The battle had been fought. In the small mountain hamlet that lay nestled up in the basin in the woods, only the tattered remains of dozens of broken water balloons remained. A silent testament to the battle that had taken place there only an hour before. Now, the battle was long behind, and the water spilled by the brave and boisterous combatants.
Now, the soldiers of that battle were back at their home base. The rainbow cabin in the woods, where the champion of the splashdown, Oliver, walked out of the bathroom.
He ran a towel through his yellow hair, drying off what the sun had not during the hike back to the cabin. The t-shirt and trunks he had worn as his combat fatigues had long since hung to dry, and the fabric of his tank top and jeans felt like the welcome touch of an old friend against his cooled and refreshed skin.
With a sigh, he ruffled the towel through his hair as he walked through the empty hall of the cabin. When he reached the living room, he sat down in the armchair, taking in the first moment of solitude he had since he arrived.
Oliver closed his eyes, listening only to the sound of silence as he replayed the splash party moment by moment through his mind.
In his moments of meditative silence, Oliver could see how straight from the beginning to the very end, he had grown in the short burst of battle.
His very first move had been a dishonorable one. In a cowardly move, he had attacked his opponent from behind. A tactic relegated only to those who feared failure. In the time since, he sharpened his mind against Rarity and Sweetie Belle, accepted defeat at a greater opponent in Spike, faced his fears and risks against Dash, stood up to something greater than himself against Pinkie, and reclaimed his redemption in a face to face showdown against the one whom he had besmirched.
For all his reflection, Oliver smiled. During the heat of battle, he had fantasized about being a modern day knight. Now, it seemed that fantasy was not so far-fetched.
“Oliver?” a familiar voice gently asked.
Oliver opened his eyes, and saw Apple Bloom standing beside him.
“You alright?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah. I’m just a bit exhausted,” Oliver answered.
“Goes without sayin’,” Apple Bloom agreed. “‘Course, you were the one actin’ like the star bull in a rodeo.”
Oliver said nothing, but smiled at the aspect of being the star in the show.
Apple Bloom couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about Oliver had changed since she first met him. If there was anything that she could name, it was that he seemed like more of a grownup than when he first arrived. For these observations, she felt as if there was a distance growing between them. Something that made her look at her new friend with sadness and admiration both at once. These thoughts left her when she remembered what she had come looking for Oliver for.
“Uh, me an’ the others saw a pizza place in town earlier. Thought we’d go check it out. You in?” Apple Bloom said.
“Now?” Oliver asked.
“‘Course now. After that hodown, I think we all wanna get a bite.”
“Can’t argue with that. After that tour of service in the mountains, I think we earned a pizza break,” Oliver said, as he slowly stood up from the chair.
“Tour o’ service? What would ya know about servin’,” Apple Bloom asked.
“Today, I served about a hundred liters to opposing forces on all sides. Then I served watery justice to a vengeful opponent. Now, I’m getting served some ‘zza with my choice of topping. All I need now is my degree in servological sciences, and I’ll be a registered servicist,” Oliver said. “Where’s everyone else now?”
“They’re all waitin’ by the bus, ‘professor.’ Let’s not keep ‘em waitin’, an’ get us some ‘’zza,’” Apple Bloom said, sardonically emphasizing the last word in each sentence.
Oliver was too tired to say much else, and walked to the door.
Simply watching Oliver move made Apple Bloom realize what more had changed about him. He seemed to walk with an air of pride in his movements. To Apple Bloom, Oliver’s movements had purpose. Like he had discovered a destination, and was walking toward it forever after.
Seeing him made her own steps slow down to a pace where she walked behind him. How could she hope to attain what he had?
Oliver stopped walking and turned around.
“Apple Bloom?” He extended his hand to her, “You coming?”
Seeing Oliver offer his hand made things clear to her. Apple Bloom then knew that nothing had changed at all between them. No matter how he had changed, he would remain her friend forever and always.
Oliver was at the door, and nearly took his coat off the hook there.
In one swift motion, a red blur ran by him as Apple Bloom snatched his coat and ran outside with it.
“Hey!” Oliver said.
“Ya want it? Come an’ get it,” Apple Bloom challenged.
“A challenge! This demands satisfaction, treacherous apple fiend!” Oliver said, before he lunged like a musketeer.
Apple Bloom moved away.
“You ain’t gettin’ no satisfaction, cowboy!” Apple Bloom said.
Oliver reached again.
Apple Bloom escaped by sliding down the railing on the wooden porch’s stairs.
Oliver jumped directly to the ground and chased after Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom turned around and held up Oliver’s sweater like a matador’s red cape.
Oliver grabbed and missed again.
Apple Bloom ran around the Rainboom’s tour bus, making Oliver chase after her.
Twilight watched the two children run around the outside from the driver’s seat. In the passenger seats in the back, all the others watched the children, as Apple Bloom playfully evaded Oliver’s attempts to retrieve his jacket.
After the third time around the bus, Twilight opened the bus doors.
Apple Bloom instinctively ran inside the bus and took cover on a seat.
Oliver shortly followed, and saw Apple Bloom taking cover. With the technique and finesse of Dirty Harry, Oliver rushed down the bus aisle and accosted Apple Bloom on her seat.
There, the children wrestled in the seat, drawing the others to gather around them to watch the friendly altercation.
Oliver squirmed and struggled to reclaim his jacket. With one final pull, he wrestled it from Apple Bloom’s grip and held his prize high above his head like a wrestler’s championship belt.
“Alright. Sit down, ya big blowhard. We ain’t gonna get our pizza if ya don’t buckle up,” Apple Bloom said.
“Wuhp!!” Oliver said, as Apple Bloom pulled him down to his seat by his pant leg.
The others all took Apple Bloom’s cue, and took their individual seats.
As the bus pulled out of its parking Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took one last look to the children, and saw how they were sitting huddled on their seat together, talking happily about what they would order on their pizzas.
From the afternoon of playtime on the swing, up to now when they were sitting so closely, the two Rainbooms thought they could see something growing between Oliver and Apple Bloom. Something they would have to be taught about from someone older and more experienced.
“Do you think we should have a talk with them?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.
“Yeah. Better the kid learns now that he can’t be with Apple Bloom,” Rainbow Dash agreed.
Even deep in this backwood country, the residents relished the chance to congregate at their local pizzeria.
Outside the simple wooden building, cars filled the parking lot nearly to capacity, forcing Twilight to park the bus on a turnout a short distance away.
Once they were inside, they were reminded once more that they were out of their element.
This place was a far cry from the sleek, linoleum-floored pizza places with padded seating they all knew. Here, the
smell of wood mingled with fire-roasted pizza and fresh-poured beer, as though to greet all who entered. The wooden plank floors creaked with every step, while the wooden seats of the corner booths welcomed vast quantities of guests to take a load off and enjoy the calm atmosphere.
“Alright. So, I’ve got everyone’s order here,” Twilight said, as she presented a slip of paper that everyone had compiled their orders for five pizzas onto. “You guys go find us some seats, while I take care of the orders.”
“Okie-dokie, Twilight. Let’s see: we could all sit at that long table over there! Or we could push together a bunch of these little tables. Ohh! Let’s get that corner booth over th--!” Pinkie said, before she noticed something in the corner. “They have pinball!”
Pinkie ran off to play the noisy arcade machine, while the others all moved to the booths along the perimeter of the establishment.
Oliver started walking to the same table as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Spike. As much as he wanted to spend more time with his new friends, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“Oliver,” Fluttershy said.
“Hey, Fluttershy. Want to grab a seat at the kids table?” Oliver greeted her.
“No. Um, it’s just...Could you come with me for a minute?”
“Sure. What for?”
“Nothing serious. We just think we need to have a talk with you,” Rainbow Dash said, as she led the others to an unoccupied table.
Oliver took his seat, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat across from him. For all the good times he had with them, something about the way that the girls were looking at him made him feel slightly anxious. It was as if the playfulness and kindness within them had been replaced with a grave concern of an unknown trouble. To ease his mind, Oliver would have to bring the phantom problem into the open.
“So, what’s up? Was there something you wanted to talk about, or am I just more fun than the others?” Oliver asked.
Neither of the girls knew how to begin. They sat staring uncomfortably at the table between them. It was only then that they realized that neither of them had any reference for love or romance, having never been in any serious relationship themselves.
Rainbow Dash had read plenty of books where daring adventurers rescued beautiful maidens from perilous dangers. But, Oliver had not rescued Apple Bloom by swinging on a rope and sweeping her off of a precariously balanced rock on a cliffside. Nobody outside of a Daring Do novel fell in love that way.
In her lifetime, she had never experienced anything so awkward and scary as a simple conversation.
“Oliver,” Fluttershy began, before losing her nerve.
“It’s about you and Apple Bloom,” Dash finished up.
Any anxiety Oliver had left him in that moment left him completely. With a roll of his eyes, a smile spread across his face.
“Aw, don’t tell me you’re bringing that up again,” Oliver said.
“I know it’s not a comfortable subject. But, me and Fluttershy have been talking, and we think it’s something you should hear,” Dash said.
“We just think that you’re getting into something you don’t understand,” Fluttershy explained.
“Yeah. Kids like you don’t usually start hanging out with girls until you’re almost twelve. I didn’t even make friends with a boy until I was fifteen,” Dash said.
“There’s just so much that you haven’t experienced yet. Boys like you need to learn about love and romance, before you try involving yourself with a girl,” Fluttershy added. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Dash.
“Yeah! What about playing pirates with all your guy friends? What about killing time with video games in the afternoon? You get none of that with a girlfriend.”
“But, it doesn’t have to be all bad,” Fluttershy said over Dash’s speech.
“It’s a nightmare, until you’re too old to be able to handle it,” Dash said.
“And you’re already so young. You can’t even begin to know what we’re talking about--” Fluttershy added.
“I don’t,” Oliver said, but he wasn’t heard over the others talking.
“--And it doesn’t get better, even when you’re our age. I’ve never even had a boyfriend,” Dash finished for Fluttershy.”
“Me neither,” Fluttershy finished.
Both of the older girls paused, and stared silently at the napkin dispenser and shakers full of parmesan and crushed red pepper in the center of the table.
“Oh, I feel like such a letdown,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m going to die alone,” Dash lamented.
Oliver’s eyes bounced back and forth between Dash and Fluttershy as they took turns speaking frantically. And he continued after they stopped talking, as though waiting for him to respond.
“Are you done?” Oliver asked. “I feel bad not paying admission to watch that ventriloquism act you put on.”
Both girls released an exasperated exhale when they realized how they had been behaving.
“I think you’re missing the point,” Dash said.
“Then, that’s your fault,” Oliver shrugged. He folded his hands on the tabletop and leaned closer to the others, “But, I think it’s the two of you who don’t actually understand what’s going on. Me an Apple Bloom are just friends. That’s it. End of story. I don’t know how either of you, or anyone else interpreted anything romantic between us.”
“But, we saw you and her at the lake. And then at the swing,” Fluttershy said.
“You can’t tell us that’s not puppy love,” Dash added.
“Puppy love is Spike getting a date. I was just making a new friend,” Oliver said. “I know you two have got this big sister concern thing going for me. But, I already know that I don’t understand a thing there is about real romance and real love.”
“Yeah? Then what’s the deal with you getting all misty-eyed at Fluttershy at the beach?” Dash asked, making Fluttershy turn red.
“You mean you never had a small crush on a boy you knew when you were my age?” Oliver asked. “You got past it, right? I don’t know how long it took you, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since the last time I saw you all. It just can’t work if I don’t know what I’m getting into.”
All of a sudden, Dash and Fluttershy both felt less mature than the eight year old they were sharing the table with. What were they even doing trying to have a talk with him on a subject they knew nothing about?
“Frankly, I’m getting a little concerned,” Oliver continued. “Just the fact that this keeps coming up is making me feel like it’s you trying to push us together. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that is for me? If anyone else knew about it, we’d all be in trouble. Or on probation.”
There was no denying the logic of the boy, who was clearly wise beyond his years. Dash almost felt as if she was being lectured by her dad, which made her feel slightly ashamed of herself.
Fluttershy too was ashamed of what she had been unintentionally facilitating. If anything she was afraid of losing Oliver as her friend. And the only way to avoid that was to simply step aside, and allow him to be a child.
“You’re right. Sorry, for butting into your business,” Dash sighed.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
“Hey, no harm done. We all got some growing up to do,” Oliver said, before he stood up. “I’m going to go sit at the table where all my friends are. And it’s not a double date, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Oliver laughed quietly at his quip, to only silent stares of the others. “I’m joking. Laugh.”
No response.
“Tough crowd,” Oliver muttered, before he returned to the table where the other kids and Spike were sat.
“Goodness. When did he become such a grown up?” Fluttershy wondered.[
“I don’t know. But, now I feel really uncomfortable and pervy for trying to hook up some kids,” Dash replied.
“Rainbow Dash, Oliver’s already made it clear that he has no romantic interest in Apple Bloom. And he’s already forgiven us for goading him on. Maybe we just need to let him be, and see where his life takes him when he’s older,” Fluttershy said.
Dash glanced over, and saw how Oliver was happily interacting with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Spike. For all appearances, they really were just friends. Whether they would remain so in the future had yet to be seen. Without even stopping, Dash and Fluttershy returned to the booth with the others, just as their order was called.
Twilight, Sunset and Rarity all went to the counter to retrieve their pizzas, setting three on their own table, and two with the kids.
Well into the evening, they all revealed happily, eating their slices and passing slices between their tables.
“Ugh! Who ordered the anchovies and capers on buffalo sauce!?” Pinkie exclaimed, as a slice of the stuff was passed to Dash.
“Yo!” Oliver’s voice said, as his hand raised over the divider between the booths.
“What kind of monster would do that to pizza!?” Pinkie said.
“The kind of monster who likes his spicy and salty. Like a pickled pepper. Or a radish in a good brine,” Oliver said.
“Alright. Now I’m curious,” Sunset said, as she reached her plate over the divider. “Hit me.”
Oliver placed a slice on her plate, and Sunset retracted her arm.
She stared pensively at her plate, debating whether or not she was brave enough to actually try the bizarre recipe.
In the periphery of her vision, Sunset saw Rainbow Dash sniffing her slice of the pizza. In a rash attempt to reclaim her honor, Sunset took a bite as quick as a cobra. If only she knew what she was in for.
The saltiness of the toppings and the spiciness of the sauce proved too much for her, as she turned green and fell over shortly after swallowing.
“Hmph. Lightweight,” Dash said, before she took her own bite. Her eyes popped wide, and she too turned green, before slumping limply in her seat after swallowing.
“Mm…” Oliver said, shaking his head. Without even looking, he knew what had happened to the others. “Rookies. Happens to the best of them.”
He, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Spike all clinked their slices of anchovies and capers together like they were holding a toast, before heartily eating.