//------------------------------// // Paw Prince // Story: Timed Ramblings // by Midnight herald //------------------------------// “What the hay, Scootaloo? Are you sick in the brain or somethin’?” “You chose dare, Bloom. Now pucker up and get it done already,” Scootaloo grumped, thwacking her friend lightly with a wing. Apple Bloom gulped audibly and shook herself before rising to her feet, resolved and ready for action. “Opalescence? Could y’all come here for a moment?” The white cat deigned to give her a baleful eye before daintily grooming her forepaws, practically oozing with lazy disdain. “Alright then,” Apple Bloom muttered. “Time to bring out the big guns.” She tied a practiced knot in a curtain sash and sent the paisley lasso flying around the persian’s midriff before yanking her across the floor and picking up the now furious and spitting cat with two forelegs. Then she licked her lips, sighed, and pressed them to Opal’s yowling mouth. With a loud bang and the overwhelming scent of ozone, the lights in the Boutique all flickered and failed, and Apple Bloom flew backwards, her entire face tingling and half-numb. An eerie, fey light emerged from where Opal had been, and with a cascading sound of chimes the lights came back on. A svelte unicorn, hogtied by the curtain sash and looking very, very grumpy, sat in the middle of a large scorched section of the carpet. She looked down at her hooves, studying them for a minute. Then her odd, green eyes pierced Apple Bloom’s, and she sighed. “You’ve broken my curse with a kiss,” the unicorn told Bloom, her tail lashing in an odd, lazy sweep “Umm... You’re... Welcome?” Apple Bloom stammered, clambering to her feet again. If not for the unicorn’s hypnotic gaze she probably would’ve checked her flank for a curse breaking Cutie Mark. “Do you know how hard it is to find cursed artifacts these days?” the unicorn whined. “It could be years before I find another one worth using!” “Wait,” Scootaloo interjected. It seemed she had finally found her voice again. “You mean you like being cursed?” “I was this close... THIS CLOSE ... to earning Rarity’s affections,” the unicorn hissed. “She never wanted anything to do with me, but she loved cats. It was my in. I would wait for her to love me, and when she kissed me... we’d be together forever!” Tears shimmered in her bright green eyes, and she broke down into loud and dramatic wails of sorrow. “IT WAS THE PERFECT PLAAAAAAN,” the mare sobbed. Apple Bloom peered around the sobbing puddle of mare and caugth Scootaloo’s eye. Scootaloo whirled her hooves around her head and made crazy eyes. Apple Bloom nodded. This was craziness, real craziness. And it was creepy as all Tartarus. “Whas’ going on?” Sweetie Belle murmured, shaking her sleepy head and looking around in confusion. “Oh, are we being Cutie Mark Crusaders Burglar Catchers? Should I get the police?” She smiled brightly with bloodshot eyes and danced in place from excitement. “No, Sweets,” Apple Bloom explained. “That’s Opal.” “No, Opal’s a cat,” Sweetie argued, blinking some more. “Well, he was a cat, but Scoots dared me to kiss her, turns out she was under some kinda curse. “That’s so romantic,” Sweetie gushed. “You two are gonna get married and live happily ever... Wait, why’s she crying?” “Well, see,” Scootaloo began from across the ocean of bitter tears, before trailing off. “She cursed herself into a cat so she could be... close with your sister,” Apple Bloom explained. Her eyes hadn’t yet left the weeping mare in the middle of the floor. A heavy set of hooves tromped downstairs, revealing Rarity in all her vindictive glory. --TIME LIMIT-- “If this is what you girls call being quiet, I swear this is the last sleepover I’ll host,” Rarity snapped. She promptly took in the scene and fell heavily on her rump, mouth agape. The sobbing unicorn looked up, her noble face streaked with tears, snot and spittle. “Rarity?” she shouted joyously. “Oh, my love, it’s you! How I have waited for this moment... It’s been my every dream for the last--” Nopony heard the last part of the mare’s speech, as this was when Rarity chose to forcefully eject the mare from the premises. A moment later, she chucked “Opal’s” bed and litter box out the door as well, with a “AND STAY OUT!” “Who was that mare, Rarity?” Sweetie asked, trotting up to her frazzled sister. “ICE CREAM,” Rarity shouted, her eye twitching. “LET’S ALL HAVE ICE CREAM!” And they all agreed to never speak of it again.