//------------------------------// // Day 2 // Story: The Vacation // by Hope Caster //------------------------------// “This is so unfair!” Scootaloo whined. “Why does Sweetie Belle get to go off and have fun while we have to go to a lecture?” “You know why,” Cheerilee said. “Now, Spike, keep her out of trouble, out of a vault filled with magical weapons, away from crusading, and anything else that might cause thousands of bits’ worth of damages.” She held the dragon firmly by his shoulders, staring into his soul. “Promise me you can do this.” “Ms. Cheerilee, I promise I will keep Sweetie Belle out of trouble,” Spike said as Cheerilee let him go. “Good, now you two have fun while I take these four to the School for Gifted Unicorns for the education part of this trip… The part that wasn’t supposed to happen,” She said smiling while her eyes screamed in desperation. “Snips, Snails, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, let’s go.” As the five unfortunate souls left to learn, Sweetie Belle found herself standing next to Spike. “So, Sweetie Belle… have you had breakfast yet?” She didn’t know what to do. Everything on the table looked tantalizing and at the same time very fattening. At her right sat Spike, who thankfully was giving her hints on what to pick. She grabbed a warm, steaming cinnamon bun, while Spike stacked a mountain of chocolate chip pancakes on his plate, probably intending to give himself juvenile diabetes. They spent most of their breakfast, playfully stealing food from one another. Almost as if to show off, Spike loaded a few more pancakes on a plate and lightly slammed on the side. The food launched into the sky and fell into his mouth as they descended. “Showoff,” Sweetie Belle chuckled. “Says the filly that did the same thing during a certain social,” Spike said as he tossed another pancake in his mouth. Sweetie could only pray that everypony else was having as much fun as her. Snips and Snails looked at the razor in their aura, wondering if they should end their misery. The more they thought about it, the more they wondered whether it was right to kill themselves. In fact, they were just listening to a lecture, a simple lesson about history. Maybe if they truly listened, maybe if they learned something, it wouldn’t seem so bad. In fact, if they weighed their options as they listened, they would see that …. “And it was in 1303 that Star Swirl the Bearded completed his first book instructing unicorns to not think of magic as a force powered by imagination, but a force powered by will and concentration. In fact it was Star Swirl the Bearded that disproved Old Beard the Grey's philosophy about imagination being a powerful asset to magic.” ...Suicide was the only logical option for them. Before they could slit any part of their bodies, Cheerilee took the weapon, giving them a glare. “Now, if everypony would turn to page 602, we have five more hours of lecture and then a tour of the Star Swirl Museum on Friday,” the professor said. All the foals let out a loud groan as they smashed their heads against the desks. “I feel the same way,” The professor chuckled, “But we must get through the lecture before we go to the museum.” “What do you mean foals are forbidden from entering until next week!?” Diamond Tiara shouted at the guard. “Exactly what I meant,” the guard said, “after an incident with two fillies, no more uninvited foals in the castle.” Silver Spoon sputtered before she could speak correctly. “But we saw a filly enter an hour ago, why is she exempt!?” “Oh, you mean Miss Belle? Well of course she was allowed in; she was Spike’s guest.” “But Princess Twilight Sparkle isn’t even here!” Diamond protested. “So? Look, the drake’s ability to bring guests comes from Celestia herself. So unless you two brats have a retort for that, kindly leave before I make you leave,” The guard sneered. It was time to take a page out of The CMC’s book and take a stand. Diamond Tiara took a deep breath before jumping at the guard. After breakfast, Spike led Sweetie Belle through the castle. He said that he was going to give her an insider’s tour, showing her everything that most ponies would pay dozens of bits to catch a glimpse of. He opened a large door that was just past a group of patrolling guards that seemed to be ready to kill an intruder on sight. “So where does this lead?” Sweetie asked. “The one place I’m actually banned from getting to close to. Sweetie Belle let me introduce you to the crowned jewels.” In the center of the room was a crown surrounded by beautifully cut gems that glowed with a miraculous light. “Funny story, I got in here when I was three, stole these things, and caused a riot. Since nopony could find me, everypony thought I was foalnappped by the thieves that stole the gems. But then Princess Cadence found me in my room, sucking on a giant ruby with the rest of the jewels scattered around the floor. In the end, they put the gems back and shockingly, Celestia didn’t even tell Twilight's mom to ground me. She was just glad I was all right... Although she did say not to scare her like that again….” Spike shrugged as he took Sweetie’s hoof and led her out of the room. “Next stop, the castle garden!” Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat in purgatory; next to two bratty fillies that thought they were inherently better than the two blank flanks. No, they were not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. They were merely two upper class unicorn fillies that the CMC were forced to spend time with. “Apple Bloom… Kill me,” Scootaloo commanded. “Right now, kill me. I would rather rot in Tartarus then spend a single second more with these prissy little brats or listening to some old guy talk about an over rated, bearded, male Twilight Sparkle.” Over the past hour, Scootaloo had come to a shocking realization; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were not that bad. Granted, they were mean, but the two fillies beside Scootaloo made them look like saints. “I cannot believe we have to spend time with these uncouth hicks,” one of fillies whispered to her friend while still being loud enough for the entire room to hear. “We’re right here,” Apple Bloom said. “I know, right?” The second unicorn gasped loudly, not hearing the earth pony beside her. “I might just keel over from the lack of class and cutie marks.” “What foals use ‘keel’ and ‘uncouth’?” Apple Bloom asked herself. It was as if Rarity was teaching these fillies how to be completely unlikeable. Whatever Sweetie Belle was doing with Spike had to be better than this.... Why wouldn’t Miss Cheerilee let small mistakes go? Sweetie Belle bit into the fresh golden treat Spike had picked. He had brought her to a private section of the garden that only castle staff and the princesses were allowed to visit. In the center was an average looking apple tree that sprouted gold colored apples. The apple was actually really sweet, the flavor of the juice hitting her the moment she bit into it. The only down side was that he could only pick one for each of them. “This is delicious!” Sweetie Belle said as she finished off the golden treat. “Of course it was, why else would I bring you here?” Spike chuckled as he finished off his own apple. That was about it for the castle tour. All that was left would have been the hedge maze and the section of the garden with the statues. There was the animal garden... but maybe he would hold off on that for now. He had three more days with Sweetie Belle, he needed something he could do with her. He thought of places in the city he could take her, but the only place that came to mind was his favorite doughnut shop. There was also the matter of the dance. Did he have to go to that? Was that day one he had to spend with Sweetie Belle? Would this entire vacation come back to bite him when he asked out Rarity in eight years? Spike was suddenly ripped from his train of thought when he felt a pair of hooves shake him. “Spike, are you okay?” Sweetie asked. He looked around to see that they had not only left the garden, but now stood outside his room. “Uh… yeah…. What was I doing?” Sweetie shrugged, “You took my hoof and brought me to the suites with a far off look in your eye, I tried to talk to you but I don’t think you heard me.” “Oh… I was just thinking… um... about the schedule Cheerilee gave me. It said something about a dance Friday… what’s up with that?” “Oh, that?” Sweetie Belle chuckled, “that’s just something Ms. Cheerilee planned for us to end our trip. Nothing more than a chance to dance with our friends.” “But I’m guessing Rarity saw that there'd be a dance and pulled you into her fitting room?” “Yup! She dropped everything she was doing and made me the most amazing dress ever! She even managed to get Fluttershy to help with it.” “Really?” “Yeah, she said that it would make any colt ‘swoon’ over me… whatever that means.” Spike and Sweetie Belle sat in Spike’s suite for most of the afternoon, each retelling stories of personal misadventures. Although it was not a day in the city, Sweetie Belle still enjoyed spending time with Spike. Maybe she could take a page from her sister’s book and take Spike someplace tomorrow to thank him for the last two days. Her sister did give her enough bits for food plus a few souvenirs, bits that have since been untouched. Maybe she would even give him a sneak peek of her new dress. Since it was a work by Rarity, he was bound to love it. Her plan was set, take Spike to a café and then show off her dress. “I am losing it!” Scootaloo cried. “I am going to go mental if I do not get out of this school. Gifted unicorns my flank! I bet most of them think what Princess Celestia does is impressive, but she’s not Rainbow Dash is she?” “Scoots, we just got to be patient… If Ms. Cheerilee hasn’t noticed we’ve been in the bathroom for the past hour, ah doubt she’s going to.” The two fillies had been sitting in the bathroom waiting until the bell rang to let school out. The school was for gifted unicorns, why should a Pegasus and an Earth Pony care about Star Swirl the Bearded and the difference between a spell and a hex? “Girls~” They heard from outside the bathroom, “I know you’re in there~” They froze careful not to respond to the singsong voice. After no answer, the voice became more annoyed and firm. “Look, I caught Snips and Snails hiding in the lunchroom and they ratted you two out in less than five second… five less seconds than it takes a non-Wonderbolt with a rainbow mane to clear the skies… I wonder who’s faster.” Scootaloo nearly lost it, but Apple Bloom held her back. “Ah knew we shouldn’t ‘ave told them our plan,” Apple Bloom whispered. "They were as desperate as we were; I had to tell them our plan!" Scootaloo said through her friend's hoof. “Now, Snips and Snails can’t go in there, which means I can’t go in there since they would run the second I let them go…. However, I have no problem waiting you two out. You’ll have to….” “Jokes on you!” Scootaloo interrupted, freeing her mouth from Apple Bloom’s hoof, “We’re in a bathroom! If we need to, we can just go in here!” With a triumphant grin, she was about to fist pump, until she heard a soft chuckle. “I was about to say eat... you must have brought food with you when you went into the bathroom… right?” A thick silence fell over the room. It was about 1:15 by their estimates. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s stomachs began to growl as they heard a bag open from outside. “Well I’ll just be enjoying a nice, big bag of Nacho Chips… Snips, no you are not having any; I am still angry that you and Snails tried to skip class…. I thought you ratting them out was to get you out of trouble…. Really? You want this to be your reward…? You too Snails? You both understand that you will be in serious trouble once we get back to the hotel, right…? You don’t care, okay….” Cheerilee let out a defeated sigh. “Change of plans girls, the three of us will just enjoy this nice, big bag of Nacho Chips, while you two wait in there for... two more hours.” “… We can out last her,” Scootaloo chuckled. There was a loud rumble as Scootaloo rubbed her belly. “Ah think we might need to give up” “No! Law two of Scootaloo: What would Rainbow Dash do? Answer, she would wait the storm out!” “Oh look, there’s a prize!” Cheerilee exclaimed, “And it’s a figurine of Rainbow Dash…! No Snips, just no…. Because it’s bait…. JUST EAT THE CHIPS!” “I do-don't care… I-I… I have like five figurines back home….” Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom, her legs and wings twitching. She could outlast her teacher… She didn’t need an awesome… limited edition… figurine of… Rainbow Dash…. Scootaloo seemed to blink twice only to come face to face with Cheerilee. There was no figurine to be seen and she had dragged Apple Bloom out of the bathroom with her. “There was never a figure, was there?” Cheerilee shook her head. “We’re dead, thanks Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom sighed. As Sweetie Belle’s drop off time neared, Spike escorted her to the hotel. While she responded to most of his jokes and questions, Sweetie Belle’s mind was on other matters. ‘Where should I take Spike…?’ Her sister had suggested many quaint cafes, but she wanted to show him how much she appreciated the past two days. Her sister said that generosity needed to be thanked with generosity, but where would he like to go? Better question, why was Ms. Cheerilee dragging four foals by their tails? “All of you, to your rooms now!” Cheerilee demanded as she released the foals. “I don’t care if you haven’t eaten; I will bring you dinner later tonight.” The foals murmured insults and complaints as they entered the lobby. Cheerilee let out a loud groan and rubbed her aching forehead. She was not paid enough for this. She let out a distressed cry when she saw Diamond Tiara led into the building in chains while wearing a mask that only covered her mouth, followed by Silver Spoon. “What’s going on?” A guard stopped her and asked a single question, “Are you Ms. Cheerilee?” She nodded. “Good,” The guard handed her a round handle that connected to Diamond’s chains. “That girl went feral on a guard today. Poor soul had to quit because he freaked out when he saw Celestia’s and Luna’s crowns. Said ‘beware the tiara’…. Just a question, what training regimen do you keep your fillies to, and are any of them thinking about becoming guards?” “I-I’m sorry?” “Well, yesterday a single filly with no fighting experience hospitalized three of my best recruits and Skull Crusher now fears the color orange. Now, today an untrained, girly filly mentally broke a fully trained guard who now fears crowns and the color pink. So come on, what’s the secret?” He said, leaning in too close to the teacher. “Leave, now,” Cheerilee growled. “Fine, here’s the hospital bill.” War Trotter dropped the piece of paper and trotted off. “Silver Spoon, come here.” Silver Spoon took a spot next to her still chained friend. “I am disappointed, very disappointed. Honestly!” Cheerilee shouted at the fillies. “I expected Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Snips and Snails to mess up, but you two?! I was expecting you to be mean, but I also expected you to stay out of trouble!” She let out a frustrated sigh and demanded that both fillies go to their room. “And expect to take notes tomorrow!” she shouted. "Now where is Sweetie Belle... Oh thank Celestia!" To see that Spike and Sweetie Belle looked normal sent surges of relief through her body. Cheerilee happily trotted over to her student and the dragon. “Thank you for still being in one piece. Now Spike, did anything happen?” “No, we just hung out at the castle.” He answered. “And that is the one thing that keeps me from hitting the bottle,” She sighed. “Look, I need you to keep doing what you’ve been doing because if this keeps up, I'm going to be watching my entire class on what was supposed to be a vacation… Now if you’d excuse me; I need to yell at a few more students…. WHAT ARE YOU FOUR DOING!?” She ran towards a few foals messing with a food cart. “Wow, is everyone messing up?” Sweetie asked. “Mane Six’s Law,” Spike responded. “What?” “Anything that can go wrong, will,” Spike explained. “Remember all that stuff that happens back home? That’s the Mane Six’s Law.” “So what, it applies here too?” “Yup, how else would you explain the gala incident? So any ideas for what you want to do tomorrow?” Spike asked. “Nope, I say we just wing and go to someplace nice for breakfast… Maybe a c....” Sweetie Belle realized that her friends were dragging away from Spike. “Wait, No I-I needed to ask him...." She tried to plead with her fellow crusaders but they ignored her. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Spike!” She called as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dragged her into the elevator. “You guys could have at least let me say goodbye properly.” She huffed as the doors closed. “Never mind that, tell us you at least went crusading,” Scootaloo begged. After the day she had, Scootaloo could only pray Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark. “I was going to… but then Spike and I had breakfast, he gave me a tour of the castle, and we talked about the upcoming dance.” Apple Bloom silenced Sweetie Belle by placing her hoof on her mouth. “Sweetie Belle, we said ya carried our wills!” Apple Bloom groaned. The elevator door opened and the three got out. “You did, but to be fair I never actually said that I would crusade." Her friends gave her an annoyed look. "Come on, it’s not like me not crusading was bad. Besides, knowing my luck I would probably cause uncontrollable collateral damage.” Sweetie said as the group got to the room. Sweetie used her magic to open the door. “Great, so we are nowhere closer to our cutie marks” Scootaloo sighed, “What’s on the agenda then?” "Escape the museum tomorrow," Apple Bloom said, as if she'd been waiting to suggest it. As Apple Bloom and Scootaloo discussed some sort of escape plan that would probably backfire, Sweetie Belle went over to her suite case to get her pajamas and maybe try on Rarity’s new dress. She opened her suite case to find everything except her dress. “…Hmm, did either of you two move my dress?” Sweetie Belle called. “No,” her friends answered in unison. “Well then… That means I left my dress back home….” As he walked back to the castle, Spike heard a loud, but familiar high-pitched scream coming from Sweetie’s hotel. "I’m sure she’s fine,” He told himself. When Cheerilee heard the shout in the room across from hers, one thought entered her mind, “Damn these fillies, driving me to drink.” She picked up the phone and called the bar. “Hello this is Room 2351… Oh, you have Appletinis… Well here’s a thought, why not make it a hard Scotch…? Yes, I am aware of my occupation… I’m sorry, do you need to watch a group of kids for five days straight, have little to no love life back home, and are getting to that age where you’re supposed to have kids but no stallion will touch you…? No…? Okay… Yes… Thank you.” Cheerilee let out a groan. She should have just stuck with Big Mac and gotten married in the pit. “How could I forget it!?” Sweetie Belle frantically tossed clothes from her Rarity stuffed suitcase, searching for her dress as if it would magically appear. “Why do you care?” Scootaloo asked “Rarity made that especially for me… I was going to wear it Friday but now… This week is ruined.” Sweetie Belle whined as she fell on her back. “Your week is ruined... wow. Do you know what Apple Bloom and I are doing? We have a lecture to go to with Snips, Snails, Feather Weight, Truffle, Shady Daze, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon. We will then go to a museum of education while you get to go to some castle, eat breakfast with royalty, meet beefcake guards, and have heart to heart friendship moments with a dragon. I do not think your week is ruined. In fact….” “Rumble, Button Mash what are you two drinking!?” They heard Ms. Cheerilee scream. “Add those two to the list,” Apple Bloom sighed. “At this rate, we’re all going to be hearin that lecture.” “Back to my point,” Scootaloo said, raising her voice. “Can’t Rarity just mail you the dress?” “Except she can’t! When she dropped us off, she said she was going with her friends to Manehattan for four days!" “Oh Right, Apple Jack told me about that. Ah’m still wondering what they’re up to,” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Okay, so that’s a dead end, but for some reason you have it in with a guy with connections. Spike is Twilight’s son, right? Can’t he get you a dress at the castle?” “Come on, I really doubt he can do that.” Sweetie said. She couldn’t believe it, how could she have forgotten her dress? Spike did the most spectacular face plant in the history of ever. “So… I hear you and a certain filly had breakfast together… anything I should know about?” Celestia smirked. Spike let out a groan as Celestia continued, “Imagine if Rarity saw you. ‘Scandal,’ she would cry. Oh Spike, how did you become such a playboy?” His reaction of utter embarrassment was too funny not to continue. In addition, the shade of red in his face worked really well with his purple scales. “But what's worse is that I hear you gave Sweetie Belle a golden apple. You know, a legend around that tree is that you can only be pick the fruit while in the presence of your soul mate. Just wait until Rarity hears who you ate the apple with.” “Okay, NO! I love Sweetie-Rarity, ARGH!” Spike cupped his hands over his face to hide himself. “I blame you for this verbal adultery,” Spike murmured through his hands. He lifted himself up from the floor and left, leaving a chuckling Celestia and Luna, who had been watching the entire time but felt too awkward to say anything. "Sweet dreams," She called after the dragon, "of course Sweetie Belle will be in them so it's kind of redundant." She could hear Spike groan in frustration. "Sister... we must ask, why do you insist on jesting with thy dragon?" Celestia only chuckled. "Luna it's just a harmless joke, plus it's not like I do it exclusively to Spike, I mean there was Cadance, Shining Armor, this one colt a few years back named Photon Wing, and-" "Twilight Sparkle, we are aware of her crush on the guard named Flash Sentry." "Oh dear sister, I was going to say you," Celestia formed a devilish grin. "You see, Miss Belle is not here with family or the mane six... she's here on a class trip." Luna's eyes went wide. "Wait... class trip? That means...." "That means that an adorable little colt his on his way to see you.... What was his name again? Oh right, Pip!" "Thou lies! Pip cannot be here! Please, for the love of Faust, tell me he's not here!" Luna cried, shaking her sister. "Why does it matter?" Celestia asked, perplexed by her sister's reaction. "He thinks you're the best pony in the world, so what?" "... Sister... tis a Rarity situation," Luna admitted.