Eight legs of fun!

by Voltsthevoltvolts

Act II, Part 5. Getting by with help from friends

"Hey Vanessa, how many more spiders do we have to feed?" Maddie asked as she levitated several crickets and locus into the glass containers. "Not that I don't like sending insects to their doom."

Vanessa focused for a moment, she finished feeding a spider and then rubbed her forehead as she landed back on the floor. "Only about ten, this feeding is a lot quicker with somepony to help." Vanessa went over to a small plastic tub and picked out more insects, biting down on their back legs she flew back up to the higher containers and dropped the insects into the container.

"How are you able to hold those things in your mouth? They're tiny." Maddie asked as she levitated a few crickets into one of the glass containers.

"The same way you use your magic to do it. I just got so used to grabbing their tiny legs that it isn't too hard for me now." Vanessa fed a few more spiders and then shut the container which had all the crickets contained. "Thanks for helping Maddie, no need to get any more out for a while these should last them a while."

"No problem Vanessa, happy to help." Maddie said happily as she moved over to the sofa and sat down. "Care to join me?" Maddie chuckled as Vanessa joined her on the sofa. "So do we have any plans for today then? Or will we be making it up as we go along?"

"Well I need to do a monthly check-up on the spiders. Moving can stress them out a bit and the last thing we want is a highly venomous spider running around biting ponies." Vanessa went over to one of the unpacked boxes and dug into it, she emerged with several clipboards with notes marked on them. "It may take a while and you might need to leave when I check the dangerous ones."

"That's alright, I will go and do some shopping. We may have spider food, but not pony food." Maddie laughed happily and Vanessa smiled warmly at her.

"Alright then Maddie, see you later!" Vanessa called out as Maddie left the house.

---

Maddie pushed the door open and walked into the clothes shop, while she would normally knock it seemed a bit odd knocking to enter a shop. Rarity was working on a dress and didn't seem to notice the door opening and shutting . Maddie briefly took a moment to regain her composure, a few deep breaths allowed her to calm herself down slightly. "Ahem..." Maddie tried to make herself seen.

"Just a moment, I just need to finish this stitching." Rarity said in response to the sound that was made. Maddie sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs. Rarity finished sowing and moved away from the sewing machine. "Oh hello Maddie, how are you? Can I help you with anything?" Rarity polity asked.

"Well I don't know really, I just didn't know who to talk to about it. I don't really know anypony besides my brother here..." Maddie sighed and shook her head. "I don't really know how to say it..."

"Well... Maybe we should start at the start darling. At least so I can know what 'it' is." Rarity sighed slightly.

"Oh of course, sorry I got a ahead of myself!" Maddie hastily replied and laughed for a moment before pausing herself. "Yesterday when we were at the spa, you made a good guess on how I saw Vanessa."

"Yes, I do believe I guess you two were dating." Rarity said in a matter-of-fact tone and sighed. "Having trouble in paradise?"

"No, not at all. Its just that I get the feeling that she is only going along with it because she doesn't want to be left alone." Maddie admitted. "I guess there is trouble in paradise then..."

"What makes you think that? She seemed quite happy when we were at the spa yesterday." Rarity stated as she took a seat next next to Maddie.

"Well... I may have planned most of our meet up. She wasn't happy when she found out but she said she would give it a chance. Aside from that we have done nothing." Maddie sighed. "And I mean nothing. The most romantic thing she has done is called me her lover, and that was only once."

"Hm, and how long have you been seeing each other?" Rarity asked.

"About... Two days." Maddie reluctantly said.

"That's your problem, you are rushing things. Just wait a few weeks. If she still hasn't done anything then come back, I might be able to help you then." Rarity chuckled as she placed her hoof on Maddie's shoulder. "If you want any help feel free to ask."

"Well I could use a hoof right now really. You see I want to move things... 'Forward' so to speak, but I don't want to make it seem like I'm only after... 'That'." Maddie chuckled and hoped that Rarity got her cryptic message.

"Well... How far 'forward' do you want to go?" Rarity jokingly said. "But in all fairness darling, I need to know." Rarity said sternly.

"Not too far 'forward'... But I would like to try and speed things up." Maddie said awkwardly. "Maybe just a teeny tiny bit."

"Okay Maddie, let me try and get this straight. You want me to help you speed things up, but not speed it up too much." Rarity laughed happily. "What exactly do you want me to do?" Rarity continued.

"Well... I don't really know!" Maddie responded. "When I'm normally doing this, the other other half is pretty 'forward'." Maddie chuckled. "Vanessa is the first time I have had to be careful. Normally we just dive in an..."

"Ah-bu-bu-bu! That is highly unladylike, please watch what you say." Rarity interrupted Maddie.

"As I was saying then... Normally things tend to move quickly." Maddie sighed and spoke flatly. "I just don't get it."

Rarity rubbed her chin for a brief moment before an idea formulated in her head. "Have you considered that in your 'other' relationships, you are not their first?" Rarity asked.

"Hm, when you put it that way... I guess they moved quicker because they had done it before. But Vanessa hasn't, she has never been in love with another pony as far as I know." Maddie paused for a moment. "Maybe she is worried that she might do something wrong and offend me in some strange way..."

"My thoughts exactly!" Rarity concluded. "Now stand up and I will show you what to do!"

"Wha..?" A somewhat confused Maddie replied.

"Well. You need to do the right thing if you want to show her you love her." Rarity stated as she got up. "Now stand up and I will show you what to do."

Maddie slowly got up and Rarity move uncomfortable close. "R-Rarity what are you doing!?"

"First, you need to get close to her. Show her that you aren't afraid of her, that your comfortable with being close. Just pretend I am you." Rarity pushed Maddie back slightly, but caught her in her magic before she could fall. "You want to hold her like this, make sure you don't hold to tight or she will be uncomfortable." Rarity briefly sharpened her magical grip to show what it would feel like. "Avoid doing that."

"Ow, but message received." Maddie responded as she winced from the sharp pain.

"Then you want to lean in really close..." Rarity slowly started to close the gap between her and Maddie. "Look her in her most likely confused eyes, and seal the deal." Rarity pulled away and allowed Maddie to get up. "If you do it like that she should show her feelings, by either returning the favor or running away."

"Why do it like that?" Maddie responded.

"Vanessa may be a lady, but she is also impulsive. I could tell that from the spa. She will like it, trust me." Rarity said confidently.

"And if she screams, pulls away and accuses me of harassing her?" Maddie asked.

"At you can say you tried." Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Now go out there and woo that mare!" Rarity ordered.

---

Meanwhile...

Vanessa landed on Cloudkicker's cloud, it had taken her a hour to find it but she eventually did. Vanessa walked up to the cloudy door and knocked on it. Vanessa could hear the sounds of a pony falling over followed by a short grumble. The door swung open and a tired looking Cloudkicker was on the other side. Cloudkicker quickly became aware of Vanessa and shook her head to wake herself up. "Sorry about calling on you at this time, had I known..." Vanessa said sorrowfully

"Its alright, just having a lazy day off." Cloudkicker replied. "Come in and take a seat, I assume this is about work?"

"No, I need advice on a personal matter." Vanessa said as she entered the cloud house and took a seat on one of the clouds in the main room. "A rather personal matter..."

Cloudkicker walked into the room and took a seat opposite Vanessa. "How personal?"

"It involves a mare I am seeing currently..." Vanessa sighed. "We have only just started seeing each other." Vanessa shook her head and sighed a second time. "She says she has done it before... But this is new to me and I don't really know what to do..."

"Wait, Back it up a moment. You're saying a pretty mare like you has never dated somepony?" Cloudkicker shook her head. "That can't be true, I won't believe it!"

Vanessa smiled weakly at Cloudkicker. "It is..." Vanessa perked up slightly. "Its really hard to get a date when everypony think you will eat them after you get them in bed." Vanessa laughed heartily.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. Trust me, it you had lived here you would not have had that problem." Cloudkicker reassured Vanessa. "So what seem to be troubling you? I will try and help out the best I can."

"As I said, we have only just started dating. I don't really know what I am doing for the most of it. The main thing I worry about is her getting board and moving on." Vanessa explained. "I know I am being silly, we have only been seeing each other for two days."

"Caring about the ones you love is not silly Vanessa, and besides I think I can help you!" Cloudkicker announced happily. "You just need a way of expressing yourself!"

"How would I go about doing that? I don't really know what I can do." Vanessa stated. "But it is a good idea, I just need some inspiration."

"What are you good at currently? We have a lot to choose from."Cloudkicker happily explained. "You could do an aerial display, you could buy her something nice... Wait hold on a moment, tell me who you are dating first."

"Her names Madly Rich, but she prefers to be called Maddie. Her brother lives in Ponyville." Vanessa said happily.

"I knew Filthy had a sister, but I never knew she was fillyfooler... Only heard the rumors about it." Cloudkicker gently chuckled happily.

"There were rumors about it?" Vanessa joined in with a laugh. "In my house there is a bet on which way I swing." Vanessa happily sighed. "Poor Dad, he will lose a lot of bits when I tell them..."

"Oh, that's a bit strange..." Cloudkicker paused for a moment. "Then again if I was your age and hadn't decided, I'm pretty sure my family would do the same."

"My family is full of oddballs." Vanessa chuckled. "We have no normal ponies living in our family who are alive. Stuff like that is normal... But tell me about these rumors!" Vanessa jokingly ordered.

"Well they started about a year ago... Madly had been known to spend the odd week down here in Ponyville. However she normally came alone when she did. A year ago though she came down with this unicorn who went by the name of Shadow Lotus. They seemed to be glued to each other and that's whats planted the seeds. It didn't help that Filthy kicked her out because of a 'noise' issue." Cloudkicker laughed. "Oh yes, apparently they were very loud."

"I guess I have a lot to live up to then..." Vanessa shakily spoke out.

"Nope, apparently Shadow Lotus wanted foals and they were arguing over it. Something to do with the magic involved... I don't really know, being a pegasus and all." Cloudkicker assured Vanessa. "But sure enough, next time she came down she was alone. We asked Filthy what was up, but he said it was 'her own business'. We left it at that and decided not to pry."

"How strange... Then what happened?" Vanessa decided to continue asking.

"A few visits later she was with another pony this time she is with a mare by the name of Honey Rays. Honey Rays was a nice pegasus, she worked a bit while she stayed. However she was a bit flirtatious and I don't think Madly liked it too much." Cloudkicker continued. "They left together, but once again when Madly returned she was alone. Not once did she ever say that she was dating either of the mares, and neither did her brother when he was asked."

"So they tried to cover up the failed relationships? Maddie had said that she had been with a few mares." Vanessa cautiously said.

"Well you're the first pony she has admitted it to... But back to what we were talking about!" Cloudkicker said as she pulled to conversation back to its original purpose. "What do you feel works for you?"

"Nothing too big, I don't want to announce it to everypony in Equestria. I would rather do something that is just me and her." Vanessa replied.

"You could take her out to a restaurant, that always seems to work." Cloudkicker suggested. "But that does seem a bit basic. Maybe you could try singing to her? She might a sucker for a musical number."

"Call me old fashion, but I'm partial to the odd bit of singing. It helps calm the spiders down." Vanessa said happily. "So excuse me for being vain, but I think I have a rather good singing."

"Oh really? Lets hear it then..."

---

"Maddie darling, that was your que to leave." Rarity sighed as Maddie remained in the clothes shop. "Not that I don't like being in your company."

"Sorry Rarity, but I have a problem... I kind of told her that I have been with other mares..." Maddie admitted.

"So the rumors were true then..." Rarity sighed. "I don't know why your brother tried so hard to cover it up."

"Filthy is a bit... Old fashion, he thinks that it will shame the family... Somehow." Maddie explained. "What if she asks me what went wrong with them? What if she starts acting strangely to avoid upsetting me?" Maddie panicked.

"Maddie, calm down. Maybe she will do that, then it will be up to you to set her straight." Rarity tried to calm Maddie down. "Just take a deep breath Maddie." Rarity got up and walked behind Maddie and gently massaged her shoulders. "Just relax Maddie."

"S-Sorry Rarity, I'm a bit prone to panic attacks." Maddie explained as she started to relax. "I have just had so many relationships go foal because of tiny little things. Such as Shadow Lotus, everypony thinks that we were arguing over foals but the real reason we broke up was because I didn't want to spend my Sundays worshiping some forgotten god!" Maddie half snapped as she explained.

"Beg pardon? A cult? She want you to join a cult?" Rarity said sound surprised. "And you broke up because you didn't want to go?"

"No... She broke up with me because I didn't want to go. The joke was on her though, the cult got broken up and several ponies were arrested." Maddie said triumphantly. "Here I'l explain it..."

---

A loud pounding on the door woke me up, it must have been two o clock in the morning seeing as the moon was still in the sky. I grumbled as I got up. "Two o clock in the morning... Who could that be..." Of course I used a few stronger words, but I don't think I will say them here. My house was dark so I had to shine my horn in order to see properly. The loud pounding on the door came again, followed by a desperate cry for help.

"Maddie! For Celestia's sake open the door!" I could have sworn that was Shadow Lotus, but we broke up a good few weeks ago. I moved over to the front door and slowly opened it. Much to my dismay, Shadow Lotus was on the other side. "Thank you Maddie!" Shadow Lotus barged past me and slammed the door shut with her magic. I angrily followed her into the main room and watched her as she peeped out the windows.

"Shadow, what the hay is going on? Do you have any idea what time it is?" I angrily snapped at the mare. Shadow Lotus turned around and looked at me coldly, while I didn't like the mare she did look rather troubled. "Are you alright Shadow?"

"A bunch of foals... We let a group of five in and they went around vandalizing everything, leaving our mark behind. The police started tracking us down, I panicked Maddie I didn't know where to go! The police were at my flat talking to my flatmates! I didn't know where else to go..." For the first time since we broke up, I felt sorry for Shadow Lotus. She genuinely looked worried. "Do you mind if I lay low here for a while?" I easily could have told Shadow Lotus to go face the music rather then hide, but a small part of me missed her.

"Sure, I don't mind breaking the law so that an ex who left me for a cult can sleep in my house." I think that hammered my point home, that she had shown up out of the blue demanding something that I wouldn't do for her.

"I know its a lot to ask..." Yeah, a heck of a lot. "But it would really mean a lot to me." I honestly could not believe that she was saying, she was trying to pull at my heartstrings. I sighed and rolled my eyes and glared at her. "Look if I get caught I won't tell them at you hid me." I guessed that I just need something to make it worthwhile, or at least something that meant I wouldn't go to jail while Shadow Lotus stayed at my place. So for the next few weeks my ex hid in my house...

---

"That didn't explain much, you just said you let her in your house for a few weeks." Rarity chuckled. "Clearly you must have still felt something if you let her stay in your house." Rarity pointed out, Maddie rubbed her forehead and laughed.

"Not as much as you would think, lets just say that a hefty pile of bits was left in my bedroom as 'goodwill' from Shadow." Maddie laughed as Rarity frowned at her.

"Really? You charged her for hiding?" Rarity said sound displeased.

"Yes, because she was a fugitive hiding from the law. I could easily have been implicated. I'm not going to break the law for anypony for free, especially my ex." Maddie continued to laugh. "Its not like she got caught anyway, she is just slightly less richer then before. Its not like she needed that money. And besides, it paid for her food and the rent." Maddie defended herself from Rarity's judgement.

"I suppose... But I don't really see myself doing that to anypony." Rarity stated.

"I know what you mean, I have changed since then. But back then... She broke my heart..." Maddie sighed and sat back.

"I can't say I understand, I have never been in that situation." Rarity said as she sat back down.

"Its not nice, trust me. I wanted to make her sad for leaving me, but at the same time I wanted to be nice because we had something." Maddie explained. "In the end she vanished and I haven't seen her since. I wonder what she it up to?"

"It doesn't matter what she is doing now. She has vanished from your life and now you have Vanessa. Focus on her." Rarity half ordered, half suggested.

"I should focus on Vanessa, you're right." Maddie admitted. "No point dwelling in the past, not like its going to come back at any point!" Maddie joked happily as she got up. "Well I better go do the shopping I said I was going to do!" Maddie sighed and left the clothes shop, leaving Rarity slightly more educated about her past, whether she wanted to or not. Rarity sighed once Maddie left.

"Oh to be young and in love..." Rarity chuckled. "Not worth the hassle at all!"

---

"...What can I do? What can I do? The only one for me is you. What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?" Vanessa finished singing her song, it was a rather short song about somepony being in love with another and trying to get the other to see this. An ironic song choice for Vanessa, but she had little to choose from.

"Very good Vanessa, Honestly I didn't expect you to be such a good singer. I mean, I did have expectations but you could easily be mistaken for a singer. How did you get so good?" Cloudkicker asked as Vanessa sat back down after singing.

"I have always sung as a hobby, tending spiders may be my destiny but singing is a passion. But other then that I don't really do much else." Vanessa solemnly said.

"I guess so, I think it will work personally. The singing will show Maddie how you truly feel about her."

"I hope so, if she gets the wrong idea I don't know what I would do." Vanessa sighed and thought for a moment.

"Something on your mind Vanessa?" Cloudkicker asked.

"Isn't it a bit too much? I mean, I do want to show her that I love her but..." Vanessa shook her head. "I don't know..."

"Well its your choice, I won't force you to do anything." Cloudkicker stated. "its your love life, not mine. But it is rather early on in your relationship. Why don't you see how it plays outs and plan from there?"

"That's a good plan, thanks Cloudkicker I need a helping hoof." Vanessa happily said. "Now I need to head back home and finish off recording the spider progress." Vanessa opened the door and made her way out the house. "Thanks again Cloudkicker!"

Cloudkicker walked out the house and waved goodbye to Vanessa. "No problem Vanessa, good luck!"

Author's Note:

Because secretly Rarity and Cloudkicker are love gurus.

Also, sorry about the length of this one. I was on holiday (still am) And I had to write it on Wordpad due to a lack of internet. Wordpad has no word count. (At least not one that I know of. I don't use it at all.) I tried to proofread this the best I can, but I have had a lot of stuff going on.