It was not quite properly morning, except in the most pedantic sense imaginable. The sun had not yet risen, and the half-moon hung overhead, a judging eye cast down on Rarity’s head. Three in the morning was no time for anypony to be awake. Yet, the whole town was positively alive with sound and light as ponies struggled to repair the damage done the night before.
Rarity had, in times past, been nervous. This had been true on multiple occasions, ranging from the opening of a new branch of the Carousel Boutique to facing down Nightmare Moon. On some occasions, she had been fearful, even terrified. But nothing that she had ever felt compared to the sheer terror that she felt looking up at the crystalline doors that led into the throne room. At this point, she didn’t even feel the fear. Her entire body had gone numb. It was like looking at her mind from the outside, an independent viewer watching her foibles through a screen, distanced from the emotion.
The unicorn blinked once and shook herself.Heavens, but I must be stressed. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up like Pinkie Pie.
Rarity took a deep breath and pushed through the doors and into the next chamber.
The throne room was a fairly opulent affair. Even were it bare, the sparkling walls and ceiling would render it quite beautiful. Covered as it was in tasteful tapestries, most of which depicted various of Twilight’s friends, as well as lush red velvet carpets and furnishings, it was positively… well, palatial.
Twilight, of course, rarely used it. She considered it overblown.
And yet, as Rarity crept into the room, she found it oddly depressing. The walls seemed cloudy and grey. The tapestries appeared flat and unappealing. The furnishings were oddly dusty, and even the bright, polished brass that accentuated the throne was dull and slightly tarnished. In the center of it all sat Twilight Sparkle, staring at the wall, her face unreadable. Her eyes flickered over Rarity for a brief moment, then returned to the clouded crystal in front of her.
The unicorn paused for a moment. She chewed at her lower lip. Perhaps now was not the best time…
The door slammed shut behind her. Ah. She trotted forwards again, but more slowly. The room seemed at once oppressively claustrophobic and enormously stretched. Eventually, however, she sat down next to Twilight. The lilac alicorn turned her head glacially. “Rarity.”
Rarity’s stomach hadn’t felt this terrible since the day she’d been served bad caviar. “Twilight,” she said, attempting light civility. It dried up and disappeared in the void, as powerless against the tension as Rarity herself would be against a black hole. Nevertheless, she would be strong. She would be self possessed. She would be—
“I don’t suppose you’d like to explain the events of this afternoon.”
Rarity cracked like an egg. “I— I—” she stammered. Tears began to brim in the corners of her eyes. “Oh, Twilight, I’m so sorry! I swear, I had no idea that things would get so terribly out of hoof! I really didn’t have anything to do with the Crusaders, or the Bouquet Sisters, or the spa sisters, or— or— I just wanted to help poor Spikey-Wikey!”
The alicorn’s violet eyes flashed. “HELP him, Rarity? That’s the best you can do? You’ve turned him into a nervous wreck! He won’t leave his room, he won’t eat, he won’t even talk to me! You ruined him, you and your little plan, and I think it’s about time you came clean about the reasons why!” Twilight was breathing hard now, her muzzle flecked with spittle and her eyes dancing with sparks. Her wings were spread. Her horn was flickering erratically. “Well?”
“Because I love him!” Rarity shouted."He's charming, and sweet, and generous, and so sincere it almost hurts to turn him away, but that is what I have had to do. Because he looked to be a child, and sweet though he may have been, old as he may have been in reality, one cannot date a child! If I'd ever so much as seemed inclined to take his advances, I would have been mercilessly executed by the court of public opinion! All of these plans and schemes were meant to help him. To make him grow. Because I think I really do love him, darling, and I would not see him stunted for another week let alone the decades it would take him naturally. I did it all of it for love."
Twilight stared for a long moment. “Do you, now.” There was a hint of menace in her suddenly quiet voice, and Rarity wasn’t certain that the shouting was not preferable. “After all this time, you finally choose to show it.”
Rarity licked her lips. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, as calmly as she could.
“You know perfectly well that he had a crush on you from the moment he saw you,” Twilight snapped. “You knew, and you never said a thing. Confirmation or denial, either would have been better than all… this! All those years of, of using his affections! Twisting him around your hoof, leading him on!”
“It wasn’t like that!” Rarity replied, almost pleading. “Twilight, I swear to you, I never wanted to hurt him. Perhaps in the beginning it was as you said, before I really knew him. But he has seen me at my best and at my worst, Twilight, and stood by me each time. When I enlisted his aid in wooing Trenderhoof, he made no fuss, though it must have broken his poor heart. He was prepared to take on those Diamond Dog ruffians, solely to impress me. Yes, I know his motivations were not the purest, nor his methods the most effectual, but think of the passion! And every week for the last several years, he has been willing to serve as pincushion, model, critic, and most importantly, friend, expecting no more from it than simply to help me. All that, simply to preserve my happiness, no matter what. It is not in my nature to take without giving back something. I could not give him my heart, so I... supposed that the gift of maturity would be an acceptable substitute. Perhaps from there, we could have... gone further.”
Twilight was silent. “Why didn’t you mention this before?” Much of the rancor had gone from her voice, but it was still filled with trace amounts of suspicion.
Rarity looked away. “Various reasons,” she said. “His apparent age, of course, was a major factor. Though it shames me to admit it, so was his species. I could not accept his advances, and yet I did not wish to deny those advances. I was… a coward. A greedy, craven hypocrite—” her voice broke. She took a deep breath. “It was… nice,” she said. “It was so nice to know how deeply he cared for me. Though, I suppose that’s all over with, after today.”
Twilight smiled. It was a thin, weak smile, but the room seemed to brighten, nonetheless. “That remains to be seen.” She turned toward the throne. “Spike? What do you think?”
Rarity whirled around to face the front of the room. Slowly, a little purple figure slipped out from behind the throne. “...Hi.”
***
Some two hours earlier... Twilight slumped against the door to Spike's room. She had failed. Not once could she ever remember a failure that hurt her worse than this. She hesitated. Well, okay, maybe the whole "Want-it, Need-it" had been worse. And her failure to convince anypony that Cadence was an impostor. Oh, and her first date as a teenager was something that would forever live in infamy...
She shook herself. Now wasn't the time for self-pity. Something was clearly wrong with Spike. She had ignored the warning signs for far too long. Now, she just had to hope that she was still able to make things right again. She teleported to the kitchen. This looked like a conversation that required cupcakes, at the very least.
***
There was a knock at the door. Spike didn't even look up. He did, however, wince as the light from outside hit him. "Told you to go away."
"I did. Now, I'm back."
Spike growled something low in his throat. Twilight levitated over a platter. "Sapphire cupcake?"
He hesitated for a moment, then took one very carefully. "Thank you," he said.
Twilight set the platter down on his lap. There wasn't really anywhere else to put it, given how small Spike's cot was. She'd offered him a new bed, but he'd refused. She wondered now if that had been a warning sign. "So. You wanna talk?"
Spike grunted. "Do I have a choice?"
"Of course. Talk with me or don't. Either way, I'm staying in here until I've worked out what's going on."
"You shouldn't," Spike said. "You should lock me up in the deepest dungeon you can and throw away the key."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because I'm dangerous!" Spike exploded, knocking the tray of cupcakes off the bed.
Twilight quickly caught them in her magic and placed them back where they had been. "Uh, sorry," Spike muttered.
Twilight chuckled. "Oh, yes, the dangerous dragon monster," she teased. "Spike, c'mon. You're a great cook, a comics nerd, my most faithful assistant, my best friend, and my little brother. Dangerous, though?" She pulled a face. "Mmm, nah."
"I'm also a dragon," Spike said grimly.
"Well, yeah," Twilight acknowledged. "But so is Ember."
"Do you really want to use Ember as an example of a non-dangerous dragon?"
"Point," Twilight conceded.
"You're being blind, Twilight. Dragons are always the monster of the story. Don't think I don't know about how you always edited those stories you read to me at bedtime. 'And so the brave, noble dragon saved the princess from the eeevil knight.' Yeah, right."
Twilight flinched. "Well, maybe, but--"
"Think about all those teenage dragons I met. Going around smashing up eggs for fun, dipping each other in lava, throwing rocks at each others' heads!"
"Now, Spike, that's a logical error. You know better than to use the fallacy of division."
"Logical fallacy nothing! I'm as bad as any of them, or did you forget my birthday?"
Twilight froze. Spike snorted. "Yeah. That's what I thought. Sure, I'm not dangerous. I only crushed the whole town!"
Twilight hesitated a moment more. "Have another cupcake," she said.
Spike blinked. "Huh?"
"Take all of the cupcakes," Twilight ordered. "I don't just mean on the platter, either! Take all the cupcakes in Sugarcube Corner, all the cupcakes in town, all the cupcakes in the world!"
"Twi, what-- no!"
"Why not?" she demanded, pushing the platter closer. "You love cupcakes, right?"
"Well, yeah--"
"So why don't you? What's stopping you? You wouldn't even need to stop at cupcakes! All the cookies, all the gem-chip pancakes! Unlimited pavlovas! Unlimited rice pudding! Powdered sugar beyond the dreams of pony!"
Spike shoved her away. "No!"
Twilight leaned forwards until her eyes met his. "Why. Not."
"Because I don't want to!" Spike shouted, smacking the cupcakes into Twilight's face.
Total silence. Slowly, the platter slid down Twilight's face, coating it in a thick layer of blue frosting. It fell, messy side down, on the bed. Spike stared at his big sister, horrorstruck. She licked her lips. "Mm, blue raspberry," she said, grinning.
Spike remained dumbstruck. Twilight pulled him into a nuzzling hug. "That's why I don't think you're dangerous," she said softly. "You know better than that. I raised you from a hatchling, Spike. I taught you manners, morals, and more. You're a responsible young dragon. Do you make mistakes? Sure. But so does everypony. I'd say that the stunt the Crusaders pulled was more dangerous than anything you ever tried to do, and we aren't going to lock them up and throw away the key."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"They're all going to have to help repair Grazie, for a start. Beyond that, it's up to their guardians to decide."
"Oh." Spike hesitated. "But what if I mess up again, really badly? Like, greed-growth bad?"
Twilight pulled away, leaving a big smear of blue frosting on Spike's head. "Is that why you never grow? Because you're afraid of what you might become?"
Spike shifted. "Well, yeah. Pretty much."
"Huh," Twilight said. "Well, that's a good question. Here's some more; what if you grow up to become a hero? What if you grow up to be a scholar? How about the first dragon in the Royal Guard?"
Spike waved a claw. "But you don't know if I will or not."
"And you don't know for sure that you're going to grow up to be terrible," Twilight said simply. "I'd say that my ideas are more likely."
"But what if you're wrong?"
Twilight thought about that, then shrugged. "If you told me after the first time Discord escaped that he'd be one of Equestria's greatest allies, I'd have put you in the psych ward at Ponyville General. If you tried to make me believe that the changelings could become our friends, I'd have had you arrested on suspicion of being one of them. I think we've proved that no-one is ever completely evil."
Spike digested that. Then, he hopped out of bed. "I'm gonna go take a shower," he said.
Twilight smiled as she watched him go. Then, when she was sure that he was out of sight, she let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed against the wall.
***
Back in the present...Twilight looked at him expectantly. However, it was Rarity who spoke first. “Oh, Spikey, I’ve been a fool! Can you ever forgive me?”
Spike scratched the back of his head. “Well—”
“All these years, and I never once valued your feelings as you valued mine! I’ve been a wretch, a cad!”
“Rarity—”
“No, Spike, do not try to pretend that I have not injured you. I have seen the truth. I have seen the light!”
“Rarity!”
The unicorn blinked. “Yes, darling?”
“You’re being way too hard on yourself.”
Rarity blinked. “Am I?” She considered. “Perhaps that was a touch too overdramatic…”
Spike rolled his eyes, arms crossed. “A touch? Rarity, you aren’t giving yourself enough credit here. You’ve been a great friend. Yeah, I did my best to make you happy. I helped you when you needed it. I did my best to make you feel special. And I think you did all that for me too, right?”
“I… well…”
“Rarity. I don’t forgive you, but only because you have nothing to be sorry about.” He hesitated. “Okay, maybe scheming behind my back instead of just asking me why I wasn’t growing. I forgive you for that. But nothing else of what you said was your fault.”
“But I—”
The little dragon held up a claw. Rarity squinted. Was the distance fooling her, or was something wrong with the way Spike looked? “Rarity. I love you. And if you meant what you said, you love me, too. And love means never having to say you’re sorry. I think there’s a movie that says that.”
“Chee-sy,” Twilight sang, sotto voice. Dragon and unicorn turned to glare at her, and she smirked. “What? I’m his big sister. Good-natured ribbing is basically in the job description, and more or less entirely warranted after today.”
The glares diminished not a whit, and Twilight chuckled. “Alright, I’m going up to read something with no romance at all in it, leave you two lovebirds in peace.” She trotted out, a small smile on her lips.
Once she was certain the alicorn had left, Rarity turned to face the dragon, and leapt back in alarm when she realized that Spike was now standing right behind her. He winced. “Sorry, sorry. My bad.”
“Yes, well,” Rarity said, trying to regain her composure. Her gaze swept Spike up and down, though to her surprise, she had to tilt her neck less than usual. The dragon could now almost meet her eyes without tilting back his head. Petite though Rarity may have been, he had never been able to do that before. “No harm done… Ah, Spikey, dear, something seems different about you. Have you done up your scales?”
The dragon chuckled. “I’ve stopped holding my growth spurts back,” he said. “Twilight estimates that I should catch up completely in about three months, a little before my birthday. I’m already a whole ten centimeters taller.”
“I see…” Rarity looked the dragon up and down. “Perhaps I should think about a new wardrobe for you, hm?”
“Once I’ve finished growing, yeah,” Spike agreed, glancing away.
Rarity’s breath caught. “A-ah,” she said. “Yes, a fine birthday present, I dare say. Perhaps a suit and tie, suitable for an evening out?”
A small smile graced Spike’s face. “I think that sounds great, Rarity. Really great.”
“Then it's arranged,” Rarity said, taking a small step forward. “On your birthday. Altogether a fitting time, wouldn't you agree?”
Spike’s smile grew, and he seemed about to say something more when Applejack burst in, wild-eyed. “Hide me!” she hissed, slamming the door behind her. “Quick, they're right on mah tail!”
Spike blinked. Rarity, however, maintained an admirable sense of calm. She levitated over a large ornamental jar and opened the lid. “Get in, and try not to move too much. I believe this is Ki-Rin dynasty porcelain, and probably worth around half one of your orchards.”
Applejack stood there for a moment, frozen perhaps in terror of accidentally fracturing the pottery and losing the farm. Spike sighed and gently lifted the farmer up and plopped her in tail-first. “Don't worry, it's a replica,” he assured her. “Still, try not to break it, it was a birthday present from Shining Armor.”
“Right,” Applejack agreed, visibly relaxing. That lasted only for a fraction of a moment. As soon as the pitter-patter of little hooves sounded from down the hall she stiffened as though she was made of porcelain herself. Spike hastily let her the rest of the way in and popped the lid on loosely over her.
“C’mon, Ah think she went in here,” a southern-accented voice said. The doors swung open again, and the six Crusaders mobbed through.
Sweetie squeaked and immediately turned around. The other Crusaders looked to be right behind her. Rarity rolled her eyes and closed the doors before any of them could escape. “Explain.”
There was a good deal of hoof shuffling and glances towards the floor. “We… wanted to say sorry,” Scootaloo said at length. “To Applejack and Spike and Starlight especially.”
Rarity twisted her lips up. “Darling, I daresay there are rather more ponies that are owed an apology than those three alone. For example, the staff of Grazie, all the diners there, me…”
“Well, yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed. “But all that was kinda incidental.”
“Those three are the only ones we directly hurt,” Rumble explained. “So we thought we’d start there.”
Rarity studied them. “Hm.”
Spike stepped forwards. “I forgive you,” he said simply. “I mean, definitely don’t do it again, but… you helped me work some stuff out, indirectly or not. So, yeah.” He grinned.
Apple Bloom grinned back. “Well, shoot! Now Ah feel real bad fer callin’ ya an overblown cheatin’ salamander!”
Spike blinked. “Sorry, what?”
The other Crusaders glared at Apple Bloom. “So, uh, kin we go find Applejack now?” Bloom asked, rubbing an ear.
Rarity sighed and let the doors swing open again. “Very well. But you might want to add Twilight to that list of immediate apologies, particularly you, Dinky Doo.”
Dinky stiffened slightly, but nodded. “Point taken,” she muttered, leading the group out into the hall.
Once the door had shut again, Spike pulled the lid off the jar and Rarity levitated Applejack out. “Why were you running?” she enquired. “One would think that you would welcome their apologies.”
“That’s as may be,” Applejack conceded. “But when yer bein’ chased by a herd’a squallin foals that just blew up a buildin’, ya don’t stand around t’ see what they want. Ah’ll let ‘em catch me later. Right now, Ah jes’ want some peace an’ quiet.”
“Funny that you should mention that,” Rarity said drily.
Applejack glanced between the two. “Oh, right. Right.” She squinted at Spike. “So, did that thing with Starlight not work out, or--”
“Never happened.”
“Figgers. Well, good luck with that.” She looked back at the door. “Ah reckon Ah kin make a break fer it now. Maybe even get in a couple hours’ sleep ‘fore work. Night, all.”
They watched her poke her head out the doors before hurrying away. "...So," Spike said. "My birthday. Suit fitting. I'll put it on the calendar."
"It's a date. Time! Time. It's an... event," Rarity said, blushing fiercely.
Neither was able to meet the other's eyes. "I suppose I ought to be getting back to the Boutique," Rarity said after a moment. "Sweetie Belle will be on her last legs as it is, and I'd rather not have to carry her all the way to her room."
"Okay! Night, Rarity! See you tomorrow"
"Good night, Spike. Sweet dreams."
He grinned. "You know what? I think they will be. Thanks."
***
Meanwhile, Fluttershy sat quietly on a park bench, gazing up at the stars. Ordinarily, she would have been doing her best to help tidy up the mess left by the explosion and the overexcited mob, but right now she was too overwhelmed even to consider it.
Anyway, she was helping, in a certain way. Lying curled around the bench, like a protective dog was Discord. Angel Bunny had wanted to stay, too, but she had sent him home right after everypony had woken up.
They had followed her from the restaurant, spinning out excuses and apologies like spiderwebs; numerous and flimsy. Her refusal to reply or even look at them had eventually been enough to make them fall silent. They had, however, refused to leave her side.
Therefore, she had chosen this isolated spot not only to keep herself out of the loud aftermath of the whole affair, but to keep Discord out of it as well. If that wasn't helpful, what was? If she had an ulterior motive all of her own, then so be it.
After nearly a half-hour of silence, Fluttershy spoke up at last. “Why?” she asked simply.
Discord glanced up. “M. C. A.?” they suggested with a weak smile. Fluttershy did not look away from the stars. They sighed and let their head fall to the dirt again. They'd ruined it. Again. The same thing had happened back in the days before the bad old days, with Celestia. It was simply part of their nature.
“Why couldn't you have just apologized?” she asked, closing her eyes tightly. “You didn't need to take all this trouble just to make it up to me.”
Slowly, Discord lifted their head once more. “Apologized?” they repeated. The word sounded foreign in their mouth, even after all this time. She thought they had been trying to… apologize?
“Anyway, it's really Spike you should be apologizing to,” she continued.
Discord floundered for a reply. They decided to take the option out. “I suppose so,” they replied laconically. “Though, I scarcely think he's going to hold a grudge now that he's gotten over himself.”
Fluttershy frowned at them. “Fine! Fine,” they said, waving their claw. “I’ll apologize. I’ll even mean it. You were… the more pressing matter.”
“Really?” Fluttershy’s voice seemed even higher than normal, Discord noticed. “Why?”
So she really didn't know. Discord stared off at the Everfree Forest, where chaos ran free, impossible to constrain… tempting. But no. “You’re my best friend,” they replied. “You were… upset with me. It hurt.”
Neither spoke for a long moment. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, too,” Discord replied, before lapsing back into silence. For once in their long, immortal life, they had nothing to say.
Instead, they flicked their tail over behind Fluttershy’s head and let the tuft tickle behind her ear. She giggled and pulled away at first, but soon she had given into the sensation, laughing loud and deep and true, and so was Discord. They were just happy to be with her again. It was all for the best, they told themself. She would have been heartbroken if Eris had vanished, and the spirit of chaos certainly couldn’t spend an entire lifetime in one shape. Romance was all well and good-- and chaotic, never forgetting that-- but, well, there were practical considerations, even for the most impractical being of them all.
Better just to be friends, they thought. Nothing else could ever last.
***
Lotus trudged back towards the home she shared with her sister, connected to the back of the spa. She was exhausted; she was never awake this late. Early. Whichever. And of course, she was being walked home by the only pony in town who could make her sister seem respectable and considering in comparison. “So then, when I was taking orders while pretending to be the maitre’d, which I was doing because Discord was the one-hundred and thirty-seventh customer to come into Sugarcube Corner, so they won first prize, which was a favor from me redeemable anytime and they took me up on it right there and then! So anyway, I was walking around taking orders like spaghetti and wheatballs or cheese ravioli with broccoli, but then this ewe tried to order oatmeal! And I said--”
“Pinkie!”
“Yes, Lotus?”
“Zere is no need to valk me home. You can go to bed now.”
Pinkie shrugged. “I know.”
They walked on. “Zo… vhy are you still valking me home?”
“You were sad,” Pinkie said simply. “I thought you might want somepony to talk to.”
Lotus bit her tongue to keep from commenting about the difference between ‘talking to’ and ‘being talked at’. “I’m sure there vere many sad ponies back at ze restaurant.” She didn’t say ‘why don’t you bother one of them,’ but it was a near thing. Perhaps it was the pink coat that made some mares so irritatingly energetic.
“Nope! Some ponies were scared, or annoyed, or confused, but you were the only one who was really actually sad.”
“...Oh.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Lotus shrugged. “I vas having a nice time. It vas cut short too early. End of story.”
“So you had a nice time with Rarity? Maybe you can go out again sometime soon!”
Lotus snorted. “No. Her attentions are elsevere. Ve are friends, no more.”
“Oh.” Pinkie nodded. “So that’s why you’re sad? ‘Cause she turned you down?”
“Wha-- no! Zat vas never ze point. It vas-- it vas--” she sighed. “A stupid plan. Aloe’s idea. She thought if I vent on a date vith Rarity, it vould make Fluttershy jealous end zen a confrontation end zen zey end up togezzer. I vas never part of ze end goal.”
“So that’s why you’re sad? Because you feel left out?”
“I-- NO! I am not sad, Pinkie Pie! I am fine! Perfectly fine, zank you! Good night!” She stormed away, leaving a stunned Pinkie behind.
***
When she arrived home a few minutes later, she hesitated, hoof hovering over the doorbell. Would Aloe still be awake? Perhaps the door was still unlocked. As she moved to try the knob, however, she saw that somepony had left a thick envelope balanced precariously on top. In big, curly, pink letters, it said “Open When Ready”.
Pinkie Pie. Of course. Well, she had begun to feel a little guilty about snapping at the poor mare like that. She had only been trying to help in her own weird, unfiltered way. So Lotus pulled open the flap. A small magenta notebook fell out, followed by a folded piece of paper. She picked up the note first.
Dear Lotus,
We didn’t have time to finish our conversation due to you stomping off in a grumpy huff. But that’s okay! I know you were upset, and not everypony who’s upset wants to talk about it right away, or ever at all sometimes. If you opened this letter before you were ready to hear my advice, please put the note and book back inside and close it up again until you are.
…
Still reading? Okie-doke! You said you were having a really nice time, but then it got cut short, but I don’t think that was ‘cause the restaurant exploded. You could’ve gone to another restaurant, or to the movies, or back to the Boutique even, just to hang out and talk about fashion. It got cut short because Rarity told you that she had her eye on somepony else. I know you like to work. You’re all super-serious about the spa and stuff, and that’s okay! Twilight and Rarity can be the same way sometimes, and Applejack is like that pretty much all the time, so I get it!
But maybe you’re looking for something more. Maybe you want something new, different, interesting. Maybe you want romance.
I don’t know that for sure, I’m just guessing. You said you were enjoying the date, so… seemed plausible. But let’s say I’m right. That’s what the book is for! As you probably know, I know everypony in Ponyville. I know everypony’s name, birthday, address, favorite flavor of ice cream, and more. So I made you this little pink book of ponies that you might like to try dating sometime! Most of them are in Ponyville. There are a few that aren’t, marked with a purple tick-mark followed by where they’re actually from.
Use it when you want to, if you want to at all. It’s all up to you. Whatever makes you happy.
-Pinkie Pie
P.S.: Yes, the door is locked.
P.P.S.: No, Aloe hasn’t gone to bed. She’s still waiting for you to come in and gossip all about the evening with her. She doesn’t actually know that the restaurant exploded, so… up to you on how you break that to her.
Lotus let out a strangled chuckle as she glanced from the letter to the book, internally taking back everything she’d ever said against Pinkie Pie. It was bizarre. Sometimes, she could swear that that mare could read minds. Then, she noticed a little arrow marked ‘over’ on the bottom of the page.
P.P.P.S.: No, I’m just a really good guesser.
The chuckle was louder and much warmer this time as Lotus pressed the doorbell and heard the familiar quick patter of her twin’s hooves coming down the hall. Perhaps tonight hadn’t ended so terribly after all.