//------------------------------//
// Chapter four: The art of not being seen. 
// Story: A house, a mare and... Flutterponies?! 
// by Bandana The Reaper 
//------------------------------//


After briefly wrestling Sweet Tooth off her face, and a quick bribe with some sugar to calm her down, Shimmering Spark started quick work on her list.







'Okay, groceries should be covered,' she thought as she looked the list over, 'what else might we need?'







“Hey Biggy, what'cha doing?” Sweet Tooth asked while buzzing around Shimmering’s head in a sugar induced high.







“I'm making a list over what we need,” Shimmering answered, going over the list again, 'hmm, I should probably stock up on coffee, I do not want to be without coffee again,' she looked up at the flutterpony, “is there anything you need other than food?”







“Um,” Sweet Tooth hovered in place, holding a hoof to her chin while thinking the question over, “...more tasties?”







'That's a no then,' Shimmering rolled up the list and went to grab her saddlebags, 'I might see something we'll need while I'm out.'







Shimmering walked into the living room -with flutterpony on tow- and began grabbing some bits, 'lets see, how much should I take?' she ended up taking the equivalent of 40 gold bits.







'I'm carrying 4,000 bits just to buy groceries... I need to get some of this changed,' Shimmering thought as she turned around to leave... only to stop dead.







'WAIT! I'm about to leave three and a half million bits, in my house, on my coffee table, where anypony who tried to peek in would see them.'







Shimmering started to frantically shove the bits back in the box they came with.







“Gottohidegottohidegottohide!” she muttered in panic, rushing past Sweet Tooth -causing the flutterpony to spin in place- with box in tow, 'Where do I hide it?! Where's the one place nopony but me can find it with ease?'







It took her brain 15 seconds -do to lack of coffee- to figure out a place.







'Workroom.'







Shimmering bolted up the stairs, flinging the workroom door open, rushing in -almost knocking over the mirror in her haste- and shoving the bit-box among a bunch of other boxes.







'Phew, there, now they're hidden,' she thought to herself, 'nopony knows I have a small fortune in my house, calm my fluttering heart, calm.'







“Biggy?” a voice said right next to her ear, causing the unicorn to jump out of her skin... figuratively speaking.







“GAH!” Shimmering yelped, spinning around to see a very confused flutterpony staring at her, “Sweet Tooth, don't sneak up on me like that!” she said while trying to get her heart to start beating again.







“I didn't sneak up, I flew up,” Sweet Tooth answered, tilting her head sideways, “why did you run off with the shinies in the not-let-go-y thingy?”







“The whatnow? ...oh right, the bits and the box,” Shimmering ran a hoof through her mane, “just, you know, putting them away, don't want them taking up the table,” she smiled awkwardly.







“Oh, okay!” Sweet Tooth smiled and fluttered out of the room.







'Well now, the bits are safe, Sweet Tooth's happy and I'm not having a stroke... I guess I'll go shopping then.'







“Hey Biggy,” Sweet Tooth asked while Shimmering made her way down the stairs, landing on the unicorns head, “what are we gonna do now?”







“Well I'm going out to buy some things,” Shimmering said while levitating her saddlebags on to her back, “You are going to stay here until I get back, okay?”







“W-wait, you're leaving me in the not-cave cave?” Sweet Tooth's ears folded back while her voice grew weary.







“Um, yes?”







“Alone?”







“Yes, but only for a whi-”







“I don't wanna be alone again!” Sweet Tooth shouted before burrowing into Shimmering's mane.







“What? Hey get out of there!”







“No, I'm not gonna be alone!”







“Sweet Tooth, you get out of my mane right this instance!” Shimmering said with her most authoritative voice, empificing it with a stomp of her hoof.







“No, alone is bad,” Sweet Tooth said from somewhere inside the unicorn's mane, her voice sounding sad, “...I don't wanna be alone again.”







“Sweet Tooth-”







“Please Biggy, don't make me stay in the not-cave cave alone.”







“I-” Shimmering began, going silent when she felt the little flutterpony pushing herself against her head, shivering.







'She's terrified,' she thought, feeling Sweet Tooth's heart beat against her skin, 'I don't know why she's so scared of being alone, but I can't put her through that, but I can't take her with me... or can I?'







Quickly bringing the note with the rules on to her Shimmering read the guidelines once again.







'Well it says I'm not allowed to show her to anypo- anyone, but there's nothing about bringing her with me, so...'







“Okay Sweet Tooth, you can come.” Shimmering said as she put the note away.







“H-huh?” Sweet Tooth shivering mostly ceased.







“I said you can come with me.”







“R-really? Really really?”







“Yes Sweet Tooth, really.”







Shimmering felt rapid moving on her mane before a very happy flutterpony wrapped herself around her horn.







“THANK YOU! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!, Biggy is the bestiest, kindiest, bigiest pony ever!”







“On one condition.” Shimmering continued.







“Con-di-what?”







“Condition, it means something you have to do to come along.”







“What do I have to do?”







“Well you got to stay out of sight and be quiet,” Shimmering explained, “as long as we're out of the house-”







“House?”







“...The not-cave cave.”







“Ohhh.”







“Right, as long as we're out of the house you have to hide and be quiet, can you do that?”







“I think so,” Sweet Tooth said while letting go of Shimmering's horn, “um, Biggy?”







“Yes Sweet Tooth?”







“...Can I hide up here?” Sweet Tooth asked, burrowing a little into the unicorn's mane again, “its fuzzy and smells nice.”







“Well-” 'I don't know if I'm comfortable with her there, but if she needs to ask me something I'll be able to hear it easier,' “-okay Sweet Tooth, you may.”







“Yay, thanks Biggy!” the little flutterpony said, burrowing deeper into the mane before making herself comfortable.







“You ready?”







“Uh-huh!”







'Well... here goes nothing' shimmering thought as she gripped the door handle with her magic.







She opened the door and stepped outside...







~ - - - ~







Canterhorn.







An old mining town halfway up canterhorn mountain which predates the building of Canterlot by at least 30 years. Anypony that says Canterhorn is trying to rip-off Canterlot with its similar name has always been met with the same answer.







“We were here first you know.”







When Canterlot started to be built do to princess Celestia taking up residence near its peak after the Nightmare Moon incident, Canterhorn started getting a lot of traffic through it, making it flourish and it did so for centuries, despite the mine shutting down around 400 years after the founding of Canterlot.







Canterhorn's golden age ended with intruduction of trains about 900 years after Canterlot's settlement.







With trains making transportation of goods faster and by length cheaper Canterhorn lost a lot of its customers, more so when prices for train tickets reached a point where most ponies could afford.







Now a days Canterhorn works as a place where trains coming from and going to Canterlot can meet without to much hassle as well as house a lot of warehouses and homes for ponies that work in Canterlot but can't necessarily afford the rent in Canterlot.







Its still a nice place to raise a family though.







~ - - - ~







… The early morning sun.







Shimmering took a few slow steps outside, waiting to see if anything would happen... nothing did.







'So far so good.'







After locking the door she began making her way out of the little cul-de-sac she lived in and into Canterhorn proper.







'Let's see... its a little past 8 on a Sunday, so the morning market should have started.'







As Shimmering trotted along she could feel Sweet Tooth snuggling into her mane, it felt... nice, having somepony with you that didn't always judge you, kind of like hanging with Star Strike, '...I miss her... I should probably write more often.'







The closer they got to the market the more ponies they saw... and the more the flutterpony stirred.







“Biggy, hey Biggy, there are more big's here!” Sweet Tooth whispered, turning back and forth, looking past the unicorn's mane at the passing ponies.







“Ponies Sweet Tooth, ponies,” Shimmering whispered back, her ears and eyes trying to detect if anypony noticed her passenger, “now hush!”







“Sorry Biggy...”







As they made it to the edge of the market they started seeing the multitude of stands, hearing the peddlers calling out their wares and smelling the food... and Shimmering felt her mane vibrate.







“T-t-tasties~” she heard Sweet Tooth say as well as feel her wings buzzing, as if she was about to-







'OH HORSEAPPLES!' Shimmering quickly ignited her horn and putting some pressure on her mane... which turned out to be needed since otherwise a pink and 
white bolt with a hefty appetite would have hit the nearest food stand.







“Tasties! Tastiestastiestasties!” Sweet Tooth called out while pushing against the magic force being applied.







“Sweet Tooth, be quiet!” she hissed, putting a bit more force on the point the flutterpony was pushing at.







“Tasties Biggy, lots of tasties!” when going forward didn't work she began pushing sideways instead.







“Hey! You stay up there!”







“But Biggy-”







“You stay still up there or I'm going back home and putting you back in the box you came from!” Shimmering said loudly, causing the Flutterpony to freeze up.







“...But-”







“Ah-ah.”







“...I'll stay here...” Sweet Tooth said, burrowing back into the center of the mane.







“Good,” Shimmering said with a slight nod, “now we can go... get...”







There were some ponies around her... staring at her...







'Oh crud, did they see Sweet Tooth?!' she thought, eye starting to twitch a bit, 'no, she didn't get out of my mane. Hear her? Oh no, ohnoohnoohno-'







“Um, are you oka-” a voice behind her started asking.








“Gah!” Shimmering gave of a short shout, spinning around she saw a pegasus stallion -a slightly frighten pegasus stallion- stand with one hoof half raised, as if he was about to nudge her with it. “Oh um, yes?” she said, giving him a -hopefully- friendly looking smile.







“Er... I said are you okay miss?” he asked, looking a bit worried.







“Hm? Oh I'm fine, perfectly fine.”







“You were talking to yourself.”







“I wasn't talking to myself!” Shimmering said before her mind caught up with her, 'Wait! Wrong answer!' “I-I mean I was talking with myself!” 'that's worse!' “I mean I was talking to... my... mane?” '...thats it, you're on your own.' She just smiled awkwardly, blushing a bit while her brain applied for a transfer.







The stallion blinked, “you were talking to your... mane?”







“Ehehe... yeah, it was being a bit... unruly.”







The awkward silence was very awkward.







“WellanywayIgottogobuysomefoodnowthanksbye!” Shimmering blurred out before rushing off, leaving several confused ponies in her wake.







One of the slightly elderly mares who had heard Shimmering talk to herself looked around before making sure her mane was still straight on.







'Sweet merciful Faust,' Shimmering thought as she began to slow down, 'that got to be the most embarrassing conversation I've ever had!'







'…..This month.' 







“Biggy, are you okay?” Sweet Tooth asked, sounding a bit worried.







Shimmering sighed, 'I should be angry with her, but considering how she seems to be with food...' she made sure nopony was too close before answering in a whisper, “yeah, I'm fine Sweet Tooth, but I really need you to be quiet and stay hidden, okay?”







“I'm sorry...” Sweet Tooth said, curling up a bit, “I just can't help it, there's soooo many tasties here.”







“I know, I know Sweet Tooth and I'll be buying enough to last us for quite a while, but I need you to behave or else I can't do that, okay?”







“Yes Biggy...”







'She sounds so sad, what do I say?' Shimmering thought, not wanting the flutterpony to feel down, 'it just feels wrong when she's like thi- I know!' she got a brilliant idea, one that was sure to get Sweet Tooth happy again.







'Your welcome,' her brain added smugly.







“Listen Sweet Tooth, if you behave I'll buy you something-” 'pause for dramatic effect, annnd' “-sweet~”







She could practically hear the flutterpony's ears perk up.







“Sweet? A-a sweet tastie?” Sweet Tooth asked, her body vibrating a bit, “really, really really?”







“Yes Sweet Tooth, really,” 'that should make her happy... wait... won't sh-'







“YAY! THANKS BIGGY!” Sweet Tooth cried out happily, causing a number of ponies to look in Shimmering's general direction.







'Act like nothing happened, Act like nothing happened, Act like nothing happened!'







“Oops, sorry Biggy” Sweet Tooth whispered as Shimmering walked away from the odd looks she was getting, “...do I still get the sweet tastie?”







'I should say no since she did what I told her not to do,' she thought as she made her way to the other end of the market, 'but then again I should have seen that coming, so...' “yes Sweet Tooth, you behave and I'll buy you a sweet.”







“YA-” Shimmering could have sworn she could hear Sweet Tooth shove both her hooves into her mouth to stop herself, “...sorry Biggy.”







She sighed, 'this is going to be one of those days...'







Shimmering began going between the stalls, buying fruits and vegetables along with one or other thing that she needed anyway, making sure to use the gold bits on the more expensive purchases to get some change, it was all going well.







...Except until Sweet Tooth started asking things like, 'what's that?' 'is that the sweet tastie?' 'can you eat that?' and 'why is that big staring at you?' To the flutterpony's defense she was whispering, but then again she kept asking a bit louder every time Shimmering didn't answer.







Time and again Shimmering had to come up with ways to draw ponies attention from Sweet Tooth, which mostly came out as random questions for the pony running the stall she was at, trying to discreetly shush Sweet Tooth, asking ponies where one thing or another was located and at one point softly singing the Equestrian anthem, all the while her eye-twitching got worse.







The results where not as stellar as she'd want them to be.







Shimmering could hear snippets of what the ponies around her were saying about her, none of it good.







“That mare's crazy,” somepony in a group of teens said.







“Hon, isn't that little miss Sparks?” an elderly stallion asked his wife, Shimmering recognized them as Mr. and Ms. Oak, her former employers form around 10 years ago.








“Is it? Poor dear, must have finally lost it.” Ms. Oak said, shaking her head, “was just a question of time with that one.”







Shimmering had never liked Ms. Oak anyway.







“Shame, she always seemed to try so hard at the chores I gave her,” Mr. Oak shook his head, “that and she was quite the eye candy.”







Aaand that's why she quit that job.







“Mommy, who is that lady talking to?” a little colt pointed while asking his mother.







“Shhh, not so loud sweetie.” the mare said in a hushed tone.







“But mommy, who is the lady talking to, mommy, who is the lady talking to? Mommy...” the colt kept asking while his mother pulled him away.







Well... can't blame him for asking now can you?







About halfway through the shopping round Shimmering had to duck into a quiet alley to get away from everypony... and to deal with a certain flutterpony.







Making sure the alley was empty Shimmering ducked behind a container full of trash to talk.







“Sweet Tooth, look, I can't have you talking or asking things while were out of the house,” she said, trying to sound calm and collected, “it draws too much attention to 
us and I'd hate to think what would happen if somepony found out about you,” 'and considering I don't know who is watching us I can't be too careful.'







“Aww, but I'm bored... and hungry,” Sweet Tooth groaned, “and you said you were gonna get me a sweet tastie.”







“Yes, I did say that, if you were quiet while we were here.”







The alley grew quiet for a while, Shimmering could feel Sweet Tooth shuffle around a bit before feeling the flutterpony nuzzle her ear.







“I'm sorry Biggy, I didn't mean to not-listen, its just hard, there are so so so so many tasties and smells and tasties and sounds and tasties, it makes it hard to remember what to not-do.”







'Maybe I'm being too hard on her,' Shimmering thought as Sweet Tooth kept nuzzling her ear, 'I know next to nothing about Sweet Tooth and she doesn't seem to know much about anything in general'.







“It's, it's okay Sweet Tooth, this is all a bit new to you, isn't it?”







“Mm.”







“Tell you what, we'll take a little break here and you can snack on this,” Shimmering said as she levitated up a celery stalk to her mane, “just one though, then you'll have to be quiet until we get home again, okay?”







“Yay, thanks Biggy!” Sweet Tooth exclaimed as her head and forelegs popped out the top of Shimmering's mane to grab the offered treat, giving it a quick hug before taking a big bite out of it.







'Well that takes care of that,' Shimmering thought to herself while to Sweet Tooth munching away on her treat, 'I guess I'll just sit down and w-'







*Clink*







“Hm?” Shimmering's ear turned to her side, 'that sounded like a bottle falling over, maybe it's a ca-' her thoughts went to a screeching halt as she turned her head to the sound.







There was another pony sitting in the alley with them.







He was a brown and black spotted Earth pony with a messy brown mane and tail, what looked like a shovel in a pile of dirt as a cutie mark and deep green eyes.







The stallion was also filthy, surrounded by what looked like whisky bottles and his eyes were bloodshot, slightly unfocused and most of all filled with confusion.







He was also holding a bottle halfway to his mouth and staring Right. At. Them.







'Oh. Crap.'







For a while silence reigned.







“If you want a tastie you'll have to ask Biggy for one, 'cus this one is mine.” Sweet Tooth said, hugging her celery stalk and frowning a bit.







The stallion blinked a bit, looking between the bottle in his hoof and Shimmering.







“Uhh,” he began, his breath wafting over them, “did your mane just talk?”







'FAUST FLAMING TITS!' Shimmering thought, gagging a bit, 'That breath!'







“WOW, your breath is super stinky!” Sweet Tooth shouted, putting a fetlock over her nose.







'Fix this, fix it fast!' Shimmering's brain shouted at her in panic.







“You, shut up and hide!” she poked her mane, causing Sweet Tooth to quickly burrow down into it again.







“You didn't see anything,” she told the stallion, throwing some money at him before running out of the alley faster than that one time she broke that one ponies nose.







Shimmering quickly made her way through the streets, avoiding the busy roads as much as possible, all the while looking around, trying to spot... something, eyes in the shadows, stallions in black, ninjas...







Eventually Shimmering made her way back to her neighborhood, calming down more and more the closer to her door she came.







'Home, home is safe.'







As she stepped through the front door a note fell down from the ceiling, causing Shimmering to catch it in her magic while quickly looking around for whoever dropped it.







Upon not seeing anyone Shimmering closed her door before reading the note.







You have broken rule 3: you are not to show the being to other equine beings, avian-feline hybrid beings, bovine beings, simian-bovine hybrid beings or reptilian beings. The punishment is the incineration of the object known as a 'picture' located in the area known as the 'living room'.


Signed- The Watchers.







'Punishment, incineration, picture, living room' with these key words stuck in her mind Shimmering bolted into her living room, scanning her pictures, 'they seem alrigh-'







*FWOSH*







In the blink of an eye the picture of her and Star burst into flame, causing Shimmering to jump back in fright.







“GAH! No, nonono!” Shimmering quickly yanked the burning picture of the wall with her magic, preventing the wallpaper from catching fire before rushing into the kitchen, hoping to put it out in the sink.







She barely made it into the kitchen before the picture was just a pile of ash.







She stood there for a while, looking at the ash in her magic grip before slowly walking over to a cabinet, pulling out a glass and pouring the fine powder into it.







“Biggy?” Sweet Tooth said in a small voice.







“...” Shimmering sat down, looking at the glass of ash, her mouth slightly open.







“Biggy, are you okay?” Sweet Tooth fluttered out of Shimmering's mane, carrying the celery stalk in her tail.







“...”







The little flutterpony brought her tail forward so she could grab her treat in her hooves, “h-here Biggy, you can have the tastie,” Sweet Tooth said as she slowly pushed the celery stalk into Shimmering's mouth, “tasties makes everything better.”







This got Shimmering out of her shocked state, her eyes moving from the ash-glass to Sweet Tooth fluttering next to her, the being that's very presence had put her in great potential danger.







“Biggy?” Sweet Tooth fluttered backwards a bit at the unicorn's glare.







Shimmering's jaw tighten, biting through the celery stalk as she continued to stare at the being that seemed to think everything was about food.







“D-did the tastie make it better?” Sweet Tooth asked, sounding worried as the bigger pony's horn lit up.







Shimmering surrounded the little flutterpony who made her look like a madpony in public in her magic...







“B-Biggy...”







...and brought Sweet Tooth to her barrel, wrapping her forelegs around her, hugging her, the words of her grandmother echoing in her mind.







'They who are big and strong should take care of they who are small and frail, if you're not then you should still do your best to make them feel like you are.'







'I'm sorry granma, I almost forgot what you taught me,' Shimmering thought, rocking back and forth a bit as she kept hugging Sweet Tooth, 'whoever these 'watchers' are there dangerous and like Tartarus am I going to let any harm come to such an innocent being.'







The reason Shimmering was so shaken up wasn't do to her favorite picture bursting into flame... well, it DID shake her up a bit, any sane pony would get scared by suddenly combusting pictures, but that wasn't the main reason.







“Biggy?”







Shimmering knew a thing or two about fire, she'd set quite a few things on fire in her days, and one thing she'd learned was what kind of heat you needed to turn things to ash.







'A picture is easy,' Shimmering thought, thinking over all the facts, 'barely any heat was needed, a wooden frame would need more heat, the more head the faster it would burn to ash, still doable.'







'But what about the glass covering?'







“Biggy.”







'Glass shatters first at high enough temperatures, it then melts, it doesn't turn into ash.'







'That doesn't mean it Can't turn to ash, perhaps with enough heat it will eventually do so, but that would have set my whole house on fire.'







From Shimmering’s experience with magic over the years, a protective field around a hot object can keep it from burning its surroundings, thus allow it to be heated up more.







“Um... Biggy...”







'In theory, the hotter the object the stronger the field has to be.' Shimmering continued to ponder, these thoughts alone were scarey, if the watchers had one or more unicorns powerful enough to not only set an object on fire with that kind of intensity along with a field around it to keep it from burning the house down, but to do it from an unknown distant AND obscured view, the thought alone would have made her faint...















...if it wasn’t for the fact there wasn’t any magic used.












The magnitude needed to do something like this would have sent shivers down Shimmering's horn, yet she hadn't sense anything.







'Who and what are these 'watchers'?'







“Biggy, can you let go please, 'cus you're kinda crushing my wings.” Sweet Tooth said, wiggling a bit in the unicorn's grasp.







This finally brought Shimmering out of her panic-analys mode, “huh, oh, sorry Sweet Tooth,” she said, floating the flutterpony over to the table, “I was a bit shaken up by what just happened.”







“Yeah, I felt it,” Sweet Tooth said while looking back at her wings, running the tip of her tail over them before testing to flutter them, “you were all 'GAH, nonononono!' and running and then still-shaking and then I gave you the tastie and you grabbed me and hugged me and-”







“Yes Sweet Tooth, I know, I was there.”







“...oh, right... Oh and there was that very very warm thingy,” Sweet Tooth said as she fluttered in front of Shimmering, “what was it?”







Shimmering's ears fell a bit, “that... was the picture I showed you before, it burned up.”







“The memory-thingy?” Sweet Tooth said, tilting her head, “the one with the other big-pony?”







“Yes Sweet Tooth, the one of me and Star Strike.”







The flutterpony hovered in place for a moment before zipping off into the living room, then returning as fast as she left.







“It's gone!” Sweet Tooth shouted, zipping right up to Shimmering's eyes, “your memory-thingy is gone!” she gasped, putting her hooves to her mouth, “if your memory-thingy is gone, t-then you don't remember your friend!”







“err, that's not how it-”







“What to do, what to do?” Sweet Tooth went on, oblivious of Shimmering, “I know! I'll tell you what she is and was doing!” she fluttered back a bit, gesticulating with her arms as she started describing, “she's a big-pony like you- wait, no, she's like you, but not you-you, 'cus you got a pointy and she got wings! But she like you not you-you 'cus she doesn't have wings like me but birdie wings! But she's not a birdie but a big-you-but-not-you-you-or-me-not-us-but-sorta-kinda-pony!”







As Sweet Tooth rambled on in her attempt to explain what Star Strike was Shimmering started to smile a bit, part do to Sweet Tooth ridiculous way of explaining and part do to the fact she was trying so hard for her sake.







“-she's pink... wait! It's white... uhh... not-white?... pink-white?”







'This... this is kinda funny,' Shimmering thought, watching Sweet Tooth ramble on, 'she is kind of like me when I was younger, getting all panicky over no big deal, no wonder Star found it hilarious.'







“-and her mane is this long! no, it was longer... shorter?... short-long, long-short... short-long-but-more-long-with-a-bit-of-short-”







*Snort* “S-sweet Tooth, c-calm down,” Shimmering said, trying very hard not to laugh at the silly display, “I still remember Star Strike.”







“You do?” Sweet Tooth said, tilting her head, “but your memory-thingy-”







“-Only shows it to anyone that looks at it,” Shimmering continued, cutting off the little flutterpony's worried rant, “I still have the memory, in here,” she said, poking the side of her head.







The flutterpony grew quiet, fluttering to Shimmering's side, “in there?” she said, poking a hoof at the same spot.







“Yes, in there.”







“... I can see it again!” Sweet Tooth exclaimed happily before zipping to Shimmering's ear and shoving her head in it.







“Gah! Swe-et T-hiii-Tooth, g-get o-pffhaha!-out off my-iih!-my ear!” Shimmering gasped out between giggling fits, the flutterpony’s antennas in her ear tickling like crazy.







“But I wanna see the memory again,” Sweet Tooth said as she was pulled out by the unicorn's magic.







“I-it doesn't work that w-way Sweet Tooth,” Shimmering said as she put her house guest down on the table, giggling fit subsiding.







“I just wanna make sure its the same as before,” the little flutterpony's antennas dip a bit.







“Don't worry, it is,” Shimmering reassures Sweet Tooth, carefully patting her head, “but thank you for- well, just... thanks.” 'you just couldn't come up with a good reason to thank her, could you.'







'Oh shut up brain.'







'says the mare who made a fool out of herself in front of other ponies.'







'I, you, I mean... shut up!'







'…'







'...what?'







'you do realize you're arguing with yourself, right?'







'...you started it...'







'oh for crying out l-' the mental argument went silent as Shimmering's eyes got through to her with something.







Sweet Tooth was hugging her hoof while nuzzling it.







It looked adorable.







A double 'Aww' sounded through the unicorns mind.







'…'







'…'







'...I really need coffee, don't I?'







'Faust yes, maybe then I'll stop being so overly... everything.'







'That or at least I'll stop having a conversation with myself in my own head.'







'Lets keep telling myself that while I drink my coffee.'







“Right then,” Shimmering said, lifting her hoof a bit and pulling Sweet Tooth along, “now that that's out of the way, lets get what we bought stored away.”







“Oh, okay!” Sweet Tooth said as she let go of Shimmering's hoof and fluttered up to her mane, “Biggy?”







“Yes Sweet Tooth?”







“Your sure you're okay?”







Shimmering chuckled a little as she began removing the contents of her saddlebags onto the table, “yes Sweet Tooth, I'm sure.”







“Good,” Sweet Tooth sat quiet for a while, “um... Biggy?”







“Yes?”







“...Do I get the sweet tastie you said I could have if I was quiet?”







At this Shimmering's ears fell a bit, “I was going to buy it once I was done with everything, but when that stallion-”







“Stallion?”







“The pony that saw you.”







“...oh,” Sweet Tooth said,her antennas dipping along with her ears, “and you had to go back here 'cus a pony saw me...”







“I'm sorry Sweet Tooth,” Shimmering said, looking up towards her mane, “you were doing very well, but I just couldn't risk staying.” 'and considering what happened here it could have been far worse.'







“Its okay Biggy, that other big-pony only saw me 'cus I wanted a tastie.”







'She's taking responsibility for it, even though it wasn't really her fault,' Shimmering thought as she picked the flutterpony out of her mane, “tell you what, next time I go out I'll buy you some sweets for you first, just because you didn't get any now.”







Sweet Tooth's whole body perked up, “really? Really really?!”







“Yes Sweet Tooth, really really.”







Shimmering barely finished the sentence before her snout was tackle-hugged by a small bundle of joy.







“BIGGY IS THE BESTIES BIG-PONY EVER!”







“Yes yes, so you've told me,” Shimmering chuckled, once again picking Sweet Tooth up in her magic and placing her on the table, “how about you pick something to eat while I put the rest away for later, but just one, okay?”







“Okay Biggy!” Sweet Tooth happily called out before grabbing an apple almost bigger than her, taking a big bite out of it.







'Well, that's one crisis out of the way,' Shimmering sighed as she started putting things away.







Out of the corner of her eye she saw the glass with the remains of the picture, her gaze harden.







'Whoever these 'watchers' are, but I'm not going to let them boss me around and I'm sure as Tartarus not gonna let them hurt Sweet Tooth or my name isn't Shimmering Amanda Sparks!'







Putting away the last of the food Shimmering turned to the saddlebags next to the table.







'Now then, now that I've braved the perils of this morning its time for my sweet rewa-why is my bags so light?' she thought, turning them upside down over the table.







Nothing fell out.







'Oh for Faust sake...' the bags hit the floor along with Shimmering's behind.







'I forgot to buy COFFEE!' Shimmering thought with a groan, her head hitting the table with a loud thud.