At the top of a hill, just a few hooves away from the left side of the Castle of Friendship, a picnic mat was laid on the grass of the hill. Said cloth was already placed on the grass by two of the six ponies who made the food for their lunch. The weather was perfect, just as Princess Celestia had made it daily. Of course, one of the ponies coming to the picnic, Rainbow Dash, had already made sure to keep the clouds away. This was so that no clouds would hover over her best friends.
With Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle & Fluttershy already making their way to the picnic area, they and the weather pony had allowed themselves to place their hooves on the ground below them. The Princess of Friendship, Twilight, spoke up first.
"Wow, girls! This looks amazing!" Her tongue had licked her lips, hungry for the grub in the basket in the middle of the mat.
"And let's not forget, rather scrumptious," Rarity added with a smile, keeping a napkin close at hoof. "Oh! That reminds me! Is Spike not coming here today?" she quickly asked her Alicorn friend.
"No, not today, sadly," Twilight sighed with a slightly sad tone. "He wanted to make his own food today.... just like how he was able to make up his bed, along with cleaning up his own room."
It had been about two months ago when the tiny purple and green dragon had grown up into a fully mature drake, at the age of eighteen to boot. And Twilight was already feeling the effects of what happens when a pony sibling (or dragon, in this case) has grown up enough to not need help with their chores. Or practically anything. If that wasn't enough, the now mature drake had already told Twilight, along with the other ponies in the Council of Friendship, that he was making plans to travel across the whole world beyond Equestria. Of course, they were all sad, but there was need to be sad yet. Why? Because he decided to take a few months to plan it all out. Thankfully, this was not the month to leave Equestria.
And so, it was actually a good day to have a picnic near the castle.
"Oh, yes," Fluttershy softly spoke up. "It really is sad, just thinking about it. But he won't be going anywhere until another two moons. So we have all the time we need to say goodbye to the... n-not so little guy," she said with a flustered face.
"Who's not so little anymore?"
A new voice spoke up. The ponies turned their heads to see Starlight Glimmer coming up to the picnic. The pale purple coated unicorn, with a deep purple and sky blue streak colors in her mane and tail, had floated another basket with her pale blue magic coming from her horn. Her face had shown some confusion, not knowing who her friends were talking about.
"Hey, Starlight! It's Spike who's not so little anymore," Pinkie Pie answered the newcomer with her trademark smile. The pink pony quickly saw another basket that Starlight was carrying with her magic. "Is that another basket of food for us?" she sweetly asked.
"Uh... maybe?" the unicorn answered with a sheepish smile.
"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Applejack raised a brow, detecting a little lie from Starlight.
"I may or may not have made a little peace offering, given what Spike and I did last night," Starlight answered as her face flushed red. Even redder than the farmer pony's Cutie Mark.
"Oh? W-what did you and Spike do? T-that is... if you want to tell us?" Fluttershy said with her tone not changing a decibel, even as her face showed a pink blush under her cream yellow coat.
"Wwwweeeellll, uh.... we consummated our brand new relationship as a couple with a night of wild but romantic sex!" the blushing unicorn mumbled, clearly embarrassed by her memory of that night.
"Um.... do say that again, darling?" Rarity nudged her friend. "We didn't quite-"
"I HAD SEX WITH SPIKE LAST NIGHT!" Starlight quickly spoke up with a higher voice, laced with a tiny bit of frustration and concern. "And it was not just a romp in between the sheets! It was a moment between two souls who finally had the courage to tell each other how much they truly love each other!" she began to cry.
Indeed, Starlight and Spike (who was not present to confirm the story to the other ponies) had looked deep into each other's eyes and confessed their feelings to each other. And even though the confession was rather quick, that did not quell the flames of their desires for the heart of the other. Instead, the flame of their new love rose up to a figurative inferno. As the memory of the night unfolded for the unicorn, she recounted (silently) how the grown dragon had shown her an epic night for her. The foreplay was long, for both sides, and sweetly sensual. And when the intercourse proceeded, it went on for at least three mind blowing hours. When the coitus had ended, there was only the soft panting from the dragon and the pony that had echoed in the dragon's own room while the moonlight illuminated the afterglow. Even with the scent of sweat and sex permeating the air, the glow made it all the better for the both of them before they finally fell asleep.
As for Starlight, she awoke to the feeling of dread. How was she supposed to confess what she did with her new lover? Naturally, after being with her friends for so long, two to three years to be exact, she had remembered that all she needed to do was to tell them all what she did. And she hoped, along with making the bit of food that she placed into the basket that she took with her, that none of her friends would tease or chastise her for it.
"AWESOME!!" Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus, cried out in joy. "About time, you two!"
"YEAH!! Congratulations, Starlight!" Pinkie cheered along. "You really don't need to be embarrassed by being in love with Spike, Starlight!" she comforted the unicorn with a hoof on the shoulder before a quick hug was shared.
"So, you and Spike decided to solidify your relationship last night?" Twilight asked Starlight.
"Uh.... yes?" Starlight nodded nervously.
"Wow," Twilight sighed with a smile. "So it seems that you might actually travel with Spike on his adventure around the world. Hope you two can bring some souvenirs."
"Huh?" Starlight nearly shouted, confused by her mentor's quick mood change. "So, your not mad at me for--?" she was about to ask before seeing a pinkish purple aura sealing her mouth shut.
"I'm happy that you and Spike are now a couple," Twilight began to say. "I may have been hesitant about what Spike would do, now that he's all grown up... and I can't always be there for him. But I know that with all you two have done for us, along with all of Equestria, you two will be able to become the best couple in all of Equestria. And when the time comes, even I will want to see the little kirin babies running around. And with you, I know that your experiences in the past will help you become a great mother to your future child."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, Twilight! We haven't even thought about that part yet!" Starlight tried to shoo the thought away. "We just want to make sure that we're both ready for that... in about a year or two", she blushed, nervocited about little foals. Or kirins. "And don't even get me started on the wedding thing. After about a year of Spike and I being a couple, we might be able to think about that sort of thing. But, not yet!"
"So! One question!" Rainbow immediately lifted a hoof, stopping the conversation from continuing.
"Yeah?" Starlight acknowledged the pegasus.
"How big is Spike, down there?" the brash pony slyly asked with a smug smile.
"Ah! Rainbow Dash! It is impolite to ask such an intimate question!" Rarity quipped at Rainbow, slapping her with a whip of magic making a snap on the pegasus' face.
"Ow! Dude! Seriously?" Rainbow asked after receiving the short bit of pain. "Why would you that?"
"Simple: You were being brash to the ladies around you while speaking about Spikey-Wikey like that," the elegant pony answered with a confident smirk and lidded eyes.
"She got you there, Rainbow," Applejack, along with the others, giggled at Rainbow's expense.
A few sneers and giggles passed by for the better part of fifteen minutes, just before the baskets were opened. Inside were the same food that no doubt had gotten cold. Thanks to the three ponies with horns, the food was quickly reheated. And in the second basket, there was whole six pack of Applejack's family's hard cider, along with just one other bottle of the sweet stuff. The same magic that was used to reheat the food quickly allowed the drinks to be chilled. The reheating was done by the Alicorn while the chilling was done by Rarity. The posh seamstress had explained that the spell was learned from a client who offered her a whole bottle of wine as part of the commission that was paid after a dress was made for the vineyard manager who ordered the dress. And Twilight learned the reheating spell when she was in that school where she became Princess Celestia's personal student.
After about half an hour passed by, the ponies were all stuffed and buzzed from the food and drink.
"Hoo-wee! This picnic was the best idea that we all had," Applejack said with a wipe of her brow, feeling the heat of the sun beating on her head for a moment. Either that, or the cider was more potent than she thought. "And I think that we all agree that Spike and Starlight deserve our best wishes. Don't they, y'all?" she called to her friends, excluding Starlight who was blushing yet again.
"Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie nodded eagerly, hearing the others agreeing with Applejack.
"You know it!"
"Absolutely!"
"Oh, yes!"
"Yes, they do!"
(*****)
The rest of day was filled up with all of the chores and work that they all had to do before the night, and the moonlight, fell. And in each of the pony's residences, the mares had nearly plopped down to their beds.
For Pinkie Pie, after eating her share of the food, she had baked a few baker dozens worth of cupcakes and a few cakes, along with entertaining the Cake Twins. Of course, given how she had always been the friendly party pony in all of Ponyville, she felt a slight disturbance from the earth below her. A party was in the works, and she was not going to let it be unplanned. Hours later, she was snoring a sweet snore that vibrated in her throat while she also made some coos.
Rarity, naturally, had to finish some new dresses that were personally requested by a few Canterlot ponies that she was more than happy to create for them. And even though she had felt a small twang in her heart, the seamstress allowed her positive mood to be what helped her finish the stitching and final details. No doubt, she was happy with the results of her extravagant dress and tuxedo. And so were her customers. With that, and a stylish blindfold on her face, the unicorn fell asleep.
Rainbow Dash, given her sudden perverted question from before, continued to ask Starlight just how big Spike was. This was followed by the dragon's performance. Starlight, thankfully, did not answer any of those questions. So, what would the loyal friend of the Mane Six do if she did not get the answers that she wanted to know? Read her Daring Do books, of course. "With only her trusty hat on her head, Daring Do had narrowly escaped the arrows being shot...."
Applejack, as always, continued to do her work on the family farm. Along with her little sister Apple Bloom and big brother Big Macintosh, the southern and eastern sections of the orchard had been successfully harvested. And the namesake product was lifted into the barn for processing. Now, the apples that were to be sold on the market were placed in a certain box in the farm, while the others were placed in a makeshift micro-brewer for the cider and whiskey that was made daily. With that, the farmer pony slept like a log.
At Fluttershy's cottage, the yellow pegasus had fed the little and big critters that played and lazed inside or outside the area. Without any doubt, she was happy (and her friends, too.) that Spike and Starlight had become a couple. Of course, she was a little saddened that it was her best dragon friend that became the first to get a marefriend. She truly wanted to confess to her friends that she too desired to have a stallion in her life, but was too afraid to actually get her voice loud enough to say those words. But that was peacefully pushed away as her animal friends encouraged her to try again. After hearing that from the animals, the pegasus slept.
And now.... at Twilight's Castle?
"Hey, Spike?"
"Yeah, Twilight?"
"Starlight told me how you became a couple."
"R-really?"
"Yep. And I just wanted to let you know.... that you both have my blessing!"
"Oh! Well, then uh.... thanks, Twilight."
The two gave each other a last hug, as family always did, before they each said good night.
For Twilight, she already had a good book that would make her sleepy in about half an hour.
But for Spike?
"Spike~! You coming?"
"Coming, Starry!"