Leaning over the end of the platform on the tips of my hooves, I glimpsed the approaching train in the distance.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“That’s adorable!” Pinch whispered.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“He doesn’t have a clue he’s doing that does he?” Stormbreaker asked.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Satin gave an older sister’s sigh. “Not one.”
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“Uncle Pin, are you feeling okay?” Piña asked.
“I’m fine,” I assured her not taking my eyes off the train.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“Somepony should say something,” Rarity implored. “The poor thing is drawing attention to himself.”
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“Pin, brother dearest, your tail,” Satin said.
“What?” I looked behind myself towards my tail, which was wagging on its own. “Oh.” I willed my wagging tail to stop, and it came to a halt.
“That should spare his dignity a little,” Rarity said.
I returned my attention to the tracks.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
My right ear flicked at the giggling and whispering that started behind me as if trying to warn me of something.
“Let me help you,” Satin said and caught my tail with her magic.
There was a hushed exchange between Satin and somepony and more giggling ensued.
Stormbreaker moved so he could stand beside me. “You missed her, didn’t you?”
“I did.” I smiled watching the train seemed to creep closer. “I didn’t realize how much until this morning.”
“I bet you were first in line at Rose’s,” Piña teased as she and Sweetie Belle joined me on my other side.
“I was second.”
Piña looked at me with surprise. “Who was first?”
“Spike,” I reported.
“No!” Piña looked devastated.
Pinch said from behind me, “He’s a good one, Sweetie. Keep hold of him.”
“I’ll do my best,” Sweetie said sounding a touch embarrassed.
Piña looked towards her niece. “Pinch?” she asked, sounding as if she was not believing what she was hearing.
I felt a slight pull on my tail. I started to turn, but halted when Pinch said, “Please hold still, Uncle Pin, I’m almost done.”
What does she mean ‘almost done’?, I asked myself.
“Spike came by this morning and asked Sweetie to breakfast and for permission to take her to the celebration,” Rarity said to Piña. “I’m so glad he did. Sweetie’s had a crush on him for the longest. She even sleeps with the plushie I made of him for her.”
“Rarity!” Sweetie said mortified.
“It was very kind of Pinch to help Sweetie get over her nerves so she could ask him,” Rarity continued. “Pin, I have to tell you that Spike’s suit looks marvelous.”
“Thank you.” Having connected the dots in my head, moving only my eyes, I glanced over to Stormbreaker. “They got me didn’t they?”
Stormbreaker chortled. “They might have.”
“And you two helped him distract me,” I accused Piña and Sweetie Belle, cutting my eyes to look at them.
They smiled up at me feigning fillies’ innocence.
“This is the style that I know,” Pinch said. “It’s not much.”
“It’s a classic braid that will never go out of style, and you did a great job,” Satin complemented. “It’s difficult to get everything to come out so even. Now I’ve seen what you can do, we can jump right into a more complex braid this evening.”
“Thanks for helping me,” Pinch said. “I wouldn’t have finished fast enough without you.”
“Any time,” Satin told her.
“Had I known something like this was going to happen, I would have brought a ribbon or two,” Rarity said.
I closed my eyes and sighed. “May I look now?”
“You’ve got more important things to focus on,” Stormbreaker said. “The train’s stopping.”
We all took steps back from the rail’s side of the platform as the train slowed to a halt and released a rush of steam.
I looked up and down the length of cars, wondering which one Coco would exit.
“Pinch,” Satin said in a whisper everypony could hear, “when you find a stallion who looks forwarding to seeing you that much, that’s the one for you.”
The train’s doors opened and ponies filed out from the cars onto the platform.
Stormbreaker jumped up and used his wings to hover under the platform’s roof. He cupped his hooves to his mouth and called, “Miss Coco Pommel and Miss Sassy Saddles, your party is waiting for you on the north side of the platform!”
“You have quite a voice,” Rarity said. “Thank you,” she told Stormbreaker as he landed back on the platform.
Piña hopped up and down. “There they are!”
Coco and a pony I guessed to be Sassy Saddles moved through the crowd towards us. Sassy Saddles, being the taller of the two, saw us first and pointed a hoof towards our group.
When Coco’s eyes met mine, we smiled at each other. I moved towards her, only to have to let a few ponies past. When they moved on, Coco closed the gap between us.
“Pin, you shouldn’t have,” Coco said, looking at the flowers.
“I’m so glad you’re back I didn’t know if I could put it into words. I hoped the flower would convey what I was feeling better than I could.”
Coco looked over the flowers for a second more and then hugged me. “I missed you too,” she said.
Keeping the flowers aloft in my magic, I held Coco close.
“What did he tell her with the flowers?” Piña asked Pinch.
“The pansies and zinnias mean remembrance,” Pinch said. “The white orchids are ‘I miss you flowers,’ and the violets mean devotion and loyalty.”
Sweetie asked, “What about the camellias?”
“When they’re pink like those are, camellias say I missed you, but they can also mean…” Pinch trailed off.
“What do they mean?” Piña insisted.
Coco leaned back from me and looked at me as if searching for answers in my eyes. “That his future is in my hooves.”
“Our turn!” Piña declared.
I stepped back from Coco, giving the fillies room enough to rush in and hug her.
“We missed you!” Sweetie told Coco.
“I missed you girls too.” Coco included all three fillies in her return hug.
“We made sure Uncle Pin behaved,” Piña reported.
“Thank you very much,” Coco said.
“We tried to get him to write you, but he didn’t have your address,” Pinch told Coco. “Rarity was out of town too, so we couldn’t ask her.”
“Rarity was with me in Manehatten for a community event.”
I looked towards Rarity. “You didn’t mention that you had seen Coco on your trip.”
Rarity grinned. “I got carried away, when I got back, and it slipped my mind.”
I chuckled. “True, we didn’t have much time to talk before Thunderlane took off with you.”
“After that, I had to get right to work on all my orders so I couldn’t stop by and will you in on what happened.”
“I understand that all too well,” I said to her.
“Speaking of filling my orders,” Rarity said and then hugged Sassy Saddles. “While I didn’t bring you any flowers, I am glad you’re here.”
“You didn’t have to bring me any flowers, Rarity.” Sassy Saddles returned Rarity’s hug and kissed both of her cheeks. “I’m always glad to see you.”
Piña turned to Pinch with an expression of disbelief. “I was wrong about her.”
“Wrong about what?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Rarity does have special relationships with her employees,” Piña said.
Sweetie Belle’s mouth dropped open.
Sassy Saddles broke into laughter while Rarity looked at Piña flabbergasted.
Satin leaned against Stormbreaker for support as they both laughed.
I snorted, did my best to suppress it, but gave into laughing myself.
Pinch, looking embarrassed, said, “Kissing on the cheeks is a formal way of saying hello in some countries and cultures, Piña.”
“Riiiight,” Piña said. “If I did something like that to Rumble, I’m sure he would think I’m saying ‘hello’.”
Coco, through her giggles, told Piña, “Pinch is right; that’s not what kissing on the cheeks the way Sassy did means.”
“While I adore Rarity,” Sassy Saddles told Piña, “we’re not special someponies.”
Piña’s ears folded in embarrassment and she looked down to the platform. “Sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. If I were ever interested in a marefriend, Rarity would be at the top of the list.” Sassy Saddles patted Piña’s shoulder with a hoof. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
“Piña Colada,” Piña said.
“I’m Sassy Saddles, nice to meet you.”
Pinch held out her hoof. “I’m Ruby Pinch, please to meet you. Please excuse my aunt.”
Sassy Saddles blinked and then shook Pinch’s offered hoof. “Your aunt?”
“I was a surprise,” Piña said. “Pinch and I are about the same age.”
“Speaking of surprises,” I said to Coco. I gestured toward Satin and Stormbreaker. “May I introduce my sister, Satin Stitching, and her fiancé, Stormbreaker.”
Coco tensed as she looked at the pair.
“Hello Miss Pommel,” Satin said with a wide smile. “My brother has been telling me all about you.”
“Just Coco, please,” Coco said, looking nervous. Her ears folded backwards, and she glanced towards me as if asking what she should do.
Satin’s smile lessened. “I see he has told you about me too.”
“A little,” Coco confirmed.
Satin’s ears fell. She looked toward the platform and said, “You must think I’m some kind of windigo.”
“Not at all, he said that you and he had a bad argument, but that he still loved you and he wanted his ‘older sister’ back.” Coco closed the distance between Satin and her and gave Satin a hug. “I’m sorry me being nervous about meeting somepony so special to him made you feel bad.”
Satin returned Coco’s hug. “Pin’s right, you are a sweetheart.”
Stormbreaker looked to me. “You’re brave, calling her ‘older’.”
I snorted and motioned at Satin with a hoof in a way that drew attention to her size. “I can’t call her my ‘big’ sister.”
“True,” Stormbringer conceded.
“Tell her,” Piña said with happy enthusiasm and poked me with a hoof.
Coco let go of Satin and looked to Piña. “Tell me what?”
“Satin and Stormbreaker are expecting,” I said.
Coco’s ears perked, and she turned back to Satin. “Congratulations.” She looked down towards Satin’s belly. “How far along are you?”
“Nearing the third trimester,” Satin said. She gave her belly a gentle pat with a hoof. “Before too long, I’ll be looking like a grape with legs.”
“Do you know what the foal will be?”
“We’re keeping everything a surprise, even from ourselves,” Stormbreaker answered. “What we know is that everything is going well with our little one.” He hugged Satin across her shoulders with a foreleg and nuzzled the top of her head. “Satin’s having some morning sickness and she eats spicy dishes that will make your eyes water from across the table, but I’m very glad to say she’s doing well overall too.”
“Second to last call for luggage pick up!” the train’s conductor announced.
“I’ll go get it,” I offered. “Miss Saddles, what does your luggage look like?”
“We brought more than our bags,” Sassy Saddles warned. “I don’t think you can carry it all on your own.”
“You worry about the cart, Pin, I’ll help Coco and Sassy with the rest,” Rarity said.
“I’ll go get hitched up,” I said. “I’ll carry your flowers to the cart, Coco.”
“Thank you.”
I did not take five steps before I heard Coco make a surprised noise.
“Do you like it?” Pinch asked.
“It looks very nice,” Coco said with a touch of a giggle in her voice. “I take it you did it?”
Crab apples, I forgot about my tail, I thought to myself.
“Satin helped so we could get it done before your train got here,” Pinch said. “She’s going to show me how to braid like they do in Canterlot to-“
Satin touched Pinch’s nose with a hoof. “Let’s not ruin any surprises.”
I steeled myself, looked over my shoulder, and swung my tail so I could see it. Pinch and Satin had put my tail into a fishtail braid.
“I think it looks rather good on him,” Rarity said.
“Yes it does,” Coco said, meeting my eyes and giving me a teasing smile. “It accents the fact he’s been getting ready for the Running of the Leaves very well.”
*****
“Thank you all!” Rarity said. “It would have taken me all day to put everything away and it would have been all but impossible for me to have brought it all here on my own.”
Coco put the last box into its place in Rarity’s workroom. “We’re glad we could help.”
Piña, Pinch, Sassy Saddles, Sweetie Belle and I nodded in agreement.
“I owe you all dinner for the all the help you have given me. But that will have to be some other day.” Rarity struck a dramatic, determined pose. “Now, we get to work on these orders.”
Rarity levitated her glasses and measuring tape to herself. Her glasses landed on her nose with practiced precision and her tape measure draped across her neck as if it knew its rightful place.
I gave the three seamstresses a bow. “I will take my leave then. I’ve got my own pile of orders to contend with.”
“Take Coco with you,” Rarity said. “I would suggest you two getting a nice lunch and catching up, before diving into your work.”
I looked to Coco, who seemed as surprised as I was that Rarity would make such an announcement.
“As much I would love to have her help, don’t you need all hooves on deck so you can catch back up from your trip?” I asked Rarity.
“Sassy and I can manage for the time being. I will need both her and Coco for the next couple of days after today, though.” Rarity gave me a wicked smile. “We three can negotiate who gets to keep her for how long after that.”
“Him, for as long as possible,” Piña muttered.
Sassy Saddles smiled and leaned down close to Piña’s height. “I don’t think that’s quite what she meant,” she whispered.
“Pin, could I ask you a favor?” Rarity said with a spark in her eyes.
“I’ll do what I can to help,” I assured.
“I only have one guest room, and Sassy will need a place to stay. Could Coco stay with you for a few days?”
I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks as I looked to Coco. “Since Satin and Stormbreaker are here, if she wants, she can sleep in my bed-“
Piña and Sweetie gasped and looked at me with disbelief.
“-and I’ll sleep on the couch or in the study,” I finished.
Pinch gave Piña and Sweetie a look. “Uncle Pin’s a gentlecolt. Did you really think he would share a bed with her?”
“If he nibbles on her like Rarity says he does, he might,” Sweetie said.
“I’m with her, whether or not he nibbles Coco,” Piña said. “You saw his reaction when she kissed his nose on the first night they got together and the look she had today looking at his tail.” She stood tall and beamed. “I’m looking forward to being a three times aunt. This could help speed things up.”
I felt my blush reach my ears.
Coco’s cheeks turned rosy, and she put a hoof to her mouth to hide her smile.
“Piña!” Pinch said. “I don’t think they’re ready for that.”
“How long have they been a couple?” Sassy Saddles asked.
“Over half a year now,” Sweetie said.
Sassy Saddles hummed and tilted her head back and forth as if considering things. “Then it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
“Sassy!” Coco protested.
“Coco, I think we should go while we still have our dignities intact.” My ears snapped back, and I flinched. “If you want to stay at my place.”
“If she wishes to stay here, that would be fine,” Rarity said, with a smile that told she was enjoying the way things were playing out. “Sassy could stay with you, if you were agreeable.”
“I don’t know if Miss Saddles would be comfortable staying with a stallion she just met,” I said in as neutral of a tone as possible.
“Sassy.”
I looked towards Sassy Saddles. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t have to be so formal.” Sassy smiled showing too many teeth. “If I’m going to be staying with you, it would get tiresome if we keep on calling each other miss and mister.”
“I’ll be staying with him,” Coco said in an unamused tone.
“You go Miss Coco!” Piña cheered and hopped up and down. When everypony looked at her, Piña’s ears pinned back. She gave a weak laugh, lowered down, and grinned. “Sorry.”
Pinch closed her eyes and put a hoof to her forehead.
“Thank you girls, for helping us bring everything in.” Using her magic, Rarity opened a draw with her magic and levitated each filly some bits. “Please, go to Sugar Cube Corner and treat yourselves to something.”
“Thank you Miss Rarity, but we can’t take your bits,” Pinch said looking up from the coins in her hoof.
“You three earned them by helping this afternoon,” Rarity stated. “You shall not try to return them or I will have to have words with your parents.”
“Don’t argue with her,” Sweetie Belle warned in a hushed tone. “Apple Bloom and Scoots tried it one time, and it didn’t go well for either of them.”
“Thank you Miss Rarity,” Piña and Pinch said together.
“Thanks, Sis,” Sweetie said a second later.
“You’re welcome.” Rarity escorted us to the shop’s back door and outside. “You three run along,” she prompted the fillies. “Sugar Cube Corner closes early today.”
Sweetie Belle grinned at Piña and Pinch. “Let’s go!”
Rarity giggled as the three fillies ran off. “They’re still not as happy as Pin was about you coming back, Coco.” She looked to Coco and smiled. “His tail even wagged when he saw the train. Pinch and Satin decided to ‘help’ him control it by holding it still and braiding it.”
“I’m sorry I missed that,” Sassy said.
“So am I,” Coco said and grinned at me. “I thought I saw somepony doing something with your tail, but I couldn’t tell what was going on.”
“It was precious,” Rarity said.
Sassy shooed Coco and me with a hoof. “You two go on. We all have work to do.”
“I’ll get your luggage,” I offered.
“Thank you, but I can wrangle my luggage.” Sassy moved towards the cart. “You focus on…” She stopped and tilted her head at something I could not see. “Well, hello there. What are you doing peeking around the corner?”
“I’m sorry for hiding,” Rumble said as he stepped into view. His ears were pinned back, and his tail half tucked. “I came to see Miss Rarity and ask a favor, but I didn’t want them to see me.”
“Who did you not want to see you?” Sassy asked.
“Piña, Pinch, and Sweetie, I was just about to come around the corner when they came out the back door. I’m not some kind of creep, I promise. I was going to knock, once you were through talking and went back inside.”
“The thought a cutie like you was a creep never crossed my mind.” Sassy smiled at him. “Why didn’t you come to the front?”
“Miss Rarity’s shop is closed on the weekends,” Rumble said. “Thunderlane said that he thought it would be okay if I came to the back door since I’m delivering something for him too.” His ears shot up as if he had thought of something. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Rumble. My brother, Thunderlane-”
“Is Rarity’s coltfriend,” Sassy finished for him. “Rarity was right, you are adorable.”
Rumble blushed. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“I’m Sassy Saddles.” She gave him a wink. “Please, call me Sassy.”
Rumble’s blush darkened. He nodded, seeming to have lost his ability to speak.
“Sassy, don’t tease the dear,” Rarity said. She walked over to Rumble. “How are you doing, Rumble?”
“I’m just fine.” Rumble took an envelope from under his wing and gave it to Rarity. “This is for you, from Thunderlane.”
“Thank you.” Rarity gave Rumble a smile and gave him an intrigued look. “What favor were you going to ask?”
Rumble’s front hooves trotted in place in a nervous display. “I know that you’re not open today, but I want to buy something from you. It’s nothing big, but you’re the only one in Ponyville that has what I’m looking for.”
“You must be looking for something specific, if that is the case,” Rarity said. She smiled at Rumble. “While my shop is closed, I’m always happy to help a friend.”
Rumble beamed at her. “Thank you. Miss Applejack said you would help.”
Rarity gave him a surprised look. “You spoke with Applejack about something in my boutique?”
Rumble nodded. “She told me you were the one that sold her the mane and tail braids she wears.”
“I do.” Rarity studied Rumble for a second, one of her ears at an angle. “Do you need some?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“With your mane and tail, you could wear whatever color you want,” Sassy said.
“They’re not for me,” Rumble told Sassy. “They’re for my training partner.”
“For Piña?” Rarity asked with a knowing grin.
“Sometimes when we train her mane or her tail bothers her. During one of our practices, she said she wished that she had mane and tail bands like Applejack does to keep them out of the way.”
“That’s very thoughtful, but why the rush?” Rarity asked.
“Miss Satin is planning to show her and Pinch different braiding styles later, but Piña doesn’t like to have her mane and tail braided. I thought she might feel left out if Satin and the girls started braiding everypony’s manes and tales and she couldn’t do anything with hers.”
“So you’re going to surprise her,” Sassy said.
Rumble nodded. “I wanted to give them to her tonight. That’s why I had to come see Miss Rarity today.”
“That’s so precious!” Satin cooed. She looked at Rarity. “Are all the stallions like him here in Ponyville?”
“Not all of them, but a good number are,” Rarity told her.
Sassy grinned. “I may have to visit Ponyville more often.”
“Consider my boutique open to you,” Rarity said to Rumble and gestured towards the back door. “Let’s see which ones you think she would like.”
Coco looked to me as Rarity led Rumble and Sassy into the shop and shut the door. “He’s getting his ‘training partner’ mane and tail bands?”
“Rumble likes to play things cool,” I told her. “Thunderlane thinks Rumble has the idea that ‘training partner’ sounds better than ‘special somepony’. Berry told me that Piña said to her that making a big deal about liking a colt would get her teased in school. The two of them seem to have some agreement to keep up the act.”
Coco looked up at me. “Since we’re training for the Running of the Leaves together, would you like to be your ‘training partner’ rather than your ‘special somepony’ too?”
“Hmmm…” I made an act of thinking about her question, before answering, “I think we should leave things just as they are.”
“You’re not worried about being seen as a cool?” she teased.
“I can’t say I’ve ever worried about begin cool. Besides, even if we quit training together you would still be precious to me so ‘special somepony’ focuses on the important thing.”
Coco put her nose under my chin, raised my head with a gentle nudge, and then, rubbing her cheek across mine as she moved closer, hugged me.
I hugged her back and put my cheek on the top of her head. While I held her, I wondered what was going through her mind.
“You’re overthinking things again,” she said.
I laughed. “How could you tell?”
“You’re holding me like I might break.” She gave me a squeeze firm enough to make me grunt. She looked up at me and grinned. “You don’t have to worry about that, I promise.”
“I knew you were strong, but you moving those boxes was something else.” I adjusted how I was holding her, guided her close, and kissed her.
The back door to Rarity’s shop opened.
“Well now!” Sassy stepped through and shut the door. “I was planning on bringing in my luggage. I wasn’t expecting a show.” She grinned at us. “I take it you couldn’t wait to get him home, Coco?”
Coco sighed and dropped her forehead to my chest.
*****
Coco grumbled, as I worked the lock to the back door, “Sassy sure lives up to her name.”
“I think she likes to tease you like Thunderlane does me.” I opened the door and levitated Coco’s luggage ahead of us. “I read the books you recommend.”
Coco’s ears perked up. “What did you think?”
“Both were great. I enjoyed the Pony of the Opera and I got a lot from Aloe’s and Lotus’ book.” I kissed the tip of Coco’s ear. “I liked their chapter on how to do spontaneous things to show appreciation to the special pony in your life. It gave me tons of ideas.”
“You do more than enough.” Coco smiled and booped my nose with a hoof. “As much as I would like us to continue, with our luck somepony will interrupt us.”
We stepped inside, and I shut the door behind us.
“Things will settle down by the end of the week. Satin and Stormbreaker will be gone, and the requests for the shop will slow down since the celebration is the week after.” I smiled at her, leaned my head down, and presented my ear to her. “I will still sneak in moments for us, though.” I wiggled my ear like a lure.
Coco laughed. “You liked the nibble I gave you didn’t you?”
I nodded.
She kissed my ear tip as I had hers. When I looked up at her, she kissed my nose. “I missed you, you silly pony.”
She and I turned as the apartment’s door opened and hoofsteps came down the stairs.
“You had it pegged,” I said and drew back up to standing.
“Pin, Satin would like to know-” Stormbreaker looked at Coco and me and then her luggage. He grinned ear to ear. “She’s moving in?”
“She will be staying here while Sassy is in town.” Coco gave me a look that made me pause. “At least that was my understanding.”
Coco smiled, but did not say a word.
“Seems you could have a new housemate,” Stormbreaker said.
When Coco did not rebut Stormbreaker’s statement, a part of my mind was overjoyed that such a thing seemed like a possibility rather than dreaming on my part while another part warned it was too good to be true.
“Where is she going to sleep?” Stormbreaker asked.
“I wanted to talk about that with you and Satin.”
“She could sleep with us, if Satin’s up for it.” Stormbreaker looked to Coco and deadpanned, “Just to warn you, Satin snores.”
I snorted. “That’s not what I meant.”
The apartment’s door opened again. “Storm?” Satin asked.
Stormbreaker leaned so he could look up the stairwell. “I’m here.”
“Is everything all right?”
Stormbreaker smiled. “Sort of, we were just talking about how we would need your input on something.”
We could hear Satin’s hoofsteps coming down the stairs. “What are you and Pin up to?”
Stormbreaker stepped aside so Satin could move past him. “Nothing much, we were just discussing how we would arrange things.”
“Arrange what?” Satin asked and stepped into the workroom. She looked at Coco and then to the luggage I still held in my magic. Her ears perked, and she smiled at Coco. “You’re moving in?!”
“Sassy will be staying with Rarity, so I offered for Coco to stay here,” I explained. “Since you two are in the guest bedroom, she can have my bed.”
“She can have the guest bedroom,” Satin said. “We call the study and the nest.”
Stormbreaker raised a wing. “I second that.”
Coco looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Nest?”
“You haven’t shown her Nana’s nest?!” Satin asked.
“Well… no,” I confessed.
Stormbreaker shook his head at me and told Coco, “He’s been holding out on you.”
“It never came up,” I defended myself. “Besides, it would sound weird if I invited her out of the blue.” I changed my voice to sound sinister and made a gesture as if inviting somepony to accompany me. “Lovely lady, would you like to come and try the special chair in my backroom?”
Satin rolled her eyes. “It would if you said it like that.”
Stormbreaker glanced over at Satin. “I think he’s been practicing his villain voice. That sounded too authentic. Should we be concerned?”
Not dignifying Stormbreaker’s comments with a response, I told Coco, “Nana’s nest is a cloud chair that my grandfather made for my grandmother so they could have the feeling of being on a cloud together whenever they wanted.”
“I’d like to try that sometime,” Coco said.
“It’s a great spot to cuddle up with some pony since...” Satin looked to me with an expression of disappointed understanding. “You planned to show her the chair when you thought she was comfortable with you.”
“After Coco and I became special someponies, it crossed my mind to show her the chair, but the opportunity never came up,” I admitted.
Coco smiled at me. “So, you were going to lure me to your secret lair and snuggle me?”
“If he ever turns into a super villain that sounds like the type of thing he would do,” Satin said.
Coco giggled. “That doesn’t seem too nefarious to me. I think some ponies, me included, would like to have that kind of ‘villain’ around.”
Satin dismissed Coco’s words with a wave of a hoof. “He’s too cautious and shy for something like that.”
“I know,” Coco said. “I’m working with him on that.”
Satin gave her a conspiring smile. “I could give you some tips. I know all his weak points.”
“I would appreciate that,” Coco said and gave Satin a return smile.
I chuckled and shook my head. “To think I worried you two wouldn’t get along.”
*****
I held up the jacket in my magic, turned it through a full rotation, and nodded. “This looks ready.” I put the jacket on a hanger and moved it to the nearest rack.
I paused and looked towards Coco.
She was humming what sounded like a show tune while, with deft hooves, she ran material through a sewing machine. She never changed the rhythm of the hoof she was using on the treadle to power the machine’s action, even as she maneuvered the cloth in a curve.
I smiled, thinking she seemed to be moving in a choreographed production more than working.
“Admiring her pedal work?” Satin said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I snapped my attention to Satin. To me it seemed as if she and Stormbreaker, who stood beside her, had appeared out of thin air. “When did you get here?”
“About two minutes ago,” Stormbreaker said and chuckled. “We’ve been watching you watch her. You were the perfect example of what somepony having a smitten smile looks like.”
Satin raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised at you. For somepony that’s as shy as you to stare at a mare’s hind quarters like you were was rather bold.”
“I was focused on her humming and sewing, not her working the treadle,” I defend myself.
Satin grinned. “So you deny admiring her physique along with her technique?”
“Coco, you may want in on this conversation,” Stormbreaker invited.
Coco slowed the sewing machine to a stop. “Well, hello,” she greeted and smiled, after turning to us. “What’s going on?”
“I was asking Pin what his opinion on your pedaling was, since he had stopped to stare at you,” Satin said.
Coco looked at me with a confused expression.
“I just finished up a jacket and stopped to listen to you hum and watch how skillful you are with the sewing machine,” I told her. “It was great to see you enjoying what you were doing.”
Stormbreaker poked me in the shoulder with a hoof. “And,” he prompted.
“I’ve been trying to to tell them your work with the treadle is superb, but Satin is twisting things,” I said to Coco. “I was looking at you, but my focus-”
“Seemed to be on a particular aspect of you and how you were powering the machine,” Satin supplied for Coco.
Coco smirked. “Has he told you about Berry finding out he memorized my cutie mark?”
“No!” Satin said looking astounded. “My brother?”
“I have to defend Pin on this one, as a fellow stallion,” Stormbreaker said. “There are times it’s difficult not to admire a mare’s rear assets.” He gave Satin’s hip a light bump with his own. “I noticed you have princess level flanks associated with your cutie marks right away.”
Stormbreaker paused and seemed to lose himself in thought.
Satin raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. “Dare I ask what is going through that head of yours?”
Stormbreaker put a hoof to his chin and hummed exaggeratedly. “Now that I’ve thought about it, I would have to put you up there with Luna, who is second only to Cadance.”
Satin gave him a disbelieving look. “You rank Cadance over Celestia, Luna, and Twilight?”
Stormbreaker nodded with conviction. “Twilight’s flanks, while nice, are like most ponies’, so she’s at the bottom of the princess’ bottoms list. Celestia’s are a significant step up, but she’s so composed and regal it limits their appeal to me.”
“Ranking Luna high, I can understand,” Satin said. “She has lithe haunches like a dancer’s.” She tilted her head and drew in a hissing breath through her teeth. “Putting Cadance at the top… I don’t know about that one.”
I stood in stunned silence at the brazenness of their conversation.
Coco covered her mouth with a hoof and did her best to smother her laughter.
“Cadance has hot mom’s flanks. There is something extra appealing about those kinds of curves to some stallions, including me.” Stormbreaker kissed Satin and then touched his nose against hers. “I must I rank her above you only because she a princess of a foreign nation and saying anything against her flanks could cause an international incident. I don’t think our princesses would mind me saying that you match them or have them beat. If I’m wrong and they’re somehow listening to us, please come visit me in prison now and then.”
Satin tapped Stormbeaker’s nose with a hoof. “I think the princesses have better things to do with their time than eavesdrop on random ponies. I also think you’re being biased. I don’t have my ‘hot mom’ flanks yet, so Luna has to have me beat, if we’re being objective.”
“Not your toned, satin smooth flanks she doesn’t,” Stormbreaker said with conviction. “When you get your mom’s flanks, you’re sure to displace Cadance at the top of the list for me whether it causes an international incident or not.”
“You’re such a loveable mess.” Satin gave Stormbreaker a kiss. “I’m glad you’re mine.”
“I thought Mom and Dad had a weird relationship,” I said shaking my head and smiling. “You two have them beat.”
The workroom’s clock chimed quarter past the hour.
“I almost forgot why we came down here,” Satin said. “We’re here to remind you to stop working. We were going to pack everything up for the get-together, but we couldn’t find the picnic stuff.”
“I can show you where it is,” I said.
“Let me put my stuff up and I’ll help too,” Coco said.
A knock on the back door made us pause.
“I’ll get it,” I said.
Satin looked to me. “Did you invite somepony over? This an odd time for a random knock on the door.”
“Not me,” I said. “I take it from your question you didn’t either.”
As I moved toward the door, Satin asked, “Were you expecting anypony?”
“Not me,” Coco said.
“Not me either,” Stormbreaker said.
“Maybe it’s Berry or one of the girls coming over about something with our plans tonight,” I offered as an explanation.
“That would fit,” Satin said.
I opened the door and froze at the sight of Mom and Dad.
“Hello, Son,” Dad said, with a slight grin. “Surprise.”