An Unconventional Challenge

by RaijingtheClockworkPony

Morning Company, and Evening Delights

With the precision that only the sun could have, a single beam of light pierced through the leaves of the libraries branches and into the room with two sleeping ponies. The light landed upon the closed eyes of the lavender unicorn cuddles up to the light cyan stallion. Her mind slowly awoke as the warm light roused her from the pleasant slumber she was enjoying.

Every time... I swear Celestia does that on purpose.

The lavender mare turned slightly and felt something soft brush along her cheek. She giggled at the feeling then nuzzled closer to it. She felt even more of the softness and found that some of them started to poke her. Confused, she opened her eyes to see a cyan wing draped over her. She followed the wing over to the sleeping stallion she was sharing the bed with and was cuddled up to.

Twilight noticed that Blitz's mouth was open slightly, lightly snoring next to her. The mare giggled at the image in front of her then cuddled closer to him. A smile made its way across her face as she pulled the blanket up a little.

This was also something Celestia and I did... wow, Blitz is kinda soft. Wonder how he got his fur and feathers like this. Twilight put that thought out of her mind and glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was almost seven o'clock. Maybe I should make him a nice breakfast. I do have some of that apple tart that Applejack gave me the other day...

A smile came across the mares face as she slowly got out of the bed and made sure not to wake stallion. She stretched for a moment before she noticed the third occupant in the room. In a small basket near the base of the bed was Spines deep asleep, sprawled out and snoring lightly.

"No wonder I woke up, her snoring is ridiculous."

Twilight giggled for a moment then tucked the little dragon in. She made her way down the staircase and into the kitchen to make breakfast for her two sleeping friends.

With a groan and a slight kink in the neck Blitz opened his eyes. A wooden ceiling greeted him as a warm scent reached his nose. The stallion sat up and noticed that his bed-mate had disappeared.

She must be downstairs, making whatever smells so good.

A small sound at the foot of the bed caught Blitz's attention. He slowly shifted over and glanced over to see Spines waking up in her little basket bed. The purple dragon looked up and noticed the cyan stallion sitting on the bed looking down at her.

"Morning, Blitz. How was your night?"

The pony watched the dragon yawn and rub her eyes. "It was pretty good. I'm surprised that you aren't asking how I got here or anything."

"I saw you and Twilight asleep when I came to bed last night. You both looked really comfortable, so I didn't want to wake you up. What were you two up to before you fell asleep?"

"We were reading the newest Daring Do... then we sorta fell asleep. Was a pretty good chapter, and we talked about for a while... then yeah... you know the rest."

Spines stretched for a moment then sniffed the air. "Who's cooking downstairs?"

"Twilight is, I think."

The dragoness's face fell a little at hearing that. Blitz noticed her expression change and he felt something was off. The stallion took a second of looking at the worried expression on the dragons face before he connected the dots.

"That bad, huh?"

The purple dragon nodded. "She once burnt frozen waffles, before they were in the toaster."

Blitz laughed for a moment before he noticed that Spines wasn't joking. "Oh boy..."

"This will be interesting to say the least. Hope you like burnt food."

Blitz and Spines shared a small laugh before they heard hooves on the staircase. A moment later the door opened and a tray filled with pancakes, apple tarts, orange juice, milk, and what looked like bowls of oatmeal. Following the tray was a humming Twilight.

"Morning! I hope I didn't wake you."

Blitz shook his head. "No, I woke up a few minutes ago."

Spines took no time in digging into the food. With her mouth full, she finally responded almost a minute later.

"Uhm mmmfph mhood."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Swallow before you speak please."

A quick, but hard swallow later Spines spoke. "I said that you didn't wake me. Also this is pretty good. Were these frozen?"

The lavender mare shook her head. "No, I made these just now. The tarts were from Applejack a day ago, but aside from that most of this is fresh."

The small dragon stopped mid chew. "You made all of this?" She turned to Blitz. "You need to start staying the night more if it makes her cook like this."

The trio shared a small laugh, but at the last moment Twilight noticed the small smile that Blitz gave her. It wasn't a look she had ever seen him give, and she couldn't read it, however she felt a small warmth from the look. A moment later it was replaced by a larger, cocky grin that she was more familiar with. The group knew it was going to be a good day.

One week since she had given him that kiss, five days since they had bumped into each other and shared a small laugh, three days since he spotted her from the bakery window, and yesterday he had made a order just for her. Berry couldn't believe how quickly the week had just flown by.

The bubble gum pink stallion walked along a crowded market road, and made his way towards a small flower cart. Stopping to tell a quick joke and to buy a lovely bouquet for the mare he had a date with, the stallion smiled to himself as the scent of the country and the violets mingled together.

Can't wait to see what Fluttershy wanted to show me. I bet she has something really cool to show me, like a trick her animals know, or maybe a cool way to sing and whistle at the same time... that would make parties so much funner!

With a large grin the stallion trotted along the country path. He came upon a cloud with a prismatic tail hanging over the side. Berry made his way over to the small cloud and pulled out a nearby trampoline he had stashed around for trampoline emergencies. With gentle care he placed the flowers down then leaped with all his might onto the bouncy surface.

The pink stallion reached the apex of his jump with his head being even with that of the dozing stallion. He hung in the air long enough for him to draw in a deep breath and shout.

"Hi Blitz!"

The image of the cyan stallion jerking awake with a slight cry of alarm was all Berry got to see as gravity finally grabbed him and pulled him back down. The pink earth pony landed on the trampoline and with a loud *boing!*, he sailed back up to the cloud in the air. He reached the top of the jump and hung there a little longer than he should have.

"Hi Berry, what brings you out here... and up here?"

"Just going to my date with Fluttershy. Whatcha up to Blitzy?"

The cyan pegasus rolled over on the cloud and looked over the edge to watch his pink friend bounce up and down.

"Thinking mostly. Twilight can't seem to catch my hints. I mean, I gave her all the right signs, and heck yesterday I brought her flowers... and still nothing from her at all!"

Still bouncing up and down Berry gave Blitz a thoughtful look. "Have you tried asking her out?"

Blitz was about to answer the bouncing stallion but stopped himself. Maybe he should ask her out. Everything else had failed so far, and he was starting to get desperate. He couldn't lose this bet, and he would never live with himself if he lost to Elusive.

"I... might have to take the direct approach soon..."

"Well, you might need to get on that. After all, I know you hate losing and I know that you get really mad when you lose to Elusive."

The prismatic stallion nodded. "Yeah... I don't want to hear about it for the rest of my life."

The two stallions gave a quick good-bye before Blitz soared off. Berry took a moment to stash the trampoline away, just in case he needed it again, and picked up the flowers. The remaining trot to Fluttershy's home was uneventful for Berry, but he didn't mind. He was more focused on what Fluttershy might be showing him.

He arrived at the small tree cottage and spotted Fluttershy busy with a small group of birds under a tree with low branches. Getting a quick idea, the pink earth pony crept up behind Fluttershy. The birds spotted him and looked ready to notify the yellow mare, but a quick wink and smile from Berry kept them quiet. The stallion got into position and gave the unaware mare a quick kiss on the cheek. Her reaction was not what he was expecting. A loud squeal and a leap into the air were all he got in return.

"EEEK!" The yellow mare looked down from the tree she had now latched onto. "Berry! You scared me... what was that for?"

Fluttershy slowly descended from the tree and gave the stallion an embarrassed smile. Berry smiled back. "Well, you told me to hold onto that kiss until today, so I returned it to you."

The mare could only blush as she smiled at him. "Thank you for returning it..."

As the pink stallion stood there grinning, Fluttershy noticed the flowers sitting on his back. She clear her throat softly and point to them with a small smile. She had to repeat the action a few times before he followed her hoof to the flowers.

"Oh!" Berry gave the flowers to Fluttershy. "Here, I got these for you as well. Sorry about that, I was distracted."

"It's okay..." Fluttershy gave him a warm smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I think I can forgive you. So, you're a little early, but that's okay. We need to wait until the sun is almost set before we head out."

Berry felt his face go really warm and he was certain that he was blushing. "Where are we going?"

"That's a surprise."

"I love surprises!"

The yellow mare led Berry into the cottage with a small giggle, and they settled down on the couch. Berry and Fluttershy exchanged stories about how their day went and local gossip. The stallion was busy playing with Angel when he told Fluttershy about Blitz's plan to ask Twilight out.

"Wait, so Blitz is in love with Twilight?"

Angel gave Berry a skeptical look for a moment as the pink pony looked over and saw the surprised look on Fluttershy's face.

"Yeah, I guess so. He's going to ask her out so why wouldn't he. Stallions don't just ask out a mare after spending two weeks trying to tell them."

The yellow mare nodded but still looked surprised. "Hmm, that's kinda interesting. First you ask me out, then Elusive and Applejack start dating, and now Blitz is asking Twilight. Did you three have a contest or something?"

As Fluttershy had a small laugh, Berry felt uncomfortably warm. He gave an awkward laugh and couldn't look at the mare next to him for a moment.

"Yeah... it's really funny that these things happened so close to each other..." He cleared his throat and licked his lips nervously. "How long until whatever you are showing me?"

"Only an hour or so. Are you hungry? I could make you something real quick."

The stallion shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I ate before I came here, besides, when we come back from what you are showing I can make us a nice dinner."

"Okay, but if you get hungry let me know." Fluttershy nuzzled Berry and let out a content sigh. "So, Elusive and Applejack... I never would have thought they would have fallen in love. They always seem to be butting heads."

Berry nodded and felt a small bead of sweat form. "Yeah, they really argued a lot... maybe it's an opposites attract thing, I mean, look at us! I'm really loud and very open and stuff and you tend to be all quiet and cute."

The yellow mare nuzzled the stallion and smiled at the compliment. "Yeah, and even Blitz and Twilight are opposites in a way. Blitz isn't the smartest stallion..." Fluttershy blushed in deep shame. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be mean like that. I know that you and Blitz are really good friends."

"It's okay. He can be a little bit; um what's the word... slow? He can be smart some of the time, like super-duper good with weather stuff and he's a super cool flier, but on other things he knows next to nothing, like one time I tried to teach him how to bake a really nice cake but he just couldn't figure it out. I think by the end of it he wanted to punch the ovens."

Much to Berry's delight the mare cuddled up to him let out a laugh. He laughed with her for a good minute and the two began talking about baking, to Berry a finer part of life, and the foods at the Sugarcube corner. From how the cupcakes were made to how the Cakes managed to keep up with Berry and the twins.

Time slipped by, and much to the ponies surprise, the time to head out came upon them. Both ponies rose from the sofa and headed outside. Fluttershy took in a deep breath of the evening air, and then gave the stallion a small smile.

"What I'm going to show you is something I found when I had to visit Zecora for some herbs to cure Angel. I got a little lost and stumbled upon them."

"What are they?"

The mare only smiled and shook her head. "That's part of the surprise. Come along please."

Fluttershy took Berry's hooves and gently pulled him along the path towards the forest. The stallion walked alongside the mare and could only watch her as she grinned and hummed as she led him along. A minute passed before the pink pony joined along with the humming. The mare looked at him and together they hummed a merry tune in perfect time with each other.

The humming ended when Fluttershy made Berry stop in the middle of a small glade. "We're here."

The pink stallion looked around for anything that would stand out but saw nothing. "Umm... I don't see anything..."

"Well, we're a little early, but I wanted to do something before it happens."

Berry looked into the eyes of the yellow mare in front of him and saw the loving look in her eyes. She was leaning closer and before he could even think of saying anything, their lips met and the world turned to bliss for the pink stallion. He caressed Fluttershy gently and closed his eyes as he gave himself to the kiss. Their lips met and playfully danced as their hooves held each other.

To Berry, time had stopped for this one moment and he never wanted it to ever end. However, a sudden light caught his attention, right as Fluttershy broke the kiss. Looking up Berry saw hundreds of bright purple flowers blooming around him. His jaw dropped as he heard what almost sounded like gentle flute notes emanate from the flowers.

"I found these when I got lost... they kept me from freaking out, and well, they are very pretty to look at. I don't come out here often to watch them bloom, but when I do it's always worth."

Berry glanced back down to see the yellow mare bathed in a deep purple light. She was beaming at him and she moved close to nuzzle him.

"I hope you like them."

The stallion could only smile and nuzzle the mare back. He hugged her close and lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes.

"Was worth the wait."

The pair kissed again and held each other closely and listened to the flowers as they played softly. Berry knew that they couldn't sleep out here in the forest but he was willing to wait until the last second before he had to leave this place with Fluttershy.

Comments

[djthomp]

I don't know that's it developing that poorly, Blitz. In terms of doing stuff with Twilight that both of you enjoy, the reading plan ain't bad.

And my god are Shy and Berry adorable.

[Lighting Flicker]

Twilight can be so clueless when it comes to romance.

[Nightmare Wolf]

I don't want to know how it will look like, when the plan comes out. It will be painful physically for those guys, and emotionally for girls (and me).

[Seether00]

Damn, Shy and Berry are supercute.

Best couple!

[Frizzy]

The mares are becoming aware!

[DigitalChaos]

They're so cute together

I can't wait until Shy realizes he did it on a contest.

[Burnasius]

Now I'm worried about Elusive, is AJ asks him about the reason for being with her, she can tell if he's lying and the first to receive a bucking.

[keaton-furman-prower]

Oooh, when the mares realize what's going on, st is gonna hit the fan like it never has before

Also, cute chapter

[Murder McKillingSpree]

3074741 You do realize that in the fictional world we read bucking isn't just for apple trees....

[Burnasius]

3074916

Bucking in this context is well... a buck in the face, so... I used the right to an extent

[Sharky]

I sense a blow to the balls in the near future and we men will all cringe a little some of us will laugh but those are the ones who have never received a truly good shot to the jewels

[RaijingtheClockworkPony]

3077431 Mincemeat pies are mostly fruit actually, and it's a common thing amongst vegetarians to leave out the meat part of it, but most the time meat isn't the main ingredient. It's all depending on ones culture. Trust me, there's no meat in that pie.

[RealityCheck]

This is adorable.

You gonna have "Spines" stumble into someone?

[Cutie Batootie]

Kyaaaah~ this is too adorably awesomeee! And wow I read all of it within 3 hours and it felt so short, that's how super this story is!
Please, oh please update soon, it hurts to wait and you wouldn't want to hurt me, right?~

[Cutie Batootie]

3276988
Hmmm~ now who's a good match for Spines?

[AltGrendel]

The yellow mare nodded but still looked surprised. "Hmm, that's kinda interesting. First you ask me out, then Elusive and Applejack start dating, and now Blitz is asking Twilight. Did you three have a contest or something?"

Uh-oh.

[Forrest Hunt]

I love this.

[SageBrony07]

I can't wait for the next chapter. This story seems to be very interesting.

[Metroid Prime]

37 weeks later

[Metroid Prime]

1 full year later