Rumble was having the dream again.
The icy air stung his muzzle as he flew above a landscape of clouds. His muscles and his magic kept him warm. The sun was dazzling up here, its rays reflected from the cloud deck.
A crescent moon waxed in the deep blue sky.
It was a moment he was always dreaming of. He was a strong flyer for his age, but the icy reaches of the deep sky were still off limits to him. He wanted to see the thunderheads rise and cool, see the lightning arcing between them, feel the shocking warmth of the updrafts from down below.
A tiny fleck of blue perched on a cloud caught his eye.
This wasn't part of the dream. He flew down to see this new wrinkle in his fantasy of flying.
“Princess?”
Luna opened her eyes and carefully folded her great blue wings. She greeted Rumble on the cloud deck with a broad and inviting smile.
“Ahh, Rumble. You are quite the athletic young stallion!”
Something about the way she said that made Rumble blush. Had she just called him a “stallion”?
“I am sure you will soon have the chance to explore the heavens.”
She turned away from him and took a few steps as she talked. Her ethereal tail swished in counterbalance to her swaying haunches.
“Few pegasi dare these dizzying heights.”
Rumble followed her by reflex. He caught himself staring, and tried to find something else to look at.
The Princess turned again to face him. There was something about her smile that made him feel funny, an excited kind of funny.
“I hear you were the youngest participant in last year's waterspout!” Princess Luna's smile was warm. He thought about how he longed for the dark blue of the deepest sky.
“Well, I'd been asking Thunderlane about it for years! He always told me stories when he tucked me in at night!”
An expression Rumble couldn't quite fathom flickered over the Moon Princesses' face before her smile returned, broader and warmer than ever.
“Yes, my dear Rumble. You just can't wait to be all grown up, can you?”
Her horn flared. Rumble felt himself encased in a warm glow that touched him everywhere. It felt wonderful...
...and then it was gone. He landed with a “pomf” on his back.
The Princess was coming closer now, and he could feel the warmth of her breath.
“Princess Luna? What are we going to do on the cloud?”
“Dearest Rumble... call me Luna...”
Deep blue, like that of the vault of the heavens, embraced him, but unlike his dream of flying, this was warm and inviting.
In the kitchen downstairs, Thunderlane and Blossomforth tried to unwind.
Thunderlane knew taking Rumble out for a late afternoon flight would wear him out. The warm air of late spring had positively called out for flight practice, and showing his inquisitive little brother how to handle up-drafts was the most fun they'd had together in weeks.
Blossomforth picked them up to take them back to Thunderlane's house. They tucked Rumble in together. Now the evening was theirs to share.
They sat at Thunderlane's kitchen table. She nuzzled him, and he felt the warmth of her cheek against his. He smiled and thought about trying to count her freckles again.
A rhythmic thumping noise came from upstairs.
“What's that?” Thunderlane was alarmed. He was very protective of his little brother, and his first, reflexive reaction was to rush up and check on the little colt.
“Oh, let me check on him,” cooed Blossomforth. She trotted upstairs, and Thunderlane tried to relax. It was nice seeing her with his little brother, and having a mare in the house would help in all kinds of ways.
He heard her melodious voice echo down the stairwell. “Hey, kiddo, you'll overheat with those blankets pulled over your head! Let me- “
Blossomforth suddenly shrieked, and Thunderlane rushed to see what was wrong.
She galloped down the stairs, and he stopped her.
A single look at her face told Thunderlane what was wrong.
“Uh... let me help you clean up...”
Blossomforth's lower lip trembled. “He... he squirted on me...”
The next morning, Twilight Sparkle awoke with the sun. The nice thing about the days getting longer was that she had more time to plan fun, useful activities. She scheduled her morning gallop around Ponyville in the early morning hours, while there was still a bit of the night's chill in the air.
The air was filled with the scents of wild flowers and dirt disturbed by swiftly growing grass. Her hooves clopped on the cobblestones as she gradually cantered up to speed.
It appeared she wasn't the only one who was up early this fine, sunny morning. Thunderlane and Blossomforth were hanging up some wash, the broad bedsheets billowing in the quickly warming air. She smiled and waved as she cantered down the lane.
Right next door, an earth pony mare in curlers hung up another set of bedsheets. She'd seen her at the Library once, when Cheerilee arranged for all her students to meet with their parents to sign up for library cards. If she remembered right, that was Truffle Shuffle's mother.
She smiled. The pudgy young colt was a voracious reader, and she'd seen a lot of him since he started borrowing books. Cheerilee's plan had worked perfectly!
On past Snips' house – she reminded herself to send his mother a firmly worded letter about overdue library books – she saw his mother carry a basket out, filled with freshly washed bedsheets.
Twilight's nose itched. She wondered if it might be pollen.
Down the road a bit, she passed by another house where bedsheets flapped in the morning air. She didn't know this family too well, but she remembered seeing a young brown colt playing video games on the porch, who went by the name of High Score.
No, it wasn't pollen.
She took a turn and clopped past Snails' house. It was hardly a surprise to see his dad hanging up laundry to dry – pajamas, sheets, a bedspread.
She turned back to the Library, taking another path back.
Every few houses, freshly washed bedding flapped in the wind.
Every colt in Ponyville? All having to wash their bedding at once?
“That's odd,” Twilight thought.
When she arrived, she already had a patron browsing in the child care. It appeared she wouldn't have time to shower.
She greeted Thunderlane with a broad smile. “Hello! Can I help you find anything?”
Thunderlane seemed a little uncomfortable. “These books are all about foal care. Do you have anything about older colts?”
“Oh, certainly!” Twilight beamed. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Well...” Was Thunderlane blushing?
“Do you have anything about wet dreams?”
Twilight Sparkle smiled. “Just a moment, I think I have some sex ed books over here – could you excuse me for a minute?”
Something about this morning clicked, and a terrible thought crossed her mind. She rushed upstairs to her sleeping room.
“Spike! SPIIKE!”
His voice came from the laundry room. Twilight rushed downstairs, to see him hurriedly stuff his bedding into the washing machine.
“What – what do you need, Twilight?”
“Well, we can start with Succubi and Similar Salacious Spirits, for one... but first, take a letter!”
Spike retrieved a quill and scroll.
“Dear Princess Celestia – ”
Later that afternoon, a middle-aged stallion peered irritably underneath his desk. His short dark brown mane was gray around the ears, and looked particularly unkempt. A long, lean muzzle and bleary blue eyes hunted for something on the floor. Stubble grew through his light brown coat.
“...despite conduct utterly unbecoming a medical professional.”
“Dammit,” he thought. “Where did that pill go?” He needed his damned fix, and he needed it now. His hind-leg was going to start up any minute now, and Celestia help anypony who got between him and his freakishly large pill.
“How in Tartarus can you lose on of these things?” he snapped. “Just shut up. I need my pill.”
Ah, there it was. He looked up from behind the desk at the annoyed mare tapping her hoof.
It was only his boss. He wondered what she was on about this time.
He popped the pill and scowled at her.
“Are you quite finished? I have a letter here, direct from the Princess. She needs you in Ponyville, before her protégée starts a witch hunt. Evidently she thinks there's an epidemic of spermatorrhea going on.”
“Spermatorrhea?” He snorted. “Silly mare, they haven't called it that in hundreds of years. I call it a really cheap date.”
“Read it for yourself, and get out of my hospital.” She tossed the rolled up scroll onto the pile of papers on Dr. Horse's desk, and stalked out of his office.