> No Two Flakes
>  by Mist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter I



        So, you’ve come looking for another story have you? One would imagine you’ve grown sick of me telling you the tales that I have spun. Yes, I can feel it; you don’t want another macabre telling of heroes fighting against unbeatable odds, of killers who are being chased by the hand of justice only to just barely escape the grasp of the law, or of dark events that led to an ultimately darker future for unknowing protagonists. You don’t want to hear again about a lone warrior in the depths of a hell of unimaginable fighting against an unseen evil that he has no business attacking. You’ve grown weary of such things, haven’t you?
        You’ve been hearing too many stories about seeking invaluable treasures and epic journeys with rewards beyond your wildest dreams. So this will not be another quest story about a young man who seeks out a fearless champion to defend the remnants of a former empire. It won’t be another story of a girl who can see into the depths of one’s soul and find their demise.
        Here’s a story that I came up with just for you. It’s full of characters big and small, complex plot webs and overcoming obstacles that many may call relatable. All the things you like, and all the things that make up a good story, or at least good in my subjective viewpoint. Whether or not it’s truly good will be up to you, and I won’t be able to change that. I can’t promise you’ll fall in love with these characters and give a damn about their endeavors, but I can try my best to tell you about something interesting, something relatable and maybe even something that brings a smile to your face. If you’ve come this far then that means you’re more than likely to actually give this story a chance. Studies show that people can generally tell if they are going to continue reading something after the third paragraph, and since you have made it this far to this paragraph that means you are ready to make your decision. Let’s get on with the story then, shall we? Unless you’ve decided against it at this point, in which case this is all irrelevant.
        Like any good story it needs a setting, doesn’t it? How about a battle ground soaked with the stench of war and treason? Of a time period where the only law in the land is measured in bullets and desire? Of a place full of depravity, paranoia and blood lust?
        No, I only jest. I already told you that this isn’t that kind of story didn’t I? You need to pay closer attention then my friend. I apologize in advance for how many times I may mislead you; I do so only in good fun though. Take what I say with a grain of salt, will you? You will? Excellent.
        Our story actually begins in a place called Canterlot City. It’s about a large city with a heavy focus on community. There’s an abundance of parks and recreational areas for families and students. Students especially get a lot of love from this fair city as it’s one of the biggest education capitals in the country, housing over nineteen of the most prestigious universities, four community colleges and a handful of high schools. People from all over the world come to study here and taste the food.
        Ah yes, the cuisine is second to none I’ll have you know. Canterlot City is well known for its culinary offerings. Many whom have traveled to the city for study ended up staying and setting up shop here upon graduation, so you’re likely to meet people from many different walks of life. You could probably walk a mile down its gorgeous avenues and bump into someone from every country in the world on that single road.
        Some would even go as far as to call Canterlot City the center of the country due to how lavish and loved it is, despite being closer to its east coast. Near the business section, it becomes so crowded during the weekdays that it would only take a blink to be lost in the vast crowds.
        However, our story takes place in the far less crowded area, just past the educational epicenter of Canterlot City and about a mile from the Canterlot Community College (or CCC as it’s known) on Twin Avenue, where two building sit on either side of the street squeezed between several fast food joints, a bus stop, a library and a gym.
        Our attention should be turned to these two buildings I mentioned before, which happen to be named the Canterlot Elemental Sun Apartments and the Quiet Moon Residential Center respectively. Two very different names, however, they have a few things in common; for starters, they are owned by two sisters whom don’t really see the other as competition, if anything they’ve learned to coexist without any problems, and often hold events that both buildings partake in.
While the two buildings shared a lot of similarities, Elemental Sun’s floor plan included the landlord and staff offices on the top floor, while the Quiet Moon featured that area in the basement. The other major difference was the layout of the apartments. Elemental Sun focuses more on an open dining room and living room, while Quiet Moon features apartments with all closed off rooms. Essentially this means that Quiet Moon is more geared towards those who seldom have guests or need more privacy.
        The other thing they have in common is that our story’s protagonists reside split amongst both of them, but for now we’re going to move our focus over to the Elemental Sun as that’s where everyone is gathered currently. Seldom are we so lucky to poke our heads into these character’s world and find a time where the lot of them are all at the same place at the same time, but it just so happens we are very fortunate today. Then again I chose this time myself so that such an event would happen, so perhaps you can simply thank me instead of the gods of luck for this convenience.
        The Elemental Sun has four floors,  but right now we’re going to focus our attention on the second floor apartment 2E. This particular suite is owned by a Miss Twilight Sparkle.
        Twilight is a pretty strange girl, who is well on her way to becoming a master of all things chemical. Within the next few months she will be finishing her doctorate in chemistry and seeking career options beyond your wildest dreams. With high ambitions, Twilight is the kind of girl who dreams big and has the skills to back up those dreams. While she is very approachable and almost motherly, she is often stumped by social formalities. Some might say that Twilight is a bit blunt and it’s easy for jokes and sarcasm to go right over her head.
        When she’s not busy studying or having her nose dug deep into a book (or three) she could often be found hosting events for the entire group to partake in. Being the oldest at the age of twenty-six, she was often the most responsible of them all, and thus why a majority of holiday events were hosted in her apartment rather than others. We’ll talk more about her in a bit.
        In this cold month of November, winter was creeping around the corner and as a result the heat was cranked up full blast so that none of the guests would be burdened by the cold weather. Not a single expense was spared for the comfort of her friends, especially on this day which happened to be a time of family and gathering. The date was November 24th, Thanksgiving day.
        In her tired hands, the tall woman placed a well roasted turkey onto the long table she had borrowed from her close friend Pinkie in the center of her dining room. She had been up all night studying before the break and then begun preparing this gathering without much rest in between. Signs of fatigue were evident on her face. Bags under her eyes were hardly hidden behind her thick rimmed glasses, weighing down her lilac shaded eyes. Her normally well kept plum colored hair had a few cowlicks that were noticeable even from a distance. The girl had grown so busy that her bright pink highlight had begun to fade and little effort was made to do the touch up work.
        “Damn, I am starving! Figures that Twi would know how to cook a turkey that smells that good.” The voice of a young girl at the far right end of the table spoke in response to the delicious aroma now filling the room thanks to Twilight’s fine cooking.
        This girl’s name was Rainbow Dash and she was the short fuse of the group. She was most commonly known for her short stature, immature humor, crude language and competitive nature. She was the second youngest of the group; however she was always treated as the kid sister of everyone, much to her disapproval. Already she was unzipping her designer hoodie as she prepared for an extruding stomach that would no doubt be caused by engulfing Twilight’s mighty cooked bird so fast that she probably may be skipping more than a few breaths to do so. As she reached over the bird, one would notice that her dark tinted skin almost matched the turkey.
        “Careful, Rainbow. You don’t want another incident like last year where you were in pain for two days from overeating.” The soon to be doctor said with a giggle as she took her seat.
        Twilight pulled on the hem of her sweater vest. The article of clothing contoured to her shape quite well as it sat over her button up blouse. She had a rather professional attire for the most part with a minor touch of fun thrown in. Her usual outfits consisted of a nice blouse, skirts and trainers. While they were not as professional as the rest of her ensemble, she found trainers to be more comfortable. Now and then she would also wear some darker colored jeans when she was feeling “casual”, as she put it.
        Rainbow Dash shrugged as she responded, “It’s worth it for your food.”
        Next to her, a maiden only a year her senior chuckled while covering her mouth with the cuff of her banana colored sweater to contain her laughter. “Does that mean I need to be at your apartment tomorrow to make sure you haven’t died again?” She joked with Rainbow.
        Rainbow merely rolled her eyes at the comment.
        That would be Fluttershy Flowers, who attended high school with Rainbow and  her best friend since elementary school. Fluttershy’s interests included animals, gardening and, when no one was looking, singing. Though despite their extremely different tastes, Fluttershy would often listen as best she could when Rainbow talked sports; even if she didn’t understand what she was talking about a majority of the time. While they were almost polar opposites, they were inseparable.
        “Pfft, I have been preparing for this for weeks.” Rainbow boasted as she puffed out her chest a bit.
        Fluttershy just let off a sigh and fidgeted with her sweater some more.
        A young man across from the quiet Fluttershy gave a dismissive hand gesture before chiming in. “Oh whatever. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” He said.
        Ah yes, that would be Soarin Sky. Pretty masculine fellow if I do say so myself. He was the star of nearly every sports team that he joined, and attends Canterlot Community College (or CCC if you remember) with both Fluttershy and Rainbow. He likes to be the center of attention and that was most definitely his inspiration to becoming the MVP on any team he was on. Soarin was definitely what you would probably refer to as “one of the boys”.
        Twilight rolling her eyes at the conversation going on as she offered her carving knife to her sibling sitting next to her. The young teen took the knife and leaned over the turkey and began making precise slices. Twilight smiled and patted his shoulder as he performed the carving for her. “Thank you, Spike.” She said.
        Spike was the youngest of the group at only seventeen. Still in high school, he hardly fit in with the crowd of college students and older adults, but Twilight always brought him along to every event she held. You wouldn’t guess it from Spike’s gruff behavior (and of course his denial left and right) but he loved his elder sister even since he was adopted into her family at the age of seven.
        As he finished carving, he began to pass out slices across the table, starting with his sister then working his way around clockwise until he landed upon a slender and elegantly dressed woman sitting across from him. He paused for a brief moment as he met her blue eyes. With his eyes, he traced the outline of her delicate face, taking in all the details he could in a few seconds, and, with how often that face was in his mind, he could nearly draw it within a second or two in his head.
        Her features were subtle, but noticeable. Her lashes were decorated with just the right amount of mascara, and right under her right eye a small beauty mark was present. She had her hair done in some wild wavy curls today, and he could certainly see its magnificent shine even in the low lighting of the room. His eyes wandered to her smile which was complemented with some bright cherry red lipstick on her full lips. She had perhaps the most gorgeous lips he had ever seen in his life.
        “Thank you, Spike…” She smiled at him as she took her plate gracefully.
        “You’re welcome, Rarity.” Spike nodded at the woman as he did a quick once over of her outfit.
        A white dress draped over her figure and left her neck and upper chest open for a lavish looking necklace sporting enough diamonds to probably cover a year’s worth of Spike’s rent to hang over it. The girl was stunning to say the least. He had to divert his eyes after only a few second though so as not to draw attention to himself for staring.
        The young lady adjusted in her seat and crossed her legs as she placed her plate down on her placemat. “I love what you’ve done with the place, Twilight dear.” She said.
        Twilight smiled and nodded as she raised a glass of wine she had poured for herself in Rarity’s direction. “Thank you”, Twilight replied.
        Rarity Belle, that was her name. She was a fashion student at the Fashion Institute here in Canterlot City and top of her class. She had moved here only a few years ago and lived directly below Spike in Apartment 1D. Spike had admired her from probably the day she moved in about two years ago even if she was a bit older than him. At the age of twenty she gave off an aura of being much older and far more mature.
        “You really need to tell me where you got this glass set, dear. I’d love a set of my own.” Rarity commented as she admired the glass in front of herself.
        Twilight shrugged at the fashionista and gave a simple response, “I believe my mother gave them to me at some point. I can’t quite remember.”
        Rarity nodded as she took a sip of water from her glass, “Well, she has good taste.” She commented.
        “Thank you.” Twilight replied.
        “Twilight usually has some pretty neato stuff.” That comment was delivered from a girl at the other end of the table.
        Do you remember Twilight’s friend Pinkie that I mentioned? That was her. Pinkie Pie was the second oldest and actually lived in the other apartment building. She was a thicker girl; fun loving and probably the easiest person to make laugh you’d ever meet. Giggling was practically half of her vocabulary. She’d crack a joke at least once every conversation you had with her. To say she loved humor would have been an understatement.
        It was difficult for anyone to get a good read on Pinkie simply because she was able to disguise her true thoughts behind a smile at almost any given time. Pinkie’s attire always seemed to sport some interesting accessories, today it was a feather earring on one ear and a hairpin shaped like a frog in her wild hair.
        “Ah’ll say.” A country accent echoed from a girl sitting next to Rarity.
        Ah yes, the country bumpkin there would be Applejack Apple. Originally from the country, Applejack, or AJ as she liked to be called, moved up here to Canterlot City from down south. She spent most of her life on a farm and was here to get a business degree so she could set up shop for herself somewhere when she graduated. While she wasn’t very book smart, AJ had a quick wit and blistering honesty at times. AJ could probably give Twilight a run for her money in terms of bluntness. Her time here in Canterlot city would also make her a bit more adapted to city life. Many of the group remembered when she first arrived how she wore a stetson everywhere.
        That’s enough introductions for now; we’ll get to a lot of the other characters later. I wouldn’t want to bore you with nonstop mundane descriptions of trivial details.
        When Spike came around to Fluttershy, she shook her head and declined the offer of meat. “Oh, sorry. I forgot.” Spike apologized for his lapse of memory. 
        “It’s alright,” She replied with a gentle smile crawling onto her face.
        Fluttershy had gone vegetarian in middle school. Back then she used to go on long rants about the terrible horrors of meat and its consumption. She had learned to keep her beliefs a bit more to herself since then, and thus why it was even possible to forget that the young woman did not partake in the consumption of flesh products, even on Thanksgiving. This often led to much teasing amongst her peers.
        “Man, I still don’t get why you don’t eat meat; shit is so good.” A rather ecstatic Rainbow spoke, already shoveling bites in despite gaining some less than ideal looks for both starting before everyone had food and for talking with her mouth full.
        “Language, darling. It’s Thanksgiving.” Rarity chimed in, quickly taking the chance to censor Rainbow’s usually “colorful” vocabulary.
        The young Rainbow just rolled her eyes, “Man, back at home we-“
        “Yes, we know. You’d behave like cavemen and grunt as you ate with your hands.” Rarity smirked.
        Rainbow only chuckled, followed by her saying, “Yeah, probably.”
        Many would take the relationship that Rainbow and Rarity had as hostile, but it actually was a very odd form of respect. The two girls came from completely different walks of life, and lacked an understanding of the other. To make up for this, they often joked about their obviously completely warped ideas of what the other’s background must be like. This was a form of bonding for the two when they couldn’t find common ground.
        “I can only imagine what it must have been like where you grew up…” Fluttershy stated, clearly in a harmless manner.
        “Well, I can say we’d be eating like kings if this was our spread.” Rainbow nudged her friend’s shoulder as she responded.
        “Twi always delivers. Shucks, some lucky fella is goin’ to get a great wife.” AJ teased as she reached in to grab some mashed potatoes to add to her already overflowing plate.
        Rainbow quivered her lip a bit at that comment. She didn’t want to imagine Twilight shackled down with some guy who only appreciated her cooking; though she too could appreciate Twilight’s cooking, the woman had a lot more qualities worthy of admiration.
        Everyone had finally received their cut of meat (or lack thereof if you were Fluttershy) and were more than satisfied with their haul from the bowls, plates, pots and serving dishes upon the table. The group enjoyed their meal with laughter, anecdotes, and discussion of plans of what they were going to do for the upcoming holidays.
        Rarity pulled herself away from the table and retreated to the kitchen to retrieve herself another glass of water. Spike, watching her, gave casual chase and met her there. He paused to examine her backside. While he tried to think of the better qualities of Rarity such as her adorable habits, refined taste and kind demeanor, even he could not deny that she had the allure that only an attractive woman could have. His eyes fixated on the rounded shape of her rear as she stood in front of the refrigerator. Quickly, her cleared the perverse thoughts out of his head and approached with his glass in hand.
        Leaning next to her against the wall near the fridge, he asked “So, Rarity… You going back home for Christmas?” 
        She shook her head, “Not really. My sister and I will probably stay here while mother and father return home. It certainly will be an odd thing not spending Christmas with them.”
        “Maybe you could spend Christmas with us?” Spike inquired.
        She gave that warm smile that he loved so much. Her face had the look of innocence and delight that he couldn’t resist. Rarity could probably charm him into giving her his wallet with little to no effort if she wanted to.
        “That’s very thoughtful of you, Spike. I’ll see if I can make it.” She said as she retrieved a bottle of water out of the fridge and held it gently in her elegant hands for a moment, examining it before deciding she was happy enough with it to open it.
        “Yeah, well I figured you wouldn’t want to be alone on Christmas…” He chuckled nervously and gave a gentle look from the side of his face.
        Rarity blinked and took a step toward him. With her free hand, she placed it upon his shoulder as she examined him. He was probably a few inches shorter than her due to his age, but he had a rather adorable baby face. His clean face told her that he wasn’t old enough to rapidly grow facial hair just yet, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
        He was an innocent young man in her mind, and she couldn’t imagine someone his age that had more respect for a lady than he. Spike was often looking out for her well being and she made sure to always speak her appreciation.
        “Spike, you’re really thoughtful… I am lucky to have a friend as considerate as you.” She smiled.
        His eyes moved to her hand on his shoulder before returning to meet her radiant blue eyes. His voice grew soft and quiet, “Well… I just try and look out for you.”
        “How’d I get so lucky?” She responded.
        He shrugged. “Who knows?” 
        With a small giggle, she retrieved her hand and nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be able to make it, but I’ll check my schedule to be sure.”
        He could only get himself to nod as his throat was still full of the frog he was trying to swallow from talking to her.
        This was a usual back and forth with him and her. Rarity was elegant, refined, beautiful, the kind of woman that Spike dreamed of, but probably could never get the courage to make an advance upon. The woman was, for lack of a better term, “out of his league” as he put it. Still though, she had a very older sister-like affection towards him. Rarity often made herself difficult to read, as Spike often questioned if her nice gestures were intended as invitations; not that it would matter as he lacked the courage to find out.
        Rarity exited casually and Spike watched her hips sway as she left him standing there. “Fuck…” He cursed to himself for his lack of confidence.
        
        Back in the dining room after some time had passed meals were devoured and the guests of Twilight’s abode had engaged in idle chit chat and party gossip. Splitting into groups and wandering about the apartment, conversation was in the air.
        “So, how’s the tutoring with Twilight going?” Fluttershy asked Rainbow as she sipped on some juice she had brought with her. Fluttershy often brought many of her homemade juices with her wherever she went and Rainbow always assumed she was either on some weird juice diet or that it was part of the whole vegetarian thing.
        Rainbow groaned as the subject got brought up. “Frustrating… Twilight practically talks in another language, which doesn’t help when I already have no fucking idea what those textbooks are saying as it is…”
        Fluttershy giggled and gave a sneer. “Is that the only reason it’s so frustrating?”
        Rainbow knew what she was getting at, but responded also in a very joking manner as well. “Well, that and the fact that Twilight is hot as hell…” She winked.
        The shy friend couldn’t help but blush and almost choke on her drink. She wasn’t expecting Rainbow to play along; she had only hoped to annoy her by picking on her crush on Twilight.
        “Trust me, I’ve considered just grabbing that girl and bending her over those textbooks…” Rainbow began, knowing it would get her friend flustered and embarrassed.
        Sure enough, she was correct, as Fluttershy began fidgeting and trying to look away, clearly hoping that this conversation would just disappear. When it was clear that it would not, she stuttered up a reply. “I… Umm… Well… I don’t think that would… be a very good idea… That is… To say…” She could barely make eye contact with her perverted friend as she rambled.
        Rainbow just let out a hearty laugh and slapped the girl’s back in a sportsmanlike fashion that the young girl wasn’t used to. Fluttershy only grunted as some of the wind was knocked out of her. She was rather weak and frail, and certainly not athletic.
        “Chill, I’m just trying to get you wound up.” Rainbow smirked.
        “Well, it worked… You know I don’t handle… those kind of conversations well…” She looked down at her juice, trying to hide her blush with her long shining pink hair draping down over the right side of her face. Fluttershy’s hair often reminded Rainbow of silk blankets with its shine and smoothness. It was long enough to flow down past her buttocks, and had not a single split end to be seen. In gym class, Rainbow often got much amusement in seeing the long gorgeous mane in a ponytail for some reason. Maybe it was because she found it interesting that such amazing hair could be contained by a simple hair band.
        “Maybe if we replaced Twilight with Soarin, ya homophobe.” Rainbow’s smirk grew as she teased.
        Fluttershy squeaked at that comment and covered her mouth. “Shhh, don’t say that… It’s weird when you do…”
        The jock blinked and grew what she often referred to as a “shit eating grin” before getting extremely close to her friend, almost whispering in her ear. “Oh my god… You actually like him?”
        Fluttershy instantly denied it. “No! It’s not like that!”
        “No fucking way! Why didn’t you tell me!? We’re like best friends, what gives!?” Rainbow had the pouting face of a child as she feigned being offended.
        “Look… It’s not important, it’s not like he would even notice me anyways. I’m invisible on top of the fact that I’m not a cheerleader. He has girls literally cheering for him every other day…” Fluttershy sighed.
        Rainbow just nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Soarin’s got game, that’s for sure. Shit, back home he’d probably even give some of my crew a run for their money in some ball. However, when it comes to soccer… I’d say he’s only a hair better than me.” Rainbow leaned in and, in a hushed tone, nearly whispered the next part. “I’ve beaten him a few times in some park games before, but he’ll never admit it.”
        Fluttershy would have found it hard to believe that Soarin could lose to anyone after she had seen him play, but she had also seen Rainbow play, and, if they had been in the same division, Rainbow might possibly be a threat to his MVP status.
        “It’s too bad that I’m not on the team…” Fluttershy sighed.
        “Yeah, your game is garbage.” Rainbow agreed.
        “Gee… Thanks…” Fluttershy rolled her eyes.
        “Hey dog, I wouldn’t be a good homie if I pumped you full of hot air, would I?”
        Fluttershy just shrugged. “Guess not.”
        “See, I’m too good to you.” Rainbow reached over and began to give her friend a noogie that she attempted to get away from to no avail.
        With a laugh and a sigh, Rainbow finally let up and leaned back, letting her shoulders rest against the wall behind her. “Now if only I could figure out a solution to my Twilight problem…”
        “By Twilight problem, do you mean the fact that you want to do things unholy and impure to her?” Fluttershy taunted and rolled her eyes.
        With her muzzle in a cup, Rainbow gave a snarky response. “In an ideal world, she would want me to do such things. God knows I’d treat her right.”
        “I question if anyone knows what is going on in your messed up mind.” Fluttershy replied.
        “Probably for the best.” Rainbow winked. “Who knows what I’m thinking about you in here…” She tapped her head as she said that.
        “Gross.” Fluttershy wretched at the thought.
        “Ouch, you’re cuttin’ deep, girl.” Rainbow snickered, clearly trying to demonstrate that her offense was facetious.
        
        Twilight engaged her friend Applejack in conversation while she washed dishes from the dinner in the kitchen. Her sleeves were rolled up and she was trying to keep the water running low so she could hear her acquaintance while she worked.
        Applejack adjusted her ridiculous Christmas sweater that she had been wearing just a little early in the year, before reaching into the fridge to grab a soda. Popping the tab, she took a huge gulp.
        “So yeah, things are messed up to say the least…” Applejack tried to contain a belch as she spoke.
        Twilight nodded. “Often times people have a difficult time maintaining social appearances when such things occur. I mean, you’ve been doing this back and forth for nearly a year now, haven’t you?”
        Applejack rolled her eyes and nodded, sighing as she did so. “Yeah, yeah… What can Ah’ say? The situation jus’ gets weirder and weirder…”
        This was a topic that the two brought up often, as Twilight was the only person that AJ ever confided in about this particular subject, even though she wasn’t the best for seeking advice upon it. Perhaps she just enjoyed venting to someone.
        “Honestly, AJ, I hope you really… what was it… ‘Shit or get off the pot’?” She sounded very unsure of her own words.
        AJ just became puzzled with a raised brow. “What?”
        Twilight shrugged. “Rainbow Dash uses the phrase from time to time. I believe it roughly translates to the concept of either do something or don’t and stop tormenting yourself by dangling it in front of yourself.”
        “Y’all really shouldn’t add her vocab to your own. No ‘fense, but it don’t exactly suit you.” AJ covered her mouth as she snickered a bit.
        Twilight merely frowned as she set down another dish into the drying rack. She almost had a pouting face as she spoke. “I thought I handled the metaphor quite well…”
        “Well, keep workin’ on it…” Applejack jested.
        Twilight merely rolled her eyes in response.
        “Anyways… So y’all still plan on us all meetin’ up on Christmas night for dinner at your place again?” AJ changed the subject.
        Twilight perked up a bit and nodded with a grin. “Of course. After everyone’s already done their own personal celebrations, I thought we could start a new tradition of us all getting together. My parents will be visiting in the morning and I know a lot of the others have engagements, but it’d be nice if we all could get together again like this.”
        Applejack nodded and smiled as well. “Yeah, Ah’m sure it’ll be a great Christmas.”
        “I sure hope so.” Twilight replied.

> Chapter II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter II




        One wouldn’t really expect a guy like Spike to work at a bakery. No, he had the reputation among the people he associated with to be more likely to sell shifty wares at a bus stop than to work part time frosting confectionary delights. However reputation and expectations aside, it was the truth; he was a baker. Well, baker’s assistant anyways. The guy wasn’t exactly known for this fact though, as many of his peers seldom cared to see him after school ended for the day. Spike had a gruff demeanor and was easy to irritate, so he didn’t exactly win the popularity award at school.


        As far as teachers were concerned they couldn’t wait for him to finally graduate or get expelled. Whichever came first they welcomed it. Spike often only gave them more trouble and defied the school rules than improve their reputation as instructors with stellar scholastic performance. He’d been suspended five times in this school year alone, and involved in numerous incidents revolving around fights breaking out; many of which he was the facilitator of. Naturally this meant he wasn’t exactly making honors lists in any subjects, however if they released an award for being the most difficult student to deal with, he may at the very least be a runner up for that. Sadly no such award existed, and I am quite confident that no teacher was advocating adding it to the award ceremony as well. Though humorously if they did do so, I imagine we would all see an increase in delinquency within the public education system, however I’m just going off on a tangent again, my apologies.


        Where were we? Ah yes, Mr. Spike and his bakery work. You see, Spike insisted on living independent from his elder sister, Twilight. He wanted her to be able to focus on school without having to worry about taking care of him. This however generated a new problem of Twilight being taken care of financially by programs created by her school. Twilight’s bills were more or less completely paid for through the school due to her extreme academic success and the program she was in. Spike however? Well, let’s just say if he was in such a program he may actually end up owing them money. Naturally this meant that he needed an alternative means of paying his rent, so through a favor from his sister, he worked with Pinkie Pie and the Cake family at their bakery. Pinkie was the assistant manager, and as I already mentioned long time friend of Ms. Sparkle. One could put two and two together to determine that Pinkie pulled some strings so to speak, however I just did that for you, so kudos to me. We seriously cannot spend this entire tale with me explaining everything that you could draw from inference though.


        Most of Spike’s classmates didn’t know of his part time job with the exception of the small group he hung around; however they generally didn’t discuss it without him present. Spike wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of his peers knowing he baked for a living so he could afford an apartment. He was especially lucky that his apartment owner cut him a deal and charged him slightly less than his neighbors, which was something he kept under his metaphorical hat.


        “You know, you could probably knock out more cakes if you got better at starting a base with each hand.” Said the informative Pinkie.


        Spike’s left eye shot in her direction for a second, only really catching a glimpse of her strange polka-dotted apron and for some reason her obnoxious earrings that were shaped like frogs dangling from her lobes. They weren’t the only piece of body jewelry attached to her ears, but they certainly stood out. Pinkie’s get ups generally always appeared as a mishmash of things she probably found at various stores and shopping trips. She also was sporting some kind of cufflink chain on her opposite ear and a big grin plastered on her face.


        “If I was any good with my left hand, I’d consider that…” Spike replied as he struggled to finish another cake base, hoping he could get this wrapped up fast enough to go home soon.


        “It’s all muscle memory, you can learn anything if you just do it enough times.” Pinkie spoke as she grabbed some dough next to him and began to assist him in completing his order faster.


        “I’ll keep that in mind…” He said without really caring.


        After a little assistance from the good assistant manager Pinkie Pie, Spike found himself finishing up just on time so he could make his way home. Much to his surprise though, there outside waiting for him was a young girl from his school that he recognized. She was a year younger than him, but they often associated in between classes and at lunch.


        The weather was starting to chill up, but there she was in just a T-shirt, denim shorts that probably were just barely violating the “below your fingertips” aspect of the dress code at school. Ironically though, she had a winter cap on that covered only a small bit of her wild red hair. She had always had a lot of hair, so much so that even sixty seconds of hanging around her, you’d be finding long red strands in your clothing for months to come. There was also little doubt that the signature pink bow she always wore was underneath that hat. Quite the enigma she was, too warm to justify putting on a jacket, but not enough to where she could wear a winter hat. Her older sister did always say she was wired strangely though.


        “What’s up, chef master Spike?” She spoke with a grin across her face.


        “Piss off, Applebloom…” Spike hissed as he adjusted his jacket and zipped it up.


        She fell into place behind him while he began walking home. “Awww, love ya too, buddy.” She reached in and pinched his cheek, which caused him to swat her hand away.


        “So, dumbass, what’s new in your world?” She asked as she kept close.


        Insults were more or less the nature of their relationship. They’d have back and forths with insults almost all day. Anyone who didn’t know them would think they hated each other’s guts.


        “Not much shit for brains.” He joked, nudging her shoulder while the two walked side by side.


        Applebloom smirked and leaned in interested as she lowered her usual volume to engage in a private conversation. “So, what are you thinking about getting Ms. Belle for Christmas? It is right around the corner, you know?” She said.


        Spike rolled his eyes and gestured for her to keep quiet as if the elegant woman was close by and could hear them talking. “I got a bracelet for her on reserve at the jewelry shop not too far from where I work; the big fancy one. I asked them to hold it for me while I get the cash to pay for it.” He explained.


        Applebloom blinked a little bit surprised that he not only legitimately went to get Rarity something, but something so expensive for Spike. “How much is it?”


        Spike almost muttered the price under his breath, “$2,400…”


        Applebloom couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the price tag. “Spike, that’s more than you make in two months. No way are ya’ gonna be able to afford that by Christmas.”


        “Fortunately I’ve been saving up since last Christmas and I’m only short a little bit. I need about $500 more and I’ll be okay. So long as my hours don’t get cut I should be alright.” He replied.


        Applebloom slapped him playfully on the back with a huge grin plastered upon her face. “Well, shoot. She’s gonna be all over ya’!”


        Spike shrugged sheepishly, not entirely sure that Applebloom was accurate. Truth be told he was nervous that Rarity might not even give him the time of day. She was a beautiful exchange student here in this country for education and he was a high school student who worked a crappy job just to afford a single bedroom apartment. Compared to her, he had literally nothing to offer.


        “Who knows?” He shrugged again.


        “Again with the self doubting?” Applebloom sighed and gave him a nudge hoping to instill some confidence into him.


        “It’s just…” He bit his lip, “What would a girl like her be doing messing around with a guy like me?”


        “Hey, if she thinks she’s too good for ya’, then she ain’t right for ya’ anyways.” The country girl reminded. She had probably told him things along those lines for months to no avail. Maybe if she said it enough it would sink into his thick skull was her logic.


        “We’ll see…” He replied.





        The time was about noon, which is when classes at the community college that Applejack attended had a break for a good hour or so for students to go and get lunch. CCC was a very easy going school for most with a very flexible schedule; however this lunch period was almost universal for students and staff alike. AJ often used it to go and fetch some much needed rejuvenation after a tough morning of learning and attempting to cram facts into her skull in the hopes they would stay there in time for the tests.


        In front of her locker, AJ was busy sorting which books she would need for her afternoon classes into her bag and placing her no longer required books into the metal storage. Her eyes drawn to an approaching young woman only a year older than her. She tried to divert her attention away from the light haired slender girl. Her left arm was covered in tattoos of various references to things she adored, which she proudly showed off regularly with sleeveless shirts or even shirts with the left sleeve ripped off entirely.


        The most prominent thing though that any would notice about her is her large amount of hair. Her thick hair had partial dreadlocks woven into undreaded hair to create an interesting effect.


        In her right hand a short cane that she was hardly using, showing she had been to this place enough times to find it by memory. Applejack realized the pointlessness of pretending to look away only seconds after starting the charade when she saw the cane. She sighed, knowing this was sure to spark an unwanted conversation.


        “You know most people would at least say hello rather than sigh when someone they were close to approaches.” The girl commented as she felt up the locker next to AJ’s before leaning against it.


        “What is it, Cloud?” AJ grunted, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.


        Running a hand through her teased hair, the other girl just laughed as she did her impression of AJ’s voice. “Shoot, darlin’, I’m jus’ a tad flustered by how hot and tingly y’all make me, so it’s mighty hard to talk to ya’, that’s all.” Cloud mocked.


        AJ hushed her and covered the girl’s mouth. “Damn, Cloudchaser ya’ want the whole damn school t’hear?”


        Swatting the country girl’s hand away, Cloudchaser nodded. “Is that would it would take to make you commit for longer than when it starts to look like it’s getting serious? Maybe if everyone knew you wouldn’t be so ashamed all the time…” She pouted and gave a sad lower lip. “Come on, you know what we have is special…”


        “Was.” AJ corrected. “Ya’ thought it was special. It ain’t, and it’s over.”


        Cloud just laughed. “That’s what you said last time.”


        “Ah’ mean it this time. Ah’ got a boyfriend.” AJ grumbled as she slammed her locker shut, hoping the noise would startle Cloud.


        “When you’re done fooling around with the boys, you know where to look for me.” She grinned. “And while I can’t necessarily look for you, I can sniff you out no problem.” She tapped her nose as she spoke that last part.


        “Ain’t gonna happen, Cloudchaser.” AJ grunted as she stepped away from the alternative girl.


        Cloudchaser didn’t even bother trying to follow, instead she just yelled to AJ. “See you later, Ms. Apple!”


        AJ cringed for a moment, stopping dead in her tracks, but kept walking only a second later; she hated it when people called her “Miss”.


        Cloudchaser and she had quite a long and confusing history. A lot of on again, off again romance that was always kept mostly behind closed doors. Cloudchaser figured it had something to do with AJ’s rather old fashioned and conservative family. Not even her younger sister whom lived in the city with one of her cousin’s even knew about their relationship. AJ always went on about what her family might think if they found out she was intimate with another woman. As much as it irritated Cloudchaser though, she put up with it simply because she had fallen for AJ a long time ago. Even through their four break ups, her feelings never went away. It got easier as well from the fact that AJ would always come back a few weeks later realizing she had made a mistake.


        This time was different though, this is the first time that Cloudchaser had heard of AJ being with someone else upon one of their break ups, let alone a boy. Truth be told this was the first boyfriend that she had ever heard of AJ ever having.


        “She’ll be back…” Cloudchaser assured herself quietly as she stood there.


        She was trying to wrap her head around AJ’s true reasoning. Was her fear of judgment for her sexuality her true motivation? Or maybe it was Cloudchaser’s disability that prevented AJ from getting too attached? No. That wasn’t possible. AJ was too honest and open minded to be bigoted enough to let Cloudchaser’s blindness stop her from being with her. AJ never really made a big deal out of Cloudchaser’s lack of sight anyways.


        Her whole life her vision was always poor, but about four years ago it truly started to take a turn for the worse. Her condition reached a point where she was legally blind only a year after that, and completely blind by two years. For the past two years she had spent her life completely without sight. That meant that for the entirety of her relationship with Applejack, she had never once gazed upon her. However Cloudchaser could tell you exactly what AJ looked like. She had studied AJ closely with every chance she got to get near her. Every touch created a new part of the picture she held onto in her head.


        Still, AJ was always as stubborn as a mule. With enough persistence though she eventually broke down and let things happen. Cloudchaser knew it was only a matter of time before this whole “boyfriend” phase passed and they would be back together again; ready to break up one more time.





        Rainbow and Fluttershy were doing their usual time killing after classes had ended during the off season when Rainbow wasn’t at soccer practice. They always killed at least an hour or two before heading home, and today was no different.


        “So I got study time with Twilight tonight.” Rainbow puffed out her chest proudly as she spoke.


        “I hope you actually intend to study then.” Fluttershy snickered, seldom dipping into those kinds of jokes.


        Taking every chance she could to make a lewd comment, Rainbow grinned perversely, “Oh I’ll be studying alright…”


        Fluttershy faked a gag. “Gross, keep that to yourself.”


        “Oh come on, you know would love some “study time” with Soarin.” Rainbow said Soarin’s name in a mocking high pitched voice trying to mimic Fluttershy.


        “Stop it.” She groaned and lowered herself deeper into the neck of her sweater.


        Rainbow recognized she probably was pushing her shy friend a bit too far and decided it was best to drop the subject and talk about something else. “So, you going to see your family on Christmas?”


        Fluttershy shook her head. “And leave you here? No way.”


        Rainbow sunk a bit at that comment, she already felt guilty about the fact that Fluttershy was going to miss seeing her family for her sake. “That’s not necessary. Just go, I’ll be fine, promise.” Rainbow patted her chest as a sign of strength.


        “Are you sure? I mean I know your family isn’t coming…” Fluttershy replied.


        Rainbow just nodded. “Absolutely. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. Besides that gives me more alone time with Twilight.” A snicker left her mouth at that last comment.


        Fluttershy merely rolled her eyes at her perverted friend. “Jumping Twilight’s bones” was a common topic of discussion from Rainbow, despite Fluttershy’s disgust at the lewdness of her commentary. Then again grossing Fluttershy out was also a past time of Rainbow’s.


        The two were interrupted by a rather scruffy looking young male approaching. His jacket of poor quality almost in a state of disrepair suggested he didn’t have a lot of money to his name, and his demeanor towards the two showed he clearly knew Rainbow when he offered her a fist bump, which she accepted. “Dashie, what’s up, girl?” He grinned.


        Rainbow chuckled and evolved the fist bump into a grab and hug. “Rock! What’s good man?” She responded.


        Fluttershy kept quiet observing, it was clear that this man knew Rainbow from her old neighborhood before moving here to Canterlot City. Fluttershy and Rainbow while they attended the same school in high school, it was merely because Fluttershy was just on the edge of the better part of town and Rainbow’s family insisted she go to a better school. Normally these two were in completely different social classes to where Rainbow would have gone as she put it “to the hood school.”


        “Haven’t seen you around, homie. I’m visitin’ from back home to get my girl some shit.” He said.


        Rainbow shook her head. “Dawg, when are you going to ditch that hoe? She’s drainin’ you man.”


        He laughed it off and gave her an eye roll. “I know, I know, but she’s my baby mama now, so not much I can do.”


        Rainbow’s eyes opened at that statement. “Oh! Word!? Well shit man, congrats you stupid mother fucker.” She teased as she offered him a hug.


        He accepted her hug and the two patted each other on the back in a very “bro” like manner before releasing. “Of course, I’ll never have that problem.” Rainbow teased.


        His laughter only grew. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re only into the ladies.”


        “Well with you off the market now someone’s gotta please ‘em.” Rainbow smirked.


        He rolled his eyes and gestured towards Fluttershy without acknowledging her vocally.


        Rainbow gestured her head towards Fluttershy before speaking. “This is my homie, Fluttershy. She’s cool, we went to school together.”


        He nodded and waved. “You unlucky bitch.” He joked.


        Unsure of how to reply, Fluttershy simply laughed sheepishly and nodded trying to not get too into the conversation.


        “Yo’ Dashie.” He changed the subject. “Y’all got some of the old on ya’? It’s been a long day, could use a little something-something, ya’know?”


        She frowned and shook her head. “Nah, dawg. That ain’t my scene no more. But I know a guy back home on 4th street. He’ll hook you up.”


        He nodded and smiled before looking her up and down with a sigh of what appeared to be happiness. “Damn, you’re all grown now. Light did a great job with you.” He complimented.


        Rainbow laughed and jabbed him playfully in the shoulder. “Come on; don’t get all sappy on me. I’ll catch you later, alright homie?” She smiled.


        He nodded before walking past them and shooting another wave at Fluttershy. “It was nice meetin’ y’all!”


        “Likewise…” Was all Fluttershy could force out. Something about that scene felt strange to her. She waited until Rock was completely out of earshot before voicing her complaint.


        “What was that all about?” She asked.


        Her athletic friend gave a dismissive hand gesture. “Just a guy that used to hang out with us back home.”


        “What did he want?” Fluttershy inquired.


        “Grass… Errr… Weed.” Rainbow corrected herself knowing Fluttershy may not be familiar with the term “grass”.


        Fluttershy blinked. “You sell that?”


        “Used to. Life was harder back then, when my family needed money I chipped in where I could.” Rainbow stopped in her tracks and faced Fluttershy. “I haven’t since I moved here though. I told you, I cleaned up my act. I’m not like that anymore, I wanted to go straight. I have a good life here and no way am I about to fuck it up by getting expelled for selling drugs. If I was sent back home, my homies would beat my ass something fierce for being so stupid. A lot of people had to break their backs just for me to get here. I’m not about to fuck with that.” She explained.


        “Rainbow, I’m not judging. I was just surprised. I know you came from a different place from here, you don’t have to justify it to me.” Fluttershy reassured.


        Rainbow nodded and fell back into place next to her friend as they walked. “Anyways, I couldn’t deal with you around anyways. You’d make us look mad suspicious.”


        “Why’s that?” Fluttershy protested.


        “Oh come on, they’d take one look at you and know something was up. You’re too innocent looking.” Rainbow teased.


        “Maybe that is why we’d look less suspicious? No one would expect us to be dealers.” Fluttershy giggled as she played with the idea.


        Rainbow just rolled her eyes.


        “Hey, I got some stuff I gotta take care of, so can I catch you later?” Rainbow changed the subject.


        Fluttershy blinked, but nodded. “Yeah, okay.  I’ll catch up with you when you get home.”


        Rainbow smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder.





        Soarin had probably been practicing as hard as he could to stay in shape for when soccer season started back up. Many days out of the week he would be running halfway across the city just to keep his speed up. The last thing he needed was another reason for Rainbow to bust his chops about falling behind her in some capacity. While Rainbow was a worthy opponent the last thing he wanted was to lose to another girl, as he’d never hear the end of it from his friends. You see, Spitfire Blaze was a close friend of his whom always accompanied him who was more than a match for him at soccer. Thankfully she played on the women's team otherwise he’d have to deal with being shown up by her regularly.


        Everywhere Soarin went, Spitfire was not too far behind (or ahead depending on how you look at it). Many would assume the two were an item, however they would be wrong. Spitfire qualified as what many would call “one of the guys”, and showed little interest in Soarin beyond teasing him and as a rival.


        Now naturally, the two trained together as well if that wasn’t evident enough. Seriously, what did I tell you about having to spell things out for you? We’re going to be here a lot longer if we need to constantly stop the forward motion of the story to explain things that you could draw from your own inferences.


        Anyway, today was not an exception to the two training together. Just closing in on the end of a long run, Soarin was huffing and puffing to keep his pace up with his rival as the two darted towards his apartment complex only a half mile away.


        Spitfire was leading by a nose or two of course, but Soarin was not going to be outdone by her so easily as he picked up enough speed to close that gap just an inch or two more. He was determined to not have to listen to her gloating followed by some comment about him being a slowpoke and how he’d lose to her six year old cousin if he didn’t step up his game. His heart was beating at full speed, his lungs screaming as he pushed himself harder and harder, trying to get that victory that he wanted so badly.


        “Come on! My grandmother runs faster than that!” Spitfire called as her spiky short hair flicked and danced in the wind while she accelerated. Its unique bright orange color made her stand out in a crowd, but her choice in haircut probably added more of a standout than that. She had a rather masculine haircut, and dressed about the same.


        Her wardrobe today consisted of a pair of sweatpants and a team hoodie that she got from the school catalogue.


        “And thus…” Soarin huffed, trying to speak while keeping his run going. “The smack talking… Begins…” He wheezed.


        “You better believe it!” Spitfire grinned as she seemed to be completely full of energy still.


        Sure enough the finish line that they had set of the gates to the apartment complex was reached by Spitfire first by only a few seconds. Those few seconds were still viewed as a considerable victory on her part though. Soarin came in just behind her and halted to a stop before resting his hands on his knees while he hunched over inhaling and exhaling deeply to catch his breath. “Damn it…” He uttered between breaths.


        “Looks like you’re second place again.” Spitfire spoke as she lightly jabbed him on the shoulder.


        “What… Ever…” He panted.


        His friend offered him a helping hand to get him back up all the way, which he accepted. Taking her hand, he pulled himself up and started gaining his energy back slowly.


        “Thanks.” He commented.


        Spitfire just nodded and let go of him while the two walked across the parking lot to his building. “So, how many mistresses will be visiting you this holiday season?” Spitfire grinned.


        “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He smirked, faking confidence.


        “You’re probably swimming in the ladies, Mr. Captain of the team.” She replied.


        “Yeah, totally.” Said he.


        That probably couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality was that Soarin put on a show for the team because that was expected of him. The captain of the team was expected to be the big ladies man, and be swimming in adoring females. The truth was though that Soarin couldn’t talk to a girl he liked to save his life. He would stammer, freeze up and be unable to get a word out.


        There was one girl in particular he had his eyes set on, but given his nature only his eyes would be set on her because there was no way he could ever gather the courage to actually ask her out or hardly talk to her. His mind fell back onto her long silky pink hair, her light teal eyes and her smile most of all. Though she hardly smiled due to her reclusive nature, she had an excellent smile.


        Fluttershy was her name, and he had admired her from afar for some time, though by the look of how things have gone that far away admiration would have to be what he settled for.


        “So are you going to be free this weekend?” Spitfire asked, changing the subject.


        “Nah, I got some school work to catch up on before the break. You know how it goes.” Soarin replied as they entered the building and started making their way up the stairs.


        “Awww, lame. I wanted to pal around with you at the mall. No biggie though, if your grades drop too much you’ll be kicked off the team, so I guess that’s important.” She justified to herself out loud.


        He just nodded in agreement even though he was telling a fib.


        Reaching his door, Spitfire nodded in acceptance that they would part ways here. “Well, I guess I’ll see you when I see you then. Peace out!” She waved as she ran in the other direction. How she still had energy to run was beyond him.


        Entering his apartment, he quickly kicked off his shoes and left them near the door untidily (as always) and trotted through the kitchen, quickly grabbing a Gatorade before making his way to the living room and plopping down on his cheap couch, covered in stains from soda and snacks from all the games that he invited his friends over to watch.


        Twisting the cap, he took a sip of the grape flavored drink before speaking his thoughts out loud. “This weekend… This weekend I’ll tell her.”





        There in the bathroom of the mall stood a tall Rarity adjusting we make up before heading out. The last thing she wanted was people to see her with sloppy make up. Gazing at the mirror she turned a few times to get a good look at herself from different angles. She fluffed her thick hair with her hands as she admired its appearance. Her hair was a deep purple, and somewhat wild. It was naturally wavy and she had complimented it with some curls at the end. She was always known as the girl with the ever changing hair. She’d dye it a different color at times and completely change her style from time to time, but this style with this color was her comfort zone. She found herself coming back to it frequently.


	Puckering her lips, she checked her lipstick before she was satisfied. She smiled and grabbed her expensive bag.


        From its inner pocket she retrieved an iPhone and turned it on to check her messages. There was only one from her manager at the clothing outlet she worked asking if she could come in on Sunday. She gave a simple “Sure” as a response. Truth be told, Rarity didn’t exactly need the money, but she enjoyed working in an environment that allowed her to help others put together a wardrobe.


        At only twenty, Rarity had the appearance of a woman. As a result, she reeled in customers with ease. She tried to keep the flirting on the light side though, as she didn’t like people to think she was being disingenuous. She didn’t enjoy the idea of playing with others emotions, and took a strong personal stance against it. Back home, she was always told she was gorgeous, so it was little surprise to her that here would be the same.


        Leaving the bathroom, she made her way to the mall exit. With her thoughts focused on getting home, she walked somewhat absentmindedly outside. With the holidays coming up, her thoughts traveled to the fact that she would be spending this year here in Canterlot City instead of back home. Her family was traveling somewhere lavish probably, but due to the fact that she was committed to getting a jump start on her mid-term project there just wasn’t any time to take a trip in the middle of her upcoming downtime. School was going on break soon, but Rarity would make the most of that free time to create something that surely would net her the spot of first in her class that she had sought after. There was no way she was about to go home until she was the best there was, her future as a fashion designer depended on it.


        It was starting to get late, and the late winter months had decreased the amount of daylight to the point where it was dark outside by nearly 5PM. With the decline of daylight, the streets seemed to empty for the most part, and soon the streetlights would kick on.


        Canterlot City was a relatively safe place at night though, however an incident would occur now and then, and tonight one was about to unfold.


        Yawning, Rarity covered her mouth as she strutted to get home quickly. She could hear her expensive boots sloshing in the damp snow but soon would hear another set of them behind her. She paused when she felt a hand placed upon her shoulder. Flinching, she tried to peek to get a look at who was there, only to hear a deep male voice threaten her. “Don’t turn around.” He spoke.


        Rarity gulped and nodded. “Alright then… What do you want?” She replied.


        “Do exactly as I say and you won’t get hurt.” He commanded.


        Rarity nodded; sure that he saw her nod. She was positive that his eyes were not about to be taken off of her.


        “Step into my office over here.” He gave her a nudge to point her to the direction of a nearby ally. She quickly figured out that “office” was just a metaphor.


        “I don’t want any trouble…” She spoke gently, being careful with her words, so not to anger him.


        “If you shut the hell up, and do as I say there won’t be any.” He replied.


        She nodded again and began stepping into the alley. Once the two were concealed by the darkness of the alley, he turned her around and revealed he was brandishing a knife during this entire encounter. Though the knife was small, the scruffy individual definitely looked like he knew how to use it and that he had probably done so before. He was donning what Rarity would consider “peasant” clothes, but right now she figured wasn’t a good time to do a fashion assessment.


        “Alright, give me your money.” He demanded as she shook the knife to increase his intimidation over her.


        “I don’t have any… I pay for everything with cards; I rarely carry any bills…” She admitted offering him her wallet from her purse.


        He dug through the wallet and grunted before throwing it back at her. She caught it, and placed it back in her bag. “Are you serious? Spoiled rich brat doesn’t have a dime on her?” He growled.


        She shook her head. “I promise I haven’t a single quid on me.”


        He hissed. “You better have something besides that fucking accent to give me.”


        Snatching, her purse he dug through it before pulling out her phone. “Well looks like you were holding out on me.” He said as he gripped it.


        “I didn’t think you’d be interested in my phone…” She spoke meekly.


        “What other surprises are you hiding?”


        “Nothing, I promise.”


        He took a step closer, his blade shining in the little light there was in the alley. Rarity took a step back cowering in fear. “Just take it; I don’t need it that badly…” She lied.


        “Those are some nice earrings.” He commented as his eyes focused on her diamond earrings she had brought from back home.


> Chapter III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter III




        Rarity kept stepping backward, with a few more steps; she felt something rattle behind her. Turning quickly, she realized there was a chain link fence there preventing her from putting any more distance between herself and her assailant. The only option she had left was negotiation. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself in hopes that her efforts would garner some kind of success.
        “Look, I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t hurt me…” She requested in her most serious voice she could muster.
        He laughed and continued his advance. “You aren’t about to get away that easily…”
        With her efforts thwarted, Rarity began to shrink down and huddle in the back corner, trying to press her body together in hopes it would protect her better. For the first time in ages, she actually didn’t care about the fact she was sitting on the dirty ground staining her dress. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she trembled. “Please…” She begged.
        Rarity closed her eyes tight hoping it’d all be over when she opened them; however she heard a surprising sound, a crack. Opening her eyes, she saw her attacker’s head sling in the opposite direction and standing next to him with a fist extruded was a vicious Rainbow Dash taking a swing at him. The man regained his composure quickly and took a swing with his knife, which Rainbow dodged, taking another jab at his stomach. A direct hit made him kneel in agony, but didn’t bring him down.
        He brought himself up again and put himself behind Rainbow and slashed at her, making light contact with his blade. Rainbow backed up next to Rarity and touched the new hole in her shirt feeling the light trace of blood from the scratch. She looked down to Rarity and smiled. “You alright?”
        Rarity just nodded her eyes wide open with amazement.
        “Alright, that little stunt is going to cost you…” He growled as he brushed the blood from his lip that came from her punch.
        Rainbow shrugged and reached in her pocket and tossed her wallet to him. “Take it; I only got $14 anyways. You wanna kill me over $14 and a bloody lip? Fine, but leave the lady out of it.”
        “Oh your friend is going to pay for what you just did…” He grinned and looked over to the trembling Rarity. “I mean she is a very pretty little thing isn’t she…?”
        Rainbow grew a scowl. “You lay one hand on her; I promise you’ll regret it.”
        He took a step closer. “What are you gonna do little girl?”
        That was the last straw for Rainbow. She wasn’t about to allow this to go any further even if it meant escalating it to a level she didn’t want to do in front of Rarity. She had no choice if she wanted to keep Rarity (and herself) safe. Reaching behind herself, Rainbow lifted the back of her shirt slightly and pulled an object she had been keeping tucked into the waist of her jeans out and brought it forward. The man flinched at the sight of the freshly brandished handgun Rainbow brought out.
        “Whoa, shit…” He held his hands up slightly and took a step back.
        “I warned you. Now back the fuck up!” Rainbow growled.
        He obeyed and started moving backwards while Rainbow moved forward pinning him to the alleyway wall. He dropped his knife and kept his hands up. “Look, I’m sorry. Here, your friend can have her phone back.” He reached for his pocket slowly so not to agitate Rainbow and pulled out the phone.
        Rainbow snatched the phone quickly and tucked it into her pocket, figuring she’ll give it back to Rarity in a few minutes. She wasn’t satisfied yet though. Jabbing the gun a bit closer to him, she looked him right in the eyes. “On your knees.” She commanded.
        “What?” He raised a brow.
        She jabbed him again with the gun. “I said on your fucking knees.”
        Not arguing any further, he did as he was told and knelt down before getting onto his knees, looking up at Rainbow.
        Rainbow lowered her left hand holding the gun to point it directly at his skull. “Open your mouth.” She demanded.
        “Look, this is fucking crazy-“ He tried to protest.
        “I SAID OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!”
        He did so, and Rainbow placed the end of the gun into the opened orifice. She pushed it forward a bit causing him to gag, tears running down his face in fear. Rarity turned away in horror, not wanting to see what the result would be. She couldn’t bear the thought of having to witness Rainbow murder this man even after all he had done. She couldn’t, no she wouldn’t think of her friend like that.
        The man grumbled incoherently with the gun in his mouth and fighting tears. Rainbow’s face remained stern. “It’s your lucky day. My friend’s dress looks pretty expensive and I’m sure cleaning your brains out of it isn’t on her to-do list today. So you get to live, but make no mistake… If you ever harass my friend again…” Rainbow knelt down to meet him at eye level, her eyes filled with fire. “I’ll blow your fucking head off next time.”
        He whimpered.
        “Do you understand?” She asked.
        He nodded.
        “I CAN’T FUCKING HEAR YOU!? DO YOU UNDERSTAND!? IF I CATCH YOU FUCKING WITH MY FRIEND AGAIN I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU, DO YOU GET THAT!?” She shouted.
        He nodded more viciously and whimpered some more.
        Finally content with his answer, Rainbow pulled the gun out of his mouth and gestured for him to leave. “Now get the fuck out of her before I change my mind.”
        Pulling himself to a stand as quickly as he could he nodded and bolted out of the alley at full speed. Rainbow made sure to watch him go before lowering her weapon and putting it back where it was prior to this encounter. Moving towards her friend, she offered a hand to her.
        Rarity took the small muscular girl’s hand graciously and pulled herself up, brushing off her dress. Rainbow gave the phone back to her, which she took and nodded before placing it back in her purse.
        “Sorry you had to see all of that… I didn’t want it to go there, but I’ve dealt with his kind before, if you don’t show them your threats aren’t empty they will just come back later… I’m sorry if I scared you…” Rainbow apologized.
        Rarity was nearly breathless. “Y-you… You got hurt…”
        Rainbow shrugged. “I’ve had worse back home. This is the norm for me.”
        The elegant purple haired maiden couldn’t think of a word to say as the two exited the alleyway. Rainbow broke the silence with a smile, “At least that prick will think twice before trying something like that again.”
        “You saved my life, Rainbow…” Rarity finally spoke what was on her mind.
        Rainbow shrugged a second time. “Nah, you’d have done the same for me. Besides that pussy didn’t have what it took to kill anyone. I’d say you were in more danger of getting dirt all over your dress than that douche hurting you.” Rainbow attempted to make light of the situation in hopes that it would calm Rarity down.
        “Thank you, Rainbow. I’m ever so grateful…” Rarity took her savior’s hand and bowed slightly in gratitude.
        “I like chocolates and cash.” Rainbow joked, a bit uncomfortable with this level of gratitude.
        “Would you mind walking me home?” Rarity requested.
        Accepting right away, Rainbow nodded and started walking along side the taller woman. She could tell Rarity was quite shaken up by the whole ordeal.

        “Ah jus’ don’t know what to do, Twilight…” Applejack spoke as she popped open a bottle of soda that the soon-to-be doctor had given her from her fridge.
        Twilight shrugged as she popped the top off of a bottle of her own with a bottle opener that AJ had given her for Christmas two years ago. Taking a sip, Twilight adjusted her skirt before taking a seat across from AJ on the couch. She set her drink gently down on the table and corrected her glasses before speaking. “Maybe you really do need to take a page out of Rainbow Dash’s book?”
        AJ rolled her eyes. “Okay, Ah’ get it… I put myself in this situation, but that don’t mean I want to be in it…”
        “Well, why not just tell Cloudchaser you’re not interested then?” Twilight proposed.
        With a sigh, AJ shook her head. “Ah’ have; Cloudchaser just laughs it off and doesn’t take it seriously. Y’all haven’t met her, but she’s not exactly a girl who gives up just because ya’ tell her to. She tried to continue on the archery team almost four months after she went blind...”
        Applejack found herself standing and pacing now from the nervousness of the conversation. She knew that Cloudchaser wasn’t just going to give up, and if she kicked up a fuss, it would only draw more attention to the two of them, which was an even worse scenario that she hoped to avoid.
        “Applejack, you’re pacing. Calm down.” Twilight smiled to her friend in the hope that it would relieve some of the stress.
        “How can Ah’? Cloudchaser is smart, Twilight. She’s in my head.” Applejack responded as she tapped her temple to signal what she meant with a visual, though it was doubtful that Twilight didn’t get the picture already without the cue.
        “You make it sound like she’s some kind of mind terrorist or something…” Twilight chuckled at the thought.
        “She is though! Cloudchaser knows exactly how t’get me going without even tryin’ that hard…” AJ drooped a bit as she admitted her lack of ability to resist the girl. “With that mischievous personality of hers… And something about how she uses her hands that just…” She blushed at the thought and shook her head trying to get the idea out of her mind. “Stupid sexy Cloudchaser…” She mumbled.
        Twilight was trying to withhold full blown laughter at AJ’s predicament. “Look, why not just ignore her? I mean she can’t possibly keep this up forever. Eventually she’ll get the message that you’re not interested and move on.”
        Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but jumped a bit at the sound of a doorbell ringing. It startled her so much she completely forgot what she was going to say. Twilight stood up and approached the door along with an apology. “Sorry, I had a study date scheduled with Rainbow. Duty calls.” She winked as she opened the door.
        Behind the door, Rainbow stood in her usual attire of a black hoodie with some kind of band or rap artist name scribbled all over it, her hands tucked deep into its pockets and an expression of relaxedness. Her hand left her left pocket as she brushed a lock or two of her multi-colored hair to the right side, away from the side cut portion of her head. On the left side she had her hair trimmed down to boy hair length in the front.
        Following Rainbow though was a woman much taller than her. She had on a white dress that probably cost as much as some of the furniture in Twilight’s apartment, along with some expensive earrings that more than likely were gifts from her wealthy parents. Twilight recalled that Rarity’s family were business people who owned a company back in her home country worth millions. They had discussed it once during a tea time that Rarity insisted upon. There was no doubt in Twilight’s mind that Rarity probably had access to her father’s credit cards whenever she pleased and could buy anything she wanted at any given time.
        Today though, she noticed Rarity was a little fidgety, which was unusual for the usually very collected lady she was. Almost as if she was nervous about something.
        “Ah, Rarity. I wasn’t expecting your company too. I can get some tea brewing if you like?” Twilight asked with a friendly smile.
        Rarity shook her head a bit furiously. “Oh no no, darling. I was just accompanying Rainbow on my way home. I must be heading home though.” She gestured away to imply she was going to leave post-haste.
        “Oh, alright then.” Twilight shrugged.
        Applejack approached the group and stepped outside the door after Rainbow entered. Applejack stood next to Rarity and smiled. “Ah’ better get goin’ too. Y’all have a nice study time.” She spoke before taking her leave.
        Twilight wanted to tell her to stay, but she knew that AJ wasn’t about to discuss her problem any further with company there. It took months for her to even open up to Twilight about it.
        Rarity turned to Rainbow and took her hand in her own. She bowed a bit to reach Rainbow’s height. “Thank you again, Rainbow.”
        Rainbow rolled her eyes and took her hand back giving a gesture that suggested she wanted her to drop the subject. “Go on now. No more thanks are necessary. Just get on home; I got a lot of studying to catch up on.”
        The elegant lady stood upright with her pristine posture and nodded. “Be seeing you, Twilight.” She bowed her head a bit before taking off, shutting the door behind her.
        Twilight simply fixed her glasses again that were riding down her nose and gave an awkward expression, completely confused by the situation. “What was that all about?” She asked.
        Rainbow plopped herself down on the loveseat and put her feet up on the coffee table. “Nothin’. I just agreed to do some fashion modeling for Rarity, that’s all.” She lied.
        Catching wind of the unusually uncharacteristic behavior, Twilight cocked a brow. “I didn’t know you were into fashion.”
        She shrugged. “I’m not. I was just doing a favor for her.”
        “That’s awfully kind of you.”
        Rainbow grinned. “What can I say? I got a soft spot for cute girls like her.”
        Twilight merely rolled her eyes and grabbed some text books from the shelf and set them down, opening one to a page she had place a sticky note in to mark their previous progress. The subject was math, one that Rainbow seemed particularly incapable at. Flipping to the page that she left off on, Twilight brushed her hair behind her neck and focused on the task at hand.
        “Alright, so if four minus X plus 17 is equal to forty-two, then what is X?” Twilight quizzed, hoping that Rainbow retained some knowledge from their last session.
        “Man, why do all of these problems have freakin’ letters? I thought math was numbers? Even in high school they started doing this X shit. Can’t we go back to the good old days when math was just numbers?” Rainbow groaned.
        “Math has almost never been exclusively numbers, Rainbow. Logic and problem solving are at the core of mathematics.” Twilight explained.
        “Logically speaking then, when am I ever going to need to know this? I’m studying criminal justice, what is the purpose of this?” Rainbow protested as she lay back on the love seat and looked up to the ceiling.
        The tutor sighed. “You need to focus, Rainbow and take this seriously; the test is in a few weeks, and if you don’t pass you’re going to get kicked off the team.”
        Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. Let’s find this math problem’s X. Even though I’m sure he should probably just accept that it’s over.” She joked.

        Another lazy day at school was passing for Spike. Class was the usual snore and in the back he was practicing his best sleeping while sitting up stance that he possibly could. Positioning himself perfectly behind another student, he had studied the teacher’s movement patterns to know around where he could lean his head upon his hand propped up by his elbow and his eyes would be blocked by the student in front of him so that the teacher would never notice he was sleeping. He had almost mastered the fine art of sleeping in class.
        He had probably gotten a good ten minutes of rest in during his final class of the day before the bell rang and broke his slumber. He cursed under his breath, and rubbed his eyes before quickly throwing all of his things into his bag. On his last class, he always brought his bag with him so he could save himself a trip to his locker. When that bell rang, he wanted to be out and on his way to work as fast as possible. While he wasn’t thrilled about working there, he knew that Twilight pulled a favor to get him that job, and he wasn’t about to disappoint her.
        He was stopped by the teacher on his way out the classroom door, who placed his arm in the doorway right as Spike was about to make his exit. He gestured for the green spiky haired teen to step aside and have a talk with him. With a sigh and a curse under his breath, he did as instructed.
        “Mr. Sparkle, I’m a bit concerned about your lack of participation in this class.” He began.        “Gee, thanks. I appreciate your concern, glad we could have this talk, I’m cheering for you too, buddy.” Spike faked a smile and patted his teacher on the shoulder disingenuously before attempting to make another leave for the door only to be stopped again.
        “You seem distracted, Spike. What’s been bothering you? You know you can talk to me if you need anything. I’m here to not only help you learn, but help you when you need someone to talk to.” His teacher spoke with legitimate concern.
        “Thanks, Mr. Stick, but I think I can handle myself. I got plenty of people looking out for me.” He reassured the instructor.
        Mr. Stick only sighed and nodded before gesturing for Spike to run along. “Alright, but I’m always here…”
        “Duly noted.” Spike replied before bolting out of the room at full speed to make up for lost time.
        Seeing him running, his faithful companion, Applebloom caught up with him and kept her pace steady to stay by his side. “So, what’s the hurry?” She asked.
        “I just don’t want to be late.” He huffed as he was trying to keep going at full speed.
        The two made it out the front door of the building before a group of three older males blocked their path. Spike recognized them, the tallest (and probably most dimwitted) was Snails, and next to him was the leader of their little group, Snips. Snips was short and stocky, but despite that everyone seemed to follow his orders. The kid was already growing a mustache at his age and didn’t exactly have a lot more brains to him than his henchmen. The third was their newcomer to the group, sporting a ridiculously out of style jacket, and probably the most offensive haircut known to man was a recruit they just called “Beater”. The kid probably failed his junior year at least 4 times to be as big as he was and still in high school. The kid’s arms were probably as big as Spike’s head.
        “Well, how are you and your girlfriend?” Snips teased.
        Spike laughed and looked over to Applebloom. “Look at that, Applebloom, the road’s blocked by a couple of morons.”
        “Laugh it up, dumbass.” Snips growled.
        “Great retort, your mom teach you that one? Nah couldn’t have been… She’s already drank herself stupid at this point in the day.” Spike replied.
        Snips definitely showed a physical twitch at that comment, but kept his cool and held back his two henchmen.
        “Look unless you’ve come to have an ugly contest which I’m sure you’ll no doubt take home the victory for that, I got somewhere that I have to be.” Spike said.
        “Where? At that stupid bakery downtown?” Snails actually spoke up this time.
        Spike blinked and grew a nasty scowl. “How did you know about that?”
        “My mom went and got a cake from them last week.” Snails answered with a very “matter-of-a-fact” tone that only seemed to annoy Spike more.
        “Stay behind me, Applebloom. I’m going to resolve this the easy way…” Spike said quietly to his friend.
        Applebloom only expressed protest to his proposed plan. “Spike, they’re not worth it…”
        Spike however didn’t listen; he homed in and took a quick swing right at Snips’ face, connecting with his jaw. With a cracking noise coming from the bully he had taken off guard, he used the momentum to take another jab at his stomach, causing him to kneel in agony. He had to keep it moving if he wanted to stand a chance against the three of them, so during the confusion of those first few seconds, he took a swing at Snails for a direct hit in the eye socket. That would be the end of his lucky shots though, as Snips regained enough composure to hit Spike back in his shoulder blade.
        The punch stung, but it wasn’t a very effective place to do damage to Spike and he turned around quickly to take another crack at Snips’ head. When he felt contact, he took a swing with his other hand to hit him again. A small trail of blood followed Snips’ skull that flung back from the punch.
        Unfortunately though, Snails was able to take advantage of the situation and punch Spike in the back of the head while he was dealing with Snips. It staggered him, but he quickly turned around and kicked Snails right in the gut.
        All of this however left Spike forgetting about Beater who had remained on the sidelines. Finally getting involved, the brute pushed through Snips and Snails and jabbed Spike right in the face. Blown back from the impact, Spike had no time to react as the behemoth picked him right off the ground and tossed him causing him to land on a nearby car. Once the car’s alarm went off, Snips, and Snails pulled themselves off the ground. “Shit, that’s Principle Cranky’s car. Let’s bail!”
        With those words, the trio of bullies took off. Applebloom rushed to Spike’s aid and pulled him off of the smashed windshield. “Are you alright?”
        He nodded as he rubbed his head. “I think so…”
        At that exact moment though when he looked back to the school entrance, there was the tall and angry Principle Cranky in his usual business attire. His dark face crinkled to probably the most annoyed expression that Spike knew. Reaching in his pocket he retrieved a key to his vehicle and silenced the alarm. Spike and Applebloom looked him in the eyes.
        “Oh shit…” Spike sighed.

        “So why don’t you just tell him how you feel, Fluttershy?” Rainbow spoke as she rudely was attempting to clip her toenails in front of her friend. Fluttershy was more or less used to her disgusting nature at this point. Rainbow seldom seemed to care if people thought less of her for her behavior. Commonly Fluttershy got to hear the crude expression “fuck ‘em” leave Rainbow’s lips. Fluttershy seldom cursed herself, and before Rainbow she would adamantly try and censor people around her, but after years with the potty mouth that Rainbow possessed, it was clear that she was not going to change any time soon. At this point, Fluttershy just accepted it.
        Fluttershy tugged at some of her long hair nervously as she spoke. “Oh please, he’s on the soccer team. He wouldn’t be interested in a nobody like me. He’s a sports star…”
        Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I mean I would imagine that Soarin has pussy on speed dial…” Fluttershy cringed a bit at that description, which was probably unnecessary on Rainbow’s part.
        “But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? Who knows maybe you’ll catch him during a dry spell.” Rainbow added.
        The tomboyish girl winced a bit as she clipped too close to the toe with the next clip attempt. She took a breath and carried on, trying to ignore the agony.
        “I don’t know if I could handle that…” Fluttershy admitted, hiding her face behind her hair a bit.
        “What’s there to handle? You tell him you like him, make the offer and just hop on the old pogo stick and do the nasty thing.” Rainbow didn’t even look at Fluttershy as she uttered out such an obscene suggestion.
        Fluttershy’s whole face turned a shade of crimson just at the mention of such an idea. “I-I… Err… What?”
        Rainbow stopped what she was doing and looked over at her friend with a serious look this time. “Or whatever it is that you straight people call it. I don’t know, I haven’t ever had an interest in cock; so excuse me if I’m not up to date on the terminology.”
        “No it’s not that… It’s…” Fluttershy felt her face burning up. “I could never…”
        Rainbow blinked. “Oh yeah, still got the V-card… Right…” She looked up in thought before returning her gaze to her friend. “Well, you’ll have to change that if you want a chance with him. Soarin probably takes down 4 a month.”
        “I… I couldn’t ever…”
        Rainbow shrugged before pulling her socks back on and setting her nail clippers aside. “Well it’s up to you after all. I mean it’s not really that big a deal, but I get it if you’re scared.” Rainbow smiled before tapping her friend’s shoulder with her fist.
        “Give it time, warm up to the idea.” She added.
        Fluttershy nodded and bit the sleeve of her sweater. “Yeah… I’ll think about it… Can I… Come to you if I need help?”
        Rainbow nodded. “I mean I can’t really tell you much about the part with him being a guy and all, but I can definitely mentally prepare you.”
        “Thanks, Rainbow… You’re a good friend.”
        “And yet you’re all over Soarin and not me.” She grinned.
        Fluttershy rolled her eyes and shoved Rainbow a bit playfully. “I’d have to share you with half the town you whore.” Fluttershy giggled, not usually using words like “whore” but Rainbow certainly brought out the crudeness in her.
        “Hey, I resent that. Whores get paid, I just will fuck anyone who is hot.” Rainbow chuckled.
        “Is that what was going on with Rarity? I heard you were with her the other day?” Fluttershy teased.
        Rainbow laughed jovially. “Don’t think I didn’t think about it… Those curves, that butt…” She made a moan of delight out loud. “But nah; I was just helping her out with something and she was following me home because of it. Rarity is too much woman for me to handle, if I’m a cheap whore, then she’s a high class escort.” Fluttershy actually understood that analogy from being around her for so long.
        “So how’d your study session with Twilight go?” Fluttershy said, changing the subject.
        Rainbow rolled her eyes. “The usual, I was told I need to focus more and I’ll never pass the exams if I don’t shape up, blah blah blah.”
        “You weren’t even paying attention were you?” Fluttershy teased as she grabbed a drink from the coffee table and took a sip. The two had been stationed in Rainbow’s apartment and while the place was a bit messy, Rainbow always seemed to keep the living room clean (or relatively clean if you had seen the rest of her apartment) due to that being the area they frequented.
        “It’s so hard to listen and to keep listening when I’m undressing her with my mind.” Rainbow winked.
        “You’re a pig.” Fluttershy laughed.
        “Oink oink, mother fucker.” Rainbow joked.

        “Oh come on, you can’t tell me that you actually like him. I know you, AJ, I know what makes you… Tick…” Cloudchaser’s voice exited through Applejack’s phone which she held awkwardly. Being a country girl, she was used to not getting cell phone reception where she used to live, so when she picked up her first smartphone it was a completely new world to her.
        Applejack sighed, rolled her eyes and propped her feet covered by her cowboy boots onto her coffee table. She popped open a soda and gave it a big gulp before responding. “Cloudchaser, Ah’ told ya’ before. It’s over. I’m with him now, and that’s how it’s gonna stay.”
        “Oh please, I bet he doesn’t even do that thing with his to-“ AJ cut her off.
        “Will ya’ shut it ‘bout that!?” Applejack’s face burned up at just the mention of such a thing.
        “See, the fact that you still get embarrassed shows I’m right. We all know where your destiny lays, AJ. You just need to finally be ready to accept it.” Cloudchaser teased. She got really serious for a moment though and started talking again. “Come on, AJ. Why not just make the next step? What do we have to lose? Why are you so afraid of what your family might think? Just because they’re old fashioned doesn’t mean they would disown you or something. I mean your brother and sister both adore you. I can’t see them just giving up on you.”
        Applejack bit her lip awkwardly. “It’s more complicated than that…”
        “It’s only as complicated as you make it, AJ.”
        “Well, right now it’s super complicated.” Applejack retorted.
        Cloudchaser sighed. “Why you’re so afraid to be happy, I’ll never know. I swear there are children who are easier to please than you. I don’t even get why I keep bothering with a girl who doesn’t know what she wants.”
        “Why do you then?” AJ asked with a serious tone.
        “Because I love you, AJ. You know that.” Cloudchaser said it so plain, so simple, like it was just a universal fact that both of them should have known without question. Then again, maybe AJ should have actually already known that.
        “Ah’ know you do…” AJ replied.
        “And I keep waiting for you to say it back.” Cloudchaser hinted.
        “Ah’ gotta go…” Applejack said. She hung up before giving the girl a chance to speak again, knowing it would only make the conversation more awkward and difficult to deal with than it already was.
        Cloudchaser and her may have been a perfect match, but AJ would keep pushing her away again and again. Part of AJ wondered if they would be locked into this dance of push and pull for the rest of time. Another part of her just figured if the two were meant to be together so badly, that maybe she should just embrace it and let it happen. It would save her a lot of trouble in the long run.
        Still, how she felt about Cloudchaser wasn’t even the issue. She knew that despite what she may say, do or even try to think, that the feelings between the two were mutual. She knew her new relationship was just a façade she was trying to convince herself was real. An attempt at smiling long enough until the smile became genuine. Her true feelings would probably always rest with Cloudchaser, but she’d go on trying to deny that and push her away; all for the idea that she believed this was the only way for the two of them to be truly happy.
        “Damn it…” AJ thought out loud as she sipped another bit of soda.

> Chapter IV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter IV



Spike grumbled as he failed to roll a pie dough to perfection for the third time in a row. He always hated making pie crust, but after what happened to him earlier, he couldn’t even keep his mind on it, thus increasing the amount of screw ups. He had already had to throw away two other items today due to being too distracted to make them properly. To his good fortune, Pinkie was understanding and let it slide.
Finally getting it right, he let out a sigh of relief while he threw the dough into the pie tin and molded it to the correct shape. The silence was cut by a familiar country voice that had caught up with him finally. “Hey!” Applebloom said as she huffed. She had ran as fast as she could to check up in him.
Catching her breath, she held herself upright on the counter. “Sorry I bailed. I couldn’t be late to picking up something, but I ran here as fast as I could to make sure you were alright.”
Spike merely shrugged, still clearly a bit annoyed at the situation that unfolded before him earlier that day. “It’s fine…” He grumbled.
“So what happened? Did he give it to ya’ hard? Suspension? Week of detention?” Applebloom leaned in curiously.
“Nope.” Spike replied, finally finishing with his pie crust.
“He let you off the hook? That ain’t like Principle Doodle…” Applebloom put her hand upon her chin as she pondered.
“He didn’t let me off the hook… I had to pay for the damages to his car or he was going to expel me… He’d have made me go back home the moment Twilight found out… So I just shelled out $600 to fix his stupid Mazda…” Spike growled, he wanted to punch the pie he had just prepared, but contained himself realizing he needed to try and stay calm at work.
“Naturally, he didn’t believe your story about Snips and Snails?” Applebloom questioned.
Spike shook his head again. The principle would sooner believe that aliens abducted half of the school than something a troublemaker like Spike said, even if it was the legitimate truth. He just had too many incidents on his record for his word to be taken seriously without photographic proof.
“So there goes my Christmas plans for Rarity…” He sighed.
Applebloom grew a determined expression. “Maybe there’s another way for you to make the money?”
“I am already picking up as many extra shifts as I can here, and I can’t work too many extra hours while I’m in school. State laws and whatnot…” Spike made a ridiculous hand gesture clearly intended to be his impression of a politician. This was accompanied with a strange voice for added effect.
“Damn, he really has your dice in a vice, huh?” Applebloom commented, partially in a joking manner to lighten the mood.
“Language.” Came the voice of Pinkie, whom had just snuck around the corner. She placed her hand upon Spike’s head and ruffled up his styled hair. He grumbled and swatted her away. “Though, I agree; his dice do seem to be in quite a vice.” She giggled.
“Great… Now Twilight is going to find out…” Spike groaned.
“Nonsense, I have no reason to tell her, so long as you keep doing your job.” Pinkie winked.
As much as she annoyed and perplexed him, Spike was thankful for Pinkie’s relaxed attitude. She often avoided getting involved in things that were not her business, and for that, he could almost kiss her, if he was that kind guy that is, which he wasn’t.
“I wish I could give you more hours, little Spike, but it’s as you said, labor laws and all of that. I’ll do what I can though to help you get your present for Miss Belle.” Pinkie stuck her finger into a tub of peanut butter on the counter and licked it off of her finger with a grin. “Though I think you should just tell her how you feel.” She added.
“Jeez… I kind of wanted to keep that a secret…” Spike admitted, blushing a bit at the mention of his crush on Rarity.
“Then I shall not tell a soul.” Pinkie giggled.

Sprawled out on her colorful bed, Rainbow stared to the opposite wall at the gay pride flag she had hanging there. Her mind was racing with different thoughts of school, the team, Twilight and most importantly what had happened the other day. Rarity was getting all bent out of shape about nothing, right? It never occurred to Rainbow that she may have actually saved Rarity’s life. For her, what they had endured was routine, not out of the ordinary, and really just a bunch of ignorance as she puts it sometimes.
She recalled when she first came to the city, how strange it was to her. As a child, her family left their little neighborhood to visit Canterlot City once. She only had vague memories of it, but always remembered how much bigger the world seemed after being there. She had thought that she would be trapped in that small little circle of hell forever.
Her eyes fell to her feet which were naked at the moment. She had taken off her socks to take a nap, and she just found herself staring at her slightly dark skinned feet. She couldn’t believe she had gotten here because of those two feet. If she hadn’t have picked up soccer in high school, she might have still been back home right now, just trying to get by. She was fortunate that the college took such good care of her. She was even given a living budget due to her circumstances.
Rarity didn’t know all of that though. It had never really occurred to her that Rarity had come from a life where everything was handed to her. So for Rarity, that situation was probably ten times more frightening than it was for Rainbow who knew only how to fight and earn everything she had. Where Rainbow came from, it wasn’t uncommon for others to try and take what you had away from you.
Still though, it wasn’t that big of a deal. That guy probably didn’t have the balls to do anything anyways, she thought.
She heard her phone begin to chime near her head. Reaching off the edge of the bed, she grabbed it from the nightstand and placed it to her ear lazily. She didn’t even hold it; she just let it lay there rested against her head as she answered pathetically. “Hello?” She grumbled.
“Dashie, it’s me.” The voice said.
Rainbow instantly recognized her old friend. “Oh, hey CJ. What’s good, homie?”
“Dashie, I found the guy.” He didn’t even bother answering her question.
“All business, huh? What guy?” She rolled her eyes.
His voice got really quiet. “The mother fucker I said I’d find for years.”
Rainbow sat up so fast, she almost got dizzy. She fumbled to pick her phone back up and brought it back to her face. “You’re sure? Like for real?”
“Yeah, his name is Ice. Runs probably the biggest crew out here, but I’m positive he’s the one.” CJ responded.
“I’m coming over, now. Gimme like 2 hours, I gotta catch a bus. Don’t you dare fucking do anything without me there. We have to discuss this in person, you got that?” Rainbow commanded.
He laughed a bit, “Relax homegirl, I ain’t gonna do shit without you here. After all, you’re family. Let’s do what’s good, man.”
“Alright, cool.” She turned her phone off and began gathering something appropriate to wear outside. It was starting to get colder out and it was already starting to snow. She took her favorite Tupac hoodie, some random socks she just retrieved out of the hamper (probably dirty) and started slipping them on.
The doorbell rang as she was trying to slip on the hoodie that was a size too big for her. Struggling to get her arms through the sleeves, she fumbled over to the door and found her eyes at waist level to a familiar peacoat. Rainbow adjusted and stood upright, looking a bit up to see Rarity there in her doorway. “Oh, hey.” Rainbow commented.
Rarity bowed slightly and smiled. “Miss, Dash…” She began.
“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Rainbow placed her hand on top of Rarities mouth. “For starters, I’m not in the mood for more of that pleasantly shit. Call me Miss Dash again and we’re going to have problems. Second of all, I have somewhere I have to be.”
Rarity nodded and let Rainbow remove her hand. She took note of her attire. “Where are you going? I’ll accompany you. We can talk more on the way.”
Rainbow let out a hearty laugh. “No way. You wouldn’t last two minutes there.” The thought of Rarity in the hood almost put a smile on Rainbow’s face. Rarity wouldn’t even know how to ask where the bus stop is there. There was little doubt in Rainbow’s mind that Rarity would get mugged ten times over.
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m going back to the hood to discuss something with my homeboy CJ. It’s too dangerous for you.” Rainbow explained.
Upon hearing that, Rarity perked up and grew an aggressive stance, blocking Rainbow’s attempts to get around her. “Then I shall go with you. If it’s dangerous, I am not letting you go alone.”
“I can handle it, I grew up there. You didn’t, now out of the way!” Rainbow tried to push her aside with little luck. Rarity was holding her position quite adamantly.
“You saved my life, let me at least show my gratitude by helping you!” Rarity demanded.
Rainbow took a step back and blinked before eyeing her up and down. Her stance was determined and decisive. Rainbow had never heard Rarity yell before, as she always said it was unladylike to do so. That must have meant she was serious about going with her, and that little to nothing was going to stop her from doing so. Never had anyone seen Rarity so determined to do something until now. She was always such a quiet and private person, so it was rare to find out what she was passionate about besides fashion.
Giving in, Rainbow nodded before brushing some of her wild hair out of her face. “Fine… You can tag along… But you do exactly as I say and don’t ask too many questions. The last thing I need is to have to save your ass again.”
Rarity nodded and bowed a bit again. “Thank you, I look forward to seeing your old neighborhood with you.” She had a hint of a smile upon her face.
The former thug shook her head and stepped closer. “Let’s get something straight, All I’m really doing here is babysitting you. So don’t make me regret taking you anymore than I already do.”
“You won’t even know I’m here.” Rarity promised.
Rainbow sighed, “Yeah I will…”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and adjusted her sweater. The neck was rather large so that it sat rather loosely on her, her left shoulder often exposed. Due to the size of her chest, she often found it difficult to find shirts that didn’t fit her awkwardly, one of the drawbacks of having larger breasts. With her mind set on the task at hand, she took another few breaths while she leaned up against the wall.
She was standing just around the corner from her last class and there right around the same corner was the boy she was hoping to intercept, Soarin. She tried to remember everything that Rainbow had taught her about confidence and being ready for anything. Though she still wasn’t sure what she would do when things got “physical” between them. She kept telling herself that she would be able to handle it, but she was almost certain she’d choke up at that moment. She really liked Soarin, and despite having no sexual history of her own to speak of, she knew she wouldn’t impress him unless she was willing and prepared to go “all the way” as Rainbow put it. Could she really though?
“Okay… Just go over there and talk to him…” Fluttershy thought out loud.
Her hands were sweating so badly, she could feel her sleeves that she was gripping begin to get wet. She needed to act before she psyched herself out, and she knew that.
With one more inhale and exhale, she finally whipped around the corner, trying to move quickly before she lost her nerve. Her logic was that if she got herself in position before she could back down, she’d have no choice but to persevere.
Within a few seconds she found herself staring Soarin in the face, standing next to his friend, Spitfire.
“H-hey, Soarin…” She managed to squeak out. After all of that preparation, she was a bit disappointed in herself for only being able to squeeze out such a pathetic and weak opener.
“Oh, hey Fluttershy.” He smiled.
Her heart was thumping faster and faster, it felt like her chest would explode. His smile had set her over the edge, her nerve was slowly escaping her, and she was grasping at it to keep going.
“S-so… What are you doing this weekend?” She continued.
It wasn’t the smoothest transition, but it appeared to have worked.
“Oh… Umm… Nothing really… Why what’s up?” He responded.
Spitfire grew a look of suspicion upon her face as she observed, but she remained silent, apparently trying to see how this would all play out.
“Well, I was wondering if um… you wanted to hang out this weekend?” She was almost kicking herself at how stupid that sounded.
He blinked and took a quick glance at Spitfire before looking back at the nerve-wracked Fluttershy. “Oh… Umm… Yeah… Sure. Meet me at my place? You remember which room is mine, right?” He said.
She nodded. “Yes. I’ll be there… Say… 7?”
“Yeah, that’s cool.” Soarin smiled. He approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see you there.”
“Y-yeah… See you then…” She said.

Rainbow and Rarity found themselves seated on a city bus heading out of the city. Rarity had never gone this far away from her apartment since she moved to this country, so for her this was a far bigger adventure than it was for Rainbow. Rainbow had made this journey so many times before, and she’d probably make it a thousand times more before she was done with school completely. Thoughts of how she used to get to middle school and high school began to run through her head. She recalled having to run to the other side of town as the crack of dawn so she could make it to the bus stop. It was worth it though so that she didn’t have to go to the same shitty school that her brother had gone to. There was never anything good said about the ghetto schools and for good reason too.
The dynamic (incredibly so) duo remained silent for most of the ride, until Rarity broke the silence (much against the ground rules that Rainbow had already set of not asking questions). “So, what are we going to be doing there?”
Rainbow decided it might be best to keep Rarity as informed as possible given the situation. If there really was danger involved, she wanted Rarity to have the chance to back out early.
“We’re meeting a guy I used to hold up with, his name’s CJ. Me and his kid brother used to play together for a while. We haven’t really said much to each other since his brother got taken to the joint and I went off to school.” Rainbow explained. She turned to Rarity with a gentle smile to reassure her, “Don’t worry though, CJ and me are cool. CJ is like the dad that I never had kind of; unless you count my brother.”
Rarity did her best to ignore Rainbow’s grammar issues and continue the conversation. “So, why’d he ask you to go see him in person? Something come up?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out. He found this guy named Ice… He may be… Well… Let’s just say he’s an old friend we’ve been trying to find for a long time and we may have just found the little fuck…” Rainbow’s tone suggested to Rarity that the “friend” part may not be so true.
“So why would CJ call you about that?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow leaned back in her seat. “That’s what we’re going to find out. Knowing CJ, this should be good. He doesn’t ask me to go out of my way to see him in person very often unless shit is about to get interesting. You’ll find that CJ doesn’t like wasting time, so keep your questions short with him.”
Rarity nodded and relaxed in her seat as she adjusted her purse.
“Fortunate for you, we’re not going to the very bad part of town. So long as you stay close to me, you should be okay. Just for the love of God… Don’t do anything stupid or say anything to anyone that you shouldn’t.” Rainbow instructed.
“I understand completely…” Rarity cocked a brow. She really wasn’t sure what the big deal was, after all, how bad could it possibly be?

“Rainbow is a pretty smart girl, but she has such terrible focus issues…” Twilight complained to her friend, Applejack whom had been visiting her again. The two often met at Twilight’s apartment as the brainiac very rarely went out and about. The only times that the group really saw her was when she was running errands, holding an event for them, or they came to visit her. Twilight was almost the textbook definition of a recluse.
“I mean, when I get her to pay attention, she’s great, but she gets distracted by just about everything…” Twilight continued.
Applejack rolled her eyes and tossed Twilight a soda from the refrigerator. “Forget about that. What the hell am ‘Ah gonna do about Cloudchaser?”
Twilight sighed after just barely catching the drink. Her hand eye coordination wasn’t exactly the best, and her glassed being crooked certainly didn’t help. She found herself always needing to adjust them, which annoyed her.
She popped the top open only after tapping the drink to make sure it didn’t fizz over. “I really don’t understand why this is so difficult for you; just ignore her.”
“Cloudchaser an’ me have been doin’ this back and forth for awhile now… It’s not so easy to just forget about her an’ move on. The girls got a strange hold over me…” AJ spoke between sips.
“It sounds like you still have feelings for her.” That sentence made the whole room fall silent.
Twilight had spoken the words that Applejack was afraid to hear, but knew were true. She had thought that maybe if she didn’t hear them out loud she could avoid them and they would cease being fact if enough time passed. However she now didn’t have that luxury.
“Well… Uh…” AJ stammered.

> Chapter V
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter V




        Rainbow and Rarity sat in almost silence for the majority of the bus ride back to Canterlot City. Rarity was still trying to figure out the best way to approach what she wanted to say about the situation to her friend, but realized if she waited for the correct words, she’d be waiting for a while. It really was a matter that just had to be addressed directly. She kept her tone down so that other passengers wouldn’t get too nosey. In a hushed voice she finally broke the silence that the two had been sharing.
        “Rainbow, you can’t honestly be considering this…”
        Rainbow’s eyes stayed forward as she kept a determined expression. “This isn’t about you, Rarity. Maybe it’s best if you stay home from now on…”
        Rarity shook her head. “And let you get in this kind of trouble? Absolutely not. I’m staying with you from now on to make sure you don’t do something incredibly stupid that winds you up in prison or even dead.”
        “You don’t understand, Rarity. I need to do this.”
        “Why? What reason could you possibly have?” Rarity protested.
        Rainbow grew very quiet, her voice cracking a bit as she choked on words. “He killed my brother, Rarity… Ice is the whole reason why I have no family left. He ordered a hit on our place that killed him and I need to know why. I have to know why he killed Light, after that… I’ll do whatever needs to be done from there…”
        Rarity was shocked to hear this all to say the least. She had only dealt with the death of a loved one when it was an old relative that she had not known too well. She could only imagine what it must have been like to know someone so close to you had been murdered. “Rainbow… I’m sorry… I didn’t know…” She placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll find him, and I’ll help you. Just promise me you won’t do anything irrational?”
        “I can’t promise anything. When I see him, I may just completely lose it…” Rainbow admitted.
        “Then I’ll be with you to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ll figure this out together.” Rarity reassured.
        Rainbow turned to Rarity and examined her. “Every day, Rarity… I’ve had to live with this. Light was all I had after my mom got arrested; he took care of me and looked out for me. I remember Light tucking me into bed even… He was basically like my dad on top of being my brother…”
        Rarity never realized what a broken home that Rainbow came from. Truth be told the two rarely spoke before this, only really at occasions that their mutual friends set up for them. She took note of the fact that Rainbow was not crying though. It was clear that Rainbow was too hardened now to express her weakness to someone like Rarity. It must have been difficult to even consider making herself vulnerable.
        “I know I probably don’t understand, but I want to try to…” Rarity said.
        Rainbow nodded and turned back to face the front of the bus.
        “Maybe you will someday. For now though, just knowing I have your help is enough for me.” Rainbow smiled.

        The water hadn’t frozen over yet, so AJ used this chance to spend some time down by the lake where she would often throw rocks or rent a boat to go out onto the water and do some thinking. During the Summer she’d often go fishing as it was probably the only place in the city where she could do so. While the catches were always small, she found satisfaction in the activity.
        She had just rented a boat, realizing it may be her last chance to actually get out on the water before the temperature remained low enough for the lake to freeze. They had gotten some snowfall over the past week, but it was only enough to put a light sheet of white flakes over the top of the grass. December was still a day or two away and usually by then the weather picked up and made it feel like a winter wonderland pretty instantly.
        Untying the rope, she heard a familiar voice speak to her. “Ahoy mate. Alright if I come on board, captain?”
        She didn’t even need to look up, as she saw the end of a walking stick. “What do y’all want, Cloud?”
        “You know some people might be offended by your accusatory nature, you should really work on that, babe.” She replied rather snarkily.
        “Don’t ya’ got someone else to bother?”
        “Nope, just you. I cleared my schedule of people to bother all for you, hun.” She was growing a smirk on her face.
        Applejack rolled her eyes and finished untying her boat.
        “So can I come with or not?” Cloudchaser asked.
        “’Ah ain’t interested…” Applejack responded very curtly.
        “I asked to get in the boat with you, not to take your pants off, damn.” Cloudchaser frowned a bit, possibly even legitimately offended.
        AJ felt a little bad, as her request actually didn’t sound like it had any kind of ulterior motives this time, though she was good at hiding them. “Yeah, sure. Take my hand.” Applejack extending a hand to her and offered to help her into the boat. Cloudchaser took it carefully and AJ guided her feet into the boat. “Careful… Last thing ‘Ah want is for ya’ to fall in and freeze to death…”
        “I’m sure you could warm me up pretty fast.” Cloudchaser commented as she took a seat in the boat.
        Applejack just scoffed as she sat down herself and shoved the boat away from the shore, taking the oars in hand. After a dozen strokes, the two were peacefully floating in the middle of the vacant lake. Cloudchaser decided to break the silence.
        “So, has Applebloom finally hooked up with that friend of hers?”
        Applejack shrugged. Truth be told, Applebloom and her didn’t talk about that kind of subject. While Applebloom was open and willing to give information, AJ wasn’t exactly comfortable with that kind of discussion when it came to her little sister.
        “Dunno, probably not though. Those two are an odd bunch as it is…” AJ commented.
        Cloudchaser laughed, “True. Still though, your sister has the right amount of spunk to keep him in line though.”
        “Ain’t that the truth…” Applejack admitted.
        Her sister was a bit more crude than her. While Applejack definitely wasn’t a saint or a prude, she wasn’t as open to things as her younger sister. She figured that her time here in the city had a very strong effect on her. She only wondered what her older brother would say if he saw how she talked now.
        “Last week or so, she got the bright idea to try and sell his… Well… She found out ya’ can get $50 from donatin’ at the sperm bank let’s jus’ say…” Applejack laughed sheepishly.
        “No fuckin’ way! Oh man that is so choice! Fuck, I wish I had a dick now, I’m just handing out my orgasms for free. Totally lame…” Cloudchaser frowned a bit, but quickly returned to a smile as she laughed at her own joke.
        “Ain’t no one’s fault but your own that you go so many times in one session.” AJ smirked.
        “True, true. What can I say? I’m a giver, you know that.”
        “No kiddin’.”
        Cloudchaser chuckled and leaned back a bit, enjoying the cool air brushing through her wild hair. She had her usual style which Applejack imagined took a lot of teasing to make last.
        “So ‘Ah take it y’all have met Clover?” Applejack rose a brow wondering when the subject of her new boyfriend would come up.
        “Yeah, he sounds like a tool.”
        “Well… ‘Ah guess sometimes he can be…” Applejack had a hard time denying that one. His politeness sometimes drove her insane, which was an accomplishment.
        “I can’t see him, but he probably looks like one too.” Cloudchaser made that comment so easily, so simply as if she just read it off of a pamphlet.
        “’Ah often find myself questionin’ what ‘Ah seen in you…” Applejack commented.
        “My brutal honesty. I’m just like you really, but with less tact and more direct.” Cloudchaser explained.
        She had a point there. Cloudchaser wasn’t afraid to call anything like it was, no matter what the outcome for her might be. It was because of this that she was often viewed as rude by their fellow classmates.
        Applejack found herself watching the gentle ripples in the water, calming herself, clearing her mind. Was it even a wise idea to be out here with Cloudchaser? After all she was partially the source of her stress in the first place. She ignored these thoughts though, as somehow it was nice to have her company.
        “’Ah always miss hangin’ out with y’all though…” Applejack finally said out loud.
        “Ditto, but you always know where to find me.”
        “It’s complicated…” Applejack turned away in shame.
        “Not really. Every time things get serious, you chicken out afraid that your family might disown you for liking pussy. Even though, I’m pretty sure your sister probably already knows…” Cloudchaser said.
        There definitely was a distinct possibility that Applebloom knew, but if she did, she was good at hiding it.
        “It’s not that simple.” AJ defended.
        “Of course not, however as always I’ll just wait around for you to get over it and realize you want to be together again until we restart the whole process and stay locked in this dance until you get some sense in your head.” Cloudchaser had a very monotone voice when saying all of that. It sounded like she had gone over it in her head many times and accepted this all long ago.
        “Why do ya’ keep takin’ me back?” Applejack asked.
        “Dunno, but I do know that I’ll be ready to do it again when things with you and Clover eventually go south.”
        “It’s different this time…” AJ insisted.
        “We’ll see.” Cloudchaser responded.
        Sometimes Applejack despised her arrogance, but this time it didn’t feel arrogant. It felt like she knew something that Applejack didn’t, like she had some kind of connection that gave her answers that not even Applejack could see. Often time Cloudchaser joked about how being blind gave her otherworldly powers in the form of a sixth sense, and while it was just a joke, there were many times where she truly did seem to have some other sense that told her what she needed to know.
        “You uh… Look cute today…” Applejack tried to break the awkwardness with a compliment.
        “I was going for sexy, but thanks. I suppose cute will suffice since it’s not like I can check myself.” She was rather abrupt with her responses, almost as if she was annoyed.
        “Thanks for comin’ out with me… ‘Ah think ‘Ah really needed your company today.” Applejack smiled.
        “Always a pleasure.”

        “I can’t believe how far back that douchebag’s car set me…” Spike complained to his friend.
        The two were sitting in the rather empty living room of his apartment on the hand-me-down sofa he owned. His living room consisted of that sofa, a TV stand, an HDTV he had gotten from Twilight for Christmas with an Xbox hooked up to it, a coffee table that didn’t match any of it, and a weight set in the corner. The rest of his home was very similar in that regard.
        Spike didn’t make a lot, so he seldom had spending money after his bills were paid. Being in high school made it difficult, but he was insistent on coming here with Twilight so they could be together. His parents didn’t like the idea of him working, but they were willing to co-sign for his apartment if Twilight would be close by to help him.
        “Well, y’all could just abandon your plan for Rarity and resort to plan B.” Applebloom replied.
        “Which is?” Spike almost didn’t want to hear her input.
        “Just settle for us goin’ to pound town. I mean I ain’t got any experience, but I’m cool with the idea.” Applebloom suggested with a smirk.
        Spike rolled his eyes.
        “Ah, that’s right. You’re all sex and love and whatnot… I mean love is cool and all, but I guess I just don’t see sex that way like y’all do.” Applebloom shrugged.
        “Guess it’d be pretty weird if we did it though huh?” She added.
        “Very. You’re like a sister to me.” Spike replied as he walked over to the kitchen. Looking back at her over the counter he added, “You don’t even register as female to me.”
        “I assure y’all I am very much female.” Applebloom rolled her eyes.
        “Could have fooled me with all the burping and cursing.” Spike teased.
        Applebloom grew a devious smirk. “I could prove it if you like…”
        “Gross.” Spike faked a gag.
        “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you there to bust my chops…” Applebloom giggled.
        Spike grew a serious expression as he retrieved a water bottle from the fridge. Clutching it in his hand tightly, he sighed. “What am I going to do about Rarity’s gift though?”
        “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
        “I hope so…”

        Rainbow and Twilight had been deep within another tutoring session, and Rainbow as usual wasn’t taking the matter too seriously. Twilight attempted to regain her cooperation. “Rainbow, if you don’t focus you’re never going to pass the test.”
        Rainbow shrugged. “This stuff is stupid anyways. I don’t get how I’m going to need calculus for even a second after I leave this place…”
        Twilight sighed and placed her fingers upon her temples as she massaged them to deal with the stress of the situation. Getting Rainbow to stay focused was always her biggest challenge in these sessions. Whether it was her complaining, or wasting time making sexual innuendos, Rainbow was a master at wasting Twilight’s time.
        “Why can’t any of these questions be about shit I know about?” Rainbow groaned.
        “Damn it, Rainbow, come on. Take this seriously.” Twilight commanded.
        “Alright, alright…” She sighed and laid her head on the desk as she stared at the textbook with Twilight.
        “Now, from what you learned before, tell me how you would solve this problem?” Twilight placed her finger upon a problem within the book.
        Leaning in to get a better look at it, Rainbow made a face implying she was thinking, but then quickly gave up and shrugged. “Hire a mathematician?”
        “Holy hell, Rainbow… You are never going to get anywhere with that attitude! It’s amazing you even got into college.” Twilight commented.
        Rainbow didn’t exactly appreciate that comment though. “Hey, take that back!” She growled as she stood up, pushing her chair out. Despite being short, she could definitely make a fierce stance when angered.
        “Face it, the only reason you’re even here is because you know how to kick a ball. The fact that academics allows such a person to get into higher education institutes is part of what is wrong with this country.” Twilight stated very matter-of-a-fact-like.
        Rainbow leaned in viciously. “You take that back.”
        Twilight stood up to show she wasn’t intimidated. She looked down to Rainbow’s height with sneering eyes. “No. Furthermore, you should just go back home if you’re not going to take this seriously. You don’t care enough to succeed. It’s a shame that the school will let you slip through the cracks to keep their precious sports team together.”
        Rainbow could feel fire burning in her, a flame igniting that she had not felt in a long time. The same kind of fire that normally led to fist fights with her. “You don’t know anything about me, Twilight Sparkle.” She hissed.
        “What’s there to know? You’re pretty one-dimensional anyways. All you care about is sports and sex apparently.” Twilight commented, adjusting her glasses.
        “Fuck you…” Rainbow uttered under her breath, containing her rage. “You don’t have a clue what I’ve been through to get here. Fuck you, Twilight, you have no fucking clue what I had to endure.”
        Rainbow didn’t even give her a chance to respond before grabbing her bag and storming out the door. She made sure to slam the door extra loud on her way out.
        Twilight blinked and was a bit shocked how quickly that escalated. She didn’t intend to insult Rainbow, but her frustration got the better of her. This certainly wasn’t the outcome she was hoping for. “Damn it…” She scolded herself.

Adjusting her sweater, Fluttershy took a deep inhale and exhale and began to adjust her hair which she had adorned today with a pink butterfly hairclip. She normally didn’t wear makeup, but she had gotten help from Rarity and had some mascara on to enhance her normally thin lashes. She got a small laugh when she was getting it done because she noticed some fake eyelashes in Rarity’s bathroom which confirmed a suspicion that she had for some time that Rarity’s luscious lashes were fake. It appeared as though even the fashion queen had flaws.
She could feel her hands sweating, her heart ready to jump out of her chest, her entire body trembling as she lifted her arm to knock on the door. She felt like she had a frog lodged in her throat, she couldn’t be anymore unstable at this moment. With a gentle tap, she made her presence known to the inhabitant of the apartment.
Only a few seconds after knocking, blue hair and a surprised expression greeted her as Soarin answered.
“Fluttershy.” He blinked.
He eyed her up and down and took note of the slight changes to her usual appearance. He could definitely smell a hint of perfume, possibly very expensive by the smell it emitted.
“H-hey…” She tilted her head down a bit and kept her eyes upright focused on him.
The soccer star smiled and offered to allow her in, “I’m glad you showed up.”
She followed him in feeling her heart speed up even more. She observed the ridiculous amount of sports memorabilia within his apartment. It looked like he wasn’t just a man of one sport, as despite her limited sports knowledge she recognized quite a few sports teams that were not from the same games decorating the place.
“I see you really like sports…” She commented, stating the obvious.
He grinned as he led her to the couch. She sat down very carefully, a bit nervous to actually sit on his furniture, but she overcame.
Extending a hand with a glass, he offered her a drink. “It’s not alcohol, I promise.” He said.
She took the glass and nodded. After a sip, it was easy to determine it was Pepsi. “Thank you.” She replied.
Soarin sat down next to her, keeping a small distance between the two of them. “I’m surprised you showed up.” He admitted.
Fluttershy blushed and found herself gripping her cup tightly as she spoke. “Why’s that?”
“I never really saw you as someone who hung out with people aside from Rainbow. You don’t talk to a lot of people at school from what I’ve seen.” He said.
She nodded, “Yeah, I’m not exactly a very social person…”
He gave her that award winning smile that drove her insane. “Well, I’m glad you chose to break the trend for me.”
“I didn’t even think you’d say yes…” She squeaked.
His brow rose, “Really, why?”
“Well…” She shuffled about in her seat awkwardly. This was it, it was either now or never. “I’ve just… I’ve always liked you and I figured you wouldn’t even be interested in me because I know next to nothing about sports…”
He found his own cheeks heating up a bit at her reveal. She certainly was making this easier than he had anticipated, first by asking to come over and now by revealing she had feelings for him. “I… Uh…” He rubbed his neck nervously. “I’ve kind of always liked you too.”
She could feel a huge relief washing over her. It was as if a giant weight she had been carrying for months was finally removed from her shoulders and she could be at ease finally. Though, the truth was things were about to get more complex rather than less.
Fluttershy inched a bit closer to him and felt her body gravitating towards him. “R-really?”
“Y-yeah…” He took note of her advance.
Trying to impress him, she decided it was time to go bold and bring herself only inches from his face. She could feel his breath on her lips before they closed in and met. His expression was one of surprise, but he quickly closed his eyes and enjoyed the kiss rather than question it. Placing his arms around her, she allowed herself to get pulled closer by him.
The both of them had been waiting for this moment for some time and dreamed about it.
Seconds after the kiss broke; Fluttershy allowed Rainbow’s advice and lessons to take over, and control her actions. Completely out of character for herself, she pushed back her nerves and told her shy nature to shut up for a moment; she pulled off her sweater and tossed it onto the back of the couch. In only her undershirt and bra she crawled up to him.
His entire face was in shock and completely red. “W-what’re you doing?”
She blushed; she was hoping he wouldn’t talk; it only made it harder for her to ignore everything in her mind screaming for her to stop. She wanted him to like her though.
“I-I… I’m not just some shy girl… I can be whatever you need to be…” She smiled sheepishly.
He placed a hand upon her shoulder and sighed. “Look… I don’t know what you’ve been told by Spitfire or Rainbow, but that whole macho guy thing… That’s just an act. The team expects it of me, I’m the captain, they expect me to be this stud and lady magnet. I’m not like that though…” He blushed and tried to look away from her out of respect. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do… I like you for you…”
She couldn’t believe it. Rainbow was wrong, and she had just made a complete fool of herself. “You mean… You… Don’t want to?”
“Not like this… Not if you’re doing it just to impress me. I want you to want to because you want to, not to impress me…” He admitted.
She couldn’t believe how sweet he actually was in person. From afar she always imagined he was probably a bit of a sex hound up close and she always figured she would find a way to adjust to that.
With a smile, she leaned in and placed her lips back upon his. Parting slowly, she grinned, “You’re sweet…”
With her hand she gestured for him to come closer.
He blinked, not quite sure his eyes were correct. “Really?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. I want my first time to be with you, Soarin… Especially now.”
He smiled lightly and placed his hand on her cheek. “I want my first time to be with you as well, Fluttershy.”

> Chapter VI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter VI



With their hands clutched around a ticket each, a country girl caught up in the city had her arm wrapped around her overly polite boyfriend. He kept her close for heat as the temperature had finally dropped to freezing as December was being entered. Many were surprised by how quickly the weather seemed to recognize the transition from November to December.
Applejack kept in step with him as she was tall enough to match the strides of his long legs. She wasn’t particularly fond of snow growing up, but she did have a lot of fond memories of her and her sister building igloos which always fell apart long before they could ever finish one, still it never stopped them from trying.
She and Clover had bought tickets in advance to plan this date. He was always one to plan ahead, sometimes a little bit too much so.
“Hey, isn’t that your friend?” Clover pointed off into the distance.
Squinting, Applejack made out the familiar appearance of a very punk rock looking girl wrapped in a parka and scarf. It was rare that she didn’t show off her arm tattoos, so it must have been insanely cold for her. Gripped tightly in a gloved hand, a cane tapping about as she walked.
“Unfortunately…” Applejack sighed.
Clover grinned and tugged her to follow him. “Let’s say hi.”
She really didn’t want to, but she didn’t want to start a conversation about it so she just nodded.
The two darted over and Clover smiled. “Hey, unmm… Cloudchaser right.”
Cloudchaser smirked. “I’ve been known by that name from time to time.”
“What do I owe the pleasure of you two coming to visit little old me?” She asked.
“How’d you know I was here?” Applejack questioned.
“I can smell you. Yes, I’m that good, hold the applause.” Cloudchaser boasted.
“That’s disturbin’…” AJ commented.
Applejack mind quickly went to wondering what other smells she detected. She almost felt herself blushing as it dipped south. Shaking her head, she cleansed her mind of any thought of the sort. The last thing she needed to think about was some of the nights they had spent together.
“Me and AJ are just going to see a movie.” Clover proudly explained as he tugged Applejack closed to himself.
“Sounds like a good time.” She smiled.
“Maybe you should come with us? I mean I can get another ticket, it’d be fun, any friend of AJ’s is a friend of mine.” Clover seemed to be getting excited at the idea.
Applejack nudged his side. “Clover…”
It took him a minute to realize why she was trying to get his attention. When it clicked, he covered his mouth in shock and apologized. “Oh man! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…”
The girl just gave a dismissive hand gesture. “It’s fine. I actually love movies. I’d be happy to go.”
Applejack blinked. “I didn’t know that… Since when?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Applejack. Maybe you should pay closer attention.” Her expression grew serious. Applejack could already tell this was going to be awkward.
“It’s settled then. Come on, we’ll get you a ticket. Do you need us to lead the way?” Clover asked politely.
She trotted over to AJ’s side and took her hand. “I’ll just hold onto Applejack here and I’m sure she can keep me from walking into the street or something.”
Applejack already saw through her ruse. She knew that Cloudchaser hated being treated like she didn’t know how to take care of herself. She only engaged in this kind of behavior when it was beneficial to herself. It was clear she was up to something.
“That’s okay, right sweetheart?” She grinned, knowing that Clover wasn’t privy to the fact that she intended that pet name more affectionately.
“Fine…” AJ grumbled.

Applebloom propping herself up against the lockers offered her friend a stick of gum. He declined which only made her shove another stick into her mouth to add to the giant wad of gum she had been working on for the past hour. She had a bad habit of chewing gum, and was often asked to spit it out in class. She never quite understood what kind of distraction it caused.
Grabbing his bag, Spike and her silently retreated out of the school to enjoy their usual after class activities. He had work off that day, but Applebloom already knew that his mind was heavy with thoughts of how to raise money.
The two had gotten a decent distance away from the school so Spike was sure he wouldn’t get in trouble again. Once he was assured that they would be safe he reached into his pocket and retrieved a red box and a lighter. Drawing a cigarette, he offered one to Applebloom. She shrugged and spit out her gum and took one. The two huddled close and Spike drew a flame between the two cancer sticks lighting them both at once.
Applebloom inhaled and coughed. “Fuck, y’all didn’t get the menthols? These taste like cow pies.” She commented.
Spike similarly coughed before answering. “Wasn’t in my budget. I haven’t replenished my supply, this is from my cheap ass back up stash.”
“Hard times, indeed…” Applebloom commented. “I don’t give a damn what people say, I prefer to smoke my bubblegum shit.” She added.
He nodded.
“So what’s your plan for Rarity?” She changed the subject.
“We’re gonna sell pot.” He replied before taking another drag. He had grown a bit more used to their taste now, so his lungs didn’t reject the cigarettes as much this time around.
She laughed. “C’mon, get serious.”
“I am serious. It’s literally the only thing I can think of…” He said.
Applebloom lowered her cigarette and shook her head. “And where are we gonna get pot?”
“We’re gonna steal it from the principal's office. She confiscates it regularly and turns it into the police regularly. She probably has a good amount stashed that we can get. We take that, flip it for a profit and use the cash to get more.” He had thought this all out in his head repeatedly for the past day or so. It sounded so easy, the hardest part was infiltrating.
“I swear… Y’all are the most pathetic boy I’ve ever known… But I love this idea.” She grinned.
“This stays between us.” Spike instructed.
“Damn skippy, it does. When’d you become such a badass, Spike? I think I might be in love.” She smirked.
Spike merely rolled his eyes.

Rarity struggled to adjust the hoodie she was forced to wear. Rainbow always wore her hoodies a few sizes too big, but the height difference made that almost irrelevant. Because Rarity was that much taller, it ended up looking more like a skinny hoodie than anything. She examined the chest trying to figure out what the logo which read “Nas” meant. She assumed it was some other musician that Rainbow listened to which she wasn’t familiar with.
Her pants she had to get herself from a discount clothing store as per Rainbow’s orders. The shame she felt just stepping foot in there while she was on her way to becoming the next fashion designer that the world would marvel at was almost unbearable. However since Rainbow stated she couldn’t wear her normal ensembles and she didn’t have any pants that fit Rarity very well, it was the only option.
The two had begun their way back to CJ’S home, now with Rarity far more incognito than she was before.
Rainbow had remained silent for some time, she kept her thoughts to herself the entire bus ride over. She was debating in her head which way this should go, and Rarity could sense it, so she kept quiet waiting for Rainbow to decide.
Before they knew it, they were once again sitting in CJ’S living room, Rarity a bit more comfortable this time around.
“So, you’ve decided you’re in then, Dashie?” CJ asked, a beer clutched in his hand.
Rainbow leaned in and rested her hands on her spread out knees. Rarity took note of how she sat more like a man than a lady.
“Alright, listen… Ice has to pay for what he did. I want answers though; why did he kill Light? That’s something that has bugged me for a while. I know who my brother moved around with, and Ice was way too high in the chain for him…” Rainbow stated.
CJ took a long swing of his drink before answering. “You think homeboy and him had a beef?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Dunno, but I want to find out.”
“Perfect, we get the bitch, take turns at him until he talks and then wax the shit stain.” CJ exclaimed.
Rainbow looked to Rarity quickly then back to her old friend. “No, we aren’t gonna kill him. Light wouldn’t want that. He told me not to become a killer like him…” Rainbow looked down for a brief moment as she thought of her promise to her late brother. “I got a better idea anyways… We give him to the pigs.”
CJ laughed. “You think the pigs are gonna help us?”
Rarity’s brow rose. “Pigs?”
“The police.” Rainbow translated. “And I’m sure they will gladly take him. After all, We’re going to help them look good by catching a dangerous thug leader. Once we decorate it the right way, it’ll be an easy press day for the fucks.”
CJ sighed, “I’m not a fan of working with those assholes, but if it’s for Light… I’ll go with it. Let’s just hope they don’t try and bust us for something too.”
“That’s what we got Rarity for, they’ll take her word more than ours.” Rainbow assured.
“True, pretty white girl starts talking, they’ll eat her up.” CJ laughed.
Rarity was confused. “I don’t follow…”
“Basically means the police will believe you more than us.” Rainbow explained.
“I doubt that.” Rarity said.
“Wait a while and see if you change your mind.” CJ commented.

Twilight was out doing some shopping for the upcoming Christmas season while the weather wasn’t too bad. She often tried to avoid driving too far in December and January if she didn’t need to, the last thing she wanted was to ruin her new Mitsubishi that she still had payments on.
She lifted up a few jackets in each hand examining them, trying to determine if they were fitting for her needs. Part of her wished she had brought Rarity with her, but there was a distinct possibility that not even her aid would prove helpful. She was shopping for Rainbow after all, who had a more rugged sense of fashion than Rarity did. Twilight was hoping a nice gift would make it easier to smooth things over with her friend. The only thing on her mind since the last time the two saw each other was what she had said to Rainbow. To say she regretted it was an understatement. Rainbow may have been difficult to get to focus, but Twilight knew she was smart, she knew that she had passion and also that she didn’t want to lose her as a friend.
While Twilight’s tactless nature had made her comments come across as hurtful before, she seldom meant to deliberately. Rainbow usually brushed off any comment that Twilight made, but that one seemed to strike a chord with her. Twilight didn’t fully understand why, but she recognized she was truly hurt due to her anger. Rainbow’s natural response to pain and broken spirits was anger. The girl was probably the quickest to anger person that Twilight knew. This commonly gave Rainbow the reputation of being a brute.
“What would Rainbow like…” She thought out loud.
To her surprise a voice responded. “Certainly not either of those.”
Twilight blinked and before she knew it, she was face to face with Pinkie whom had been browsing behind her. Pinkie had this uncanny ability to appear when no one expected her to.
“Come on, Twilight, does Rainbow seem like the kind of girl who’d wear a peacoat?” Pinkie added.
“What would you suggest then?” Twilight inquired.
“Study some hip hop and find out what artists she likes.” Pinkie giggled.
Twilight nodded. “She is quite a fan of that sort of thing isn’t she…”
“Why the sudden interest in getting Rainbow a gift?” Pinkie asked as she took a jacket out of Twilight’s hand and placed it back on the rack.
Twilight bit her lip in debate of whether she was willing to admit to her rudeness to her close friend. However Pinkie had a strange aura about her that always seemed to make the truth come out. “I kind said some really bad stuff to her the other day… I was hoping a nice present might make it easier to apologize… You know how Rainbow holds grudges…” Twilight explained.
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, I once saw her not talk to someone for a week over eating a donut.” Pinkie placed a hand upon her chin as she recalled that story. Another shining example of how pig headed their friend could be. “However…” Pinkie added. “A simple “I’m sorry” might be a good place to start.”
Twilight shook her head. She knew it was definitely too late for that. “You didn’t hear what I said… Somehow, just saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t feel like it’ll cut it to me.”
The pink haired woman ran a hand through her wild hair and sighed. “Sheesh, Twilight… You better go with something better than what’s available here.” She advised.
Twilight could definitely agree to that. “You think she’ll ever forgive me?”
Her friend simply grinned. “I’m sure she will in due time.”

The movie that Applejack, Clover and now Cloudchaser had enjoyed went surprisingly (at least to AJ) well. Cloudchaser paid close attention to the dialogue and asked very few questions. Using only her ears she was able to follow along.
Clover walking alongside AJ smiled as he watched his girlfriend hold Cloudchaser hand to guide her as the group walked along the sidewalk. Noble as he was, he admired how AJ assisted her disabled friend, though he was clearly blind to Cloudchaser ulterior motives.
“Hey, I’m gonna get us some food, okay? I’m just gonna run into the shop over there. What do you guys want?” Clover pointed to a nearby sub shop that they had passed many times before.
“Turkey is fine,” Applejack said, knowing he already knew her signature sandwich.
“I’ll just have a soda if that’s alright.” Cloudchaser said. “Any flavor is fine.” She added.
Clover nodded and smiled. “You got it, I’ll be right back.”
He bolted towards the shop, leaving the two of them on the sidewalk. Cloudchaser merely stared ahead as usual, and AJ shifted about uncomfortably. The snow began to fall gently upon the two, AJ feeling a flake touch the tip of her nose.
“He’s pretty nice.” Cloudchaser finally broke the silence.
“Yeah… He is…” AJ admitted.
“When do you plan on telling him we were an item?” Cloudchaser spoke.
AJ grimaced a bit at the suggestion. “’Ah wasn’t…”
“Doesn’t he deserve to know the truth if you’re serious about him?” Cloudchaser responded, clearly trying to pry.
Applejack bit her tongue and thought about it. She had a good point, he deserved to know. “’Ah’ll tell him soon…”
Her former lover nodded. “So that’s it then?”
AJ rose a brow in confusion. “What is it?”
“We’re over for real this time then?”
Applejack sighed and nodded even though Cloudchaser could not see the gesture. “Yeah… ‘Ah think so…”
“I’m gonna miss you, Applejack…” She said.
“’Ah know you will… Y’all deserve better than me anyhoo…” AJ responded.
“I’ll never forget you, AJ…”
With those words she finally released Applejack hand from her own.

> Chapter VII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter VII



So at this point, you’re probably curious about what’s going to happen to our protagonists? Does Spike get the lovely Rarity’s present and woo her over? How will Cloudchaser deal with the loss of her beloved Applejack? Will Twilight find a way to get the pig headed Rainbow to talk to her again? What really happened between Soarin and the dainty Fluttershy? And how will Rainbow and Rarity dig themselves out of the trouble they’ve managed to brew up? These are all valid questions, but we’re only at the halfway point of our story. You must not be so impatient, it’s really not becoming of you.
You’ll just have to let me tell the story and be patient. I suppose we can start with Spike and his (sort of) sidekick Applebloom. I mean after all, when we last left them, Spike had cooked up a rather ridiculous plan to sell weed to get Rarity’s gift. I’m sure you remember that don’t you? Well, let’s pop in and see how that is going for him.
Applebloom lit a cigarette and took an inhale. She sighed in relief as she enjoyed the menthol instead of the tar that Spike currently had to smoke. She had decided she was going to get her own pack instead of sharing with him. So she slipped an older friend a ten and had him get her a pack. As she exhaled she definitely felt it was worth it.
“I am still surprised you gave up buying new cigs to save cash, I’d have given up eating first.” She joked.
Spike rolled his eyes. “I’ve definitely given up eating comfortably if that counts.” He recalled the small selection of food back at his apartment as he said that. The next few days were definitely not going to be filled with comfort food that was for sure.
“Rarity better be all over you after this.” Applebloom commented.
Spike merely rolled his eyes again.
The two were leaning against the old grange across from the school. The place had been abandoned for as long as they could remember, but a lot of the kids would come out there to smoke so they would be within the law of not smoking near the school.
It was near sundown as the two staked out the area.
“Y’all sure we are gonna be able to pull this off?” She asked.
He nodded. “Positive, it’s easy. I stole the janitor’s keys today when he wasn’t looking. I spent a good long while figuring out which one is which, and all we gotta do is wait for the janitor to go home and then we sneak in and use his keys to get to the principle’s office. Simple.”
She laughed, “Y’all are making me all hot and bothered with that tough guy talk.” Applebloom gave a playful nudge as she spoke and took another drag of her cigarette.
“Keep it in your pants.” He rolled his eyes.
“Hey, I’m a team player here. I think I deserve some of that Rarity action too for my contribution.” She pouted.
Spike blinked and turned to her. “I didn’t even think you were into girls…”
She shrugged. “I’ll try anything once, but I’ve seen that Rarity. I don’t think you can handle those tits alone.” She smirked.
“God damn it, Applebloom, that’s gross…” He fake gagged.
She snickered knowing she was bothering him, which was part of her goal. Spike was often off put by her perverted nature. “Well the offer is on the table if you come to your senses.” She joked.
“I question why we hang out…” Spike sighed as he returned to his cigarette.
“Well we could just be fuck buddies if y’all weren’t so sensitive.” She reminded, they had had this conversation one too many times for Spike’s liking.
“I also question how your sister doesn’t know what a little pervert her younger sibling is…” He laughed.
She shrugged again. “AJ’s not the most observant person y’all have ever met is she? Nothing like Big Mac, he’s a hawk with this kind of stuff.”
“So how did you get to be such a pervert if you don’t mind me asking?” This time Spike was genuinely curious.
“My old friend Scootaloo came over a lot, and I went to her house pretty often. Her parents weren’t very watchful and thus we got into stuff a lot.” She smiled as she began reminiscing of the good old days. “Oh man, I remember when she first showed me porn. When I got internet at home, I didn’t get any sleep for four nights.” She chuckled.
“Some therapist is going to make a fortune off of you…” Spike commented.
“Hey I think I see the janitor leaving.” Applebloom pointed with her cigarette still in hand off into the distance. Squinting they could make out a custodian exiting the building and getting into his car. It was far later than they thought he would leave. Spike cursed under his breath at how thorough the cleaning staff were tonight of all nights.
He tossed his cigarette onto the ground and stamped it out. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Applebloom nodded as she pulled the black winter cap out of her bag. Placing it atop of her head, she tucked the bow in her hair underneath it. The young teen had a black turtleneck sweater to match it, and Spike donned his solid black hoodie, which he flipped the hood over his short hair. The two had agreed earlier to wear all black to make themselves harder to see, just in case they did get caught.
“You still remember how to pick locks just in case?” Spike asked as the two crossed the street keeping their heads down. At this hour there were few cars crossing and the area was virtually unpopulated. Staying out of the streetlights, they got to the main door.
Retrieving the keys from his front hood pocket, Spike unlocked the door. “So far so good.” He offered a high five which Applebloom took.
“Let’s go snag this stuff.” Applebloom commented.
The two of them slipped in and shut the door behind them. Years of navigating the halls told them where to go. Spike knew that when Vice Principal Doodle confiscated anything, he handed it off to the principal, so that meant they would need to get into the principal’s office.
The halls felt strange with not a soul in them. Spike was only used to seeing the school relatively empty when he had detention, and Applebloom during the few times when she joined him for detention.
Arriving at the principal’s office Spike tried to push the key in, only to find it didn’t want to go in no matter which way he tried to force it. “Damn it! They must have gotten a new lock recently… Look at the handle, it’s brand new…” Spike pointed to the handled as he threw the entire key ring onto the ground in anger.
“Calm down. I got this.” Applebloom knelt down onto her knees and retrieved a hair pin from her thick red locks. She reached to put it into the lock, but paused right before it and turned to Spike with a smirk. “While I’m down here…” She joked.
She just couldn’t resist the urge to make an innuendo, and Spike should have expected that. “For the love of God, Applebloom; just open the damn lock!”
She snickered and began to fiddle with the tumblers. “Your loss. I’ve watched a lot of videos…” She hinted.
With a bit of finesse she got the lock open. “You know, y’all really are super lucky to have me as a friend you know that? Smart, talented, skilled with a hair pin and totally down to doing the nasty with you.” She praised herself.
“I can’t hear you over the sound of you patting yourself on the back.” Spike laughed as he pushed the door open. “Now come on, let’s get this stuff.”
“Get what stuff if I may ask?” A womanly voice spoke to them.
Spike and Applebloom looked up to see an attractive woman in her early thirties standing in the doorway. She had her hands tucked into an overcoat that was covering her professional dress suit. Her hair was done up in a ponytail of pink, purple and light banana yellow.  The two of them only really had seen her at assemblies or official school events; often it was the job of Vice Principal Doodle to handle all of the lesser trouble makers. It was Principal Cadance.
“Shit…” Spike cursed.
“Just curious…” Applebloom started as she brought herself to a stand. “Did you unlock the door?”
Cadance blinked and nodded.
“Damn, I guess my lock picking isn’t as great as I thought…” She shrugged.
“You really need to get your priorities in order, you know that?” Spike sighed as he shook his head, accepting their fate.

Rainbow stepped awkwardly in her feminine high heel shoes, Rarity however obviously had worn such things so many times she had no trouble. Rainbow adjusted her black dress that was a tad too big for the slender girl. Her height and low weight always made it difficult to find girly looking clothing that fit her. This dress she commonly wore to funerals and was the only dress she owned. She hoped it was good enough to make her pass off as a girly-girl; the shoes were provided from Rarity.
Rainbow’s side cut was done up in a big poofed up ponytail and a hair clip with a little black bow was fastened to the right side of her head.
Looking over at Rarity, she was sporting a low cut white dress shirt purposely cut short enough to expose her stomach. Under that she had a simple dark purple skirt and some solid purple high heels. She had mentioned before that they were designer shoes, but to Rainbow all of those brands looked exactly the same.
Rarity was absolutely gorgeous, tall, beautiful and looked good in just about anything she put on, due to having the body to show it off. Rainbow was almost a little jealous, but she tried to keep the focus on the task at hand.
“Alright, let’s make sure we keep our story straight. You’re my girlfriend and we are international drug dealers that came back here on holiday if anyone asks.” Rainbow explained.
“Ordinarily that would be a terrible alibi…” Rarity giggled.
“Yes, but we want these guys to trust us. Forewarning, we have to sell this so you need to be all over me for this to work.” Rainbow replied.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “I’m an excellent actor I’ll have you know.” She grinned.
“Just don’t turn gay on me for real, alright?” Rainbow joked.
“I’ll try my best.” Rarity Smirked.
Rainbow couldn’t read if she was being legitimate or not. Part of her was starting to wonder if Rarity was into girls. If she was, it would be impossible to tell. In the short time the two had spent together, Rainbow was showing her true perverted self and it seldom seemed to affect Rarity who kept her desires to herself. She would always go on about being a lady.
The two had spoken with CJ and planned this all out. To get to Ice they needed to know where to find him. They knew he controlled the biggest gang in town and that whole side of the town, but where he was actually located was a mystery. Getting close enough to him to stop him would require some information. With a tip from a friend, CJ managed to find out that a lot of Ice’s crew hung out at this club when the streetlights came on. They had decided to infiltrate it and see if they could get one of Ice’s guys to squeal some info.
“So, we’re looking for any one of these guys.” Rainbow said flashing some photos they had acquired.
“So these are Ice’s right hand men, huh?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow nodded. “If anyone will know where we can find Ice, it’ll be one of these guys; it’s just a matter of getting them to talk.”
Rainbow offered her hand to the elegant Rarity who took it. “Remember, we have to sell this. Lots of affectionate crap, you know how it is.”
“I am familiar with the nature of lovers…” Rarity rolled her eyes.
The pretend couple made their way through the doors of what called itself “The Night Scene”. Upon entering they were instantly overwhelmed with music so loud that you would have to shout just to hear the person next to you. Lights flashed left and right as people danced and gyrated insanely.
Rainbow leaned in to speak into Rarity’s ear. “Let’s dance a little, you know how?”
Rarity grinned and leaned back to talk to her friend. “You tell me.”
Liking her answer, Rainbow took Rarity’s hand and lead her to the dance floor. Not even wasting a minute, she pulled the tall girl in and placed a hand on her hip, running it down her figure and grabbing a squeeze of Rarity’s interesting behind. She blushed a little at the touch, but kept her composure.
Rarity giggled and looked Rainbow in the eyes, “Careful, tiger. This is only a first date.” She smirked.
Rainbow grinned back. “Never stopped me before.”
“I’m not that easy.” The tall girl winked.
The two began moving to the beat, to Rainbow’s surprise, Rarity actually knew how to move. Rarity flipped around and grinded against Rainbow, whom placed her hands on Rarity’s hip and stomach to keep the motions going. She took note of a stranger in the distance watching the two of them on the dance floor. He had long rugged hair and an untamed beard. She recognized him from the photos. She whispered to Rarity as she gyrated in front of her. “We have an observer.”
Rarity smiled and placed a hand in Rainbow’s hair. “Guess we better give him a show.”
Rainbow and her both made sure to look over to him and make eye contact as Rarity grabbed Rainbow’s cheeks. Unsure of where this was going, Rainbow blushed and gasped as she tried to speak. “I… Uh… Wha?” She didn’t have time to finish before Rarity leaned in and planted a deep kiss upon her lips. Shocked at first as their lips met, she kept her eyes wide open in disbelief. Once she had accepted what was going on, she closed her eyes and put both of her hands in Rarity’s hair and tugged. The girl let out a soft moan at the tug before Rainbow released her.
The two began laughing and looked over at their observer who was still watching intently. He gestured with his finger for the two to approach him.
As they delicately trotted in his direction, Rainbow took Rarity’s arm.
“Well hey stranger.” Rainbow introduced. “I saw you looking.”
He nodded and lit a cigarette. “Name’s Wolf.”
“I’m Rainbow, and this is my mistress Rarity.” Rainbow pointed to Rarity as she spoke.
“It’s a pleasure.” Rarity offered her hand.
He took his cigarette out of his mouth to take her hand and plant a kiss upon it. “The pleasure is mine.” Placing his cigarette back, he grinned. “So what brings a couple of creatures like you to this place?”
“I used to work this neighborhood when I was younger. I started out here, before I got big. I flew out to Wales and met this lovely lady.” Rainbow rubbed Rarity’s chin affectionately as she spoke. “And now we run an international drug cartel. Big time stuff, you know?”
“It was love at first sight.” Rarity commented.
He nodded. “Big league, huh? Not bad.”
“We’re trying to open a new branch around here, so we’re in town for a little bit.” Rainbow explained.
“Ah, cutting in on our action then?” He grunted.
Rainbow shook her head, “Actually we were hoping to work together with the locals here, perhaps we can discuss it somewhere more… Private?” Rainbow raised a brow in a hinting manner.
He nodded. “Let me grab my coat, I know a place.”
As he walked away, Rainbow leaned in to talk to her partner. “Great, we can get him away from the crowd, it’ll make it easier to pump him for info.”
“How’re we going to do that?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You’re young, hot, you have a great ass, figure it out…”
Rarity figured that was what she meant, but she just wanted to confirm that was the plan. “Well, aren’t you just a wild one tonight?”
“Me? Was that kiss acting, or do you always moan like that when someone pulls your hair?” Rainbow asked.
Rarity blushed. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”
“Not even to the girl you kissed. I swear, I got a freakin’ semi from grinding with you.” Rainbow said.
Rarity laughed. “Down girl.”
“You’re a bit too high maintenance for me, but let me know if you’re planning on converting, I wouldn’t mind showing you a good time if you know what I mean.” Rainbow smirked.
“I can see now how you get into trouble a lot.” Rarity replied.
Their “friend” Wolf made his return only seconds after that comment and gestured for the two to follow him. With a nod, Rainbow took Rarity’s hand and led the way. It was only a short walk to a hotel not too far from the club, where they assumed that Wolf had rented a room in the event of something like this happening tonight. His overconfidence annoyed Rainbow, but she kept quiet to keep the charade going.
Making their way up to the room, he unlocked the door and let the two of them inside. Stepping in, the duo took note of how cheap this hotel was. Rarity had definitely stayed in far more lavish places back home that was for sure.
“So, I heard you worked for a man named Ice? He runs the neighborhood?” Rainbow asked.
He stepped in and tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair. “We’ll talk about that after.”
Rainbow smiled “Of course.” She walked over to him and placed her hands upon the neck of his shirt. Guiding him to a chair that Rarity pulled out for him, she sat him down with a push.
Rarity got behind the chair and placed her arms around his neck with Rainbow kneeling down in front of him, looking up at him with her powerful eyes. With her hand placed on his thigh, she smiled. “So, how do we find out more about Ice?”
He laughed. “What’s got you so curious?”
Losing her patience, Rainbow dropped the act, and gave a signal with her eyes to Rarity, who grabbed his hands and held them behind the chair, holding him down. Retrieving a switchblade from her bra, Rainbow drew the blade and held it up to him. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen, you’re going to tell us where we can find Ice, or else.”
He laughed. “Or else what? You’re not going to kill me, I can tell. You don’t have the balls.”
She smirked and lowered the blade to his groins as she unzipped his jeans. “And you won’t either if you don’t cooperate.”
He panicked and struggled, but Rarity held him down and Rainbow pressed the blade to the bulge in his pants. “Talk.” She commanded.
Rarity reached in her purse and retrieved some rope she was instructed to bring with her and began to tie his arms to the chair. Rainbow kept her gaze locked onto him. “You talk and you get to keep the twins.”
“Who the fuck are you two?” He demanded to know.
“That’s not important. Now talk.”
He shook his head. “No way.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She reached up and grabbed the seam of his boxers to pull them down. He instantly protested.
“OKAY! OKAY! FUCK!”
He sighed. “Ice lives on the other side of the neighborhood on Trice Street. Big blue place where his guys meet up every week on Fridays. We good?”
Rainbow smiled and pulled her knife back. “It’s your lucky day.” She looked down to his groin. “And theirs’ too.”
“What should we do with him now?” Rarity asked.
“Leave him.” Rainbow stood up and gestured for her to follow. Shrugging, Rarity followed and kept close as they shut the door behind them.
“You do realize that when he gets away he’s going to warn Ice about us, right?” Rarity remarked.
Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, I texted the pigs he’d be here. I was wearing a wire for them the whole time, so they are coming to pick him up. Ice isn’t going to risk going to see him in jail. He’ll just assume he got himself busted.”
“No honor among thieves… Or drug dealers for that matter…” Rarity remarked.
Rainbow nodded as she noticed her phone was buzzing. Retrieving it, she picked it up and answered. “Hello?”
She was silent for a moment as she listened to the voice on the other end. She nodded and replied after a few seconds of speaking. “I’m on my way.”
Hanging up, she looked over to Rarity. “Hey, I gotta drop you off at home because I have to go and pick up someone.”
Rarity blinked. “Who?”
“Applebloom, she says she got herself into some trouble and needed to turn in a favor I owe her. It’s a long story.”
“You sure have some interesting friends…” Rarity replied.

Spike and Applebloom sat quietly in the principal's office on the two chairs in front of her desk as Principal Cadance was checking through their files. Spike took note of how comfortable the chairs were, and had he not been in deep trouble, he would have noticed sooner that these were probably the most comfortable chairs he had ever sat in.
“We’re so fucked…” Spike whispered to Applebloom.
“Language.” Cadance scolded.
After finishing looking through the files in front of her, Cadance set them down on the table and sighed. “Applebloom, you get excellent grades, but you really need to find better extracurricular activities than this.”
Applebloom shrugged. “What can I say? There’s no lockpickin’ club at school.”
Rolling her eyes, she gave up barking up that tree and looked over to Spike hoping he would be a bit more reasonable. Her young face scrunched into one of concern.
“And Spike… I’m concerned about you… You have gotten into more trouble this year than any other… I am starting to think that maybe there are problems you’re not talking about…” She smiled, in hopes that he’d warm up.
Spike kept his guard up and looked away from her.
“I can arrange for the councilor to meet with you if you like?” She asked.
He just shook his head.
She sighed and looked back to Applebloom in hope of some answers. “What were you two ever breaking into here for?”
Applebloom covered her mouth symbolically. “Honor among thieves, ma’am.”
“If I tell you then will you not call my sister?” Spike asked.
“Spike!” Applebloom swatted his side.
“Look, I just want to go home, this plan totally failed and I’m in enough trouble.” Spike explained.
She sighed and just sunk in her chair.
“We came here looking for confiscated drugs. I had a little money problem and I wanted to sort of sell them to make the cash back…” He paused. “But I wasn’t going to sell it on school grounds, honest!”
Cadance nodded and leaned back in her chair. “Spike, confiscated drugs don’t really last more than 24 hours. They’re discarded after we notify the police or parents.”
“So that plan was a bust from the start…” Applebloom laughed.
“Great, good to know I’m in trouble and an idiot.” Spike remarked.
“Anyways… I’m not going to call Twilight this time. However you two are going to need an escort home…” Cadance replied.
“Great, so basically you’re making call Twilight myself…” Spike sighed.
Applebloom nudged him and shook her head. “Relax, I got that problem sorted out. Just wait a bit, they’ll be here.”
They sat there in silence for only a few more minutes after the hour or so they were held up in Cadance’s office. Before they knew it though, the silence was broken from the door to the office swinging open and a familiar bunch of multi-colored hair lighting up the room. To their surprise she was actually sporting a dress, high heels and her hair had been styled today, a look they had never knew upon Rainbow Dash. Spike just assumed she didn’t even own a dress; she was always so rugged and tomboyish.
Applebloom withheld the commentary she desperately wanted to give on Rainbow’s outfit.
“Alright idiots, let’s go home.” Rainbow commanded.
Spike and Applebloom both stood up and walked towards the door.
Rainbow smiled and peered over at Cadance. “Miss Cadance, nice to see you again…” She slowly allowed her smile to turn into a smirk.
“Please save it this time, Rainbow…”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.” Rainbow pouted at the accusation.
“You were thinking it.”
She rolled her eyes and placed her arms around the two young teens and huddled them close to her. “Well thanks for keeping these two out of trouble. I’ll take it from here.” She smiled.
“Please do, and Spike… Please remember that I’m here if you need someone to talk to.” Cadance smiled warmly.
He shrugged and turned with the group to leave. As they approached the steps in front of the school, Applebloom finally asked the question that she knew was on both her and Spike’s mind. “Okay, what’s with the get-up?”
Rainbow laughed. “I spent the night out with Rarity, you know how she is.”
“You were with Rarity?” Spike perked up.
“Yeah, what of it? She’s cool.”
Applebloom chimed in. “Spike has a crush on Rarity.”
Rainbow snickered. “After tonight I might too.”
“What?” Spike blushed.
“Settle down lover boy, it’s a joke. Though I can definitely see what you see in her…” Rainbow calmed him.
“Hey, what were you two doing in the first place to get caught?” Rainbow changed the subject.
“Spike was trying to find some drugs to sell. It’s a long story…” Applebloom gave a dismissive hand gesture.
Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed Spike’s arm to turn him to face her. “I don’t give a damn about the rest of the story.” She put her other hand on his chin and gripped it tightly. “Listen here, I know you have some problems but you better get a fucking clue, kid. You want to be a punk?”
“No… I…” Spike started, but she cut him off.
“Let me tell you something, you may think you’re tough but you aren’t shit. I don’t want to catch you trying to sell drugs ever again, do you hear me?” She scolded.
“I was just trying to…” He tried to explain again, but she once again cut him off.
“That was a yes or no question. Let me tell you something, that was my life Spike. I had to sell just to live. I had a lot of friends get hurt that way and a lot are in jail now. So you better shape up and stop acting like you fucking know something, because you don’t. I don’t give two shits why you were going to do it, I’m telling you to stop. You wanna live like I did? Huh, tough guy?” She was starting to snarl as she spoke. “You wouldn’t last two minutes in my neighborhood, so you better grow a fucking brain.”
Spike decided it was best to not try and explain again.
“Next time I catch you, telling Twilight will be the last thing you have to worry about.”
He nodded.
“Good, and Applebloom you should know better too.” She said as she released Spike.
Applebloom drooped a bit and nodded. “Sorry, Rainbow…”
Rainbow sighed, somehow soothed by Applebloom’s demeanor. Something about that girl always calmed her. She pulled both her and Spike in for a hug. “I’m sorry too you guys… Listen… I just don’t want you guys to go through what I did…”
Spike and Applebloom both nodded.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow…” Spike finally admitted.
She smiled and petted his head. “It’s okay…”
The three began walking towards the bus stop with Rainbow struggling to move in her high heels. “So you’re not going to tell Twilight?” Spike asked.
Rainbow laughed. “Even if I wanted to, we’re sort of not on speaking terms right now…”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a long story, probably best left for another day.” Rainbow commented.
Spike was just thankful Rarity didn’t accompany her to be disappointed in him at the same time.

> Chapter VIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter VIII




        “Come on, you can’t take me, short stuff!” Called out the voice of the younger brother of CJ to his close friend, Rainbow Dash whom had been playing basketball with him.
        Rainbow’s pygmy height was certainly making the game far more challenging. She had always been short for her age, but she kept hoping that maybe she’d hit a growth spurt by 18 and be ready to join a basketball league. “It’s easy to talk smack when you are closer to the hoop naturally. Just wait, I’m gonna get jacked and tall and you’ll be bowing down to me, right Light?” The preteen spoke to her brother who was working on his car not too far from them.
        Light laughed. “Home girl, I think you better settle on another sport. Ma was short and I think that’s your destiny.”
        “Fuck that.” Rainbow pouted. “Y’all can suck it when I become Oprah rich.”
        “I didn’t know they gave people money for losing the games.” Her friend teased.
        Light just chuckled and returned to his task, he had been trying to fix up this old car for years in the hope that he could give it to his little sister when she turned 18. His mind focused on how his 18th birthday went and how he wanted Rainbow to actually have something to show for it unlike him.
        “Y’all a bunch of haters.” She gave a dismissing gesture as she signaled for the ball to be passed to her. “My court, my ball. I’ll show you.”
        Her friend tossed the ball to her, and with a quick catch, she jumped and threw it landing it flawlessly into the hoop from all the way across the driveway. “That’s how you do it homies, take notes.” Rainbow smirked.
        “You got lucky.” He rolled his eyes.
        “That’s what you’re supposed to say in a year or two when I’m banging your girlfriend.” She joked.
        “You’re full of smack today.” He replied.
        The young Rainbow adjusted her small ponytail before retrieving the ball. “When I’m famous I’ll make sure I sign a ball or something for you.”
        “I don’t need it, just when you’re bagging Beyonce, save a bit of it for me.” He replied.
        Light rolled his eyes as he listened to their conversation. Next to him, his longtime friend Gale Wind was under the car, covered in grease and oil as she assisted him with his car project. To avoid getting anything onto her own clothing, she had on one of Light’s undershirts over just a simple bra. Her black dreads tied up in a ponytail behind her head to keep from getting caught. She had so much oil on her, that even her dark complexion seemed darker with it upon her.
        Gale and he had gone to school together until Light had to drop out. She was so devastated about what happened to him, she followed suit and dropped out with him. Ever since she had been by his side supporting him in everything he did. The two were impossible to find apart for very long.
        “She’s dreamin’ big at least.” Gale commented to Light as she twisted a wrench.
        “My lil’ sis is going to do big things, Gale. You’ll see.” Light responded.
        Gale pulled herself out from under the car and looked up at him with a smile. “You are too, Light.”
        He shrugged and then shook his head dismissively. “Nah.”
        “Don’t lie to me. I know what you’ve been doing. CJ told me about how you’re stashing away money and your plan of moving to the city for a new life for you and Rainbow. I know you’re planning on leaving us, Light.” She grew a serious expression.
        Light paused; unsure of how to confirm to his friend he was planning on getting away from this place.
        “I understand, Light. I never dreamed of living here forever either. My mom always talked about how we were going to save some money and get a nice place in the city and how I’d marry a good man and start a family.” She smiled. Bringing herself to a stand, she looked up at Light meeting his eyes. “This isn’t the place to raise a family, Light.”
        He finally spoke up. “You’re my family too, Gale.”
        She grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. I want to go with you two.”
        Light wasn’t sure how to answer.
        “Gale…”
        “We can all get a better life outside of this place. We’re not going anywhere here.” Gale said.
        He nodded and offered her a hug which she took. “It’ll be better, I promise.” He comforted.
        “No more bullshit, that’ll be nice…” Gale fantasized.
        “Rainbow can move closer to the school, get into college, she’s smart you know?” He spoke of his sister with pride. “Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave her a scholarship.”
        Gale nodded as she listened. “And you and I can get real jobs and we can get out of this shit hole.” She reached up and petted his short hair playfully.
        “It’ll be good.” He replied.
        The two were interrupted by another friend of theirs whom was talking with a client of his near the untidy hedges close to the house. Today he was a little slightly better dressed than usual, sporting a button up shirt over his undershirt, but he had neglected to button up a single button. His goatee was probably the most untidy bit of facial hair anyone had ever seen. Unlike Light who was clean shaven, he hardly knew how to work a razor.
        With his expression turning to a panicking face, he pointed as her hollered. “Yo, Light, Gale, check it!”
        Light and Gale both turned to the direction he was pointing, Gale taking a quick look back at their friend, whom they had always referred to as “Charm” to see him drawing his firearm from the back of his pants. Gale did likewise and started to crouch down.
        In the distance Light could see a car pulling by with one of the passengers leaning out the window with a ski mask on his face. Given that it was the middle of August it was suspicious to say the least. Light knew what was happening and he too retrieved his weapon and knelt down to make himself a smaller target.
        “Fuck!” Charm shouted as he started to open fire on the silver car.
        Within seconds gunfire was being returned to them. The shooter was carrying a fully automatic machine pistol that Light could just barely make out in the distance. Light let off a few shots as he began to move.
        “Gale, get inside I gotta get Rainbow!” He called out as he moved towards Rainbow and her young friend who were just frozen in confusion.
        “I got her!” Charm exclaimed as he grabbed Gale’s arm and pulled her behind the car her and Light were working on for cover.
        Moving quickly, Light grabbed Rainbow and covered her up with his arms as bullets flew in their direction. He didn’t have enough time to react, so he just shielded her from the incoming fire. Pain overwhelmed him repeatedly as he felt the metal shards connect into his back over and over. He grunted as he kept his grip on his younger sibling tight.
        Rainbow had kept her breath held and her eyes shut tight through the whole ordeal. When the sound of gunfire ceased and everything fell quiet, she opened her eyes to her elder brother collapsing, blood leaking out of several holes freshly made. She froze at the sight, unable to speak.
        “Shit! They got Charm!” CJ whom was still inside when it was happening cried out as he ran to the lawn.
        Gale pulled out from behind the car and pointed to Rainbow and Light as she rushed over. “Oh fuck! Light!”
        CJ’s attention quickly turned to that direction as he and Gale bolted over to try and get Light up. Light coughed and hacked up blood as the two tried to lift him. “Oh shit. Let’s get him inside come on.”
        Two of CJ’s friends whom had been with him inside were now out on the lawn. One of them pointed to Charm before speaking. “What about him?”
        “FUCK HIM! HE’S DEAD, COME ON AND HELP US GET LIGHT INSIDE, HE’S BLEEDING OUT FAST. AND FOR FUCK’S SAKE ONE YOU CALL 911!” CJ screamed as he and Gale dragged Light whom was struggling to keep his eyes open.
        “Come on, Light stay with us!” Gale yelled.
        The other friend helped them along with Rainbow who was choking on tears as she assisted.
        With their combined effort they managed to get him inside and propped him up onto the kitchen table which they cleared by just pushing everything onto the floor. Light grunted and coughed some more.
        Gale was trying to cover up some of the holes with her hands before one of the other girls retrieved a first aid kit from the bathroom. “Come on home boy, keep your eyes open.” CJ commanded as he tapped Light’s cheek to keep him awake. “Don’t die on me.” He added.
        Rainbow took note that Light turned to her and extended his hand. “R-rainbow…” He spoke between coughs.
        She stepped forward and took his bloody hand in her own, she could hardly breathe she was so terrified.
        “Y-you…” He started but began coughing again.
        “Don’t talk.” Gale hushed him.
        He shook his head and tried to speak again. “Y-you… Have… to be… Strong…” He instructed.
        “O-okay… I promise…” Rainbow felt the tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
        “D-don’t be like… Me… Please… I don’t… I don’t want that for you… To be a thug… Like me…” He managed to get out between coughs and attempts to breathe.
        “I promise…” She held onto his hand tighter.
        “I… I never wanted you to be… A killer like me… Promise me you won’t be… Promise me… You’ll do better than I did…” He stared into her eyes as he delivered his message.
        She took a step closer and nodded. “I-I promise…”
        He nodded and smiled before going into another coughing fit. CJ and Gale attempting to bandage him up as fast as they could; however within a few more seconds his coughing ceased and his movement ended. Light’s hand that Rainbow had in her own went limp and fell.
        “Light?” Gale tapped him.
        No response.
        She tapped harder and began to get hysterical. “LIGHT!? LIGHT COME ON!”
        Rainbow was frozen, her eyes wide open, locked onto her brother’s motionless body. This couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t be real. All of those plans he talked about with her about leaving this place and finding a better life began rushing to her head.
        CJ sighed as he lowered his head. “He’s dead, Gale... We weren’t fast enough…”
        “NO HE ISN’T! GIVE HIM CPR UNTIL THE AMBULANCE GETS HERE DAMN IT!” Gale commanded.
        CJ grabbed her and shook her violently. “GALE! SNAP OUT OF IT! HE’S DEAD.”
        She knelt down and buried her head into his chest sobbing. “No… He can’t be…”
        CJ embraced her and looked over to Rainbow. “Rainbow… I’m… I’m sorry…”
        Everything went black to Rainbow. She could hardly hear his words, the room around her turned into nothingness. She could only see a face appear before her. A sinister and evil one, the face of a man she had only seen in photos. The face of a man named Ice who grinned as his giant floating head looked down upon her.
        “You’re next, Rainbow…” He bellowed.
        With a gasp and a shout Rainbow Dash burst out of bed and awoke from her nightmare. She placed her hands upon her face to make sure she wasn’t still dreaming. Everything seemed to be in place. Panting, she looked over at the clock to see it was just past midnight.
        She had dreamed about her brother’s death before, but not like this. She threw her covers off of herself and quickly threw some PJ bottoms on before rushing out the door to meet her friend.
        Almost instantly she found herself pounding on Rarity’s door.
        With a yawn, the disheveled beauty opened the door and gazed upon the messy and clearly worried Rainbow. “Rainbow? It’s just past midnight… What are you doing here?”

        After some time and tea prepared by Rarity, Rainbow told her story as she attempted to sip the tea. She wasn’t a big fan of it, but was attempting to down it as she understood it was a part of Rarity’s culture to offer tea to guests.
        It was unusual to see Rarity with her hair in such a mess, and not dressed formally, but she honestly didn’t expect her to be ready to be viewed at a moment’s notice at this hour, so it was understandable. She had thrown on a bathrobe on over herself. When she answered the door, she was in little more than a pair of boy short underwear and a big white T-shirt. It seemed that even Rarity allowed her fashion sense to slip when she was slumbering. Rainbow imagined what she may look like lounging around her apartment or if she was the type who got up and instantly became showered and presentable.
        Her apartment was adorned with an incredibly creative modern set of furniture and artwork. Most of her things looked more expensive than Rainbow’s entire apartment.
        Setting her cup down on the mahogany coffee table, Rainbow sighed. Rarity nodded and sipped again from her cup before relaxing it in her other hand which was carrying the saucer for said cup. Her makeup-less face contorted to one of understanding.
        “I see… I’m sorry that happened to you, Rainbow. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” Rarity comforted.
        Rainbow had her feet on the couch as she held her knees. “I’m going to make him pay for what he did to Light.”
        “You can’t kill him, Rainbow. You promised Light you wouldn’t become a killer.” Rarity reminded.
        “That would imply that this guy is human.” Rainbow attempted to justify.
        “Those who kill will suffer the curse only known to killers. You live the rest of your life with that burden; it’s not worth it for revenge.” Rarity scolded.
        Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t want him dead just yet anyways. Not until I find out, why.”
        “Why what?” Rarity raised a brow in confusion.
        “Why did he have Light killed? Or Charm for that matter. Why did he put a hit on our house? Light never hung around Ice’s territory and he definitely didn’t do business with him. Light was trying to get off the streets; he was keeping his nose clean.” Rainbow explained.
        “I’m sure we’ll find out, Rainbow but the answer may not bring you much comfort…” Rarity sighed.
        “I’ll be fine when I see him pay for what he’s done…” Rainbow spoke.
        Rarity knew that trying to convince Rainbow to release her determination to seek out revenge was a waste of time. Instead she just sighed again and leaned back in her seat, taking another sip of her tea.

        With his hands buried deep into his jacket pockets, Spike tried to resist the never ending cold of the December month. He was bundled in a dark blue winter cap and an old scarf that Twilight had given him years ago. The young teen sighed as he walked down the sidewalk, enjoying one of the few days off that he had. Pinkie had insisted that he shouldn’t be working so hard on his winter break, despite his protest.
        His mind fell onto thoughts of how he was going to get Rarity’s gift now. It seemed rather hopeless to even think about it at this point, there was no way he was going to get that kind of money without another (more than likely failed) stunt like he had pulled a few days ago at the school. Rainbow’s words were still ringing in his head.
        The truth was though that he was a punk. Just some kid who was in way over his head. With his mind racing, he almost didn’t hear a gentle voice behind him. With a delicate British accent, the voice was accompanied by a tap on his shoulder. “Well hello there, Spike. I didn’t expect to see you today.” She said.
        He pivoted so quickly he almost made himself dizzy. There before him was the always gorgeous Rarity donning her clean white peacoat. Looking down for a second he noticed that her Ugg boots were different from the ones he had seen before, implying she owned multiple pairs.
        She was tucking her iPhone away into her expensive purse as she gave him a smile that he could only describe as “picture perfect”. He imagined that Rarity even looked great in her passport photo.
        “H-hey! It’s good to see you.” Spike bowed.
        She giggled at his over politeness and nodded. “I was heading to the park, would you care to accompany me? A lady like me could use the escort of a gentleman like yourself.”
        He couldn’t even manage to get words to leave his mouth. Accepting non-verbally he just nodded his head politely. She offered her hand for him to take, which took him a moment to register before gripping it gently in his now sweaty palms, thankfully he had gloves on so she wouldn’t notice. Though they weren’t effective at keeping his hands warm.
        Walking together he tried his best not to stare, but found himself taking note of every icy breath she exhaled. Up close she was even more stunning than from far away. Her soft looking hair almost bounced as she walked, and it looked like she spent a long time taming it.
        “It’s been awhile since we hung out…” Spike commented, trying to destroy the awkward silence between them.
        She nodded. “Yes, I’ve been busy lately is all…”
        “Oh?”
        “Yes, I’ve been going through a lot of changes lately. My whole world feels like it’s been turned upside down to be honest with you, Spike… I feel like I’m actually seeing the world for the first time and it’s almost frightening but… Exciting at the same time…” She rambled.
        He wasn’t exactly sure what she was talking about, but assumed it had something to with the time she was spending with Rainbow lately.
        Rarity took notice of a small child ahead of them crying to which she gave Spike a hand gesture to tell him to wait up. She bolted ahead and crouched down and appeared to be communicating with the child. After a few seconds of talking she reached into her purse and gave her something and had her close her hand around it. The small child jumped into a hug before Rarity petted her hair and sent her along.
        She trotted back over to Spike and took his hand back with a smile. “Sorry about that.”
        “What was that about?”
        “She couldn’t get her mother a Christmas present. She was trying to get something from that shop over there but she didn’t have enough money. She saved her allowance for two months.” Rarity explained.
        “So you gave her money?”
        She nodded.
        “How much?”
        “Two hundred dollars.” She replied.
        Spike blinked. He knew Rarity was wealthy, but not that she was wealthy enough to drop two hundred dollars so easily. That was a good chunk of Spike’s rent that he could hardly afford.
        “For real!?” He exclaimed.
        “I’m in a place where that’s not a lot of money to me, and she isn’t as fortunate… I’ve been realizing that some people aren’t as lucky as I am… I just want to give back to the world as much as I can now…” She smiled.
        “You’re a noble person, Rarity.” Spike complimented.
        She blushed and giggled. “So are you, Spike.”
        It was hardly true, but he accepted the compliment. “Thanks.”
        It wasn’t long before the two arrived at the park. Spike took note of how deserted it was. Everyone was probably out Christmas shopping more than likely. “It’s like we have it all to ourselves.” He commented.
        Rarity nodded and gave him a gentle nudge in a playful manner. He responded with one of his own, but not realizing how strong he was, Rarity tipped and fell backwards, landing on her rear in the snow. Panicking he quickly offered her a hand to help her up. “Oh crap! Sorry!”
        Rarity blinked and looked down to the snow before looking back up at him. With a smirk she scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at him, hitting him in the shoulder. She helped herself up and scooped up another and tossed it, this time Spike ducked.
        Finally realizing what was happening, he grabbed a snowball of his own and hurled it at her. When it hit she let out a girlish shriek and returned fire, hitting him in the stomach. He hurled his own and missed only to be pelted in the face by a big snowball.
        Wiping the snow off of his face he saw Rarity standing in horror, clearly frightened that she may have hurt him. With a blink he grinned and bolted towards her, tackling her into the snow. She let out a playful shriek as she fought back. With a little luck she smashed his face into the snow with a giggle. Grabbing a big wad of snow he gave her a noogie with it as she laughed.
Finally Rarity fell on her back in the snow and sighed happily. She patted next to herself for Spike to join her. Listening to her request, Spike laid down next to the girl he admired in the soft snow. The two looked to the heavens happily.
“A lot is changing in my life, Spike…” She started. “I feel like there is this whole other world I knew nothing about that I’m just discovering.”
“Oh?” He listened.
She nodded. “Yes… And it’s got me to thinking… I want to be someone who makes a difference. I don’t want to just keep a blind eye to it.”
“That’s pretty noble of you.” He complimented.
“There’s nothing noble about it… It should be what we all are doing… I don’t want to be just another cog in this machine we call society.” She responded.
Spike merely nodded understanding her all too well, but unsure of what brought this on.
“Spike… If someone you cared about died… Could you bring yourself to kill the person who killed them?” She asked out of the blue.
Sitting up Spike looked over to her confused as to why she would ask such a question. “I… I don’t know… I guess I never thought of what I’m capable of.” Spike paused before asking what he really wanted to ask regarding her question. “Could you?”
“I don’t know, Spike… Killing comes with a burden… I don’t think I could carry that burden unless it was for the right reasons…” Her voice grew quiet as she spoke. “But I don’t ever want to have to come to that… I don’t know if I’d be strong enough.”
“If you were protecting someone you cared about, you’ll find the strength.” Spike reassured.
She smiled and looked over to him, taking his hand. “Thank you, Spike… I needed to hear that.
The timing was so perfect. If Spike could just get the words to come out of his mouth, he knew that this would be the perfect time to tell Rarity how he felt. For that moment he felt they were close enough to where it would give him the confidence to say something.
However his opportunity was robbed from him by a ring on Rarity’s cellphone. Retrieving the device with a sigh she peeked at the number calling before answering. “Hello? Rainbow, how are you?”
Rarity grew silent as she listened to her friend. “Calm down, what happened?”
Spike couldn’t hear what was being said to Rarity from the other end but he assumed it was important.
“Relax, where are you?” She said.
Finally before hanging up she gave her final instruction. “Okay, meet me at your apartment, I’ll be there soon.”
Rarity pulled herself up and offered a hand to help Spike which he took. She frowned as she dusted some of the snow off of him. “I’m really sorry Spike… I have to go… I was having a very nice time too.”
“I understand… Duty calls.” He shrugged.
“We should do this again sometime.” She suggested.
“You know where to find me.” He replied.
She patted him on the shoulder and ran off.

With a pair of expensive headphones on her ears, Rainbow found herself jamming out to her favorite music as she approached her friend CJ’S house. She kept it a secret that she listened to Biggie as well as Tupac as it was often viewed as heresy to enjoy both. She found she had a soft spot for both of their music though. Though she regularly was known for defending her music tastes, she often just got tired of doing so.
She wanted to go and discuss their next move with CJ before they got too ahead of themselves.
Knocking on his door, she waited for a response. To her surprise though, she was greeted by silence. It was far too early for him to be sleeping and CJ wasn’t much for daytime naps. It was only a bit past 1PM, so she knew the only reason he wouldn’t answer is by not being home.
Letting herself in, she could already hear the TV on, which CJ never left on if he wasn’t in the room. When she was young she remembered him constantly complaining that power doesn’t just grow on trees.
Stepping to the direction of the sound of the television she noticed a few drops of blood on the ground.
Quickly she retrieved her gun from her waistband and held it in front of herself as she walked cautiously. “CJ?” She called out.
No response.
With another careful step she brought herself into the living room where she lowered her weapon and found herself stunned by the sight in front of her. The young girl backed up and almost lost her balance as she tried to get away from what she was seeing, but found it impossible to look away. “Fuck…” She cursed.
Quickly she retrieved her phone in a panic and called her friend Rarity, the first words out of her friend’s mouth were “Hello? Rainbow, how are you?”
Rainbow was fighting back tears as she talked. “Rarity… They got him, they fuckin’ got him… Oh my fucking God… I can’t believe this…”
“Calm down, what happened?” Rarity asked for clarity.
She shouted into the phone. “CJ! He’s fucking dead, Rarity! They fucking killed him… Oh my fucking god… There’s blood everywhere…” Rainbow was stepping closer to the body CJ in the middle of the room on top of the coffee table when she noticed a note on top of him that she read over quickly. “They left a note saying we’re next if we don’t back off… Shit… This can’t be happening…”
“Relax, where are you?” Rarity asked.
“I’m at CJ’s house… I can’t believe they did this…” Rainbow responded.
“Okay, meet me at your apartment, I’ll be there soon.” Rarity requested.
Rainbow replied with a simple “Yeah, okay…” Before hanging up and placing her hand on CJ’s shoulder. Trying to look away from the blood she wiped her tears and looked to his face. “I’ll make sure Ice pays for this… I promise…”

> Chapter IX
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter IX




        It was nearing only a week or so before Christmas, and as you all know things haven’t exactly been very wonderful for our friends have they? I mean what with Rainbow finding CJ like that in the last part of our story, Soarin unable to get in contact with his long time crush after their little night of passion, and we haven’t even seen our friend Applejack for a while have we? To top that all off, Spike got the scolding of a lifetime from Rainbow and probably wet himself; that girl can be quite scary sometimes.
        Where should we even begin? I mean it’s not exactly like you can decide anyways, as we’ll always be starting where I choose. I suppose we’ll begin with our friend Fluttershy whom at this point was residing in Rainbow Dash’s living room. Sitting there on the couch, she tightly gripped a can of soda she was working through as Rainbow walked around the room looking to gather her things together for the outing she was planning. Her and Rarity had a lot to discuss, she knew but she wanted to set aside some time for her friend whom she had neglected for almost the entire month.
        With her eyes on a mirror, Rainbow adjusted her hair as she spoke out to Fluttershy. “So yeah, Rarity and I have been hanging out a lot lately. She’s surprisingly not as high strung as I would have imagined. She’s actually kind of chill.”
        “So now you’ve got a crush on Rarity too?” Fluttershy rolled her eyes.
        “Not really, though if the offer was on the table to destroy that ass I’d jump on it. However I couldn’t see us dating. To be honest I’m not sure if she’s even into girls, she gives a lot of mixed signals.” Rainbow explained as she finished her hair.
        “What have you two been doing lately…?” Fluttershy questioned. Rainbow’s statement only made her feel more curious about what the two have been doing together to bring up such a topic even.
        Rainbow looked back with a smirk. “You don’t kiss and tell, but expect me to?”
        “You did not kiss Rarity.” Fluttershy dismissed.
        “Oh, but I did.” Rainbow’s grin grew bigger as she sat down next to her friend on the couch and put an arm around her shoulder.
        “Wait, what?” Fluttershy perked up and turned her full attention over to Rainbow. She could tell from her eyes that she was being honest. She always had a little sparkle in her eyes when she was bragging that Fluttershy learned to identify. She recalled first seeing it when they were in middle school and Rainbow bragged about making out with a girl in the ninth grade.
        “Do you want to know what it was like?” Rainbow asked.
        Fluttershy bit her lip, and nodded slightly, not really wanting to admit her curiosity. “Kind of…”
        Rainbow shook her head and laughed. “Look at you… Down girl.”
        Fluttershy gave her a gentle shoulder slap and rolled her eyes again. “Shut up, just tell me.”
        Rainbow leaned in and smiled. “Well I gotta tell you… She’s pretty good at it. Either she’s done it before or she’s just an amazing natural at it…” She gestured for Fluttershy to get closer as they gossiped; the young girl did so. “There were some moans.” Rainbow added.
        Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth. “No way! Get out of here!”
        Rainbow nodded. “Oh yeah, tugging her hair had some interesting effects.”
        “I never pictured Rarity like that…” Fluttershy said. “What were you two kissing for anyways?”
        “We were having a bit too much to drink. It wasn’t anything significant, didn’t really feel that spark, you know?” Rainbow shrugged.
        “Figures that you would make out with a famous fashion designer… You’ll be bragging for years when she makes it big…” Fluttershy was already thinking about listening to her gloat whenever the topic came up.
        Rainbow laughed before getting up and going through a drawer to find her watch that she had misplaced. “Only a little bit. Speaking of make outs… How did things with Soarin go? Did you guys do the old in-out?”
        Fluttershy grew quiet and looked down. “Well… I…”
        “What did he suck at it? I keep telling you, I will gladly come in and show you two how it’s done, it’s no big deal.” Rainbow joked.
        Fluttershy stayed silent, which cued Rainbow in that something was wrong. Fluttershy always got all riled up about that joke.
        “What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked.
        “Nothing…” Her meek friend responded.
        Rainbow turned over to her with a concerned expression. “What happened?”
        “Don’t worry about it…” Fluttershy said.
        It was like a fire was starting to burn inside of Rainbow as her concern grew. “Fluttershy…” She paused. “Did he hurt you?”
        “Just leave it alone, please…” Fluttershy commented.
        It was as if she had said the exact opposite as Rainbow got enraged and slammed her hands on top of the dresser she was in front of. “That mother fucker! He is going to pay for this. Don’t worry Fluttershy I’m on it.” She reached in the top drawer and retrieved her gun.
        Fluttershy instantly took alarm. “Rainbow! Where did you get that!?” She backed away frightened.
        “I’m taking care of it, relax.” Rainbow replied.
        Fluttershy jumped from her seat and ran to the door blocking it. Rainbow attempted to push her out of the way as she waved her gun around. “Out of the way, I’m just going to talk to him...” Rainbow was practically seething.
        “Rainbow put the gun away! Please!” Fluttershy begged.
        “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill him… Some girl in the future is just going to have to love half of a man…” She insinuated as she again tried to move Fluttershy out of the way.
        “He didn’t do anything, Rainbow!” Fluttershy shouted. Rainbow relaxed and lowered her weapon. “It was consensual…” Fluttershy added.
        “Oh…” Rainbow shrugged and patted her friend on the shoulder. “Good for you then, what’s the problem then?”
        “Remind me not to make you angry…” Fluttershy commented. “And please put that gun away!” She begged.
        With a laugh she placed the gun in her waistband and covered it up with her shirt. “Sorry… So what’s wrong then?”
        Fluttershy looked down and grabbed the end of her sweater nervously. “Well… I… Ummm… I…” She was having a hard time getting it out. “I’m pregnant…”
        Rainbow blinked. “W-what?” She found herself looking down at Fluttershy’s stomach. She placed a hand onto her friend’s stomach and met her eyes with her own. “For real?”
        Fluttershy nodded. “I… I don’t know how to tell him…”
        Taking her friend’s hand she sat her back down and took both of her hands into her own. “Why not?”
        The girl just sighed and looked Rainbow in the eyes. “He’s a big soccer star, Rainbow… He has this big scholarship and he’s got so much going for him… I don’t want to take that away from him…”
        “And what about you? He gets to run off and do whatever and leave you a single mother?” Rainbow protested.
        “Rainbow I appreciate the concern, but I need to handle this my own way. Please don’t tell him, I need to handle myself here…” Fluttershy instructed.
        With a sigh, Rainbow nodded. “Fine, but I’m here for you, Fluttershy.”
        Her friend smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Rainbow.”
        There was a moment of silence which was broken with a question. “So why do you have that gun?” Fluttershy asked.
        Rainbow laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”

        Applejack knew this was probably a bad idea, but she tuned it out of her mind. Her thoughts of Clover were constantly being pushed out of her head as she approached the door of an apartment just a few streets down. She made sure to go through the back road so no one would see her. She wished to remain as incognito as possible. Part of her didn’t really fully understand what she was trying to do; she just knew that she would not be able to sleep with a clear head until she came here.
        With a big gulp she knocked on the door and shuffled in her spot impatiently. Within a few seconds, the door swung open and there standing in front of her was the familiar glassy eyes of Cloudchaser. The blind girl reached forward and placed a hand onto Applejack’s face. After examining her for a moment she laughed. “What’re you doing here?”
        Applejack found herself tongue twisted. “Uhh…”
        “You don’t make any sense you know that? First you say it’s over and then you show up here…” Cloudchaser sighed.
        “Ah’… Ah’ missed hangin’ out with ya’…” AJ admitted.
        Cloudchaser smirked. “Well… I am pretty awesome so that’s understandable.”
        “Ah’ was thinkin’ maybe we could like… Just hang out for a bit, talk maybe?” AJ asked.
        With a nod, the alternative girl gestured for her to follow her inside. Applejack nodded and did so. Cloudchaser’s apartment was exactly as AJ remembered it; a total disaster zone of clothing and other various things that have not moved in months. Cloudchaser was always super messy.
        Cloudchaser sat down on the couch, followed by AJ who sat down next to her, already feeling rather awkward about being here. Cloudchaser stretched and picked up an energy drink sitting on the table after feeling around for a bit for it.
        “So uh… How’ve y’all been?” AJ tried to break the ice.
        “That’s the best line you got?” Cloudchaser asked. “I mean come on you came all the way here and that’s the best opening line you could come up with?”
        AJ rolled her eyes. “Look, Ah’m tryin’ here… Ah’ don’ exactly know all the rules to this, y’know? There’s all these weird rules for when ya’ break up that I still don’t get...”
        Taking a big gulp of her drink she shrugged. “So you want to hang out again, but aren’t you afraid I’ll hit on you or something?”
        Applejack shook her head, “It don’t matter. Ah’ll live.”
        There was a silence which Cloudchaser wanted to break but for the longest time she found herself unable to speak. Finally getting a word or two out she offered a suggestion to her. “Let’s go out right now.”
        “Seriously?” AJ asked.
        Cloudchaser nodded, “My schedule is clear at the moment, so why not?”
        “It’s pretty cold out, how about we jus’ stay here for a bit and talk?” AJ smiled.
        “Works for me.” Cloudchaser shrugged.
        Applejack wasn’t sure that she was ready to handle more outings with the girl just yet. Cloudchaser tended to get fairly grabby when the two was hanging out and she got a little too excited.
        “How’ve your classes been?” Cloudchaser asked before sipping from her drink again.
        “Alright, ‘Ah suppose, but pretty hard… It’s so strange that my sis is almost a straight A student an’ ‘Ah struggle just to get Bs half the time… How’d she get so damn smart?” Applejack wondered out loud. Applebloom seemed to fit right in when she came to the city, but AJ always had a hard time adjusting to everything. It may have had to do with the fact that she always interacted with Scootaloo who came from a city life when they lived back on the farm.
        “I like your sister though, she’s spunky.” Cloudchaser chuckled.
        “Try secretive… Girl used to tell me everything, now she is a closed book.” Applejack frowned.
        It was true, when they were younger, her and Applebloom shared everything, now it was rare that the two even talked for more than a few minutes. Applejack knew she was partially to blame. When her and Cloudchaser were dating on and off she had to keep quiet and elusive to her sister so she wouldn’t catch on.
        “Well that’s what happens when you keep things from her, she keeps them from you.” Cloudchaser’s tone sounded very matter-of-a-fact and it was clear she was chastised Applejack for keeping their relationship secret for this long.
        “Listen… Maybe ‘Ah was wrong…” Applejack admitted.
        “Oh? The patron of honesty is admitting wrongdoing? Where’s my tape recorder?” Cloudchaser remarked sarcastically.
        Applejack frowned, but continued. “It’s not like Ah’m good at this stuff…”
        “You’re right. You’re not.”
        Trying to lighten the mood, she decided to change the subject again. “Hey, remember when you tried to teach me to DJ?”
        Cloudchaser smirked, clearly remembering that story all too well. “Oh I remember… You cranked the bass up way too high and nearly blew your eardrums out. They would have started calling us Helen and Keller if that happened.”
        Applejack chuckled as she began to have it all come back to her. “But remember after y’all showed me the right way…” She sighed contently. “Like… ‘Ah miss that…”
        Cloudchaser nodded silently and smiled as she placed a hand on Applejack’s cheek. “We can do that again.”
        “Ya’ think so?” AJ scooted closer and allowed her long time friend place her arm around her shoulder.
        “Only if you’ll let me teach you…” Cloudchaser grew quiet and her breathing irregular.
        Leaning in slowly Applejack nodded and felt her lips reach only an inch from Cloudchaser’s. “’Ah… Would like that…”
        Not answering, the punk rocker reeled her in the rest of the way with the arm around AJ’s neck and made their lips touch. Applejack wanted to make it stop, but found herself enjoying it instead. She had forgotten how great of a kisser Cloudchaser was. Passionate, fierce, and ambitious, just how AJ liked it. Cloudchaser had a strange way of taking control that Applejack just loved that Clover just couldn’t do for her. He was too kind and gentle, but she was too bashful to tell him she wanted something more forceful. That and he probably didn’t have it in him.
        The feelings of betrayal exited her mind as she focused on the feeling of electricity running through her whole body from this kiss. Placing her arms around Cloudchaser, she pulled her in deeper for more as she felt her tongue dance with her lover’s. AJ didn’t want it to end; she just wanted to take as much as she could get away with before Cloudchaser ended it.
        Finally pulled herself away, Cloudchaser smiled. Applejack brushed a strand of hair out of Cloudchaser’s face as she placed her hand on the young girl’s cheek. “Y’all have such a cute face, y’know that?”
        “I wish I could see yours…” Cloudchaser frowned a bit as she replied.
        Taking both of Cloudchaser’s hands, AJ placed them both on her face. Gently, she guided Cloudchaser’s hands across her cheeks and all over her face. Cloudchaser quickly started taking control and ever so gingerly began to trace Applejack’s face with her hands, gentle finger touches to the outline of her bone structure helped paint a picture in her mind. “Why couldn’t I have met you before I lost my sight?” Cloudchaser spoke softly.
        “Why do ya’ ask?”
        “Because I can tell you’re gorgeous… I would pay any amount to see your face just once…” Cloudchaser replied.
        Applejack blushed to which Cloudchaser laughed. “Heh, made you blush.”
        “How can ya’ tell?” Applejack defended.
        “Your face started getting warm. You forget how great my other senses are.” Cloudchaser reminded.
        “Y’all are right… ‘Ah shouldn’t have forgotten… It’s been too long…” AJ commented.
        Applejack knew that Cloudchaser wasn’t going to ask any questions about what happened as she preferred not to complicate things. She was the kind of person who just went with things.

        Tossing in her sleep, Rarity couldn’t keep her mind off of all that was happening. Everything with Rainbow was spiraling out of control. Regularly, she would find herself dreaming about the situation. The truth was, she definitely was at least a little scared about the situation, but her greatest fear was not being there. She could feel Rainbow slipping, getting closer and closer to her breaking point. There was no telling what she was capable of if pushed too far. However she was determined to make Rainbow keep her promise to Light. More importantly though, she was afraid that if she was not there that Rainbow could end up dead.
        Rarity knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she allowed something to happen to Rainbow; so despite being scared, she knew she had to be there for her and see this to the end.
        Her slumber was interrupted by her bedroom door opening. Quickly opening her eyes, she took note of a figure standing in her room. While her eyes were adjusting she could only make out that it was an average height male, shaved head, with a fairly muscular build. Once she had adjusted to being awake again, she noticed his right hand was extended holding a gun tightly. She could see a gentle sparkle off of his watch.
        Reaching to her end table she grabbed a glass of water that had been sitting there and took a sip as she kept her eyes on the man. After a few sips, she set it back down and sat up with her hands on her lap as she sat silently.
        “What’s up, homie?” He asked.
        She took note of his light Spanish accent, but said nothing.
        “So, you must be the kid’s squeeze, huh?” He asked as he waved his gun about.
        Rarity kept quiet.
        “Y’know you should listen to your mother when she says it’s not polite to ignore someone talking to you, chicka.” He joked.
        “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the term…” Rarity finally answered.
        He laughed. “For real? Tell me white girl, what’s your stake in this?”
        “You know I’m growing quite tired of people referring to me as “White Girl”, I have a name you know?” Rarity replied.
        “And what would that be, princess?”
        “Rarity, however I could certainly get used to Princess.” She joked with a smirk.
        “Sassy, ain’t you?” He responded.
        “Only to ignorant morons like you.” Rarity grinned.
        He laughed and pulled up a chair in her room and sat down with his arms hanging to the floor along with his gun. “Chicka, you have no idea who I am do you?”
        “I try not to concern myself with the affairs of rubbish.” Rarity retorted.
        “My name is Ice.” He replied, ignoring her insult.
        She paused and kept her eyes locked on him. This person did look a lot like the pictures that they had seen; she must have been so tired she didn’t realize what was happening.
        “So, you and that hood rat have been asking about me. I don’t give a fuck why, or what your angle is. I know you got one of my boys caught by the pigs…” He leaned closer and smiled before placing his gun directly to her forehead. Rarity looked up at the weapon before putting her eyes back on him.
        “Are you threatening me?” Rarity asked.
        “If you want to call it that.” He responded. “If you two don’t stop sniffing around, you’re going to regret it…”
        “I’m regretting having to endure your smell, that’s for sure.” Rarity felt a surge of confidence overcome her as she kept sassing him.
        “Perhaps I’m not making myself clear…” He laughed. Standing up, he pushed her down with his free hand and pinned her shoulder down, forcing his gun into her mouth. “If I catch you sniffing around again, I’m going to capture you and that hood rat and I’ll torture her while you watch before I blow your fucking head off. Do you get me, amigo?” He thrusted his gun a bit into her throat as she said that last part.
        She coughed and nodded.
        Pulling his gun out of her mouth, he smiled. “Such a pretty thing, it’d be a waste, y’know?”
        “I’ll take the compliment.” Rarity responded as she coughed again.
        “You act tough, but I can tell… You don’t have the balls to do anything… If you did, you’d have killed me already. You’re too weak.” He insulted as he reached for the door.
        Just as quietly as he had entered, he had left. Rarity blinked and stared down at her sheets. The encounter shook her up a bit, but she knew that she couldn’t tell Rainbow what had just happened.

        Seeking Pinkie’s advice was common for Twilight, as she knew her friend was better at social norms than she was, even if Pinkie was a bit… Odd. Pinkie came in two varieties: completely out there and incomprehensible and strangely wise. Which one you got when you talked to her seemed to always be the luck of the draw. Twilight imagined that psychology students could probably write their entire thesis on whatever went on in Pinkie’s mind; though Twilight suspected a lot of it was wild dancing and partying.
        Unlike the recluse that Twilight was, Pinkie was a whole different being. She was energetic, fun loving and known for being able to turn even a normal occasion into a party. To say she was the life of the party was again, an understatement.
        Pinkie was squirting frosting onto a cake she was preparing. Twilight saw the girl in an apron so often that she wondered if she wore it outside of work.
        “So, still not on talking terms with little Rainbow, huh?” Pinkie inquired.
        The party girl dipped her finger into some frosting and took a taste. With a smile she nodded as she enjoyed the flavor.
        Twilight sighed as she leaned against the counter. “I haven’t exactly figured out what I am going to say to her really… I mean what I said was pretty awful…”
        “Yeah, you were pretty nasty.” Pinkie replied.
        Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better now…” She remarked sarcastically.
        “Don’t shoot the messenger.” Pinkie giggled.
        “No, you’re right, I’m an idiot… But I have been thinking… After what I said… I need to basically give her the best Christmas gift I have ever given to anyone to make up for it.” Twilight explained.
        “Sounds like a good plan, but what would that be?” Pinkie asked.
        “I haven’t the slightest clue… To be perfectly honest…” Twilight admitted.
        “Well it sounds like you’re up the creek without a paddle.” Pinkie winked.
        Twilight paused and sighed. “Why do I talk to you again?”
        “I just thought it was for the free sweets.” Pinkie joked.
        “That must be it.” Twilight giggled.
        Through the door to the bakery, a taller slender man walked through the door with his hands pressed deeply into the pockets of his hoodie. His hair was the definition of a “mess” and his eyes were those of a person who got little sleep.
        Approaching Twilight he smiled lightly as he handed her a notebook he had tucked in his backpack. Twilight accepted it and smiled back.
        “Hey, thanks for meeting me here, Script. Did the notes help?” Twilight replied.
        He nodded and yawned. “Yeah, thanks.”
        “You probably should stop skipping the class though…” She scolded.
        He shrugged. “The teacher is a dipshit. I only really just meet the basic attendance requirements so I can get through that class anyways.”
        Twilight sighed. Her friend Script was probably the most brilliant fellow student she knew. His ability to solve problems with lightning speeds was impeccable, and his test scores were always exceptional despite never studying. Unlike her though, he was focused on the computer side of the medical field. His biggest flaw though was he was incredibly lazy and impossible to get to focus on something for too long.
        “All classes are boring, hun.” Pinkie butted in.
        Script turned to see her and smiled. “Oh… Who’s your friend, Twilight?”
        “Oh, this is Pinkie. Pinkie, this is a classmate of mine, Script.” Twilight introduced.
        “The pleasure is mine…” He winked.
        Pinkie giggled and winked back.
        “Anyways, thanks a lot, Twilight. Lunch is on me next time we have class, alright?” He said as he kept one eye on Pinkie who was pouring frosting directly into her mouth.
        Twilight nodded. “It’s no problem, Script.”
        Script just nodded in response as he observed Pinkie licking her lips to get some frosting she had missed. She made sure to stare directly at Script as she did so ever so slowly though. Enticed he continued to watch as she licked one of her fingers clean slowly and seductively. He found himself almost unable to take his eyes off of her.
        “So… I’ll see you later…” He commented as he began to walk away slowly, his eyes still locked onto Pinkie.
        Twilight blinked as he left and shrugged finally turning to Pinkie who was back to making her cake in a normal fashion. “What an odd boy…” Twilight commented.
        “I hadn’t noticed.” Pinkie giggled.

> Chapter X
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter X



Rainbow pressed her hands hard to her temples and groaned as she walked in circles in Rarity’s apartment. The fast few days were running through her head over and over at this point. She couldn’t get the idea of CJ laying on that table out of her head. Her nightmares had gotten worse and her anger was boiling at this point. She could feel the pressure in her head building as she tried to remain calm.
“Fuck! Just fuck!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I can’t take this! CJ is fucking dead, and we’re next…”
Rarity offered a hand to comfort her. “Calm down.”
Rainbow swatted her hand away. “No. I won’t fucking calm down. First Light and now CJ, Ice has to pay for this! I’m going to kill that mother fucker!” She growled and pulled her gun out and gripped it tight. “I’m gonna go there right now and blow his fucking dick off now!”
“Rainbow, no!” Rarity protested and grabbed Rainbow’s shoulder and made her face her. “It’s too dangerous…”
“Rarity, you shouldn’t be involved anymore. I can handle this from here, I don’t want you getting hurt.” Rainbow instructed.
“Too late. I’m already involved.” Rarity said.
“Then get uninvolved, this is too dangerous for you.” Rainbow growled as she pushed Rarity’s hand off of her.
“No, I am going to see this through to the end, I have my reasons.” Rarity demanded.
She kept thinking about what Ice had said to her. Rarity couldn’t let a threat like that just slide. Ice had entered her home and placed a gun in her mouth, and she couldn’t get that out of her mind. The fashionista knew that the only remedy was to make sure that Ice paid for all he had done to her and Rainbow; because of that, she wasn’t going to back down until she saw him get punished.
“Just stay out of it, Rarity! It doesn’t concern you!” Rainbow hissed.
“Rainbow…” Rarity attempted to protest again, but Rainbow let herself out and slammed the door behind her.
Rarity knew though that after what had happened the other night that she wasn’t going to be able to let it go. Ice was willing to do anything to get to Rainbow, and because of that, Rainbow wouldn’t stop until she or Ice was dead.

Pinkie had been getting ready for all of her afternoon appointments. She prided herself on staying ahead of schedule, especially since she loathed having to give up precious time off to make sure work related tasks were done. When she wasn’t at work, she was out partying, throwing parties or just having general fun. On days where she couldn’t get into any wild misadventures or be with her friends, she found herself staying up past midnight with her Playstation.
Today she was fortunate that all of her appointments were simple orders, a cake for a wedding, assortments for upcoming Christmas parties, and a couple dozen cupcake orders. All easy tasks that she could knock out before her lunch break and then the rest of the day would be smooth sailing.
Working on a pie crust, she noticed a familiar scruffy programmer enter the bakery. With no other guests in sight, she couldn’t help but grin as she saw him again. She was hoping he would return. “Well, hello there Mr. Script.” She stated.
He chuckled a bit and approached the counter. “Hey, I was hoping you’d recognize me…”
The grin plastered to her face just grew larger. “Oh?”
Nodding, he placed a hand on the counter and smirked. “What can I say? I like cake.”
“Especially the frosting right?” She bit her lip a bit as she finished that sentence.
“What flavor would pink frosting even be?” He asked.
“Are you flirting with me, Mr. Script?” She responded.
“Is it working?” He grinned.
Pinkie leaned over the counter with her arms pressing her chest together as she leaned forward to purposely show off her cleavage more. She had always been a busty girl which she often used to her advantage. “You’re supposed to tell me…” She nearly whispered.
“And if I was?”
Pinkie looked around and then leaned in more as she used her finger to signal for him to get closer. He did so to listen. “I go on break in a few minutes… And my bosses aren’t here today… If you know what I mean...”
“What are you suggesting?” He blushed.
She grabbed the collar of his shirt and spoke breathily. “Let’s have a party.”

Applejack and Cloudchaser were conversing as they finished lunch and exited the eatery they had just dined at. With her stomach full, Applejack found herself having to hush her romantic partner as they walked. “I swear, you have like the loudest orgasm ever. I don’t know how your neighbors don’t know we’re doing it.” Cloudchaser teased.
The two had been right back to their old arrangement the past few days. Applejack would go to Cloudchaser’s place or vice versa. They would both pretend they were going to listen to some music or something, even though the end result was always the same. Before they knew it, they were rolling in the sheets again and Applejack was trying her best not to enjoy it too much so their neighbors didn’t hear. While Twilight knew about AJ’s on and off again girlfriend, she was confident that no one else did and she preferred to keep it that way.
“Shut up…” Applejack hushed her; her face turning crimson.
“Oh please if people don’t find out from your moaning, they aren’t going to from me saying anything.” Cloudchaser remarked.
Strangely, she almost had a valid point, AJ thought for a second. Part of her wished she could just not hold back and enjoy it to its fullest, but then she snapped back to reality and realized that wasn’t possible.
“Seriously… Someone’s gonna hear…” AJ pleaded.
“Oh please, what does it matter if random strangers overhear us?” Cloudchaser asked.
She had a point there, AJ wasn’t sure why she was so embarrassed about the thought of random nobodies knowing of her sex life.
Cloudchaser and her came to a crosswalk. Applejack had been too distracted from their conversation and wasn’t paying full attention. Cloudchaser began to step across the street without guidance. Traffic was still whizzing past the two with lightning speeds, and Cloudchaser was too busy chuckling at Applejack to notice. Fortunately for her, Applejack snapped back to reality not a second too soon as she reached out and grabbed Cloudchaser’s hand and halted her from moving forward. A car zipped past them only inches in front of her, with a horn blaring to tell her to get out of the road.
Cloudchaser took a step back and chuckled nervously.
“Heh… That could have been nasty.” She commented.
“Y’all need to pay more attention!” Applejack scolded.
Her companion just shrugged. “I’m fine. No sweat.”
Applejack released her hand and sighed. “Yeah… Sure…” She replied.
“What’s eating you?” Cloudchaser asked.
Applejack looked at the ground awkwardly. “Nothin’ just a little stressed about some school stuff is all…” She lied.
“You are the worst liar. I already told you, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” Cloudchaser reassured.
“Yeah, y’all are probably right…” Applejack responded.

Rainbow pulled herself up on her pullup bar that she had mounted in her apartment for the fiftieth time. She had a good deal of exercise equipment to stay in shape for soccer season, however she now had other intentions in mind as she tried to stay in top form.
After about another dozen or so pull ups she dropped to the floor and walked over to her vanity mirror. On top of the dresser she picked up her firearm and popped one of the half dozen clips into the weapon and slid it into her waistband. Opening the top drawer she pulled out the switchblade she had used before and gave it a test before retracting the blade and pocketing it.
She watched herself in the mirror and grabbed a hair band and tied her long silky hair back into a ponytail. To complete the look, she grabbed a snap back hat that her brother always wore and placed it atop of her head. He had worn that hat often and it was one of the few things she had left of him.
Staring back at her in the mirror was an angry person, someone who had met her breaking point and kept pushing further and further. It was the face of a little girl who had lost everything and had nothing left to lose. Ice had taken everything from her, and she was ready to take it back.
Rarity’s voice rang in her head telling her to stop before it was too late, but her fury was only building everyday. She couldn’t sleep at night anymore because of all of this.
The conflict in her head only enraged her more. With a loud grunt she punched her mirror and shattered it. Breathing hard, she looked down at the shards in front of her and then to her knuckles which now were leaking dark red blood down her bronzed skin.
She knew that Rarity was right, but she wasn’t able to make herself let go of what had happened. If she let Ice off the hook, she wasn’t sure she could sleep at night. The nightmares would just keep coming. She had to know though; she couldn’t let this rest until she understood why all of this happened, why Light had to die in the first place. Rainbow was determined to have that question answered even if she had to beat it out of Ice himself.
Lying down in her bed, she didn’t even bother to bandage her hand. The tired girl closed her eyes and hoped that nightmares would stay away just a bit longer. In the next few days she would finally be putting a close to all of this, or die trying.

Spike found himself staring at his phone for nearly an hour in debate of whether he should give the girl of his dreams a call. He felt their time together the other day went well, but he wasn’t certain as it had ended so abruptly. Rarity had rushed so quickly to help her friend Rainbow, and the two had been hanging out a lot lately. Was it possible that Rarity was interested in Rainbow Dash? Was that even possible? Spike had never even considered if Rarity was even into guys, let alone him. What if all of his efforts were pointless?
He knew wasting his thoughts on such questions was pointless as they would never be answered unless he actually talked to her, but he couldn’t help but panic a little inside.
With a deep breath and exhale he finally punched in her number and placed the phone to his ear as he waited for her to hopefully answer.
After about three rings, he could hear her pick up and that sweet voice with the British accent rang in his ear pleasantly. “Spike? How are you?”
He smiled that she instantly wanted to know how he was doing, it gave him just a little bit of reassurance. “I’m good, how about you?”
“I’ve had better days, but so far today is going alright, I suppose.” She answered.
He had noticed there was something off about her for a while now, but it was clear she avoided talking about it.  He was curious, but he didn’t want to pry.
“It sounds like you’re going through a lot…” Spike attempted to soothe her.
She sighed. “Yeah, that’s accurate… I don’t want to go into too many details, but I’ll be honest with you Spike… I’m scared…”
Spike sat up a bit worried and blinked. “Scared of what?”
“It’s complicated, but I worry that I won’t be strong enough to face the challenges ahead of me… Once again I don’t want to say too much, but something is happening and I’m afraid that the outcome will be determined by my strength and that I won’t be strong enough to make a difference…” She replied.
“You’re the strongest girl I know.” Spike responded.
She laughed a little before answering. “Thanks Spike. Truthfully though, I don’t really feel that strong, but I appreciate you thinking so.”
“Rarity, you’re far more capable than you give yourself credit for. You have a big heart and I know that it won’t let you not do something what it needs to be done. I would trust you with my life, and that’s the truth.” Spike said.
Rarity paused for a moment, clearly taking in what he said. “Heh… I guess you’re right. Hopefully it never comes to that though. Still, I worry about Rainbow…”
There was the topic he was hoping to avoid, but there was no escaping it now. “What about her?” He asked begrudgingly.
“I fear that I’m not getting through to her… She’s very pig headed.” Rarity began before sighing again. “I am worried that I’m losing her, she’s slipping and I am not strong enough to keep her from going over the edge…”
“Is this about her fight with Twilight?” Spike asked, remembering his sister complaining about the issue. He didn’t have all the details, but he knew that it was tearing Twilight up and that it started over something that Twilight felt was not worth losing a friend over.
“No… Though I’m sure it won’t help…” Rarity replied.
“You really care about her, don’t you Rarity?”
Rarity sighed again, “Yes… But it’s not like I can do anything…”
“Yes you can, go talk to her. Tell her what you’ve told me.” Spike instructed.
Rarity laughed happily. “You’re such a sweetheart, Spike. I don’t know how I’d get by without your nod of confidence. We really should hang out again sometime, I liked last time and I felt bad that I had to leave so early.”
His heart nearly skipped three beats upon hearing that statement. It put so much of his mind at ease. “Well how about we meet up sometime this week?”
“Sounds like a plan; I’ll give you a call when I figure out what the bloody hell is going on.” She replied.
“Okay cool. Let me know.” Spike answered before the two ended their conversation. Setting his phone down, he sighed contently and fell back down onto his pillow with a smile plastered on his face.

“I can’t believe you’re pregnant!” Twilight exclaimed as Fluttershy stood before her nervously.
The shy young girl looked away embarrassed and her voice was down to a hardly audible squeak as she spoke, and accepted some books from Twilight. She had come over to borrow some books on pregnancy as she was too embarrassed to go to the library and check them out.
“Well… It sort of happened so quickly… I don’t know… We got caught up in the moment and things just sort of… Progressed…” She squeaked.
Twilight nodded and sat down. “And you haven’t told Soarin yet?”
Fluttershy looked to the floor. “No…”
“Why not?”
“He’s a big soccer star with a whole future ahead of him, I don’t want to ruin his future for my sake… It was my fault, I didn’t think… I just reacted without considering the consequences…” Fluttershy explained.
Twilight shook her head. “No, Fluttershy. It was a decision you both made. He deserves to know, he’s the father…”
“It’s alright, I already have a plan in order… I’m going to stay with my parents for a while after I give birth and I’ll figure out what I’m going to do from there. I don’t want Soarin to throw away his whole future because of me; I could never live with myself…” Fluttershy said.
Shaking her head again, Twilight patted her seat for Fluttershy to sit next to her. Quietly and nervously, Fluttershy did so for Twilight to pull her closer with an arm around her shoulder. “Fluttershy… You have to tell him. Regardless of what he does, he needs to know that you are carrying his child. It’s his right as a father to know. That child deserves it as well, they deserve to know who their father is and that he is given a chance to be a part of their life. You’re not protecting him by not telling him.” Twilight explained.
She knew that Twilight was right, but she was clueless about how she would muster the courage to even talk to Soarin about all of this. “I guess you’re right… I’ll tell him when I’m ready…”
Twilight smiled and petted her friend’s hair softly to soothe her. “Whatever he says, just know I will gladly help you in any way I can, okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Twilight… That means a lot to me.”

After her long talk with Spike, Rarity slept on the idea, but realized he was right, she needed to talk to Rainbow and if she wouldn’t listen then Rarity would have to make her listen. If she didn’t do this, then she feared the consequences of what would happen.
She opened the door to Rainbow’s apartment which had been left unlocked. Entering quickly, she made her way to the bedroom to find Rainbow sitting in front of a broken mirror with a knife that she was stabbing repeatedly into a photo of Ice that the two had acquired some time ago. She didn’t even turn to greet Rarity when she entered, her mind focused on stabbing the picture over and over.
“Rainbow…” Rarity spoke.
“What’re you doing here?” Rainbow asked.
Rarity took a few steps forward and turned the chair that Rainbow was in to face her. Her expression stern and commanding, hoping it would help Rainbow take her seriously. “You can’t do this. You can’t kill Ice.”
Rainbow looked up at Rarity and gave a scowl. “It doesn’t concern you.”
“No, it does concern me. If you kill Ice then they are going to throw you in prison and you’ll be exactly what your brother told you not to be.” Rarity reminded.
“I DON’T CARE!” Rainbow yelled as she pushed Rarity back and stood up.
Trying to keep her balance, Rarity grabbed hold of the bed post and kept herself upright.
“I don’t give a damn anymore… Ice killed the only family I have left, and I am not about to let him get away with it.” Rainbow spoke powerfully.
“At what cost, Rainbow? Do you think Ice is going to just roll over for you? I know you Rainbow, you can’t kill Ice.” Rarity replied.
“YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT!” Rainbow shouted, pounded her wounded hand onto the dresser she was sitting at. “How could you even remotely understand? You grew up in a mansion with servants and privilege. I wasn’t so lucky… My whole family is either dead or in prison. I came from the streets, what could you possibly know about me?”
Rarity stepped forward and regained her composure. “Rainbow… I know I could never understand what you’ve been through… I regret that I never truly got to see how a lot of the world lives, and I’ll spend a lot of my life trying to understand, but I do know that you can not kill Ice.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“You’re not like him, Rainbow. Ice has killed many people without even thinking about it. He’s numb to it; he can kill without any guilt. You’re not like that, I know you’re not.” Rarity explained. “You’ll hesitate and it’ll cost you your life, because Ice won’t hesitate. You’ll hesitate because you’re not a killer, you’re not like him.”
“You don’t know what I am…” Rainbow spoke shakily.
Rarity took Rainbow’s hands in her own. “I know what you don’t want to be. Please… Let the police handle this…”
Rainbow looked down and felt herself trying to hold back tears. She only succeeded because she didn’t want to cry in front of Rarity. Rainbow always made it a point for no one to see her crying.
“Fine… The pigs will handle this… But I’m going with them. I want answers before they take him away.” Rainbow looked up to Rarity.
“I’ll go with you…” Rarity smiled.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, I have to do this alone. I can’t risk your life any longer.”
Rarity wanted to argue, but instead she pulled Rainbow into an embrace which she took and squeezed tightly around Rarity. Rarity was a bit surprised by her strength for such a small girl.
“Thank you, Rarity…” She whispered as she dug herself into Rarity’s chest.
“You’re welcome.” Rarity replied, petting the girl’s hair.

> Chapter XI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter XI




        Applejack and Cloudchaser were enjoying each other’s company at Cloudchaser’s apartment. The two were wrapped in a shared blanket on Cloudchaser’s bed just listening to music together without much conversation going on. This was a common activity for them, but Cloudchaser was starting to take note that Applejack’s demeanor was slightly off. AJ usually was a bit more snuggly with her and lately she had been rather detached and distant. Something was clearly bothering her, but Cloudchaser couldn’t put her finger on it. It had started a couple of days ago, after the incident where she almost walked right into the street; all of a sudden after that, Applejack started acting strange and distant to her.
        Trying to break the silence and hopefully dispel the awkwardness, Cloudchaser smiled and made a comment to break the ice. “So… Uh… You hear about Pinkie’s party that she’s throwing? Should be fun, right?”
        Applejack shrugged. “Um… ‘Ah guess so…”
        Finally annoyed with this entire situation, Cloudchaser spoke up. “Okay, what is with you? You’ve been acting super weird lately and it’s driving me insane; did I do something to piss you off?”
“No, it’s nothin’.” Applejack lied.
“Oh my fucking God, I told you before that you’re the worst fucking liar in existence so why do you try and bullshit me?” Cloudchaser asked.
Applejack sighed and scooted away from Cloudchaser a bit, which already gave Cloudchaser a hint as to what the problem was.
“Look… Maybe… We shouldn’t see each other anymore…”
Cloudchaser stood up and placed a hand on her head, pressing her temples as she digested this break up. She almost saw this coming but she was exhausted from their on and off dance that they seemed to be forever locked in.
“Jesus FUCKING CHRIST APPLEJACK!” Cloudchaser shouted as she punched her wall leaving another dent in it to add to her large collection of dents on that same wall.
“I AM SICK OF THIS HORSESHIT! HOW LONG IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET YOU TO FUCKING COMMIT TO SOMETHING!?” She screamed.
Applejack hushed her and tried to get her to relax. “Calm down… It’s not like that…”
“Then what is it like, Applejack? Afraid that people might know you’re a fucking lesbian? Is that the worst thing that can happen to you?” Cloudchaser stepped closer.
“No…” Applejack replied meekly.
“What then? What do I owe this break up to?”
Applejack backed further into the corner she was in. “Just don’t worry ‘bout it…”
“No, I deserve to know why you keep jerking me around like this! I’m sick of this shit. You can hang out here and fuck me, but you can’t fucking let anyone know that you love me. What fucking gives!?” Cloudchaser yelled.
Finally backed too far into a corner, Applejack fight or flight instincts finally kicked in and caused her to blurt out what she was actually thinking. “It’s because you’re blind!” She yelled.
Cloudchaser paused and relaxed a bit with confusion on her face. “Soooo… You hate me now because I’m blind? I didn’t think I’d be hearing this from you.”
“It’s not like that. ‘Ah don’t hate you at all. Hell, y’all being blind ain’t what bothers me either, God knows I can’t ever stop thinkin’ ‘bout you…” Applejack defended.
“What then?” Cloudchaser demanded to know.
Applejack sighed. “The other day… When y’all almost got hit by that car…” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Ya’ almost got hit… If ‘Ah had been just a second too late…”
“So what? I’m fine, that’s all that matters, right?” Cloudchaser argued.
“But what ‘bout next time? When ‘Ah don’t react fast enough, what then?” Applejack said.
Cloudchaser became more visibly angry. “I can take care of myself, don’t worry about it. I’ve done fine thus far.”
“No, ya’ can’t that’s the problem and then y’all can’t admit when ya’ need help!” Applejack stood up as she spoke.
“I don’t need a babysitter, I’m fine!”Cloudchaser yelled.
“No, that’s the problem, ya’ ain’t! You’re too stubborn!” Applejack retorted.
“Well here’s the pot calling the fucking kettle black.” Cloudchaser rolled her eyes as she retorted.
Applejack pointed to a set of walking sticks in the corner of the room as she responded. “Y’all don’t even take your fuckin’ walkin’ stick out with you every time ya’ go out! Ya’ jus’ fuckin’ walk around all willy nilly like ya’ got everything under control!”
“Fuck you, Applejack… Just, fuck you. Get out!” Cloudchaser demanded.
Applejack didn’t even bother protesting, she walked to the door and opened it. “Fine.” She replied plainly as she closed it behind her.
Cloudchaser growled and pushed a bunch of assorted items off of her dresser before grabbing it and pushing it over. The crash shook a table in the room and knocked down a perfume bottle which shattered on the floor. After the commotion, she slumped to the ground and planted her rear on the floor before wrapping her arms around her knees.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt a huge hole ripped in her heart that had finally just got done healing. Loving Applejack was like putting a bandaid over an old wound and ripping it off everytime it was just about to heal.

On rare occasions, Twilight would visit Pinkie’s apartment. It usually was either catching her at work or inviting Pinkie over to her place that caused the two to hang around each other, mostly due to their busy schedules, but Twilight had decided to pay Pinkie a visit at her own abode for a change. After all, she was getting a little guilty about always bothering her at her workplace to discuss problems she was having or have personal conversations.
Knocking on the door, she was surprised to see a familiar classmate answer. There stood Script with his messy attire, throwing a jacket on as it appeared as though he was on his way out. “Oh, hey Twilight.” He commented with a smile as he stepped around her. He looked back into the apartment and approaching the door was Pinkie only wearing a pair of underwear and what appeared to be Script’s button up dress shirt which was only halfway buttoned. Her hair was a bigger mess than its usual cotton candy appearance.
“I’ll call you.” She said as she stuck her tongue out in Script’s direction. He smirked and nodded as he took his leave. Pinkie looked to Twilight and gestured for her to enter.
Still taking in what she was seeing, Twilight remained silent as she entered the apartment and took a seat on the couch. Pinkie retrieved a beer from the fridge and took a big swig before sitting down in the chair adjacent to Twilight, her full legs lying over the shoulder of the chair. Twilight could see a black bra peeking out of her unbuttoned shirt. She could tell from just that peek that a girl as busty as Pinkie had a hard time finding a bra that fit right.
With a grin, Pinkie broke the silence. “Sorry I’m not dressed for the occasion.”
Twilight shook her head and attempted not to stare. “No, it’s fine. Clearly I was interrupting something…”
Pinkie giggled before downing another swig. “Nah, you were just stopping round three from happening. We had already gotten through rounds one and two.”
Finally realizing the topic wasn’t going to be avoided, Twilight began to speak openly. “Three times? Really? You can do that?” She gave off an aura of general amazement.
“Oh please, three is nothing. My record is twelve in one day, I had to skip work.” The party girl laughed.
Twilight had never really seen this side of Pinkie. Truth be told, they never really talked about sex or romance before.
“TWELVE!?” She had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from yelling louder, but Twilight found it hard to contain herself.
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, but I was younger then, a little more energetic.”
Twilight found it difficult to imagine an even more spry and wound up Pinkie.
“So when did… You and…” Twilight was stuttering, finding it hard to even finish that thought.
Pinkie laughed. “Oh, since we met when you saw us, he came in a few days later and we hooked up in the back room, and it’s been a reoccurring thing since.”
Twilight wanted to comment about how that was definitely a health code violation, but she decided it might be best not to make the situation any stranger than it already was. “So you two are dating now?”
“Oh god, no. We’re just very… “Beneficial” to each other if you catch my drift.” She winked to hint Twilight in.
Twilight wasn’t exactly too familiar with that kind of relationship, but she had seen it before. She nodded in understanding and hoped they could drop the subject all together. Being poorly experienced herself, she was a little taken back by Pinkie’s apparently very lively sex life. Twilight had gone on dates before in high school and her early college years, but they always only panned out to a few dates and a kiss or two before anything serious happened.
“So, what can I do you for?” Pinkie asked. She reached out with the bottle still in her hand to Twilight. “Want some?”
Twilight declined and shook her head. “No thank you… I just… I feel like a lot of our friends are changing, you know?”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.
“Well… Spike has gotten really secretive for starters, he used to tell me everything, but now whenever I come over, he is always on his way out to do something or busy. Applejack is a mess for a lack of a better explanation, and Rainbow won’t even talk to me…” She sighed. “I feel like I used to know everyone so well; and now I don’t.”
Pinkie nodded and giggled. “Twilight, you spend too much time wanting to know what the future will bring.”
“Well of course, I like to plan ahead.” Twilight defended.
“Sometimes you just need to let the chips fall where they may. Stop trying to control things and just take a chance at letting fate decide for you.” Pinkie instructed.
“You think I try to control things too much?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie laughed. “Twilight, once when we went to the movies you were trying to tell me which underwear to wear, remember?”
“Hey! I was just considering the length of the film. If you had worn what you originally had intended, you would have gotten uncomfortable from sitting for two and a half hours and wanted to get up halfway through the film!” Twilight defended again.
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Twilight, you came to my apartment the next day and picked out what I should wear…”
“I didn’t want you getting hit on too much because last time we went out you got hit on so many times we had to stop and we were late!” Twilight pouted.
Pinkie snickered. “And what happened that day anyways?”
Twilight sighed as she recalled. “You wore tight thin pants, a thong and you got hit on 17 times, and we were still late…”
“A lot of good that planning did, huh?” Pinkie smirked.
Twilight nodded in defeat.
“My point is that you need to just chill out and let things happen. I know things with you and Rainbow will work out, just wait and see what happens. The right thing to do will come to you.” Pinkie reassured.
Perking up, Twilight sat upright. “Hey, I didn’t say my issue was Rainbow exclusively, just that it was part of the problem…”
Pinkie rolled her eyes again. “Twilight, you’ve called me like four times this week to talk about something else and the conversation ends up moving towards Rainbow and staying there for several hours.”
Twilight laughed nervously. “I guess I am a little concerned about that…”
“Just relax, Twilight. When the right time to make things right with Rainbow appears, you’ll know.” Pinkie said.
Twilight only hoped that was soon, the anticipation was killing her. She had never felt so rotten before.

Soarin punched in his crush’s number one more time hoping he’d get past her answering machine this time. After only a few rings, he heard the familiar “please leave a message” that he loathed at this point. He hung up in frustration and sighed.
Setting a tray with some fast food on it in front of him, his old friend Spitfire took a fry in her mouth and spoke with food still stashed in her gob. “So, what’s eatin’ you asshole?” She joked.
Soarin groaned and took a sip of his soda.
“Man you’ve been crabby lately. Stop checking your phone, douchebag, what’re you waiting for? Did Rainbow finally turn straight because you were declared the last fuckable thing on the planet?” She loved messing with him.
“That’s not funny, man…” Soarin protested.
Spitfire swallowed and rolled her eyes. “Lighten up, I’m just messin’. What’s got your panties in a bunch lately?”
Deciding he could trust her, he sighed and leaned in, gesturing for her to do the same which she followed suit. “Alright listen, you can’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Alright fine, why the hush hush?” Spitfire asked in a whispered tone.
Soarin huddled close with her and spoke softly. “Me and Fluttershy sort of had a thing…”
Spitfire blinked, for a moment she couldn’t process what he was saying. She needed to confirm if they were thinking of the same Fluttershy, because Spitfire always knew her as a very timid girl who could never go for a guy like Soarin. “You mean Fluttershy from English class? The one with the super soft voice? Latino girl?”
Soarin nodded. “Fuck me, you really are a stud…” She chuckled. “How’d you get her to go for you?”
“It’s not like that.” Soarin protested.
“What is it like then?”
“I really like her, Spitfire… But after we… Well you know… I can’t get a hold of her. She doesn’t answer my texts and hasn’t picked up a single time since I’ve called…” He frowned and looked down in defeat. “I feel like I did something wrong…”
Spitfire shrugged. “Did you do some weird moves or something?”
He shook his head. “Not really…”
“Maybe she just wanted sex?” Spitfire suggested.
“Unlikely. She’s not like that.” Soarin defended Fluttershy.
Spitfire shrugged again. “Not much you can do then.”
“And that’s what’s killing me… I at least want to know what I did wrong… I told her I’d call for us to hang out after and I did exactly when I said I would, but she never answered…” Soarin said.
“Trying to understand a girl is like trying to learn another language, sometimes you just can’t pick it up so easily.” Spitfire explained.
“I guess…” Soarin sighed as he looked back at his phone hoping that maybe Fluttershy would call at that exact moment and prove Spitfire wrong, but no such luck. His device remained silent, unlike his head which was racing with thoughts so loud that he couldn’t focus on anything else these days.

Rarity stood at the bus stop in deep thought once again. Her mind was falling back onto what happened with Ice and then to Rainbow having to face that man by herself. She knew that Rainbow was filled with vengeance and that Rarity was hardly enough to contain that anger and venom. At this point, Rainbow was ready to track down Ice with a knife just to get the satisfaction of seeing his face when she pierced him with the blade. Rarity knew that Rainbow slept with a gun under her pillow, but she imagined that these days she didn’t get much sleep at all.
Next to her, a young girl approached and stood next to her as she waited for the same bus. Rarity took note of her vibrant yellow hair with red highlights; it stood out quite heavily in the winter that they were in. The girl’s face was contorted to a look of anguish and stress.
“Rough day?” Rarity asked.
“Something like that…” The girl replied, not trying to make eye contact.
“I understand, I’m not exactly having the best of times right now.” Rarity admitted.
There was something soothing about talking to a stranger that she knew didn’t understand the whole situation to her. Maybe it was the certainty that she wouldn’t be judged too harshly.
“I’ve been having a rough eternity…” The girl said.
Rarity frowned and offered a hand. “Rarity.” She introduced.
The girl didn’t take her hand, but instead just looked at it and gave her name. “Sunset.”
Rarity withdrew her hand and gave a warm smile. “Not very good at greetings?”
“More like I have issues with intimacy… Or at least that’s what my therapist says…” Sunset responded, before tucking her hands into her jacket pockets.
“I’m sorry to hear…” Rarity looked forward to where the bus would eventually arrive as she determined the eye contact was making this Sunset more uncomfortable.
“So what is troubling you, Sunset?” Rarity asked.
“I doubt you’d understand…” Sunset responded.
“Fine, I’ll go first.” Rarity giggled.
She took a deep breath before speaking. “I am thinking about a friend who is about to kill the man who destroyed her whole life. This man killed her only family, and now she is trying to return the favor.”
Sunset blinked and looked over to Rarity with shock and surprise. Perhaps she didn’t expect someone like Rarity to be in such a situation. “Wait, really!?”
Rarity nodded. “Yes, and this man came to my room and told me if we pursued him any further he would kill me too.”
“What’re you going to do?” Sunset asked.
“I think… I need to face my fears.” Rarity responded.
“You may need to kill him then…” Sunset explained.
Rarity nodded again. “Yes… That thought crossed my mind… But I know I have to take that risk…”
“Why?” Sunset asked.
Rarity smiled and looked over to her new acquaintance. “To prove to myself that I’m strong enough. Killing carries a great burden, but if I must kill this man to spare her that burden, I am willing to do that. I’m strong enough, I know I am.”
“Y-you could bring yourself to do it?” Sunset stuttered.
“I am not doing it because of him; I would do it for myself. I am not going to let him harm my friends or control me with fear. I refuse to be intimidated anymore, and because of that, if he forces my hand, I may just make that leap.” Rarity spoke gently.
Sunset nodded. “You’re a strong woman… I wish I was half as strong as you…”
“What’s stopping you?” Rarity asked.
“I’m just not strong enough… I’ve lived in fear for so long that it’s all I really know… I spent my life running away from my problems, hiding from them…” Sunset looked to the ground as she spoke with a depressed tone.
“There’s always time to change.” Rarity responded.
“You think so?” Sunset perked up and looked to Rarity again.
Rarity nodded. “I’m certain of it. The past may be filled with problems that you’ve run from, but your past doesn’t control you, Sunset. You control your own destiny.”
Rarity blinked and smiled again, suddenly filled with confidence from her own speech to this girl she had just met. She was right and she knew it, the past didn’t have to pave the way for the future for her or Rainbow.

> Chapter XII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter XII




        Tonight was a big night for everyone. With only a few days before Christmas, Pinkie had sent out invites days ago for a huge party she was planning. She pulled a few strings with a friend of hers’, a DJ that hooked her up with a gathering place for all of their mutual friends for said party.
        “So, you think you can make this happen?” Pinkie asked her DJ friend whom was finishing taking notes.
        The other girl jotted down the remainder of her notes and looked up, adjusting her expensive Oakley sunglasses that were perched upon her chiseled nose. Looking close enough, one could see her reddish eyes shining behind them.
        “Shouldn’t be an issue, the studio has a giant center downstairs that would be perfect for this set up, I can pull some strings and make this happen. This shit is going to be insane.” The DJ responded.
        Pinkie smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Vinyl. I know this party is going to be incredible.”
        Vinyl chuckled and nodded as well as she placed her planner down. “So, what’s new in the life of Pinkie?”
        Pinkie grinned and winked mischievously as she stood up to go and fetch another soda after downing her previous one. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
        Vinyl sat up intrigued. “Ooooh, something juicy then?”
        With a laugh, she responded from the kitchen. “Nah, just me and a friend hooking up a lot, I suppose.”
        “Damn girl, you get more tail than I do.” Vinyl pouted.
        Returning from the kitchen, Pinkie popped open the soda and sat down back in her seat on the couch. The two had been sitting in Pinkie’s apartment for some time now discussing this party.
        “I take it you and Octavia are still on a break or something?” Pinkie responded.
        Vinyl frowned and looked to the floor with a defeated expression. “To be honest… I don’t really know what is going to happen with that. Octavia has been avoiding me since I got out of prison, and truthfully… I’m not really sure I am ever going to convince her to hear me out. She’s pretty livid about the whole thing and despite a good few weeks passing, she hasn’t really calmed down about it like I thought she would...” Vinyl sighed and shook her head. “I think I may have fucked that up for good.”
        Giving her a reassuring wink, Pinkie tried to lift her spirits. “Just keep trying. If you truly love her, she’ll realize it soon enough.”
        Vinyl chuckled sheepishly before brushing her long blue hair with her hand. She could feel the shaved size of her head’s stubble hairs as she did so. Her hair was a lot longer than Pinkie remembered it, Vinyl used to keep more of a pixie cut, but since she came back from prison, she had decided to  go with a longer side cut look with her hair being tied at the end as she kept it to one side. She had gone for blue this time and surprisingly had kept it that way for a while. The party planner had known her to change the color more regularly.
        “Truthfully, my life is kind of weird right now. I have no idea what I’m going to do...” Vinyl admitted.
        Pinkie just shrugged. “Do what I do.”
        “And that is?”
        Sitting back down she offered Vinyl a drink, but she declined. “Just do things and don’t question it. It sounds like you spend too much time worrying about what’s out of your control. Just focus on what you can control and let the rest fall into place.”
        Somehow that advice calmed her a little. “I suppose you’re right… Thanks.” Vinyl replied with a genuine smile crawling up on her face this time.

        Before everyone knew it, Pinkie’s big before Christmas party that she had been planning for some time was finally upon them. With only three days before the holiday, Pinkie pulled every string she could to get the best of the best for all of her friends and acquaintances. Invitations were sent out to friends, friends of friends and so many more. The turnout was far larger than many anticipated and the large basement center that Vinyl’s record studio provided while massive felt tiny with so many people showing up.
        There were at least two hundred guests of varying ages along with over two dozen party staff members keeping the order and handling the party favors. On top of that, live music was provided by the studio and the studio staff showed up as well to join the festivities.
        Among her friends, Pinkie was known for finding a way to not only get the word out, but getting people to show up. No one quite understood her secret, but it was obvious she had talent when it came to this.
        Arriving just after the party had started was a rather plain dressed Applejack, who was spending a good amount of time looking around the scene for a familiar face, with no such luck. While she knew her and Cloudchaser weren’t on the most ideal terms, she still wanted to see her there. Though part of her feared bumping into her as she had no idea what she would say.
        After poking her head around she finally got the nerve to ask Fluttershy whom she had run into.
        “Y’all seen Cloudchaser?” AJ asked.
        Brushing her luscious hair out of her face, Fluttershy chirped such a quiet response that it was nearly impossible to hear her over the loud music, Applejack had to practically shout to get Fluttershy to hear her, but the quiet girl seemed to refuse to break her volume barrier even in a setting like this. Leaning in closer with an open ear, Applejack was just barely able to catch what Fluttershy was saying. “No… She told me she wasn’t coming. She said she’d rather stay home… Sounded pretty upset about something...”
        “Did she tell ya’ what?” Applejack asked, already guessing the answer.
        Fluttershy shook her head as she sipped some punch from a clear plastic cup she held. Finishing her sip she provided a further explanation. “No, sadly. I didn’t want to pry...”
        Applejack frowned and nodded in understanding.
        “Did you need something from her?” Fluttershy questioned.
        Shaking her head, Applejack gave a dismissive gesture. “It’s nothin’. Enjoy the party.”
        Fluttershy nodded in response before Applejack took her leave, placing herself at the counter of where all the beverages were being served. It took a moment, but a red head that she recognized who was donning her trademark bow in her hair stood next to her finishing off a cup of something. The young teen turned to AJ with a chipper smile. “Oh, hey sis! Haven’t seen y’all in some time. What’s shakin’?”
        Applejack could smell alcohol on her and raised a concerned brow. “Y’all been drinkin’, Applebloom?”
        She snickered and winked. “Only a sip or two, hard to get booze when yer’ under age an’ all.” She sounded like she was pouting.
        “Does your aunt know ‘bout that drink?” Applejack quizzed, rather surprised by this behavior.
        “Oh please, Aunt Orange wouldn’t know if ‘Ah was an alien come to suck her brains out.” Applebloom replied.
        She wanted to be more concerned as she didn’t expect this from her little sister, but her mind was in other places. “’Ah see… ‘Ah guess ‘Ah didn’t notice how much y’all have changed...”
        Applebloom shrugged as she adjusted her simple white dress. “People change. There’s a lot y’all don’t know ‘bout me, but that’s alright. Truth is, Ah’ve always been this way, no one ever noticed before is all.”
        “Y’all ain’t worried about yer’ aunt findin’ out?” Applejack blinked.
        Applebloom retrieved something from the inside of her bra and shrugged again. “Y’all can’t waste life worried about what others think.” She gestured for Applejack to follow her if they wished to keep talking.
        Obeying, Applejack followed her teenage sister to the emergency stairwell away from the crowd. Once the door was closed behind them, Applebloom opened her hand to reveal a cigarette and a lighter. The cigarette quickly got perched between her lips and she flicked the lighter. Applejack gave her a surprised expression to which Applebloom blinked and offered her one. Refusing, Applejack kept her expression. With a shrug and a laugh, she broke the silence, “Well ‘Ah figured since it wasn’t a secret at this point.”
        Applejack sighed and calmed down, realizing it wasn’t worth scolding her given that she really wanted to ask her something else.
        “Hey… Kinda’ random but like… If y’all really cared about someone, but you just couldn’t get over always worryin’ about them… What would y’all do?” Applejack asked.
        Taking a long drag, Applebloom exhaled as she spoke. “Y’all mean that punk rocker girl?”
        “Cloudchaser...” Applejack assumed that Applebloom had heard about her from their mutual friends.
        “So you decided y’all are finally gonna tell me about the two of you bein’ a thing?” Applebloom asked.
        Applejack blinked and felt her heart pound faster and faster as she panicked. “Y-y’all knew about that…?”
        With a smirk, she responded with, “Now ‘Ah do.”
        The elder sister gave an awkward face and looked down. “She jus’… She worries me… Ya know?”
        Applebloom didn’t even turn to her sister, instead she puffed her cigarette again and gave a simple response. “All ‘Ah know is if y’all love her, then ya’ should be with her.”
        “Y’all don’t think our family will kick up a fuss?” Applejack asked.
        Inhaling and exhaling the younger sibling laughed with a cough. “Fuck ‘em. Mac used to get on me for Scootaloo bein’ a bad influence, but that never stopped me. If y’all love her, then Ah’m behind ya’, and if’n they don’t like it, Ah’ll at least stand with ya’.”
        Applejack nodded and headed towards the door suddenly. “Where ya’ goin’?” Applebloom quizzed.
        “Somewhere, ‘Ah gotta be.” She replied as she made her exit.
        Taking the last puff of her cigarette, Applebloom tossed the butt onto the ground and stepped on it with her flats as she talked to herself. “That Cloudchaser girl definitely could make me give it a shot.”

        Preening herself in a bathroom mirror, Rarity made sure her makeup was up to par. She had decided on a big ponytail for the party, and a slightly shorter dress than usual, should the prospect of having to actually dance arise. In the mirror, the light glinted off of her gemstone hair clip as she tried to tame any loose strands. While many marveled at how amazing Rarity looked, her hair was actually rather thick and difficult to tame at times. Satisfied with her look, she reapplied her lipstick and tossed it into her bag.
        Within seconds she was surrounded by a party after she left the bathroom. The event was far larger than she imagined, she never really recalled going to an event like this back home, and it certainly was more lively than what she was used to. There was a mixture of overdressed and casual, but Rarity somehow never felt overdressed for any occasion.
        She was walking along for a few seconds absent minded until she caught a whiff of a rather strong body spray. It screamed masculine, but was somehow appealing to her. She turned to see its origin from behind her. A rather baby faced teen stood sheepishly and smiled at her. He had actually wore a button up shirt, which she had never seen on him before.
        “Spike, it’s nice to see you, darling.” She smiled as she offered him a hug.
        It took Spike a moment to register the hug offer, but he cautiously accepted. Letting him go after a brief second, Rarity pulled back a bit to get a better look at him.
        “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so… Formal...” She added.
        Spike chuckled a bit and nodded. “Yeah… Well… Don’t get used to it.” He commented.
        With a playful pinch of his cheek she winked. “Oh stop, you look great.”
        “Thanks… You too...” He blushed a bit trying not to meet her eyes as he complimented her.
        “Thank you, Spike.” She giggled.
        He offered his hand gently, deciding it was best not to beat around the bush. “Care to dance?” He asked boldly.
        She looked down at his palm and then back to his face and nodded. “Of course.”
        Taking his offer, the two began to converse as they moved together. “I never took you for these kind of parties...” Spike commented.
        Rubbing up against him playfully as she moved, she smirked. “A friend recently turned me onto them.”
        “You hang out with some interesting people then.” Spike replied, a bit too nervous to put his hands upon her.
        Rarity took his hands and placed them on her hips, realizing that he was too polite to do so himself. “What’s wrong? Never danced with a girl before?”
        Spike shook his head. “No, actually…”
        She leaned in carefully and whispered in his ear. “What else haven’t you done with one?”
        His whole body froze up. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t move, everything around him just locked and he felt his heart racing. Spike wasn’t exactly prepared for such a question, not from her and not like that. He could still hear her gentle voice with that soft British accent singing in his ear. Finally he managed to get a stutter out of his mouth. “I… I… Uh… I...”
        She laughed and pulled back. “Your face… It’s priceless!” She teased.
        Feeling a bit embarrassed, he tried to laugh it off.
        “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” She promised.
        “T-thanks...” Spike replied.
        Swaying slowly with him, she decided it was best to apologize. “Sorry, I was only teasing.”
        He shrugged. “It’s cool… I mean I know I’m not exactly the best catch out there… I’m just some guy who came from nothing after all.”
        “Sometimes it’s better to come from nothing...” Rarity replied.
        “How so?” Spike’s eyebrow went up.
        Rarity sighed. “When I was growing up, I had all the money in the world… My parents let me get whatever I wanted… When I came here… For the first time I saw people who lived so poorly… I felt so… Terrible… Terrible that I didn’t know there were people living such awful lives and I was doing nothing about it when I had so much to myself...”
        “It’s not your fault though.” Spike defended her.
        She nodded. “I know it isn’t, but also… Sometimes I feel like all of this is wasted on me...”
        Spike never took Rarity for someone with low confidence. “What do you mean?”
        “I mean… Sure I know I’m good looking, smart, and I try to be a good person… But really… I don’t have the same kind of passion that someone like Rainbow has...” Rarity replied.
        Spike had noticed he had seen the two together a few times and she had mentioned Rainbow before. He never really thought much of it except that the two were an odd pair, almost polar opposites in his mind.
        “How do you figure?” He asked.
        “Rainbow may have come from so little… But her hard life has made her stronger… More determined… She’s willing to go many more steps further than I ever would… I’m not sure I’d be strong enough to handle what she handles every day...” Rarity replied.
        “What does she handle?” Spike was actually starting to get more and more curious about Rainbow’s secrets.
        Rarity leaned in closer so that she could hush her voice a bit with the music so loud. “This stays between us… But Rainbow’s brother who more or less raised her...”
        “Yeah?” Spike said leaning in to hear her better.
        “He was murdered.” Rarity revealed.
        “Shit...” Spike said before covering his mouth. “Sorry… Didn’t mean to say that...”
        “Shit is right…” Rarity said.
        Spike had never heard her curse like that before.
        “Rainbow promised him she would get out of the ghetto and make a better life for herself… She did that with no one… Rainbow has no family left… She’s alone in the world and yet she pushes on...” Rarity explained.
        Taking her in, Spike thought she could use a hug which she accepted. He caught a gentle whiff of her hair which smelled heavenly. “It sounds like she has you at least.” He remarked.
        Rarity smiled and closed her eyes for just a minute as she relaxed. Upon opening them she noticed Rainbow out of the corner of her eye preparing to leave the party, still in a familiar black dress. Rarity took notice of a backpack with her, and could see the contour of a pistol on the front pocket.
        “Spike… I would love to stay, but there’s something super important I have to do right now. I’m really sorry, but I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t do this.” Rarity said as she pulled from the hug.
        She didn’t even give him a chance to respond before making a quick exit. After she was far out of earshot, Spike sighed and sulked, “Bye… I guess...”
        Part of him was expecting something like that to happen, especially after their last encounter where it happened before. At this point, Spike knew it was too good to be true.

        
        Snow was starting to fall once again, and it made Rainbow’s fingers twitch a little as she adjusted her gloves. CJ’s house had already had the heat and power shut off, but she decided it was going to be a base of operations while she prepared. She threw her bag onto the table as she slipped out of her dress and unzipped the bag.
        The dark skinned girl grabbed the hair hand holding her long thick hair up in a ponytail and pulled it out in a single motion, letting her long locks fall. The girl shook her head to increase her comfort with her hair before retrieving some old black skinny jeans from her bag and a black hoodie.
        She slipped the articles on over her slender body. Reaching back into the bag, she retrieved a black winter cap and placed it atop of her head snuggly and adjusted it to ensure it was comfortable.
        Her traditional black combat boots were the next piece, and she made sure to lace them up tightly.
        Reaching into the bag one more time, she retrieved her pistol and checked the clip to make sure it was loaded. A full clip of twelve rounds rested in the gun. Pushing it back into the weapon, she slipped it into her waistband and covered it up with her shirt. She was determined not to do this the way the police wanted, she would be damned if she let Ice go.
        The rest of the way there was a forty minute walk. She had negotiated a deal with the police to help them bring down Ice’s drug ring if she could be involved; otherwise she refused to give them any information. They weren’t thrilled about the idea, but eventually they caved in and agreed to allow her assistance so long as she followed their rules and did as they instructed.
        Upon arrival at the police hold up, they ran Rainbow down on what she would be doing. An older officer handed her an assault rifle and began fastening a headset to her ear. Another began explaining the situation to her.
        “Alright, listen closely. You signed a waiver that says we’re not responsible for anything that happens to you, however for your own safety you may want to listen up.” He said.
        Rainbow rolled her eyes as she cocked the rifle and tested aiming it. “Whatever.”
        “Keep your head down if they start shooting and don’t try to be a hero. That weapon is not loaded with live rounds. All rubber, designed to take down enemies non-lethally.” He explained.
        “So just shoot them in the dick then.” Rainbow joked.
        “You’re here as assistance, not a first resort, leave the fighting to the professionals.” He scolded as he walked away. Rainbow just rolled her eyes again knowing she had no intention of doing so when it came to Ice.
        “Alright, Rainbow, you’re with us.” One of the other officers said as he gestured for her to join a group of fully equip warriors ready for a battle.
        Nodding, Rainbow joined the group and readied her weapon. The group briefly went over their plan to break into the back room of Ice’s house that they had located. Ice lived in a rather large two story home near the edge of the neighborhood. The police had parked some distance away so as to not draw attention. They hoped to surprise him by sneaking in the back and taking the place by storm.
        Rainbow’s group would be one of the first inside under her insistence. As they got into formation sneaking behind the house, one of the men in front of Rainbow gestured for her to stay behind him when he popped the back door open. She nodded and kept patient as he quickly thrust the door open and unleashed a stream of shots of rubber rounds taking down a small group of men who were taken by surprise. Quickly he shouted for the others to enter over his headset. “We’re in! MOVE MOVE MOVE!”
        Everyone followed suit and soon the front door would be burst open with officers, and the windows started getting covered. Rainbow stayed in the back of her group, her weapon raised.
        Within a minute, all she could hear was gunfire followed by a broadcast over the radio. “Shit, he’s not here!”
        Rainbow poked her head out the back door and noticed a man climbing out of a cellar door making a run for it. Her brain quickly drew the connection to the photo of Ice she had seen and knew it was him. He didn’t even try to get dressed to flee, instead he ran out still in his undershirt and jeans.
        Giving chase, Rainbow called out over her headset. “He’s heading out the back, I’m following him.”
        After that, she switched her headset off before anyone could object as she knew they would. Running as fast as she could, she hopped over a few snow covered hedges and a fence or two chasing him probably half a mile to the old abandoned glass factory. Back before she was born this town actually had a relatively big business that sold stain glass windows, however when times got hard they went belly up and shut down the factory, it always sat here at the edge of town as a reminder of times past.
        Rainbow rushed up to the building to see Ice standing there with some children that had been playing near the area as he stood with a little girl clenched tightly in his left arm, with a handgun in the other pointed to her head. Rainbow stopped in her tracks and kept her weapon pointed at him.
        Turning on her headset Rainbow gave her position to the rest of the team. “He’s over near the abandoned factory, he has a child hostage. I repeat, he has a child hostage.”
        “Put the girl down.” She instructed plainly.
        “Drop your weapon.” He threatened as he pushed his gun tighter to the girl’s skull.
        “Not a chance. I’m only going to ask you one more time, put her down.” Rainbow replied.
        The child whimpered and tears were streaming down her cold red cheeks. “You’re going to be okay, I promise.” Rainbow tried to calm her.
        Ice grunted and lifted the kid off of the ground as he held her tighter. “Are you sure about that?”
        “If you kill that little girl, then you are pissing away the only chance you had at living today.” Rainbow threatened.
        Before either of them could do anything, a familiar British accent was heard calling out to the group. “Hey!” They yelled trying to create a distraction.
        The sound caught Ice’s attention and he quickly turned his gun and fired in the direction of the noise, hitting a young woman sending her to the ground motionless. Rainbow reacted quickly and fired at his hand, knocking his weapon directly out of it with a rubber shot. He released the kid and bolted into the factory. Rainbow could see the police cars arriving at the scene and surrounding the area.
        “The hostage is safe; I am going in after him.” Rainbow stated as she took the child’s hand.
        “Go to the police little one, okay?” Rainbow instructed as she gently lead her towards the police vehicles arriving. The girl nodded through sobs as she ran. Turning her attention to the woman who got shot, she could see Rarity’s hair on the ground as she laid there motionless.
        “You bastard…” Rainbow growled as she ran into the building after him.

        Applejack had taken the bus downtown to go to Cloudchaser’s apartment. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but she knew that she had to say something. Applebloom had inspired her to just tell the girl how she felt and see what happened from there.
        Walking the small distance from where the bus dropped her off to Cloudchaser’s apartment, Applejack could see smoke in the sky. Turning her walk into a jog, she raced to the scene where fire trucks and emergency vehicles were parked in front of the building.
        She craned her neck to try and get a look at what was going on, but no luck. She looked around to see if she could see Cloudchaser anywhere, but found nothing.
        Listening carefully she overheard a firefighter's radio. “Sir, there is a handicap woman trapped on the fifth floor. We can’t get to her.”
        The moment Applejack heard that, she leapt into action. Pushing her way to the front of the crowd, she ignored the screams of danger from the firefighters and pushed her way into the burning building with gusto. She could hear them demanding she retreat, but she didn’t stop, she kept running as far as her legs would take her.
        Climbing the stairs, she rushed to the fifth floor only to be blocked by flames on the stairwell at the fourth floor. Taking a chance, she got a running start and jumped as far as she could through the flames and landed on the other side. She quickly dropped and rolled out a small fire that had started on her jeans before continuing.
        Despite the building looking different covered in smoke and fire, she followed her instincts to Cloudchaser’s apartment at the end of the hall. Reaching to her key ring in her pocket, she retrieved the spare key she owned and unlocked the door to get inside. The living room was already completely covered in flames, but she managed to navigate to the bedroom to see a terrified Cloudchaser huddled in the corner with her arms covering her head trembling.
        “Cloud, It’s me!” She called out as she stepped closer and offered a hand.
        “Applejack!?” Cloudchaser responded as she lifted her head a bit.
        “Yeah, take my hand.” Applejack instructed.
        Cloudchaser felt around and eventually found Applejack’s hand and took it into her own. Applejack helped her to a stand and held on tightly. “Okay, don’t let go of my hand. Ah’m gonna guide us outta here, alright?”
        Cloudchaser simply nodded as she kept close.
        Under Applejack’s lead, the two slowly made their way into the living room only for a large piece of the ceiling to cave in and block their path with fallen debris and more fire. “Shit…” Applejack cursed.
        “Okay, we gotta make a little detour… Come on, through the window we can use the fire escape.
        Not objecting, Cloudchaser allowed Applejack to help her through the window onto the fire escape. Applejack guided her across the escape to the first set of stairs only for a large chunk of the escape above them to fall. Pushing Cloudchaser backwards, Applejack then leapt in the opposite direction to stop either of them from getting hit by the debris. When she stood up, she saw that it took a large hunk out of the entire fire escape putting a sizable five foot or so gap between her and Cloudchaser.
        “What just happened!?” Cloudchaser panicked.
        “Fuck…” Applejack replied.
        “Fuck what? What’s going on?” Cloudchaser was shaking from not knowing what was happening.
        “Ummm… Alright… Listen closely Cloudchaser… The fire escape broke… There’s a big hole blocking me from getting’ to y’all… ‘Ah need ya’ to follow my instructions exactly, alright?” Applejack called out from across the hole.
        “Alright…”
        “’Ah need you to trust me…” Applejack added.
        Cloudchaser nodded. “I trust you, AJ.” She responded.
        Applejack took a deep breath and exhaled. “’Ah need ya’ to take three steps backward, then get a three step run an’ then I need ya’ to jump as far as y’all can.”
        “What!?” Cloudchaser responded.
        “Ah’ll catch ya’, ‘Ah promise.” Applejack reassured.
        “A-alright… I trust you…” Cloudchaser nervously replied.
        She took three very cautious steps backward feeling around with her foot to make sure that she wasn’t walking into the railing. Once she had made the third step she took a few big breaths to mentally prepare herself for this leap of faith. With one last breath she took three full speed steps and leapt as far as she could.
        Cloudchaser caught Applejack’s hands who pulled her up from over the ledge. “You did it…” Applejack said as she embraced the girl. “Come on, we gotta go through the window to take the other stairwell down, the fire escape is a no go.”
        The two smashed through the neighboring apartment’s window and crawled in. As the two navigated out into the hallway, Cloudchaser stopped Applejack. “Do you hear that?” She asked.
        Applejack tried to hear anything that wasn’t the crackling of fire, but to no avail. “Nah, what is it?”
        “Shit… It’s Ollie, a kid from a few doors down from me, I can hear him.” Cloudchaser said.
        “There’s no time.” Applejack reminded.
        Cloudchaser stood unmoving from her position as Applejack tried to pull her to follow. “I’m not leaving him here, damn it!”
        Deciding that there was even less time to argue, Applejack nodded. “Alright, we’ll get him, but let’s hurry.”
        The duo made their way to the room and Cloudchaser had Applejack use her tremendous strength to smash the door down using her shoulders and a running start. “Ollie? Are you in here?” Cloudchaser called out.
        The child poked his head out from behind a couch. Applejack instructed Cloudchaser to wait as she stealthily moved in and retrieved the child. Calming him quickly, she picked him up and carried him out of the room, setting him down next to Cloudchaser who knelt down to his level to speak. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. Applejack is going to get us out of here okay?”
        The little boy nodded as her whimpered and Cloudchaser took his hand and then took Applejack’s hand in her free hand. “Lead the way.” She said.
        With the three of them, Applejack lead and got them down to the second floor before the staircase was blocked by flames again requiring another detour. She navigated to the hallway only to see debris in the way. She instructed the other two to wait as she moved to the center of the hall to try and lift a large piece of debris out of their way. With some effort, she was able to create a small path for the three to squeeze through, but not quite as quickly as she had liked.
        Above her, parts of the ceiling collapsed again and smashed directly through the floor of the hallway leaving nothing but some support beams between her and the others. “Today is not likin’ me…” Applejack complained to herself.
        “What happened?” Cloudchaser called out, Ollie screaming and crying.
        Applejack looked to the beams seeing a possibility to get across. She could try crossing herself slowly and then leading them back, but she wasn’t 100% confident that they had the time for that. Realizing her best option, she called out to Ollie.
        “Ollie! Listen!”
        The boy looked up with a whimper.
        “’Ah need y’all to be brave right now… Ya’ need to help Cloudchaser across! She can’t do it without ya’!” She instructed.
        The kid shook his head and called out to her. “I can’t!”
        She responded trying to sound as encouraging as she could. “Ya’ can do it! Ya’ jus’ need to be brave! ‘Ah know y’all can do it!”
        Ollie took a few breaths to get himself to stop crying and nodded as he took Cloudchaser’s hand and guided her slowly across the planks. Gently giving her warnings to take it slow as the two crossed. Cloudchaser kept as calm as she could as she put her trust in the boy.
        With a little luck, they both managed to get across to Applejack who instantly took their hands and started to guide them through the opening she made, but not before praising the boy for his bravery.
        The group was able to make it down the final flight of stairs and push through to the front door and into the crowd of people waiting outside. The firefighters scrambled to surround them and get them as far away from the flames as they could.
        A woman ran up to them through the crowd screaming as she grabbed the boy and lifted him. “Ollie!” She yelled.
        “Thank you both! Thank you so much!” She yelled as tears fell down her face.
        Cloudchaser smiled and nudged Applejack’s shoulder. “Look at that, AJ… You’re a hero.”
        Applejack smiled sheepishly and rubbed her shoulder where she was punched. “Yeah… ‘Ah guess so…”
        “Thanks for… Saving my life…” Cloudchaser responded awkwardly.
        Applejack didn’t know what to say… She couldn’t think of a thing except how she was just glad that she had arrived when she did.
        “Don’t mention it.”

        Ice rushed to the back of the factory as he kept his head down. Seeing a chance to get out through the back door, all he’d need to do is lift it up and slip out and make a run for it. He’d slip away long before the police realized where he was, and there was nothing that girl could do about it.
        Running, he could see the door, just a few more steps and he’d be on his way to freedom, however out of nowhere a woman popped out from behind a machine and swung at him, hitting him in the cheekbone. Staggering a bit, he noticed she was the same girl whom he had shot earlier.
        He tried to swing back only for her to dodge and take a boxer stance and swing again, making a direct hit with his other cheek. Brushing off the damage quickly, he took a few jabs, all of which missing causing her to take a few more hits on him, all making direct contact with his head.
        Swinging as hard as he could, she ducked down and jabbed him in the gut twice, bringing him down to his knees panting as he tried to catch his breath. The girl kicked him and kept her fighting stance. “Had enough?”
        He panted and brought himself up, pulling out a spare firearm he had. “Where did you learn to fight suddenly, bitch?”
        She swung quickly and knocked the gun out of his hand and took another punch at his face; a direct hit. He staggered back a few more steps. “I’ve been taking boxing classes since our last encounter and unfortunately for you, I’m a very fast learner, love.”
        The conversation was cut short as Rainbow made an appearance. She had dropped her rifle and this time was sporting her signature pistol, gripping it tightly in her left hand, she kept it pointed at Ice as she stepped closer. Ripping her hat off, her eyes darted to Rarity who was sporting a very unusual black hoodie which Rainbow didn’t feel suited her.
        “You’re alive?” Rainbow asked confused.
        Rarity nodded. “Knowing you’d try and do this without me, I got in touch with the police some time ago. They gave me a bullet proof vest in case things got out of control.”
        Rainbow chuckled as she stepped closer, keeping her gun on Ice whom had held still albeit with an uninterested expression on his face. “Looks like we have the upper hand.” She responded.
        Ice laughed. “What are you going to do? Hit me with another rubber bullet?”
        Rainbow fired directly next to his foot, leaving a hole in the floor. Her gun moved back to him pointed directly at his head. “Do those look rubber to you?”
        Ice remained quiet.
        “Before we do this, I need to know the truth… Why did you kill my brother?” She quizzed.
        “Who the fuck are you talking about, you stupid bitch? I’ve killed plenty of homeboys before, you’ll need to be more specific.” He smirked.
        “Years ago, you issued a hit on a little house down the street from the grocery store, do you remember that?” She said.
        Ice stood in thought for a moment, trying to recall that incident until it clicked in his head. “Oh yeah… I remember that… Those guys are so fucking stupid, amazing that they didn’t get themselves killed” He laughed.
        “What are you talking about?” Rainbow spoke sternly.
        “Those retards had the wrong place. They got the wrong house again after that funny enough.” Ice laughed. “Fuckin’ idiots.”
        Rainbow’s anger grew. “You mean to tell me… That my brother died for no reason? All because your fucking crew got the wrong fucking house!?”
        He shrugged. “A lot of innocent casualties happen in this business, kid. You just gotta learn to deal with it.”
        She couldn’t contain it anymore. She took a step closer and gestured to the ground with her gun. “Get on your knees.”
        “You ain’t gonna do shit, bitch.” Ice responded.
        Rainbow pointed her weapon down and fired at his foot, causing a scream out of him and brought him to a kneel. “I said get on the fucking ground.”
        He finally followed the instruction and brought himself onto his knees. Rainbow pointed the gun back at his head and pressed it to his forehead. “Now open your mouth.”
        Ice laughed. “Fuck you, bitch.”
        Rainbow quickly whipped the hilt of her weapon across his jaw, followed by a second whip from the other side. Blood spewed out of his nose and from his lip as she hit him the second time. “I SAID OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!” She screamed. His mouth opened for a brief moment giving her enough time to shove her weapon directly into it.
        “There… How does that taste?” She asked, not actually expecting a coherent answer.
        “I’m going to kill you today, but first I want to hear you beg… I want to hear you tell me why you deserve your pathetic life… I want to hear why I should give you the chance that Light never got…” Rainbow went on.
        Rarity finally stepped in and got closer. “Rainbow! That’s enough.”
        “Stay out of it, Rarity. This is between me and him.” Rainbow hissed.
        “Rainbow… I know you… You don’t want to do this…” Rarity approached carefully.
        “You don’t know shit. After all he’s done… I can’t let him live…” Rainbow justified as she pushed the gun down his throat more.
        “Listen… Ice came to my room and threatened me to my face… I know how you feel… However… You can’t kill him… You promised Ice you wouldn’t turn into a killer like him… He’s not worth breaking that promise, Rainbow.” Rarity explained.
        Rainbow remained silent and kept her gun tightly gripped her finger on the trigger.
        “Rainbow… You’re not a killer, you don’t have to do this… Give me the gun… Let the police do their job… Please… You don’t want to live with the burden of killing someone over you forever… Not for this… Not for revenge… It’s not worth it…” Rarity coaxed.
        Finally listening to reason she nodded and lowered her gun, handing it to Rarity, who took it gracefully and smiled. “You did the right thing…”
        Ice laughed and brought himself to a stand. Rarity however pointed the gun directly at him. “I believe the street term is… Get stepping?” She said.
        Rainbow laughed. “Close enough I guess…”
        Ice smirked. “Oh please… After that speech? You aren’t going to do shit.”
        Rarity responded by shooting only a few inches from his head. He jumped back.
        “I only told her that she shouldn’t kill you. If you give me a reason, I will end you. You’re going to walk out that door and the police will decide what to do with you. Now get moving before I change my mind…” Rarity threatened, keeping the gun firm.
        He laughed as he made his way to the door. “Fine… You made the wrong move, bitch. I’ll be out in a week. I got people that’ll put the pigs in my back pocket.”
        “I said move.” Rarity growled.
        He turned around and chuckled as he approached the door and began to lift it so he could make his exit, several police cars lined up outside. All he would need to do is put his hands up and surrender and this ordeal would be over.
        Rainbow spoke quietly to Rarity. “Thank you… Even if he gets free… You stopped me from doing something I’d regret… At least I know the truth now…”
        Rarity kept her gun pointed and her eyes on Ice. “Oh don’t worry, he won’t go anywhere.”
        Rainbow raised a brow in confusion as she heard Rarity let off a shot. The bullet didn’t hit anyone, but it made a hole in the pavement outside in front of Ice and the police officers. In a panic, an officer shouted something about returning fire and they all open fired upon Ice with every weapon they had. Blood sprayed out of freshly made holes in the criminal before he tumbled to the ground and didn’t get back up. His body eventually stopped moving and Rarity lowered the gun.
        Rainbow looked over to her with a shocked expression, Rarity turned to her with fire in  her eyes, and a serious face. “I don’t take kindly to being threatened like that.”

> Chapter XIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter XIII




        Out of desperation, Spike finally turned to the only option he believed he had. His encounter with Rarity at the party only made him feel more that he wasn’t worthy of the beauty. She was always making excuses to leave him behind, so he knew he hadn’t truly impressed her any just yet. It was all in, go big or go home. He really needed to wow her with a Christmas present that showed he was more than some pathetic kid crushing on the impossible. He needed to make his gift idea into a reality somehow, and at this point, paying for it was not really an option.
        There was only one choice at this point, one clear option that he had and he knew the risks. He couldn’t risk Applebloom’s involvement this time; he’d have to do this solo.
        He had scoped out the jewelry store the entire day, making himself familiar with the layout, the cameras, and any possible opening after the store closed. The front metal cage gate proposed a solution. It didn’t go down quite all the way and so long as he could slide his small hand underneath the small crack it created from its imperfect design, he could unlock it and get inside. For once he was going to feel fortunate for not having very masculine hands.
        From there, he had a tough second step. The security alarm would sound within 40 seconds if he didn’t disarm it. He had no way of getting the passcode as they kept the terminal for it in the back out of his sight. This meant he would need to execute his entire plan within that 40 second allotted time and be on his way out after the alarm went off.
        Memorizing where a spare key to the glass cabinet was kept, he could run in, get the key, retrieve the bracelet and run before he was caught. It sounded so easy in theory.
        When night came, Spike returned at least a good hour after the manager closed the store and went home. It was time to make his move.
        Throwing his hood up to conceal his face, he moved to the gate as fast as he could. Tugging it up as much as he could, he tried to squeeze his hand under. The gap was tighter than he thought and it definitely hurt his wrist to contort it in such a way, but after a good minute or so of struggling, he could feel the lock on the other side. With a bit more effort, he managed to pull it and unleash the hook holding the door down. Success, the gate opened and he hurried inside.
        Wasting no time, Spike made his way for the spare key and sure enough it was right where he knew it to be, under the register tucked into a spot under the counter.
        Fumbling with the key a bit, he managed to unlock the cabinet of the bracelet. He was making good time, he had a good twenty seconds before the alarm would go off.
        The moment his hand touched the chain though, he could see a red and blue light flashing outside the window and a siren whirring. He dropped the chain and froze in his tracks.
        “Fuck…” He cursed to himself.

        Rainbow was wrapped up in her winter scarf that she got from CJ years back as she held her hands tightly in her jacket pockets. The temperature had dropped significantly in the past day, and it seemed even colder back in her old neighborhood. Maybe it was the feeling of emptiness she got when she came here that made it seem that way though.
        Her mind was still heavily focused on the events of last night. She thought she’d feel better knowing that Ice was dead, but instead it just made her anxious. After all of that and an entire night to think about it, she knew it had to be the lack of closure. It all happened so quickly, she didn’t even get time to process what had happened.
        As she walked down the sidewalk leaving deep impressions in the snow, she heard a car pull up to her side and slow to a stop. She paused and turned to observe the rather expensive looking vehicle. It wasn’t the kind of car you’d see parked in a place like this, and probably a good five years newer than anyone there could possibly afford.
        When the car parked, a familiar chemistry student stepped out of the driver’s side and came around to the sidewalk. Rainbow took note of how cute she looked decked out in thick winter garb. Her hands were covered with pink mittens that looked like they were handmade. Rainbow figured they were probably some gift from a grandmother or a random aunt.
        Approaching Rainbow, she kept a serious expression.
        “How’d you find me?” Rainbow asked plainly, looking up to meet the tall girl’s eyes.
        “I asked around. I’m resourceful.” The girl replied.
        Nodding, Rainbow kept a similar stern look about her face. “I’ll give you that.”
        “I wanted to talk to you…” She said as she adjusted her glasses.
        Rainbow nodded again and gestured for her to follow. “Come on, we can chat on the way, Twilight.”
        Twilight smiled and took the offer as she got next to Rainbow and matched her pace as best she could. “So I take it this is your old neighborhood?”
        “Yup.” Rainbow responded, not even looking at Twilight.
        “It’s… Ummm…” Twilight paused trying to think of a good adjective.
        “A shithole, I know.” Rainbow sneered.
        “I was going to say cozy…” Twilight gave a sheepish smile.
        Rainbow shrugged. “Not even anyone who lives here would buy that.”
        Twilight decided it was best to keep quiet for a bit, realizing she was only making conversation more awkward the more she tried to break the silence. Some distance would be traveled by the two before either of them would speak again.
        “I grew up down that way.” Rainbow pointed off into the distance.
        Twilight turned her head and tried to get as good a look as she could from how far away they stood. She nodded and smiled. “So do your parents still live around here?”
        “Nope. My mother lives in jail.” Rainbow replied.
        Twilight frowned. “And your father?”
        “He bailed when I was really young.” She answered.
        Instantly, Twilight regretted asking that question.
        “Here we are.” Rainbow spoke as she guided Twilight through a large metal gate to a cemetery. “Come on.”
        Deciding not to ask any further questions yet, she obeyed and kept silent as the two navigated the graveyard. Passing probably four dozen graves, Rainbow finally stopped at one and looked down at it. Twilight examined the name on the grave.


Light Dash


        Rainbow spoke out loud as if she was talking to someone. Twilight just listened.
        “Hey… Sorry I don’t come here that often… Just trying to keep my promise and stay away from this place…” She paused as she reached into her pocket and retrieved a necklace and placed it in front of the grave. “I wanted to give this back to you because… Well now that this is all over, I’m not coming back here. I’m finally going to let you rest and not bother you anymore. I can’t promise I’ll be able to do all the things you wanted me to do, but at least I know I’m not a total fuck up…” Rainbow sighed and smiled. “Ice is dead. He won’t hurt anyone anymore, and I didn’t have to break my promise to do it. I just wanted to say… Thanks… For setting me straight…”
        Rainbow fell silent and Twilight took a step forward and looked down at the grave. “Who was he?” She asked.
        Keeping her eyes locked onto the grave, Rainbow replied. “My brother…”
        “What happened to him?” Twilight asked.
        “There was a drive by shooting… He jumped on top of me to save me… We carried him inside and I held his hand as he bled to death on our kitchen table…” Rainbow replied quietly.
        “Oh… I’m sorry…” Twilight frowned, not sure of what else to say.
        “He had plans to get out of this place… We were going to make a new life for ourselves… One where we didn’t have to survive by selling drugs or stealing… And he never got that chance…” Rainbow said.
        “Why did they kill him?” Twilight asked before she realized that might be a rude question.
        Rude or not, Rainbow answered. “They had the wrong house…”
        “What?” Twilight inquired, not quite certain she followed.
        “They had the wrong house… Meaning my brother died for no fucking reason!” Rainbow hissed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
        A knot formed in Twilight’s throat, she was unable to respond.
        “Look around you… My whole family is here, in these holes… There’s nothing for me in this place… If I end up having to come back here… I’m just going to end up in one of these holes with them… I have nothing but myself…” Rainbow explained. “So when you say I don’t give a shit… You have no fucking idea how much I do. I’m not coming back to this place, I’m not going to be in one of these holes.”
        Twilight couldn’t feel any more guilty than she already did. She had no idea Rainbow had been through so much.
        Before she could even muster a response, Rainbow wiped her tears and grunted. “Anyways… Thanks for the chat… I gotta go…”
        She wanted to stop her, she wanted to tell her how sorry she was, but she couldn’t find the words. Instead she just stood there frozen as ice while Rainbow took her leave and left her behind.

        The police allowed Spike out of the holding cell they had brought him to for a brief moment to make a phone call. He only had one shot at figuring a way out of this without Twilight finding out; however he couldn’t really think of who could actually bail him out of this situation.
        Approaching the phone with a guard standing next to him, he thought for a moment before realizing he really only had one friend whom he could trust not to tell anyone. Punching in the numbers, he could hear her cell phone ring on the other side.
        Before he knew it, he could hear Applebloom’s familiar country accented voice. “Hey, Applebloom. I need you to not ask questions, but I’m sort of in jail and-“
        He couldn’t even finish that sentence before he heard uncontrollable laughter. “NO WAY! Y’ALL ARE YANKING MY CHAIN RIGHT!? THIS IS RICH!”
        “No, I’m fucking serious. Listen, I need you to get a way to get me out of here, and whatever you do, do not tell Twilight.” He instructed.
        “Oh man… This is too funny!” Applebloom bellowed.
        “Applebloom!” He yelled.
        “Alright, alright. Ah’ll figure something out, jus’ sit tight.” She replied.
        “Thank you…” Spike sighed.
        “So… How’s life on the inside?” Applebloom teased.
        “Good bye, Applebloom.” Spike spoke as he hung up the phone on her.
        With another long sigh, Spike was guided back to his cell; he had hoped he didn’t just make a big mistake in telling Applebloom.

        “I’m going to tell him everything.” Fluttershy said as she sipped some tea. She was sitting on a familiar couch in Rainbow Dash’s apartment across from Rainbow whom was going through an old photo album. “He deserves to know.”
        “Then what?” Rainbow asked, not taking her eyes off of her precious pictures.
        Fluttershy shrugged. “ I guess let him go back to his life…”
        Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re just going to let him off the hook like that? You’re not going to make him step up and take care of his own kid?”
        “It’s just as much my fault as it is his. I don’t want to ruin his soccer career over this. It was my mistake as much as it was his...” Fluttershy meekly replied, trying to make herself smaller so that Rainbow didn’t yell again.
        “That’s bullshit.” Rainbow growled.
        “It’s called forgiveness…” Fluttershy protested.
        Rainbow only rolled her eyes again. “Where I’m from we call that being someone’s bitch.”
        “Well we’re not in your old neighborhood!” Fluttershy finally raised her voice and sat up to give the impression she was stern on this subject. Her entire body tensed up as she tried to deliver her message powerfully. “I want to do this my way. I like him, this was an accident and I am not going to blame him for something I agreed to do. I knew the risks and I still went for it. It’s my burden to carry.”
        Rainbow sighed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah… You’re too forgiving, that’s your problem.”
        “Maybe you’re not forgiving enough…” Fluttershy retorted.
        Cocking a brow, Rainbow leaned towards her friend. “Really? My brother got killed because some asswipes had the wrong address. So excuse me if I am a little bitter at the world.”
        “You act like you had nothing good happen to you after that.” Fluttershy responded.
        Rainbow wanted to retort but she found herself pausing and letting Fluttershy finish.
        Fluttershy stood up and gestured to the entire room. “You have your own apartment, friends all around you, you got a scholarship to go to school, and you don’t live in that terrible place anymore. You’re surrounded by people who care about you, maybe you should lighten up a bit.”
        Looking down at the floor, Rainbow realized that Fluttershy may have had a point. She had been doing a lot of self pitying, but really things were actually starting to look up a little. She was letting the lack of closure from the incident with Ice get to her. “You’re right… I’m sorry…” She said as she finally lifted her head up with a smile. “You’re a good friend, Fluttershy…”
        Her shy female friend giggled and looked away embarrassed before making her way to a counter with a photo on top of it. “Still, I am sorry about your brother… He sounds like he was a good person.”
        Rainbow laughed. “Nah… The truth is… I never wanted to admit that what happened with Light was not entirely unwarranted… I mean sure they had the wrong house, but to make a better life for me… Light broke the law a lot. He stole from people, sold drugs and even killed people to get where we were… His heart may have been in the right place, but the truth is… He was a thug… All so he could stop me from becoming one.”
        Fluttershy turned around and sat herself next to Rainbow, placing her hand on darker skinned girl’s shoulder. “You’re not a thug. Sometimes people have to make choices they don’t want to… Light was willing to do that for you.”
        Rainbow smiled lightly and nodded. “Yeah… Thanks.”

        Sitting alone on the bench in jail, Spike was sweating bullets. Part of him knew that the chances of Twilight not finding out were slim. Applebloom may be resourceful, but even she couldn’t come up with bail and find a way to make charges drop. He was already rehearsing the speech he’d give Twilight in his head, knowing full well that it wouldn’t do much damage control for himself.
        The most annoying part was that he’d have to explain to her why he stole a bracelet in the first place. It was going to be an awkward conversation, so the sooner he braced himself for that, the sooner he could get through it.
        His eyes wandered to the hallway as he tried to peek through the bars as he heard footsteps. A guard came from just around the corner, a key ring in his hand. With a swift motion, he unlocked the cell and gestured for Spike to step out. “You’re free to go.” He spoke.
        Spike didn’t move an inch from his seat, instead he remained frozen in confusion. “W-what?” He blinked.
        “Someone posted bail for you, you can leave.” The guard replied.
        Still in disbelief, Spike raised a brow. “Who?”
        The guard stepped aside and pointed behind himself to the hallway, another set of footsteps could be heard. The first thing he saw was high heels and light skinned legs. Moving his eyes upwards he could see a white dress and a matching white coat over it. Clenched in her hand was an expensive looking purse that he remembered.
        “By her.” The guard said as Rarity came into full view.
        Rarity nodded to him with a sweet smile and he nodded back before taking his leave. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.” Rarity commented as she looked to Spike.
        If he was confused before, he was far more confused now. “Y-you posted my bail…?”
        She nodded and stepped into the cell. She brushed the bench off with her hand before sitting next to him with a smile. “The police got the jewelry store to drop the charges as well. Since no damage was done to the store, they just want an apology and they’re willing to leave it at that.”
        Spike blinked again and found himself trying to wrap his head around all of this. “How did you…”
        She already knew what his question was and gave an answer. “Applebloom called me. She said you had gotten yourself into some trouble.”
        “How’d you get them to drop the charges?” Spike asked.
        “I did a favor for the police so they were willing to talk to the store for me and convinced them to let it go.” Rarity replied.
        Spike couldn’t imagine what kind of favor Rarity did for the police, but he figured it was best not to ask questions. Instead he stayed quiet and stared at the ground.
        “I have to ask though… Why did you try and steal a bracelet? I mean if you needed a recommendation of jewelry that would compliment you, you should have come to me. I can see you looking quite handsome with some earrings.” Rarity rambled.
        “It wasn’t for me.” Spike answered.
        Rarity was puzzled. “Then for who?”
        “It’s stupid…” He responded.
        Rarity placed her gentle soft hand atop of Spike’s and tried to get him to open up. “No it’s not, tell me.”
        “It was for you…” Spike responded.
        “Why would you steal a bracelet for me?” Rarity asked.
        Spike sighed and shook his head. “Forget it…”
        “No, tell me…” Rarity leaned in.
        Finally giving in and realizing that his chances with her were virtually non-existent at this point, he decided to tell her the truth. “I was trying to impress you… It was a Christmas present.”
        “But if you couldn’t afford it, why did you steal it?” She asked.
        “I originally had the money saved up, but some shit came up… Long story short I felt like I needed it…” He answered.
        Spike was only confusing her more with every answer he gave. “I don’t understand… Why did you feel you needed a bracelet to impress me?”
        He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look at you.” He gestured to her. Rarity looked herself up and down then back to him. “Look at me…” He said gesturing to himself. “You’re a gorgeous woman… You’re smart… Talented… Fuck… You’re on your way to becoming a fashion designer…” He sighed again. “I’m just… Some dumb kid who’s in way over his head…”
        Spike stood up and shook his head. “Anyways… Thanks for bailing me out… I promise I’ll pay you back…” He said.
        Rarity couldn’t think of a response before Spike walked out of the cell and made his way out. Rarity just sat there in the cell in thought.

> Chapter XIV - Final
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Chapter XIV




        So we’ve reached the end of the road, have we? We’ve approached the final chapter of this story. I’m sure you’re curious to know what happens, aren’t you? I mean how couldn’t you? We’ve seen a lot in the past few weeks haven’t we? It’s certainly been an interesting ride, and I know we all want to know how it ends. Does the mischievous Spike get the girl? Does Twilight gain Rainbow’s forgiveness? Well I suppose it’s time to find out isn’t it?
        
        Applejack had followed an address she had received from Cloudchaser to a hotel not that far from her burned down apartment. Cloudchaser said she would be staying there for a while as she looked for a new place. Her renter’s insurance covered most of her stuff, and her disability pay made sure she was covered during this difficult time.
        Promising she’d come check on her, Applejack put it off until the very night of Christmas Eve. It was perhaps 11PM at night and she had taken the last bus that dropped her off at that part of town, ready to face the girl whom she knew she had to face eventually. Deciding that doing it this late was the best way as she had no options to turn back now. Another bus wouldn’t run until morning, and that meant she had to confront her fear tonight.
        Approaching the door, she gulped and tapped it gently with her knuckles. She could hear a voice from inside instruct her to enter. “Come in!”
        Obeying, Applejack opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it delicately behind herself. The room had very little except a bunch of clothing thrown about as she took note of Cloudchaser lying on the bed in her underwear. It looked like she hadn’t gotten another change of clothing just yet, and hadn’t gotten around to buying them. In her hand she had an iPod clutched with an earbud in one ear. Her long partially dreaded hair was a mess, but she still looked cute as ever.
        The blind girl sniffed the air lightly and smiled. “Applejack, what brings you here so late? I didn’t think I was going to see you tonight. Though “see” might not be the best word...”
        Applejack nodded and gently stepped across the room and perched herself onto the bed next to her former lover. “’Aye… Sorry for not comin’ sooner… ‘Ah jus’… Needed to work up to it is all…”
        Cloudchaser nodded and sat up, taking the earbud out of her ear. “I see. Was there something you wanted?”
        “Yeah… Uh…” Applejack stumbled with the words.
        “Just say it. I’ve had enough bullshit for one week, let’s just cut right to it and not dance around it, shall we?” Cloudchaser requested.
        “Right… Alright…” Applejack responded.
        With another sigh, the young farm girl finally spoke up. “’Ah wanted to say Ah’m sorry… ‘Ah know yer’ probably not too happy ‘bout what happened before… It’s understandable… ‘Ah was a jerk…”
        Cloudchaser nodded. “Yeah, I guess so…”
        “Listen though… When y’all were almost hit by that car… ‘Ah was reminded of the fact that y’all are blind…” Applejack explained.
        Cloudchaser was already mentally rolling her eyes. “I told you, I can take care of myself…”
        “No, that’s jus’ it; ya’ can’t. If ‘Ah wasn’t there, you’d be dead… It made me realize that if anything happened to you on my watch… Ah’d never forgive myself…” Applejack replied.
        Cloudchaser remained silent.
        “Y’all are too stubborn to ask for help even when y’all need it.” Applejack continued.
        Instead of the retort and snarky reply that Applejack expected out of the alternative girl, she simply sighed and nodded. Cloudchaser scooted across the bed and pulled herself next to Applejack and sat upright, placing her hands on her lap.
        “Yeah… I… Uh… I guess I can see that… I got so used to people just taking pity on me that I got sick of it… I wanted to prove I could do everything for myself to where I never asked for help even when I needed it.” Cloudchaser spoke sheepishly, slinking down in shame a bit.
        Reaching over, Applejack took her hand and squeezed. “Everyone needs help now and then… ‘Ah want to be there to help ya’… ‘Ah want us to be able to help each other… ‘Ah jus’ worry Ah’m not enough…”
        Cloudchaser repositioned herself and placed her free hand upon Applejack’s cheek. She leaned in and touched her forehead to Applejack’s, she could smell her autumn scented body spray. Freeing her other hand from Applejack’s grasp, she reached up and stroked one of the two ponytails the girl was sporting with a smile. “You’re more than enough for me…”
        AJ bit her lip for a moment, and replied very quietly. “Prove it…”
        Cloudchaser smirked. “I was hoping you’d say that…”
        Gently she leaned in and whispered as the two’s lips came mere millimeters from each other. “I love you, AJ…”
        “I love you too…” Applejack responded as she closed her eyes.
        The two’s lips locked and both could feel the fire that was once there burning hotter than ever. Both knew that they were just denying this which was what they both truly wanted. It felt so good to finally be able to say what they felt out loud without worrying what the other thought.
        When the two broke the kiss, Applejack chuckled a bit as she noticed the clock in the room.
        “What’s so funny?” Cloudchaser asked, rubbing her nose to Applejack’s.
        “Looks like Christmas miracles do happen…” AJ responded.
        “So they do…” Cloudchaser giggled leaning in for another kiss.

        Rainbow found herself absentminded, empty, emotionless even for the time being. Her thoughts of Ice being dead brought her no comfort and didn’t resolve anything in her mind. She tried to figure it all out as she walked down the sidewalk, her mind in other places.
        Taking advantage of her lack of paying attention, a man approached behind her and pressed an object to her back from under his jacket. She attempted to reach behind herself to her waistband only for the man to jab the object into her and lift her hoodie with his free hand and remove the pistol tucked into her waistband and toss it to the ground behind himself. “Don’t think so.” He spoke.
        Remaining quiet, Rainbow let him speak. “Let’s step into my office, shall we?”
        She did as told and followed where he lead her with what she was assuming was a gun pressed to her back. He pushed the two of them into an alley nearby and kept her facing away from him. “Turn around and I’ll kill you now.” He instructed.
        Finally reaching the back of the alley, he stopped her. “Here is good.” He said.
        “Look you can take my money, I only got like fucking $12 on me anyways…” Rainbow responded, keeping her back to him.
        “I don’t want your fucking money.” He said, jabbing her with his gun again.
        “Well then if you’re after a date, I prefer those with some tits to them, sweetheart.” Rainbow joked.
        “I’m here to put an end to you, cunt.” He growled. Leaning in closer, he whispered in her ear. “You see… Ice was my brother and I hear that you’re responsible for his death.”
        She shrugged. “Brotherly love, how sweet.”
        He jabbed her again. “Shut the fuck up and get on your knees.”
        “Not even going to face me when you do it? Pussy.” Rainbow insulted.
        “I said get fucking down!” He yelled.
        She did as she was told and dropped down to her knees. Her mind finally realizing the gravity of the situation she was in. She thought back to her brother and how she let him down. She wouldn’t get a chance to be something better, it would all end here and after the moment where she realized it, she closed her eyes and tears began to run down her face.
        A long bang cracked through the air and what Rainbow thought was the end turned out to be something else. She opened her eyes to see blood sprayed everywhere, her head turned around quickly to see the man who called himself Ice’s brother fell to the ground, a hole in his skull.
        Behind him stood a confident Rarity standing firm with a revolver gripped in her right hand, extended and smoking from a fresh shot. “This was a $700 jacket…” She commented.
        Rainbow blinked and brought herself to a stand as she wiped her eyes, taking note of the blood splatter on Rarity’s person. “Y-you… You saved me…”
        “I was returning the favor.” She replied, lowering her gun.
        “Where did you get a gun?” Rainbow asked.
        “I’ve had one since my first run in with Ice. I felt it was necessary to protect myself… I saw that creep pull you into this alley and I followed.” She explained.
        Rainbow blinked and looked up to Rarity with a serious expression. “Thank you…”
        “Killing is a burden that we must carry for our entire life… That burden was worth it to keep you alive.” She smiled.
        Rainbow nodded. “After the police get here and we explain would you mind if I went to take care of something?”
        “It’s no trouble.” Rarity replied, already drawing out her phone.
        “Thanks.” Rainbow smiled.

        Soarin had finally gotten the call from the girl he was waiting to hear from for weeks. Fluttershy had been avoiding him, responding with short answers to his texts and just overall trying to avoid contact with him. He spent weeks panicking that he may have done something to upset her. He had spent the entire day cleaning up his apartment when she called earlier saying the two needed to talk directly.
        His heart was pounding so hard that he felt it would rip out of his chest when his doorbell rang.
        He reached for it more cautiously than he had done anything in his entire life, part of him thought he’d have a heart attack once he finally managed to get the door open.
        Fortunately no such thing happened as he turned the knob and there in the doorway was the most beautiful creature he had laid eyes upon. Her gently toned Latino skin seemed to stand out in the hallway lighting, and her vibrant blue eyes seemed to draw his attention away from her otherwise attractive figure. Her expression though was that of a troubled girl.
        “May I come in?” She asked.
        Soarin nodded and stepped aside so she could enter.
        Closing the door behind her, he followed her to the couch in the living room, sitting next to her and looking to her eyes patiently waiting for her to tell him what this was all about.
        “Look…” She started.
        Soarin braced himself.
        “I really like you…”
        “But?” Soarin asked.
        “There is no but… I really like you and that’s why I’ve decided to handle this the way I am…” She inhaled and exhaled.
        Soarin was confused, but kept quiet.
        “You don’t have to say anything, just listen.” Fluttershy instructed.
        He merely nodded in response.
        Fluttershy gripped the hem of her sweater and sighed. “I couldn’t ever ask you to do something that would destroy your career for me… I’ve seen you play… You could go pro… I don’t want to be the one to screw that up…”
        “What do you mean?” Soarin’s brow raised.
        “Just let me finish… Please… This is hard enough as it is…” She said as she put her hand upon his mouth to silence him.
        “When we…” She paused trying to think of a way to tactfully approach this. “When we… You know… I…” She almost couldn’t get it out. “I’m pregnant…”
        Soarin’s eyes popped open, but she continued talking to prevent him from saying anything. “It’s fine though. I am not asking you for anything, this was my fault. I’m going to call my parents and move back home with them and I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you give up your soccer career over this, I could never live with myself if I did…”
        She removed her hand from Soarin’s mouth and sighed. “Sorry… I just figured you deserved to know so you didn’t think it was your fault. Please… Don’t hate me…”
        Soarin leaned in and placed his hands upon her shoulders and pulled her in for an unexpected kiss. She blinked and took a moment to figure out what was happening. “I-I… Uh… What?”
        Soarin smiled and kissed her forehead. “I can’t believe this!”
        “Y-you’re not upset?” Fluttershy responded in a confused tone.
        “Upset? This is amazing! Fluttershy… I like you too… I want us to be a family… I want to be there for you… I want to help you raise this kid.” He spoke excitedly as he took her hands.
        “What about your soccer career?” She asked, concerned.
        “We’ll find a way to make it all work, I promise.” He replied.
        She blinked. “You’re sure about this?”
        He nodded. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my whole life.”
        She tried to fight back tears, but with no luck. “I… I… Thank you...”
        “You don’t need to thank me. We’re a family.” He smiled as he wiped her tears with his sleeve.

        Asleep in his bed, Spike tossed and turned as he tried to get comfortable. His dreams were being plagued with visions of how he messed things up probably for good with Rarity. There was no way in his mind that she could ever be interested in him at this point. He could kill Applebloom for calling her when he needed someone to bail him out.
        Half awake-half asleep, Spike could hear the door to his apartment click, or at least he thought that’s what he heard as he tried to ignore it and get back to a full sleep.
        Before he knew it though, he felt the foot of his bed sink a little and then something climb over him. His eyes popped open and his brain began to try and process what was happening in the dark room. On his face, he felt a gentle tickle from soft hair that dangled above him and lightly grazed his cheek. Trying to make out the dark color, he was able to determine it was purple. Following it upward, he was met with a gorgeous face, with a perfectly chiseled nose and big vibrant eyes that appeared fully awake.
        Her eyes seemed to reflect the small amount of light in the room so perfectly, to where one could swear her eyes lit up.
        “Hey”, she said quietly as she brushed her long hair to one side.
        “R-Rarity?” Spike asked.
        She nodded and giggled as she placed her soft porcelain colored hand upon his cheek.
        “Y-you look… Different…” He commented, trying his best to avert his eyes from her when he realized that all she had on was her underwear and an oversized T-shirt. Spike had never seen her so casual before. He looked away further when his eyes caught a glimpse of her chest, taking note that it was easy to tell she wasn’t wearing a bra at this moment.
        She smirked mischievously. “Did you think I wore makeup and a dress to bed?”
        He shook his head. “No… I just… I’ve never seen you like this…”
        “There’s a lot of things you haven’t seen.” She replied lustfully, her voice wrapping around his ear and sounding so inviting.
        “W-what’re you doing here?” He finally asked.
        She leaned in a bit so he could hear her better. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately… About us… About what you said…”
        “Don’t think about that… Really… It’s fine…” Spike replied.
        She turned his head to face her. “No, it’s not fine.”
        Spike grew quiet and met her eyes with his own.
        “I felt bad about all the times I had to leave you… I swear it wasn’t on purpose though… I’ve been going through a lot lately… And it’s had an effect on me…” She frowned as she thought about something on her mind for the past few days. “I thought I wasn’t a strong person for a long time… I didn’t really think I was capable of much, and truth be told… Most people just see me as some spoiled rich girl…”
        “I don’t think of you like that…” Spike defended her.
        She nodded. “I know you don’t, but so many people only really see me as a pretty face… You’re the first person who really ever said I was smart… Or funny… Or anything beyond gorgeous… I mean don’t get me wrong, I care about how I look, but… Sometimes I wish people saw more than makeup and clothes…”
        “I have to say… I never thought you were gorgeous because of any of that… When I heard about how you want to help people… I admired that… I liked how you took care of your friend, Rainbow… And I never thought you needed any of that stuff to be beautiful…” He blushed and looked away. “Even right now… You’re sexier than anything I’ve ever seen.”
        For the first time ever, he noticed a hint of a blush upon her. He was surprised that he caught her off guard.
        She leaned in and placed both hands upon his cheeks. “There’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”
        “W-what is it?” He responded nervously.
        She smirked and came only an inch from his face. “I think you’re sexy too.” Before he could say another word, she came down and locked their lips together.

        Rainbow Dash followed the instructions Twilight had given her on where to meet. She took the bus to the  other side of town, and made her way to an apartment complex that she was instructed to go to. She had originally texted her to try and see if she could apologize for their spat they had a few weeks back and giving her the cold shoulder since then. Her near encounter with death had given her a new perspective and she had realized she didn’t want to waste any more time being angry about something so small. Twilight was ignorant, but that was because she grew up in a different life than Rainbow. She grew up in luxury and privilege, but that didn’t make her a bitch.
        Twilight only responded to the message saying to meet her at this location so they could talk in person. Rainbow prefered an in person interaction for this, but she just wished she didn’t have to travel across town to get there.
        Making her way up the stairs, Rainbow came to the apartment number that Twilight sent in her text message and tapped on the door lightly.
        The door swung open and there in thick rimmed glasses was a face she had thought she’d never see again. Dark skin and a rounded nose that she recognized jogged Rainbow’s memory. She looked a bit different, but there was no mistaking her and her dreadlocks that looked a good half foot longer.
        “G-Gale?” Rainbow blinked.
        She smiled and held her arms open. “Shit! Rainbow! Get the fuck in here!” She yelled loud enough for the whole building to hear.
        Rainbow grinned and hopped into her longtime friend’s arms. After a quick squeeze and hug, Gale put Rainbow at an arm’s length to get a look at her. “Damn, you’re all grown up now!”
        “You too!” Rainbow laughed.
        From the other room, a little dark skinned girl stepped out yawning. Dressing in a simple white dress with a Hello Kitty logo on it, she rubbed her eyes, clearly waking from a nap. Rainbow blinked and looked to her.
        “What’s going on, mommy?” The child asked.
        “Who’s that?” Rainbow asked.
        “Your niece.” Another voice spoke stepping out of the walk in kitchen.
        Rainbow blinked and there Twilight stood with a smile upon her face. “I did some digging and tracked these two down. Turns out your brother had a daughter before he died.” Twilight explained.
        Looking back to Gale for an answer, Gale merely nodded with a smile on her face.
        Rainbow knelt down to the child’s level and offered a hug. “Hey! I’m your aunt!”
        Confused the little girl looked to her mother whom gestured for her to go ahead. The little girl took the hug and smiled. “My name is Rainbow.” Rainbow said pointing to herself after the hug broke.
        “My name is Lantern.” The small child replied.
        Rainbow looked up to Twilight with confusion. “You did this for me…?”
        Twilight nodded. “I wanted to apologize for what happened before… I just didn’t know how… I originally thought maybe if I got you a really great gift that I could make up for it…”
        Standing up, Rainbow approached Twilight and only a few inches away from her, Rainbow looked up to meet Twilight’s eyes with her own. “This is the best present anyone’s ever gotten me… Why though?”
        Twilight grew quiet. “I… Well… That is to say…” She found herself stumbling, but calmed herself and tried again. “I didn’t want you to be alone on Christmas… Because besides these guys… I… I sort of consider us family too…”
        Rainbow smirked. “Are you sure you mean that?”
        Twilight nodded.
        Throwing her arms around Twilight’s neck and standing on her tip toes, Rainbow brought herself just two inches from Twilight’s face. Twilight looked down to aid her. “May I?” Rainbow asked.
        Twilight’s breathing had slowed and her tone became hushed. “Y-you may…”
        With those words, Rainbow pulled Twilight in for a kiss.


The End


> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


No Two Flakes



By Mist



Epilogue



        Sitting in Twilight’s apartment, a familiar group of friends smiled as Rarity lifted up a large box and presented it to Fluttershy and Soarin who were sitting on the couch with an arm around each other. Fluttershy sporting a predictable blush and Soarin just with a bright smile as he accepted it. Rarity spoke reading the tag. “This is from Twilight to you two. I wish I had known you were pregnant, we could have had a baby shower for you, we’ll simply have to do one right after the holidays!” Rarity insisted.
        Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “That would be lovely.” She replied.
        Rainbow whom was snuggled up to Twilight with an eggnog in hand raised her glass in agreement. “You’re going to make a great mom, Fluttershy.”
        With her blush growing deeper, Fluttershy nodded.
        “I’m really happy for you two, and if you need anything, let me know.” Twilight reminded the two soon-to-be parents.
        “Thanks Twilight, that means a lot to us.” Soarin said.
        “And again, if you need any help in the bedroom department, I am always willing to teach.” Rainbow offered.
        Fluttershy faked a gag and rolled her eyes at the offer. Twilight petted Rainbow’s head and gestured for her to tone it down. “Keep it in your pants, Rainbow.” Twilight reminded.
        Rainbow stuck out her tongue playfully.
        Cloudchaser sat on the floor quietly just listening to it all with a smile. Through the front door, Applejack entered the apartment, covered in snow. Removing her jacket and hanging it up, she panted, clearly out of breath. “Sorry Ah’m late y’all.”
        Instantly recognizing her voice, Cloudchaser smirked and sat up. “What took you so long?”
        “’Ah was getting’ Pinkie’s help to bring yer’ gift here.” Applejack replied.
        “And what might that gift be?” Cloudchaser asked with genuine curiosity.
        Applejack smirked and stepped deeper into the apartment as she spoke. “Well ‘Ah figured out the one perfect gift for a girl as stubborn as you. Somethin’ that will help us both.”
        “And what might that be?” Cloudchaser couldn’t even fathom a guess.
        Applejack whistled, and Pinkie entered the room. Where she had been prior to this afternoon Christmas get-together was a mystery, however releasing a free hand, a leash was released and a small golden brown and white shiba inu bolted into the room and tackled Cloudchaser, licking her face all over. The girl giggled and chuckled as she fought back the dog and finally realized what was happening. “What!? No way!”
        “Way. Certified service dog. He’s not only trained to help you walk around, but also to be a part of our family.” AJ replied with a smirk.
        Petting the dog, Cloudchaser nodded. “Thank you, Applejack. This is the sweetest gift you’ve ever gotten me.”
        “’Course it is. ‘Ah love you, Cloudchaser.” Applejack spoke.
        Cloudchaser could almost feel her eyes well up. Applejack had never said that to her in front of other people. She was so used to it being a big secret. She stood up and opened her arms, to which Applejack responded by approaching and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend tightly. “I love you too, Applejack…”
        Spike in the corner rolled his eyes as Applebloom snickered and jabbed him. “’Bout time you two just came out with it.” She said.
        “No kidding…” Spike laughed.
        Rarity scooted closer to Spike and kissed his forehead. “One could say the same about you.” She teased.
        Twilight found herself snickering at the two of them. “You both make cute couples. I couldn’t be happier for any of you. And to think, AJ you were worried what people would think.”
        Applejack laughed nervously and rubbed her neck. “Heh… Yeah…”
        Rarity petted Spike’s cheek with a smile. “And you were worried what I’d think.”
        Pinkie finally entered fully and squeezed next to Fluttershy on one of the couches and smiled at the group. Twilight had noticed she was relatively late. “Say Pinkie, where were you prior to getting here? I tried to call you earlier but got no answer.”
        Pinkie smirked and winked. “It’s a secret.”
        Twilight rolled her eyes and lifted a glass from the coffee table. “Well since everyone is here… I wanted to say thanks to everyone for coming and making this the best Christmas to date! Let’s promise to do this again really soon, okay? No matter where life takes us, we’re all friends. I always loved this time of the year and I especially love Winter because as a good friend once told me… The lot of us are just like snowflakes… No two flakes are alike, but we all come together.”
        Rainbow raised her glass. “I can drink to that.”
        “Likewise.” Soarin and Fluttershy spoke in unison.
        The rest of the group lifted their glasses and cheered all at once. “Merry Christmas!”