting them away again. He usually just laid them out to dry by themselves, and I found no trace of a cleaned bowl or plate.

Maybe he was still cooped up in his room, reading comic books? He did that on occasion. And neither Twilight nor I said anything about it, because those were special days, in a way. It was something he consciously allowed himself and there was no reason to chide him for it if he managed to stay on top of his chores anyway.

All those meandering thoughts were obviously just a welcome time sink. The bowl was prepared anyway, patiently sitting on the counter and uncaring if he would show up or not, while I took my seat on the table and dug my spoon into the milk-covered sweet treats.

“Good morning,” he called out as he entered the kitchen.

I blinked. I had somehow drifted off, deep in thought, without remembering what exactly I had even been thinking about. I stared down into my bowl, only to notice that half of it was gone. I chose to ignore that part. “Well, would you look at that? I was just thinking about you.”

Spike paused for a moment and looked at me with a funny expression. “Okay? Weird.” I just grinned and he continued on, taking the milk and pouring it into the waiting bowl. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Had a nice morning?” I asked. And much to my surprise, he blushed. It was just the faintest tint in his cheeks and judging by the casualty with which he tried to continue the conversation, I could tell that he hoped I would not notice.

“Yeah, sure. Good night’s rest, decent morning, lots of warmth. How about you?” He fidgeted with the milk carton before placing it down, making him slightly more suspicious.

I did not answer immediately and instead chose to let him stew a little while I tried to solve this little puzzle. In those six years, two months and ten days I had now been around, I had seen him grow up a lot. At times, he felt like a little brother to me. And I called him a friend without hesitation. Though coming into their lives at a point where he was still little and innocent made it difficult, at times. Difficult to judge his maturity. I knew that he had a fling with one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Or two. Or all three. I didn’t care much either way, as long as all involved were happy. But just how deep did this relationship go?

Did we have somepony else over for last night? Did somepony sneak out, all stealthy and flushed with trepidation and nervous excitement, in the early morning hours? Or maybe, somepony was still waiting in his room for him to return with breakfast, so they could have a nice morning in bed?

A moment of clarity put my previous assumption into perspective. As far as I was aware — being a single child, for all I knew —, siblings did not care all that much about the love- and sex-life of their other siblings. Neither did they cram their noses into their private affairs, did they?

But then again, in a similar vein to Twilight, maybe I was more than ‘just’ a brother or friend. True enough, it was rare that I felt like a caretaker to him. This might be one of these rare moments then?

I pondered those thoughts for a moment longer until I noticed him getting more and more anxious. Oh, right. Left him to stew. Whoops. I grinned in his direction. “You know, you could just take what you need, a spare bowl or two, some spoons, take the milk with you or some bananas or whatever, and leave. I’m not stopping you.”

It was both hilarious and heart-warming to see his expression change a couple of times. He looked like I had caught him red-hoofed. Then the faint blush returned. Then a warm, grateful smile spread. And then came the happiness, and that smile grew into a beam. Within a few moments, he had gathered everything from several cabinets and drawers. It looked like quite an impressive selection, from what I could tell. So either he wanted to impress, which, knowing Spike, was quite possible… or he tried to cater to several preferences. Maybe those of several ponies.

And just to prove my willing complicity, I deigned his question with an answer. “Oh and my morning was alright, just… you know how it is. Summer is coming. And Twilight is—“

Just as much as I knew him, he knew me. He hastily raised a claw to make me stop. “I do not need to know that!” he said, “In fact, I don’t want to hear that!”

I chuckled as he gathered all his supplies in his arms and ran for the hills. Or the kitchen door. He slowed down after opening it and turned back around halfway with a thankful smile. “Thanks, Dreamwalker.”

“Anytime, buddy.”

He tried to close the door with a foot, but it remained slightly ajar while he made his way down the hallway. I heard some muffled voices a few moments later and knowing the inhabitants of this castle, that was either Twilight, or Spike’s totally non-existent special somepony trying to sneak around in worry, searching for him.

I chuckled to myself and continued to eat my somewhat soggy cornflakes while reminiscing about this morning, now that he had brought it up again. From all the different little details committed to memory, Twilight’s smile stuck out. That smile after I had kissed her. Genuine. Pleased. Full of love.

“And she is so incredibly hot,” I murmured with a grin, completing the sentence Spike had wished not to hear.

“Who is?” a familiar voice spoke up behind me.

I grinned at the faintest hint of jealousy as I turned and greeted Twilight. “Good morning, Twilight. Slept well?”

She smiled in return, stretched her back leg a little and slowly made her way over to the table. “A, uhm… a little sore… but that was to be expected,” she answered with a blush. She quickly refocused and her brow furrowed as she accusingly pointed a hoof at me. “No distractions! Who is ‘incredibly hot’?”

I laughed a little and shrugged. “I was just talking to Spike.” Stew a little, I chuckled internally. But as soon as I saw her eyes take on that pleading expression, I had lost the war. With a smile, I leaned over to her and whispered into her ear. “You are.” Once I leaned back again, I was rewarded with the sight of her blushing quite furiously. She was all flustered and speechless and so unbelievably adorable.

“You are teasing me,” she quietly whined. “It is way too early for teasing!“

My grin only grew. “I am. However, I’m trying my hoof at this whole ‘multitasking’-thing again. I am teasing you, and at the same time, I’m speaking the truth. And at the same time, I’m speaking the truth in more than one layer, as it is both a compliment, a truth and a complaint. Eh? How’s that for multitasking?”

She raised an eyebrow, but smiled while fixing herself her first pot of coffee. And then she stopped in the middle of what she was doing. “A complaint?”

I sighed, but nodded anyway. “Summertime. It’s getting warmer. I woke up and really, really wanted to cuddle you. You looked so enticing. But you were so warm. Well, hot, really.”

She giggled a little and stuck her tongue out at me. And as soon as she inhaled and opened her mouth, I raised an eyebrow and held up a hoof to make her stop. There was a short and wordless exchange as I made myself quite clear to her. She would not apologize for being hot. Ever. No matter the innuendo, no matter the circumstances. That was just ridiculous. Like Celestia apologizing that the rising sun was bright.

Gasp! Who could have known?!

Luckily, Twilight was a very reasonable mare. Most of the time anyway. And Celestia even more so. She had never apologized for her sun’s light waking me up.

She had bought thicker curtains.

I sighed in deeply felt love and satisfaction. Moments like these were plenty. When I felt like I was living a dream. A wistful fantasy, in which there was enough happiness and warmth for everypony. Even greedy old me.

A moment later, Twilight sat down next to me, with a heavy cup of coffee as black as the starless night, and a plate offering a daisy and honey sandwich. The coffee's awful stench quickly permeated the vicinity, but after living years and years with not one, but two avid coffee fanatics — those being Twilight and Luna — I had simply adapted. I did not like the smell. But I could stomach it well enough.

“A balanced diet, I see,” I joked and she leaned over, poking my shoulder with hers.

“Says the one shoveling sugar, milk and cardboard into his mouth,” she retorted.

“You leave my cardboard out of this! This is some high-quality cardboard!” I shot back in faux indignation, and a second later, we both giggled and shared a kiss. I hated that taste of coffee even more than its acrid smell. It was bitter and vile. But I loved the feeling of her lips, so that balanced it out at least. But I had apparently grimaced slightly anyway, as we broke the kiss and she giggled quietly. At least she did not apologize, as she had done for the first couple of times this had happened. I ate a few more spoons and emptied my bowl. “Alright. Enough lovey-dovey time. I got stuff to do,” I announced.

Twilight giggled and tried her best to keep a straight face as she pouted. “Aw. But I love lovey-dovey time.”

I chuckled, leaned in and nuzzled her neck. I sighed in contentment, and in a funny little moment, she did the same, at the same time. I withdrew just enough to once again whisper into her ear. “I do as well, but as far as I remember, you complained about being sore…” And with that, I kissed the tip of her ear and withdrew with a smug grin. Just as I expected, she was red as a tomato. “Also: Didn’t you say there was a new shipment bound to arrive today?”

She furrowed her brow in contemplation, before nodding. “You are right. I… seem to have forgotten about that.”

“Didn’t write it down on your list?” I teased.

She stuck her tongue out for a moment. “I have not looked at my list yet, because I have not had my required minimum coffee intake yet! Because somepony keeps distracting me!”

We stared at each other for an intense moment before once again breaking into giggles soon after. “Right. I’m not going to distract you any further then. I’ll be back around afternoon, early evening, something like that. Have fun sorting your new babies.”

“I will!” she defiantly announced and we parted. I quickly moved over to the sink, gave my bowl and spoon a good rinsing and put it down to dry. And then I was off, with my saddlebags waiting for me at the door where I had placed them the evening before in preparation. Because as the saying went: Preparation was half the battle.

As soon as I stepped outside, I cringed a little. I had to squint and the bright light squeezed tears to my eyes and the sun’s warmth needled my coat. I took a couple of deeper breaths and noticed how even the air itself was considerably warmer than inside the castle. A few seconds and my body adapted. Well — as well as it could, anyway. It was still somewhat uncomfortably warm and brighter than I was used to.

I walked down the stairs and looked around, searching for any clues that a chance encounter with Derpy might happen, but our resident mail mare was nowhere to be seen. So I started to make my way over to Carousel Boutique.

Spike had come home with the invitation two days ago. He had apparently helped Sweetie Belle with something, and then escorted her back home to Rarity’s place. As usual, he talked to her and the topic came up if he would deliver a request for her.

Basically all of my friends knew that I had taken a lot of lessons at the spa by now. And I did not mind at all, despite some of them choosing to tease me about that. Rainbow and Applejack, first and foremost, though on occasion even Derpy. Then again, the latter enjoyed some flirtatious banter while being massaged, so that put quite a spin on the whole deal.

Fluttershy knew a thing or two about caring for others as well, although her focus was obviously more set on critters. But she could give a hearty back massage, thanks to some problems her bear friend Harry seemed to have on the regular.

With both our powers combined, we sometimes helped our friends out. And we talked about it of course. That was the only way I could have ever learned that Rainbow quite enjoyed it on occasion, but she not only preferred Fluttershy doing it — as Applejack just did not have enough time to learn the techniques —, but she also insisted that she keep quiet about it. Had Fluttershy not prattled away at one point, I would never have known. And I Pinkie Promised her that I would keep quiet about it. So Rainbow continued to tease me and I continued to feign ignorance. And occasionally, I smiled in a way that made her stop and quickly switch topics.

Point being: Rarity had asked for me to bring my supplies along.

While I did not know for certain, I had my suspicions as to why she was inviting me to her boutique with my care package. Less than three months ago, Fluttershy and Pinkie had thrown a really good party. To announce Fluttershy’s pregnancy. And I suspected that Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s usual weekly spa dates had become a little bit less of a weekly affair. Fluttershy would try, of course. And apologize profusely if she could not make it. And Rarity would deflect and insist that everything was fine. To be fair, their spa dates were more about gossiping and getting pampered than anything else.

And if she wanted to get pampered, or really wanted to relax, she would have gone to the spa anyway. Alone, if necessary. Because even after all the lessons, I was still very much an amateur. And one does not put a bandaid on a broken leg when a doctor is nearby.

So I continued to merrily trot through all too familiar streets, smiling and occasionally waving to the familiar faces, exchanging greetings and short platitudes. I passed by Sugarcube Corner and slowed down once the enticing smell tried to lure me in. Sugary goodness. Strawberries. Cherries. Pineapple. A waft of… cinnamon.

Damn.

I stopped. And closed my eyes. I tried to fight as I felt my muzzle scrunch up, but in the end, the battle was already lost. “That’s just not fair, Pinkie,” I whined quietly while I turned around and headed for the door. Once I pushed past, I was greeted with the usual morning hustle and bustle. Customers of all colors milling about, no table was truly free, but everpony was quite happy to share free seats with each other, even relative strangers.

I walked up to the line and sighed in defeat. And judging by that very cheery voice emanating from behind the counter, I would get my chance to appropriately complain about it to the right face. The line was fast-moving, customers ordered, orders arrived from the kitchen — or were already waiting in the showcase — and the next stepped up to the counter. I rarely stood still for more than a couple of seconds. And thus, I quickly stood face to face with Pinkie.

“Pinkie,” I pressed through gritted teeth in mild annoyance.

And she just beamed at me. This smile of hers could bring down any defense. I had tried to fortify myself against her charms, knowing full well how she fought her battles, and yet here I stood, utterly defenseless and unable to keep myself from smiling. Cursed be this mare!, I internally whined.

“Hiya Dream!” she squealed, only to lunge over the counter and hug me. Without her back hooves ever leaving contact to the floorboards. Her entire body just seemed to stretch. But as usual, I did not question that at all. Just Pinkie being Pinkie.

And Pinkie-hugs, to be fair, were quite nice. She was soft and smelled of all the sugary delights the bakery offered. Meaning right now, she smelled of a lot of fruits I favored, and cinnamon. My archnemesis. My Achilles’ heel. My one true weakness. And she knew!

What kind of worked in my favor was the season. Pinkie was quite warm. As was the bakery itself, because the kitchen was nearby. And with the main room being packed with customers right now, well. It diminished just how much I could enjoy the hug, and helped me keep a somewhat clearer mind.

“You lured me in here!” I complained.

She twirled a non-existent mustache and giggled. “No idea what you’re talking about, silly!” And goodness gracious, she was such a bad liar. Applejack would have been proud.

I heard somepony clear his throat somewhere behind me. I could not imagine someone being impatient. Not already and not in Ponyville. But it did remind me that the line had obviously reformed behind me and that I should not keep the booming morning business on hiatus for too long. “Fine. Gimme those goodies,” I relented and just as expected, her beam only grew to even more physically impossible sizes. After a moment of thought, while she packed up my order, I added something. “And a chocolate chip cupcake. One with the molten core, if you have one.”

She paused in surprise for just a fraction of a second, before diving under the counter again and reemerging with my increased order. In the meantime, I had levitated my pouch out of my saddlebags and put a decent amount of bits on the counter. It was obviously a good deal more than the order would cost. Because at the end of the day, what was money there for anyway. She would be happy. And that was worth it.

“There you go!” she said, carefully shoving my order to my side. She looked at the bits and raised an eyebrow, and surely she would have at least tried to protest, but I had wizened up to her antics a long while ago. I had stepped to the side and levitated my order over to me, while the next pony in line stepped up and already ordered, leaving Pinkie no choice but to continue her work.

She did shoot me a nasty ‘we’ll talk about this later!’-look. Or rather, as nasty as she could look anyway, which was to say — she pouted a little, in a very adorable way.

I tipped my non-existent hat in her direction with a smug smile and made my way to the exit. It was becoming uncomfortably warm in here and I preferred my treats unmelted. Not that being outside, standing in the direct sunlight, was any better.

Luckily, there was not that much way left to pass and soon enough, I knocked on the door of Carousel Boutique, entering immediately after. “Rarity?” I called out while closing the door. And I heaved a little sigh of relief. Not only was it nice to get out of the immediate sunlight, the high ceiling and big, open room did its part to keep things a little bit cooler as well.

I was considering calling for her again when she emerged from the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea floating behind her. “Terribly sorry for the delay, dear. Welcome! Welcome. How have you been?” She walked up to me and after a critical glance at me, refrained from hugging me. Which I appreciated a lot, to be honest. She instead walked past and turned the Boutique’s sign to ‘closed’.

I could not help but notice the fainting couch she had already rolled into place, right in the center of her showroom, with a stool and a small side table nearby. I smiled, walked over and put my saddlebags down, opening them and carefully extracting all the goods and supplies. While the assortment of oils, lotions and little tools grew, she returned to me and sat down on the couch.

“Well, you’ve already noticed for yourself,” I started with a lopsided smile. “It’s warm. And I can’t stop complaining about it. I mean, it’s nothing new at this point and in a week or two, I’ll be fine again, but… you know. I feel sorry for Celestia. I keep complaining and she tries to accommodate me, but goodness gracious, it’s so hard to keep my mouth shut at times. How about you? How come you send for me, instead of going to the spa?”

While she had listened intently throughout my mini-rant, she sat her tea cup down and sighed. “It just isn’t the same without Fluttershy.”

I furrowed my brow. Just the way in which she had said that implied that there was a lot more waiting to be said, yet she remained silent for now, almost absentminded. “Did you ask her?” I wanted to know.

Rarity blinked and shook her head a little. And I started to notice the signs. Despite her makeup, there were little bags under her eyes. Her eyes were more bloodshot than usual as well. And she moved with a faint sluggishness that spoke of tiredness. “No,” she admitted. “And even if she would have had the time, I fear I would not myself. This entire last week has been quite horrible, actually. I have pulled my fair share of all-nighters before, but maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew this time.”

“Again,” I mumbled under my breath. And it was a telltale sign that she either truly did not seem to notice, or did not care enough to ask. “So what’s the goal here?” I asked her a little bit louder this time. “You’re totally going to fall asleep on me. I don’t think we need to discuss that point, right?”

There was a slight hint of embarrassment in her features, followed by a nod. “No, I do not think we need to. I know that it is the middle of the day, but, well, I was hoping to… there is still a lot to be done. I have at least another day or two ahead of me.”

Middle of the day? Goodness, Rares. When did you last take a look out of a window?! I kept my thoughts to myself and smiled. “So this is just to patch things over. Get you a nice fix of sleepy times and right after, you’re going to continue to run yourself into the ground?”

There was a pained smile on her lips as she regarded me with some trepidation. “Something like that?”

And it was a question. I did not know what crazy stunt she had managed this time. What project of unfathomable size she had managed to harpoon. But Rarity was passionate, and she was one of those ‘all or nothing’-mares. I could relate to that — being quite horrible at keeping things balanced myself. So I was in no position of judging her anyway, and in no mood to do so either. As a good friend, I should probably have tried to be the voice of reason, but whatever she had gotten herself into, it was long past that point of careful reconsideration. I glanced at the massaging supplies I had brought along and fixed my resolution. Right now, I was about to do as much for her as I could, as a good friend.

“Alright, let’s get started then,” I answered. I had not noticed her waiting with bated breath.

Only when I agreed did she dare to exhale in relief and allowed herself a grateful, if tired, smile. “Oh thank you, dear.”

“Nah. Don’t worry. But before we start, uh… you got some napkins?”

“Napkins?” she echoed in mild confusion, “Whatever do you need napkins fo—… oh.”

I levitated two cupcakes out of my saddlebag and grinned in her direction. “I think it might have been some time since you last had a proper meal. Now, that is to say, I wouldn’t count this as a ‘proper meal’, but if you don’t tell Pinkie, or Twilight, or Spike, or anyone else, I won’t either. Deal?”

She giggled. A nice sound, very dainty and ladylike. And after a moment to recompose herself, she nodded with vigor and levitated some napkins out of the kitchen. The reach and fine control she had with her levitation impressed me time and again, as I saw the door swing open and heard drawers being opened and closed.

“We have a deal,” she belatedly answered and subconsciously licked her lips while she stared at the treat.

I chuckled to myself and nodded. And so, we each took our cupcakes. “To the cupcake conspiracy!” I toasted.

“To the conspiracy!” she replied with a dramatic flourish and we carefully bonked our cupcakes together.

Sugarcube Corner never disappoints. It was a lesson I already knew when I arrived here and that had been reinforced on each and every occasion. A rich flavor of apples, milk chocolate, cinnamon and a faint hint of cherries flooded my senses. “I should totally have stolen Pinkie for myself,” I murmured as a joke as I delighted in the goodness of the cupcake.

Rarity seemed in her own little blissful realm, but still very much capable of acknowledging my declaration. “You should have,” she agreed with an appreciative hum. “It would have been so much easier to steal her from you than from dear Fluttershy! I could never do such a despicable thing to her.”

We looked at each other for a moment before we giggled madly. “You know that she probably heard that, right?” I said, and even gave the room a look, just to be sure that Pinkie was not, in fact, posing as a lamp post right now. Or a potted plant. Which honestly still left the option that she was in the potted plant somehow, but oh well.

Rarity considered that prospect for a moment before shrugging. “Most likely, yes.”

“Wow. You seem strangely unfazed by this,” I noted with a grin.

And again, she just took a dainty nibble of her cupcake, enjoyed the molten chocolate core and shrugged. “Well, she is one of my closest friends and such a lovely pony. Plus, her shape is quite easy on the eyes, very curvaceous. And I say that purely as an artiste, of course.”

I choked for a moment before snorting. “Didn’t see that one coming, sorry.” I coughed a couple of times with the napkin in front of my muzzle and shook my head while chuckling. I noticed her smug smile as well. “Of course, sure. You know, someday, we ought to talk about all of our friends. Just to, you know, gossip a little.”

And with the smile of a fisher reeling in his catch of the day, she gave a curt nod. “Someday.”

We both fell silent for a while, as we continued our little feast until all was gone and the used napkins floated back into the kitchen, to be dumped into the trash can. From what I could already tell by just looking at her, that meal had been the first in a decent number of hours and would do nothing to keep her awake any longer. Quite the contrary, in fact. But I did not mind that. “Alright, make yourself comfortable.”

And so she did, placing herself belly down on the couch and stretching all her limbs away, so that I could get easy access to just about any part of her. It was a display of trust that I silently appreciated while opening the vanilla scented tincture. A few droplets on my hooves and I started to feel out what I would have to work with. She was unsurprisingly tensed up just about everywhere. From what she had said and implied so far, she had probably slept a couple of odd hours here and there, slumped over a desk or roll of fabric, brought down by sheer exhaustion. The initial massage would border on painful. There was only so much I could do to ease that, and she knew it. “Rares, relax. It’s not going to get any easier if you try to prepare yourself.” She tried. And seeing her somewhat fail made me think of a way that would work. I quickly concluded that I required a distraction and so long as she was awake — why not talk some more? Preferably with her doing most of the talking. “So, tell me. How are things with Fancy and Fleur?”

Rarity quickly picked up on my intention as usual and tried to relax into it with a sigh. “Marvelous, really. Of course I wish I could see them more often. I start to realize I may not be built for long-distance relationships. I know it took me a couple of years to realize that, do not dare to laugh at me!”

I just smiled warmly and started to really press into the first of her many, many knots, eliciting a small hiss from her. “I had no intentions to do so, Rarity.”

She nodded, content with that. “Good. Just l-ah… just last week, Fancy accompanied me to another presentation in Canterlot. Hoity Toity was hosting the event and Fleur had been hired to model his new line. Sh-oof… She looked gorgeous up there on stage. Such poise. Such elegance.” To give her a little bit of time to recuperate, I turned my attention further down, and started my way up her back legs to her rump. Something that drew her attention as she shot me a daring look. “Careful now. You would not want to upset two members of the Canterlot eli—“

I did not let her go on any further and instead pressed right into her cutie mark and elicited a quiet gasp and a playful ‘how dare you’-look from her. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” I quickly confirmed. “Then again, to be quite honest, I don’t think I care much about their opinion on the matter. Fancy seems nice enough. I can’t recall ever talking to Fleur. And I’m not exactly a socialite myself. I’m more of a recluse, you see? And if I care at all, I probably care more about what my friend thinks.” With a slow moving, circling motion, I massaged her flank and saw her gaze grow a little bit hazier. “And right now, I’m slightly worried she might be weak of will. Which I would obviously never abuse.” And just like that, I withdrew my hooves, only to return to her back legs.

I politely ignored that needy little whinny, just as I ignored that brief period of her face flushing in embarrassment.

“I really should not start battles I cannot hope to win,” she murmured more to herself than to me.

“That would be wise, yes, especially given your current condition,” I answered anyway, and she refrained from any verbal duels as she saw my sly grin. I was just ready to take her down a peg or two. Just to demonstrate that right now, she really was not up to par.

To bridge the potentially awkward gap of silence, I just followed up with another question designed to keep her both talking and distracted. “So, how is Sweetie doing?”

Rarity once again quickly picked up on it and relaxed into my ministrations once more. “She is still quite a hoof full. I think at some point, we had all hoped that getting their cutie marks would calm them down somewhat, but here we are, years later, still shaking our heads about their antics on a weekly basis.”

I chuckled a little. “Well… better weekly than daily, am I right?”

“Quite,” she agreed. “And how is Spike doing?”

I lost my rhythm for a moment, out of sheer amusement, before I continued. “I suspect you’re asking this for the same reason I was asking about Sweetie.”

“So neither of us knows anything substantial,” she concluded and I could hear her creasing her brow more than I could see it. “I must admit, I am impressed. Sweetie Belle usually is not this good at keeping secrets. From me, especially.”

“Well, to be fair, we don’t know if these two are a couple or not. She would obviously know how things are situated, with all of them being this close, but, you know… doesn’t mean she’s directly involved.”

Rarity craned her neck a little to look at me with a doubtful expression. “Dear. Really? Have you seen how these two look at each other?” After my noncommittal shrug, she just relaxed back down onto the couch. “Then again, that is the crux of it, is it not? Those same glances I have seen between other… combinations. To be honest, at this point, I highly suspect that they have discovered the concept of a herd for themselves. Maybe someone tipped them off to the idea…”

“Me? Naaahhh, couldn’t be… I mean, how? Just because I date, like, three of their princesses?” While I put a certain amount of dramatic flair into my statement to make quite clear how ridiculous I found that idea to be, I could not help but notice certain parallels. Spike was potentially running around successfully wooing three mares. I wondered if he sometimes wondered just how exactly he came to be this lucky too. Maybe I should ask him about it in detail at some point soon.

I turned my attention back to Rarity. The first round was done at this point, much to her relief. It would get easier from here, and a lot more comfortable. Which also meant that she would most likely be dozing off soon enough. “Do you intend to give Sweetie — or all of them — ‘the talk’?” I asked out of curiosity.

After all, Rarity was involved in a somewhat unconventional relationship herself. A neat little triangle, closed on all sides. Less geometrically complex than what I had going on. Or Spike, potentially.

Rarity considered her answer for a moment before slightly shaking her head. “No, I do not think so. Not yet, anyway. They still appear to be very keen on keeping it a secret. I must admit that occasionally frustrates me to a certain degree. But such is young love, I suppose. I will take them aside and have a talk with them if it becomes necessary. And quite honestly, I am not even sure it will. Sweetie Belle is naïve, but Apple Bloom is not. Scootaloo is very… enthusiastic, but Spike is very thoughtful. And on top of it all, my little Spikey-Wikey knows just who to ask if all the books in that beautiful castle of Twilight will not help him. And he has a lot of decently competent ponies to ask. Despite my burning curiosity, I like to think they complement each other quite well, and thus, they will be fine.”

To be fair: Right now, right here, I could relate so, so much to her feelings as the older sister, desperately wanting to pry into her younger siblings affairs. So maybe this was a sibling-thing after all.

“Well, if all else fails,” I started with a chuckle, “I happen to know that a certain Dragon Lord is quite keen on getting closer to our resident dragon emissary. And there’s this really cheery griffon lady that just seems to swoop by quite often, out of sheer coincidence. He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?”

Rarity giggled a little and nodded enthusiastically. “That he is.”

“Do you regret it sometimes?” I asked, both more serious and quieter. I was unsure if my question was appropriate to ask to begin with. After all, we had been joking around a lot so far, and this question bore the potential to massively shift the tone of our conversation.

But it quickly turned out that she did not mind. “No,” she resolutely answered. “Never. It might have been a misfortune in some way. But when I got to know him, he was just a child. He grew into a fine young gentledrake and I am certain that he will make whoever manages to capture his heart very, very happy. But never, not once, did I regret not giving in. I love him dearly — as a friend.”

I chuckled again. “Fair enough. And with that much conviction behind it, I guess you had to answer that question a couple of times already. Sorry about that.”

“It is fine. I do not mind,” she reassured me, and with a happy sigh, melted even further into the couch as I worked my way along her sides. “Sweet and precious Celestia, this feels divine…”

“Glad to hear that. Though I’ll be honest, I think you’re overselling me a bit.” She did not jump on the option for some more banter, which already spoke volumes about her state of mind. She would drift off shortly, surely. So maybe choosing another topic with a more superficial nature would be a good idea. Something easy, that would not bother her mind too much. “So I’ve been thinking about a Hearth’s Warming present for Twilight.”

She quietly giggled due to my odd choice. “Hearth’s Warming? Was that not, what, barely five months ago?”

I shrugged and continued on anyway. “Preparation is half the battle, you know? Anyway. I think I have decent ideas for Luna and Celestia already. But you know Twilight, she’s… difficult.”

And she giggled again. “No, she is most certainly not difficult. Wrap up a book, any book, and you will hold the key to her heart.”

This time, I had to chuckle along with her. “Yeah, well, sure. I could do that. Or. I could try something a tad more original and less obvious.”

“Hmmm,” she hummed. And I was not sure if she hummed due to her enjoyment of the treatment, or if she was giving my statement some thought, or if she was almost asleep. It only cleared itself up once she spoke up again, after two or three whole minutes. “Are you not a smith? Maybe make some jewelry for her? A hornband? A hoofring?”

She was slurring a lot at this point. Not like a drunk, but like somepony half asleep. Though I had to admit, she presented an interesting point. While I was not a smith per se, not in this cycle, I understood a lot about smithing from previous ones. And both Luna and Celestia understood a lot about enchanting. If I could manage to rope either of those two into my devious plans, I would surely create something special.

“Needs something special though,” Rarity mumbled, as if reading my thoughts. “Maybe some nice gemstones or… gold or…”

She did not finish her sentence. I waited while I continued my work, but a couple of minutes later, soft snoring informed me that she had, in fact, reached her desired destination. And left me to ponder an idea I had not anticipated. Sure, Hearth’s Warming was far off. For now. But metalworking could take time. Especially when enchanting was involved. I needed to think about what enchantments I would like to place on the item. I would need to make a cast for the metal to be poured into. I would need to research materials to begin with. Gold was always a fine choice, and with me not doing the enchanting, it would not matter as much that it was a lot harder to enchant it.

But my mind kept spinning faster and faster and quickly produced the question: What if I were to use something else? Something less mundane, less ordinary than ‘just gold’, or ‘just silver’, or ‘just iron’? What other materials were there? Materials a smith could work with. Enchanted bark and leather were useless to me, after all.

I would need to dig into the library once I returned home.

I carefully finished my treatment of Rarity’s slumbering form, capped off my lotions and closed the bottles of my oils. Everything went back into the saddlebag and I washed my hooves in her kitchen sink. I returned to the couch and bent down to place a soft kiss on her temple. “Thank you, Rares. You continue to be a true inspiration.” I made my way to the door, ready to step into the midday heat and right before I closed it, I took a final look at her. She slept peacefully, a demure smile on her lips. It was certainly not the first time an off-hoofed comment of hers had sparked my imagination.

The Element of Generosity. Giving bits, hats, tails and… ideas.