//------------------------------// // Sweeter than Sugar are We // Story: All the Ways to Love // by Snow Quill //------------------------------// It was nearing evening as the three mares made their way through Canterlot to a fancy hotel, something Rarity had insisted on paying for to make their first date(s) ‘absolutely perfect!’ Scootaloo nudged Sweetie as they walked, “So are you going to tell us what your date is or we are going to have to find out when we get there?” Sweetie smiled as they walked into the hotel lobby, the place reeking of old money with its warm wood tones and gold accents. “You will find out soon enough. Good things come to those who wait, Scoots.” As Sweetie stepped forward to check them in, Scootaloo hung back and whispered into Apple Bloom’s ear, “She does know I’m terrible at being patient right?” Apple Bloom snickered and pecked her cheek, “Oh I’m sure you’ll survive. Remember, this is special to Sweetie, so just go along with it. That said, I think this weekend will be even more fun than either of us expect.” “Yeah, you’re right. I trust Sweetie won’t have anything boring planned at least.” “Exactly!” Sweetie turned towards them, three room cards floating in her magic, “Alright, we are all checked in. Let’s go ahead and get to the room, we don’t have a lot of time to get ready.” “Oh geez, I didn’t think you meant I would be finding out this soon.” Sweetie glanced back at Scootaloo as they walked towards an elevator, “Well yeah. I know you have a hard time waiting so I timed our arrival so we would have just about an hour to get ready and go.” Scootaloo wrapped her wing around Sweetie and hugged her, “Have I ever mentioned how amazing I think you are?” Sweetie giggled and nuzzled Scootaloo as a bellhop opened the ornate elevator doors for them. She floated over a small gem as a tip, the bellhop nodding his head in thanks before closing the doors and sending them up.  A soft ‘ding’ announced their arrival and they walked down a hallway to their room. A quick swipe of a keycard unlocked the door and the group stepped into their room for the weekend.  All three gasped once inside. The room was large and well decorated, with fancy wallpaper and plush carpets, a large, four poster bed along with a couch by the window. There was a bench in front of the bed and on the wall directly opposite, a large cabinet.  Scootaloo went over to open the doors and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she revealed the largest TV screen any of them had seen.  Apple Bloom whistled lowly as she nudged open the door to an equally grand bathroom, “Golly...How much do you think Rarity spent on this?” “I don’t think I want to know. I know my sister loves me and wanted this weekend to be really special but this, this is almost too much!” Scootaloo nodded as she stepped back from the TV cabinet and eyeballed the large bed. “I’ll say. I’m kinda scared to touch the bed.” Apple Bloom tilted her head, “Why’s that?” “Because if it’s too comfortable, I won’t want to leave.” Sweetie giggled as she tossed her suitcase on the bed and began to dig through it. “Well we can’t have that.” She pulled out a beautiful, emerald green dress and pranced excitedly. “Oh I just can’t wait! This is going to be so much fun. You guys brought your fancy dresses right? The place we are going to has a pretty strict dress code from what Rarity told me.” Scootaloo coughed awkwardly as she pulled out a light purple summer dress. “Uh, we were supposed to bring fancy stuff? I know this is Canterlot and all but this is the only dress I got.” Apple Bloom pulled out a pink plaid dress, “Same here. But, these were made by Rarity so they should be fashionable enough right?” Sweetie pulled her hoof away from her face and chewed on her lip, “Yeah… I mean, sis is pretty well known here and, besides, all of our sisters are Elements of Harmony. I don’t know a lot about Canterlot, but most of the time you just have to know the right ponies.” Scootaloo pumped her hoof in the air, “Yeah! We know important ponies, they’ll have to let us in!” ~~ “What do you mean you can’t let us in?!” The door pony, an immaculately dressed stallion, raised an eyebrow as a patronizing tone crept into his voice. “Exactly that miss. I apologize, but the Canterlot Opera has rules, and one of those rules is that all attendees must be properly dressed.” Sweetie scoffed, “But we are.” She turned her nose up slightly, attempting to copy his tone, “These ensembles are made by none other than my big sister, Rarity. I assume you’ve heard of her?” “But of course, anypony who’s anypony knows of her. She does run one of the most successful boutiques in the city.” “Then you should let us in! All of our dresses are made by her. Did I mention she’s my big sister? Cause she is.” The door pony sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “Well, any little sister of Rarity should understand and respect a simple concept such as a dress code then, no?” Sweetie’s cheeks flared red as she sputtered, “What, well, I-” Apple Bloom wrapped her hoof around her and pulled her away, flashing an apologetic smile at the door pony. She cleared her throat, adopting her own ‘cultured’ accent. “My apologies sir, I know you are just trying to abide by the rules. We’ll get out of your mane now, have a good night.” He snorted softly and shooed them off with a hoof before addressing the ponies behind them. Scootaloo pressed in on the other side of Sweetie to help lead her away.  They started back to the hotel, an awkward silence following. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared glances over Sweetie’s hunched withers, each unsure what to say.  Apple Bloom opened her mouth but Sweetie interrupted her. “I’m sorry girls. I should have asked Rarity to, to make us appropriate dresses.” She added in a bitter tone, “No matter that we know important ponies, oh no, no we had to be dressed right.” Apple Bloom frowned as she glanced around at the street signs, trying to place where they were in the city with the map she had memorized on the train.  Scootaloo sighed, “It’s not your fault Sweetie. I should have realized that Canterlot meant fancy dresses instead of, well, just dresses.” “And I should have told you guys I got tickets to an Opera but noooo, I just haaad to keep it a surprise!” Sweetie huffed and scuffed the ground. “Let’s just…go back to the hotel and get room service or something.” Apple Bloom nuzzled Sweetie,“Well, we can do that or I can lead us to donuts.” Scootaloo licked her lips, “Oooh, yeah! Even in Canterlot a donut shop won’t have a dress code.” Sweetie brought her head up, eyes wet with tears and an incredulous look on her face. “A donut shop? While we are all dressed up?” Apple Bloom grinned, “Why not? This is probably the only night we are gonna see Scoots in a dress for a long time, may as well make the most of it.” Sweetie glanced over at Scootaloo, who nodded in agreement. “Pretty much. I can handle wearing this for a couple more hours for you. So, what do you say Sweetie? Donut date?” Sweetie smiled and wiped her eyes before pecking each of them on the cheek. “Yeah, let’s have a donut date.” Scootaloo whooped in excitement and Apple Bloom looked around before pointing down the street. “The donut shop is this way.” She glanced at Scootaloo and Sweetie and, with a devilish smirk, took off, shouting, “Race ya!” Scootaloo reared up before shooting off after her, “Hey no fair!” Sweetie glanced down at her dress, which thankfully was loose fitting enough she could run in it, but Rarity would probably have a fit if she found out.  But what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, right? Sweetie looked back up and with a joyous laugh started after her marefriends, sprinting to catch up with Scootaloo as her tail disappeared around a corner. The mares laughed as they ran, dodging the creatures on the sidewalk and ignoring the scoffs and glares thrown at them.  Sweetie panted as she shakily caught up to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, the two engaged in a game of ‘I got here first! No, I got here first!’ “Girls.” Sweetie wheezed, trying to catch her breath, but she went unnoticed. She took a deep breath and tried again, “Girls.” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were muzzle to muzzle now, though heated as their voices seemed, there was still an air of playfulness.   Sweetie cleared her throat, “Girls!” They swiftly turned their heads towards her with an innocent ‘yeah?’ and ‘what?’.  Sweetie shook her head with a smile, “You guys are blocking the door. Come on, let’s go in.” They jumped apart, Apple Bloom chuckling awkwardly as she held open the door for Scootaloo and Sweetie.  They made their way to the front counter, where an older unicorn stallion wearing a flour stained apron waited. He smiled at them, “What’ll it be ladies?” Sweetie glanced over the large menu, noticing that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom seemed as lost as she was, “Um, can we just get an assorted dozen?” “One assorted dozen. Any drinks? We have coffee, hot chocolate, water or cider.” Apple Bloom perked up, “What kind of cider?” The stallion smirked softly, “Apple family brand of course, wouldn’t carry any other.” Apple Bloom nodded, “Darn right. We’ll take two ciders and a coffee, light cream and three sugars please.” The stallion rang them up, pointing them towards an empty booth and promising their order would be ready soon.  They slid into the booth, Sweetie between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.  Sweetie sighed, “I really am sorry about the whole Opera mess.” Scootaloo scoffed and waved a hoof, “Again with this? Sweetie, it wasn’t your fault.” Apple Bloom nodded, “Yeah, so don’t sweat about it. I know you wanted to have a perfect first date but all that matters is that we are together. Even something as silly as wearing fancy dresses and eating donuts is a good first date in my books.” “Heck yeah! Donuts are the best things in the world. You know why, Sweetie?” Sweetie glanced over at Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow, “Because they are delicious?” Scootaloo grinned and pecked her nose, “Because they are sweet and soft and amazing, just like you.” Sweetie wrinkled her nose, “Scoots, I think that is the sappiest thing you have ever said to me…” She giggled and kissed her, “And it was perfect. Thank you.” Before Apple Bloom had a chance to pout, Sweetie turned her head and kissed her as well, “Both of you, thank you.” Apple Bloom chuckled and rubbed at her cheek self consciously, “Aww shucks, I’m blushing aren’t I?” Scootaloo snickered, “Like an apple.” The group shared a laugh and Sweetie felt herself finally relaxing. “You know, I still think the Opera would have been fun but this is a good second choice. Food, drinks, and time with my marefriends…What else could I ask for?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nuzzled her on either side, and then cheered as their orders were floated onto the table. “Hope you enjoy it ladies.” Sweetie smiled, “I know we will, thank you.” The stallion nodded at them before walking back to the counter and the trio descended on the plate of donuts.  They spent nearly two hours in that booth, eating donuts and reminiscing. At one point, the owner, Donut Joe himself, came over and told them a story of their big sisters after their first gala; how they had sat in their ruffled dresses and had donuts in a similar manner.  Sweetie nearly keeled over as he described the state of Rarity’s dress and mane, almost unable to believe her big sister had gone out in public like that.  When asked about what led them there in their get up, Sweetie sighed, “I tried to make my date a surprise, so I didn’t tell these two we had to wear fancy dresses for an Opera. Apparently my big sister being a famous fashion designer and Element of Harmony didn’t grant us entry.” Joe chuckled as he cleared their table, floating over their third drink refills. “Well, my place may not be as fancy, but I do hope you are enjoying yourselves.”  Scootaloo grinned, her wings fluttering as a donut fueled sugar rush buzzed through her. “Heck yeah, this place is awesome! You make really good donuts.” “Thanks, glad you like them.” Apple Bloom raised her mug, and Sweetie and Scootaloo followed, “To Joe and his awesome donuts!” “To Joe!” Joe blushed with the toast, chuckling in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Aww jeez, you sure know how to make an old stallion blush.” He then excused himself as the bell above the door chimed with another late night customer.  After draining her cup, Apple Bloom leaned back with a content sigh. “Eyup. This was a mighty fine first date.” Sweetie smiled and looked down into her cup, “Yeah. A bit of a rocky start but that seems to be how most of our adventures go.” Scootaloo nodded, “At least this time we didn’t break anything.” Apple Bloom suddenly sat up and tapped on the table, “Now now, don’t jinx it.”  Sweetie yawned and tapped her hoof on the table too, “Yeah, knock on wood.” Scootaloo shrugged and did it as well. “You getting tired Sweetie?” Sweetie tilted her head, “You mean you aren’t?” Scootaloo shook her head. “Nope. Not yet anyways. I got a sugar rush that won’t be fading anytime soon.” Apple Bloom stretched her hooves above her and let out a half yawn. “Same here, but we should probably get going anyways. I don’t want to have to drag you back to the room.” “Drag me? You are the two yawning a storm over there.” Sweetie giggled and followed Apple Bloom out of the booth, “Yeah but it’ll only be a matter of time before you start to too.” Scootaloo slid out of the booth as well, “Eh, you are probably right. Besides, we want to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow.” They bid farewell to Joe and headed back to the hotel, the walk just long enough to work the rest of the sugar buzz out of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.  All three sleepily shuffled through the hotel lobby and to the elevator, Sweetie once again tipping the bellhop before he sent them up.  Dresses were thrown off as soon as they made it in the room, a burst of magic from Sweetie’s horn hanging them in the closet. Longing looks were cast at the bed as they shambled to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces.  Finally, the group collapsed on the extremely comfortable bed. Sweetie gasped, “Oh my gosh…Scootaloo was right. I don’t think I could get up again if I tried.” Scootaloo groaned happily and pressed her face into the plush pillow, the ability to speak words escaping her. Apple Bloom stretched out, and even with Sweetie and Scootaloo somewhere next to her, her hooves didn’t come close to reaching the edge. “This bed is so big I can’t even come up with a countryism.” Sweetie tittered and threw a hoof out to Apple Bloom, “Here, follow the sound of my voice Apple Bloom, find me in the ocean,” her voice cracked and she descended into sleepy delirium. “Of, pfft, b-BLANKETS! Ahahaha!” Scootaloo started to crack up as well, her body convulsing as the pillow muffled her laughter. Apple Bloom chortled, blindly grasping and wiggling towards the sound of their laughter until finally her hoof touched Sweetie’s. This stilled their laughter for a moment but the sound of Scootaloo, whose face was still buried in a pillow, brought them back into a giggle fit.  It felt like ages before they started to calm down, and it didn’t help that when two of them calmed, a third’s giggle broke all three again. Eventually, their exhaustion caught up and the sounds of laughter faded to mumbled ‘goodnight’s and ‘I love you’s, to finally soft snores as they fell asleep.