//------------------------------// // The Setup... // Story: Rise of Sunbutt the Awesome // by BobAlcove //------------------------------// How Frank could be sitting here eating steak at eight in the morning was a mystery to him. Not that Frank hadn’t eaten weird stuff at weird times, but a five star menu wasn’t one of them. He was more the beer with cereal kinda guy. Pair it with the overly friendly and sugary behaviour from Luna, and Frank got a morning that was unusual even for his standards. For some reason she acted different and Frank didn’t know why. He first thought that Luna was nice because of his bad mood, wanting to cheer him up. His mood improved pretty fast when they arrived at the restaurant, and yet she didn’t stop acting weird. Luna used her princess authority to get it to open for them. The griffon chef got over his grumpiness once he saw that they were his customers. He escorted the two alicorns to their usual table with a huge smile on his beak. Soon some curious ponies from the street entered the restaurant and sat down too. At the dinner table she ordered salad again, but Frank seemed to recall that Luna wanted steak. He ate his in silence only to feel really uncomfortable for some reason. Each time he looked up from his plate Luna’s head turned away with an innocent expression on her face. Curious what the fuss was about, Frank turned his attention to his food again. He could see her in the reflection of his wine glass and indeed there she was, gazing longingly at his steak before throwing glances at her own flank. Frank smiled. “Did I ever tell you what my type of mare is?” Luna did her best to look indifferent, but Frank saw how her ears perked up. “A mare with a healthy appetite,” said Frank and pushed his plate to Luna, “now why don’t you put away this pesky rabbit food and enjoy a good meal?” She was obviously tempted and licked her lips to prove it. “I’ve already overindulged on sweets yesterday, Tia. Those calories go straight to my flank!” Suppressing a snicker, Frank reached over the table to touch her hoof. The fact that even here in the magical land of Equestria were females with beauty complexes struck him as odd. Most of them had the same body type and Frank wouldn’t be able to tell them apart without their manes and different colors. Except for Luna of course. “Luna, let me be totally honest. You’ve got without a doubt the most well-toned and perfect butt a pony could ask for, and if you remember I checked it quite thoroughly in our morning bubble bath. I’m a butt mare myself so I know what I’m talking about.” “Thank god that I’m not a boob man. I would starve!” thought Frank, taking a sip from his glass. Out of his eyes he could see that this comment was most likely a bit too much again, evident by her flaming red head and the nervous squirming on her pillow. Frank couldn’t help it, even if it made him sound like a horny teenager. Luna was goddamn sexy! “Thank you for that compliment…” said Luna, timidly cutting herself some steak. Once the piece of meat vanished into her mouth, Luna melted into her pillow and moaned in pleasure from the heavenly taste. She had felt so guilty the first time for eating an animal. The griffon cook ensured her shortly after that all animals used for cooking died from natural causes. Tia didn’t seem to care much about it, but Luna felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders at that time. “See, isn’t that better? You look so much prettier without that frown on your face.” Luna pouted with her cheeks full of food and Frank thought it was simply adorable. He took a big gulp from his glass and mimicked her pout with his mouth full of wine. “Stop that!” said Luna with a blush before poking him in the chest with enough force to cause him to spit out the wine in a large red mist. Right into her face. The few customers who were there went suddenly silent and looked flabbergasted at the dripping princess, something they had in common with Frank. His look had additionally a good portion of horror mixed in it though. Once again he’d achieved to ruin the mood completely. She swallowed her food and opened her eyes which made Frank hold his breath, bracing himself for the inevitable freakout. He winced at the first sound out of Luna’s mouth, but relaxed when he recognized it as laughter. Soon she sat there laughing her flank off with tears in her eyes, and Frank joined in shortly after. Although he didn’t know why. The laugh of Luna was just so contagious. “You’re such a disaster, Tia!” said Luna with rosy cheeks, trying to catch her breath, “but at least you’re no longer moody. Can you give me those napkins?” Frank stood up from his pillow with the napkins in his hooves. “Here let me help you.” He sat down in front of Luna and wiped the wine off of her. You couldn’t see it on her dark coat, but the smell of wine emitted from her in strong waves. It smelled good though, mixing with Luna’s natural scent and the perfume she wore. Frank didn’t notice that he had stopped wiping and stared now blankly at her, inhaling the pleasant scent. “We’re so close right now and the moment seems fine. Should I ask her?” thought Luna, swallowing hard, “Just do it! Four little words: Do you like me?” Luna put her hoof on Frank’s. “Tia…?” Her touch brought Frank out of his revery and he instantly panicked. Had he just stood there, gaping at her and breathing deeply like an idiot? “God, I’m such a creep!” thought Frank before answering her. “Yes?” “You’re out of wine.” Frank raised an eyebrow and looked at his empty bottle. “You’re right, but i think I’ve had enough.” Frank turned back to his meal, scolding himself inside his mind. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” After that they’d eaten their meals in silence and returned back to the ship. Luna had locked herself up inside her quarters. Frank didn’t know if he did something wrong, but the following sound of mayhem from her cabinet deterred him from prying. With nothing to do he had sat down on his desk and started this little project. Recent events prompted him to think about the last few days. The thing with Pinkie was still fresh in his mind and there was another pony who needed some attention from him. Applejack… While the others were wary of him, Applejack was downright hostile. The funny thing was that she ranked in the top ten of his favourites in the show, maybe even his second place on certain days. Frank felt bad about the fact that a major character didn’t like him. He still thought that helping Apple Bloom was the right choice, but could see why Applejack reacted the way she did. An official apology came to mind, and what’s more official than a hoofwritten letter? It sounded simple enough to put a few words in a line, sprinkle some sorry’s and heartfelt phrases in it, and end the whole thing with a little joke to lighten the mood. The problem was that he was Frank. And Frank didn’t do apologies. “... I didn’t expect your shortsightedness in the matter, and shouldn’t have caused your bad temper to…” said Frank loudly to himself before furiously crossing out the line he just wrote, “I managed to insult her twice in one sentence! How do I do that?” The more he thought about it, the more it became obvious to him what this was all about. He didn’t apologize because he was in the wrong, just to make himself feel better. Doing something nice for her should be enough to ease his conscience. Something to balance his bad karma out. A good deed was a good deed, regardless of the knowledge from the beneficiary. That is what Frank thought at least. “Maybe I should deliver it with a mountain of cash and hope she doesn’t read too thorough.” Frank knew this was only wishful thinking. The stubborn farm pony would never have accepted any gifts from him, even before their argument and his blackmail. At first she was just prideful and didn’t want to take alms from somepony, but now she just hated his guts. Frank had a feeling that Applejack would rather burn any gift money he sent than spending it. So if he wanted to do something nice for Applejack, he had to do it in a way that she hated the most. Underhanded and deceitful, much more Frank’s style. “How do I get her to take my money if she doesn’t want it?” thought Frank, looking at the gift basket he bought for Pinkie as get-well present. It had several assorted delicacies from all over Equestria, such as the finest chocolates and sugary treats, an assortment of premium fruit juices and complemented by several foreign and local fruits. Local fruits like apples from Sweet Apple Acres. Frank`s eyes went wide. “Apples!” he yelled in glee, raising one of the red ones to the sky, “that’s it, of course! Goddamn apples!” He unrolled a new piece of paper and started writing, whistling a joyful tune. This time the quill practically flew over it. “Who’s a silly and soon very happy pony? Applejack! ...I wonder if minotaurs like apples?” Carousel Boutique… Concentration was everything. Most of the books Sweetie Belle had read about magic talked about complicated energy patterns and guidance of the inner spiritual flow to do spells. She had tried doing it like that, but soon got frustrated by the slow progress and reverted to her old pattern. Repetition, repetition and more repetition. If she only got one percent better with every hundredth try, Sweetie Belle would just have to do hundred tries a hundred times. It didn’t have style or finesse, but every single spell she did in that way burned itself into her mind until doing it was as natural as breathing. She had focused entirely on levitation for the last few days and was right now in the middle of another set. The chair in front of her turned and tilted according to her will. Forward, backwards, thirty degrees left, sixty degrees right, barrel roll and finally... “SWEETIE BELLE!” She jerked and the chair bursted aparted, showering her in wooden splinters and sawdust. Flipping around in a defensive stance, Sweetie Belle saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo right behind her with sour looks on their faces. “How did you get in here? Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Apple Bloom picked a piece of wood out of her mane and coughed out some sawdust before answering. “The door was open and I hardly call that sneaking. We both screamed our lungs out, calling for you all the way to your room. When you practice you’re really far gone, aren’t you?” Sweetie Belle blushed in embarrassment. It was true, she really was absentminded while training and got on Rarity’s nerves more than once because of it. Not hearing her call for supper, giving her the wrong tools while playing around with them or simply the amount of damage she’d do to things in the house. She was so glad that Rarity didn’t see the dented boiler in the basement, although the reason wasn’t the nicest one. Sweetie Belle had heard about Pinkie and wanted to ask her sister what happened, but Rarity was too tired and gone straight to bed. Once she got up, Rarity went straight to the library to meet with her friends and told Sweetie to housesit Carousel Boutique. Thinking about how easy Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got in here without her noticing, Sweetie felt that she didn’t do a good job. “Hello?” said Scootaloo and bonked her on the horn, “don’t space out on us!” Sweetie rubbed it and blushed again. “Right, sorry! What brings you here? Did you win?” “With flying colors!” said Scootaloo and proudly flared her wings, “You should’ve seen us, stomping the competition into the ground. Those minotaurs rocked!” Apple Bloom saw the questioning look on Sweetie Belle’s face and shortly summarized what happened at the hoofball game, Scootaloo adding the parts she thought were the most awesome. Sweetie wished that she could’ve been there, but training for the competition was more important right now. She told them that after they were finished and both waved it off, understanding her situation. Scootaloo put down her saddlebag and sat on the floor. “I still don’t get why you have to do this on your own. It would be so easy to ask Twilight or Princess Celestia for help with magic to increase your chances. So why don’t you want help?” “Because then it wouldn’t be me entering, just somepony else through me.” said Sweetie Belle with a serious face, “When I used magic to fight off Silver Spoon it was something most ponies would call a pathetic display for a pony of my age. But for me it was the first time I did something on my own and with my own strength.” She took a deep breath, looking at Scootaloo’s wings and continued. “Picture yourself being flown around by Rainbow Dash all the time. Sure you get from A to B, but with no sense of accomplishment. You wouldn’t want that and that’s the same reason I don’t want help with this. I need to see how far I can come on my own.” Apple Bloom was speechless, and so was Scootaloo. When did Sweetie Belle become so mature? When did all of them for that matter? Going against her sister for her own beliefs, Scootaloo following her own dreams and stepping out of Rainbow Dash’s shadow and now Sweetie Belle wanting to leave a mark in the world. All accomplished by a little pep talk from the princess and some determination. Apple Bloom felt the need to show the princess some gratitude. “We still have to discuss our future plans with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and how to handle Diamond Tiara.” “Can we do this while I train?” asked Sweetie Belle, fiddling with her hooves, “I promise to keep my attention and it’s gonna be fun for you. Just sit on those two chairs.” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other and shrugged. They both sat down and seconds later the chairs levitated off the ground with them. Sweetie Belle moved them around the room while letting them do slow spins and keeping the chairs straight to not let them fall off. “Okay, this is kinda fun, but could you not spin them? It’s irritating to not see the ponies I talk to half the time.” Sweetie Belle gave Apple Bloom an annoyed look and sighed. “Fine… just left, right, up and down then.” “It’s kinda scary how much progress she made in just a few days…” thought Scootaloo, grasping down on the chair. Apple Bloom pulled out a piece of paper from her saddlebag. She had made notes about their today’s topics and started with the most important one. The fourth crusader in Manehattan. “I finished my letter for Babs and sent it per Pegasus Express Mail. I tried to tell her our new situation as clearly and detailed as possible, but we should have another talk about it once she’s here.” “How do you think she’s gonna take it? Cutie Marks were important to her as well, and she got the worst of us with the blank flank comments in Manehattan.” said Sweetie Belle, while Scootaloo nodded in approval. Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought. “Hard to say. We’ll know when she comes on the last day of the festival. Until then there’s nothing we can do about Babs. A pony we can do something about is Diamond Tiara though. We won at the hoofball game, but that won’t keep her quiet for long and Sweetie’s competition is somehow part of her plan too.” That was one of Diamond Tiara’s few positive character traits. Regardless of how often they had beaten her in the past, she would always come back and try again as if it didn’t faze her. Apple Bloom wasn’t sure if she could do the same in that position. Not that she would ever tell her that. “What could she do? Bring a powerful unicorn to show Sweetie up?” asked Scootaloo, flapping her wings to move the levitating chair around which messed with Sweetie Belle’s concentration. While Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo and got a sheepish look from the pegasus in return, Apple Bloom just sat there and thought about how Diamond Tiara did things. Her and Silver Spoon surely had something like that in mind, but there was always something else. Something they didn’t account for and had to solve on the fly. Diamond Tiara never played with all her cards shown and solving the hidden parts was always the most fun part. Apple Bloom stopped her train of thought in surprise. “Wait a second… fun? Where did that came from?” “Maybe...,” said Apple Bloom slowly to get the attention from her friends, “but we’ll have to wait and see. The competition is the day after tomorrow, so Sweetie Belle has some more time to train.” She hastily put her notes away and jumped down from the levitating chair. “I think that’s all. See you tomorrow!” “Wait what?” said Scootaloo in surprise, “We barely started and that list of yours is miles long. What about our new name for example?” Apple Bloom stopped in the doorway. “I’m sorry, but I just remembered something important that I’ve got to do and It’s not like we’re selling merchandise. Why should we absolutely need a name?” “Hey get back here! How should we call ourselves otherwise?” yelled Scootaloo after her, but she was already down the stairs. All that Scootaloo heard was a faint yell from the street. “How about friends?” Scootaloo watched the empty doorway for a moment, contemplating Apple Bloom’s words before shrugging with her shoulders. “Guess that works for now. Not very catchy though. Sweetie Belle can you do that spinning thing again please?” Outside Sugarcube Corner... “I still think Pinkie’s crazy. Are you sure there was no permanent brain damage, Twilight?” Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with a deadpan expression before her gaze went to Applejack, who promptly gave Rainbow a poke in the ribs which made her yelp. Fluttershy winced at that, but Rarity just rolled her eyes. “I recommend you refrain from such comments once we’re inside Rainbow. Pinkie could hear you.” Rainbow Dash just nodded and Twilight smiled satisfied before knocking on the door. It opened and in the doorway stood Mrs. Cake, giving them an icy stare. “Oh it’s you. I know that Pinkie invited you for a little meeting, but let me make myself clear when I say that I’ll throw you out personally if you behave like you did in the hospital. Are we clear on that?” “Crystal clear. Right girls?” said Twilight, looking at her friends for help. All she got as an answer was vague murmurs and Twilight nervously smiled at Mrs. Cake who raised an eyebrow. She sighed heavily and let Twilight and her friends in. They haven’t had an opportunity to talk about this issue when Pinkie revealed her plan at the hospital, and Twilight had to admit that she was partly at fault for that. After Pinkie’s proclamation she had flipped her shit like everypony else, but throw in her out of control magic and things got disastrous. Screams, crying foals, a dozen ponies tumbling around dodging magic sparks and a light show in a one patient hospital room were enough to let even the most patient pony snap. Twilight shuddered as she remembered the moment when Pound Cake dropped from the bed. The fact that Pinkie instantly hid under it should’ve been indication enough, but at least Twilight knew now something for life. An angry Mrs. Cake is the scariest thing ever. She silently had handed her husband the two foals and gave Pound Cake a kiss on his bump, before Mr. Cake left the hospital room. Mrs. Cake didn’t want her children to see what she was about to do. When she was done with them they all cowered on the floor in fright. Even the doctor. They pretty much fled the perimeter after that and Twilight hid herself in the library. She assumed that her friends had done similar things. Mrs. Cake led the girls to Pinkie’s room and knocked. They expected that Pinkie would lay in the bed and rest, when suddenly the door flew open and all five of them got dragged in by a large swoop of a pink leg. Pinkie instantly started to shower them with words like a machine gun. Pinkie Pie told them what she and Frank did in the dream world in great detail and their eyes went wide at the part with the wedding picture in the room dedicated to Luna. She continued with the other rooms they visited, but her friends were too busy digesting the part where Celestia loved her sister as a mare. So busy in fact, that they didn’t question Pinkie for not going into more details with the room she visited alone. “That fits with what Discord told Fluttershy, and the bits I overheard from the conversation of him with the princess. It just doesn’t seem possible…” said Twilight with a husky voice. Rarity bit her lip.“This would be an explanation for her being…” “Totally bonkers?” said Rainbow Dash dryly which got her some stares from Rarity, “What?” “Very eloquent my dear, but yes totally bonkers. Love makes you do strange things.” Truer words were never spoken from Rarity. She spoke out of experience, shuddering at the thought of her crush on Prince Blueblood and the obsession with a rock named Tom. Even now she found herself sometimes looking at bigger pebbles and zoning out. “Poor princess,” said Fluttershy with a sad face, “feeling unrequited love for somepony is the worst.” Fluttershy yelped when she got forcefully slapped on the shoulder by a happy Pinkie. “But that’s the good thing, Flutters. Luna loves her too.” “What?!” screamed the rest of them and Pinkie continued with all the stares focused on her. “I talked with Mrs. Cake this morning and she said that Luna likes a mare. Luna also said that most ponies wouldn’t approve of their relationship though.” Rarity let out a high pitched squeal and tripped on the spot. “This would be without a doubt the juiciest and most scandalous secret of all time! Think about it, a forbidden love between two immortal beings of night and day, bonded by blood. This could easily be a masterpiece of fictional literature, but the fact that it’s real makes it all the better!” Fluttershy had to agree, thinking about how she would integrate such a story in her library of novels in an instant. “Technically something like this isn’t illegal,” said Twilight, rubbing her chin, “you can have a relationship with your sibling and even marry, but you must agree to never have foals which doesn’t matter for them, because they are both mares.” Fluttershy and Rarity looked at each other in confusion. “Why do you know that, darling?” “No reasons..., I just was a bit curious some time ago.” “I don’t know guys, loving your sibling like that is kinda icky to me.” said Rainbow Dash, laughing out loudly and stretching out her hoof to Applejack to bump it, “Could you imagine something as ridiculous as being in love with your brother, Applejack?” She waited for the hoofbump with a big smirk. Nothing came though. “Applejack?” They couldn’t see her face because of the pulled down cowboy hat and her looking to the ground, but she was without a doubt biting her lip. When she lifted her head, Applejack briefly glanced at Twilight before slowly bumping Rainbow’s hoof and answering. “Ridiculous… right, Rainbow Dash!” She looked away right after that and trotted to a bookshelf, suddenly very interested in random books. Rainbow Dash noticed the brief and understanding expression on Twilight’s face, wondering what this was all about. “Anyway… let’s say you’re right about them. Why should we care about that?” “We should,” said Twilight, rubbing the bridge her nose, “because we owe it to her. Despite her recent behavior, she has done so much for us in the past!” “According to my personal count and memories of our adventures, she owes us way more!” said Rainbow Dash, waving it off dismissively. Twilight’s left eye twitched. “She made you a Wonderbolt! What more could you possibly want?” And then Rainbow Dash did the thing Twilight hated most about her. The sickeningly thick self-adulation and boasting only the prismatic pegasus was capable of. “I admit that was pretty nice of her, but I’m sure I would’ve become a Wonderbolt myself with how awesome I am.” Twilight knew that Rainbow Dash wasn’t really serious about it. Everyone knew that. It was like a verbal tick she got, and everypony just ignored it and went on most of the time. Rainbow Dash had a good heart and was a pony you could count on when it mattered most. Twilight didn’t care about that at the moment though. Right now she was just royally pissed at her selfish and self-important friend. “Rainbow, what’s your element again? I can’t seem to remember, but seeing that you also don’t lately makes me feel a lot better about it.” A huge gasp went through the room and Rainbow Dash was instantly just inches apart from Twilight’s face. “If you have to say something about me, tell it to my face!” Twilight clicked with her tongue. “I should, but the multisyllable words might be too confusing for you to understand!” “Are you calling me stupid?” said Rainbow Dash, pressing her forehead against Twilight’s. “It seems to be working!” They both stood there, their heads locked together and breathing heavily. Applejack took her hat off and looked Rarity in the eyes before getting closer to Rainbow Dash. Rarity understood and got also closer to Twilight, ready to go between the two if things got hairy. The seconds passed by with neither Twilight or Rainbow Dash saying a word. The whole group, Rainbow Dash included, flinched when Twilight suddenly chuckled. “We’re kinda off lately, wouldn’t you agree?” Rainbow Dash just nodded and sat down on her haunches, while the rest let out a sigh of relief. “I blame Princess Sunbutt and her shenanigans for that. Every time we met her lately, she’s done something crazy to agitate us!” said Applejack and picked up her hat from the ground. “One more reason to help them become all lovey dovey!” “Why is that a reason Pinkie?” asked Applejack, still not sure what to think about helping the princess and waiting for the pink party pony to elaborate. “Well it’s simple. if they’re occupied with loving each other and being a couple, the time to irritate you lessens dramatically. I’ve made a chart about with the exact numbers and scientific supported facts.” Twilight’s eyes started to sparkle in anticipation. “Really?” “No, not really, Twilight,” said Pinkie patting Twilight on the back with a pitying look, “and that you believed it tells me that you should go out more.” Twilight grinded her teeth together in frustration. “What’s your plan Pinkie? How are we gonna do this?” “We don’t have to do much because they already like each other. Just give them a push in the right direction and create the right atmosphere,” said Pinkie before she put her front leg around Fluttershy and smiled at her like a predator. “Starting with a little double date.”