//------------------------------// // Tea Time Talk // Story: CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT OCTAVIA'S! YAY! // by Wise Cracker //------------------------------// “Darling, you can’t imagine how happy I am that you accepted my invitation. It’s so nice to have afternoon tea with a Canterlot pony of some sophistication.” Rarity sipped her tea, regaling in the company as her massive hat turned a few heads in the street. “Well gee, thank you kindly,” Applejack replied with a hint of sarcasm as she wolfed on a scone. Cheerilee, for her part, merely snickered to herself. The actual Canterlot pony, as Canterlot ponies often do, gave it some thought before weighing her words. The grey mare knew a set-up when she saw one, but she’d seen no good reason to refuse the invite, so she’d come. After all, Octavia was an artist, Rarity was also quite the artist. Why shouldn’t she accept? “Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, darling. I don’t get out much, I’m afraid, but afternoon tea is a tradition I still enjoy here. That said,” she added with a sip of her tea, mentally preparing for whatever the three mares had planned, ”I was a bit surprised you invited me and not Vinyl.” Let’s see… Apple Bloom’s sister, Sweetie Belle’s sister, and their teacher. Doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going… “Oh, well, Vinyl made a lovely presentation for Family Appreciation Day,” Cheerilee hastily replied, ”Even if we don’t know her that well, at least she made an appearance to remember.” Octavia pressed a hoof to her forehead. “Don’t tell me she brought her bass cannon?” “She did. But she didn’t fire it, luckily. She did mention something about her music, but not a lot of details.” Octavia gave her best smug smile. “And now that you’ve seen her, along with all the shenanigans those girls get up to, you wonder whether or not Scootaloo is growing up in a stable environment. Am I right?” That nearly got the whole table laughing. “Well, ya can’t blame us, can ya? I mean, you are hosting the next sleepover, and let’s face it: the Cutie Mark Crusaders can be a little...” Applejack let that trail off. “Energetic?” Octavia tried. “To say the least. You know how eager those girls are to get their cutie marks and if you’re not related to them, arranging a sleepover can be a bit tricky. But actually, aside from that I think we’re all just a bit curious about you. You’ve performed in Canterlot -- you were raised there, I presume -- and you live in Ponyville, yet I never see you around. Why is that?” Rarity inquired. With the secrecy of their intent broken, Octavia just acted like herself. She had a lot of personae to hide behind, but this was still Ponyville, not Canterlot. No need to be coy about anything. “I just have a different schedule from most ponies, is all. I go to Sugarcube Corner right when it opens, unlike most. And I don’t go every day, I just stock up when my supply of pastry runs low. I suppose it’s the same reason no one ever sees your parents around town.” “She’s got you there, Rarity.” Applejack smirked. “And what about the fillies coming by this weekend? Are you sure you and Vinyl can handle them? They are sweet little girls, but if there’s anything fragile in the house, you need to be careful,” Rarity asked with a hint of worry. “Vinyl will be away this weekend for an airborne performance in Canterlot. She’s already cast her wing spell and everything. As for ‘handling’ them, I’m quite confident I can do that on my own, thank you.” “Oh, I wouldn’t underestimate them if I were you,” Cheerilee added with a gentle smile, ”Those three are quite good at causing a mess, I’ve seen it happen myself. That’s even if they don’t poison someone outright.” “They did break a table at Fluttershy’s place.” Applejack grimaced. ”You gotta be careful with them around. They’re not bad kids, but once they get an idea into their heads, there’s no stopping them. They’re a real hoof full, the bunch of them.” “Huh…” Octavia pondered aloud while nibbling on a scone. “That’s not been my experience at all.” The three mares at the table raised their eyebrows as if Octavia had just announced she’d given birth to a five-headed gryphon with a black widow spider’s colour scheme. “What? Scootaloo’s never given me any trouble, as far as I remember. And that’s been, what, a year now? Year and a half, maybe?” Rarity was the first to pick up her jaw. “Surely you jest. Scootaloo’s the most active of the bunch, and with her missing her mother I can’t imagine she’d listen to anyone.” Octavia narrowed her gaze in confusion. “I’m sorry, what do you mean by ‘missing her mother’?” “Umm… doesn’t she?” Cheerilee tried. Octavia carefully put her food and drink on the table and leaned in. “Has no one told you how things are in our house?” Three heads shook. Octavia got the confirmation she needed. “Well, that explains the invitation. Parent-teacher conference it is, then. To answer your question: no, she doesn’t miss her mother at all. Why would she miss someone she can see at any time?” “Err…I’m confused,” Cheerilee admitted. “Hasn’t Pinkie Pie told you? Scootaloo moved to Ponyville because she can’t fly, and her school in Cloudsdale is just too hard to reach on her own if she has to leave from a cloud home. She can walk on the clouds, sure, but it’s quite a ways away. Her home is in the suburbs, you see, and pegasus cloud roads aren’t designed for efficiency, they never needed to be. Her parents would have to drop her off in the morning at a painfully early hour because of their schedules, and for a growing filly that’s just not healthy. I’d gotten a place here with Vinyl, and Scootaloo’s parents asked if her she could move in with us about… six weeks after we settled in, if I recall correctly. Vinyl asked me if it was a problem, and I couldn’t think of a good reason to refuse her. Nor do I question it now. Pinkie Pie made her feel welcome, as she always does, and when she heard of how things were, she offered to lend Scootaloo her balloon if she wanted to see her parents.” Applejack shook her head. “Wait, so she just flies off in that balloon over the weekend to see her folks?” “If she asks, which isn’t that often,” came the calm reply, ”It’s not that big a deal. Her parents can still take a day off to take her places, they keep in touch as much as one would expect. It’s really no different from, say, boarding school. Scootaloo’s quite a happy filly, I assure you.” Rarity still didn’t get the picture. “And you don’t have any trouble with her at all? No little accidents, no arguments?” Octavia shrugged and smiled. “Not really. Her dear aunt Vinyl keeps her busy, and I keep an eye on her when I can. I set some rules, and Scootaloo follows them. For as long as I’ve known her, on my word of honour, she has never given me a reason to be angry at her. I’ve never even had a real argument with her. She’s as well-behaved a filly as anyone could ask for.” If they were surprised before, now there were jaws dropping again. “You get Scootaloo to listen?” Cheerilee asked. ”How? No offense, but… you’re not a blood relative, what authority do you have?” “Tell me, Cheerilee, how many of the children in your class are your blood relatives?” Silence fell. “I explain myself, that’s all. If I tell Scootaloo not to use the oven without me around or the house will burn down… surprise, surprise, she’s smart enough not to touch the oven. I told her to stay out of my room, made sure she’d never need anything from my room, and she stays out of my room. I tell her not to eat the sweets or drink chocolate milk or she’ll lose her appetite, and she listens, doubly so since she gets chocolate milk with her dinner sometimes. Scootaloo may be a little filly, but she understands the concept of mutual respect. I don’t need to be a relative for that.” “But… that still doesn’t explain how,” Applejack insisted. ”I mean, I haven’t seen you two together or anything. How do you two… I dunno, get along?” “Oh.” Octavia nodded at the obvious question. “Well… let me put it this way, when Scootaloo’s parents decided she’d get a scooter, Vinyl picked out the best-looking one she could find. I then picked out the matching helmet and made sure it was a snug fit. Vinyl gets her that rock music she loves so much, I got her a set of headphones so she can listen to it without bothering anyone, and I warn her setting it too loud will make her ears hurt. That’s my authority. I know what’s safe, and I make the consequences of her actions clear before she goes ahead and does something. “ The mares kept on staring at her as she talked. “If she needs anything, she just has to ask me or Vinyl. Other than that I hardly notice her, let alone argue with her. She’s already figured out that having lots of things is meaningless if you don’t have the time to enjoy them all, so she’s not really spoiled either. She does her chores, and she knows what rewards she can expect. Really, I’ve never had any problems with her. Out of the house, where I’m not around, she’ll make mistakes, but in the house she has never disobeyed me or questioned me. And… I don’t know how you handle your little sisters or students, but my method hasn’t failed me yet,” the musician added with just a tad of smugness. The Earth ponies and unicorn realised something at that point. Octavia was a Canterlot pony, like Twilight. She had an air of calm organisation, and some amount of pride, with just a hint of snobbism. This basically meant that if they wouldn’t say something to Twilight, it was a bad idea to try it on Octavia, too. Cheerilee was still trying to her head around the family situation, though. “So… Scootaloo is fine living with her aunt and you? And she’s not sad, she doesn’t have any problems?” Octavia narrowed her eyes. “What makes you even think she has any problems?” Cheerilee sighed. “Well, for one thing, she falls asleep in class, and she can’t fly. What really worries me, though, is that she doesn’t even try to fly. I’m sure Rainbow Dash would gladly teach her, or even Fluttershy. But no one’s ever seen her try to get any lift. I’ve asked some of her classmates, and they’ve never seen her do any training, not so much as a little reading on the topic. It’s like she just doesn’t care about flight, which isn’t normal for a pegasus pony. All the other pegasus foals can fly at that age, she should at least try practising.” “Come now, surely you know that wouldn’t do any good. No amount of flight training will get that filly off the ground.” Octavia smiled as she thought the teacher was telling a little joke. Rarity, Applejack and Cheerilee all stared at her like she was an abusive parent or something. I swear, if they keep this up I’m going to take a picture and pin it on my wall. “What? It’s true, isn’t it?” “That’s kinda harsh, Octavia,” Applejack tried. Octavia tilted her head. “Hold on. You mean to tell me that you seriously don’t know why she never tries to fly?” Rarity shrugged and looked around the table, getting no interruption. “We all just assumed she’d given up hope or something, her friends certainly think she has. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom worry about her, they’ve told us, but they haven’t confronted her about it. None of us are really experts at pegasus flight, but I should think Scootaloo at least got some encouragement to try.” Octavia chuckled at that, much to their chagrin and confusion. “Scootaloo can’t fly because her wings are too small, and her magic isn’t developed enough for it. No amount of training is going to fix that.” “Come now, surely there’s a way?” the white mare insisted. “No, really, that’s just how she is. Her wing type is one that grows slowly, but eventually grows much larger than average, the proportions are almost that of a princess in adults. That’s just one of the quirks of her breed, nothing more. That’s why she goes on her scooter so much and why she never folds her wings against her sides, it’s doctor’s orders. She needs to train those muscles now or she’ll get a back problem once her wings grow in full. It’s not that uncommon, really, three of my classmates in Canterlot were just like that. She’ll fly once puberty comes around, that’s when her wings will be big enough. In the meantime, there’s just no point in trying. I thought you knew. It should be on her medical records, at least.” “It isn’t. But what you’re saying is, she doesn’t try to fly because she knows she can’t? That’s pretty sad.” Cheerilee winced. “Not to her it isn’t. She’s dealt with it, she can cope. She gets plenty of speed on the ground, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. I’ve brought some of my friends around, she had a little chat with them and she was quite impressed at the idea of having that big a wingspan. She’s not missing anything, you know. She will fly eventually. Scootaloo isn’t the type to mope or whine about something, she goes out and does something about it, if she can. If she can’t, she deals with it.” The mare shrugged as that train of thought found its final station. “Why do you think she’s so obsessed with getting her cutie mark? She can’t control when adolescence comes around, so she can’t control when she’ll be able to fly. She can control when she gets her cutie mark, so that’s what she focuses on. Sounds perfectly normal to me.” “I suppose that does explain it, but you should talk to her about the sleeping in class. It can be a bit disruptive sometimes.” “Well…” Octavia took a long sip of her tea, silently wishing it had some alcohol in it. ”I imagine if little Scoots hasn’t told anyone the rest of it, she wants to keep that a secret too, so you did not hear this from me. I’m serious: this does not leave the table.” All three mares nodded a little apprehensively. “Part of Scootaloo’s condition, her wing type or her breed, is that she sheds every few weeks. Pegasus wings aren’t like bird wings, they’re a mix of bat and bird. She has both feather-like extensions with bone in them and regular bird feathers, and it’s the bird feathers that keep her up at night sometimes. Every once in a while, they start falling off because of… some hormone or other, I’m not sure. When it happens, she gets a rash around her waist and on her back. She basically becomes allergic to her own feathers.” Rarity leaned in at that one, nearly choking on her tea. “Allergic to her own feathers? A pegasus pony? Is that even possible?” Octavia pondered for a bit. “It’s not that exactly -- you’d have to ask Vinyl -- but the end result’s the same. So when it happens, Vinyl puts some cream on the rash, and makes sure she’s tucked in nice and warm, since it provides a bit of a chill. And, well, you’ve all been around small children, I don’t need to tell you what happens when you put a foal to bed whose lower extremities are chilled.” That got a knowing groan from the trio. “The real problem is that, aside from the rash on her waist and some spots at random, she always gets one on her wings and on the small of her back. So that is always a little cold and wet compared to the rest of her body when she goes to bed. And that is what’s making her fall asleep in class sometimes.” “I don’t follow,” Rarity tried. Applejack nodded as the facts sunk in. She’d heard this sort of lecture shortly after the last Running of the Leaves. “Pegasus ponies are sensitive on their wings and back. Besides that, their wings moving is connected to their breathing and that spot is linked to their wings. They’re not as sensitive to cold air, but cold water or anything wet can keep them up at night. It’s an instinct thing, makes’em think they’re bleeding on their blind spot, that a predator’s got’em. It’s not so bad on a grownup, but on foals it can get pretty nasty. They get uneasy, panicky, even. I guess she gets nightmares then, huh?” Octavia shrugged, her face devoid of any mirth for the moment. “Indeed. It doesn’t happen every time, but there are occasions that Scootaloo just snaps awake in the middle of the night, panting and shaking. Vinyl usually tries to calm her down with a lullaby spell, but the poor girl doesn’t get a wink of sleep when the night terrors come in. If she’s lucky, it happens on the weekend and she can sleep in, barely remembers what she dreamed of. If not, she goes to school with an elevated blood pressure and only a few hours of sleep.” To that, Cheerilee could think of only one answer. “Oh.” “It’s all right. It never lingers, she cheers up fast enough afterwards, she just has a tired day when it happens. I’m sure Scootaloo just doesn’t talk of it because she doesn’t want pity, I’ve seen the exact same thing before and those ponies turned out fine, they grow out of it eventually. Scootaloo is quite independent for her age. Really, there’s no problem at all, and I’d be more than happy to accommodate them on their little sleepover.” Applejack chuckled. “All right, just keep in mind Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom might not be as easy to get through to. Those fillies egg each other on all the time, and on a sleepover they get worse.” “Well then, I’ve been rambling on about Scootaloo for long enough now… care to tell me what I can expect from your little fillies?” Octavia smiled as she’d pretty much said all she’d needed (and wanted) to say on the subject. The afternoon had come and gone, tea had been lovely, and once everyone was clear on Scootaloo’s predicament (or lack of a predicament, actually), Octavia had quite enjoyed herself. Little anecdotes on teaching, life on a farm and even some design tips from Rarity… all in all, an afternoon well spent. And she did now have someone else in town to talk to besides Pinkie Pie and Vinyl. On that note, when the Earth pony mare ascended the stairs to Vinyl’s bedroom, she silently thanked Celestia for having dodged the topic of how she’d met the DJ. More importantly, no pony had asked what exactly their relationship was like. As Octavia watched the slumbering unicorn under those bed sheets, a wicked grin crept up her face. The two had a ‘healthy’ relationship, was the only word for it, based partially on mutual challenges. Vinyl Scratch would drag her off to some beastly night club and giggle at her awkward attempts at raving. Octavia would kindly invite her to the high-end social parties and snicker to herself as the unicorn tried to contain her urge to, among other things, burp and go “Aww yeah!”. They pushed one another out of their comfort zones from time to time, and always made sure that things never got too uncomfortable. It gave them a sense of freedom, a mutability that was inexorably linked to their creativity. That train of thought got more intense in her mind as she snuggled into bed with the white mare, summoned gossamer wings making a wider bulge in the sheets. Scootaloo wouldn’t be home for a while, there was no reason she couldn’t have a little fun. “Hmm…hey, hot flanks.” Vinyl stirred in her sleep as Octavia rubbed around her belly. Those hyaline wings started rising, as if inflated by the affection. That’s interesting. So even unicorns can get those… what were they called again? Ah, ‘wingboners.’ “Hello, darling. Sleep well?” “Hmm, how was the tea talk?” “It went quite well, thank you. Your little niece is apparently quite the enigma around these parts. I explained a few things to stop them worrying, swore them to secrecy.” “So that means, what, three days before Rarity tells the whole town?” Vinyl smirked as Octavia’s hooves gently stroked her sides. The unicorn’s gossamer wingboner got harder, and one of her legs kicked feebly, if incredibly cutely. Now the both of them had pondered their relationship for a while before getting to where they were. The issue of lesbianism wasn’t one they were unfamiliar with, but fact of the matter was, it just didn’t come up for them. Neither Vinyl Scratch nor Octavia was interested in a romantic relationship with the other. They had mutual respect, and they both admired the passion the other had for their art. They got along just dandy, and liked each other very much. But a married couple, they were not. They were far too happy with things as they were for that sort of commitment. At least, for now. Of course, that never stopped them from indulging in the guilty pleasure of meaningless physical gratification. Like right then and there. Consenting adults and all that. “So, darling…” Octavia licked Vinyl’s ear as the hug from behind got tighter. ”When did you cast that wing spell, exactly?” “One at noon, then I had to lie down. It’ll last long enough, and I’ll stay away from the hot spotlights, like you told me.” Vinyl wriggled in that Earth pony vice grip cuddle. Octavia pressed her whole body against Vinyl’s, holding her like a giant stuffed animal. The butterfly wingboner became large enough to form a tent under the sheets. “And when does your train leave?” “About two hours, so no problem. I can get my stuff ready pretty quickly.” “Hmm.” Octavia moaned gently as Vinyl’s tail tickled her hips, the usual trick she tried when Octavia held her that tight. It never made her let go, but it still added a nice sense of struggle to the game. ”When will you be back?” “Monday morning. Princess Luna’s asked for a listen of our latest project, so it’ll depend on what she says. But definitely Monday, at the latest. A little lower, Octy…” With a grin, Octavia moved her hoof over the unicorn’s flank, gently massaging those thick muscles as the winged one kicked meekly like a puppy. “Hmm, right there. So, any more questions?” The now fully erect wings gave a cursory flap. “When were you going to tell me Scootaloo would be having friends over this weekend?” And there went that wingboner.