Chapter 13 - Escalation

“Well?”

She seems a bit surprised by your request. “Well?” she replies back, raising an eyebrow.

Why is she doing that? She knows damn well what you want to talk about.

“What caused you and Applebloom to suddenly grow to be so angry at each other today?”

“Um… well,” she stutters a bit, before continuing, “I don’t know myself, honestly… it just sort of happened…”

“Scoots, you and I both know that’s not the case here. Something had to have been going on for a long time between the two of you for things to get like that so quickly.”

She’s silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to speak. “Well, the other day, she and I- um, I guess it was yesterday, but yeah,” she stutters, trying to put her words together. “Applebloom and I, well, we kind of had a little… fight? I guess? Yeah, I think that’s what it—”

“Scoots.”

She stops mid-sentence, and looks at you.

“You and Applebloom had a fight yesterday? What about?”

“…Well…” she pauses, turning her head to the side, and in this instant you take the chance to admire all of the Rainbow Dash posters she has around the tree house. You knew she looked up to your bro, but you never thought she’d have posters.

Hell, you didn’t even know Rainbow HAD posters made of herself. That’s pretty cool; maybe she could hook you up sometime…

“…And that’s really all it was, now that I think about it,” Scoots turns back up to look at you. “What do you think, Anon?”

Wait… shit. You weren’t listening. Damn it, Anon, you really need to work on that…

Quick! Damage control! “Uh… yeah. Now that you’re telling me, I’m sure it’s all just a minor thing.” C’mon…

She raises an eyebrow, before shrugging. “I dunno what got into her, honestly. She and I have been such good friends, but…” she looks down at the floor, “She’s been acting pretty weird whenever we said your name, or mentioned you, or saw you passing by…”

“Weird?”

“Yeah,” Scoots nods, standing up. “It’s a bit of a long story, and well,” she stretches, letting out a long yawn, “It’s late, and the floor isn’t exactly the most comfortable place to sit for a long time.”

You chuckle and nod. “Want to tell me another time?”

She shakes her head. “Oh no, it’s completely fine. But… are you sure you don’t want something? I can whip us both up something pretty quick, if you like.”

“No thanks, I—”

Your stomach gives its own opinion before you can even finish yours. “Ah… um… If it’s not too much trouble?”

Her expression quickly lights up, and she grins happily. “Sure, Anon! Here, you can sit over there while I fix up something for us,” she points at her bed. It’s small, but it looks sturdy enough to support your sitting on it, at least.

“Promise you won’t try anything?” You chuckle, standing up and walking over to the bed, sitting down.

She shoots you a mischievous look. “I dunno, Anon… you are pretty good looking, even by mares’ standards,” she winks, before going back to some kind of makeshift stove-like appliance.

“How’d you guys get something like that up here in a tree house? Isn’t it… y’know, a fire hazard or something?”

“I should ask you why you had a hamster wheel in that bedroom of yours,” Scootaloo winks.

“…It’s an exercise item.”

Scoots chuckles, before shaking her head. “Sweetie Belle and Applebloom helped make it a few years back, when we were just fillies. Twilight also helped once we got it built, so it runs on magic energy. See?” she presses a button, and sets a kettle on it. A dim light flickers beneath the kettle, which you can only assume is some kind of magical flame; it’s too dark to see from where you are.

“Huh. So, what was this about Applebloom acting weird? Sounded like you had a story behind it?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “This only happened a few years ago, too. There was a colt in our school,” she begins, placing a bag of tea leaves into the kettle. “Big guy. Really good at sports and athletics and all that stuff. Really hard worker, too, so I can see why Applebloom would have taken a liking to him back then,” she says.

“Sounds like he was pretty popular, then?”

“Yeah. The fillies really did like him. But it got to his head; I couldn’t stand being around him because he wouldn’t stop talking about himself…” She shakes her head. “But Applebloom kept insisting that he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Kept saying how they were going to gallop off into the sunset, and all that stuff,” she sighs.

You nod, urging her to continue. “Well, did she ever try to gain his affection?”

She nods. “I can’t even count how many times she did. And it would get more complicated with each failed attempt. She actually tried to sabotage his other relationships to make herself look better in his eyes!”

You raise an eyebrow. Really? Would Applebloom really do something like that?

“The worst part of it was, every time he shot her down, she’d get this weird look in her eye… I can’t really explain it, but it was like she was determined to get him to love her, no matter what the cost…” She shivers a bit. “Scary, looking back on it.”

“What happened to the colt?”

She shakes her head. “I dunno. He just went and disappeared one day; everyone said he moved away to Manehatten or some other big city.”

“…And Applebloom?”

“Didn’t get over it for months,” she lets out a heavy sigh. “She had two other coltfriends after that, but neither of them worked out in the end. One dumped her for another mare, and the other was dumped by her for insulting her family’s line of work, saying he’d never be caught dead working on an apple farm…”

That makes you cringe a bit; you didn’t really like the Apple sisters, but for someone to insult their way of life? That’s going a bit far.

“Two weeks later he just… vanished. Not a single pony in town knows what happened,” she chuckles, as the whistle of the kettle resounds through the tree house.

Taking it off the stove, she pours two glasses of tea. “Sugar?”

“No thanks, I’m fine. Don’t need to be up all night.”

“You sure? Don’t want you dozing off while you’re here,” she chuckles. “Plus, you’ll need energy to get back home, right?”

…Hm. She makes a good point. “Alright, only a little bit, then.”

She nods, rummaging around and then pulling out a small bag of white powder, pouring a small amount into each teacup. “And here you go,” she nods, picking up the cup of tea with two hooves, bringing it to you.

Smiling, you take it from her and take a sip…

HOT. VERY HOT. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT.

Setting the cup down in your lap, you do your best to not show the immense pain burning your esophagus…

“Careful, Anon. You’ll want to blow it first,” she chuckles, walking back to grab her own cup.

Yeah. Thanks for the early warning, Scoots. Really fuckin’ helped.

“So… she feels the same way about me, then?”

She nods slowly. “I think this is the worst it’s been, though, from what I remember. She’s been like this before, but she’s NEVER actually lashed out at her friends for it, even when we all shared the same feelings,” she says. “I’m honestly pretty scared right now, Anon. I’m scared that she’ll try to hurt me in some way because of her feelings for you,” she looks up, and out the window, the Apple family’s farm sitting calmly through the trees, far away from the two of you.

You take a slow sip, making sure not to burn your tongue again, before responding. “Scoots.”

She jumps a bit at your sudden serious change of tone, and then turns her head to you. “Yes, Anon?”

“If she tries something, anything at all, to hurt you or any other friend of hers, you come find me. Got it?”

Her eyes widen. “Anon…?”

“I won’t stand for my friends getting hurt because she doesn’t get her way. It’s wrong, and someone who treats their friends like that isn’t a friend of mine.”

She sets her cup down on the floor, before leaping to embrace you on her bed, knocking you back. “Oh, thank you, Anon! Thank you so much! I won’t ever forget this!”

“GAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Hot cup of tea, plus lap, equals EXCRUCIATING PAIN. SO MANY HOT NEEDLES PIERCING EVERY CELL IN YOUR GENITAL REGION IS NOT A VERY PLEASANT FEELING.

And, you don’t exactly have a lot of time to react, as the recent orange ball of fur has sent you tumbling back, smacking your head against the wall. “S-SCOOTS, NOW IS NOT THE TIME! PAIN, VERY MUCH PAIN!”

Scootaloo immediately shoots up into the air, blushing heavily before realizing that she just spilled hot tea all over your pants. “Oh my gosh, Anon, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, dropping down to the floor to help you. “I just… oh, it’s all over…” she mutters.

“NO TIME. TURN AROUND, DON’T LOOK.”

She jumps, and turns around, shielding her eyes. In one swift motion, all that heat is gone from your crotch region…

“Ahh… much better…” Whew… that was WAY too close. You could have suffered permanent damage to your little Anons…

…Okay, maybe not permanent, but still.

“Anon? Is it safe to look now?” Scoots asks, still facing the other way.

Well shit, you’re in a bit of a predicament. On one hand, you’ve ended all conversation with Scoots, and have your wang out in the open on her bed. On the other hand, you’ve got hot tea all up in your pants, and you are NOT going to go through that again.

“No.”

Going with option one.

She lets out a groan, slumping down to the floor while looking the other way. “Sorry about that, Anon…” she mutters.

“It’s okay, Scoots. Do you have something I can wipe this off with?”

She shakes her head. “Not really… ponies don’t usually wear clothes like you do, so we don’t really have things to get that stuff out…”

Shit. This isn’t good. “Damn… okay.” You slip your feet through the holes of your pants and underwear, taking off your jacket. Setting them aside, you wrap your jacket around your front, covering your crotch area temporarily. “Alright, it’s safe. I’m gonna set these out to cool off and dry, alright?”

She nods, turning around. She eyes the pants and underwear, and then notices your jacket. “Need me to set them on a tree branch outside? Least I can do after… well, drenching you in hot tea,” she lets out an awkward chuckle.

“That’d be great, thanks.” Handing them over to her, she quickly zips outside, out of sight.

Whew… that was a close call. Good thinking with the jacket, Anon.

Oh… my… gosh…

You’re holding Anon’s pants. And his…

…No! Scootaloo, you need to control yourself!

But… he’s right in there; the only thing standing between you is a thin jacket covering his…!

That’s it! You won’t wait any longer!

Swerving up onto the roof, you set out his pants and underwear, giving each a long sniff in the crotch before bringing a hoof down between your hind legs, brushing it lightly along your opening a few times, causing you to pant lightly in anticipation.

Alright… you’re ready. You’re doing this.

Floating up into the air, you breathe in deep, and sigh, calming yourself.

“It’s now or never!”

Flying with speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of, you make a loop around and burst into the tree house, the sight of Anon’s finely-toned buttocks too much for you to handle.

With less grace than you would prefer, you crash into Anon a second time, slamming both of you into the wall this time, with enough force to knock both of you unconscious…

Well… at least you tried…

Author's Note

Summer was merely a setback. Next chapter is the thrilling conclusion.

~Wuten