First Crush
Prism was almost glad to be going back to school. Since her parents left for Afghanisteed, life had been pretty grim. Even if they did call her every week, it just wasn't the same. Just a few days ago, there had been an explosion in Afghanisteed and it had frightened her. One could imagine her relief when her parents called her on the magic mirror Uncle Discord had given her, saying they were alright. Still, every day she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen to them.
School would be the perfect distraction.
She looked up at the old red building and couldn't help but smile a little. She was going into fifth grade now. Soon she would be all grown up.
She glanced at her blank flank and sighed.
"Well," Thunder said, placing his hoof on his little sister's head. "Have fun, kid."
"We'll be here at three to pick you up," Lightning grinned.
"Thanks," Prism muttered.
At least some good had come out of their parents' extended absence. It was bringing the Dash siblings closer together.
Yet Prism would still watch in envy as the twins took to the skies.
She slowly walked over to the playground where the Tri-Pies were taking their traditional spin on the merry-go-round, chanting as Cherry spun her two sisters:
"Blueberry, Raspberry, Cherry Pie too,
Sisters of red, dark pink and blue,
Three best friends forever
Exactly the same
Let's start the new year
As we shout out our names."
"Blueberry!"
"Raspberry!"
"Cherry Pie!"
"YAY!" they all shouted.
"My turn, my turn!" Raspberry exclaimed.
She switched places with Cherry and they started again. Prism chuckled at the display.
"What are they doing?"
The pegasus turned to see her unicorn friend, Gemstone.
"They do this every year," Prism explained. "Ever since kindergarten, so they'll have good luck all year."
"Oh," Gemstone uttered. "Do you do anything like that with the twins?"
The pegasus frowned. "Mom would wake us up for morning exercises."
Who knew she would even miss that?
"Sorry," her friend whispered.
"It's okay."
"Do you think my baby sister and I will do anything special some day?"
"Maybe. When's she coming again?"
"Early or mid-October. That's a month away! Why do babies take so long to come?"
"Beats me."
Once the Tri-Pies had finished their spinning, they hopped over to their friends.
"Can you guys believe it?" Blueberry squealed.
"We're in the fifth grade!" Raspberry piped.
"One more year and we graduate!" Cherry chimed.
"I hear we're gonna have a new foal!" Blueberry announced.
"Ooh!" Raspberry clapped. "Another friend! Is it a he or a she?"
"Does it matter?" Cherry shrugged.
"Maybe he or she will be a blank flank and we'll get a new member!"
"Oh!" Gemstone grinned. "That'd be nice! Maybe he or she will have new ideas for cutie marks!"
That perked Prism up a little. "Yeah. We could have our cutie marks by the end of the year!"
The bell rang and foals flocked to the little red building.
The classroom had been rearranged, with a new column of seats, making it four-by-four. The Tri-Pies sat in the first row, leaving the one of the far left vacant. Gemstone and Prism took their usual seats in the back. The latter blushed as she passed by the green pegasus colt. He turned to her and they locked eyes for a second.
"Kicks," Prism said, clearing her throat.
"Penguin," Kicks responded coldly.
Gemstone looked between the two as Prism sat behind him.
"I can switch seats with you, if you'd like," the unicorn whispered.
Prism shook her head. "No, I'm good."
As usual, Mrs. Cheerilee was warm and cheerful as she greeted, "Good morning, class!"
"Good morning, Mrs. Cheerilee!" the class said in unison.
"Look at all of you, fifth graders! It seems like only yesterday you were all eager little five-year-olds on the first day of kindergarten."
"Ahem!" the Tri-Pies scoffed.
"Oh, sorry. I mean four- and five-year-olds. Now, I know you're all anxious to start the new school year…"
Kicks let out an exaggerated yawn which made Prism chuckle.
"…but before we begin, we have a new student. His name is Lemon Drop and he just moved from Manehattan."
"Ooh, Manehattan!" Gemstone exclaimed. "And he's a boy!"
"Just what we need," Prism groaned. "Another obnoxious colt."
"Hey!" Kicks protested.
Cheerilee opened the classroom door. When no pony came in, she leaned out and whispered:
"It's okay, sweetie. There's nothing to be afraid of."
All heads turned as the new colt walked in, but as soon as Raspberry's eyes beheld him, her pupils dilated and her jaw dropped.
He was a unicorn, with fur as yellow as a lemon, eyes the color of caramel and hair as white as vanilla frosting. He wasn't smiling and his eyes were directed toward the ground, but as soon as she saw him, something inside Raspberry snapped.
Her stomach was doing backflips, her fur was standing on end, her ears were filled with string music and her heart was pounding so hard, she could've sworn it was about to burst out of her chest.
Before any flies could enter, her mouth closed and turned into the biggest smile she had ever made. Her eyes closed halfway as her head slowly sank into her hooves. As she continued to stare at the colt, a single thought ran through her head over and over again:
He's…so…cute…
"Lemon Drop," Cheerilee said warmly, "why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
Lemon Drop…such a perfect name!
The colt slowly lifted his eyes to the class and rubbed his foreleg awkwardly.
Aw, he's shy…it's adorable!
"Hi," he uttered softly.
His voice! So cute!
"My name's Lemon Drop. I'm from Manehattan. One of my moms lost her job so we came to Ponyville and…"
"Wait a minute!" Cherry interrupted. "One of your moms? You have more than one?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm adopted. I have two moms."
There was silence, until Cherry announced, "I like this kid already!"
He has two moms, Raspberry thought. That makes him even more special!
"Two moms?" Pin Cushion questioned. "That's weird."
"Pin Cushion!" Cheerilee scolded. "It's not uncommon for children to have parents of the same gender. Why don't you go pick an empty seat, Lemon Drop? I see there's one next to Raspberry."
The magenta filly straightened up and patted the chair beside her. Lemon Drop gave her a quick glance before seating himself.
"Hi," Raspberry greeted in a half giggle, half sigh. "I'm Raspberry Strudel Pie."
The colt looked at her and gently shook her hoof. "I'm Lemon Drop Heartstrings."
Heartstrings… Raspberry thought as she let out another bubbly giggle. You have no idea how perfect that is…
In the middle of Cheerilee's lesson, Cherry was surprised to hear a "Pssst!" from Blueberry. She turned to her sister who was sticking out her notebook and pointing to the sentence at the top of the page: Look at Raspberry.
Cherry leaned forward to look past her and saw their sister propping up her elbows, leaning her chin on her hooves and staring at Lemon Drop. Even though she was facing away from them, Cherry could've sworn she was smiling like a fool.
Cherry scribbled in her book and tilted it for Blueberry to see: What about her?
Blueberry wrote another note: She's acting peculiar, don't you think?
Cherry glanced at Raspberry again and answered: Yeah. I mean she's happy all the time but I've never seen her THIS happy.
And why do you think she's looking that way at the new colt?
She's also giggling kinda goofy-like, even by our standards.
Something strange is definitely goi…
"Blueberry, Cherry, are you passing notes?"
"No!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders met at the merry-go-round as usual, but this time, had a new friend. Prism and Gemstone grinned as Raspberry walked up with Lemon Drop. However, the sight of her hoof holding his made Blueberry and Cherry glance at each other in confusion.
"So, Lemon Drop," Raspberry giggled, "these are my friends. That's Prism, that's Gemstone, and these are my sisters, Blueberry and Cherry."
"Hi," Lemon Drop uttered.
"We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Prism announced.
The colt tilted his head. "Huh?"
"It's a secret society dedicated to helping little ponies earn their cutie marks."
"We couldn't help but notice you don't have one," Gemstone added.
Raspberry blushed. "Not that we've been staring at your flank or anything!"
Lemon Drop shrugged. "It's no big deal. I'm not really in a hurry to find my special talent."
"But we could always use a new member," Prism said warmly.
Blueberry bit her lip. "Um…are you sure? I mean…if he doesn't want to join…"
"I'll have to ask my moms," Lemon Drop said. "They can be a bit overprotective."
"If you have two mums," Gemstone inquired, "how do you avoid confusion when you say 'Mum' or whatever you call them?"
"Well, when it's just one of them I call her Mom, but when I'm with both of them I say Mommy Lyra and Mommy Bon-Bon. Those are their names."
"They sound great!" Raspberry giggled.
"They are. They actually only adopted me three years ago. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to get two moms, but they're cool. Mommy Bon-Bon is really sweet and Mommy Lyra's always coming up with fun things for us to do."
"You think they might let you join our club?" Prism asked.
"Oh, please join, please!" Raspberry begged.
Blueberry and Cherry glanced at each other uneasily and came to a silent agreement.
"Conference!" they shouted.
The others were confused as they all huddled in.
"We…don't think Lemon Drop should join our club," Cherry said.
"What?!" Raspberry shouted. "Why?!"
"I don't know," Blueberry shrugged. "We just…have a funny feeling about him."
"Funny feeling? But he's such a sweetheart!"
"Rasp is right," said Prism. "He's a decent guy. I see no reason why he can't join our club."
"Me neither," Gemstone agreed. "After all, he doesn't have a cutie mark."
"Plus," Raspberry grinned, glancing over at the colt, "he's so dreamy!"
"But he can't join us!" Blueberry insisted.
"And why not?"
"Because…" Blueberry bit her lip again. "Because…he's a boy!"
"Oh, come on!" Raspberry huffed. "That's no excuse!"
"That's true," Prism confirmed. "The rulebook says we can't discriminate based on gender."
"Yeah, isn't memorizing the rulebook your job, Blue?"
"He still can't join us!" Cherry snapped. "Because…because…because he has two moms!"
"So?" Raspberry shrugged. "I thought you liked that kind of stuff, Cherry."
"He just can't!" Blueberry and Cherry said together.
"As Spokespony of this club," Prism declared, "I motion that we settle this democratically. We vote on it. All in favor of letting Lemon Drop join?"
She, Raspberry and Gemstone raised their hooves.
"Those opposed?"
Blueberry and Cherry raised theirs.
"Three-to-two. He joins."
"Uh, you guys know I can hear you, right?"
The fillies turned around to see Lemon Drop standing right behind them. They all blushed red, Raspberry especially.
"Congratulations, Lemon Drop!" Prism exclaimed, attempting to break the awkwardness. "You can join our club!"
Raspberry threw her hoof over the colt's shoulder. "I can be your sponsor."
Gemstone tilted her head. "Since when do we have spons…?"
"Shhh!"
The bell rang and the foals groaned at the fact that recess was over.
"You think about it, Lemon," Prism winked.
"Ooh!" Raspberry piped, grabbing the colt's hoof. "I'll show you the way back to class!"
Lemon Drop blinked. "But I already know the way to…"
He was cut off as Gemstone gave him a slight push.
"Let her show you," she said slyly.
Blueberry and Cherry scratched their heads at the strange spectacle and spoke the same thought:
"What the hay is going on?"
At the end of the day, as the foals gathered outside the schoolhouse, Lemon Drop waved to a pair of mares. One of them was a yellow earth pony with pink and blue hair. The other was a green unicorn with green and white hair.
"That's my moms," he explained to the fillies.
"Ask them if you can come to our meeting this afternoon," Prism suggested. "We're meeting at four-thirty."
"I can show you the way to the clubhouse!" Raspberry volunteered.
Lemon Drop smiled a bit. "I'll ask them now."
As the colt ran to his moms, Blueberry and Cherry pulled their sister aside.
"What's the matter with you?" Blueberry demanded.
"Huh?" Raspberry asked.
"You've been acting funny all day!" Cherry declared. "Are you sick or something?"
The magenta filly grinned and nodded dumbly. "Yes. I'm very sick."
"What is it?" Blueberry inquired. "What kind of sick?"
Raspberry was about to answer but jumped out of Blueberry's hooves when she saw Lemon Drop returning.
"What they say, what they say?!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
"They said no."
Raspberry ceased her bouncing and hung her head. "Oh."
"Well, not today, anyway. See, we have so much unpacking to do and they want me to stay home until that's done." He smiled and lifted her chin. "They said I could have a friend over though. Wanna come?"
The magenta filly gasped and her pupils turned into hearts. "Really?!"
Lemon Drop seemed unfazed by her excitement. "Sure." He turned to the others. "I'd invite all of you, but the house is such a mess, Mommy Lyra and Mommy Bon-Bon can't handle so many guests. Raspberry here seemed the most excited about me coming to the meeting, so…"
"Aw, it's cool," Prism said, waving her hoof nonchalantly.
"Yeah," Gemstone smirked, sharing a knowing look with the pegasus. "You two have fun!"
"We will!" Raspberry squealed.
Lemon Drop walked back to his parents. Raspberry was about to follow him when her sisters each placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"But Rasp, we were gonna go to Sugar Cube Corner after school," Blueberry reminded her.
"Aw, but we always go to Sugar Cube Corner!" Raspberry groaned.
"But we always do it together!" Cherry exclaimed. "Especially after the first day of school! It's tradition!"
"But it's not every day we have a new friend! Especially a cute one!"
She attempted to leave, but her sisters grabbed her forelegs.
"But we won't be there with you!" Cherry insisted.
"Sorry," Raspberry shrugged. "I can't help it if Lemon Drop can only bring one friend. We can all hang out together once his house is cleaned up."
"Then can't we just wait till then?" Blueberry pleaded. "So we'd at least be doing it together?"
"Get real, girls! We can't do everything together!"
They gasped in horror and released their hold on Raspberry.
"Hey Raspberry, you coming?" Lemon Drop called.
The magenta filly sighed and her sisters gawked as she seemed to defy gravity.
"Coming!" she replied dreamily.
As she floated towards Lemon Drop, Blueberry and Cherry jerked forward. The gasped again and grabbed the imaginary rope that held the triplets together. Raspberry stopped in mid-air, yet she was unknowingly tugging on the cord. Blueberry and Cherry placed their hooves firmly on the ground as they tried to pull her back. Suddenly, there was a snap and the two fell backward, landing on their rumps.
Their sister glided blissfully away, as if she hadn't felt the connection between her and her sisters break like a toothpick. Blueberry and Cherry watched her go in shock.
"We've lost her," the latter said.
Later that afternoon, the Cutie Mark Crusaders met in their clubhouse, but one member was missing. Prism was helping Gemstone with her homework while Blueberry and Cherry kept glancing at the clock every three seconds. No matter how many times they looked, the big hand remained on the nine and the little hand between four and five.
"Where is she?!" Cherry demanded. "She's fifteen minutes late!"
"And we can't start without our Secretary!" Blueberry declared. "Who's gonna write everything down?"
"Don't you have photogrammic memory or something, Blueberry?" Gemstone asked.
"It's photographic memory, and yes, but…we still can't have the meeting without Raspberry! Where is she anyway?"
"Chillax," Prism said coolly. "She probably got caught up at Lemon Drop's place."
"What excuse does that give her?" Cherry scowled.
"She's having fun. You know," the pegasus winked at Gemstone, "getting to know him…"
"Chatting him up…" the unicorn giggled.
"Sharing interests…"
"Courting…"
The two triplets tilted their heads.
"Do you guys know something we don't know?" Blueberry inquired.
The unicorn and pegasus giggled again.
"Isn't it obvious?" Gemstone smirked. "Raspberry is what Mother would call a 'smitten kitten.'"
"Raspberry's not a kitten, silly!" Cherry snorted.
"No. I mean she's been bitten by the love bug."
Cherry shrieked. "She's been bitten by a bug! Oh my gosh! We gotta find her and suck the poison out!"
Prism rolled her eyes. "She means Raspberry has a crush on Lemon Drop!"
The Tri-Pies blinked three times. Then their mouths twisted and broke into laughter.
"Raspberry…" Blueberry wheezed, "crush…Lemon Drop?!"
Cherry gripped her belly as she fell to the floor. "That's…the most…hilarious thing I've ever heard! Good one!"
Their laughter died down when they saw the questioning looks on their friends' faces.
"You were serious?" they said together.
"Of course," Gemstone replied.
"No, no, no!" Blueberry said, shaking her head with a grin. "You've got it all wrong! Raspberry can't have a crush on Lemon Drop, because we agreed we were all gonna marry male triplets!"
"Or female," Cherry added, "depending on our preferences!"
"And Lemon Drop's not even her type."
"How so?" Prism asked.
"Because he's not our type!" Cherry chimed.
"We're all the same," Blueberry explained, "so naturally, we'll all like the same type of guy."
"Or girl!"
Prism rolled her eyes again. "Oh come on, you guys aren't that much alike."
"Yeah, we are!" Cherry insisted.
"You're not even the same colors," Gemstone pointed out.
"Well, our parents had to tell us apart somehow," Blueberry argued.
"You read different types of books," Prism reminded them.
"Mere technicality," Cherry said, waving her hoof.
"Blueberry has photograph memory," Gemstone stated.
"Photographic," Blueberry corrected.
"And that's only because she's the super smart one," Cherry added.
"See?" said Prism. "How can you say you three are exactly alike when you call Blueberry the super smart one, Cherry the super hyper one and Raspberry the super sensitive one?"
"And if Raspberry's the super sensitive one," said Gemstone, "then it's no surprise she's the first to fall in love. After all, she reads all those romance novels."
"Okay!" Blueberry groaned. "So we have a few teeny, tiny, weeny, differences that are so teeny, tiny, weeny that they are insignificant. That doesn't prove that Raspberry's in love!"
They turned at the sound of a long, dreamy sigh. Raspberry was standing at the entrance, her eyes half-closed and staring off into space, her legs wobbling as she walked dazed into the clubhouse.
"Where've you been?!" Cherry demanded. "We've been waiting for hours!"
"It's only been eighteen minutes," Prism grumbled.
Raspberry sighed again as she collapsed to the floor. "I was with my sweet Lemony Drop."
Her sisters raised their eyebrows. "Lemony Drop?!"
"Ooh," Gemstone marveled. "I'm guessing things went well?"
"He's so wonderful!" the magenta filly cried, wrapping her forelegs around her torso. "He's adorable, he's nice, he likes to collect stamps, and every time I'm around him, I hear Tchaicowsky's 'Romeo and Juliet!'"
"Chaycow-who?" Cherry questioned, scrunching her nose.
"Tchaicowsky," Gemstone replied, "the famous Moscow composer."
Prism gave the unicorn a funny look.
"What? I take piano lessons!"
Blueberry bit her lip as she and Cherry stood over their sister. "Uh…Rasp? You're not…crushing on this guy, are you?"
Raspberry's grin widened. "No."
"Oh, good," Cherry sighed in relief.
"I'M HEAD OVER HOOVES IN LOVE WITH HIM!"
"WHAT?!" her sisters shouted.
"But you've only known him for a day!" Blueberry argued.
"It doesn't matter!" Raspberry declared. "It's true love! And we're gonna get married and have ten foals and live happily ever after!"
"But…" Cherry uttered, her lip quivering, "we…we agreed we'd get married together…with other triplets…"
Raspberry scowled and sat up. "No! You agreed to that! I never got any say in that! Besides, what are the odds of us falling in love with another set of triplets?" Her smile returned as she lay back down. "My little Lemony Drop is the one for me!"
Her sisters looked like they were about the throw up while Prism and Gemstone let out a long "Awwwwww!"
"Well, as sweet and mushy as this is," Prism said, "we have a meeting to start. Raspberry, get your notebook out."
Raspberry's eyes popped open. "Oh!" She whipped out her notebook. "Right!"
"We should try jewelry making," Gemstone suggested.
"Oh yeah," Prism said, rubbing her chin. "You made us bracelets for Hearts and Hooves Day. Yeah, we could try that. Rasp, you got that down?"
Raspberry's pencil was moving much slower than usual and she had that dreamy look on her face again.
"Rasp?" Prism said again. "Raspberry!"
"Huh?" Raspberry jumped. "Who? Wha? What happened?"
"Did you get Gem's jewelry-making idea down?"
"Oh." The magenta filly blushed. "I, uh…"
Blueberry peered over at her sister's notebook and gasped. She grabbed it with a scowl.
"What is this?" she demanded, sticking the book in Raspberry's face. "What is this?!"
The page had Lemon Drop's name doodled all over it.
"Sorry," Raspberry squeaked. "It's just…when we were talking about a mail delivery cutie mark, I thought of Lemon Drop's stamp collection and…"
"Lemon Drop this, Lemon Drop that!" Cherry exclaimed. "Can you talk about anything else?!"
"Humph!" Raspberry stood and stuck up her nose. "You girls are just jealous!"
"Jealous?!" her sisters shouted.
"Yeah! That I have a special some pony and you don't!"
She stormed angrily out of the clubhouse. Blueberry and Cherry turned to each other.
"Can you believe her?!" the latter growled.
"Jealous!" Blueberry spat. "Indeed!"
They followed Raspberry's example, but added a furious cry to their huff. Gemstone and Prism were left alone in awkward silence.
"Uh…" Prism shrugged. "Meeting adjourned?"
Dinner at the Party Palace was oddly quiet that evening. Well, not completely, as Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich were carrying on a conversation about how much they despised oatmeal, but their daughters didn't chime in once. Raspberry was too busy daydreaming while using her fork to form her mashed potatoes into the shape of a heart. Blueberry and Cherry were glaring at her begrudgingly.
Their parents didn't seem to notice their daughters' lack of appetite as Pinkie jumped up and cried:
"Who's up for dessert?"
Raspberry straightened up and clapped her hooves. "Me!"
"Sure," Blueberry and Cherry mumbled.
"Good!" Cheese exclaimed. "Because it was my turn to make the dessert tonight!"
He zoomed into the kitchen and returned with a chef's hat and a silver platter. Raspberry bounced in her chair excitedly as her father set the covered dish on the table.
"And tonight's dessert is…" He removed the cover. "Lemon cake!"
Blueberry and Cherry placed their heads in their hooves and groaned.
"Oh, goody!" Raspberry exclaimed, her dreamy grin returning. "Just like my little Lemony Drop…"
"It's not a lemon drop, silly!" Pinkie snorted. "It's a cake!"
"Lemon Drop's a new colt at our school," Blueberry mumbled.
"Yeah," Raspberry sighed, clasping her hooves together. "And he's the cutest, sweetest, most wonderful colt in the whole wide world!"
Pinkie gasped when she saw her blissful expression.
"Cheese," she whispered, taking her husband's hooves, "do you see what I see?"
"I think so, honey bunch!" Cheese Sandwich replied.
They touched cheeks and squealed, "OUR DAUGHTER'S IN LOVE!"
They zipped to Raspberry's sides.
"How old is he?" Pinkie asked.
"What color's his mane?" Cheese inquired.
"His eyes?"
"His coat?"
"Unicorn, pegasus, earth pony or rare male alicorn?"
"What size shoe does he wear?"
"Who are his parents?"
"Is he nice?"
"What are his hobbies?"
"Does he like whipped cream?"
Raspberry took a deep breath. "Ten, vanilla white, caramel brown, lemon yellow, unicorn, four, Lyra and Bon-Bon, yes, stamp-collecting, and yes!"
Her parents squealed again.
"Wait!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I know Lyra and Bon-Bon! They just moved back to Ponyville! Oh! We're gonna have to throw them a Welcome Home Party! Oh, sweetie! This is so exciting! Your first crush! Tell us everything! Now!"
"Well," Raspberry grinned, "when he first walked into the classroom, I heard Tchaicowsky's 'Romeo and Juliet' in my head…"
At the other end of the table, Blueberry and Cherry looked grimly at their slices of lemon cake.
"I'm not hungry," Blueberry muttered, shoving her plate away.
"Me too," Cherry whispered, doing the same.
Cheese Sandwich's smile faltered when he saw his other two daughters walk sadly out. While Raspberry continued her story, Cheese quietly pulled his wife aside.
"Honey," he whispered, tilting his head towards the two girls.
Pinkie caught a glimpse of them just before they disappeared. "Oh."
"I'll talk to them. You get the rest of the story."
His wife nodded in understanding and returned to Raspberry. Cheese followed Blueberry and Cherry up to their room. When he opened the door, they were already on their beds. Cherry was bouncing a red rubber ball on the ceiling while Blueberry had her nose in a book, her eyes staring blankly at the page.
Cheese said nothing for a while as he sat next to Blueberry.
"You fillies care to tell me what's wrong?"
Cherry momentarily stopped her bouncing and Blueberry's eyes fleeted towards her father and then back to her book.
"I see," he sighed. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your sister's crush now, would it?"
Blueberry's eyes darted up and this time remained locked on her father.
"We're not jealous."
"I didn't say you were," Cheese said softly. "So what's the problem?"
Cherry threw her ball back up, almost making a crack in the ceiling.
"We don't like him."
"Oh?" Cheese asked, raising an eyebrow. "How so? Is he mean?"
"No," Blueberry grumbled.
"Does he not talk to you?"
"No," Cherry moaned.
"Then what's the problem?"
Blueberry slammed her book closed. "Raspberry's been acting like a goofball all day!"
Cherry tossed her ball on the floor. "She acts like we don't exist!"
"And it's all Lemon Drop's fault!"
"Yeah! He's driving our family apart!"
"Now, girls," Cheese said slowly. "Don't go blaming Lemon Drop for this. Raspberry isn't ignoring you. She's just a bit distracted. Ponies act that way when they're in love."
"Well we don't like it," Blueberry murmured.
"And we gotta stop it!" Cherry declared.
"Don't you dare," their father warned. "Look, just because your sister wants to spend more time with this colt doesn't mean she doesn't want to spend time with you anymore. Doesn't this happen every time you make new friends?"
"But we always make new friends together!"
"Girls, you may be triplets, but you can't do everything together."
"Why does every pony keep saying that?!"
"It's true. You're all gonna grow up and lead separate lives. You'll fall in love with different stallions, or mares, and you'll get married and have kids of your own. Well, maybe not all three of you will, but my point is that your sister wants to do some things on her own and she can. So don't ruin her first possible relationship just because you don't like the colt. That's the father's job."
He folded his hooves and waited for his daughters to respond. They said nothing and rolled away from him.
"Okay," he sighed, rising from the bed. "We can talk about this more when you're ready."
He slowly closed the door behind him. After a while, Blueberry let out a sigh.
"He's right," she mumbled. "We can't ruin our sister's first possible relationship."
"Yeah," Cherry moaned.
Blueberry sat up. "But maybe some pony else can."
Cherry jumped up and looked at her in confusion. Then a wicked grin spread across Blueberry's face. Cherry's eyes widened and her grin grew to match her sister's.
"You want me to do what?!"
Kicks really didn't know what to expect when he was passed a note telling him to meet in the school basement at recess. He figured it was something weird when he entered the old headquarters of the Foal Free Press and the large brown chair behind the big desk rotated slowly to reveal two of the Tri-Pies with sinister looks on their faces.
What they asked of him was the last thing he expected.
"You heard us," Blueberry said coolly, tapping her hooves together. "We want you to take care of Lemon Drop."
"And by take care of him," Cherry snickered, "we mean DESTROY HIM!"
Kicks jumped as she slammed her hoof on the desk.
"You don't mean…?" he gulped. "Geez! I may be a bully, but I'm no hit pony!"
"No, no, no, no, no," Blueberry shook her head. "We don't mean destroy him literally. We mean tease him, humiliate him, make him look like a fool in front of the whole school!"
Kicks blinked. "Why? I mean I enjoy a good tease as much as the next foal, but why Lemon Drop? What he ever do to you?"
"That is none of your concern!" Cherry snapped. "Are you in or out?"
"I don't know. Dad warned me about taking jobs like this…"
Cherry whispered in her sister's ear. Blueberry grinned as she took out a file.
"We wouldn't want these floating around the playground now, would we?"
She tossed the folder in front of Kicks and the pictures spilled into view. The colt gasped in horror.
"Where did you get these?!"
"Your sister was easily persuaded," Blueberry smirked.
"Also…" Cherry leaned forward and whispered, "Prism? Really?"
The photographs were of his room, which was decorated in drawings of him and Prism: holding hooves, kissing, getting married…all of which would incriminate him.
"There are plenty more copies where those came from," Blueberry said, looking nonchalantly at her hooves.
"This is blackmail!" Kicks shouted.
"No. It's bluemail!"
Cherry frowned. "I thought we were going with cherrymail!"
"Bluemail sounds cooler." Blueberry turned back to the colt. "So, do we have a deal?"
Kicks looked at the pictures and groaned in defeat.
"Higher, Lemony! Higher!" Raspberry shouted as Lemon Drop pushed her on the swing.
"Any higher and you'll fall off!" he insisted.
"Higher! So we can touch the clouds!"
Lemon Drop shook his head with a laugh. "You really are something, Razz!"
A voice called from behind, "Hey!"
Raspberry planted her hooves on the ground and she and Lemon Drop turned around to face Kicks.
"I wanna talk with ya, Lemon Drop!"
"Oh," the unicorn said. "Sure. Your name is Kicks, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. And I've got something to say to you!"
"Okay. What?"
"Uh…"
Kicks glanced over his shoulder. A group of foals had gathered to see what the shouting was about. Among them was Blueberry and Cherry, who were urging him on.
"You, uh…have a dumb face!"
His blackmailers slapped their foreheads. Lemon Drop only blinked.
"Is that it?"
"No!" Kicks exclaimed, a little louder than he intended. "I…"
Cherry crushed her hooves together and nodded.
"You, uh…what you doing hanging out with a girl, huh? You got cooties?"
Lemon Drop shook his head. "You still believe in cooties? How old are you?"
He turned to walk away.
"Stop! I'm not finished with you! You…you…"
Kicks looked back at the two Tri-Pies. Cherry mouthed: Two moms.
"Right, uh…" He stuck out his chest, making himself look as tough as possible. "What's the deal with you having two moms?"
That made the unicorn stop. He slowly faced the pegasus again.
"Why do you ask?"
Kicks winced for a second, actually hating what he was about to say. "Every pony else has a mom and a dad! Why don't you have a dad? Do you like colts?" He addressed the crowd. "Lemon Drop here is a colt-cuddler!"
A few foals snickered and Lemon Drop shrank a bit. Raspberry grabbed his hoof.
"Come on," she whispered. "Let's get out of here."
But Lemon Drop narrowed his eyes in determination. He wrenched his hoof out of her grasp and stood firmly before the pegasus colt.
"Who cares if I have two moms?!" he snapped. "I'm not the only one! Actually, I'm quite lucky to have them! It's better than having no mom at all! And just because my moms like each other doesn't mean I like colts! Who told you that garbage?"
Many "oohs" erupted from the crowd. Kicks was stunned. He had not expected the twerp to stand up to him. He looked to his employers for help. They were also surprised, but they shook it off and both made the crushing motion. Kicks looked back at the unicorn.
"Well…" he stammered. "You…I…take this!"
He stuck out his hooves and shoved them into Lemon Drop's chest. The unicorn cried out as he fell backward into the swing, flipped over, hit his head on the ground and tumbled down the hill. Raspberry screamed as her crush splashed into a mud puddle.
Many of the foals, including Blueberry and Cherry started laughing. Kicks looked at his hooves in shock. Gemstone and Prism, the latter especially, had watched the scene in horror.
At the bottom of the hill, Lemon Drop sniffed as a tear fell from his eye.
Raspberry's blood boiled in rage. She scowled at the bully.
"WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
That brought silence upon the playground. Raspberry slid down the hill and offered her hoof to Lemon Drop. She whispered softly as she wiped away as much mud as she could and led him towards the schoolhouse.
Blueberry and Cherry groaned in annoyance.
"Well that didn't work," the latter grumbled. "Now she's more into him than ever!"
"Time for Plan B," Blueberry declared.
"What's Plan B?"
"I don't know. We'll figure it out at the clubhouse."
Kicks was in for another surprise after school. He screamed as he was grabbed from around the corner of the building and thrown against the brick wall. He was thrilled at how Prism's hooves gripped his chest and frightened at the death glare she was giving him.
"Alright, punk!" she bellowed. "Who put you up to it?!"
"Put me up to what?" Kicks said in a cracked voice.
"What you did to Lemon Drop," Gemstone replied, stepping out from behind Prism. "That was absolutely horrid!"
"What makes you think some pony put me up to it?"
He cried out as Prism slammed him against the wall.
"I know you well enough to know that you may be a jerk, but you would never push some pony down who was too weak to defend himself!" she declared. "Maybe call him names, but not rough him!"
"I didn't mean to hurt him too hard!" Kicks insisted. "I was only supposed to humiliate him! Oops."
Prism pulled him closer. "Who put you up to it?"
He was scared out of his wits, but he furrowed his eyebrows and tried to look strong.
"I'll never tell!"
Their noses were now touching.
"You'll tell me," she threatened, "or I swear, I'll punch you so hard that all your teeth will fall out! Even the grown-up ones!"
Kicks smiled. "Is that a promise?"
Prism rolled her eyes. She had forgotten who she was talking to. She glanced back at Gemstone and whispered low enough so she wouldn't hear.
"If you don't tell me," she warned, "I'll tell the entire school that you have a crush on me."
Kicks' eyes widened in fear. "You wouldn't!"
She raised her hoof. "Wanna bet?"
"Your rep will be as ruined as mine!"
She was so close now that he could see the dangerous gleam in her eye. "I'll take my chances."
"I've got it!" Cherry declared. "We'll use one of our party cannons to blast him to the moon!"
"No, no, no," Blueberry groaned. "We'll get in trouble with Princess Luna."
"Oh, that's right. How about we pack him in a box and ship him to Camelu?!"
"That won't work. They'll just return it like they did last time."
"Right. Darn. Then how about…?"
"YOU HIRED KICKS TO KNOCK OFF LEMON DROP?!"
The triplets jumped at Raspberry's booming voice. Their sister's eyes were full of fury and steam was coming out of her ears and nose as she stomped into the clubhouse.
"OF ALL THE JERKY THINGS ANY PONY COULD POSSIBLY DO! WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST MY BOYFRIEND?!"
Blueberry's fear was quickly replaced with anger. "HE'S A THREAT TO OUR SACRED BOND OF SISTERHOOD!"
"AND HE'S NOT RIGHT FOR YOU!" Cherry bellowed.
"THREAT?!" Raspberry repeated. "NOT RIGHT FOR ME?!"
Outside, Prism, Gemstone and Lemon Drop were standing beneath the clubhouse, covering their ears as the tree shook.
"Should we go up there?" Gemstone asked, quivering.
"Let's give them a few more minutes," Prism whispered.
"WHAT DID LEMON DROP EVER DO TO YOU?!" Raspberry demanded.
"HE STOLE YOU FROM US!" Cherry hollered.
"EVER SINCE YOU LAID EYES ON THAT KID, YOU'VE BEEN TREATING US LIKE DIRT!" Blueberry shouted.
"YOU DITCHED US AT SCHOOL…"
"YOU WERE LATE FOR OUR CRUSADER MEETING…"
"YOU WENT ON A PLAYDATE WITHOUT US…"
"IT'S LIKE YOU DON'T WANNA HANG OUT WITH US ANYMORE!"
Raspberry's mouth closed and her eyes blinked. "I…I didn't know you felt that way."
"WELL, WE DO!" her sisters yelled.
There was a long period of silence. Raspberry glanced between her sisters. After reflecting over how she had been acting the past few days, she sighed.
"I guess I have been ignoring you girls. I…I didn't mean to. It's just…this is the first time I've ever really liked a guy and I didn't wanna blow my chance. I'm sorry I ditched you guys yesterday and I'm sorry I said you were jealous, but…was it really necessary to hurt Lemon Drop like that?!"
Her sisters hung their heads.
"No," they groaned.
"We just didn't want to lose you as a sister," Cherry whimpered.
"Oh, girls," Raspberry said softly. "We'll always be sisters, no matter how many crushes I get. Even when I'm spending time with some pony else, I'll always find time for you. And I don't always have to choose between you and Lemon Drop. He wants to be part of our club so we can all hang out together. You'll really like him. He's a really nice guy."
"He is," Blueberry admitted. "We noticed how nice he was to you. It just felt like he was taking you away from us."
"But he's not," Cherry finished. "We see that now."
"We're really sorry, Rasp" they said in unison.
Raspberry smiled. "I'm sorry, too."
They moved in for a group hug and they could feel the bond between them restoring to what it once was, and getting stronger.
"Ahem," Prism coughed from the entrance. "I think there's some pony else you need to apologize to."
Gemstone and Prism were standing behind Lemon Drop, who approached the triplets nervously.
"We're really sorry for what we did to you, Lemon Drop," Blueberry said sincerely.
"Can you ever forgive us?" Cherry pleaded.
The colt rubbed his head. "Well, my head still hurts, but…sure." He held out his hoof. "Friends?"
Blueberry and Cherry grinned and touched his hoof. "Friends."
Lemon Drop turned to Raspberry. "So while you girls were yelling at each other…" He blushed and rubbed his foreleg. "I heard you say I was your boyfriend…"
Raspberry's cheeks turned redder than his. "I…I…"
"I've never had a special some pony before, but I'm willing to try."
Her eyes widened. "You mean…?"
"Sure. I mean if you want to and all. Besides," he said as he looked down at his hooves, "I think you're really sweet."
Raspberry's ears twitched and her mouth broke into a smile bigger than the one she'd made when she first saw him.
"YES!"
She threw her hooves around Lemon Drop's neck, tackling him to the ground. Every pony else laughed.
"Well, now that that's settled," Prism smirked, "you ready to be a Cutie Mark Crusader, Lemon?"
"Oh, he's ready, alright!" Raspberry exclaimed, squeezing her new coltfriend. "And he's gonna love it!"
Cherry stood at the podium with the Cutie Mark Crusader pledge open in front of her. Lemon Drop stood before her, wearing a Crusader cape. Raspberry held his left hoof for support.
"Raise your right hoof and repeat after me," Cherry ordered. "I, Lemon Drop…"
The colt raised his hoof and repeated, "I, Lemon Drop…"
"Take thee Raspberry…"
"Take thee Raspberry…"
"To be my lawfully wedded wife…"
"To by my lawfully wedded…WHAT?"
"JUST KIDDING!" the Tri-Pies shouted.
The fillies burst into laughter while Lemon Drop blushed in embarrassment. He glanced at the Crusaders and then at Raspberry's hoof.
What have I gotten myself into?
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Where'd Prism and Kicks get hands from? Have they been mutilating minotaurs again?
This chapter is hilarius.
I realy love the Tri-Pies.
Aw this was so cute :D, and I thought Prism would be the first to have a coltfriend since Kicks likes her
5184316 I also noticed another minor error "no many how many crushes". "no matter how many crushes". I'm good here and bye.
5184867 Eeep! I'll fix it right away!
5184522 It's right...it's just on FanFiction you're not allowed to post content on Archie Comics...
5185075
No problem you're fine.
Cherry was the one to amend "or girls" to their potential triplet spouses, I wonder if that's foreshadowing.
Then again I forget, was she the one to amend this in all the previous chapters?
AWWW I really like this sweet chapter
Man do I ship prism x kicks hard!!!!!
You say you didn't have time to write, but this is a long chapter compared to what I've written so far.
I was sure this was going to refer to Kicks, since they did blackmail him into doing terrible things, using his own crush against him.
more more more more
plz i love this AND bride of discord P.S this includes audio version
That was sweet as a lemon lolly-pop. Thank you, you've made my day with this little tasty piece of text!
I loved this chapter! I don't care. I LOVED IT! I was kinda scared Prism was gonna fall for him when I saw the title but ya came through!
Rasdrop? Lemonberry?
D'aw! This chapter was great; definitely one of the best in this story so far!
5185076 hold it hold it how old are you DF exactly by the way sweet and funny story
ps and a little bit of surprised
5185076 oops almost forgot your
Welcome to hell Lemon Drop. Poor kid is screwed.
This chapter is just too adorable.
Of course they are.
Ah. Typical hyper-active reac-wait, WHAT?!
Ahhhh this was really so sweet... I loved it. And really LGBT sensitive, too, which is greatly appreciated. Lemon Drop sounds so dreamy XD
.................. Seriously? A frozen reference? I LIKE IT!!!
"And Lemon Drop's not even her type."
"How so?" Prism asked.
"Because he's not our type!" Cherry chimed.
"We're all the same," Blueberry explained, "so naturally, we'll all like the same type of guy."
"Or girl!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By that reasoning, Haven´t they ever thought that maybe they would end up fighting for the same pony?
and also, by your description of him, it seems that Lemon Drop looks a lot like his moms.
Oooookkkkkk.... This chapter was as well-written as the others
but I... do have some criticism. The filly's TEN YEARS OLD, for goodness' sake, and she's already acting like... this about a colt? I mean, fine in another 5 years, but... She's not even a teenager yet! I guess this is just how it it nowadays, but...
Gotta ask: how did you react to Lyra x Bon - Bon made canon in Rainbow Rocks?
"That's my moms,"
"Those two mares are my moms,"
Great story though! Just thought I'd catch this for ya! ;3
Dammit, when is Prism going to cave and just make it all official. We know that she has at least some feelings for Kicks, and we know Kicks has quite a large amount of feelings for Prism. Just bridge the gap already! But this was a really cute chapter. I can't wait for Cherry to start singing a certain Katie Perry song.
DAMN IT! THEY WERE SO CLOSE!
we all know that it's going to happen
please don't hurt me
6012494 BWA-HA-HA-HA! He was like: 'wait, what now?'
x infinity
6120886
...
Agreed.
*puts on cool sunglasses*
Heh. I can relate to that. Didn't discord try to ruin screwy's first crush?
6428332 haha it reminded me of cheese judging the other pies and other stories. But somehow not discord and srewball lol and DF, WHY MUST YOUR WRITING MAKE ME CRY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?? When rainbow left I was like I know that feeling but it made me cry!
To by my lawfully wedded…WHAT?
haha lemon drop it the tri-pies brin tri-pies
"Human beings fascinate me, being just the way they are"
YES!!! Wait, so is this Lyra BonBon shipping!?!?!? EVEN BETTER!!!
5185076
What's the definition for "latter" in your version? Because most of them don't make sense.
Raspberry being in love with Lemon Drop reminded me of She's In Love from The Little Mermaid Broadway Musical. (You can check it out on you tube if you want.)
Cherry doesn’t spak, she chimes.
It was at this moment I knew...... DF totally went there!
DF!! YOU'RE KILLING ME!! FIRST DASH AND NOW THIS? YOU ARE ONE HECK OF A WRITER!
ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!! B#%$
9085376
She changas too
Oh...? Oh...!? OOOOOHHHH!!! Sneaky~.
9130149
"Do you like mmmmmmmmm bananas?"
BON BON ×LYRA EEEEE
EEEEE
XD