//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Petastrophe! // Story: The Problem With Pets // by Dusk Melody //------------------------------// Professor Fluttershy’s cottage was located on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Though conversation between the four ponies had been clipped and to the point on the way from Ponyville, the nearer they got to the wild, wooded and mysterious area, the quieter Sparkler became. Every time a bird squawked, or some unseen ‘thing’ made a noise, the bright yellow unicorn jumped. She wondered it if was too late to just go home. Cloudburst and Stonecutter though were more excited and interested in their destination. Neither had been out this way before – any sensible pony in town knew to avoid the Everfree Forest, it was well known and had a reputation as a dangerous and scary place. Even Cloudburst, who saw rules more as guidelines, knew to stay away from the forest. Sadly though, for Sparkler anyway, they pressed on. Eventually, they came to a small bridge that crossed over a fast-flowing river, which was the only way to reach the yellow pegasus’s cottage. The moment she saw her teacher’s cottage, Sparkler was amazed. She had been expecting a white walled, black timbered, thatch roofed building like most of Ponyville. What she saw was very different. The remarkable thing about Professor Fluttershy’s home, as far as Sparkler was concerned, was that it had a roof of green leaves, instead of thatch. ‘It looks like a tree house…or a house made from a tree…or tree fashioned into a house…why?’ the young unicorn couldn’t work it out, so she stopped trying. Much like her approach to Sugarcube Corner that looked like it somepony had loaded a cannon with dessert things, blasted it in the air and it had landed in the shape of a house. Dozens of bird boxes and bird tables hung from the branches of the roof as well as the branches of the nearby trees dotted around the cottage. It felt like the air itself was alive with the sounds of pretty birdsong. That so much wasn’t bad, Sparkler could tolerate that. Wild rabbits and squirrels bounded and scampered along the path leading up to the cottage, making Cloudburst laugh teasingly at the unicorn when she squeaked as a squirrel got particularly close. “What’s up, Sparks, never seen a squirrel before?” Thankfully, Fluttershy didn’t have to say anything. Stonecutter, glaring at her best friend, shut the giggling pegasus up. “That’s enough, CB, leave her alone.” The slate grey earth pony completely missed Sparkler’s blush and her accompanying adoring look. The unicorn was just about to voice her gratitude when Fluttershy hoofed open her wooden front door and turned to the three young mares waiting at her doorstep. “I’m so glad you three agreed to help, you’re real lifesavers!” she beamed that smile of hers that could disarm a manticore and continued, “Come on in, the others are waiting inside.” Cloudburst, Stonecutter and Sparkler all shared a rather uneasy look at that as they stepped inside the cottage. While they had of course seen their teachers at school, and they had shared the odd ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’ wit them all, this was the first time they had seen them outside of school. It was…odd, seeing them all sat on comfy seats in the cosy cottage like they were normal ponies. Besides the chairs arranged around the cottage, there were several bed baskets on the floor for when the caretaker’s animal friends came to visit. Just like outside, there were a few birdhouses hanging from the ceiling, each with colourful birds flapping around the student’s heads. The baseboards in the living room were dotted with mouse holes and when a few came out to investigate the newcomers, Sparkler jumped and flinched, inadvertently she clutched at Stonecutter’s strong arm, making both mares blush and look the other way. What did pique the young unicorn’s interest though was the many and varied books about pets, wildlife and nature that took up space on the various shelves fixed to the walls around the living room. The thing that surprised her the most was that, in spite of all the animals – pests – and birds, the cottage was clean, tidy and did not smell like a litter tray. Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was sat in a circle with the rest of her friends enjoying a cup of jasmine tea, was the first to step up and greet her three students. While they were each drinking their respective drinks, their pets were playing with themselves on the floor. “We thank you three from the bottom of our hearts for your generous offer to look after our pets while we’re away,” the head mare beamed, “We did promise them a pampering party though, I hope that won’t be a problem for you?” Just as Sparkler was about to politely refuse and say that it was a problem, Cloudburst ‘helpfully’ fired a broadside across her bows. The pale blue pegasus stuck her hand up like she was in class, “Sure it’s no problem, head mare Twilight!” she ignored the scathing look coming from the unicorn, “How do they like to be pampered?” Since she had greeted them, Twilight continued, “This is my pet, Owlowiscious,” the alicorn proudly showed off her pet, a bright-eyed brown owl. “Say hello to our guests, Owlowiscious,” the owl simply hooted and bobbed its head politely. “He’s very well-behaved. He loves being tickled just behind his ear feathers and his favourite treats are chocolate mice.” Sat at the table beside Rainbow Dash, Applejack downed her coffee and spoke up next, “Say hello to Winona!” the orange earth pony grinned as she reached a hand down and scratched her dog behind her ears. The brown and white dog jumped up playfully at the sound of her name and barked joyously when her owner scratched her. “Give her a bone to chew on and she’ll be as happy as a worm in a barrel,” the orange earth pony smoothed down her blue denim skirt as her dog rolled around her brown boots, baring her belly, Applejack obliged. “Her favourite thing of all is belly rubs, as you might’ve guessed.” On the other side of the Honesty teacher, Pinkie Pie suddenly leapt up to her hooves, the pink earth pony a vision in a stereotypical explorer’s khaki outfit. “What did you say, Gummy?” she gushed, lifting up her baby alligator to her ear, “You like these ponies? Well, if you like them, I like them!” the alligator, who had not uttered a word, or for that matter even moved, stared blankly at the three students. “Gummy says he likes fish cakes and his favourite game is snap!” Rarity, dressed in blue cargo shorts and an off-white top, coughed delicately as she placed her teacup down on the table. Curled up by her hooves was a fluffy white cat who sported a purple bow and collar. “Opalescence is extremely sensitive, so you must be careful to take full and complete care of my precious little darling,” the ivory unicorn smiled proudly as she offered her cat a toy mouse to play with. “She will only touch the finest cat treats, and you simply must comb her fur regularly just the way she likes it.” Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash, who had decided she had been sat still quite long enough, spread her sky-blue wings and flew over to a tortoise hovering by a wardrobe. Hovering, the students saw, thanks to a whirling helicopter rotor he was wearing. “Hey Tank!” the Loyalty teacher called out, turning her pet to face the three younger mares, “Say hello to your new best friends! Make sure you feed him plenty of lettuce and let him out for a spin once in a while and he’ll be as fine as a new shiny bit.” Once everypony else had introduced their pets to Sparkler, Stonecutter and Cloudburst, Fluttershy stepped forwards with Angel held in her arms. “You’ve met my Angel already,” she said with a smile, “I can tell that he really likes you…” to demonstrate how much he really liked them, the white rabbit sneered at them and stuck out his tongue before wriggling out of Fluttershy’s arms. “He’s such a loving little creature, all he needs are a few juicy carrots, his tail fluffed gently and plenty of cuddles and some kind words.” Sharing looks ranging from excited to dubious amongst themselves, Stonecutter was about to volunteer some ‘kind words’ of her own for the rabbit who had snuck into her backpack and had been caught eating her snacks when Twilight derailed that train of thought. “Okay,” the head mare addressed her students, “I don’t know how long we’ll be away for – we have to travel to the Badlands, far to the south. You’ll be staying at Fluttershy’s cottage, taking care of the pets until we come back.” The Princess must have read Sparkler and Stonecutter’s expressions because she held up a reassuring hand as she continued, “Don’t worry, I’ve sent letters to your parents.” Twilight knew, that as Cloudburst lived in her school, there was no need to write her family. She had done, though, as a matter of course. “Now,” she forged ahead as the rest of the teachers each stood and hefted a pack on their back – except Rarity, Applejack carried hers – and got ready, “Make sure they’re well fed and entertained. We promised them a pampering party, so that’s your first job. Also, please, do try and keep Fluttershy’s cottage clean and tidy. As the six professors and Spike all filed out of the cottage, Sparkler suddenly realised she could speak. She coughed to clear her throat and said, “Excuse me, Head Mare Twilight?” when the alicorn paused, the last one to leave, the bright yellow mare continued, “Seeing as we’re doing this, will there be an extension on the Kindness essay due in next week?” She was rather pleased at the scathing look that Cloudburst shot her way. “Of course!” Twilight exclaimed, “All of your homework deadlines will be extended by a week to allow for our absences. Counsellor Starlight will be informed, don’t worry. And,” she smiled at the eager young pony, “We’ll grant you extra Kindness credit for helping us.” That certainly managed to please the book smart young unicorn. With a cheery wave and a round of goodbyes from the teachers, Sparkler, Stonecutter and Cloudburst were left alone with the pets in Fluttershy’s cottage. Sparkler’s good mood evaporated almost instantly as she sat down on the chair that Twilight had occupied. “Um…” she fished in the air, staring blankly at her friends, “Now what?” Similarly, Stonecutter and Cloudburst stared at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Neither of them had owned pets before, and all of a sudden, what had seemed like a good idea in the marketplace didn’t seem all that great now they were doing it. While they stared at each other in silence and tried to think of what to do, the six pets quickly became bored. Owlowiscious spread his wings and flew up to one of the bird boxes that hung from the ceiling and perched outside it, content to look down wisely at the newcomers. Still sat by the chair that Applejack had used, Winona scratched herself and let out a bored whine before she hopped up on the chair and laid down. Gummy, immobile as ever, just stared at them with his wide unblinking eyes. Opalescence, far more critical of them, looked the ponies up and down and, having made her mind up, hissed at them in disgust and curled up in a pet bed. Tank seemed to have fallen asleep, while Angel narrowed his eyes and fixed the students with a fierce glare. “Well…” Cloudburst offered after a few more minutes of silence, “They seem bored?” “Oh, well spotted, CB,” Stonecutter shot back sarcastically, “I could’ve told you that. Question is, what do we do about it?” “How should I know?” the pegasus shot back to her pudgy best friend, wringing her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, “You’re the one who volunteered us, I thought you had an idea!” “I always have to have the ideas, featherbrain…” “Ahem,” Sparkler coughed delicately, effectively cutting off the argument between the two before it could take hold properly. While she wanted to spend time with Stonecutter, acting as a referee didn’t seem like the best way of getting close to the delightfully chubby mare. “I guess you have an idea huh, book worm?” Cloudburst asked, only noticing the open book in the unicorn’s hands after she had spoken. Sparkler fixed the impulsive pegasus with a deadpan glare that could’ve cut through a bank vault were she not so dense. Pointedly she turned the page of the pet care book she had levitated down from the nearest shelf. When she judged she had made her point, she said, “It says here in this book,” she took great care to emphasise the word ‘book’, “That the best way to win a pet’s affection is with their favourite food.” At the mention of the word ‘food’, Owlowiscious hooted, Angel thumped the hardwood floor with his feet and Winona barked. Even Cloudburst got that message and she conceded that Sparkler was right with good grace. After she had blown her a thunderous raspberry. “I hear what you’re saying, Sparkler,” Stonecutter just loved the pink tinge that coloured the other mare’s cheeks. Damn she was pretty when she blushed, “But it’s only just gone noon, we don’t know when they were last fed.” Bored as some of the pets, Cloudburst was flying lazy figure of eights around the cottage’s living room. She had invented her own obstacle course flying between the bird boxes. “I think the nerd’s right,” before she could be admonished for calling Sparkler a nerd, she continued, “Why don’t we just give them a snack? Our teachers told us what they like to eat.” Rolling her eyes at her rather blunt friend – and ponies called her blunt! – Stonecutter had to agree a snack sounded like a good idea. “Well, alright then,” she looked around properly and saw there was a multitude of cupboards spread everywhere in the living room that wasn’t taken up with a pet bed off some sort, no doubt the same was true for the kitchen and other rooms, “Surely we can find something to feed them in all this!” “Don’t call me Shirley!” Cloudburst squealed happily, ignoring Stonecutter’s groan and she flew through her teacher’s house to the kitchen in search of carrots for the rabbit. She had assumed this would be an easy task. How wrong she was. She found a bag of carrots in the first under counter cupboard she came across in the kitchen, but upon offering them to the bunny, she had to duck as he threw them at her. With decent aim, too. “Dumbass ball of stupid fur…” the pale blue pegasus, as she returned to the kitchen to continue her search, had to really fight the urge to not fry him with one of her lightning bolts. An urge that became harder when a substandard carrot hit her ass. Much to the other two’s amusement. A quick look in one of the higher up cupboards revealed a large tub with a foal-friendly screw top that read ‘Angel carrots’. Looking in there, Cloudburst was rewarded with a bunch of the sweetest looking juiciest carrots she had seen. ‘Jeez, Professor,’ she thought as she took out two and placed them in a bowl, ‘these must’ve cost a fortune at the market…evil rabbit eats better than I do!’ When she presented these carrots to Angel, he did at least grace her with a squeak that sounded like a thank you. Yes, Angel was spoiled, bossy and short-tempered but, he was also an appreciative bunny. He appreciated the soft thud that the everyday carrots had made when they smacked into the pegasus’s ass. He also appreciated it when she had come back with the good stuff. These pet-sitters had to learn he was picky, and he got what he wanted! It was easier that way. Munching on the sweet delicious carrots, Angel ignored the disapproving look that Owlowiscious shot him from the perch he was on. “I’ll get Winona a bone,” Sparkler said, though she hoped she wouldn’t have to search through every cupboard in Fluttershy’s cottage. There had to be at least twenty, and that was without counting properly. The young unicorn was just about to admit she had no clue whatsoever when, thankfully, Winona helped her out. With a delighted, happy bark, as well as a jingle of her collar, the brown and white work dog showed just how faithful and loyal she was by running over to a low-down cupboard in the living room and pawing at it. Even Sparkler, who was clueless when it came to animals, knew what she was getting at. “Is it in there, girl?” she asked, getting an urgent bark in reply. Winona knew full well her bones were in that cupboard! She yipped and whined when the unicorn paused, pawing at the door again to get her message across. When she saw the cupboard opened, she sat eagerly on her haunches, her tail wagging so hard it could’ve cleaned the floor. She stayed sat and even offered her paw by way of thanks when a bone was presented to her. Licking Sparkler’s hand, she took the bone and laid down contentedly in her pet bed. “Eeeeeeeew!” Sparkler shuddered involuntarily as she shut the door. “What’s wrong?” asked Stonecutter before Cloudburst had a chance to mock her crush. “The dog…licked me!” she squeaked, shaking her freshly slobbered on hand like it was going to fall off. Stonecutter shot her best friend a warning glare and got up, crossing the living room in a few strides, she gently held Sparkler’s hand. ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s so soft!’ she thought, feeling a blush creeping over her cheeks. Compared to her spade of a hand, the unicorn’s was dainty. It was perfect. “Come on through to the kitchen, I got this.” Sparkler didn’t object as she was led by the hand to Fluttershy’s kitchen. She certainly didn’t object when her crush washed her hand for her under the faucet. She was too busy trying not to swoon. She had gotten a sense of the chubby earth pony’s immense strength and she liked it. A lot. “Um…Stonecutter?” “Yeah?” she looked the slim unicorn in the eyes, still holding her hand under the running water for way longer than was necessary. “The ah…you see, um…I wanted to say…” “Y-Yeah?” Stonecutter stuttered. ‘She’s gonna say something, I should say something!’ “You see um, I um…I think I…” Sparkler wanted to say something, anything, but when she was about to confess her love for the tall pony, her brain betrayed her and instead and her free hand fell onto a bowl of freshly drained lettuce that had been left by the sink. “I think Tank would like this lettuce!” internally, Sparkler kicked herself, hard. ‘You bucking moron! What the hay did you say that for! You’re gonna die a virgin!’ Stonecutter looked like a bucket of cold water had been poured all over her. For once, it wasn’t due to one of Cloudburst’s pranks. The moment completely gone, the earth pony shut off the running water and, drying her hands, she picked up the bowl of lettuce. “Ah, aaah, yeah, I’ll lettuce the Tank…I mean, I’ll give the lettuce. To Tank. Now.” As Stonecutter carried the bowl through to the living room, a hovering Cloudburst mimed pointing a gun to her head and blowing her brains out. Shooting the pegasus a non-plussed look, Sparkler responded by flipping her off. Unfortunately, that just made her break out in a fit of giggles in mid-air. “I’ll sort Owlowiscious out!” the pale blue mare called out, still giggling. ‘And ponies call me dense…’ she thought as she opened cupboard after cupboard. “Aha!” Cloudburst cried out in triumphant glee when, after two tries, she located a box of chocolate mice. Which to get though? That was the question. There were brown ones, white ones and pink ones. At a loss, she decided to take one of each from the box and, closing the cupboard above Sparkler’s head with an unnecessarily loud bang, she flew into the living room. Sparkler had the wet sponge held in her telekinetic field ready to throw at her flying tormentor, but the annoying pegasus had already gone. With a sigh, she dropped the sponge into the sink and cursed her brain for saying the wrong thing three minutes ago. When Cloudburst flew into the living room, she had a scathing comment ready and prepared to deliver. However, when she saw the overweight mare forlornly feeding lettuce to the silent tortoise, her comment took a sideways turn at her tongue, never to return. “Hey, Stone, you okay?” “Mmm…” she grunted noncommittally, absent mindedly feeding another green leaf to Tank. Now bearing a worried look, Cloudburst quickly fed the three chocolate mice to Owlowiscious. A very well-behaved bird, he showed his thanks by hooting and gently nibbling the pale blue mare’s hand. Her task accomplished, she descended to the floor and draped an arm around her best friend’s shoulder. “Stone, it’s okay, honest.” “Mmm…” “I mean it, you like her, right?” “Mmm… Cloudburst wanted to scream. “Look, you like her, she likes you. It’s as obvious as my wings. Just…I dunno, try again, when there’s no lettuce around.” Grabbing the half empty bowl from the earth pony before she could feed Tank the whole bowl, she flew back to the kitchen where Sparkler was attempting to find cat treats. “Gotcha!” Sparkler declared triumphantly once, after searching through a few cupboards, she came up with a bag of cat treats. Alas, in her haste to forget about the lettuce incident, the bright yellow unicorn had snatched up the bag of treats that Fluttershy gave the wild cats outside. As she skipped through to the living room, Opalescence’s treats, in a bag marked with Rarity’s three diamonds cutie mark, remained untouched in the cupboard. Sparkler was unaware of her error as she entered the living room. Her focus was on Stonecutter’s fat ass that was barely contained within her cargo shorts and her tree trunk like thighs. Namely, as she approached the curled-up Opalescence under the table, she was picturing herself and her head between those massive thighs. She was grateful therefore of the table, so she could hide. “Opalescence,” she said in what she hoped was a ‘come here kitty’ voice, “I got some treats for you.” Out of the corner of her eye, Stonecutter caught the beautiful view of Sparkler bending down to duck under the table that her teachers had been sat around when they entered. The slate grey earth pony was about to look away when she caught a glimpse of white under the unicorn’s plaid skirt. ‘I shouldn’t be looking, I shouldn’t be looking…’ she told herself. She didn’t look away though. When Sparkler crouched lower to get further under the table because the selfish cat wasn’t in any mood to come to her, Stonecutter got even more of an eyeful as the unicorn’s skirt rode up even higher. ‘Sweet Cadance’s horn and feathers…’ she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the slender toned thighs, the perfect curve of the ass cheeks pointed her way, her legs parted just enough that she got a view of the unicorn’s vulva, clad and outlined in just a thin layer of fabric. ‘Oh, my goodness…’ the more she stared, the more Stonecutter found her attention wandering. She propped her cheek up on the palm of her hand and tried not to drool as she enjoyed the view. Stonecutter wrapped an arm around Sparkler's neck, bringing her marefriend into a tight embrace as she tilted her head to one side, kissing the bright yellow unicorn full on the lips. Sparkler returned the gesture, reaching up with her arm and placing her hand on the back of Stonecutter’s head, running it through her mane as she ran her tongue across her lover’s lips, asking permission to enter. The slate grey stonemason granted it, parting her lips for Sparkler's tongue as she ran her own over and around it, eliciting a few pleasurable moans from her. A second or two later and Stonecutter took the initiative, thrusting forward with her tongue into Sparkler's mouth, running it around the inside before briefly wrestling her tongue into submission. Finally, the need to breathe forced them to break the kiss, their lips coming apart with a wet smacking noise. “Oh my…” Sparkler looked up at the tall mare with a blush colouring her cheeks before lowering her hands down to the hem of the chubby mare’s tee shirt. Stonecutter smirked as she saw Sparkler's deep blush and likewise, she let her strong hands wander down to grasp the smaller pony’s sweater. After a fumbled attempt at undressing each other where they both tried to lift each other’s top at the same time, the earth pony allowed the unicorn to go first. One hard tug, and her white tee shirt was pulled off, freeing her large fleshy breasts and pudgy round belly. Before Sparkler could get her hands on those breasts, Stonecutter hefted the unicorn’s sweater up and over her head, licking her lips when she laid eyes on those perfectly formed B cups. She had never wanted anything more in all the world than to run her thumbs over them, to kiss and suck on her nipples. From the look on the unicorn’s face, she felt the same about her, too. Sparkler raised a questioning look to her taller lover, quietly asking if she could. Stonecutter read her expression and nodded, giving her assent. She bit her lip as she saw the slim unicorn’s lips getting closer and closer to her breast. This was it! She was going to do it! They were going to do it! Closer she got, Stonecutter could feel her breath on her skin. She felt a hand go lower down her body over her belly and lower still. Those lips were tantalisingly close… “Buck!” Sparkler’s expletive brought Stonecutter crashing out of her daydream, snapping her back to reality with a thud as her head slipped off her hand and hit the arm of the couch she had been feeding Tank on. Looking over at the table, she saw the unicorn on her ass scrambling out, shaking her hand. “Stupid damn cat!” “What’s wrong?” Stonecutter and Cloudburst both asked at the same time. “She clawed me!” Sparkler wailed like her hand had been cut off, her grievous wound little more than three little scratches on the back of her hand. “I tried feeding her and the ungrateful thing went for me!” Sympathetically, Cloudburst took the sobbing unicorn to the kitchen to clean up her hand and stick a band aid on it, leaving Stonecutter in the living room. With a resigned snort and her daydream now naught but a fleeting memory, Stonecutter picked up the rejected cat treats and took them back into the kitchen. About to ask how Sparkler was, she caught her best friend’s look and decided this wasn’t the opportunity she was looking for. Going back to the living room, even though she had chosen the right treats, Opalescence was still in a bad mood and hissed at her warningly, though she did eat the offered treats. Given her friend’s spectacular failure with Professor Rarity’s cat, Cloudburst took it upon herself to find the fish cakes for Gummy. Thankfully, they were easy to find, they were right there looking at her when she opened up Fluttershy’s fridge. It was rather hard to tell though if Gummy was happy or not when the pale blue pegasus offered him the treats in a shallow bowl. The green alligator’s blank vacant stare never changed, but he did snap up the fish cakes when they were placed within range of his toothless jaw, so Cloudburst assumed he was happy. The relative calm and quiet that extended throughout the cottage following the more or less successful snack time didn’t last very long. Soon enough, the six pets began acting up. Having finished her bone, Winona was now running circles around Sparkler’s legs, almost tripping her up, though the brown and white dog’s energetic barking had her rooted to the spot. Gummy had his jaws stubbornly latched onto Stonecutter’s leg and refused to let go, no matter how much the earth pony ‘encouraged’ him. Opalescence yowled and spat and, in her boredom, began scratching at the legs of the table she was sat under. Tank had taken to chasing Cloudburst around the living room, the tortoise’s helicopter blades were bumping into the bird boxes hanging from the ceiling. Even Owlowiscious was playing up, the brown owl deciding to perch on the pegasus’s head and placing his tail feathers over her eyes. When Cloudburst hit a bird box with a pained yelp, Angel made his bid for freedom by trying to scamper up Fluttershy’s chimney. “What do we do?” Sparkler cried, pinned in place by Winona. “Well, our teachers did say we had to pamper them,” Stonecutter commented, having just managed to get Gummy off of her leg, “Maybe we should try doing that?” Agreeing that pampering the pets was a good idea before they turned properly feral and had them all tied up and placed in a cauldron in the middle of the living room – Cloudburst’s imagination was rather active – the pegasus decided to start with Owlowiscious, seeing as how the owl was still using her head as a perch. Reaching up with her hands, she began to tickle him just behind his ear feathers like Head Mare Twilight had advised. Almost instantly, Cloudburst was rewarded with a happy and contented hoot from Owlowiscious, who showed her how grateful he was by abandoning her head and taking up residence instead on her back between her pale blue wings. “See guys?” she crowed victoriously to her two friends, “I’m a natural! Cloudburst, pet-sitter extraordinaire!” Not to be outdone, and inspired by Cloudburst’s success, Sparkler announced she was going to play snap with Gummy. “Are you sure, Sparks?” the pegasus ribbed her, “It might be dangerous!” “Oh please,” Sparkler used one of her mother’s best eye rolls, “It’s a card game against a vacant baby alligator, how hard can it be?” “I dunno, Sparks, but my money’s on the alligator!” When even Stonecutter let out a snigger at the pegasus’s joke, Sparkler sat down at the table with a huff and reached for the deck of cards decorated with Professor Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark of three balloons. Muttering under her breath but not quite quietly enough, she dealt the cards out between herself and her opponent until the deck was used up. Once the cards had been handed out, Sparkler sat opposite Gummy with a look on her face like she expected something to happen. When the green alligator just stared at her and licked his eyes, Cloudburst, who still had Owlowiscious on her back, burst out laughing. ‘Of course, nothing’s happening!’ the unicorn fumed, embarrassed, ‘I’m playing snap with a bucking alligator!’ Snorting out a breath of frustration through her nose, Sparkler laid her first card down on the table in front of the alligator. Gummy though must’ve thought it was him to go first and the baby alligator leant forward and snapped his jaws around the unicorn’s forearm. “AAAaaaAAAH!” she screamed, her instinct to expect great pain. The unicorn’s embarrassment was only heightened when both Cloudburst and Stonecutter burst out laughing at her misfortune. She continued to not see the funny side of things when even Owlowiscious and Angel joined their amused hoots and squeaks into the mix. “Ugh! Get! Off!” Sparkler shook her arm to no avail. That just made Angel squeak louder and roll around the floor in mirth. “I said. Get. Off!” eventually she lit her horn and used her telekinesis to remove the alligator. Recovering from her giggles enough that she could speak, Stonecutter was the first to endure the deadpan death glare from her pretty crush. “I’m…tee hee, I’m sorry Sparks,” the earth pony snickered, “But you have to admit it was a bit funny!” ‘Sparks?’ Sparkler snorted, ‘Who decided my nickname would be Sparks?’ she was about to voice this in the grumpy mood she was in, then she realised, wide eyed, that her crush had nicknamed her! True, Cloudburst had called her Sparks, but she had ignored her and rightly so. But Stonecutter called her Sparks! This served to instantly lift her mood. “All right, yeah, I suppose it was pretty funny.” She conceded with a smile. “That’s my girl,” Stonecutter said before she realised just what she had said. She quickly followed up with, “Why don’t you play with Winona, try rubbing her belly.” What she didn’t add was her thought that even she couldn’t mess up giving a dog tummy rubs. “All right, I can do that,” Sparkler duly got on her knees and Winona, who seemed to know what was coming her way, rolled onto her back and exposed her white belly. “You get the cat.” The unicorn pointed to Opalescence as she started to enthusiastically rub the dog’s belly. Stonecutter groaned internally. She didn’t want the cat. Then again, judging by the look on Cloudburst’s face, neither did she. The two friends shared a look between them and before the earth pony could react, the pegasus had Owlowiscious back on a bird box’s perch and she had grabbed Tank. “Dibs on the tortoise!” she yelled, flying outside. “Fine, featherbrain…” Stonecutter sighed, and she just caught Angel who had been trying to hide the grooming kit that Rarity had left under one of the couch cushions. True to form, the fluffy little deviant just stuck out his tongue and blew her a raspberry before hopping off to see what other mischief he could cause. Opalescence, while she was still rather disgruntled from the faux pas with the cat treats, at least had the grace to recognise that it had been the earth pony who had delivered the correct ones to her. As such, when she started to groom her fur, she didn’t instantly attack her and sink her claws into her hands. This proved to be a good move as, as big and strong as she was, Stonecutter was surprisingly adept with her hands. While Sparkler was rubbing Winona’s belly – the brown and white dog having found her way onto the unicorn’s lap in the process – she found her mind wandering as she watched her big sexy crush gently comb Opalescence’s white fur. Her mind wandered to a very good place indeed. Sparkler had just opened her eyes. She could tell by the smell that she was laid in her own bed, her pink Princess style bed. It was the middle of winter and her duvet was half off of her and half on the floor. Why then, if there was a thick layer of snow outside and a gale blowing, from the sound of it, didn’t she feel cold? The answer came to her along with a wide smile. The weight pressing on her back, the beautiful mass she could feel pinning her in place face down on her bed belonged to none other than her marefriend, Stonecutter. Far from being crushed, she loved the feel of the naked earth pony. Sparkler sighed happily. She’d never, ever get bored of waking up to those large fleshy breasts, or her big round belly or her thick thighs all squishing into her back. What she loved most though was the feeling of her body warmth seeping into her, keeping her warmer than a thick sweater or her duvet ever could. If this was heaven, she had died a very happy mare. What made her even happier was that magical moment when Stonecutter woke up. Just like she always did, she leant forward a teeny bit and began to lay soft delicate kisses all the way up her left ear. Starting at the base, she would kiss her way to the tip and nibble her way back down. Sparkler could pretend to be asleep on the upward journey, but not the return trip. By the time the chubby mare started to lick her way up her horn, all pretence at sleep would be abandoned, gentle snores being replaced by lewd mewling moans and purrs. Not that she was going to tell her special somepony to stop. Every morning she was woken up like that, and it was amazing… “Hmmm…” Sparkler found herself moaning and pressing her slender legs together as she enjoyed the pleasurable sensations coursing through her mind straight from her horn to her core. “Oooh yeeeeah…just like that…” “Angel!” Stonecutter’s cry brought Sparkler’s fantasy daydream crashing back to reality with all the force of a waterfall of cold water thundering all over her. “Hey, Angel!” Blinking herself back into the here and now, she quickly saw what the issue was. Having groomed Opalescence to the cat’s satisfaction, the earth pony had obviously attempted to fluff up the rabbit’s tail just like Professor Fluttershy had told them to do. Unfortunately, Angel had not taken too kindly to being left until last. The fluffy white bunny had chosen to show his displeasure by blowing an extra big raspberry at all three of them – Cloudburst had, while Sparkler was lost in her fantasy, bought Tank back inside and set him down on the floor. With a look of fury, he hopped up high into the air, landing on one of the many bookshelves on the wall. Determined to show these pet-sitters just who was the boss, namely, him, he went to the end of the shelf gave Fluttershy’s copy of Mage Meadowbrook’s ‘A History of Natural Cures’ a hard shove. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion, just like a scene from an Applewood movie. The heavy book hit the next one in line with a loud thudding sound and that one hit the next. The line of neatly arranged books toppled over like dominoes. The book at the end of the shelf fell to the floor and, with laser guided accuracy, landed on Tank, who had been dozing contentedly on the floor. The force of the impact set off the motors of his helicopter blades. Out of control, Tank flew around the living room, hitting every single bird box before smashing through the large window and hurtling off into the sky. Alarmed by the smashing of the window, and the glass shattering everywhere, Winona gave a bark of panicked surprise and she jumped straight through the open window in an effort to both rescue Tank and get away from any more falling books. Startled from his perch on one of the bird boxes by Tank’s errant hap-hazard flight and the buzzing and chirping of the angry birds flitting around the swinging boxes, Owlowiscious let out a terrified screech and, in a desperate attempt to get away, the brown owl flew up the chimney in a cloud of soot, which made Gummy sneeze loudly. The baby alligator’s strong - but thankfully toothless - jaws clamped shut on Opalescence’s tail, which had been waving right in front of him. The cat, who had been thoroughly content and happy thanks to Stonecutter’s grooming skills, shrieked out a loud, panicked yowl and she leapt up, her claws tearing into the curtains of the window nearest to the earth pony, the one that Tank hadn’t smashed through. As Gummy bit down harder and harder, Opalescence tried harder to get him off of her tail, to no avail. She shredded the curtain to such a degree that she ripped the curtain rail down, which knocked a cupboard down straight towards the slate grey mare who seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move. Several things then seemed to happen all at once. “Look out!” Cloudburst cried, when she saw the large heavy cupboard falling with its doors open towards her best friend, she acted. Swooping down from where she had been trying to round up the frightened birds, she gave Stonecutter a hard shove, sending her out of the away. The pegasus realised, too late, that she was now in the path of the falling cupboard, which fell on her, trapping her inside. Sparkler, who had been chasing Opalescence and Gummy around the living room, tripped over the book that had landed on Tank and started this whole chaos and she went falling head first into the fallen curtains. Inadvertently, Cloudburst’s hard shove sent Stonecutter flailing into the same curtains that Sparkler was trapped in. Seeing his opportunity, now the pet-sitters were all trapped, Angel scampered from the cottage with a victorious squeak. His plan had been a success! Now. It is a little-known fact – amongst non-pegasi, anyway – but it is a fact nonetheless, that all pegasi are, to a greater or lesser degree, that all pegasi are claustrophobic. As it happened, Cloudburst was very, very claustrophobic indeed. No sooner had the cupboard fallen on her than the scared pegasus began flailing around inside the confines of the furniture. “AAaaaAAAaaAAAAGH!” she screamed, trying to force her way out. So scared was she that she didn’t realise the doors were facing down on the ground. She thumped the back, scraping her knuckles on the backing of the cupboard. “Help me! Get me out!” try as she might though, she couldn’t heave up the cupboard. Trapped in the curtains, struggling to get out, Sparkler caught Stonecutter’s eyes. The large earth pony was caught above her in a facsimile of her daydream, but this wasn’t as much fun. “Hey, Stone, is she okay in there?” she asked as she heard futile punches rained on the cupboard. “No, she isn’t,” Stonecutter replied, “She won’t admit it, but she hates small enclosed spaces. She hates them real bad. They freak her out something awful.” “Oh…” the unicorn’s eyes went very wide indeed. As much as she found the pale blue mare annoying as all Tartarus, she really didn’t dislike her enough to wish that on her. She had her own fears, like losing her connection to her magic. “Hang on, Cloud, I’ll try and help!” the bright yellow unicorn lit her horn and tried to use her telekinesis to lift up the cupboard. Unfortunately, at that moment, the rest of the curtain gave way and Stonecutter landed fully on top of her, the shock disrupting her spell. “SOMEPONY HELP ME!” Cloudburst screamed, the poor mare absolutely terrified in the dark confines of her prison. Every time she tried to get free she hit a wall with her arm, leg or wing. “PLEASE HELP ME! GET ME OUT OF HERE PLEASE!” Hearing her best friend in such hysterical distress, Stonecutter had only heard Cloudburst scream like that once before and that had been when, as foals playing hide and seek, she had got trapped in a closet. “CB I’m coming, hold tight!” the slate grey earth pony then used her prodigious strength and ripped the curtain apart, freeing herself and Sparkler. “Hang in there, CB, I’m here!” Stonecutter crouched beside the cupboard. When she heard the pleading sobbing cries coming from inside, chills went up and down her spine. Hooking her hands around the edges she easily hefted the heavy cupboard off of the quivering pegasus without so much as breaking a sweat. Once she was freed of the cupboard, Sparkler scooted over and hugged Cloudburst as tight as she could, closely followed by Stonecutter. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime, between them they managed to calm the frightened mare down. It was a measure of her new-found friendship that Sparkler didn’t laugh at her, instead she bought her a glass of water and comfortingly she rubbed her back. “Oh. My. Goodness…” Stonecutter murmured as she took a moment to survey the devastation in Fluttershy’s cottage left in the wake of the rampaging pets. Her teacher’s home was a complete and utter mess. Besides the collapsed curtains and the fallen cupboard, there were ornaments, cushions and tipped over chairs strewn all over the floor. One of the windows was smashed were Tank had flown through it and there was soot from the chimney everywhere. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was animal treats scattered all over the floor and the cat flap in the door was hanging loose. In short, the place looked like a bomb had gone off. If the Professors came back now they could forget the extra credit, they’d most likely be expelled. That though wasn’t the worst of their worries, as Cloudburst noted when she had dried her eyes and got her breathing under control. “Um…guys?” she asked in a hesitant voice, “Where are the pets?”