Crystal looked up from her book as the bell rang. One, she didn’t know this place had a bell, and two, who the Tartarus was it?
Sighing, she rose from the couch and quickly walked through the hallways to the door. After a moment of consideration, she opened it.
‘’Hi,’’ Sweetie Belle greeted her. The other unicorn was smiling uncertainly. ‘’Uhh…’’
‘’Come in,’’ Crystal said, trying her best not to sound too demanding. Because damn her, what was it with those Belle females? Rarity was a touch too old and just a little too much like the nobles she and her brother despised for Crystal’s preference, but Sweetie had neither of those negatives.
Crystal had met her the same evening that she had arrived, having snuck out of the castle after it was clear Rarity and Star weren’t in a position to care. Sweetie and her friends had been sitting by their clubhouse, roasting marshmallows over a fire, and had called for Crystal to join them. Crystal had agreed; from that first moment she heard Sweetie’s voice, she was entranced.
And now she was here? Crystal was working overtime to contain her emotions in favour of careful neutrality, even as she led Sweetie to the living room.
‘’So…’’ she began once she had sat back on the couch, Sweetie having laid down on another couch opposite hers. ‘’I guess our siblings like each other.’’
‘’Are you kidding?’’ Sweetie snarked. ‘’Rarity didn’t tell me anything, but I could see how pleased she was when she finally arrived for lunch.’’
‘’Hmm,’’ Crystal hummed. ‘’I could smell it when I arrived back.’’
‘’Urgh.’’ Sweetie gagged.
A comfortable yet awkward silence fell between them. That was something Crystal hated, but for once, she was too afraid of the consequences to act on it. Damn her fucking emotions.
‘’Crystal?’’
‘’Yes?’’ she replied a moment too late, slightly startled. She looked up from the floor to see Sweetie looking somewhat confused. ‘’Is something wrong, Sweetie?’’
‘’Well, no,’’ Sweetie said. ‘’I just think it’s funny that we’re having a date at the same time as our older siblings.’’
Crystal had frozen as soon as Sweetie had said ‘date’. Her mind was screaming at her to do something, anything, but the only thing she managed to do was stare at Sweetie.
Who smiled, as she slipped off the couch. Before Crystal knew it, she had walked over to Crystal, her muzzle inches away from Crystal’s.
‘’Can I kiss you?’’ she whisper-asked.
Crystal lunged forward, all but smashing her muzzle against Sweetie’s. Fuck, she tasted nice.
When they broke apart nearly a minute later, Sweetie crawled onto the couch, cuddling with Crystal. She was so nice and warm next to Crystal, and she silently mourned her lack of wings.
‘’That was my first kiss,’’ Sweetie said softly, after taking several deep breaths.
‘’You’re good at it,’’ Crystal offered, because what else was she supposed to say? And it was true. It wasn’t her first kiss, sure, but Crystal had only had one, very brief relationship before this, so in her opinion it didn’t count.
‘’Hmm…’’ Sweetie brushed her head against Crystal’s, their horns almost touching. Crystal’s eyes locked with Sweetie’s.
‘’You’re beautiful,’’ Crystal said before she could catch herself. Damn it.
Sweetie blushed slightly. ‘’You’re beautiful too.’’
Crystal was never letting this mare go.
Once, her brother had shared a story with her, a story that their father had told him when Star was eighteen. ‘’It might take us a while, but when we Spellweavers find the one, we never let them go.’’
Crystal wrapped a leg around Sweetie’s neck and nuzzled her. ‘’Let’s stay like this.’’
‘’Yeah,’’ Sweetie whisperingly agreed, ‘’let’s.’’
Sunset’s plan for the army was to focus on quality over quantity, with training specialized for the terrain of the Crystal Empire. They would have to be on the defensive, and able to move in small groups to hold a guerrilla war against the invader.
Twilight couldn’t honestly say it was a bad plan. She didn’t know nearly enough about military matters to make that call. But if she understood the numbers correctly, it was the right idea.
‘’This all seems very well thought-out, Sunset,’’ she complimented the other mare.
Sunset smiled, and waved a hoof dismissively. ‘’It’s only a rough sketch. I need to do some more work before I can implement it. But thanks.’’
‘’Uh, Sunset?’’
‘’Yes, princess?’’ Sunset replied as she and Twilight both turned towards the foal, who was sitting on a chair and looking at the table with a frown.
‘’I don’t understand something,’’ Flurry said. ‘’Who is gonna be attacking us? I mean, Sombra’s gone, right?’’ There was a pleading tone at the end of her sentence that made Twilight want to wrap her in a hug.
Sunset shot Twilight a look that screamed for aid. Twilight stepped up. ‘’Flurry,’’ she said softly but still firmly, ‘’Sombra is indeed gone, but there are other bad people out there.’’
Flurry looked at Twilight for a moment, then burst forward and smashed against her chest in a powerful hug. Twilight immediately bent her head and wrapped her forelegs around the shaking foal. ‘’Ssh, ssh,’’ she whispered. ‘’It’s alright, Flurry.’’
‘’I don’t want to lose you!’’ Flurry shouted, before burying her face in Twilight’s coat. Twilight felt cold tears run through her coat a moment later. She intensified her hug as she sat down on her hind legs.
Flurry didn’t deserve this, and Twilight shouldn't have been doing this. Cadence or Shining should be the ones to comfort Flurry, to have told her everything was going to be alright, that there was no reason to be afraid.
But Twilight had never been very good at lying to others, and Flurry deserved the truth, as long as it didn’t cost what little innocence and carefreeness she had left.
In the corner of her eye, Twilight caught Spike moments before she felt him add his own considerable strength to the hug, sandwiching Flurry between the two of them. She couldn’t see it, but she was sure that Sunset and Note were watching.
A choked sob sounded from the other side of the room.
‘’Field marshal-’’
Warmth wrapped around Twilight’s side and back. ‘’I treated Cadence like shit,’’ Sunset whispered into Twilight’s ear, her voice trembling slightly. ‘’I’m going to make it up to her foal.’’
Twilight tipped her head ever so slightly to Sunset. She really had changed.
Twilight liked it.
Last night had been amusing.
Star and Rarity had teleported back to Ponyville after a very nice dinner filled with flirting from both sides, only to find their younger sisters smooching on one of the living room’s couches. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Star had jumped in and suggested they have a very nice talk together. In the morning.
The morning which it currently was. 08:34 on a Thursday was damned early. Sure, Star had paperwork, but if he couldn’t sleep in till at least 09:30, what was even the point?
Star sighed contently, but very softly. Mustn't wake his marefriend, after all.
Marefriend. Fucking brilliant, and brilliant at fucking. Star turned his head to the side and looked at Rarity’s sleeping face. Even after a night of wild sex she was beautiful, or perhaps because.
Either way, she was also very warm and nice to cuddle up against, which Star had been doing for the past ten minutes.
Her breath suddenly stalled for a moment, then her eyes slowly opened. Star could look at those diamonds for centuries.
‘’Good morning,’’ he whispered to her.
‘’Good morning,’’ she whispered back, ‘’darling.’’
He wasn’t sure which one of them reached out first, but their lips met in a fierce kiss. Star nibbled slightly on Rarity’s lower lip, almost dragging his teeth across them when he pulled back.
‘’It’s not even nine yet,’’ he said softly. ‘’I don’t feel like getting up.’’
‘’Neither do I,’’ Rarity said. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck, pulled him even closer than he already was and all-but-purred into his ear.
Fuck he was lucky.
‘’I love you.’’ The words were out of his mouth before he realized it.
‘’I love you too,’’ Rarity offered after the longest second of silence in Star’s life.
He planted a kiss on her cheek. ‘’This will make family dinners awkward,’’ he mused idly.
Rarity giggled. It was a sound that Star would treasure for the rest of his life. ‘’Quite so.’’
There was still an hour left before Star was obligated to give fucks about anything outside this room. He was going to spend that hour well.