Herding the Pie sisters away from Marble's door wasn't an easy task. Rainbow Dash had a secret weapon, however. "Do you really want me to tell you what just happened? Move! Let her get to the bathroom without a dozen eyes on her!"
Waiting for the creaky floorboard at the end of the hall to stop sounding at footsteps on it, Marble opened her door and peeked outside—the coast was clear.
Limestone Pie grunted under her breath when she heard the shower start. "Okay." Her utter disdain for the comfortable seats of the living room made sure that she stood above the rest of the room's occupants: Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Maud Pie. "Tell me everything you know about this thing. Everything."
"All we know is people sleep for up to two days, wake up, and get really horny. It evens out after a few days, but their libido stays higher than normal. I've had it for… what, about two weeks now?" Rainbow Dash thought on when she'd woken up, and nodded. "Didn't even seem to bother me with finals. Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's over in about a week."
Maud looked at her big sister, Limestone. Of the four of them, the Pie sisters, Limestone was the one who took action first. Maud's idea of action involved tectonic plates and a few thousand years. "That sounds reasonable." A week was a lot shorter than a thousand years.
"She'll be fine in no time. The things I got her will help her keep on top of it." Shifting her shoulders, Rainbow Dash was acutely aware of her wings always being there now. Though ponying up seemed to make holes appear for them, almost all her shirts lacked those holes—she made a mental note to ask Rarity to make some modifications.
Pinkie Pie breathed out a long breath. "That's a relief. So you're going to keep helping her, right?"
Everyone in the room froze, not the least of which being Rainbow Dash herself. She tried to recall the question, and it only made her brain derail again. "What?"
"I think Pinkie's trying to ask if you'll touch base with her, help her with what you know, not with—" Sunset bit off her words to stop her treacherous mouth from going too far. "If you're sure it's all over by the end of a week I don't need to bug Princess Twilight about that. Hopefully she'll get back to me soon about…" She trailed off and ruffled one of her flame-like wings.
"Oh! I guess. I'll ask her when she comes out." The incredulous looks Rainbow Dash got, even from Maud Pie, had her quickly asking, "What?"
Limestone laughed at Rainbow's repeated cluelessness. "Our little sister is not what you'd call a social butterfly. Marble's a shut-in."
"I'm surprised she didn't throw things at you until you left her room." Maud's voice was a dull monotone, though there was a little tugging at her cheeks that could, in the right light, almost be a half smile.
Rainbow Dash thought back to what had happened, and throwing things had been involved for a moment at least. "Sorry, but I'm not going to breathe a word of what happened in there." She completed the words with a lip-zipping motion.
Sunset coughed, then when that didn't break the mood she decided to do something about the situation. "Well, changing the topic, it looks like we have to go house-hunting. Twilight—our Twilight—totally pulled through for us."
Maud and Limestone fixed Pinkie with a questioning stare. Pinkie Pie giggled at her serious sisters. "This is going to be great! I get to move in with Sunset!" Turning sideways and flopping to her back, Pinkie's head wound up in Sunset's lap. She stared upwards and kicked her legs with abandon.
"Yeah. From what I heard Twilight, Rarity, and us are going to be moving in. We told Fluttershy she can, but she would be limited to two animals or one big one." Sunset reached down and spread her palm on Pinkie Pie's belly, rubbing it like a cat's.
Giggling and squirming in place, Pinkie tilted her head back to look at Rainbow. "You should let her move in with you!"
"Have you seen what Thunderbolt and Bridget are like? The only time we let them meet they got in argument so bad that Fluttershy was crying. I don't think I'm ready for that." Rainbow's ears perked as she heard the water in the shower shut off.
"Why are you all moving out for college?" Maud asked.
"Because their parents are actually around. Mom and Dad spend more time at college than you, Maud, and you spend nearly all day there. Cut the kids some slack." Scanning the hallway entrance to the living room, Limestone waited for Marble to not show up.
Wrapped in a warm and thick bathrobe, Marble slipped into her room and quickly got dressed. Just cozy things for the house, she decided. A shirt and a long skirt were her choices, after her underwear. She looked in the mirror in her room and ran her hand through her hair one last time.
Conversation in the living room stopped when Marble walked out. She looked around the room—all the Pie sisters together in one location, plus two friends. She'd started getting used to Sunset being around, but the shock was how warm she felt at seeing Rainbow Dash. Marble Pie was used to being shy and terrified around those she didn't know well, but Rainbow just didn't register on that anymore—it made her more uneasy than if she had been her usual introverted self.
"There she is!" Pinkie Pie bounced to her feet and raced up to Marble to hug her. "Rainbow Dash wasn't telling us anything, so we were all waiting for you!"
"I'm better," Marble said.
Rainbow Dash waited for Marble Pie to say more, but instead she turned and headed for the kitchen. "Oh right, munchies. You'll be really hungry."
Marble could smile, since no one could see her doing it. She walked through to the kitchen with only an, "Mmhmm." Pulling out two slices of bread, she began making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Getting up, Rainbow Dash walked to the doorway to the kitchen and poked her head in. "You doin' okay?"
Slathering toppings on the bread, Marble turned her head to look at Rainbow Dash's face. A few flashbacks of how good Rainbow had helped her feel were plenty to keep her anxiety shoved down. "Mmhmm!"
Walking into the kitchen properly, Rainbow Dash grabbed two slices of bread for herself. "Your sisters want me to make sure you're okay, but forget them. Do you want me hanging around to keep tabs on you?"
Marble was mildly annoyed that she couldn't just relax with the buzzing warmth of a really great orgasm and hot shower in the recent past. "It was fun." She lifted the sandwich up and took a bite.
"That's the thing I'm not— What I meant to say is that I'm— I'm straight." Rainbow Dash was about to tear the bread with the knife she was so wound up.
"Was it fun for you?" Marble asked.
Huffing out a breath, Rainbow Dash attacked the problem head on. "It was confusing. It wasn't sexual, I don't think, but—"
"It was pretty sexual for me." Setting down her own sandwich, Marble pushed Rainbow to the side and took over making the second sandwich. "What about if I returned the favor?"
All Rainbow Dash's words—the few she was managing to string together—were fluttering away. She choked a little, coughed, and tried to get her brain to focus on the problem at hand. Being told exactly how she could masturbate sounded pretty hot, in a dominance sense of things. She just wasn't sure how she would handle it. With Rarity she had been turned off in a huge way, but Marble was different.
"That's a no?" Marble asked, smearing the second slice of bread with jelly.
Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes closed. "I had a bad reaction being with a girl once. I don't want—"
"You don't want to try, or you don't want to?" Smooshing the two slices of bread together, Marble Pie held the sandwich up to Rainbow Dash.
A little humor crept into Rainbow's mind. "Is this a bribe?"
Marble giggled, then realized how easy it was to just talk with Rainbow Dash. "Is it working?"
Taking the sandwich, Rainbow Dash took a bite from it and nodded. "Yeah, itf workin'."
"Pinkie says one of your friends is all about honesty, a-and I think we should be honest here. You're the first person I've ever been able to relax with—apart from my sisters, of course, and this isn't the kind of thing you do with family. But what I'm saying is, I don't really like the idea of sex, it just doesn't seem that fun compared to what I'd have to put up with. And, now I'm rambling about anything and can't stop and—" Marble finally stopped herself talking by shoving her own sandwich in her mouth.
"No offense, but I prefer guys for sex. But this—" Taking a bite of her own sandwich, Rainbow Dash chewed for a moment and appreciated the delicious simplicity of peanut butter and jelly. Swallowing meant she had to talk, and by the look of things Marble was better at faking chewing. "We can try. You're right about AJ, and when it comes to talking about relationships her motto is the best. I have a boyfriend— Wait!"
Marble was on the verge of tears. The one person she had found that didn't make her sick just to think about being alone with, and she was taken.
"That doesn't mean what you think it means. He wants to see other people too. But I don't want to do anything further without talking to him—both of us," Rainbow Dash said.
Her emotions in flux, Marble looked at Rainbow Dash. "See other people? I don't get it."
"It means we have fun together, enjoy being part of what the other needs, but ultimately we both have other itches. It's complicated, and honesty is important. Do you want to come meet him?" Holding out the hand she wasn't supporting her sandwich with, Rainbow Dash offered more than she thought she ever could to Marble.
"I don't like to touch—" Marble said. The implication of the phrase, given how much of herself Rainbow Dash had seen, wasn't lost on Marble Pie's sense of humor. She grinned a little, but kept her hand to herself. "Is he hot?"
"You have no idea…"
They'd taken separate cars, and had left separately, but Shining Armor and Cadance had met in the same local diner for lunch. Their time scheming for the day had been cut short when Cadance had suddenly been needed by the faculty.
It had only taken a few text messages to plan the lunch.
Sitting down across from Shining Armor, Cadance couldn't help stealing glances at him—he was a hunk, in her opinion anyway. Shining was so different from the nerdy kid she'd had some fun with in high school that until he opened his mouth she wouldn't have believed they were the same person. "It's good to see you again, Shining."
"I'll be honest, it's good to see you again, Cady." Cadance's old nickname came easily to Shining's lips, but after he said it he realized his slip. "Cadance, sorry."
"It's okay! I'd rather be more comfortable, to be honest, Shiny." The word slipped from Cadance's lips too easily—she liked how it did. Flagging down a waitress. "Two coffees and I'll have a BLT on rye."
"I'll have the same." Since returning to civilian life, Shining had been having a little trouble getting back into the habit of having choice. When the waitress walked away, he gave a sigh.
"There's maybe six teachers in the whole school that I trust to back these initiatives. You'll have to ride the rest to get them to even think about it, but—" Cadance paused as the waitress brought cups and poured them each a coffee. When the woman left, she continued, "… but, there are two who will need to be hedged out. Do you think your mother would do me two more favors?"
"Mom would adore to, if she thought it would help her little girl. As it is she is content with me having a job and Twilight being rolled out the red carpet at a college. Besides, it's our school, we have to solve our own problems." Shining poured three packets of sugar into his coffee before he deemed it edible.
Cadance sipped at her coffee. "Okay. The two are Acacia and Brie. I've tried everything to bring them around and nothing works. Oh, they assure you they're going to change their syllabus, but I looked at their plans and nothing has changed."
"And what did you do when you found out?" Shining Armor asked.
"What do you mean? What could I do? They're the teachers: they get to set the—" Cadance cut herself short when the waitress brought them their food. "Thanks!"
"We play good admin, bad admin. You get to be the good admin, by the way." Stopping for a moment to eat, Shining focused his attention on the sandwich. The crispy bacon and snappy lettuce offset the rich tomato perfectly. He took another bite to gather his thoughts.
Taking her cue, Cadance ate some of her own sandwich with more modest bites. "So who is who?"
Gulping down his mouthful, Shining couldn't help a little snort. "Cady, I'm not saying you don't have what it takes to be the bad admin, but I'm placed perfectly for it. The threat of Mom wading in again and lopping off heads will be too real to them, even if we know she won't. So when we get back, make an announcement that you've given me all the work of overseeing class syllabuses. I'll groan like this is the worst thing ever."
"And then what?" Cursing her eyes for spending too long studying Shining, Cadance nonetheless liked how he'd filled out.
"You have a list of requirements for each syllabus?" Shining asked. When he got a nod from Cadance, he continues. "Easy. I don't accept any that don't meet that requirement. If anyone doesn't have a syllabus by the due date I set, they don't teach."
Cadance stared at Shining, forgetting about the sandwich in her hands. "We can't do that!"
"Why not?" Shining asked.
"Well, because we…" She trailed off, unsure of an actual reason. "Will that work?"
"What do you think? We won't assign them classes to teach, they won't have any hours worked, and the School Council will get a nice report with a big paper trail showing that they couldn't submit their syllabuses on time and conforming with the more care-oriented policy introduced." Shining grinned like a wolf in the depths of winter—with his eyes on a limping deer.