My Player Two

“Alright Class!” Cheerilee called to the bunch of of foals in her classroom early on a Thursday morning. Obediently, they all turned to give their teacher their full attention, even the newest addition, the purple dragon who Twilight enlisted because he doesn't 'go out much'.

Once they were all turned toward her, she smiled. “Today I have a little treat for all of you. It's called, Somepony New Day!” The group of kids looked a bit confused, so she decided to clarify. “It's a day where you have to spend time around somepony you wouldn't normally to try and make new friends, Princesses Twilight and Luna helped to organise this...”

Knowing that her class didn't really seem that optimistic about this, she decided to reveal her trump card. “You get the day off school~.” She sung, to which the class cheered with joy. She smiled and walked over to a box.

“Okay, so I'll pull names randomly out of this box and if I deem that these two particular ponies don't really see much of each other outside of class, then they are to spend the day together...” She said pulling the first name out. “Scootaloo...”

The orange Pegasus shifted a little nervously, almost praying under her breath. “Please not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon...Please not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon...”

“...and Rumble!” She declared, nodding. “Alright, you two are to spend the day together.”

“Who's Rumble?” Scootaloo thought to herself, scanning the sea of kids and finding him as Cheerilee pointed him out. He had a light grey coat and a two shaded, darker grey mane. “Well hello handsome...” She continued in her head, a dreamy smile starting to spread on her lips.

“Diamond Tiara and...” Cheerilee declared, pulling another name out. “...Twist. Yes, that'll do.”

Said pink filly turned to the bespectacled Earth Pony, who was waving to her excitedly, and sighed. “Well at least it's not one of the Blank Flanks...” She muttered to herself, ruefully.

“Snails...” She declared before announcing his friend for the day. “...With Silver Spoon.” The grey Earth Pony looked disgusted, but Snails looked like he didn't have a care in the world...mainly cause he usually didn't.

“Applebloom, you'll be paired up with Spike.” Said Earth Pony raised her hoof in the air, to which she nodded to her. “Yes Applebloom?”

“But Ah already know Spike. We're already friends.” She clarified, to which Cheerilee nodded.

“That maybe true, but I don't really see you spend any time around anypony other than Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and it would be good to broaden your horizons a little.” She explained, but also thinking to herself. “And give the town at least one day without something getting destroyed...”

“Aright then...” She shrugged, satisfied with the answer. Cheerilee continued pulling names out of the ever shortening pile.

“Snips...You're paired with Truffle Shuffle.” The Unicorn smiled a bit, having dodged the 'girl' bullet so to speak. Truffle nodded too, not particularly minding his buddy for the day.

“So lastly, Sweetie Belle will be paired with Button Mash...Button! Stop playing that!” Cheerilee interrupted herself, only now just noticing the brown colt with the propeller hat playing a Nintendo gamehoof.

“Banana waffles...” He replied, not really listening at all to his teacher before the device was snatched out of his hooves. “Hey! I was just about to defeat the Goblin Shaman who had enslaved that camp of settler ponies!” Cheerilee sighed while the rest of the class burst out laughing at his comment.

“Button, you are to spend today with Sweetie Belle. I will give this to your mother so you won't be distracted by it.” She answered him. Button has always been an oddball. He didn't have any friends as far as she knew and was obsessed with these video games.

Button grumbled under his breath, trying to deem which of his class mates was Sweetie Belle.

“Alright class, you're dismissed. Go outside and find your partners...Oh and make sure you do spend the day with them...I hired some ponies to make sure you do...” She grinned, looking to her left and seeing Cheese and Pinkie peering through the window like the mad ponies they are.

“Alright girls, Ah'll see ya tomorrow.” Applebloom told Sweetie and Scootaloo, making her way towards Spike. “We're jus' gonna go ta tha library or somethin'.” She shrugged. She already knew the dragon, heck she made friends with him before she even met her two best ones, so she got pretty lucky with her turn.

“See ya girl!” Scootaloo waved back, seeing Rumble come round nervously. The orange Pegasus gave an infatuated sigh, much to the white Unicorn's confusion, before she starting walking towards the colt. “Bye Streaky Gel...”

“Um...It's Sweetie Belle?” She corrected her friend, dumbfounded by said friend's behaviour, before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned to be face to face with Diamond Tiara and immediately drew back. “Oh great! She waited until I was alone this time! What does she want?!”

“Hey Sweetie Belle, I just wanted to warn you that Button isn't very social. So talking to him is going to be a bit tough.” She explained before walking away. “I really wouldn't expect to make a friend of him, heck I don't think anypony could!”

Sweetie Belle looked to where her nemesis was trotting away, confused. “Did she just...Try to be nice?” She thought to herself, before she really thought about what the pink pony said. “Pfft, of course not! She was just trying to make fun of Button Mash instead of me!”

Satisfied with her explaination, she sat down in the school playground and waited for the brown colt to leave the schoolhouse.

Button Mash grumbled as he left the building. “Great! Now my mom isn't going to let me play Mare Cry 3 for a month!” But, as an after thought, he shrugged. “Ah well, at least I didn't get detention.”

He scanned the playground for the pony he was supposed to be spending the day with, before his eyes laid on the white Unicorn who was twiddling her hooves, bored.

His eyes widened a little as he gazed upon the cute little filly in front of him, his heart hammering away at his rib cage and his cheeks starting to burn a little. “Wow...She's pretty...” He thought, before shaking it away. “...Y-you know, f-for a filly!”

She suddenly looked up and saw the colt with the propeller hat and smiled, trotting towards him. “Hi Button Mash!”

“Uh oh, she's talking! Quick! Say something cool!” “Bleeguhe!” “That wasn't it...”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Huh?”

“I mean, hello! I'm Button Mash!” The Unicorn giggled a bit.

“I know, silly, I just said that...”

“Oh right...he he...Sorry Sweetie Belle...” He replied, face hoofing himself in his head. “Why must I be so awful with fillies...Or anypony?” “So...uh...What did you want to do?”

“We could go to Shake 'n Mix? Get a milkshake.” She replied with a slight squeak at the end. “I'm kind of thirsty...”

“Sure!” He answered, trying his very hardest not to look like an idiot in front of her...again.

“So that's what a video game is!” Button finished while they were sitting down and waiting for their milkshakes to arrive. He had even pulled out his old JoyBoy from his propeller hat to show her.

“Um thanks...I only asked what you did for fun though...” Sweetie Belle replied, her head hurting from the lecture about the different aspects of video games and the microprocessors needed to transfer the information to the screen etc.

Button looked at her bored face and panicked. “Great you idiot! You're boring her! C'mon do something fun! Do something...”

“Order up!” They heard a stallion's voice ring out and two milkshakes, one vanilla for Sweetie Belle and chocolate for Button Mash landing in front of them. Suddenly an idea popped into his head...Such a stupid and ill thought out plan that it just had to impress her.

Just as Sweetie Belle was about to take a sip, Button pressed his face into hers. “Milkshake race! 1, 2, 3 Go!” He declared, before he started to slurp from his drink, not noticing Sweetie's confused and almost scared look.

“That's the way champ! This'll be sure to...” His inner monologue stopped short when a freezing sensation was felt around the back of his head. “ah...AHHHHHHHHH!” He screamed, feeling the most potent effect of drinking a milkshake too fast...

...Brain freeze.

He grabbed his head in his forehooves and fell backwards off of his stool. The white Unicorn looked at him, at first in concern, but after a little bit it started to get a bit annoying. So, with a blank look on her face, she started to drink her milkshake at a relatively calm pace.

After about ten minutes, Button had still yet to get over his brain freeze and Sweetie Belle had just finished her own drink. She glanced over at his JoyBoy and slid it over to herself, bored, and started to play it herself.

“AAAHHH oh hey a bit!” She heard Button say, apparently finished with his little moment. He picked up the bit and got back on his chair, noticing his JoyBoy was no longer in front of him.

He panicked for a bit, before he noticed the familiar beeping of his game being played and turned to see Sweetie Belle jumping around on the game Mareio...quite well for a beginner too.

He glanced over her shoulder and found her facing Mareio's arch enemy Bowscolt, her jumping over the fire balls and squashing all of the Bombcolts that advanced towards her. “...How is she this good?! I wasn't even this good!”

His infatuation with this filly, which seemed prominent before, seemed to sky rocket now. She was pretty and played video games really well!

She had just defeated Bowscolt and looked up to see the brown colt watching her play. Feeling a little self conscious, she slid the device back over to him. “I guess you're done with your brain freeze, huh?” She asked.

“Huh, oh uh yeah...Sorry about that. Me and my brother usually do stuff like that when he's here...” “Huh? Why are you mentioning your brother?!”

“Oh. I guess that sounds fun...Does that happen a lot?” He rubbed his forehoof with the other one, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Y-yeah...Sorry...”

“It's alright...Oh and by the way...” She grinned, pointing out her empty glass. “I won.”

“Yeah...I figured...”

After the fiasco at Shake n' Mix was over, Button and Sweetie Belle were running towards his house. “C'mon! Most of my other games are at my house!”

“I'm coming!” Sweetie replied, trying to keep up with a rather giddy Button Mash. “But you need to slow down a bit! I think I'm getting a stomach cramp!” She continued, to which he immediately stood stock still, causing her to collide into his back.

She fell over and suddenly became his centre of attention. “I'm sorry! Are you okay?! Please don't be mad! I didn't mean to hurt you!” He hurriedly stated, helping her to her hooves, blushing slightly when his hoof made contact with hers.

“I'm fine...Let's just...take it a little slower, okay? Your house isn't going anywhere.” She replied, catching her breath a little. Button saw this and nodded, feeling a little guilty.

“Way to go, doofus! You're never going to impress her at this rate!” He scolded himself as the two of them started to trot at a more casual pace towards his house.

Sweetie Belle, after about a minute of silence, decided to speak up. “Sooo...I don't see you hang around any of your friends...Why is that?” Button, startled by the question a little, decided to answer.

“W-well...I don't really have any friends...” He sighed a bit, before continuing. “Mainly because my family move so much that making friends ends up being pointless. I just end up having to leave them.”

“Oh...” Now it was Sweetie Belle's turn to feel guilty. He seemed upset now and it was because she was too nosy for her own good. “Sorry...”

“Hey, it's okay. Just gets a little lonely sometimes. My mom said we were finally gonna settle down here, but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. We've only been here...” That's when Button realised something. “We've been here two years!”

“Well...I can be your friend...” She replied, fidgeting a little. She had only just gotten to know him but the awkwardness in his social behaviour and his sudden down trodden mood just made her feel bad for him.

He looked up and smiled. “R-really...”

“Yeah!” She answered, nuzzling him in a friendly way, causing his face to turn bright red. “You could probably join the Crusaders too since you don't have your cutie mark yet.”

He turned to look at his blank flank and shrugged a bit. “Oh I don't really care about the cutie mark.”

“WHAT?!” His ears folded back and looked at her shocked face. “How can you not care?! It's like one of the most important things ever!”

He whimpered a bit, thinking he had made his friend angry. “S-sorry...It's just that, well, I want to make video games in the future whether it's my special talent or not...I don't want my destiny told to me by a picture on my butt...”

Sweetie Belle considered this for a minute, before asking the prominent question on her mind. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...Well, what if my special talent was collecting garbage? Not only would I probably have a trash bag on my flank forever, but it's also something I really wouldn't want to do.” He answered. “And that wall eyed Pegasus has bubbles on her flank, but she's a mail mare. Delivering mail doesn't really have anything to do with bubbles and but she still does it. I already know what I'm gonna do, cutie mark or no cutie mark.”

The Unicorn was stunned by that answer and started to think of what bad things her cutie mark could turn out to be. “I...I'd hate to have garbage on my flank forever...But what if my special talent is spitting? Or burning things? Or sewer inspecting?” She began to tear up at the thought.

Button saw that and started kicking himself again. “Great! Now you've upset her!” “I'm sorry...”

“Y-you're r-right...” She sobbed, staring at the ground. “W-we...we just started crusading because w-we wanted to find our talents...We never t-thought of them being...icky talents...” She sobbed again, making Button feel even worse. “I don't wanna have garbage on my flank!”

“SAY SOMETHING!” “U-uh I'm sorry...I didn't mean t-to say that...I'm sure you won't be a garbage mare...” He started, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I mean...You're really smart. You always answer Miss Cheerilee correctly in class...Maybe you'll get a cutie mark in that.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “You...y-you really mean that?”

“Heck yeah, you're way smarter than me anyway! And a lot of the ponies in class too! Only Applebloom and Spike even compare to you!” It took Button a couple of minutes to register exactly what he was saying, but he knew it was the right thing to say when Sweetie Belle started smiling again.

“Thank you...” She replied, nuzzling him again. “That's one of the nicest thing anypony's ever said to me.”

Button froze at the contact, but his inner monologue seemed to be congratulating him. “That a boy! That's the way to do it!”

“Maybe this is what it's like to be Deadpony...” Button thought to himself in his own voice, remembering the game with the stallion who appeared to be trying to break the fourth wall over and over again. “Having another voice in your head is weird.”

His was so into his thoughts, he didn't notice that the two of them had reached the front door to his home until he smacked right into it. “OW!” He yelped, holding his snout in pain,falling onto his haunches. Sweetie Belle looked over, concerned.

“Are you okay?” She asked, trying to look. He nodded, removing one of his hooves and raising himself from his sitting position.

“Yeah. I'm fine, I'm...okay I'm bleeding.” He interrupted himself, looking at his hoof which had a little of his blood on it. Sweetie Belle immediately knocked on the door, hoping his mother was home.

“Okay, tilt your head back...” She said, pushing his forehead a little to encourage him to do so. He complied, blushing a little at having her so close.

Just as he did this, a tan mare with a brunette mane and blue eyes, a cutie mark depicting a heart and a baby bottle on her flank answered the door. “Button!” She said, shocked at seeing her son bleeding out of his nose. “What happened?!”

“I walked into the door again...” He replied, a little nasally from holding his nose. She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I'll get some ice but please try to stop playing your JoyBoy while walking...Wait, who's this?” She asked, finally noticing the white filly with his son.

“This is my new friend, Sweetie Belle. Can she come in? Please!” He would have given her the puppy eyes, but that was difficult to do with his face pointed towards the sky.

“Friend?...” She thought to herself, glancing at the filly before a happy smile spread on her face. “He finally has a friend!” “Of course she can, but first. Ice.” She said, leading the pair into the house, making sure to keep Button from bumping into anything.

Sweetie Belle stepped into the house, following the pair and looked over the place. It seemed fairly average in terms of houses, with a sofa, TV, coffee table and and pictures in the sitting room, pictures adorning the walls of the hall way and everything you'd expect in a kitchen.

She looked at one inparticular of the colt and the mare in front of him, pulling a funny face with Button on her back. “They seem really close...” She thought to herself, glancing to the real versions of them as his mom pressed an ice bag onto his nose, encouraging him to keep it there for a little bit. “A bit like me and Rarity...”

She smiled as she trotted towards the pair, Button's mom turning to greet her properly. “Sorry about that, Dear, I just get a little worried about him sometimes.” She mentioned, offering her the seat next to Button as he kept the ice on his nose.

She took the offer, looked over at Button, concerned. “When can he take that off?”

“It'll only be on a couple more minutes.” The mare replied, causing Button to shudder a bit. “But he reacts really badly to cold things.”

“That'll explain the milkshake incident...” Sweetie thought to herself before Button's mom continued.

“But where are my manners. My name's Love Tap, but just call me Button's mom. That's fine too.” She shrugged, trying to make the filly as comfortable as possible. Button hasn't had a friend in so long that she didn't want to be the reason one was driven away.

“Okay. I'm Sweetie Belle!” She replied, before pausing. “But Button already told you that, huh?”

Love Tap giggled a bit, before composing herself. “So when did you meet Button?”

“Um...About an hour ago actually.” She answered.

“Yeah!” Button exclaimed, the ice bag falling off his nose from the movement. The two jumped a bit, at his sudden interjection into the conversation as he continued. “It's Somepony New Day! We got the day off school to spend the day with somepony you usually wouldn't and I got paired up with Sweetie Belle and now we're friends!”

“...I see.” Love Tap answered after the information sunk in. “Well...Button was basically pushed into making a friend, but that doesn't matter! I've never seen him so happy about something other than a video game.”

“Mom, can we go to my room! I want to show her some of my games!” He asked, giving her the puppy eyes that seemed more effective now that he could actually face his mother.

“Okay Dear, but just be careful...” She didn't get time to warn him as he basically ran towards his room, but tripped on his Nintendo gamehoof that she had collected from Miss Cheerilee earlier. Sweetie Belle cringed as she heard a loud crash.

“...I'm okay!” His mother sighed, her face holding the same expression Sweetie Belle's had in Shake n' Mix. Sweetie Belle followed after, helping the colt off the floor and up the stairs.

“So this is MineCraft!” He declared, proudly, as he showed her the basic block game on his laptop as they sat on his bed.

Sweetie had been amazed when she saw his room, mainly because of the sheer amount of games the colt had. He had a shelf that was supposed to be for books, completely filled with game cases for almost every game under the sun. His TV wasn't any bigger than the one in the sitting room, but there were several rectangles around it that, she assumed, were the PlayStallions and Xboxs he was talking about on the way here.

“Okay...What do I do?” She asked, as he moved the computer over to her.

“Just press start and start gathering materials. From there, you can build a house.” Sweetie's eyes lit up and she immediately started to move the little avatar pony she made around to find, as Button said, wood, stone, wool and other necessities.

Her avatar swung it's arm at the square blocks as they crumbled away and were popped into her inventory.

“Alright, just a few more materials and you can start building!” He said, happily, before he felt her fur brush his. That's when he finally notice his proximity to the little white filly and scooted away, blushing a lot.

Sweetie Belle was too engrossed in the game to notice as her avatar continued to bust away blocks of wood, rock and other things. Her tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she continued to collect the items she needed, much in the same way Button does when he's concentrating.

“Wow...She's really cute when she does that...” There was a pause in his mind before another voice popped up. “That was you this time, not me! You have got it BAD!”

“Um Button...Nothing's happening.” He heard Sweetie Belle say, snapping himself out of his thoughts. He looked at the screen and saw the problem.

“Oh you just hit bedrock. That's indestructible stone so you can't collect it or go any further.” He answered, surprisingly calm. When his mom tried the game and made the same mistake, he'd been laughing for hours!

“Oh...” Sweetie replied, blushing in slight embarrassment. “Whoops.”

“It's okay, we all make mistakes. It took me a couple of hours before I realised I hit bedrock.” He replied, despite that being a lie. He had read the instruction manual first, so already knew and memorized everything about the game before playing. But he just felt some compulsion to make Sweetie Belle feel better about that simple error.

“Wow, you're growing soft!” Button blushed as the voice in his head started laughing at him. “Shut up!”

“But why does she have to sleep?” Sweetie asked, her character standing in the middle of her newly built house, just before the bed. It being night time in the digital world.

“Because mining at night is dangerous. Zombies, spiders, ender-mares, skeletons and creepers spawn at night and attack you.” Button explained, pointing out the hearts just above her selection bar. “That's your health and if you lose that, your character dies.”

Sweetie gasped dramatically. “But what about all the animals out there?! I already had to kill a sheep to make the bed! I don't want his family to die too!” Button grinned, despite himself.

“They don't attack animals, they only go for...What are you doing?!” Button interrupted himself as Sweetie Belle's avatar just charged straight out the door, Sweetie Belle giving an unceremonious battle cry, which sounded quite adorable.

“I'll save you Mr. Chicken and Scootaloo!” She declared, having named the two chickens in her house's front garden that.

“Sweetie...” Too late, as she charged, she ran straight into a creeper, a long green thing, that immediately exploded, taking out pretty much all of her hearts and her avatar died. “...Too late.”

“NOO!!!” Sweetie declared, like Darth Vader from Revenge of the Sith, glaring at the screen. “You shall rue this day Creeper! Rue it!” Button found the whole scene in front of him quite scary, but mostly very familiar.

“Probably because that's the exact same way I reacted when I first died at the hooves of a Creeper...” He thought to himself, smiling fondly. “The only way she could be more perfect is if she spoke Humgonian...” “One miracle at a time, big guy. Seriously, she's cute, incredibly nice and likes video games! You are staring right at your dream filly!”

“So do you have any two player games?” Sweetie Belle asked, curiously. He shook out of his thoughts.

“Huh...Oh yeah, plenty! What kind of game do you want to play?” Sweetie Belle rose an eyebrow, close his laptop carefully before following him over to the bookshelf.

“What kind of different ones are there?”

“Well you got adventure, RPGs, first pony shooter, third pony shooter, mystery, puzzle...I know!” She yelped a bit at his sudden exclamation as he pulled out a game.

“Portal 2?” Sweetie asked, looking at the image of a long, thin pony like robot jumping from one portal to another. Button set the game down to answer.

“Yeah! It's a puzzle game and a lot less gory than some of the others I have. I figured it'd be good to get you used to friendly games before introducing you to games like Call of Cutie or Grand Theft Apple (A/N: I could not come up with anything better!).” He replied, trotting over to the TV to plug in his PlayStallion.

Sweetie continued to look at the case, before opening it finding a disc and a little booklet. She took the booklet into her hooves and took to reading it.

Meanwhile, Button was facing a bit of a dilemma. “Which wire is which, again?” He thought to himself in his own voice. “Your an idiot!” The other voice chastised him.

He then decided to pick up the wire and give a little tug, watching as the newest looking box moved. “Nope, need the PlayStallion 3.” He thought to himself, finding the right wire and plugging it all in, switching the TV on.

“Okay, all set Sweetie Belle!” She smiled and carried the open case to the colt, who took the disc out and slotted it into the console.

Sweetie Belle watched in wonder as the screen then transformed into the title screen for Portal 2, Button sliding a controller over to her. “This is going to be SO much fun!” Button said, smiling. “I've always wanted to play two player, but never had anypony to play with.”

Sweetie smiled back. “Don't worry Button. I'll always be your player two!” She said confidently, yet she felt it was kind of a cheesy thing to say.

Button, on the other hoof, blushed like the sun was going to disappear tomorrow and the world had to rely on his face for warmth. He smiled stupidly, and turned to face the screen, ready to start the game.

Luckily, Sweetie was already facing the screen, so didn't catch his goofy expression or his bright red face. “Then let's get started!” He said, pressing start. “...And thanks Sweetie Belle...” He added as the game started.

“Thanks for walking me home, Button...” Sweetie Belle said, as the two walked up to the Carousel Boutique just as the sun was about to set.

“Only felt like the right thing to do. It's what friends do, right?” He replied, still smiling happily about how the day went. They had managed to get about half way through Portal 2 before his mom called them down for dinner.

After dinner, Sweetie Belle said she had to get home before her sister started to wonder where she was and Button, on impulse, offered to walk her home. His mom seemed quite impressed by his offer and Sweetie Belle happily let him accompany her.

“Still, thanks. I had a great time today. Today's Somepony New Day really did work out, huh?”

“Yeah!” He replied, before he started to rub his foreleg with the other, nervously. “S-so, would you like to come round tomorrow?”

“I can't tomorrow. I'm going to Applebloom's tomorrow...” She saw his deflated look and smiled. “You could come too.” He looked up, hopefully.

“Really?!” She nodded, still beaming.

“Of course! Even if you don't want to be a Cutie Mark Crusader, I still want you to meet Applebloom and Scootaloo! Plus, I'm sure they won't mind if you come as well, I'm sure they'll like you!” Button smiled at the thought of making even more friends.

“Cool! I'll ask my mom and tell you if I can make it tomorrow!”

“Sure.” Sweetie Belle replied, knocking on the door. As soon as she tapped it twice, Rarity answered, looking relieved.

“Oh thank goodness, Sweetie Belle, where were you?” Sweetie Belle nodded her head to the brown Earth Pony beside her.

“I was playing over at Button Mash's house and they let me stay for dinner.” She answered. Rarity sighed in relief.

“Oh good. But please, try to tell me when you go to other pony's houses. I was very worried.” She replied, walking in the door. Sweetie was a bout to follow, but she paused and contemplated something.

Just as Button was about to ask what was wrong, he felt her press her lips against his cheek, before pulling back and smiling brightly and the dumbstruck colt. “Thank you for today Button, it was really fun.” She said, ending her statement with a friendly nuzzle, before walking into her home and closing the door.

Button started to walk away, lost in his own thoughts...said thoughts were.“SHE KISSED ME! YAY! I'M THE HAPPIEST COLT IN THE WORLD!” And the other voice in his head stayed quiet.

Sweetie Belle happily trotted into the sitting room, opposite Rarity, who gave her sister a knowing look.

“What?” Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity smirked a bit, placing a book mark into her novel before giving Sweetie Belle her full attention.

“Oh I just want to hear how your date went.” The white mare stated, with a keen smile. Sweetie Belle smiled back, not used to being asked about how her days go, and started, without fully grasping what Rarity had said.

“It was great! We went to get a milkshake and...Wait! It wasn't a date!” The little Unicorn denied, going a little red in the face.

“Oh...And what of the good night kiss?” She asked, having had seen what Sweetie had done before entering the Boutique.

“I-I-I...I was just thanking him for walking me home...” She answered, flushing a little more. But, the more she thought about him, the more she started to see her new friend in that way. “...though he is kinda cute...”

The pair of Unicorns giggled and spent most of the night talking about her day with Button and what she could do to make him her permanent, player two, despite the fact that he already was.

Flight Training

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Flight Practice

“Um...Hi Scootaloo...” Rumble said nervously as the orange filly trotted up to him from her Unicorn friend's side.

“Hey Rumble.” Scootaloo replied, a far off look in her eyes.

The two stood like that for a moment, Rumble shuffling in place shyly and Scootaloo staring at him with a light red tint to her cheeks and a large smile on her face.

Rumble coughed uncomfortably and spoke up. “Uh...So what did you want to do?” He asked, while inwardly he was smacking himself in the face. “Oh great! Way to go genius! She probably wants to go play with dolls or play dress up or something!”

After a couple of seconds, the orange Pegasus managed to register that the grey one had asked her a question and shook her head. “Oh. Uh, I don't know. Go to the skate-park or something?”

“See! She's just said...Wait what?!” “The skate-park?” He asked, confused.

“Yeah...! Unless you don't have a ride! We could do something else! Um...Adventure in the Everfree Forest? Spray painting Cranky Doodle's place? Pranking Twilight into believing her books are alive again?”

“Wow! None of those sounded girly at all!” “Uh...Actually, skate-part sounds good! I just have to get my skateboard from my place first.” Scootaloo's face lit up.

“Sweet! My scooter's out front, let's go!” She cheered, slapping a helmet on her head and his too.

“Um...Why do I need this?” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as the two walked out the front gates and she rolled her scooter in front of him, hopping on.

“So if I crash, I don't mess up that cute face of yours.” She answered, winking at him at the end, causing his cheeks to light up.

“But...W-why does that effect m-me?” He asked again, before yelping as she pulled him onto the scooter behind her.

“Because you're riding with me! Besides, this way we can get to your place faster and I need directions anyway!” She answered again and then, without warning, shot forward, causing the grey Pegasus to yelp again and wrap his hooves around her shoulders.

Scootaloo blushed at the contact, smiling to herself. “Aww...He's cute when he's terrified!”

“Hey buddy, you're out of school early.” Thunderlane said as his little brother stumbled into their rather small apartment, his face void of most colour as if he'd seen a ghost. “Are you okay?”

“I-I...I'm gonna throw up!” Rumble yelled, rushing into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.

The dark grey Pegasus rose an eyebrow and turned to the door, seeing Scootaloo standing there. “Um...You must be one of Rumble's friends. C'mon in!” He said to which Scootaloo smiled and trotted in.

“Thanks...Um. Nice place you have?” She said, looking around the place. Thunderlane grinned, before sitting down on the small couch.

“Glad you think so, cause I think this place is a dump!” He said, before shrugging his shoulders a bit at her confused expression. “There aren't a lot of places in Ponyville and it's better than living on the streets.”

“Ah...” She heard a retching from the bathroom and rose an eyebrow. “Is...he going to be okay? He was fine before we took my scooter here.”

“He'll be fine.” Thunderlane waved off. “He just gets a bit rider's sick.”

“Rider's sick?” She asked, having never heard of that before.

“Yeah. He does NOT react well to being the passenger...It was quite difficult to fly him places before he could do so himself.” Scootaloo's eyes snapped open at that last comment.

“Wait! He can fly?!” Thunderlane grinned, proudly.

“Yup, ever since he was six! Taught him myself.” Scootaloo looked towards where Rumble was just leaving the bathroom in wonder. “Feeling better, Champ?”

“I think so...” He said, shaking a little before calming down. “I just need to...sit down for a bit...”

“Don't you worry. You and your fillyfriend can sit for a bit and I'll get you some juice.” He grinned, walking towards the kitchen. Rumble's eyes widened and he started to protest.

“We just met today! We're just friends! Well...Y-yeah friends!” Scootaloo, on the other hoof, blushed and smiled shyly, not really feeling any need to object to the idea.

Thunderlane returned with two cartons of Apple Family Apple Juice, as it said on the box, and turned towards the door. “Stage one, Rumble, good old denial! Well I'll just leave you two love birds alone for stage two! Got clouds to move and all!”

With that, he left his speechless, not to mention annoyed, brother slumped on the sofa, drinking from his juice carton grumpily.

Scootaloo smiled and moved over on the couch, a little closer to his side. “Sorry about before, I didn't know you'd get sick.” Rumble glanced at her and shrugged.

“It's okay, you couldn't have known that. Not many ponies suffer from Rider's sickness...” He answered, feeling is stomach calm down a bit now. “It's more a nervous kind of thing than anything. I just don't like the feeling of not having control.”

“...At least you had a helmet.”

The grey colt chuckled a bit. “Yeah, safety first I guess.” He glanced at the TV. “Want to see if anything's on? I just want to relax a bit. Not everyday you get time off school.”

“Sure!” Scootaloo said, finding the remote on the coffee table and flicking through a few channels. “News...News...Documentary...News...RomCom ew...Star Wars?” (A/N: I figure Star Wars is a title that can't really be ponyfied.) She asked, to which Rumble nodded.

“Sure. Can't beat a good, old Sci-fi movie.” Scootaloo nodded, shuffling close enough so that their coats started to brush against each other and turned to the screen.

Rumble noticed this and blushed a bit. “Is it just me or is she coming on to me?”

Three hours later, the movie had ended and the two had ended up play fighting outside, towards the park. “You cannot defeat me, Scootaloo!” Rumble declared, holding out a cardboard tube with his forehoof as an improvised lightsaber. “I have the high ground!” He continued, marking his position on the small mound of dirt that was slightly taller the the surrounding landscape.

“You underestimate my power, Rumble!” Scootaloo declared, jumping, using her little wings to boost her self up a couple of inches and swinging at him with her own cardboard tube, which he deflected with his own, before whacking her, gently, across all four of her hooves.

She then, over dramatically, fell to the ground, yelping out in fake pain. “Ahh! No! It's not over!” Rumble grinned and pointed his tube at her head, bopping her on the nose as a sign of victory.

“Alright!” He cheered, helping her to her hooves. “That was fun!”

“Totally!” Scootaloo agreed before something occurred to her. “But we were watching episode five, why did we play the battle in episode three?”

“Um...” Rumble paused, stumped for an answer. “...Cause the fight in episode three had more action in it?”

“Good enough for me!” She said, passing him her cardboard tube. “So what to you want to do now?”

Just as the colt was going to answer, his stomach grumbled at him, causing him to blush in embarrassment. “Uh...Lunch?”

“Sure!” Scootaloo agreed, eagerly. She, too, was getting very hungry. She went to check her saddle bags and frowned at it's contents. “Dammit, my parents forgot to give me money for lunch today!”

“Uh...The school doesn't sell food.” Rumble said, confused.

“No, but Applebloom brings me some food in exchange for some of the money. Whatever I have left over I use to get something at Sugarcube Corner.” She explained, shrugging. Rumble rubbed the back of his head, contemplatively.

“Well, I should have enough for something good...Let me check.” He then proceeded to open his saddlebag and count up the bits he had. “Uh...okay I have twelve bits to my name. Pizza?”

“Um...I-if you're offering...” Scootaloo said, blushing slightly.

“Sure, it's no problem. C'mon the pizza place is this way!” Rumble declared, flapping his wings and taking off, Scootaloo running to keep up.

Scootaloo stared at Rumble as looked over the menu, trying to decide what type of pizza to have. “Not only is he hot but he's really cool too!” She thought to herself, letting out an infatuated sigh, not realising that he looked up and started talking to her.

“So, what kind do you want?” The range filly shook her head, skim reading the menu for a second.

“Uh...Cheese?” Rumble rose an eyebrow, but said nothing more.

A server walked up to the table. “So what will you be two be having today?” The blonde maned, blue mare asked, holding a pencil and pad with her Unicorn magic.

“One cheese pizza and some water please.” Rumble answered, motioning to Scootaloo with his wing. “We'll be sharing.”

The mare giggled as she wrote it all down. “Of course, enjoy your date!” Rumble wasn't given a chance to deny that as she walked away.

He huffed and folded his hooves. “What's with everypony thinking we're dating?” He mumbled to himself, annoyed, not noticing Scootaloo looking at his wings.

“...Rumble?” He looked up at her, tilting his head to the side as a sign for her to continue. “...Could you...help me learn to fly?”

“Huh?” He let out, confused. “I guess so, but why?”

“Well...It's because...I can't fly yet.”

“Oh...” He responded, rubbing his foreleg with the other. “S-sorry. I didn't know...”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, smiling. “It's fine Rumble, I'm not offended or anything. Besides, I think I'll be able to get up there with your help! I mean, your brother said you've been flying since you were six!”

Rumble rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “W-well...Six and a half...But sure, I could help. Not sure I'll be any help though...”

Scootaloo smiled, excitedly, almost jumping from excitement. “Thanks Rumble!”

“Alright, this place looks private enough.” Scootaloo commented on the corner of the park where there seemed to be very few other ponies around, if any. Rumble rose an eyebrow, confused.

“Any particular reason we need to be alone?” The orange filly gave him a deadpan stare.

“You think I'm going to fall flat on my face with other ponies around?”

“...touché...” He replied, before shaking his head. “Anyway, let's see what we're working with. Try flying now?”

Scootaloo nodded and started flapping her wings like a hummingbird would, her hooves very slowly rising off the ground...

...but all too soon the strain got too much and she had to stop, falling down onto her front, tripping over her own hooves.

She blushed and screwed her eyes shut, expecting Rumble to start laughing at her. So she was surprised when he helped her back to her hooves, nice and calmly.

“Okay, I think I see the problem...” He said, no hint of humour in his voice, only the patient and calm tone that would usually be carried by teacher.

“You do...” Rumble smiled at her hopeful look and nodded.

“Yeah. You're flapping your wings WAY too fast.” He explained, flapping his wings at a slow calm, but giving strong bursts of wind using them, causing him to rise off the ground and maintain his position in the air. “To get in the air, you need to give slow, strong flaps. If you use small, weak flaps you'd need a lot of energy to get into the air.”

“Oh...I...I think I get it.” Scootaloo replied, trying what Rumble said. She extended her wings as far as she could and then flapped them as strongly as she could, but she still only got a couple of inches off the ground.

Rumble looked confused, almost sure that what Scootaloo was doing should have gotten her off the ground. “That's odd...Wait stop for a second!” Scootaloo ceased her movement and rose an eyebrow at him.

He descended to the ground and extended his wing, brushing it over her's, causing her to blush brightly, giggling a bit. Her wings were a bit ticklish.

Rumble's wing loomed over hers, appearing to be fairly larger than her's. He then moved in front of her, hovering a hoof over her head, then across to his. She blushed again as his face came into close proximity to her's.

The grey colt sighed and sat down. “I think I found the problem...” Scootaloo didn't like the sound of that.

“There's more? What am I doing wrong this time?” Rumble shook his head.

“No, there's nothing wrong with how you were doing it. You were doing great! It's just...Well you and me are about the same size and build, but my wings are a lot bigger than yours...”

“Soooo?” She asked, not really getting it. Rumble looked down, not liking that he was the one who had to tell her.

“It means...Your wings are too small, Scootaloo...It's not physically possible for you to fly...” Scootaloo recoiled at this revelation.

“B-but...What about that Bulk Biceps guy?! His wings are tiny!”

“True...But he has the strength to push the wind down with them. You're the same build as me so you're probably about equally as strong me...” He sighed and shook his head. “I'm sorry...”

Scootaloo let the information sink in a little, trying to hold back a few tears. Rumble noticed and quickly hugged her, knowing that always makes him feel better when he's upset.

“W-will I ever fly?” He heard her ask. His eyes held a certain resolve when he heard that. He loved the sky as much as the next Pegasus and it broke his heart a little to see this filly not able to to experience it for herself.

“Of course!” He said, pulling her back to face him. “Even If I have to help you for the rest of my life, I will make sure you will get to fly!” She looked up at this colt and smiled, her eyes sparkling.

“Thank you!” She exclaimed, wrapping her hooves around him happily. “Thank you so...whoa!” She cut herself off as she felt the two of them lift up into the air.

She looked confused until she noticed that Rumble was flapping his wings, tightening his grip around her hips as they reached further and further up. He grinned at her. “I wanted to rest on a cloud for a bit and figured you wanted to come as well.”

Her eyes lit up as she glanced around, noticing the white, fluffy clouds around them until she felt a sponge surface beneath her back hooves. She looked up into Rumbles eyes, who smiled back, letting her flank go.

She shook out of her little spell and let go of him as well, her front hooves making contact with the cloud. It was strange, but it was a good strange. Sort of like a mattress, only a lot more squidgy.

Rumble lounged down on his back, folding his hooves over the back of his head. “I like the feeling up here, a lot easier to be alone.” He turned to her, motioning to the space next to him. She took it and copied Rumble's position, her tail playfully batting at his own.

“Thank you...” Scootaloo said after a moment of silence. He turned and saw her looking at him, smiling widely. “...This is one of the nicest things anypony's ever done for me.”

“No problem...and hey, if you ever want to come up here again, you just come ask me, okay?” He offered, yawning a bit. There was just something so inviting about clouds that could lull a Pegasi into sleep.

He felt Scootaloo curl around him a bit and looked at her, curiously. “I'm cold...” She answered, blatantly lying, but Rumble couldn't find himself caring. He decided to, instead, wrap his hooves around her as well, laying his tail over the two of them like a blanket of sorts.

Scootaloo suppressed the urge to squeal, happily at having her affection returned and nuzzled herself into him, closing her eyes, letting sleep overtake her...

...Before she did though, she felt Rumble press his lips to her forehead and say. “I will get you to fly, Scootaloo...I promise...”

She let out a happy tear as the two fell asleep, not at all caring when they'd wake up or how much trouble they'd be in if they failed to get to their respected homes on time.

A Friend in Need

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A Friend in Need

Applebloom trotted along side Spike as they made their way towards the library, a comfortable silence reigning between the two.

Spike coughed, ending the silence and started to speak. “So, how's it going?”

“Fine.” Applebloom shrugged, turning to face him. “Farm's runnin' smoothly, Little Missy stayed clean fer once an' AJ ain't gone on another sleep deprived rampage though town.”

“You're never going to let her live that down, are you?” Applebloom rolled her eyes.

“Once she let's tha Love Poison thin' go, Ah might consider it. 'til then, nope. What about you?” Spike smiled, letting his mind wander to yesterday.

“I'm good...I got to hang out with Rarity yesterday...” The filly, once again, rolled her eyes.

“Ah'm pretty sure Sweetie Belle was there too.” She pointed out.

“W-well...Sure, it's not like we'd blank her out or anything...” He said, blushing in embarrassment. “Besides, she'll be my sister too once me and Rarity are married.” He continued in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Rarity and I, and okay, Casanova, but don't ya think yer gettin' a little ahead o' yerself there?” She replied, causing Spike to fold his arms in defiance.

“You wouldn't understand! It's not like you've ever had feelings for anypony...” He shot back, noticing that her demeanour had shifted a little. He could even swear he saw a faint red tint to her cheeks. “Wait...Have you?”

“No!” She denied, looking away. Spike grinned.

“Yeah you have! Who is it?!” Applebloom swatted at him, annoyed.

“It's no one special!”

“So it is someone, who?”

“Drop it!”

“No, who is it?”

“Ah'm not sayin'!”

“Well I'm not stopping until you tell me~~” The purple dragon teased, to which Applebloom blew a raspberry at him.

“Well ma lips a sealed!”

“C'mon! You can trust me, you know about my crush on Rarity!”

“Everyone knows about yer crush on Rarity!” Spike rubbed his arm in embarrassment.

“That's beside the point.”

“Why do ya wanna know so badly?!” She asked, glaring at him. He just smiled, innocently.

“I just want to help you out. Give you someone you can talk to about it.” Applebloom huffed and continued forward, looking away from him. “C'mon...”

“Urg fine! It's that Wonderbolt, Rapidfire! Are ya happy?!” Spike rose an eyebrow at that.

“Um...Why Rapidfire? Don't most ponies like Soarin?”

“AJ got first dibs on him.” She answered, smirking. “Besides, I really like his mane...”

The two paused for a second, contemplating that statement, until Spike said. “I think you've spent too much time with Sweetie Belle.”

“Yeah...”

The two entered the library, only to duck as a book went sailing over their heads and out the door. They looked around the room, surprised to see it in such disarray.

Books were laying all over the room, some face down, some on their spines and others half open. Furniture had been tipped over, some book cases lying face down on the ground, Owlicious flying around, trying to find somewhere to land as his perch had been broken and scattered across the floor.

In the centre of it all, Twilight was trotting in a small circle, looking incredibly nervous about something. The two looked at each other, before nodding and walking over to her. “Uh...Twilight?” The dragon asked, causing the Alicorn to turn in surprise.

“Spike! What are you doing out of School?!” Spike rolled his eyes.

“Somepony New Day! You organised it!” He said, motioning to Applebloom. “I got paired with AB, now what's going on?”

“Oh...Nothing important...” Applebloom gave the Princess a deadpan expression.

“It's important enough ta turn yer home inta a pig sty, now what is it?”

Twilight sighed and went to sit on the couch. Her flank then made contact with the floor as she realised she had accidently flipped the couch over in her mad spree. “Well...I uh...I can't find my diary!”

Applebloom gasped dramatically but Spike just looked at her oddly. “So?”

“SO!” The two ponies yelled at him, causing him to jump in surprise.

“Spike! A girl's diary is one of tha most important things we have! We write everything in there! If'n tha wrong pony got their hooves on it, it'd be tha most embarrassing thing ever!” She then pressed her forehead against his, eyes wide and serious, causing him to flinch back. “EVER!”

“Alright! Sorry!” He said, pushing the filly away from him. He then turned to his 'sister' and asked. “Where did you last see it?”

“On the desk over there...And it's not so much a whole diary as a scroll. I filled my diary and I'm writing on paper until I buy a new book...” Spike looked over to the desk and froze, his eyes widening in fear.

“Um...I think I know where it is...” The purple Alicorn turned to her assistant and looked at him, excitedly.

“Great! Where is it?!” Spike grinned sheepishly and kicked his leg out, nervously.

“Uh...How angry would you be if I said I sent it to Princess Celestia?” Twilight's eye twitched, her body frozen in place.

Silence reigned supreme over the whole library for a second before Spike grunted and burped out a letter from the Princess herself. “Oh hey, you got a letter!” He said, opening to read.

“Dear Twilight. I was surprised to see a letter from you as I was sure you didn't need to send any more friendship reports and was quite stunned when you referred to me as Booklyn. The subjects in which you spoke to me were quite peculiar to say the least...”

Twilight was still frozen to the spot, unable to move as Spike continued to read the letter. Applebloom just decided to sit and listen, but had to ask.

“You called yer diary Booklyn?” Twilight's face became a little red as Spike continued.

“For starters, I wouldn't know what it'd be like if my hooves were suddenly turned into loaves of bread, but I imagine it'd make walking in the rain quite difficult. I talked with Luna about it, but she had to leave half way through because she was getting hungry.”

“Secondly, no I didn't think your dress for your brother's wedding made you look fat and I was kind of surprised you only mentioned this now. You have a great figure Twilight, you just have to have a little more confidence in yourself.”

“Thirdly, I'm sure you're being a little harsh on him. Sure he gets a little excited by Rarity, but I'd hardly call Spike's crush an obsession. Kids are just like that sometimes.” Spike looked up and glared at her for a bit. “Hey!”

Applebloom started laughing at that point while Twilight's face lit up a little bit more.

Spike looked back down on the page and decided to finish the letter. “Lastly, I know which guard you're talking about. His name is Flash Sentry and yes he is quite a looker, but the way you talked about him in your letter made Spike's crush seem very insignificant in comparrison.”

“Despite the...unusual letter it was good to hear from you again and I'd like it if you could try to write to me every so often and keep me updated in what you and your friends do. Your friend, Princess Celestia.” He finished, looking up with a grin. “So you have a crush on someone too?”

Twilight snapped out of her stupor and tried to find an intelligent response...But all she could come up with was: “Blegga reefing thatcher snirt!”

“...What?” Applebloom asked, confused by Twilight's response. Spike rolled up the letter and put it on the desk behind him, rolling his eyes.

“She gets like this when she can't think of something to say. She'll snap out of it soon.”

Twenty minutes later, Twilight finally managed to come up with a coherent sentence and made a rush for the door. “I have to go to Canterlot and get my diary entry back! Bye Spike!”

Startled, Spike tried to spot her. “Wait, Twilight! What about the...!” Spike was then run over and flattened on the ground as he tried to get in her way. He sighed as he heard the door slam behind him. “...Mess...”

Applebloom looked up from the book she was reading, tilting her head at Spike. “Where's Twilight goin'?”

“Canterlot...” He, with great difficulty, managed to pry himself up and off the ground. His spines had made a large hole in the wooden floor, to which he flinched at the sight of them. “Aw pony feathers!”

He then remembered who his company was and held a hand over his mouth. Applebloom rolled her eyes at him and made her way over. “Spike, Ah'm a farm filly. Ah've heard much worse from AJ and Granny.”

“Not Mac?”

“Nah, he just sorta grunts. He don't talk much.” She then looked at the floor, bemused. “Aw c'mon, it ain't that bad.”

“Not that bad! It's a hole in the floor!” She glanced around, then turned back and gave him a deadpan expression.

“Ya have looked at tha rest of tha place, right?” He grunted and nodded.

“Yeah...And guess who has to clean this up?” Without waiting for a response, he continued. “Me, that's who! It really bugs me when she does this! I have to clean up after her ALL the time!” He said, picking up a couple of stray books, and putting them in a pile.

“This is why I never 'go out' that much! Because I always have work to do here! I thought that'd change when Twilight put me in school, but no! It's actually gotten worse since I have to do homework too! It sucks!”

Applebloom flinched a bit, feeling quite sorry for the dragon. It's true that homework does take a lot of time away from somepony, and she couldn't imagine it if she had to also work on the farm for the rest of the day and didn't get to see her friends. That'd suck! But this was just the story of Spike's life.

She began to pick up a few books and put them in a pile, just like Spike, surprising him a bit. She saw his look and smiled at him. “Don't ya worry, Spike! If'n we work together, we'll have this place cleaned up in no time!”

“...You want to help me?” He asked, shocked. Nopony had ever helped him clean up before. Twilight always just sat and read, not really paying attention to what was around her while he cleaned up after her and no-one else came round often enough.

“Why sure! It ain't fair that ya have ta do this by yerself an' Ah ain't jus' gonna sit here an' watch ya do that. Yer ma friend an' friends help each other when they can.” She said, looking at the hole in the ground. “Ya got any spare floor planks, Ah can git that replaced in a jiffy.”

Spike snapped out of it and smiled, thankful that, for once, his work might go by a little bit quicker. “Sure, I'll get one from the basement. Could you start picking up all the furniture while I go get it?” Applebloom nodded, nudging herself under a bookcase to push it back up and into place.

After about an hour of work, the two had managed to get the library looking as good as new. The bookshelves were standing again, the chairs and couch were upright once more and Owlicious was resting on top of his new perch.

Spike sighed with relief and flopped backwards onto the seat behind. “Thanks AB, that would've taken so much longer without your help.”

Applebloom grinned and flopped down on the couch next to him, turning to face. “No problem, as Ah said, it ain't fair that ya had ta do it by yerself.” She replied. “Besides, Ah enjoy fixin' an' buildin' things!”

The dragon rose an eyebrow at her. “You don't say. Do you think that could be your special talent?” Applebloom sighed, her bow drooping a bit to match her mood.

“Nah, it woulda appeared ages ago otherwise. Ah've been doin' lots a projects like that, rebuildin' tha clubhouse, fixin' the apple cart an' apple stand, repairin' roofs, all kinds of stuff!”

“...You've done a lot of repairing...”

Applebloom grinned a bit, sheepishly. “Ah tend ta break a lotta stuff...” Spike chuckled at that and sat up.

“Well, we still got the whole day! What did you want to do?”

Applebloom felt her stomach growl at her and she groaned. “Ow...Maybe we should git some lunch...Ah left in a hurry this mornin' so Ah forgot mah lunch an' didn't git breakfast.”

Spike got to his feet and helped Applebloom to her hooves. “Alright, I'll whip something up!” He declared, running to the kitchen.

He, however, ran into an obstacle as he opened the empty cupboards and the equally as empty fridge, managing to rustle up a mango and a packet of old spaghetti. “Uh...Mango spaghetti?” He asked, to which Applebloom shook her head.

“Wanna head over ta tha farm? Ah'm sure Big Mac an' AJ are just 'bout ready ta head in fer lunch.”

He looked at the two random ingredients and shrugged. “Sure. But after, can you help me go grocery shopping? I don't think Twilight would like mango spaghetti either.”

She smiled and picked up her saddlebags. “Of course! Let's go!”

“Well howdy Rainbow!” Applebloom smiled up at the tree just on the edge of the orchard outside the farmhouse. The Pegasus yelped, before glancing down to see the dragon and filly.

“Oh, hey squirts!” She replied, nervously. Had they caught her?

“Ya nappin' tha trees again?” Rainbow gave an internal sigh of relief. They didn't catch her.

“Yeah, you know! Just needed to chillax after a hard day kicking clouds!” She exclaimed, trying to keep calm. Spike and Applebloom glanced at each other, sharing an inquisitive look. Rainbow sounded a little...nervous.

“Well...If'n ya hungry Ah'm sure they'll be plenty o' food on tha table!” She said, cheerfully, causing Rainbow to glance around, trying to find an excuse out of it.

“Um..I'm not sure...”

“Aw, Ah'm sure AJ would like it if'n ya came round! Please!” Rainbow made the mistake of looking directly into the puppy-dog eyes of the filly and caved.

“S-sure...” As Rainbow was getting up to jump down, Applebloom sent a mischievous look towards a surprised Spike.

“Works every time...”

“Applebloom! What in tarnation are ya doin' outta school this early?!” Applejack exclaimed, seeing her younger sibling walk into the house with Spike and Rainbow trailing behind.

“It's Somepony New Day, so we got tha day off ta hang out with a pony we wouldn't normally. Ah got paired up with Spike. So we went ta tha library an' Twilight took off fer Canterlot, then we cleaned up tha mess an' here we are! We were hoping ta git some lunch an' Ah invited Rainbow, since she was nappin' in tha tree an' Ah figured she was hungry. Please?!” Applejack sighed and smiled to the group.

“Oh sure, why not. Just gotta tell Mac ta make some more stuff, have a seat at tha table.” The orange mare said, pausing to shoot Rainbow a smile. “An' it's good ta see ya Dash, Ah feel like Ah don't see ya round that often.” Rainbow laughed nervously, but just opted to say nothing.

The big red stallion stood in front of the stove as all the pans started up. He smiled at the three visitors, but decided to keep quiet. After all, they were his sister's guests. He didn't want to distract them from any conversations they were having previously.

After a few minutes he placed a pile of pancakes in the centre of the table with a fruit salad on the side. “Pancakes fer lunch?” Applebloom asked, confused. Applejack chuckled.

“Well yeah, we had a lot of pancake mix that looked like it might spoil soon, so we decided to eat them all before hoof.” She explained as Mac took a seat next to Rainbow, who shuffled away slightly. She rose an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

Spike, however, saw the same thing and whispered to Applebloom. “Did you see that?”

Applebloom titled her head, before shaking it and grabbing Spike's hand. “Um...We're just goin' ta wash our hooves an' claws, we were cleanin' up some pretty nasty stuff!” Before any questions could be asked, she had dragged the dragon out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom.

Jut as they reached the door, she turned to Spike. “Now, what were ya tryin' ta say?” She asked. Spike now understood what she did, they were no longer in earshot of the others so they could speak freely.

“Well, I think Rainbow has a crush on Mac!” Applebloom tilted her head to the side.

“What makes ya say that?”

“Well she looked nervous when you invited her round and I think she was going to try and find a way out of it. And when Mac sat next to her, she shuffled away. Like she's scared to touch him or something.”

The yellow filly blinked and thought about it for a moment. It would explain why she rested in the apple trees rather than in the clouds. It's so the rainbow maned Pegasus could get a glimpse of her crush.

“Ah...guess that makes sense...” She then raised an eyebrow. “But why did ya need ta tell me now?”

“Well...I was just thinking that we could help...” Was as far as he got before a wide eyed, scared filly slapped a hoof over his mouth.

“No way! Not after tha last time Ah tried ta set mah brother up with somepony! Ah'm leavin' this one alone!” Spike looked like he was about to argue before he remembered how bad the damages to Ponyville were and how much trouble the Cutie Mark Crusaders gotten into after that love poison incident.

He sighed and relented, turning to go back to the dining table. “Fine...” Applebloom silently trotted next to him, feeling bad for shouting at him like that. Luckily they were far enough away that the ponies at the table couldn't hear them.

After a pretty uneventful lunch, Applebloom and Spike headed towards the market. Rainbow decided to stay and help out around the farm. Applejack and Mac thought she was just trying to help, but the filly and the dragon knew that the mare was just trying to impress the stallion.

“Alright, we'll need all the essentials...” Spike said, glancing back at Applebloom who had a her saddlebags, which held six apples from the farm. “We should get some potatoes, carrots, cabbage, milk, eggs and...well lots of other stuff...” He trailed off, only now just realising the extent of his task.

He sighed as the list of items he needs kept increasing and turned to face the filly. “Look AB, you don't have to help anymore if you don't want to. You already helped clean up the library and well...this job looks like it could take a couple of hours and...”

“Spike Ah don't mind!” Applebloom interrupted him. “Ah ain't jus' gonna sit on mah flank while you work yer tail off. It ain't fair to ya.”

“But it's not fair to you to have to help me! AB these are my chores, it's not your responsibility.” Spike argued back, not sure why she was fighting so hard to help him lug groceries around all day. “Why do you want to help me so badly anyway?”

“Cause yer mah friend, that's why! An' whether ya like it or not Ah ain't gonna let ya work yerself ragged!” She trotting off ahead to enter the market.

She then paused for a second, before playfully batting his nose with the tip of her tail. “Besides, the quicker this gets done the quicker we can finally play a game of some sort!” She smiled, before continuing on.

Spike had to fight the red off his cheeks, rubbing his nose where her tail hit despite it not being in pain. “Well okay...If you're sure...”

She glanced back, nodding happily. “Of course Ah'm sure now let's go!”

Applebloom grunted at the weight of the groceries bearing down on her, trotting through the doors of the library carefully. “Jeez, this is a lotta stuff!”

Spike grunted in agreement, dropping his two large carrier bags on the ground in front of him, closing the door behind him. “No kidding! This is the last time I let getting the groceries stay on the to do list...”

Applebloom dropped the bags off in the kitchen and searched through them to put them away. Starting with the stuff that needed to go in the freezer. Ice cream, frozen hay fries etc. “Well at least you an' Twilight will be eatin' tonight.” She responded, grinning.

“Yeah. If she comes home tonight. I imagine her trip to Canterlot may last longer than I'd hope.” He replied, dragging his bags filled with cheese, hay tarts, cabbages, radishes, onions and various other food items into the kitchen where his friend was.

After a few more minutes all of the items were put away except for two bowls of strawberry ice cream which they both started to eat at a ravenous pace.

“So does Twilight do his a lot?” Applebloom asked, starting to slow her pace as her new found started to pass.

“More times than I can count! But it's not all bad, sometimes I can get the day off if she doesn't destroy the place when she rushes out the door.” He answered, before brining another scoop of the cold goodness to his mouth.

“Sounds like, if ya weren't here, Twilight'd be more disorganised than most.” She grinned causing Spike to chuckle a bit.

“Yeah, it sure is ironic that the most organised mare in town is as messy as the cake twins!” He mentioned, finishing the last of his ice cream just as Applebloom finished hers off. “You want anymore?”

“Nah thanks, Ah'm full.” She replied, smiling. “Now what game are we gonna play?!”

“Uh...” The dragon said, pondering. He hasn't played with anypony a lot since he was usually doing chores. The only one he ever got to play was tag when he and Twilight met the Apple Family for the first time when they first came to Ponyville. “I don't know many games...”

“Oh! Ah got a fun one!” The yellow filly exclaimed excitedly, bouncing a little. “It's called Truth or Dare! All we do is ask tha other player truth or dare. If they pick truth, they hafta answer a question honestly whether they like it or not, if they pick dare they hafta do whatever tha other person says!”

Spike rose an eyebrow. “That sounds...interesting. Alright, truth or dare?”

Applebloom pondered the question for a bit before answering. “Truth, let's start off easy.”

“Alright...What 34 plus 45?” Applebloom blinked, before shaking her head.

“It's 79 an' Ah don't think ya got tha concept. Yer supposed ta ask them a personal question, not a random trivial question.” Spike had a look of understanding on his face, to which Applebloom sighed in relief. “Alright, now since ya didn't know any tha wiser Ah'll let ya ask a different question.”

“Thanks...Um...If you had to, which one of your friends would you punch?” Applebloom gasped.

“Spike that's awful, they're my friends!”

“So Scootaloo?” There was a pause for about five seconds before Applebloom sighed.

“Yeah but Ah don't know why.” She shook the thought from her head to ask the dreaded question. “Truth or dare Spike?”

“Truth.” He answered, not trusting this filly to give him a dare. This is a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders for Celestia's sake!

“Alright then...Um...What do ya wanna do when ya grow up?” Spike looked startled, but pondered the question for a little bit.

“Um...Ur...I don't know. I just sort of assumed that I'd always be Twilight's assistant.” He answered, shrugging, causing her eyes to bug out a bit.

“What?! So ya have no dreams or anything?! Who knows. Maybe ya can set up a tailoring company, ya could become Mayor of Ponyville, ya could even be tha one who runs this library!” She exclaimed, looking right at the dragon. “Do ya really think yer gonna hafta follow Twilight yer whole life?”

“I...well...I actually kind of hope I have too...” He answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Twilight and I have always been together, ever since I was hatched. She's the sister I never had and in some cases even a mother...I'd just be...lost without her...”

Applebloom noticed his demeanor and sighed a bit. “Ah can understand a bond like that, cause that's how Ah feel about AJ. Mah parents started travelling while Ah was still in diapers, so Mac and AJ brought me up...It was funny cause Ah thought THEY were mah mama an' papa before Ah knew any better...I just couldn't imagine what'd happen if they weren't there anymore.”

Spike smiled a bit, it seems as though the two of them had more things in common then originally thought. They both had a lack of parents but siblings they'd never give up for anything. “Well, if I had to answer, maybe running this library for Twilight once she's settled into her Princess duties would be kinda fun.”

“Yeah, then yer word here would be law! That'd be a lotta fun!” Applebloom agreed, happily.

“Okay then, my turn. Truth or dare...” Spike asked, continuing the game into the afternoon.

Night had rolled in as Twilight entered the library with her diary entry tucked neatly into her saddlebags as well as a new book to put that entry and new ones to come in there. “Spike! I'm back!” She called out, only to silence herself at the scene in front of her.

Both he and Applebloom had fallen asleep on the couch, Spike on the left side, his head resting on the arm rest, and Applebloom on the right, curled up in a small ball of yellow and red.

The Alicorn smiled at the scene and exited the library to head to Sweet Apple Acres to tell Applejack that her sister will be sleeping over and to get Applebloom's school things for the following morning.