Love's First Bruise

by TheAmazingMe

Cruising for a Bruising

As they sat around their table at Sunridge Sweets, enjoying their treats, Bruiser quietly observed his new friend's interactions. He really hadn't made many friends since moving to Canterlot. Granted, it was hard to get into a group when the cliques around school were friends since foaling. Noting his silence, Lacy smiled and nudged Bruiser.

"So, you've never been to Sunridge?" Lacy asked, surprised.

Bruiser swallowed his bite of cupcake and shrugged. "I've never really explored Prominence. My dad is a guard so sometimes I go to the castle, but we usually pass through the district without stopping."

"A night guard." Breezy Feathers said dismissively.

"Oh, wow, one of Princess Luna's guards?" Dusty Chestnut asked, oblivious to Breezy's glare.

"Eeyup." Bruiser said, trying to ignore the looks from Bree and Ginger. "Princess Luna's House Guard, Bravo Squad."

Breezy snorted, earning withering glances from Bruiser, Lacy, Twist, and even Dusty. "What?" Bree shrugged. "The B team of the lesser princess' personal guards and I'm supposed to be impressed?"

Dusty scooted away from his friend. "My mother is a city guard. Every guard looks up to the Royal Guards. The Royal House Guards are the elite of the elite. You all remember the giant cockatrice attack?" Sedately, the rest of the table nodded. "Well, mom says that Luna's guards led the most organized counter-attack of any guard unit. Your dad's commanding officer is almost a legend."

Finally Dusty turned to Breezy. "And if you've got anything else to say about it, Bree, I'm sure my mom would love to talk to your mom about it."

"Dusty, why you gotta be like that?" Breezy whined.

Dusty raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Cause I don't like the way you're acting. You wanna be down on this colt because of the dumb stuff he pulled on your sister, fine. But don't ever talk bad about the Guard or the Princess' around me."

Breezy glared daggers at Dusty. Raising his eyebrows, Dusty held Bree's gaze unflinchingly. Finally, Breezy looked away and found his sister's line of sight instead. Lacy stared at her brother intently.

"He apologized, in case I didn't make that clear." Lacy said, lifting her saddlebag to retrieve the book he'd given her. "And you'll never believe who his grandmother is."

Lacy set Lovely's book proudly on the table. The looks of interest turned into shocked stares. Looking around the table, Bruiser couldn't help but smirk at the reactions garnered by a simple book.

Across the bakery, the silence at the youngster's table earned a worried glance from both Second and Lovely. Quickly, Lovely spotted the source of the group's interest and couldn't resist a smirk herself.

"Are they okay or..." Second started, turning back to Lovely with concern.

"It's okay dear. It seems I have some young fans." When that reassurance failed to banish his concern, she clarified. "Fans of the new series, dear, not my Barleyquin novels."

Back at the group's table, the other foals finally found their voices.

"Is that the new...?" Ginger asked, before getting cut off.

Dusty was shocked. "But that's not out yet!"

"There's no way he..." Twister started, in disbelief.

"How else did he get it then?" Lacy asked smugly.

"Lacy, it's even signed to you." Breezy said, looking at the inside cover with awe.

Overwhelmed by the response, Bruiser finally shrugged and spoke up. "Okay, I know my nana is a pretty talented writer, but...what's the big deal?" The words died in his throat as everypony's attention turned to Bruiser.

Lacy held the book close to her chest again. "There's another reason I hang out with two older class members and my dorky brother and his mismatched friends."

"Hey!" Breezy protested.

"Hey!" Ginger agreed.

"That's fair." Dusty nodded, smiling.

"Your grandmother's newest series is our favorite." Lacy finished. "All of us. We're like, the school's Lovely Story fan club."

"Really? I thought she mostly wrote romance." Bruiser said looking at the book again.

"She does." Twister agreed. "And she's not shy about putting her face out there. My aunt has more than her fair share of L.P. Rose's Barleyquin novels."

"And my mom." Lacy agreed, earning a groan from Breezy.

"And mine." Dusty said, smiling.

Ginger shrugged. "Mine has a few too."

"But Lovely Story's War of the Betrayed series is just so good!" Lucy said, hugging the book tightly.

"You're going to let me read it next, aren't you Lacy." Twister asked, pouting his lip.

"Obviously, as her brother, I'm next." Breezy said haughtily.

"And I'm right after Bree." Ginger put in.

"Puh-lease! As if she'd give the book to her bratty little brother instead of her best friend." Cheery protested.

Dusty shrugged. "We'll all get to read it eventually."

"Please don't fight over it." Bruiser pleaded.

"Agreed. There's no reason to fight, dearies." Lovely said, addressing the table. The assembled fillies and colts, even Bruiser, stared in awe. "I would be honored to have my little fanclub over to my house after school tomorrow. With your parent's permission, of course. I have plenty of copies for all of you. I'll even sign them for you personally. How does that sound?"

The silence that followed was hysterical to Second Story. Even Lovely was surprised by the power of her own celebrity. Bruiser looked around the table, even waved a hoof in front of Lacy's face. Turning back to his grandmother, Bruiser shrugged. "I think you broke my new friends, nana."

***

"Well, that's great!" Life exclaimed, setting a tray of freshly baked cookies down in front of the ponies assembled. Div and Second eyed the tray with suspicion. The smell wafting upwards had a tinge of burning and something...else.

"Um, honey?" Div started poking at a cookie carefully. "What are these?"

Life rolled his eyes. "Cookies. I'm trying a new recipe. Let it cool before you enjoy them."

"Right. Enjoy." Second said flatly. Lovely nudged him, but only earned a shrug.

"I don't know." Bruiser piped up, hesitantly. "I kinda wonder if they're just pretending to like me because of my grandmother."

Sighing, Lovely started passing around plates of cookies and glasses of milk. "If that's the case, Bruiser, then I'm sorry. I didn't realize just how popular this new series made me with my target audience. I mean, I hoped, but you never really know if any work catches on."

"You've got a point, Bruiser. If they're only in it because of Nana's books, then you'll find out pretty quickly. Try and engage them on other topics, see if you have common ground somewhere else. Give them a little to get over the shock of meeting a celebrity, though. Especially given your nana's excessive personality."

"Hey!" Lovely protested, sending a swarm of cookie crumbs after her cheeky son.

"Mom!" Life cried as he tried in vain to shield himself with a plate.

Ignoring their respective spouse's antics, Second and Div stared at the cookies in front of them. "Go ahead, Second." Div said, looking down at his cookie.

"He's your husband, Div. You should be the first." Second replied, lifting his milk instead.

Noting the looks of dread on both stallion's faces, Lovely finished her assault and sighed. "Oh you two. It's just a cookie." Lovely said, picking her own up. Not to be outdone by a mare, the two stallions picked up theirs and the three of them took a bite. Second, Div, and Lovely froze.

Chuckling to himself, Life picked bits of cookie out of his mane and faced his family. Three stony faces stared back at him.

"Hey guys, why the long faces?" Life joked.

"Dad, that's such an old pony joke." Bruiser teased, picking up his own cookie. Div stopped him, holding the hoof with the cookie down.

Swallowing carefully, Div grimaced. Inhaling, he tried to smile, but didn't quite make it genuine. "Honey, what's in these?"

"Cucumber, onion, and sesame seed. Three of my favorites. What do you think?"

"Uh," Div looked to Lovely and Second, who turned away to hide their disgust. Seeing no help there, Div got up and hugged Life. "I love you so much. Isn't Life nice to have gone to all this effort?"

Lovely and Second chewed in silence, nodding in spite of their pained expressions. Bruiser looked around at the adults curiously and downed his own cookie. Looking on in dismay, Div sighed and nudged the glass of milk closer to Bruiser. Giving him a sidelong look, Bruiser shrugged and drank his milk. His lack of reaction surprised those around him.

"Bruiser? What do you think?" Life asked. Div tensed, ready to comfort Life should Bruiser's lack of tact make an appearance.

"It’s good." The colt said, finishing his cookie with his second bite.

"Really?" Life asked, hopefully.

"Really?" Second, Lovely and Div asked incredulously.

To prove it, Bruiser grabbed another and downed it in one bite. "Yeah. Really."

Second, Div, and Lovely shared a look of amazement between them for a moment. Stunned silence fell over them.

"The poor colt has no sense of taste." Second concluded.

"If Life's been cooking like this the whole time, I can see why." Lovely put in.

"Hey!" Life pouted. "Div, you like it too, don't you? Have another one." He proffered the tray to his husband.

Div looked at Second and Lovely, but they pointedly looked at the tray as if it would attack them. Turning to Bruiser, he immediately realized the mistake, as the colt simply reached for another one. Returning to Life, Div made his decision. "I have another sweet in mind." He said, teasingly leaning in

Life stood, unfazed. "My parents are right there. And our child is watching. Take the cookie."

"I'd rather have my sweetie." He said, putting on all the charm he could. Lifting a hoof, he caressed the side of Life's face tenderly.

Pecking Div's cheek, Life held the tray up. "There, now prove to my parents that these aren't horrible."

"Uh, I have to get ready for the night shift at work. Love you!" Div said, pecking Life on the cheek before running off.

"Sogni DiVolare! You get back here!" Life said, chasing Div upstairs.

With both parents gone Bruiser stood, made his way to the trash can quickly and spat out what he'd held in his mouth. A pained expression crossed his face and he spat again. Not satisfied, Bruiser took off his hat and licked it a few times to banish the taste.

"Bruiser! Manners." Lovely scolded without thinking.

Second crossed to the fridge and retrieved a jug of juice. "You must love you dad an awful lot to spare his feelings like that." He said, approvingly. "But sometimes it's okay to tell your loved one that something just isn't good. Believe me, I know."

As Second and Lovely shared a look, Bruiser downed a good portion of juice.

Comments

[Grekoy]

Ahahahaha!!!! Cookies for the win!