"Ya don't need ta be doin' that, ya know," came the familiar voice of an old light green pony sitting at the table.
His haggard orange eyes peeked up from behind the newspaper he was reading, fixed on a very familiar sight to his family. At an ancient cast iron stove stood a red pony with a lengthy dark orange mane and tail. She was quite tall, easily towering over the stove and tilting her head to avoid bumping the vent. A large green apple cutie mark sat emblazoned on her flank, right where her rear leg met her main body, which was ironic considering her name involved nothing green. The only part of her body that was green, however, were her tired eyes that now glanced back at the pony sitting at the table.
"Ah know," she spoke in a soft tone before returning her gaze to the stove and the pot sitting on it.
The older pony heaved a huge sigh before rustling the newspaper, bringing it up to avoid watching her cook.
"Ah see the price of cherries may be goin' up agaihn," he mumbled, eyeing the text.
"Eeyup," the red mare responded before taking the pot off of the stove.
The old pony folded the paper into a tight square as the mare trotted over. He offered a smile as he took a deep breath and smelled the wonderful aroma of breakfast.
"Ah think that might be mah favorite, porridge with some of that there corn and pumpkin ya been growin'."
The mare smiled with the pot still in her mouth and nodded before pouring a bit into the bowl seated in front of the older pony. The thick liquid slopped into the bowl, but refused to leave it in favor of the red and white checkered tablecloth. The mare pulled back and trotted back over to the stove as the green pony took a small nibble out of his bowl, his stomach and tongue eager to taste it.
"Be careful, Pappy," the mare spoke up without looking behind her, "That be some mighty hot porridge."
"Gala, let me tell ya somethin'," the green pony spoke in a slightly more serious tone, "Ah've been here for far longer than most o' the ponies in this town. There ain't nothin' here Ah haven't had happen ta me, including eatin' a meal that just came from the stove. Yer Pappy knows how to eat. I may be old, but Ah sure ain't forgetful like them other old ponies."
A small chuckle escaped the red mare.
"Yes, Pappy." she spoke in a more amused tone.
The green pony nodded before looking back at the bowl filled with porridge, along with two more empty ones on the table.
"Ah reckon Applejack and Applebutter should be a comin' in purty soon. They must be hungry by now," Pappy spoke, looking up from the table to the red mare, who was watching a clock on the far side of wall.
"Five, four, three, two..." she counted softly to herself.
As soon as the final number left her mind, the front door crashed open, causing Pappy to jump.
"Ah told ya Ah'd beat ya here!" came the spry young voice of a colt.
"That's 'cause I gave you a head start!" a more mature voice responded.
"Ah whatever!" the colt called back.
"You colts best be gettin' in here!" Pappy shouted to the doorway on the far side of the kitchen, "Yer sister spent a good half hour on this!"
Hoofbeats echoed around the house and soon, two ponies stood in the doorway, each with bright eyes and wide grins. One was an orange stallion with sparkling green eyes and a worn brown hat resting atop his mane of straw yellow. A few freckles had gathered at the base of his eyes, right where the edges of his smile were. His mane was pulled back into a ponytail which wrapped around one side of his neck.
At his hooves was a small colt of the same straw yellow as the bigger ones mane. His blazing orange eyes were fixed upon the red mare, even as his red bandana around his forehead sagged down onto the top of his eyelids. The mare, Gala, smiled at her two brothers as they made their way over to the table, chatting with Pappy about what he read in the paper. With practiced ease, Gala picked up the still hot pot and served the rest of the porridge to her brothers.
After a quite messy eating competition between Applejack and Applebutter, judged by Pappy, the mare quietly cleaned up the mess as the stallions talked. According to Applejack, it was time to start harvesting the apples on the norhtwestern part of the orchards, a particularly large area. Pappy had some errands to run in town and Applebutter had school, meaning it would be Applejack and Gala who would harvest the apples, not that either of them minded.
Four hours later, Gala silently trotted up to another apple tree ready for harvesting. The juicy red fruits hung from the branches, pulling the boughs down under their combined weight. The red mare slowly chewed on a stalk of hay sticking out of the right side of her mouth, an emotionless expression gracing her face. A new accessory, an old, weather-beaten yoke, hung snugly onto her neck. It looked uncomfortable to wear since it was bigger than her head, but she absolutely loved the yoke the same way her brother loved his hat.
Gala took a couple trips around the tree, noting where the largest clusters of apples were located before setting down two buckets on opposite sides of the tree. Without blinking or even moving her eyes, the mare took a position between the buckets, her back to the tree. She lifted one leg and, without so much as a glance behind her, planted a solid kick squarely in the tree trunk, causing a shiver to run through the branches. As the shiver made its way to the outer twigs, the juicy apples began to fall into the buckets, filling them up well past their tops.
With her same expressionless face, Gala turned to the overflowing buckets and lifted one of them onto her back with practiced ease. The bucket was easily the weight of a full grown stallion, but Gala was much stronger than she looked, a fact many stallions had found out the hard way. When the bucket rested squarely on her back, Gala began to trot off to the carts that were meant to haul the apples back to the barn.
Somewhere in the grove, a couple of familiar voices echoed over to her, causing her right ear to lower slightly. It was evidently Applejack with a couple of his friends, the Elements of Harmony.
"Aw, c'mon AJ!" came the familiar shout of Rainbow Blitz, "I have to have you on my team!"
"Sorry Blitz, but Dusk asked me first," her brother's voice responded.
"Why did you say yes then?! Now I gotta have Butterscotch on my team!"
"What's wrong with 'nother pegasus, then?"
"Have you seen him?! The guy is a total pushover!"
"T-that's not true," came a very timid voice, evidently Butterscotch.
"Oh please!" Blitz answered, "Gimme five bits!"
"Oh, um, I think I have some here..."
A very audible groan and an argument about Butterscotch's self respect later, three ponies emerged from the forest, one cyan blue pegasus sporting a rainbow colored mane, a butter yellow pegasus with the most silly pink mane and an orange stallion carrying a bucket half full of apples. All three stopped and stared as Gala trotted by slowly, carrying her bucket.
"Heya, Gala," Applejack said as he walked towards the carts in the clearing.
"Sup Gala?" came Rainbow Blitz, smoothing back his obnoxiously messy mane, "You're lookin' real nice today."
Gala mentally rolled her eyes at his comment. Blitz was always trying to win over the mares, as few as they were. She had recently become his next target, even though she had only said two words to him the entire time they had known each other. Applejack gave Blitz a scowl, but said nothing.
"Oh, um, hi Gala," Butterscotch spoke softly, almost trying to hide in his mane.
Gala gave him a glance and smiled at the pegasus, causing his cheeks to burn bright red. She knew all of her brother's friends had a crush on her, but they never dared to try anything with her out of fear of Applejack. All except for Blitz, who was always at odds with AJ.
However, Gala's smile didn't go unnoticed by Blitz, who scowled and planted his hoof into Butterscotch's head, who squealed rather loudly.
"Since when did you start talking to mares?" he asked with a hint of an edge in his voice.
"Ow! Ouch! Please stop, Blitz," the yellow pegasus moaned, grimacing.
"Both of ya'll need ta quit it," Applejack spoke up, dumping his apples into the cart, "Mah sister will talk to whoever she whants."
"Eeyup," Gala replied, dumping her bucket as well.
After groaning quite audibly again, Blitz removed his hoof from Butterscotch's crown and crossed his hooves, pouting like a colt while the yellow one rubbed his head slowly. Gala always felt slightly sorry for the scared pegasus and decided to give him a little confidence booster, just because he was cute when he was shy. Before disappearing into the groove of apple trees again, she walked by Butterscotch and whipped her tail in his direction, giving him a smile as Blitz's mouth fell to the ground. The last thing she saw before the endless rows of apple trees was Butterscotch blushing furiously, followed by Blitz attacking him for information about how he was able to charm mares.
Gala chuckled to herself as she kept trotting away farther into the forest. Butterscotch was definitely cute, but in the small puppy kind of way. He definitely wasn't her type, even though he kept trying to strike up a conversation more than four sentences with her. No, he was her brother's friend and an Element of Harmony, an off limits stallion. Her kind of type was a serious and hard working stallion, one who would build a home from the ground up. As the thought of a perfect stallion weaved around her head, the image of the local schoolteacher, Mister Cherry Lee, popped up.
Gala was grateful her coat was red, because she felt a small blush come to her cheeks. Her younger brother, Applebutter, and his friends, Silver Bell and Skater Roo, were determined one Hearts and Hooves Day to find Cherry Lee a mare, regardless of how few there were. Upon finding out Gala didn't have a date for the day either, they promptly hatched a hair-brained scheme to set them up together. The plan was moderately successful, but only after feeding them a love potion. Cherry Lee and Gala wound up nearly marrying each other before the potion wore off, causing quite a stir in Ponyville.
However, Gala had started to wonder since then if she did indeed have some sort of opinion on Mister Cherry Lee. Ever since that day, she was starting to blush every time she thought about him. He was indeed a hard working stallion, saving the local schoolhouse from condemnation and running it alone. Rumor had it that in one of his drawers was a picture of Gala he had saved from that day, something she found rather flattering.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Gala looked around and realized she had passed the tree she was harvesting already. Sighing to herself, she turned around and trotted back to the tree, Whatever her stallion issues were, they didn't matter today. Once she was done with work, she was supposed to meet her best friends, Sugarsnap and Thundercloud, at the local spa.
Sugarsnap groaned loudly, placing her forehead on the counter. This was not the kind of stress she needed today. When she took the job at the local sweets shop, she figured the most annoying thing to deal with would be colts running into the store, ordering nearly everything in the glass case. Apparently, she knew nothing about a certain gray pegasus with an eye condition. When she looked back up, he smiled at her in the most sincere way, as if pleading.
"For the last time, Derp," Sugarsnap spoke, tilting her caramel colored head, "I can't keep giving you a muffin for free. Can-Can gets very upset when I give out the sweets for free."
The pegasus, Derp, lowered his head sadly, eyes staring in two separate directions. He always had a muffin from the store, even when he was on his last few bits. As he slowly turned to walk away, Sugarsnap heard a sniffle come from him. She tried to remain stalwart, but the sad sounds he was making made her heart melt.
As he slowly walked to the door, Sugarsnap groaned again.
"Wait, Derp," she called, pulling a box out from under the counter.
The pegasus spun around, tears forming at the edges of his eyes, to face the mare as she approached him. Sugarsnap knew she would regret this, but she couldn't bare to see him upset. Shoving the box into his hooves, Sugarsnap looked him dead in the eye before speaking.
"Derp, you are going to try and save your bits, right?" she asked.
A huge grin spread across his face as the gray pegasus threw his hooves around the mare. Sugarsnap flinched for a second, but gently returned the hug. After a few seconds, Derp pulled away and looked at her as best as he could, still grinning widely.
"Uh huh!" he spoke enthusiastically, "I gotta save my money! Not just for muffins, but for Dizzy as well!"
"Then go do your job," Sugarsnap responded with a friendly smile, "The mail's got to be delivered."
"Yes, ma'am!" he said, saluting to her before flying out of the door.
Sugarsnap sighed again as she pulled the door shut, trying to suppress the small grin coming to her face. Derp was a nice stallion who had to have a chocolate chip muffin everyday, regardless if he could pay for it. He was a good stallion, working to make sure his son had a good life. Trotting back to the counter, the mare's smile quickly faded when she saw another pony frowning at her from the doorway leading to the back of the shop.
"Now why are you so nice to him and not Lyre?" the tan pony said, his dark blue and bright pink locks bouncing as he spoke.
Sugarsnap grimaced a bit at the comment before replying, "He's your friend, sir. I allow him to have anything he wants free of charge, as per your request."
"Yeah, but you don't smile like that when he talks to you," the pony mused, raising an eyebrow.
"Mr. Can-Can," the caramel colored mare responded with a flash from her blue eyes, "With all due respect, I don't like it when he makes a comment about how pretty I am when by back is turned."
The pony, Can-Can, lowered his eyes a little, adverting his gaze from the mare. He knew of the remarks his friend had made to her. Oddly enough, he was quite the defender of Sugarsnap from the prying eyes of the many stallion in Ponyville, often forcing them to leave the store when they sniggered at something she did, like going into the lower shelves. As adamant as he was to others, Lyre was still his best friend.
"I will speak to him about that," Can-Can said monotonously before tucking his head back into the kitchen. Sugarsnap, for her part, spun around and faced the doorway again, her good mood ruined.
The day went rather slowly from then on. Being the second sweet shop in town, customers were slow to come by, many of them opting for Sugarcube Corner. Still, what few customers did come in made Sugarsnap's day. It wasn't until about one o'clock in the afternoon did the day take an interesting turn. The bell on the front door jingled happily, catching Sugarsnap off-guard while she rotated the stock of hoof-sized peanut butter cups filled with caramel, her favorite sweet.
Poking her head up, Sugarsnap smiled widely and said, "Welcome to Can-Can's Sweet Shop!"
As it turned out, two unicorn stallions glanced at her, one with a confident smile and one with a nervous grin. The white one had stunning blue eyes, similar to Sugarsnap's, along with a pristine purple mane. He glanced over to his friend, the purple unicorn sporting a rather messy mane of dark purple with a pink stripe.
"So, you really think that crackpot theory of yours will work?" the white one spoke daintily, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"What?" the aloof purple one responded, tearing his gaze away from Sugarsnap.
The white one chuckled before answering the counter inquiry.
"Ah, nevermind, Dusky. Just watch and learn."
The purple one rolled his eyes and mumbled, "You said that with Princess Blueblood."
Ignoring the comment, the white one strode up smoothly to the counter, never breaking eye contact with the caramel colored mare. Sugarsnap kept her smile, but groaned inside her mind. He was evidently trying to woo her, as some stallions did when not observing her flank.
"Hey there," the white one spoke, voice dripping with overconfidence.
"Welcome to Can-Can's," the mare repeated in the exact same tone she had used before, "What can I get for you?"
The white one sighed heavily, acting as if he was distracted. He was really trying to ham it up to her.
"I'm sorry," he spoke softly, "I didn't catch your name."
"My name is Sugarsnap. Would you like to buy something?"
"Sugarsnap..." he spoke as if in a dreamy tone. He gazed off, as if thinking about her name. Sugarsnap, though, was not impressed as her rehearsed smile dropped into an unhappy frown. She was in no mood to play games with an overly dramatic stallion. Leaning over to her right side, she looked straight at the purple unicorn and smiled to him.
"May I get you something?" she asked sweetly.
The purple unicorn, who she assumed was Dusky, smiled sheepishly back to her. He played with his hooves for a second before the white one burst out in an exasperated tone.
"Hey! I was first!" he yelled.
Sugarsnap's smile became a frown again as she regarded the white unicorn.
"Sir, I'm not here for you to stare at. I'm here to take your order."
"But, but..." he spluttered, as if shocked she had figured out what he was doing, "I was just taking in your ravenous beauty!"
Sugarsnap gave the pony an unimpressed look before responding, "We sell candy and sweets here, not me."
The white unicorn's face went as red as her friend Red Gala's coat before he said anything in response.
"What are you trying to imply?! I'm a good and upstanding stallion! I would never--"
"You just tried and failed," Sugarsnap deadpanned, "Now, are you going to order something or leave?"
The white unicorn was at a loss for words, stammering and forming half sentences before the purple one walked up and put a hoof on his shoulder.
"Elusive, looks like you should let me handle this," he spoke, trying to suppress a laugh.
Elusive scrunched up his face into an angry look before turning around, sticking his nose in the air. He made an indignant noise before trotting off to where the purple one was standing, allowing himself to sulk.
The purple one smiled to Sugarsnap and said, "Sorry about my friend. My name's Dusk Shine. What's yours?"
"Sugarsnap," she replied, still wearing her unimpressed look, "Now do you want something or do you want to try and fail like your friend over there?"
"I heard that!" Elusive shouted over to them.
"You were supposed to," Sugarsnap said, a small grin coming to her cheeks and Dusk chuckled as well.
"You're pretty funny, Sugarsnap," Dusk replied, "What do you recommend for today?"
Sugarsnap grinned a little more as she named off several sweets. If he was actually going to buy something, she could tolerate his small attempts at flirting with her. As she spoke, Elusive stood in the back, still unhappy at Sugarsnap.
"Wow, that's quite a selection," Dusk spoke with a whistle, "I think I'll get... Oh! Those!"
He pointed a hoof at the glass case, where some small cakes lay. However, as soon as he did, the door burst open, revealing a mess of pink poofy hair.
"Hey Dusk, what'cha--" came the familiar voice of Sugarsnap's rival baker, Berry Bubble. The pink stallion froze mid-sentence as he watched all three ponies, his face frozen in shock.
"Dusk!" he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "What in Equestria are you doing to her?!"
Dusk looked back to Sugarsnap, who gave her own confused look, before turning back.
"What are you talking about, Berry?" he asked, confused.
"Why are you pushing a mare?!" Berry shouted back, his blue eyes fixed on the contact Dusk's hoof was having with Sugarsnap's chest.
"Uh, wha-?" Dusk spoke in his aloof tone.
Without warning, Berry jumped up into the air, a very unhappy look on his face, and tackled Dusk away from the counter. The two ponies began fighting, Berry accusing Dusk of being mean to mares and Dusk trying to explain he wasn't touching her. Elusive, the white unicorn, looked over to Sugarsnap, who was at a loss for words, and proceeded to start laughing.
Amid the fight and the laughter, Sugarsnap reburied her forehead into the counter and tried to figure out why stallions were so weird around her. The white one, Elusive, had tried to hit on her, Dusk, the purple one, had just about ordered something before the obnoxious pink one tackled him and started fighting in the store.
As the stallions finally broke apart and started talking, Sugarsnap heaved a huge sigh. At least after work she would be with her best friends, Big Gala and Thundercloud, at the local spa.
Thundercloud tucked her wings close as she dove down at the unsuspecting cloud. Her face was locked into a determined smirk as her gold eyes narrowed. She loved the feel of the wind blowing through her mane and stinging her eyes, the slight sense of vertigo and the freedom she felt in the air. The cloud didn't know how lucky it was to be permanently flying, but then again, it didn't know how unlucky it was at the same time. The black coated mare plowed through the soft cloud, the mass of water vapor trailing her as she spread her wings and caught the air, gaining lift. As she flew up, the mare spun slowly with her front hooves outstretched and eyes closed, smiling the whole time. She really loved flying.
However, the sounds of cheering and whistles brought her back down to Equestria. Stopping her ascent, the mare spun around, trying to locate the source of the cheers, pausing when she did so. Flying not too far away were two stallions on the same weather team as her, Cloudbucker and Buzz. The two were twins, both extremely light purplish-blue ponies with platinum blue manes. The two cheered rather loudly, causing Thundercloud's cheeks to redden. As quickly as she could, the mare dove to the ground and flew off, even as the stallions called and apologized for scaring her.
After landing, Thundercloud panted heavily as the other pegasi started to land. Many of them yawned widely and others rubbed their eyes, a clear sign of how early it was. Thundercloud herself started to give a yawn before a pony decided to shout in her face.
"What are you yawning for?!" came a voice that made her flinch.
Thundercloud risked opening an eye to see the angry gaze that Rainbow Blitz bore.
"Weather ponies don't yawn!" he shouted again. He meant it to be directed at everypony, but was still towering over Thundercloud when he did it.
"Hey!" came the voice of another pony, "Leave her alone!"
Both Blitz and Thundercloud turned to see who was talking, the stallion to the mare and the mare to another pony. She spun her head around, searching for the voice, but recoiled as Blitz began his shouting again.
"Okay, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that! Good work, everypony! We cleared the sky in twenty eight minutes and forty four seconds, three seconds faster than last time! Weather team, dismissed!"
The rainbow maned stallion seemed to accentuate his last word right into Thundercloud's ear before disappearing in a flash of spectrum colored light. Thundercloud moaned slightly as she rubbed her ringing ears, hoping she wasn't deaf. Around her, stallions gave her concerned looks, but flew off in hopes of getting some more sleep before beginning their day. The black mare slowly opened her eyes, hoping nopony was going to be there, but moaned a bit as Cloudbucker and Buzz gave her concerned looks.
"Hey, are you okay?" Buzz, the one with a red bandana, asked.
Cloudbucker offered a hoof, but Thundercloud rose to her hooves alone. It wasn't easy being the only mare on the weather team and she could ill afford to look weak or dainty in front of them, especially Rainbow Blitz. He wasn't too happy about her joining after she rejected his advances for two weeks straight, so she had to make sure she gave him no reason to kick her off the team. The stallions knew Blitz would never kick her off the team because she was a mare, but Thundercloud wasn't so keen on that.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled to the twins while rubbing her ear, "I just gotta get going and wake Rattle before she misses school."
"Oh, um, we could come with and help you!" Cloudbucker said as the black mare spread her wings, "Buzz makes some killer oats and buckwheat!"
"Uh huh!" Buzz joined in, "I can make other stuff too if you don't like that!"
Flapping her wings twice, Thundercloud went airborne before smiling at the twins.
"Thank you for the offer, but I can manage," she spoke in a sincere tone. Before they could protest further, the mare flapped her wings harder and flew off, straight to the little two bedroom apartment she and her little sister shared.
"Sis? Sister?"
A hoof prodded Thundercloud's side and she moaned loudly before rolling over.
"Five more minutes," she pathetically whined.
The hoof prodded again, followed by the voice.
"Sister, it's time to get up," it spoke, a hint of amusement underscoring the words.
Another moan escaped Thundercloud as she snuggled into her bed more. She was way too comfortable to get up. Instead of a prodding hoof this time, several hooves assaulted her side, causing the mare to yelp as she suddenly struggled around. The hooves kept on poking and rubbing her back, causing her to involuntary move around.
"Rattle!" she almost shouted before her wings started flapping around and feeling a rather small pony at her back. A very distinct giggling came to her and Thundercloud spun around. On her bed was the most adorable little filly, colored light gray with a dark gray mane. Her locks fell across the back of her neck as she giggled uncontrollably, opening one of her purple eyes to look at her older sister.
"I told ya you gotta get up, sis," she said before giggling again.
"Oh yeah?" Thundercloud asked, now fully awake and grinning slightly, "Then how about this?"
The little filly had no time to react as the older sibling began to tickle her. The giggling became full blown laughter as the filly squirmed, unable to stop her sister's onslaught. That lasted for about two minutes before the mare finally let the filly go, each grinning rather widely at each other.
"Are you gunna take me to school, sis?" Rattle asked with wide eyes.
Thundercloud slicked back the filly's disheveled mane and said, "Well, since you got me up..."
"Yay!" Rattle shouted as she wrapped her hooves around Thundercloud's waist. The mare smiled and hugged her back, just as happy as she could be. The filly broke the hug after a bit and tore off out of the room as the mare stretched her legs and trotted out after her. Downstairs, the young pony bounced happily as she waited for her big sister, flapping her tiny wings.
Soon enough, Rattle was in school and Thundercloud was on her own, trotting about aimlessly through town. With the weather team being her main source of income, the mare often goofed off all day or did chores. Today was one of those lucky days where she goofed off, despite the dishes piling up at home. As she walked, Thundercloud just kinda zoned out, not really thinking about anything. It wasn't a good move, however, as a sharp pain poked at her side.
"Ouch!" the mare almost shouted, drawing looks from every stallion not observing her body. She looked down to see a small light purple dragon with green spines slowly rubbing her head.
"Oh my, I'm terribly sorry!" came an unfamiliar voice, causing Thundercloud to look away. The voice got louder as an obnoxiously pink pony with a mane that looked like cotton candy appeared out of nowhere.
"Spines!" the pink pony said in a worried tone, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," the little dragon groaned as she stood up. Her bright green eyes opened as she looked up to Thundercloud, either annoyed or embarrassed. The pink pony, however, began to look over the mare, as if examining her for something.
"Uh, can I help you?" she asked unsurely.
Instantaneously, the stallion brought his face to the mare's, grinning so widely as to be ridiculous.
"Hi there, Thundercloud!" the stallion shouted into her face, "I'm Berry Bubble, in case you forgot and I would love it if you helped me!"
Thundercloud rubbed her ear again and said, "I, uh, didn't ask for your--"
"That doesn't matter!" Berry shouted, "You asked if you could help me and I'm telling you that you certainly can! You see, I have this cake here--"
He paused mid-sentence to pull a perfectly decorated three tier cake out of nowhere.
"--and it needs to be delivered to Mayor Maynot soon! However, I'm really busy right now and need to be somewhere else, so here you go, thanks again and enjoy your day!" he finished in one breath.
As soon as he stopped talking, Berry Bubble disappeared in a blur of pink as he tore off in the direction of Can-Can's Sweet Shop, leaving the cake in midair and Thundercloud dumbstruck. Before gravity decided to work again, Spines got underneath it and held the cake up, looking expectantly at Thundercloud. The mare offered a sheepish grin and tried to speak, but the little dragon's expectant face turned into a smile.
"Hey, sorry about Berry," she said, "He's not all there, if you know what I mean."
The mare's mouth opened and closed, as if what she was about to say was what Spines had just spoken.
"Tell you what," Spines continued, filling the silence, "I'll help you with this and we forget that I ran into you. Deal?"
The mare stared uncomprehendingly at the little dragon. So much had happened in such a short time that is made Thundercloud's mind spin, but she smiled awkwardly back at the dragon.
"Uh, yeah, that would be nice, I guess..."
The two began to walk away towards the center of town, each keeping quiet. It wasn't until five minutes later did Thundercloud attempt a conversation.
"So, uh, what was up with Berry? Is he always like that?" she asked.
The young dragon huffed before answering, "It's gotten worse in recent months. Ever since he met this mare named Sharp Shear, he's been unusually hyper, even for his normal self."
Thundercloud kinda leaned back at that, but gave no indication that she was fazed by that.
"So, does that mean he has a--?"
"Yup," Spines answered tonelessly. She was glad the mare next to her couldn't see the face she was making underneath the cake.
"Oh wow, that's nice." Thundercloud hazarded to say.
"Yeah well, it's made my life worse," Spines grumbled, "Dusk keeps pestering me about what mares find attractive and his friends have gone haywire trying to find a fillyfriend."
Thundercloud looked over to the dragon, unsure of what to say. At this point, only one thing flitted into her mind.
"Who's Dusk?" she asked.
Before anypony could answer, the two had reached the town square and a tan pony with glasses and a graying mane met them.
"Ah, perfect timing!" he shouted, "Bring it inside please!"
As he walked to the door, Thundercloud groaned to herself.
"What is it with stallions and shouting today?" she whined.
After placing the cake inside and walking out, Thundercloud gave a smile to Spines before talking.
"So, um, thanks for your help!"
The dragon shrugged and said, "Don't mention it. It's not like I had a lot to do today with Dusk trying out his fillykiller techniques."
"Uh huh," Thundercloud responded in a weirded out tone. "Say, why don't we go do something tonight? I'm meeting my friends over at the local spa later today, if you wanna come with."
"Okay, so let's go over the play once more," Rainbow Blitz said with a competitive edge in his voice.
Around him stood two other stallions, the rather dainty Butterscotch, who was panting from two minutes of play, and the beaming Bubble Berry, who somehow had snagged the ball by doing his signature 'pop-up-out-of-nowhere' thing. The team was far less than ideal for Blitz, who wanted to win pretty badly. However, he made the most out of what he had. He was the fastest of all the ponies, meaning they would focus on him while Butterscotch was left unguarded most of the time and Bubble did whatever he did.
"Do we have to?" Butterscotch whined.
"Yes," Blitz stated flatly, "Okay, so Butterscotch, you'll go down the left side past Elusive while Bubble, you zig zag around in front like this."
He motioned his hoof in a rapid and unorganized fashion back and forth, causing Bubble to grin wider.
"Oh! Oh! Does that mean I can do this?" he asked before running back and forth in short steps, resembling a dog.
"That's fine, whatever," Blitz responded, not really paying attention, "Now, when I shake Applejack, I will fake pass the ball to you, Bubble. You pretend to catch it to get Dusk's attention and run off while Butterscotch here--," he pointed to the yellow pegasus, "--gets ready to catch the ball behind Elusive. Got it?"
Bubble nodded his head so fast his pupils bounced around when he stopped while Butterscotch looked back at Blitz, confused.
"What was I supposed to do again?" he asked timidly.
The obnoxious shouting from Blitz easily made its way over to the other stallions standing opposite of the hoofball resting on the ground. The white unicorn sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.
"At this rate, we won't finish before dark, and I have some new fashions to update myself on!" he whined.
"Ya think that's a problem? Ah gotta get up early tamarrah ta harvest some more apples," the orange stallion grumbled.
"Oh, like that's so hard," Elusive stated, unimpressed.
"Harder than readin' some fancy-schmancy magazine," Applejack responded a little too quickly.
"Guys, calm down," Dusk said, putting himself between them, "We all have stuff we need to do, so let's just try and have fun, okay? That's what this is about, right?"
The ponies moaned a response just as the opposing team broke huddle and approached the ball.
Red Gala settled into the warm, bubbly water and sighed. The heat felt good on her skin, allowing her tense muscles to relax. Around her came three other sighs, one from her each of her friends Sugarsnap, Thundercloud and Spines. Gala had her eyes open and chuckled slightly at the other mares. Sugarsnap looked very silly with her brown mane showing its natural curls, making it look like spaghetti sat on her head. Thundercloud's meticulously styled hedgehog spikes drooped to one side and Spines nearly disappeared into the bubbles.
Around them, several other mares enjoyed the spa as well. Sharp Shears sat in the mud bath with her friend Notable, a blue mare. Doctor Hoovesy, or just Doc as she was known, lay on a massage table, allowing one of the spa stallions to rub her back. The pastel blue one, Suave, gently applied pressure to her back, causing her to moan happily. His brother, the pink one known as Axe, was busy trotting around, seeing if all the mares were happy.
The fact the mares were comfortable around these two was a feat in itself. Axe and Suave had a very hard time starting out here in Ponyville, since most stallions were not into spa visits. Knowing they needed to attract the mares to their spa, the ponies offered to shut down the spa to all stallions one evening a week so the mares could unwind by themselves. It took a couple of tries, but eventually every mare came on that evening to be pampered. Many stallions were often jealous of Axe and Suave's success and tried to get job there, but they never were accepted. Axe and Suave took great lengths to ensure the mares were comfortable, going as far as to wear blinders or blindfolds when asked too.
The sun peeked brightly through the few windows near the ceiling, painting the walls gold and crimson. The aroma of fresh flowers and soap hung in the air, a rather intoxicating scent for mares. Soft music played through a radio on the far side of the room, allowing a sense of tranquility to permeate the room the same way the smell did.
And as quickly as that sense of tranquility set in for Red Gala, it was gone.
A loud crash broke the peace as something splashed into the mud bath, sending the earthen substance everywhere. Notable yelped and jumped out of the bath, still covered in the stuff as Doc got a glob in the face. Both ponies were immediately attended to by Axe and Suave, who procured towels and lead them away to the back room to get in the showers while they cleaned the broken glass now all over the floor. With Gala, Sugarsnap, Thundercloud and Spines luckily avoiding the mud projectiles, they looked over in curiosity as Sharp waded around in the mud, looking for whatever came in.
"Bubble!" Blitz shouted at the pink pony, "Why didn't you throw it to me better?!"
"I did exactly as you said!" Bubble shouted back to the cyan stallion, who was being held back by the orange earth pony.
"Well, that's just great," Dusk mused in an annoyed voice, "There goes my regulation sized hoofball autographed by Firespout."
Elusive trotted over to Dusk and stared at the broken window with him. It was unusually high up on the building, not a normal placement for a home. Before he could say anything, though, the yellow pegasus fluttered over to them as Blitz shouted.
"Well then?! Let's go get it back!"
Gala tilted her head as Sharp lifted an object out of the mud bath. It was oblong, looking like an oval with points on the end. She felt her friends move closer to get a better look.
"What is that?" Sugarsnap asked.
It didn't take long for Gala and Spines to recognize the object. Gala had seen her brothers play with a similar thing and Spines knew there was one of those up on a shelf that Dusk proudly kept.
"It's a hoofball," they said together.
As soon as they finished speaking, a knock came from the door, drawing the attention of the mares and dragon. Before any of them could say something, some arguing erupted from behind the door. They were unable to make out what was said, but it was clear whoever it was wasn't happy. The arguing got louder and it quieted for a second, causing the mares to look at each other.
"A one! A two! A three!"
The door burst open, startling the mares and causing two of them to scream. A mass of colors and bodies flew into the room, knocking over the curtains and vases that adorned the walls. Several shouts rose up from the heap of objects, each complaining about something.
"Hey, what fell on us?!"
"Ouch! Stop kicking me!"
"Okay, who's hoof was that?!"
"What the hay am I touching?!"
It took several minutes for the figures to pull themselves out of the mess, causing every mare to freeze in shock. The first one out was a tall cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane, still with a magenta curtain draped on his back and a bucket on his head. He froze as well, staring at the mares with the same expression they wore. Slowly, each of the others poked their heads out, each freezing just like the last.
"Uh oh," Dusk Shine stammered, wearing a sign that said 'Closed' on his neck.
Blitz and Elusive immediately began shaking off the various items they were wearing and smoothed their manes, trying to look presentable.
"So, come here often?" Blitz spoke, throwing a smug smile at the mares.
The mares screamed in response, each sinking into their respective bathtubs as the stallions started to scramble around, each red in the face. All except Blitz, whose ears drooped and his smile melted into a frown.
"Applejack!" came a shout, "What the hay do you think you and yer friends are doin'?!"
The orange stallion's mane stood up on end as he spun around. To his horror, his big sister, Red Gala, wore quite an angry scowl and climbed up out of the pool, utterly furious.
"RUN FOR IT!" Dusk shouted in response.
As one, each of the stallions scrambled towards the door, each shoving and pushing to get out first. A mad panic rose among them as Blitz turned tail and flew at the door, Red Gala hot on his trail. Blitz braced for impact as he slammed into the five bodies. As one, all six stallions sprawled out onto the street, each flopping around and landing in goofy ways. They each shook their heads, but froze when they heard Red Gala shout again.
"Yer all in big trouble now!" she thundered as she approached the door.
Applejack wasted no time in pushing himself upwards and bolted off, followed by Elusive, Blitz, Bubble and Dusk while Butterscotch brought up the rear. Gala tore out of the open door and kept charging after them, completely oblivious to the fact she was wet and covered in bubbles. As she ran, she slowly caught up to Butterscotch as the rest of the group ran/flew off.
"Don't leave me!" Butterscotch wailed, tears forming at the edges of his eyes.
The group of stallions simply kept going, unable to hear Butterscotch's cry over their own personal terror. As Gala caught up, she leaped into the air and pounced down of Butterscotch, pinning him to the ground. He wiggled his hooves weakly after his friends, who disappeared into a cloud of brown dust.
Whimpering pathetically, Butterscotch shivered as Gala rose behind him, expecting all sorts of bodily harm to come to him. Instead, he felt a set of teeth latch onto his tail and he began to be dragged away, back towards the spa.
"Help me!" he shouted to nopony.
The Golden Oaks Library was tightly secured. The door was latched shut in several different ways, both physically and magically. The windows had bookshelves moved in front of them and in the far corner, five stallions cowered behind a series of overturned tables and a bed. Slowly, each one poked their heads up from their makeshift shelter, terrified that there was a possibility of a red mare standing there.
"Poor Butterscotch!" Elusive wailed, tears forming at the corners of his eyes, "Why did we abandon him?!"
"B-B-Better him than u-us," Dusk stammered as he lay curled up in a ball.
"Why would you say that?!" Blitz nearly shouted, twitching at every little noise now.
"Who knows what she's doing to him?" Bubble whimpered, laying as flat on the ground as he possibly could.
Applejack nervously peek above the shelter again before replying, "Ah can think of a few things, an' they ain't pretty."
"More to drink, Spines?" Butterscotch nervously said as he extended a tray of cold drinks to the dragon.
"Oh, thank you," the baby dragon replied, taking a glass of pink lemonade.
Butterscotch's cheeks flushed as he trotted off to visit the other mares, allowing Spines to sip happily on her drink as Axe slowly filed her nails. Spines reclined on a chair, wearing an extra poofy bath robe with Thundercloud, Sugarsnap and Red Gala. The three mares and dragon each sighed happily as they nestled in. Even though the spa day had been rudely interrupted, Axe and Suave had tried to make it up to the mares by giving them all the upgraded packages for free, even though the mares insisted it wasn't their fault.
Butterscotch got off quite nicely, only having to make sure each mare had something to drink or a fresh towel. When Gala had dragged him back to the spa, he was bawling so bad, the mares each agreed he was too pathetic to get mad at. Instead of being mean, the mares asked if he could help Axe and Suave with anything. The ponies agreed and after thoroughly instructing him of how to behave around mares, allowed him to help pamper them.
Gala sighed happily as she looked at her friends, each enjoying themselves. Next week, they would get to do this all over again.
