Chapter 19
Sweetie was lying on the massage table as she was being massaged. It felt so good and she felt so relaxed that her worries seemed to have slip away.
"You know, there is a reason they call this the Hot Springs Resort." Button was saying next to her as he was being massaged, too.
"Really? Why?"
"They built it on actual springs. In the next room over where the hot tubs are, those are the actual springs."
"Whoa… that is so cool!"
"I can get us in if you want to."
"I would really like to see that, thanks."
On the other side of the room, Scootaloo was relaxing in a chair as one of the spa ponies named Lotus Blossom was giving her a hooficure. She didn't want to admit it; hay, if Rainbow Dash ever saw her doing it, she'd never hear the end of it. But she really liked the feel and couldn't get enough of it.
"Wow, I can't believe you can actually handle it." Rumble was sitting next to her.
"Told you I could handle anything, and check it out, my hooves are shining!" She showed off the blinding light.
"Ow! They're very shiny, but I still would like to see your beautiful face without getting blinded."
"Aw, you're just jealous, so you should get a hooficure, too, so you can have shiny hooves just like mine."
"No thanks. I like my hooves the way they are."
"What's wrong? Can't handle it?" she smirked.
He groaned and muttered, "I am never going to hear the end of this one…" He signaled for Lotus Blossom to give him a hooficure.
"Love ya, babe…"
He sighed, "I love you, too…"
When Button and Sweetie were admitted into the next room, she gawked at the bubbling hot tubs.
"Come on."
"Wait, as go in one of them?"
"That's what they're for." he chuckled, "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe." he jumped into one, but he didn't resurface.
Sweetie worried and called out, "Button? Button!" she leaned closer only for her to get grabbed and pulled into the water.
She took a breath while Button was laughing. She splashed him, "That's not funny!"
"Sorry, Sweetie, but how else was I was going to get you in here?" he started relaxing, "I needed this…"
"How come?"
He moved her closer and she rested on his shoulder.
"Well… my parents are thinking of retiring soon and making me king…"
"Oh, my gosh…"
"That's what I thought… the thing is I don't know if I'm ready… What if I do a bad job? What if I'm a terrible king and my subjects hate me? What if…"
"Button," she used to her hoof to his mouth, "you will be a great king…"
"How do you know?"
"Because you have a good heart… You care about your kingdom more than your own desires. You had a chance to run away, but you knew the kingdom would be lost without the next rightful heir. You are every inch a king: you are fair, just, and kind. I believe you are ready, but do you believe you are?"
"I… don't know…"
"Give it time. If you believe it, I'm sure you will be…" she kissed his cheek.
He lifted her chin and they kissed. As they were kissing, thoughts raced through his head.
She thinks I will be a great king… she gives me reason as to how I could be… He could see it now: he, a leader among ponies… He would wear his father's crown and regal robes. He would be on the balcony waving down to his many subjects waving back to him. Then, he would signal for some pony behind him and she would walk on with his mother's crown and robes on: his queen, Sweetie Belle…
"Button?"
He snapped out of his daydream and ended up staring at her.
"Are… you ok?"
He replied with a smile, "I'm more than alright…" he started getting out.
"Where are you going?"
"There's something I need to get. I'll meet you tonight."
"Okay…?" she gave an unsure look.
"You won't be disappointed." he smiled and went out.
That was weird… she thought and got out of the pool.
Apple Bloom was wearing the outfit Discord gave her for the talent show. It was a great source of camouflage in case she caught up to Pip and he couldn't detect she was on to him. She followed the map's directions and went along the jungle path.
"Pip, you got a lot of explaining to do…" she muttered, "Why would you go do a crazy thing like this…?" Of course, she had to give him some credit, for who wouldn't jump at the chance of a treasure hunt? But what made her streamed was that he never told her about it and why he was avoiding her because of it. She thought of the times they had spent and how great they were together. It wasn't until recently he became distant from her.
Doesn't he like me? I guess it was foolish of me to think he could be the right colt for me… But the moment our eyes met when we first saw each other, I felt something that I haven't been able to get rid of for a while now. So I have to know what his true feelings are for me… to see if he feels the same…
She suddenly stopped to see something ahead. She rushed over to find a saddle bag and a compass lying on the ground. "These must be Pip's," she thought out loud. Then, she noticed hoofprints along with tiny other prints and saw the prints leading off in another direction than the one on the map. "Oh, no… Pip…" she raced on to follow the prints.
The moon was shining bright in the night sky with stars twinkling. Sweetie was uncertain about what Button was doing. He led her away from the Resort and went down to the beach.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"You'll see." he replied and they kept going until he stopped, "Here we are."
Sweetie looked around to realize that they were in the place when she first came to Marendelle. "Button, why…?" She stopped short when she stared at a clam shell in front of her. She read once that clam shells held pearls inside and felt touched that Button would give her such a sweet gift.
"Open it." he gave her the shell.
Using her magic, she opened the shell to see the pearl, but the pearl was strange-looking. Instead of being round, it was square-shaped and it wasn't smooth; it had edges. It also wasn't the color white; it was light green like the shade of her eyes… She gasped when she realized what it was… She looked over to Button, who was kneeling with hopeful eyes.
"Sweetie Belle…" he spoke while taking her hoof, "Alone, I cannot see who I am supposed to be… but when I am with you, I can… If you believe I can be a great king, then I can believe it, too… But what is a king without a queen? Will you marry me, Sweetie?"
She felt tears running down her face. This was happening all so fast… She felt speechless and didn't know what to say until she saw worry etching over his face and she immediately said, "Yes…"
"What?"
"Yes, of course I'll marry you!" she went into a tight embrace with him and then they passionately kissed.
When they broke apart, he had a wide smile spread across his face, "Let's go."
"Go where?"
"To break the news to my parents! And tell them the contest is off!"
"Whoa, Button! Let's think about this first: don't you think your parents are going to be shocked to learn that you're engaged?"
"Mom would, but my dad would be thrilled."
"Well, it's your mother I'm more worried about. I told you before I didn't want to cause a rift between you and your mother… I want to earn her respect and blessing. I love you, but I couldn't stand coming in between a family… You know I'm right… She will see me as the mare who stole you away from her… but if I win, then she will see me as some pony worthy of you… It's the only way for us and for everyone else to be truly happy…"
He sighed and shook his head. Everything Sweetie said was true. His mother would just keep fighting until she got her way and only then would she bless the marriage. "But the next test… I worry about what will happen…"
"I managed to get this far… and if we were truly meant to be together, then I will pass the next one…"
"I'll still see if I can find anything about it and let you know."
She smiled and kissed his cheek.
With it being dark now, it was hard for Apple Bloom to see where she was going and the jungle noises were making it hard for her to concentrate. Oh, Pip… please be okay… Suddenly, she heard drumming not far off. She went near the sound and it got louder. When she saw a fire up ahead, she was careful to approach it as she looked behind bushes. To her surprise, there were primitive hamsters dancing around the fire pit. She could see next to the fire was a small village and next to the village was Pip tied up to a stake!
"Pip!" she nearly said out loud and covered her mouth. Luckily, the hamsters were still dancing and didn't hear her. She was able to sneak past them thanks to her camouflage.
Pip had a weary look to his face and was sad. AB was about to reveal herself until she heard him muttering, "I'm so sorry, Apple Bloom… I only wanted to surprise you and prove myself to you… I didn't know the dangers would be great in this jungle. By the time, they find me I'll be gone… And I'll regret that I couldn't see your face one last time… Your golden sun eyes… your luscious red hair… and your lips… I was able to feel them on my cheek, but I would have so loved to feel them on my own lips… to taste them… I guess… I'll never know…" he lowered his head in despair.
Apple Bloom was amazed by what she just heard. She felt so overjoyed that she couldn't help herself and kissed him.
Pip was taken back at first, but once he saw her, his heart lept and gave in to the kiss. Once they stopped, he said, "Is this a dream?"
"No dream…" she smiled, "I'm here."
"Oh, Apple Bloom, I'm so sorry…"
She shushed him, "You already apologized…"
"You heard that?"
"What I want to know is… why do you feel you need to prove yourself by finding this treasure…?"
"You know about the treasure?!"
She took out the map.
"And you got the real map?!"
She explained about her meeting with Flim and Flam how she persuaded them to tell her where he was at and got a hold of the map. "So I came after you only to find you captured by… hamsters?"
"Yeah, I can't figure that out, either… As for proving myself… I was trying to prove to you that I was some pony you would give time to… You're a princess, I'm just a simple colt working in an inn… Maybe if I found the treasure, I could prove to you and your family that I was worth something and I could give you the best in life possible…"
"Pip… I don't care if you're a colt working in an inn… You know I wasn't always a princess, so I'm used to not having finer things in life… I don't care if you're not a prince or the richest stallion in Equestria… I could less about gold and riches. All I want… is you…"
"You do?"
"Yes… since we met, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you…"
"But… your family… how can I…?"
"It doesn't matter what they think. What matters is what we think…" she started singing softly, "In a perfect world… One we've never known… We would never need to face the world alone… They can have the world… We'll create our own… I may not be brave, or strong, or smart… But somewhere in my secret heart, I know… Love will find a way… Anywhere I go, I'm home… If you are there beside me, like dark… Turning into day… Somehow we'll come through… Now that I found you… Love will find a way…"
He sang back, "I was so afraid… Now I realize… Love is never wrong… And so it never dies… There's a perfect world… Shining in your eyes…"
They both sang, "And if only they could feel it too… The happiness I feel with you… They'd know… Love will find a way… Anywhere we go, we're home… If we are there together, like dark, turning into day… Somehow we'll come through… Now that I found you… Love will find a way… I know that love will find a… way…" They moved into another kiss.
"Let's get you out of this…" she started cutting his ropes with her teeth.
"Ow." he felt her biting.
"Sorry…" she got the rest of the ropes off.
"On my signal, we run."
"To where?"
"Anywhere. We'll find some place to rest for the night and then get back to Marendelle in the morning."
"Actually, I was thinking…" she unrolled the map.
"You want to look for the treasure?"
"As long as we're out here… and it'll even more better if we found it together."
He smiled at the thought, and looked back to see the hamsters were almost done, "Ready… Go!" he made a run for it and so did she.
Once they figured they were in the clear, they stop to catch their breaths.
"Looks like we can rest here." he said as he sat down.
"Thank goodness." she sat beside him, "That reminds me…" she took out the compass and gave it to him.
"My compass? You found it?"
"Yeah, I came across your stuff you were forced to leave behind when you were taken captive."
"Thank you…" he wrapped his arm around her.
"You're welcome…"
"Apple Bloom… I'm sorry for lying…"
"Forget it."
"But I can't forget it. I was deceiving you for something that wasn't worth lying about… If you hadn't come after me when you did… You saved my life…"
"It's okay, I forgive you… As long as I know the truth now, what happened before doesn't matter."
"I'll make it up to you… I promise…"
"You don't have to…"
"But I want to… for you…"
She gave a small smile before giving a yawn.
"You rest. I'll take the first watch."
"You sure?"
"It's the least I can do, after you saved my life."
"Okay… good night…" she rested her head to the ground.
"Sleep well…" he beamed at her and once he knew she was asleep, he kissed her hoof, "I love you…"
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I asked this before somewhere else along the line of this story but...
What happened to 'You can't marry a man you've just met' ?
Not that I'm saying I'm not liking this... Just what happened to it?
5678033
I'm an old romantic, since I grew up with classic Disney and since Sweetie Belle fits with being a classical princess, it works. Plus, I did make sure Button and Sweetie got to know each other first before getting married. They pretty much made up for the engagement that Scootaloo and Rumble couldn't have.
Yay, the actual shipping begins for Pip and Bloom
P.S. I think this more than just met.
God, that's a bunch of surprise engagements.
I just realized something that I love about your series. You never portray familial love as inferior to romantic love. In fact, the your stories show that family is just as important as romance. I love how Sweetie never once forces Button to choose between her and his mother. In fact, she talks him out of choosing her over his mother and helps Button to better understand and reconcile with his mother. I also love how you show that, despite how misguided Love Tap is, she is a good queen and a loving mother.