//------------------------------// // Something special // Story: A touch of youth // by Raised_on_Shoegaze //------------------------------// “Are you sure this is what normal ponies do?” Princess Celestia asked Scootaloo as she lay on a small bed in the attic of the Ponyville library. She was presently the size of a small, school age pony due to one of Twilight Sparkle’s spells backfiring during one of her frequent visits to Ponyville. Her student had left, along with most of her friends to go into the Gnippihs forest in order to find a rare plant that emitted a type of pollen that would be able to change her back to normal, and since somebody had to stay and watch the young princess, Scootaloo had volunteered. The orange filly happily nodded as she crawled beside the princess in the soft bed and smiled. “Of course, what possible reason would I have for lying to you.” Scootaloo said with a smile as she leaned her head towards the princess and started to nuzzle her neck. The princess backed up slightly at the contact between them, which only served to make Scootaloo lean in closer towards the princess. Upon seeing the distress of the princess the orange filly temporarily paused her advances on the princess and gave her a compassionate smile. “Relax, everything will be fine, I’ve done this before you know.” Scootaloo said as she silently hoped that the princess’ mind had truly been erased when Twilight cast her spell and that she wouldn’t be able to use her magic to tell her that the young filly was currently lying to her. Celestia looked down at her hooves for a second in what seemed to be contemplation, which also served to make the youthful princess seem a little more enticing to the equally young Scootaloo, before raising her head and giving a minuscule nod. “Okay, tell me what you want me to do.” Princess Celestia said with a timid smile that seemed to blend well with her already adorable face. Scootaloo allowed herself to stop for a second and admire the cute expression on her princess’ face, before leaning towards the princess’ flank with her eyes beaconing the princess to imitate her action. The princess did, and within the space of three seconds Scootaloo’s mouth was pressed against Celestia’s in a kiss. Both ponies eyes widened in surprise as a feeling equivalent to an electric shock overtook them both as they pulled their bodies apart from the brief kiss. Scootaloo’s eyes started tearing up as she looked away from the princess with an expression of guilt evident on her face. “I shouldn’t have done that.” Scootaloo admitted after a few seconds of silenced passed after the kiss. A confused expression graced Celestia’s face as she started moving her body closer to the young pony who had chosen to spend the day with her. “Why not?” Celestia asked with a voice that reminded Scootaloo of the gentle ringing of a bell. The orange pony sighed before turning her head to face the hurt expression on the princess’ face as tears started to form in her eyes. “Do you not love me?” Celestia asked, causing Scootaloo to shake her head before wrapping one of her forelegs around the princess, who seemed to melt into the touch. “Of course I love you princess.” The orange pony said as an ocean of tears started to form behind her eyes as she pulled the princess into a tight hug. “I didn’t even know what love was until I met you.” Scootaloo said as her tears started running down her face as she continued to hold Celestia in a protective embrace while the princess allowed a small sob to escape from her mouth. “Sweetie belle always talks about love, she always said that once you meet your soul mate you’ll realize it right away.” Scootaloo continued with her arms still wrapped around the princess, who’s sobs were increasing in frequency with every word the pony spoke. “But then, when I walked into the library and saw you, I understood what Sweetie Belle meant.” Scootaloo said as her tears started to drip onto the princess’ shoulder. She then released the princess from her hold and adjusted her position on the bed so that her eyes were staring into the eyes of the princess. “And that’s why we can’t be together.” Scootaloo said with a defeated expression on her face as she turned her head away from the princess. “Because when Twilight and her friends get back from the Gnippihs forest, you’re going to change back to normal and I’ll never be able to see you again.” Scootaloo said in between tears, as Celestia placed one of her hooves upon her shoulder. “Why not?” Celestia asked, causing Scootaloo to violently turn her head to face the pony behind her. “Because you’ll be different!” Scootaloo shrieked, unknowingly pushing the young princess unto the bed where she had quite recently experienced her first kiss. “You won’t be the same pony who I spent the entire day showing around town. You won’t be the same pony who laughed at my jokes and listened to my stories, and you won’t be the same pony who captured my heart.” Scootaloo said, before her expression changed to resemble that of an injured kitten as she sat down on the bed where Celestia had fallen down upon. “You’ll change back to the princess you were before, then you’ll go back to the castle and I’ll never see you again.” Scootaloo said as a fresh batch of tears started to run down her face. Celestia stared at her newfound friend sobbing for a brief second, before moving closer towards the young filly and running her tongue against her face in an attempt to remove the tears from her face. “Wh-what are you doing?” Scootaloo asked as Celestia’s small tongue started to consume the tears that were strewn all across her face. The princess gave her friend a reassuring smile before continuing her work. Once she was sure that all the tears had been removed from Scootaloo’s face she gave her friend a smile, before giving her a brief peck on the lips. “I couldn’t just sit here and allow my fillyfriend to cry now could I?” Celestia said with a smile on her face, before lying down the bed and silently beckoning her friend to imitate her action. The orange filly gleefully accepted her silent invitation and lay her head on one of the two pillows on the bed, making sure her face lined up with Celestia’s. “Thank you.” Scootaloo said with a smile as a yawn escaped her lips and her eyelids threatened to darken her vision and bring her into the realms of sleep. Celestia smiled and gave the orange filly a brief kiss on her cheek before she too let out a yawn and closed her eyes, allowing her body to fall asleep beside her newfound friend. Scootaloo gave a smile and started absent-mindedly running her hooves over Celestia’s sleeping form before she too was overcome by sleep. Twilight and her small group of friends trotted into Ponyville with disappointed expressions on their faces as they made their way towards the library to tell Celestia the news of their failed adventure. “Who knew that one little plant would be so hard to find?” Applejack said to the rest of the depressed ponies as they continued walking. The other ponies nodded in silent agreement as they continued on their path with their faces pointed towards the ground. “Well, look on the bright side, that means we get to go on an adventure again tomorrow!” Pinkie Pie said with an ecstatic expression on her face as she started happily hopping around the slow moving ponies. Twilight gave a groan before turning her head to glare at the pink pony who was attempting to boost the morale of the group. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow Pinkie.” Twilight said with a stern expression on her face. “I’m more worried about what Princess Celestia is going to say when she finds out that she’s stuck as a filly for at least another day.” Twilight said before her expression turned to face the ground as she continued her imitation of a depressed funeral-goer. “I don’t think she’ll mind.” Pinkie said with a smile on her face that provoked a reaction from every member of the mane six who lifted their heads to stare at her with expressions of both confusion and disbelief. “What do you mean by that?” Rainbow Dash asked, earning an even bigger smile from Pinkie Pie who started hopping around. “Oh man, you’ve got to see this, it’s so cuuuute!” Pinkie said with an unnaturally large smile on her face, before she dashed away, leaving a pony-shaped puff of smoke where her form had occupied less than a milli-second before. The rest of the man six gave a collective sigh before quickening their pace to follow their hyperactive friend. After a brief chase the group of ponies found themselves insid of the Ponyville library, and were greeted with Pinkie Pie standing on the stairs leading towards Twilight’s bedroom with an excited expression on her face. “You guys have to come see this, but you gotta promise to be quiet.” Pinkie whispered to her face who had started to follow her up the stairs. Their curiosity as to what Pinkie had a desire to show them seem to overcome their depression as they followed her up towards Twilight’s bedroom. Once they got to the room they were all shocked at the scene that awaited them. “Aaaaw.” Rarity cooed when she saw the sight of the two ponies sleeping beside each other in bed with contented smiles on their faces as they appeared to be locked within an embrace. Their shallow breathing appeared to be the only sound in the room as the mane six collectively stared at the adorable sight in front of them for a few brief moments before their view of the scene was block as Pinkie gently shut the door to the room. “They need their rest, they’ve had a long day.” Pinkie whispered as she led the mane six away from the room. The ponies followed her away from the room with confused expressions on their faces as they attempted to make sense of the scene they had just witnessed. “I suppose finding the flower can wait until tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash said with a smile on her face as she followed her friends downstairs. “Or maybe we could put off finding it for another week.” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. “Why would we want to separate them? Let’s forget about the flower and let them enjoy their newfound love.” Rarity said with a grin on her face that was returned with an expression of disbelief from the purple pony standing beside her. “Are you insane! We can’t leave her as a filly forever, she’s one of the two leaders of Equestria for crying out loud!” Twilight exclaimed, causing Rainbow Dash to chuckle before placing her hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Come on Twi,don’t be like that. Celestia took Luna’s job when she was sent to the moon, why can’t Luna do Celestia’s job while Celestia’s a filly.” Rainbow Dash explained. Twilight glared at her friend for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. “I suppose we could probably wait a few days before we go out looking for th flower again.” Twilight said with a defeated expression on her face as the other ponies in the room celebrated with silent cheers and high fives passing between them. Twilight allowed a small smile to grace her lips upon seeing her friends happiness at the prospect of the two lovers upstairs being granted a little more time together. “I’ll tell Scootaloo’s parents she fell asleep on the couch.”