//------------------------------// // Of Gossip and Desserts // Story: Lakeside // by Steadfast Bulwark //------------------------------// Roughly ten minutes later, Rarity and Applejack found themselves wandering the halls on the second floor, casually admiring the decor while talking about whatever crossed their minds. "I’ve been meaning to ask. Will you be needing any help with cider season this year?" Rarity asked. "To be honest, we might." replied Applejack. "Everyponies been real understanidin ever since we ran off the Flim Flam brothers but we're expectin another big turn out." "Well you know if you need us, we'll be there." Rarity said with a smile. Applejack returned it with a nod. "Ah know it’s just, Ah feel it's mah families problem, ya know?" Rarity chuckled lightly. "You're absolutely right, it is your family's problem so you might as well expect all your family to be there opening day." Applejack looked to Rarity with a smile. "Thanks Rares, Ah appreciate that but if you don’t mind we'll burn that bridge when we get to it." Applejack shook her head with a chuckle. After walking a few more steps she noticed that Rarity had come to a stop, a look of worry on her face. "Rarity? What’s wrong?" asked Applejack, worry evident in her voice. Rarity didn’t respond right away, she just stared past Applejack. Her mouth opened then closed then opened again as she blinked once. "Sorry." She said slowly, still staring forward. I just had a thought about what our sisters may be up to." Relief washed over Applejack as she sighed. "Is that all? You worry too much. Don’t you remember Twilight saying that Spike was going to spend the weekend hanging out with them?" Rarity gave Applejack a worried look as she resumed walking. "And you think that makes it better?" Applejack snickered at Rarity's expression as she fell in step beside her. "Course it does." she said. "Ah know the girls get into trouble with their crusadin but Spikes too much like Twilight." She glanced to Rarity with a smile. "Trust me, his level head will keep them from causin too much damage." She hesitated for a second before looking towards the ceiling. "Probably." "Was that last thought supposed to reassure me?" Rarity asked, doubtfully. Applejack looked back down. "Sure it was." She lightly bumped her friends shoulder with her own. "Come on. Yawl need to get your mind onto something else." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "And Ah have just the thing." She draped her left fore hoof over Rarity's shoulder as they rounded a corner into another hallway and pulled her close. “Ah was out walking around the outskirts of the farm and just happen to overhear Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo having a heated discussion about a certain dragon.” Rarity gave her friend a stern and disapproving look as they continued to walk. “Applejack! I’m surprised at you, eavesdropping on those fillies whilst they talked in private.” She lightly cleared her throat before continuing. “What did you hear exactly?” Applejack smiled. “Knew that get your attention.” She removed her fore hoof from around Rarity’s neck so as to walk unimpeded. “Ah just happened to hear them when Scootaloo raised her voice. She seemed to not like the idea of Spike spending the weekend with them. Anywho, Sweetie Belle told her it would be fun to have him around, well Scootaloo said that him being there would only keep them from gettin their cutie marks, how exactly Ah haven’t the foggiest.” She shook her head. “To make a long story short, Applebloom has a crush on Spike.” Rarity stopped dead in her tracks. Applejack, having not noticed, continued to walk forward several steps before noticing. She came to a stop and turned around to find Rarity staring at her with an unamused look. “Applejack.” She began, speaking very slowly. “Do you understand how gossip works?” Her right eyebrow made its way towards the ceiling, dashing any hopes of Applejack getting a word in. “Gossip works like this, one overhears something, shares it with another ensuring that has much detail is given to provide the clearest picture of the situation as possible.” Her left eyebrow joined her right as her face entered full on ‘barely contained rage mode'. “In summary, ONE DOES NOT BEGIN A STORY THEN DECIDES TO RUIN IT BY GIVING AWAY THE ENDING!!!” Her voice had steadily gotten louder as her body began to shake ever so slightly, the sight of which unnerved Applejack. “Uh Rarity? You ok?” Rarity took a deep breath and then brought a hoof to her face, covering it. When she removed it she was once again calm and composed. “Yes, I’m quite alright.” Her eyes sparkled as she smiled broadly. “So Applebloom has a crush on Spikey-Wikey, hm?” Applejack sighed internally. “Yep, seems she’s takin a liking to him. She doesn’t know Ah know but the way I see it, when she’s ready for me to know she’ll tell me.” Rarity absently tapped her hoof on her chin. “That’s not the way I would have gone about it but to each their own I suppose.” She dropped her hoof and sighed wistfully. “Oh they would make such an adorable pair, don’t you agree?” Applejack nodded in reply. “Sure do. Spike's been raised right, Ah know he’d take good care of Applebloom.” A shadow of concern passed over her face. “Ah still worry about her though...” Applejacks words snapped Rarity out of her wistful state, drawing her fully back to the present. “What do you mean by that, darling?” Applejack made a motion with her hoof and Rarity understanding the gesture, resumed their walk. “Well Spike's been fixated on you ever since him and Twilight came to Ponyville. What worries me is when Applebloom decides to tell him how she feels he’ll shoot her down in hopes of waitin on you.” “Surely he wouldn’t?!” Rarity said in surprise. “I know Spike's has had a crush on me for some time now but it's only puppy love.” “Are you serious?” Applejack replied with surprise of her own. “He’s completely enamored with you. Twilight says all he talks about is how he’s going to win your love. Sounds a mit more serious than puppy love if you ask me.” “Come now. We both know it wouldn’t work, He’s several years younger than me after all. I mean I love Spike dearly but not in that way.” “See that’s what you’re not gettin.” said Applejack. “You know that, Ah know that, everypony knows that except Spike. And we figure the only way he’ll know that if you tell him yourself.” Rarity didn’t answer right away. All along she knew she could never return Spikes affection in the way he wished for but it had also never occurred to her to tell him such. “I suppose you're right." She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "You are right." Opening her eyes she looked towards Applejack. "I just don’t know what I’ll say to him." "The truth." responded Applejack without any hesitation. "I’m not sayin it’ll be easy but it still needs to be done." When her words didn’t seem to impact Rarity, she decided to change her approach. "Tell yah what. On the way home the six of us will figure out how best to go about this." Rarity's eyes lit up with hope. "Oh that would be wonderful." Stopping, She forcefully grabbed Applejack and pulled her into a tight hug. "I’m ever so fortunate to have such great friends." "Aw shucks. You’d do it for.... "INCOMING!!!!" Both Rarity and Applejack's heads jerked towards the shout and found themselves surprisingly, standing at the foot of the stairs leading up to the third floor. The shout, much to their shared dismay came from an ecstatic Rainbow Dash who, along with a similarly excited Pinkie Pie were currently hurtling towards them on what looked to be a scale sized log cabin constructed out of mattresses. The four screamed, Rarity and Applejack in fear, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in excitement. Reacting on instinct, Applejack threw Rarity out of the way and turned her back. Bracing herself, she bucked her back legs out as hard as she could. ......... Constance was sitting in his office off the main hallway on the third floor, busy going over several stacks of papers. Glancing towards the clock hanging on the far wall he made note of the time. "Still a few hours until lunch." He thought to himself. Glancing back towards the papers on his desk, he idly wondered if he should take a break and seek out his guests. "How often do I actually get guests?" He muddled that thought over for a few moments before pushing himself away from his desk. "Not often enough." He began to neatly stack and organize the papers that had been spread across his desk when he heard what sounded like a muffled explosion. Seconds later a small shock wave passed through the room, vibrating furniture and shaking dust from the ceiling. "What in Eqestria was that?" he said to himself. Concerned, Constance quickly headed for the door and stepped out into the hall. Not knowing exactly where or what he was looking for he made his way around the corner to the main hall where the stairs were located. Coming to the stairs he beheld a strange sight. By his count no less than two dozen mattresses lay about the stairwell, the majority of which were heaped in piles on the second floor. Even as he looked on in confusion one such pile began to move as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack shakily climbed out. "Whoa...what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked slowly, shaking her head in order to readjust her eyes. "Heh heh....fort go boom." Pinkie said has she fell back into the mattress pile in a daze. "What were yawl thinking?!" Applejack asked sternly. She patted her head and noticed her trademarked Stetson was no longer there. "And where’s mah hat?!" “It’s over here.” Called out Rarity as she pushed a mattress off her body. Her previously well-kept mane and tail were now a ruined shadow of their former selves, thankfully the worst was covered by Applejacks Stetson which had found its way to Rarity’s head. Her horn glowed a soft blue which surrounded the Stetson, pulling it from her head and gently floating it over to Applejack who donned it once more. “I’m fine by the way, thanks for asking.” Rarity said sarcastically, walking over to join the others at the foot of the stairs. She glared sternly at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the latter who was still sprawled out amongst the mattresses. “I can’t believe you two actually went through with such a foolish plan! Honestly, how could you do such a thing to Constance when he’s been nothing but kind to us?!” Rainbow Dash said nothing, standing with her head bowed and a sullen expression on her face. Pinkie had finally gotten to her hooves and likewise had her head bowed. “Ya’ll oughta be ashamed of yer selves, if Constance sees this mess there’s no….” Applejack stopped speaking when she heard a faint sound, one which quickly grew into a scream of fear. The source? Constance. “Sweet Celestia! What did you do?!” Yelled Constance in a frightened voice, Everypony present looked up at him in fright as he rushed down the stairs to stand in front of Rainbow and Pinkie. “Mattresses….mattresses everywhere?! Why are there mattresses everywhere?” shouted Constance, beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead. “We…uh…made a fort.” Pinkie said slowly. “Constance?” Rarity said fearfully, unnerved by his apparent fear of the situation. “We’re terribly sorry for the mess.” Rarity recoiled in horror when he turned his partially bloodshot eye to her. “You don’t understand! There can’t be a mess like this! There just can’t!” He turned away and grabbed Rainbow Dash and lifted her into the air and shook her. “We have to clean this up before Scyphos sees it!” He suddenly dropped her back into the pile of mattresses, his ears twitching as he looked around. “Quiet!” He whispered, holding up a hoof. “Do you hear it?” Seconds passed in silence as they all listened intently. “It's Scyphos! He’s coming!” He grabbed his head in hysteria. “I don’t want to go to the basement!” “The…basement?” Asked Pinkie Pie, cocking her head to one side. “I once spilled coffee on one of the hall rugs. When Scyphos found out he locked me in the basement.” He turned his gaze to Pinkie Pie and whispered fearfully. “And I didn’t get any dessert for three years.” By this point Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all sharing a confused look at Constance’s behavior but a loud scream from Pinkie Pie cut all further thought short. She became a blur of pink, one which snatched up every mattress before disappearing up the stairs. Moments later, Scyphos rounded the corner carrying with him a small feather duster. “Ah hello, Everypony? I take it everything’s well?” He asked cheerfully. “Quite well, Scyphos, and you?” Constance asked. He made a subtle gesture with his right hoof that the others took to meaning ‘don’t say anything’. “Quite well, sir. Thank you for asking. I was just on my way to tend to the alchemical garden when I remember that the second floor stairwell had yet to be thoroughly dusted in some time.” He stopped next to the bannister and carefully eyed the stained wood. “Strange, it looks like it was just recently cleaned.” He moved about the stairwell, eyeing every inch. “It looks as if everything has just been recently cleaned.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “How odd.” He bowed low to Constance. “If there isn’t anything else, I’ll be in the garden.” “Of course not, Scyphos you go right ahead.” Constance responded quickly. Scyphos straightened from his bow and looked at Applejack. “Miss Applejack, if I remember correctly you are a farmer?” “Sure am.” Responded Applejack with an air of pride. Happy to be moving away from the strangeness of the last few minutes. “You’d be hard pressed to find a pony who knows more about apples than me.” “Then in that case.” He politely offered her his right claw. “Would you care to accompany me to the garden? I have a rare species of apple that only grows in the light of the moon that you may find interesting.” Applejack smiled and took his claw in her hoof and gave it a vigorous shake. “Now you’re speakin my language.” Scyphos motioned for Applejack to follow and the pair made their way up the stairs to the third floor where they took the hallway to the right. Once they were gone, Constance let out a loud sigh of relief. “That was a close one.” “So wait, you weren’t kidding about Scyphos locking you in the basement?” Asked Rainbow Dash, still confused by what she had just witnessed. Rarity likewise nodded her agreement of the question. “Oh no, that part I was kidding about.” He said with a chuckle. “The three years without dessert however was all to true.” He continued to chuckle as he winked at Rarity. “Gotta say, Pinkie can really move fast.” “She tends to do that.” Replied Rarity flatly as she ignited her horn. She quickly fixed her hair as best she could with magic. “I do hope Rainbow and Pinkie's antics didn’t draw you from anything important?” Rainbow cast her a hurt look as Constance answered. “Not at all. I had already decided to take a break from my work for the day. I figured I best spend time with my guests while I have guests.” “Oh but we wouldn’t want to keep you from anything important.” Insisted Rarity as she continued to adjust her hair. Constance watched her intently while she worked. “That’s for future me to worry about.” Rarity glanced his way. “Our friend Spike says the same thing.” Cutting the magic to her horn, she gave her mane a flip, setting it back in its customary position. “It is a freeing philosophy.” Constance said with a smile. “Speaking of which, would you two like to accompany me to the library? I have a question for Twilight.” Rainbow groaned in annoyance but was stopped by an angry look from Rarity. “Sure, why not.” She said sullenly. “Not to worry, books are interesting no matter who you are, besides.” He leaned in close to Rainbow Dash. “I just so happen to have some items on display in the library that you may find to your liking.” “Like what?” “Oh just some rare, one of a kind Wonderbolt memorabilia.” Rainbows head shot up in excitement. “Whoa! Seriously?!” Constance nodded his head. “Yep I have autographed uniforms of every Wonderbolt from the last fifteen years. Plus of few of the Captains personnel training logs.” Rainbow Dash jumped into the air with a loud squeal of excitement. “Why didn’t you say so! Let’s go!” In a flash she was gone, a faint rainbow trail leading off in the direction of the library. “You seem to have a knack for saying just the right things to get somepony excited.” Rarity said with a small smile. Constance shrugged. “What can I say?” He smiled broadly. “I enjoy seeing ponies excited.” His smile seemed to waver slightly. “It’s one of my few joys.” Rarity thought she detected a hint of sadness in his voice but before she could ask about it, he offered her his left elbow. Which she took readily. “I’m afraid all my plans hinged on having good weather this weekend. Unless it clears up by lunch I’ll be out of entertainment ideas.” They began to walk in the direction Rainbow had just taken. “You needed worry about that. The others will find something to occupy themselves and as for me…” A slight blush began to form on her cheeks. “I’m quite content to spend time with you.” She leaned slightly on him as he glanced down to her with his left eye. ”So am I.” He said softly, smiling down at the most beautiful mare in existence. “So am I.”